Ali Baba facts for kids
Ali Baba is a famous character from an old adventure story called Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. This tale is part of a bigger collection of stories known as One Thousand and One Nights, also called The Arabian Nights.
Some people think a French writer named Antoine Galland added this story to One Thousand and One Nights in the 1700s. He might have heard it from a storyteller from Aleppo in the Middle East. However, other scholars, like Sir Richard Francis Burton, believed it was always part of the original collection. Most Arab and Persian scholars agree with Burton.
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Who is Ali Baba?
Ali Baba is a poor woodcutter who lives in a town in Iraq. He has a rich and greedy brother named Cassim. One day, Ali Baba is working in the forest when he sees a group of forty thieves on horseback. They stop in front of a large rock.
The Magic Cave
Ali Baba hides and watches the thieves. Their leader stands before the rock and says, "Open Sesame!" A secret door opens in the rock, revealing a cave. The thieves go inside, and the door closes. Later, they come out, and the leader says, "Close Sesame!" The door closes again.
After the thieves leave, Ali Baba tries the magic words. The cave opens, and he finds it filled with sparkling gold, silver, and jewels! He takes some of the treasure, but only what he can carry. He brings it home to his wife.
Ali Baba's Greedy Brother
Ali Baba's brother, Cassim, is very surprised by Ali Baba's new wealth. He makes Ali Baba tell him the secret of the cave. Cassim then goes to the cave himself, planning to take all the treasure. He remembers "Open Sesame!" and enters the cave.
However, Cassim gets so excited by the riches that he forgets the magic words to open the door! When the forty thieves return, they find Cassim trapped inside. They kill him for trying to steal their treasure.
Morgiana's Cleverness
Ali Baba is sad about his brother's death. He sends his clever slave girl, Morgiana, to find Cassim's body and bring it home. Morgiana is very smart and helps Ali Baba hide the secret of the cave and Cassim's death from the townspeople.
The thieves soon realize that someone else knows about their cave. Their leader sends one of his men to find Ali Baba's house. The thief marks the door with chalk. But Morgiana sees the mark and cleverly marks many other doors in the neighborhood, confusing the thief.
The End of the Thieves
The thieves try again. This time, their leader pretends to be an oil merchant. He brings thirty-eight large jars to Ali Baba's house, saying they are filled with oil. But inside each jar, except one, is a hidden thief! The leader plans to attack Ali Baba in the night.
Morgiana discovers the thieves hiding in the jars. She quickly boils a large pot of oil. Then, she pours the boiling oil into each of the jars, defeating the thieves. The leader escapes, but Morgiana later recognizes him when he returns to Ali Baba's house in disguise. She kills him with a dagger during a dance.
Ali Baba is very grateful to Morgiana for saving his life many times. He frees her and arranges for her to marry his son. Ali Baba and his family live happily and safely with the treasure from the magic cave.
Images for kids
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Poster for 40 Thieves at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 1886
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A depiction of the Forty Thieves.
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The Forty Thieves attack Cassim.
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A member of the Forty Thieves tries to discover the location of the house of Ali Baba.
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A member of the Forty Thieves marks the door of Ali Baba
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Morgiana pays Baba Mustafa the Cobbler.
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Morgiana pours boiling hot oil into the jars containing the infamous Forty Thieves.
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Ali Baba presents treasures from the magical cave of Sesame to Morgiana.
See also
In Spanish: Alí Babá para niños
