Produced by Ralph Zimmerman, Charles Franks
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
THE JUNIOR CLASSICS
A LIBRARY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
[Illustration: "AND I WILL WIND THEE IN MY ARMS" _From the
painting by Arthur Rackham_]
THE JUNIOR CLASSICS
SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY WILLIAM PATTEN MANAGING EDITOR OF THE
HARVARD CLASSICS
INTRODUCTION BY CHARLES W. ELIOT, LL.D. PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
WITH A READING GUIDE BY WILLIAM ALLAN NEILSON, Ph.D. PROFESSOR OF
ENGLISH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON,
MASS., SINCE 1917
VOLUME FIVE
_Stories That Never Grow Old_
Acknowledgments of permissions given by authors and publishers
for the use of copyright material appear in Volume 10.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
ARABIAN NIGHTS
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Story of Aladdin; or the Wonderful Lamp
Sindbad the Sailor
ROBINSON CRUSOE
Robinson Crusoe is Shipwrecked _Daniel Defoe_
Alone on a Desolate Island _Daniel Defoe_
The Building of the Boat _Daniel Defoe_
Finds the Print of a Man's Foot on the Sand _Daniel Defoe_
Friday Rescued from the Cannibals _Daniel Defoe_
Robinson Crusoe Rescued _Daniel Defoe_
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
Gulliver is Shipwrecked and Swims for His Life _Jonathan
Swift_
Gulliver at the Court of Lilliput _Jonathan Swift_
Gulliver Captures Fifty of the Enemy's Ships _Jonathan
Swift_
Gulliver Leaves Lilliput _Jonathan Swift_
Gulliver in the Land of the Giants _Jonathan Swift_
Some of Gulliver's Adventures _Jonathan Swift_
Gulliver Escapes from the Eagle _Jonathan Swift_
THE PLAYS OF SHAKESPEARE
A Midsummer-Night's Dream _E. Nesbit_
The Tempest _E. Nesbit_
As You Like It _E. Nesbit_
The Merchant of Venice _E. Nesbit_
PILGRIM'S PROGRESS
Christian Starts on His Journey _John Bunyan_
The Interpreter Shows Christian Many Excellent Things _John
Bunyan_
Christian's Fight With the Monster Apollyon _John Bunyan_
Christian and Hopeful are Captives in Doubting Castle _John
Bunyan_
Christian and Hopeful Arrive at the Coelestial City
_John Bunyan_
IVANHOE AND GUY MANNERING _Sir Walter Scott_
Ivanhoe _Sir Edward Sullivan_
Guy Mannering _Sir Edward Sullivan_
THE STARTLING ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
An Adventure With a Lion and a Crocodile _R. E. Raspe_
Crossing the Thames Without the Aid of Bridge, Boat or Balloon
_R. E. Raspe_
Two Strange Adventures in Russia _R. E. Raspe_
Shooting a Stag With Cherrystones _R. E. Raspe_
The Baron's Wonderful Dog _R. E. Raspe_
ILLUSTRATIONS
"AND I WILL WIND THEE IN MY ARMS"
A Midsummer-Night's Dream
_Frontispiece illustration in color from the painting by Arthur
Rackham _
DISGUISED AS A TRAVELLER AND A STRANGER
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
_From the painting by Edmund Dulac_
HE DESIRED I WOULD STAND LIKE A COLOSSUS
Gulliver at the Court of Lilliput
_From the painting by Arthur Rackham _
THEY WERE VERY TIRED WHEN AT LAST THEY CAME TO THE FOREST OF ARDEN
As You Like It
_From the painting by Charles Folkard _
CHRISTIAN NIMBLY STRETCHED OUT HIS HAND FOR HIS SWORD
Christian's Fight with the Monster Apollyon
_From the etching by William Strang _
PREFACE
Consciously or unconsciously we are influenced by the characters
we admire. A book that exerts a deep as well as a wide influence
must produce changes in the reader's way of thinking, and excite
him to activity; the world for him can never be quite the same
that it was before. Such books have an important part in moulding
the character of a people.
It is because the books represented in this volume have been doing
just that for many years that they have become so prized. In the
characters of Crusoe, Gulliver and Christian, to mention only
three, English-speaking people recognize pictures of the
independent, self-reliant men, often self-educated (at least in
many important particulars), adventurous and daring by nature,
dependent upon themselves and the use of their faculties for
happiness, who made England great among nations, and wrote the
Constitution of the United States.
With the passage of time the books have lost nothing of the charm
and fascination which they have ever possessed for young and old.
"Was there ever yet anything written by mere man," said Dr. Samuel
Johnson, "that was wished longer by its readers, excepting
Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, and Don Quixote?"
At this time, when the subject of vocational training is receiving
so much attention, and public school instruction is being
criticized because, its critics say, it does not prepare boys and
girls to meet the demands which life makes upon them, it is
interesting to read what was said almost a hundred years ago by a
man whose influence on education has been both deep and lasting in
character.
They have just been celebrating in France the centenary of Jean
Jacques Rousseau. In the early chapters of "Emile" we read: "Since
we must have books, there is one which, to my mind, furnishes the
finest treatise on Education according to nature. My Emile shall
read this book before any other. It shall for a long time be his
entire library. It shall be a test for all we meet during our
progress toward a ripened judgment, and so long as our taste is
unspoiled we shall enjoy reading it. What wonderful book is this?
Aristotle? Pliny? Buffon? No; it is Robinson Crusoe."
There is no more useful talent than the ability to think and speak
(or write) clearly and simply, no matter what our vocation in
life. None know better how difficult it is to find writers with a
good narrative style than those editors whose training and
experience have made them realize its value and importance. If we
examine the experience of those who, in comparatively recent days,
have stirred men with the force and directness of their simple
speech, as Lincoln, for example, we find that as boys they were
great readers of the Bible, and Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's
Travels, Shakespeare, Bunyan, and Scott. As examples of English
these books stand preeminent.
Lord Brougham relates that one of his friends, a professor in a
university, consulted one of the ablest historians of his time as
to what would be the best discipline for acquiring a good
narrative style, as a prelude to writing a book of travels through
Asia. The advice given him was to read Robinson Crusoe carefully.
When the professor expressed astonishment, supposing it to be a
jest, the historian said he was quite serious, but that if
Robinson Crusoe would not help him, for any reason, he recommended
Gulliver's Travels. The late Donald G. Mitchell once said: "If you
should ever have any story of your own to tell, and want to tell
it well, I advise you to take Robinson Crusoe for a model!"
Parents and teachers who do not read aloud to young children, or
who do not practise telling stories to children, probably do not
realize what simple but extraordinarily valuable opportunities for
self-education they are ignoring, to say nothing of the help they
can be to children. In order to be successful we have to try and
put ourselves in the child's place.
The average reader does not concentrate sufficiently to get the
thought clearly from the text, and does not imagine himself to be
actually in the midst of the scene he is describing. The
consequence is that his voice and actions are not, except perhaps
in a slight degree, affected by the emotions he is supposed to be
experiencing. Dramatic rendering of dramatic passages is worth
striving for, and should be encouraged on the part of children.
The story-teller who roars with the lion and bleats with the lamb
is sure to be rewarded with shouts of enthusiastic delight from
the audience.
THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
_All nations have their fairy tales, but India seems to have
been the country from which they all started, carried on their
travels by the professional story-tellers who kept the tales alive
throughout Asia. In Bagdad and Cairo to-day, that cafe never lacks
customers where the blind storyteller relates to the spell-bound
Arabs some chapter from the immortal Arabian Nights, the King of
all Wonder Books.
No one knows where the tales were written, except that they came
out of the Far East, India, Arabia and Persia. Haroun Al Raschid,
who was called The Just, was a real Eastern monarch who lived in
Bagdad over eleven hundred years ago, about the same time that
Charlemagne was King of France. We can believe that the tales are
very old, but the most we know is that they were translated from
Arabic into French in 1704-17 by a Frenchman named Galland, and
that the manuscript of his translation is preserved in the French
National Library. American boys first had the chance to read the
notes in English about the time President Monroe was elected._
ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES
There once lived in a town of Persia two brothers, one named
Cassim, and the other Ali Baba. Their father divided a small
inheritance equally between them. Cassim married a very rich wife,
and became a wealthy merchant. Ali Baba married a woman as poor as
himself, and lived by cutting wood, and bringing it upon three
asses into the town to sell.
One day, when Ali Baba was in the forest, and had just cut wood
enough to load his asses, he saw at a distance a great cloud of
dust, which seemed to approach him. He observed it with attention,
and distinguished soon after a body of horsemen, whom he suspected
might be robbers. He determined to leave his asses to save
himself. He climbed up a large tree, planted on a high rock, whose
branches were thick enough to conceal him, and yet enabled him to
see all that passed without being discovered.
The troop, who were to the number of forty, all well mounted and
armed, came to the foot of the rock on which the tree stood, and
there dismounted. Every man unbridled his horse, tied him to some
shrub, and hung about his neck a bag of corn which they brought
behind them. Then each of them took off his saddle-bag, which
seemed to Ali Baba to be full of gold and silver from its weight.
One, whom he took to be their captain, came under the tree in
which Ali Baba was concealed; and, making his way through some
shrubs, pronounced these words--"Open, Sesame!" As soon as the
captain of the robbers had thus spoken, a door opened in the rock;
and after he had made all his troop enter before him, he followed
them, when the door shut again of itself.
The robbers stayed some time within the rock, during which Ali
Baba, fearful of being caught, remained in the tree.
At last the door opened again, and as the captain went in last, so
he came out first, and stood to see them all pass by him; when Ali
Baba heard him make the door close by pronouncing these words,
"Shut, Sesame!" Every man at once went and bridled his horse,
fastened his wallet, and mounted again. When the captain saw them
all ready, he put himself at their head, and they returned the way
they had come.
Ali Baba followed them with his eyes as far as he could see them,
and afterward stayed a considerable time before he descended.
Remembering the words the captain of the robbers used to cause the
door to open and shut, he had the curiosity to try if his
pronouncing them would have the same effect. Accordingly, he went
among the shrubs, and perceiving the door concealed behind them,
stood before it and said, "Open, Sesame!" The door instantly flew
wide open.
Ali Baba, who expected a dark, dismal cavern, was surprised to see
a well-lighted and spacious chamber, which received the light from
an opening at the top of the rock, and in which were all sorts of
provisions, rich bales of silk, stuff, brocade, and valuable
carpeting, piled upon one another, gold and silver ingots in great
heaps, and money in bags. The sight of all these riches made him
suppose that this cave must have been occupied for ages by
robbers, who had succeeded one another.
Ali Baba went boldly into the cave, and collected as much of the
gold coin, which was in bags, as he thought his three asses could
carry. When he had loaded them with the bags, he laid wood over
them in such a manner that they could not be seen. When he had
passed in and out as often as he wished, he stood before the door,
and pronouncing the words, "Shut, Sesame!" the door closed of
itself. He then made the best of his way to town.
When Ali Baba got home, he drove his asses into a little yard,
shut the gates very carefully, threw off the wood that covered the
panniers, carried the bags into the house, and ranged them in
order before his wife. He then emptied the bags, which raised such
a great heap of gold as dazzled his wife's eyes, and then he told
her the whole adventure from beginning to end, and, above all,
recommended her to keep it secret.
The wife rejoiced greatly at their good-fortune, and would count
all the gold piece by piece. "Wife," replied Ali Baba, "you do not
know what you undertake, when you pretend to count the money; you
will never have done. I will dig a hole and bury it. There is no
time to be lost." "You are in the right, husband," replied she;
"but let us know, as nigh as possible, how much we have. I will
borrow a small measure, and measure it while you dig the hole."
Away the wife ran to her brother-in-law Cassim, who lived just by,
and, addressing herself to his wife, desired her to lend her a
measure for a little while. Her sister-in-law asked her whether
she would have a great or a small one. The other asked for a small
one. She bade her stay a little, and she would readily fetch one.
The sister-in-law did so, but as she knew Ali Baba's poverty, she
was curious to know what sort of grain his wife wanted to measure,
and, artfully putting some suet at the bottom of the measure,
brought it to her, with the excuse that she was sorry that she had
made her stay so long, but that she could not find it sooner.
Ali Baba's wife went home, set the measure upon the heap of gold,
filled it, and emptied it often upon the sofa, till she had done,
when she was very well satisfied to find the number of measures
amounted to so many as they did, and went to tell her husband, who
had almost finished digging the hole. While Ali Baba was burying
the gold, his wife, to show her exactness and diligence to her
sister-in-law, carried the measure back again, but without taking
notice that a piece of gold had stuck to the bottom. "Sister,"
said she, giving it to her again, "you see that I have not kept
your measure long. I am obliged to you for it, and return it with
thanks."
As soon as Ali Baba's wife was gone, Cassim's wife looked at the
bottom of the measure, and was in inexpressible surprise to find a
piece of gold sticking to it. Envy immediately possessed her
breast. "What!" said she, "has Ali Baba gold so plentiful as to
measure it? Whence has he all this wealth?"
Cassim, her husband, was at his counting-house. When he came home
his wife said to him, "Cassim, I know you think yourself rich, but
Ali Baba is infinitely richer than you. He does not count his
money, but measures it." Cassim desired her to explain the riddle,
which she did by telling him the stratagem she had used to make
the discovery, and showed him the piece of money, which was so old
that they could not tell in what prince's reign it was coined.
Cassim, after he had married the rich widow, had never treated Ali
Baba as a brother, but neglected him; and now, instead of being
pleased, he conceived a base envy at his brother's prosperity. He
could not sleep all that night, and went to him in the morning
before sunrise. "Ali Baba," said he, "I am surprised at you! you
pretend to be miserably poor, and yet you measure gold. My wife
found this at the bottom of the measure you borrowed yesterday."
By this discourse, Ali Baba perceived that Cassim and his wife,
through his own wife's folly, knew what they had so much reason to
conceal; but what was done could not be undone. Therefore, without
showing the least surprise or trouble, he confessed all, and
offered his brother part of his treasure to keep the secret.
"I expect as much," replied Cassim haughtily; "but I must know
exactly where this treasure is, and how I may visit it myself
when I choose; otherwise, I will go and inform against you, and
then you will not only get no more, but will lose all you have,
and I shall have a share for my information."
Ali Baba told him all he desired, even to the very words he was to
use to gain admission into the cave.
Cassim rose the next morning long before the sun, and set out for
the forest with ten mules bearing great chests, which he designed
to fill, and followed the road which Ali Baba had pointed out to
him. It was not long before he reached the rock, and found out the
place, by the tree and other marks which his brother had given
him. When he reached the entrance of the cavern, he pronounced the
words, "Open, Sesame!" The door immediately opened, and when he
was in, closed upon him. On examining the cave, he was in great
admiration to find much more riches than he had expected from Ali
Baba's relation. He quickly laid as many bags of gold as he could
carry at the door of the cavern; but his thoughts were so full of
the great riches he should possess, that he could not think of the
necessary word to make it open, and instead of "Sesame" said,
"Open, Barley!" and was much amazed to find that the door remained
fast shut. He named several sorts of grain, but still the door
would not open.
Cassim had never expected such an incident, and was so alarmed at
the danger he was in, that the more he endeavored to remember the
word "Sesame," the more his memory was confounded, and he had as
much forgotten it as if he had never heard it mentioned, He threw
down the bags he had loaded himself with, and walked distractedly
up and down the cave, without having the least regard to the
riches that were round him.
About noon the robbers visited their cave. At some distance they
saw Cassim's mules straggling about the rock, with great chests on
their backs. Alarmed at this, they galloped full speed to the
cave. They drove away the mules, who strayed through the forest so
far that they were soon out of sight, and went directly, with
their naked sabres in their hands, to the door, which, on their
captain pronouncing the proper words, immediately opened.
Cassim, who heard the noise of the horses' feet, at once guessed
the arrival of the robbers, and resolved to make one effort for
his life. He rushed to the door, and no sooner saw the door open,
than he ran out and threw the leader down, but could not escape
the other robbers, who with their cimeters soon deprived him of
life.
The first care of the robbers after this was to examine the cave.
They found all the bags which Cassim had brought to the door, to
be ready to load his mules, and carried them again to their
places, but they did not miss what Ali Baba had taken away before.
Then holding a council, and deliberating upon this occurrence,
they guessed that Cassim, when he was in, could not get out again,
but could not imagine how he had learned the secret words by which
alone he could enter. They could not deny the fact of his being
there; and to terrify any person or accomplice who should attempt
the same thing, they agreed to cut Cassim's body into four
quarters--to hang two on one side, and two on the other, within
the door of the cave. They had no sooner taken this resolution
than they put it in execution; and when they had nothing more to
detain them, left the place of their hoards well closed. They
mounted their horses, went to beat the roads again, and to attack
the caravans they might meet.
In the meantime, Cassim's wife was very uneasy when night came,
and her husband was not returned. She ran to Ali Baba in great
alarm, and said: "I believe, brother-in-law, that you know Cassim
is gone to the forest, and upon what account; it is now night, and
he has not returned; I am afraid some misfortune has happened to
him." Ali Baba told her that she need not frighten herself, for
that certainly Cassim would not think it proper to come into the
town till the night should be pretty far advanced.
Cassim's wife, considering how much it concerned her husband to
keep the business secret, was the more easily persuaded to believe
her brother-in-law. She went home again, and waited patiently till
midnight. Then her fear redoubled, and her grief was the more
sensible because she was forced to keep it to herself. She
repented of her foolish curiosity, and cursed her desire of prying
into the affairs of her brother and sister-in-law. She spent all
the night in weeping; and, as soon as it was day, went to them,
telling them, by her tears, the cause of her coming.
Ali Baba did not wait for his sister-in-law to desire him to go to
see what was become of Cassim, but departed immediately with his
three asses, begging of her first to moderate her affliction. He
went to the forest, and when he came near the rock, having seen
neither his brother nor the mules in his way, was seriously
alarmed at finding some blood spilled near the door, which he took
for an ill omen; but when he had pronounced the word, and the door
had opened, he was struck with horror at the dismal sight of his
brother's body. He was not long in determining how he should pay
the last dues to his brother; but without adverting to the little
fraternal affection he had shown for him, went into the cave to
find something to enshroud his remains; and having loaded one of
his asses with them, covered them over with wood. The other two
asses he loaded with bags of gold, covering them with wood also as
before; and then bidding the door shut, came away; but was so
cautious as to stop some time at the end of the forest, that he
might not go into the town before night. When he came home, he
drove the two asses loaded with gold into his little yard, and
left the care of unloading them to his wife, while he led the
other to his sister-in-law's house.
Ali Baba knocked at the door, which was opened by Morgiana, a
clever, intelligent slave, who was fruitful in inventions to meet
the most difficult circumstances. When he came into the court, he
unloaded the ass, and taking Morgiana aside, said to her: "You
must observe an inviolable secrecy. Your master's body is
contained in these two panniers. We must bury him as if he had
died a natural death. Go now and tell your mistress. I leave the
matter to your wit and skilful devices."
Ali Baba helped to place the body in Cassim's house, again
recommended to Morgiana to act her part well, and then returned
with his ass.
Morgiana went out, early the next morning to a druggist, and asked
for a sort of lozenge which was considered efficacious in the most
dangerous disorders. The apothecary inquired who was ill. She
replied, with a sigh, Her good master, Cassim himself, and that he
could neither eat nor speak. In the evening Morgiana went to the
same druggist's again, and with tears in her eyes, asked for an
essence which they used to give to sick people only when at the
last extremity. "Alas!" said she, taking it from the apothecary,
"I am afraid that this remedy will have no better effect than the
lozenges; and that I shall lose my good master."
On the other hand, as Ali Baba and his wife were often seen to go
between Cassim's and their own house all that day, and to seem
melancholy, nobody was surprised in the evening to hear the
lamentable shrieks and cries of Cassim's wife and Morgiana, who
gave out everywhere that her master was dead. The next morning at
daybreak, Morgiana went to an old cobbler whom she knew to be
always early at his stall, and bidding him good-morrow, put a
piece of gold into his hand, saying, "Baba Mustapha, you must
bring with you your sewing tackle, and come with me; but I must
tell you, I shall blindfold you when you come to such a place."
Baba Mustapha seemed to hesitate a little at these words. "Oh!
oh!" replied he, "you must have me do something against my
conscience, or against my honor?" "God forbid," said Morgiana,
putting another piece of gold into his hand, "that I should ask
anything that is contrary to your honor! only come along with me
and fear nothing."
Baba Mustapha went with Morgiana, who, after she had bound his
eyes with a handkerchief at the place she had mentioned, conveyed
him to her deceased master's house, and never unloosed his eyes
till he had entered the room where she had put the corpse
together.
"Baba Mustapha," said she, "you must make haste and sew the parts
of this body together; and when you have done, I will give you
another piece of gold."
After Baba Mustapha had finished his task, she blindfolded him
again, gave him the third piece of gold as she had promised, and
recommending secrecy to him, carried him back to the place where
she first bound his eyes, pulled off the bandage, and let him go
home, but watched him that he returned toward his stall, till he
was quite out of sight, for fear he should have the curiosity to
return and dodge her; she then went home. Morgiana, on her return,
warmed some water to wash the body, and at the same time Ali Baba
perfumed it with incense, and wrapped it in the burying clothes
with the accustomed ceremonies. Not long after, the proper officer
brought the bier, and when the attendants of the mosque, whose
business it was to wash the dead, offered to perform their duty,
she told them that it was done already. Shortly after this the
imaun and the other ministers of the mosque arrived. Four
neighbors carried the corpse to the burying ground, following the
imaun, who recited some prayers. Ali Baba came after with some
neighbors, who often relieved the others in carrying the bier to
the burying ground. Morgiana, a slave to the deceased, followed in
the procession, weeping, beating her breast, and tearing her hair.
Cassim's wife stayed at home mourning, uttering lamentable cries
with the women of the neighborhood, who came, according to custom,
during the funeral, and, joining their lamentations with hers,
filled the quarter far and near with sounds of sorrow.
In this manner Cassim's melancholy death was concealed, and hushed
up between Ali Baba, his widow, and Morgiana, his slave, with so
much contrivance that nobody in the city had the least knowledge
or suspicion of the cause of it. Three or four days after the
funeral, Ali Baba removed his few goods openly to his sister-in-
law's house, in which it was agreed that he should in future live;
but the money he had taken from the robbers he conveyed thither by
night. As for Cassim's warehouse, he intrusted it entirely to the
management of his eldest son.
While these things were being done, the forty robbers again
visited their retreat in the forest. Great, then, was their
surprise to find Cassim's body taken away, with some of their bags
of gold. "We are certainly discovered," said the captain. "The
removal of the body and the loss of some of our money plainly show
that the man whom we killed had an accomplice; and for our own
lives' sake we must try and find him. What say you, my lads?"
All the robbers unanimously approved of the captain's proposal.
"Well," said the captain, "one of you, the boldest and most
skilful among you, must go into the town, disguised as a traveller
and a stranger, to try if he can hear any talk of the man whom we
have killed, and endeavor to find out who he was, and where he
lived. This is a matter of the first importance, and for fear of
any treachery, I propose that whoever undertakes this business
without success, even though the failure arises only from an error
of judgment, shall suffer death."
Without waiting for the sentiments of his companions, one of the
robbers started up, and said, "I submit to this condition, and
think it an honor to expose my life to serve the troop."
After this robber had received great commendations from the
captain and his comrades, he disguised himself so that nobody
would take him for what he was; and taking his leave of the troop
that night, went into the town just at daybreak, and walked up and
down, till accidentally he came to Baba Mustapha's stall, which
was always open before any of the shops.
Baba Mustapha was seated with an awl in his hand, just going to
work.
The robber saluted him, bidding him good-morrow; and, perceiving
that he was old, said, "Honest man, you begin to work very early:
is it possible that one of your age can see so well? I question,
even if it were somewhat lighter, whether you could see to
stitch."
"You do not know me," replied Baba Mustapha; "for old as I am, I
have extraordinary good eyes; and you will not doubt it when I
tell you that I sewed the body of a dead man together in a place
where I had not so much light as I have now."
"A dead body!" exclaimed the robber, with affected amazement.
"Yes, yes," answered Baba Mustapha; "I see you want to have me
speak out, but you shall know no more."
The robber felt sure that he had discovered what he sought. He
pulled out a piece of gold, and putting it into Baba Mustapha's
hand, said to him, "I do not want to learn your secret, though I
can assume you you might safely trust me with it. The only thing I
desire of you is to show me the house where you stitched up the
dead body."
"If I were disposed to do you that favor," replied Baba Mustapha,
"I assure you I cannot. I was taken to a certain place, whence I
was led blindfold to the house, and afterward brought back again
in the same manner; you see, therefore, the impossibility of my
doing what you desire."
"Well," replied the robber, "you may, however, remember a little
of the way that you were led blindfold. Come, let me blind your
eyes at the same place. We will walk together; perhaps you may
recognize some part; and as everybody ought to be paid for their
trouble, there is another piece of gold for you; gratify me in
what I ask you." So saying, he put another piece of gold into his
hand.
The two pieces of gold were great temptations to Baba Mustapha. He
looked at them a long time in his hand without saying a word, but
at last he pulled out his purse and put them in. "I cannot
promise," said he to the robber, "that I can remember the way
exactly; but since you desire, I will try what I can do." At these
words Baba Mustapha rose up, to the great joy of the robber, and
led him to the place where Morgiana had bound his eyes. "It was
here," said Baba Mustapha, "I was blindfolded; and I turned this
way." The robber tied his handkerchief over his eyes, and walked
by him till they stopped directly at Cassim's house, where Ali
Baba then lived. The thief, before he pulled off the band, marked
the door with a piece of chalk, which he had ready in his hand,
and then asked him if he knew whose house that was; to which Baba
Mustapha replied, that as he did not live in that neighborhood he
could not tell.
The robber, finding he could discover no more from Baba Mustapha,
thanked him for the trouble he had taken, and left him to go back
to his stall, while he returned to the forest, persuaded that he
should be very well received.
A little after the robber and Baba Mustapha had parted, Morgiana
went out of Ali Baba's house upon some errand, and upon her
return, seeing the mark the robber had made, stopped to observe
it. "What can be the meaning of this mark?" said she to herself;
"somebody intends my master no good: however, with whatever
intention it was done, it is advisable to guard against the
worst." Accordingly, she fetched a piece of chalk, and marked two
or three doors on each side, in the same manner, without saying a
word to her master or mistress.
In the meantime, the robber rejoined his troop in the forest, and
recounted to them his success, expatiating upon his good fortune
in meeting so soon with the only person who could inform him of
what he wanted to know. All the robbers listened to him with the
utmost satisfaction; when the captain, after commending his
diligence, addressing himself to them all, said, "Comrades, we
have no time to lose: let us set off well armed, without its
appearing who we are; but that we may not excite any suspicion,
let only one or two go into the town together, and join at our
rendezvous, which shall be the great square. In the meantime, our
comrade who brought us the good news and I will go and find out
the house, that we may consult what had best be done."
This speech and plan were approved of by all, and they were soon
ready. They filed off in parties of two each, after some interval
of time, and got into the town without being in the least
suspected. The captain, and he who had visited the town in the
morning as spy, came in the last. He led the captain into the
street where he had marked Ali Baba's residence; and when they
came to the first of the houses which Morgiana had marked, he
pointed it out. But the captain observed that the next door was
chalked in the same manner, and in the same place; and showing it
to his guide, asked him which house it was, that, or the first.
The guide was so confounded that he knew not what answer to make,
but still more puzzled when he and the captain saw five or six
houses similarly marked. He assured the captain, with an oath,
that he had marked but one, and could not tell who had chalked the
rest, so that he could not distinguish the house which the cobbler
had stopped at.
The captain, finding that their design had proved abortive, went
directly to the place of rendezvous, and told his troop that they
had lost their labor, and must return to their cave. He himself
set them the example, and they all returned as they had come.
When the troop was all got together, the captain told them the
reason of their returning; and presently the conductor was
declared by all worthy of death. He condemned himself, acknowledging
that he ought to have taken better precaution, and prepared
to receive the stroke from him who was appointed to cut off
his head. But as the safety of the troop required the discovery
of the second intruder into the cave, another of the gang,
who promised himself that he should succeed better, presented
himself, and his offer being accepted, he went and corrupted
Baba Mustapha, as the other had done; and, being shown the
house, marked it in a place more remote from sight with red chalk.
Not long after, Morgiana, whose eyes nothing could escape, went
out, and seeing the red chalk, and arguing with herself as she had
done before, marked the other neighbors' houses in the same place
and manner.
The robber, at his return to his company, valued himself much on
the precaution he had taken, which he looked upon as an infallible
way of distinguishing Ali Baba's house from the others; and the
captain and all of them thought it must succeed. They conveyed
themselves into the town with the same precaution as before; but
when the robber and his captain came to the street they found the
same difficulty; at which the captain was enraged, and the robber
in as great confusion as his predecessor.
Thus the captain and his troop were forced to retire a second
time, and much more dissatisfied; while the robber, who had been
the author of the mistake, underwent the same punishment, which he
willingly submitted to.
The captain, having lost two brave fellows of his troop, was
afraid of diminishing it too much by pursuing this plan to get
information of the residence of their plunderer. He found by their
example that their heads were not so good as their hands on such
occasions, and therefore resolved to take upon himself the
important commission.
Accordingly, he went and addressed himself to Baba Mustapha, who
did him the same service he had done to the other robbers. He did
not set any particular mark on the house, but examined and
observed it so carefully, by passing often by it, that it was
impossible for him to mistake it.
The captain, well satisfied with his attempt, and informed of what
he wanted to know, returned to the forest; and when he came into
the cave, where the troop waited for him, said, "Now, comrades,
nothing can prevent our full revenge, as I am certain of the
house; and in my way hither I have thought how to put it into
execution, but if any one can form a better expedient, let him
communicate it." He then told them his contrivance; and as they
approved of it, ordered them to go into the villages about, and
buy nineteen mules, with thirty-eight large leather jars, one full
of oil, and the others empty.
In two or three days' time the robbers had purchased the mules and
jars, and as the mouths of the jars were rather too narrow for his
purpose, the captain caused them to be widened; and after having
put one of his men into each, with the weapons which he thought
fit, leaving open the seam which had been undone to leave them
room to breathe, he rubbed the jars on the outside with oil from
the full vessel.
Things being thus prepared, when the nineteen mules were loaded
with thirty-seven robbers in jars, and the jar of oil, the
captain, as their driver, set out with them, and reached the town
by the dusk of the evening, as he had intended. He led them
through the streets till he came to Ali Baba's, at whose door he
designed to have knocked; but was prevented by his sitting there
after supper to take a little fresh air. He stopped his mules,
addressed himself to him, and said, "I have brought some oil a
great way to sell at to-morrow's market; and it is now so late
that I do not know where to lodge. If I should not be troublesome
to you, do me the favor to let me pass the night with you, and I
shall be very much obliged by your hospitality."
Though Ali Baba had seen the captain of the robbers in the forest,
and had heard him speak, it was impossible to know him in the
disguise of an oil merchant. He told him he should be welcome, and
immediately opened his gates for the mules to go into the yard. At
the same time he called to a slave, and ordered him, when the
mules were unloaded, to put them into the stable, and to feed
them; and then went to Morgiana to bid her to get a good supper
for his guest. After they had finished supper, Ali Baba, charging
Morgiana afresh to take care of his guest, said to her, "To-morrow
morning I design to go to the bath before day; take care my
bathing linen be ready, give them to Abdalla (which was the
slave's name) and make me some good broth against I return." After
this he went to bed.
In the meantime the captain of the robbers went into the yard,
took off the lid of each jar, and gave his people orders what to
do. Beginning at the first jar, and so on to the last, he said to
each man: "As soon as I throw some stones out of the chamber
window where I lie, do not fail to come out, and I will
immediately join you." After this he returned into the house, when
Morgiana, taking up a light, conducted him to his chamber, where
she left him; and he, to avoid any suspicion, put the light out
soon after, and laid himself down in his clothes, that he might be
the more ready to rise.
Morgiana, remembering Ali Baba's orders, got his bathing linen
ready, and ordered Abdalla to set on the pot for the broth; but
while she was preparing it the lamp went out, and there was no
more oil in the house, nor any candles. What to do she did not
know, for the broth must be made. Abdalla, seeing her very uneasy,
said, "Do not fret and tease yourself, but go into the yard, and
take some oil out of one of the jars."
Morgiana thanked Abdalla for his advice, took the oil-pot, and
went into the yard; when, as she came nigh the first jar, the
robber within said softly, "Is it time?"
Though naturally much surprised at finding a man in the jar
instead of the oil she wanted, she immediately felt the importance
of keeping silence, as Ali Baba, his family, and herself were in
great danger; and, collecting herself, without showing the least
emotion, she answered, "Not yet, but presently." She went quietly
in this manner to all the jars, giving the same answer, till she
came to the jar of oil.
By this means Morgiana found that her master Ali Baba had admitted
thirty-eight robbers into his house, and that this pretended oil
merchant was their captain. She made what haste she could to fill
her oil-pot, and returned into the kitchen, where, as soon as she
had lighted her lamp, she took a great kettle, went again to the
oil-jar, filled the kettle, set it on a large wood fire, and as
soon as it boiled, went and poured enough into every jar to stifle
and destroy the robber within.
When this action, worthy of the courage of Morgiana, was executed
without any noise, as she had projected, she returned into the
kitchen with the empty kettle; and having put out the great fire,
she had made to boil the oil, and leaving just enough to make the
broth, put out the lamp also, and remained silent, resolving not
to go to rest till she had observed what might follow through a
window of the kitchen, which opened into the yard.
She had not waited long before the captain of the robbers got up,
opened the window, and finding no light, and hearing no noise, or
any one stirring in the house, gave the appointed signal by
throwing little stones, several of which hit the jars, as he
doubted not by the sound they gave. He then listened, but not
hearing or perceiving anything whereby he could judge that his
companions stirred, he began to grow very uneasy, threw stones a
second and also a third time, and could not comprehend the reason
that none of them should answer his signal. Much alarmed, he went
softly down into the yard, and going to the first jar, while
asking the robber, whom he thought alive, if he was in readiness,
smelled the hot boiled oil, which sent forth a steam out of the
jar. Hence he suspected that his plot to murder Ali Baba, and
plunder his house, was discovered. Examining all the jars, one
after another, he found that all his gang were dead; and, enraged
to despair at having failed in his design, he forced the lock of a
door that led from the yard to the garden, and, climbing over the
walls, made his escape.
When Morgiana saw him depart, she went to bed, satisfied and
pleased to have succeeded so well in saving her master and family.
Ali Baba rose before day, and, followed by his slave, went to the
baths, entirely ignorant of the important event which had happened
at home.
When he returned from the baths, he was very much surprised to see
the oil jars, and that the merchant was not gone with the mules.
He asked Morgiana, who opened the door, the reason of it. "My good
master," answered she, "God preserve you and all your family. You
will be better informed of what you wish to know when you have
seen what I have to show you, if you will follow me."
As soon as Morgiana had shut the door, Ali Baba followed her, when
she requested him to look into the first jar, and see if there was
any oil. Ali Baba did so, and seeing a man, started back in alarm,
and cried out. "Do not be afraid," said Morgiana, "the man you see
there can neither do you nor anybody else any harm. He is dead."
"Ah, Morgiana," said Ali Baba, "what is it you show me? Explain
yourself." "I will," replied Morgiana. "Moderate your astonishment,
and do not excite the curiosity of your neighbors; for it
is of great importance to keep this affair secret. Look into
all the other jars."
Ali Baba examined all the other jars, one after another; and when
he came to that which had the oil in, found it prodigiously sunk,
and stood for some time motionless, sometimes looking at the jars,
and sometimes at Morgiana, without saying a word, so great was his
surprise.
At last, when he had recovered himself, he said, "And what is
become of the merchant?"
"Merchant!" answered she; "he is as much one as I am. I will tell
you who he is, and what is become of him; but you had better hear
the story in your own chamber; for it is time for your health that
you had your broth after your bathing."
Morgiana then told him all she had done, from the first observing
the mark upon the house, to the destruction of the robbers, and
the flight of their captain.
On hearing of these brave deeds from the lips of Morgiana, Ali
Baba said to her, "God, by your means, has delivered me from the
snares these robbers laid for my destruction. I owe, therefore, my
life to you; and, for the first token of my acknowledgment, give
you your liberty from this moment, till I can complete your
recompense, as I intend."
Ali Baba's garden was very long, and shaded at the further end by
a great number of large trees. Near these he and the slave Abdalla
dug a trench, long and wide enough to hold the bodies of the
robbers; and as the earth was light, they were not long in doing
it. When this was done, Ali Baba hid the jars and weapons; and as
he had no occasion for the mules, he sent them at different times
to be sold in the market by his slave.
While Ali Baba took these measures, the captain of the forty
robbers returned to the forest with inconceivable mortification.
He did not stay long: the loneliness of the gloomy cavern became
frightful to him. He determined, however, to avenge the fate of
his companions, and to accomplish the death of Ali Baba. For this
purpose he returned to the town and took a lodging in a khan, and
disguised himself as a merchant in silks. Under this assumed
character, he gradually conveyed a great many sorts of rich stuffs
and fine linen to his lodging from the cavern, but with all the
necessary precautions to conceal the place whence he brought them.
In order to dispose of the merchandise, when he had thus amassed
them together, he took a warehouse, which happened to be opposite
to Cassim's, which Ali Baba's son had occupied since the death of
his uncle.
He took the name of Cogia Houssain, and, as a newcomer, was,
according to custom, extremely civil and complaisant to all the
merchants his neighbors. Ali Baba's son was, from his vicinity,
one of the first to converse with Cogia Houssain, who strove to
cultivate his friendship more particularly. Two or three days
after he was settled, Ali Baba came to see his son, and the
captain of the robbers recognized him at once, and soon learned
from his son who he was. After this he increased his assiduities,
caressed him in the most engaging manner, made him some small
presents, and often asked him to dine and sup with him, when he
treated him very handsomely.
Ali Baba's son did not choose to lie under such obligation to
Cogia Houssain; but was so much straitened for want of room in his
house that he could not entertain him. He therefore acquainted his
father, Ali Baba, with his wish to invite him in return.
Ali Baba with great pleasure took the treat upon himself. "Son,"
said he, "to-morrow being Friday, which is a day that the shops of
such great merchants as Cogia Houssain and yourself are shut, get
him to accompany you, and as you pass by my door, call in. I will
go and order Morgiana to provide a supper."
The next day Ali Baba's son and Cogia Houssain met by appointment,
took their walk, and as they returned, Ali Baba's son led Cogia
Houssain through the street where his father lived, and when they
came to the house, stopped and knocked at the door. "This, sir,"
said he, "is my father's house, who, from the account I have given
him of your friendship, charged me to procure him the honor of
your acquaintance; and I desire you to add this pleasure to those
for which I am already indebted to you."
Though it was the sole aim of Cogia Houssain to introduce himself
into Ali Baba's house that he might kill him, without hazarding
his own life or making any noise, yet he excused himself and
offered to take his leave; but a slave having opened the door, Ali
Baba's son took him obligingly by the hand, and, in a manner,
forced him in.
Ali Baba received Cogia Houssain with a smiling countenance, and
in the most obliging manner he could wish. He thanked him for all
the favors he had done his son; adding withal, the obligation was
the greater as he was a young man, not much acquainted with the
world, and that he might contribute to his information.
Cogia Houssain returned the compliment by assuring Ali Baba that
though his son might not have acquired the experience of older
men, he had good sense equal to the experience of many others.
After a little more conversation on different subjects, he offered
again to take his leave, when Ali Baba, stopping him, said, "Where
are you going, sir, in so much haste? I beg you would do me the
honor to sup with me, though my entertainment may not be worthy of
your acceptance; such as it is, I heartily offer it." "Sir,"
replied Cogia Houssain, "I am thoroughly persuaded of your good-
will; but the truth is, I can eat no victuals that have any salt
in them; therefore judge how I should feel at your table." "If
that is the only reason," said Ali Baba, "it ought not to deprive
me of the honor of your company; for, in the first place, there
is no salt ever put into my bread, and as to the meat we shall
have to-night, I promise you there shall be none in that.
Therefore you must do me the favor to stay. I will return
immediately."