Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 01 (33 page)

She fainted away, for this is the first expedient almost
all women find in such cases. The Ogre, fearing his wife
would be too long in doing what he had ordered, went up
himself to help her. He was no less amazed than his wife
at this frightful spectacle.

"Ah! what have I done?" cried he. "The wretches shall
pay for it, and that instantly."

He threw a pitcher of water upon his wife's face, and,
having brought her to herself, said:

"Give me quickly my boots of seven leagues, that I may
go and catch them."

He went out, and, having run over a vast deal of
ground, both on this side and that, he came at last into
the very road where the poor children were, and not
above a hundred paces from their father's house. They
espied the Ogre, who went at one step from mountain to
mountain, and over rivers as easily as the narrowest
kennels. Little Thumb, seeing a hollow rock near the
place where they were, made his brothers hide themselves
in it, and crowded into it himself, minding always what
would become of the Ogre.

The Ogre, who found himself much tired with his long
and fruitless journey (for these boots of seven leagues
greatly fatigued the wearer), had a great mind to rest
himself, and, by chance, went to sit down upon the rock
where the little boys had hid themselves. As it was
impossible he could be more weary than he was, he fell
asleep, and, after reposing himself some time, began to
snore so frightfully that the poor children were no less
afraid of him than when he held up his great knife and
was going to cut their throats. Little Thumb was not so
much frightened as his brothers, and told them that they
should run away immediately toward home while the
Ogre was asleep so soundly, and that they should not be in
any pain about him. They took his advice, and got home
presently. Little Thumb came up to the Ogre, pulled off
his boots gently and put them on his own legs. The boots
were very long and large, but, as they were fairies, they
had the gift of becoming big and little, according to the
legs of those who wore them; so that they fitted his feet
and legs as well as if they had been made on purpose for
him. He went immediately to the Ogre's house, where he
saw his wife crying bitterly for the loss of the Ogre's
murdered daughters.

"Your husband," said Little Thumb, "is in very great
danger, being taken by a gang of thieves, who have sworn
to kill him if he does not give them all his gold and silver.
The very moment they held their daggers at his throat he
perceived me, and desired me to come and tell you the
condition he is in, and that you should give me whatsoever
he has of value, without retaining any one thing; for
otherwise they will kill him without mercy; and, as his
case is very pressing, he desired me to make use (you see
I have them on) of his boots, that I might make the more
haste and to show you that I do not impose upon you."

The good woman, being sadly frightened, gave him all
she had: for this Ogre was a very good husband, though
he used to eat up little children. Little Thumb, having
thus got all the Ogre's money, came home to his father's
house, where he was received with abundance of joy.

There are many people who do not agree in this
circumstance, and pretend that Little Thumb never robbed
the Ogre at all, and that he only thought he might very
justly, and with a safe conscience, take off his boots of
seven leagues, because he made no other use of them but
to run after little children. These folks affirm that they
are very well assured of this, and the more as having
drunk and eaten often at the fagot-maker's house. They
aver that when Little Thumb had taken off the Ogre's
boots he went to Court, where he was informed that they
were very much in pain about a certain army, which was
two hundred leagues off, and the success of a battle. He
went, say they, to the King, and told him that, if he
desired it, he would bring him news from the army before
night.

The King promised him a great sum of money upon that
condition. Little Thumb was as good as his word, and
returned that very same night with the news; and, this first
expedition causing him to be known, he got whatever he
pleased, for the King paid him very well for carrying his
orders to the army. After having for some time carried
on the business of a messenger, and gained thereby great
wealth, he went home to his father, where it was
impossible to express the joy they were all in at his return.
He made the whole family very easy, bought places for
his father and brothers, and, by that means, settled them
very handsomely in the world, and, in the meantime, made
his court to perfection.
[17]

In a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one named
Cassim, the other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to a
rich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintain
his wife and children by cutting wood in a neighboring
forest and selling it in the town. One day, when Ali
Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback,
coming toward him in a cloud of dust. He was
afraid they were robbers, and climbed into a tree for
safety. When they came up to him and dismounted, he
counted forty of them. They unbridled their horses and
tied them to trees. The finest man among them, whom
Ali Baba took to be their captain, went a little way among
some bushes, and said: "Open, Sesame!"
[18]
so plainly that
Ali Baba heard him. A door opened in the rocks, and
having made the troop go in, he followed them, and the
door shut again of itself. They stayed some time inside,
and Ali Baba, fearing they might come out and catch
him, was forced to sit patiently in the tree. At last the
door opened again, and the Forty Thieves came out. As
the Captain went in last he came out first, and made them
all pass by him; he then closed the door, saying: "Shut,
Sesame!" Every man bridled his horse and mounted, the
Captain put himself at their head, and they returned as
they came.

Then Ali Baba climbed down and went to the door
concealed among the bushes, and said: "Open, Sesame!" and
it flew open. Ali Baba, who expected a dull, dismal place,
was greatly surprised to find it large and well lighted,
hollowed by the hand of man in the form of a vault, which
received the light from an opening in the ceiling. He saw
rich bales of merchandise—silk, stuff-brocades, all piled
together, and gold and silver in heaps, and money in
leather purses. He went in and the door shut behind him.
He did not look at the silver, but brought out as many
bags of gold as he thought his asses, which were browsing
outside, could carry, loaded them with the bags, and hid
it all with fagots. Using the words: "Shut, Sesame!" he
closed the door and went home.

Then he drove his asses into the yard, shut the gates,
carried the money-bags to his wife, and emptied them out
before her. He bade her keep the secret, and he would go
and bury the gold. "Let me first measure it," said his wife.
"I will go borrow a measure of someone, while you dig the
hole." So she ran to the wife of Cassim and borrowed a
measure. Knowing Ali Baba's poverty, the sister was
curious to find out what sort of grain his wife wished to
measure, and artfully put some suet at the bottom of the
measure. Ali Baba's wife went home and set the measure
on the heap of gold, and filled it and emptied it often, to
her great content. She then carried it back to her sister,
without noticing that a piece of gold was sticking to it,
which Cassim's wife perceived directly her back was
turned. She grew very curious, and said to Cassim when
he came home: "Cassim, your brother is richer than you.
He does not count his money, he measures it." He begged
her to explain this riddle, which she did by showing him
the piece of money and telling him where she found it.
Then Cassim grew so envious that he could not sleep, and
went to his brother in the morning before sunrise. "Ali
Baba," he said, showing him the gold piece, "you pretend
to be poor and yet you measure gold." By this Ali Baba
perceived that through his wife's folly Cassim and his
wife knew their secret, so he confessed all and offered
Cassim a share. "That I expect," said Cassim; "but I
must know where to find the treasure, otherwise I will
discover all, and you will lose all." Ali Baba, more out of
kindness than fear, told him of the cave, and the very
words to use. Cassim left Ali Baba, meaning to be
beforehand with him and get the treasure for himself. He
rose early next morning, and set out with ten mules loaded
with great chests. He soon found the place, and the door
in the rock. He said: "Open, Sesame!" and the door
opened and shut behind him. He could have feasted his
eyes all day on the treasures, but he now hastened to
gather together as much of it as possible; but when he was
ready to go he could not remember what to say for thinking
of his great riches. Instead of "Sesame," he said:
"Open, Barley!" and the door remained fast. He named
several different sorts of grain, all but the right one, and
the door still stuck fast. He was so frightened at the
danger he was in that he had as much forgotten the word
as if he had never heard it.

About noon the robbers returned to their cave, and
saw Cassim's mules roving about with great chests on
their backs. This gave them the alarm; they drew their
sabres, and went to the door, which opened on their
Captain's saying: "Open, Sesame!" Cassim, who had
heard the trampling of their horses' feet, resolved to sell
his life dearly, so when the door opened he leaped out and
threw the Captain down. In vain, however, for the
robbers with their sabres soon killed him. On entering the
cave they saw all the bags laid ready, and could not
imagine how anyone had got in without knowing their
secret. They cut Cassim's body into four quarters, and
nailed them up inside the cave, in order to frighten anyone
who should venture in, and went away in search of more
treasure.

As night drew on Cassim's wife grew very uneasy, and
ran to her brother-in-law, and told him where her husband
had gone. Ali Baba did his best to comfort her, and
set out to the forest in search of Cassim. The first thing
he saw on entering the cave was his dead brother. Full
of horror, he put the body on one of his asses, and bags
of gold on the other two, and, covering all with some
fagots, returned home. He drove the two asses laden with
gold into his own yard, and led the other to Cassim's
house. The door was opened by the slave Morgiana,
whom he knew to be both brave and cunning. Unloading
the ass, he said to her: "This is the body of your master,
who has been murdered, but whom we must bury as
though he had died in his bed. I will speak with you
again, but now tell your mistress I am come." The wife
of Cassim, on learning the fate of her husband, broke out
into cries and tears, but Ali Baba offered to take her to
live with him and his wife if she would promise to keep
his counsel and leave everything to Morgiana; whereupon
she agreed, and dried her eyes.

Morgiana, meanwhile, sought an apothecary and asked
him for some lozenges. "My poor master," she said, "can
neither eat nor speak, and no one knows what his distemper
is." She carried home the lozenges and returned
next day weeping, and asked for an essence only given to
those just about to die. Thus, in the evening, no one was
surprised to hear the wretched shrieks and cries of
Cassim's wife and Morgiana, telling everyone that Cassim
was dead. The day after Morgiana went to an old cobbler
near the gates of the town who opened his stall early, put
a piece of gold in his hand, and bade him follow her with
his needle and thread. Having bound his eyes with a
handkerchief, she took him to the room where the body
lay, pulled off the bandage, and bade him sew the quarters
together, after which she covered his eyes again and led
him home. Then they buried Cassim, and Morgiana his
slave followed him to the grave, weeping and tearing her
hair, while Cassim's wife stayed at home uttering lamentable
cries. Next day she went to live with Ali Baba, who
gave Cassim's shop to his eldest son.

The Forty Thieves, on their return to the cave, were
much astonished to find Cassim's body gone and some of
their money-bags. "We are certainly discovered," said
the Captain, "and shall be undone if we cannot find out
who it is that knows our secret. Two men must have
known it; we have killed one, we must now find the other.
To this end one of you who is bold and artful must go
into the city dressed as a traveler, and discover whom we
have killed, and whether men talk of the strange manner
of his death. If the messenger fails he must lose his life,
lest we be betrayed." One of the thieves started up and
offered to do this, and after the rest had highly commended
him for his bravery he disguised himself, and happened
to enter the town at daybreak, just by Baba Mustapha's
stall. The thief bade him good-day, saying: "Honest man,
how can you possibly see to stitch at your age?" "Old as
I am," replied the cobbler, "I have very good eyes, and
will you believe me when I tell you that I sewed a dead
body together in a place where I had less light than I have
now." The robber was overjoyed at his good fortune, and,
giving him a piece of gold, desired to be shown the house
where he stitched up the dead body. At first Mustapha
refused, saying that he had been blindfolded; but when
the robber gave him another piece of gold he began to
think he might remember the turnings if blindfolded as
before. This means succeeded; the robber partly led him,
and was partly guided by him, right in front of Cassim's
house, the door of which the robber marked with a piece
of chalk. Then, well pleased, he bade farewell to Baba
Mustapha and returned to the forest. By and by
Morgiana, going out, saw the mark the robber had made,
quickly guessed that some mischief was brewing, and
fetching a piece of chalk marked two or three doors on
each side, without saying anything to her master or
mistress.