Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 01 (34 page)

The thief, meantime, told his comrades of his discovery.
The Captain thanked him, and bade him show him the
house he had marked. But when they came to it they
saw that five or six of the houses were chalked in the same
manner. The guide was so confounded that he knew not
what answer to make, and when they returned he was at
once beheaded for having failed. Another robber was
dispatched, and, having won over Baba Mustapha, marked
the house in red chalk; but Morgiana being again too
clever for them, the second messenger was put to death
also. The Captain now resolved to go himself, but, wiser
than the others, he did not mark the house, but looked at
it so closely that he could not fail to remember it. He
returned, and ordered his men to go into the neighboring
villages and buy nineteen mules, and thirty-eight leather
jars, all empty except one, which was full of oil. The
Captain put one of his men, fully armed, into each, rubbing
the outside of the jars with oil from the full vessel.
Then the nineteen mules were loaded with thirty-seven
robbers in jars, and the jar of oil, and reached the town
by dusk. The Captain stopped his mules in front of Ali
Baba's house, and said to Ali Baba, who was sitting outside
for coolness: "I have brought some oil from a distance
to sell at to-morrow's market, but it is now so late that
I know not where to pass the night, unless you will do
me the favor to take me in." Though Ali Baba had seen
the Captain of the robbers in the forest, he did not
recognize him in the disguise of an oil merchant. He bade him
welcome, opened his gates for the mules to enter, and
went to Morgiana to bid her prepare a bed and supper for
his guest. He brought the stranger into his hall, and after
they had supped went again to speak to Morgiana in the
kitchen, while the Captain went into the yard under pretense
of seeing after his mules, but really to tell his men
what to do. Beginning at the first jar and ending at the
last, he said to each man: "As soon as I throw some
stones from the window of the chamber where I lie, cut
the jars open with your knives and come out, and I will
be with you in a trice." He returned to the house, and
Morgiana led him to his chamber. She then told Abdallah,
her fellow-slave, to set on the pot to make some broth for
her master, who had gone to bed. Meanwhile her lamp
went out, and she had no more oil in the house. "Do not
be uneasy," said Abdallah; "go into the yard and take
some out of one of those jars." Morgiana thanked him
for his advice, took the oil pot, and went into the yard.
When she came to the first jar the robber inside said
softly: "Is it time?"

Any other slave but Morgiana, on finding a man in the
jar instead of the oil she wanted, would have screamed
and made a noise; but she, knowing the danger her master
was in, bethought herself of a plan, and answered quietly:
"Not yet, but presently." She went to all the jars, giving
the same answer, till she came to the jar of oil. She now
saw that her master, thinking to entertain an oil merchant,
had let thirty-eight robbers into his house. She filled her
oil pot, went back to the kitchen, and, having lit her
lamp, went again to the oil jar and filled a large kettle full
of oil. When it boiled she went and poured enough oil
into every jar to stifle and kill the robber inside. When
this brave deed was done she went back to the kitchen,
put out the fire and the lamp, and waited to see what
would happen.

In a quarter of an hour the Captain of the robbers
awoke, got up, and opened the window. As all seemed
quiet, he threw down some little pebbles which hit the
jars. He listened, and as none of his men seemed to stir
he grew uneasy, and went down into the yard. On going
to the first jar and saying, "Are you asleep?" he smelt the
hot boiled oil, and knew at once that his plot to murder
Ali Baba and his household had been discovered. He
found all the gang was dead, and, missing the oil out of
the last jar, became aware of the manner of their death.
He then forced the lock of a door leading into a garden,
and climbing over several walls made his escape. Morgiana
heard and saw all this, and, rejoicing at her success,
went to bed and fell asleep.

At daybreak Ali Baba arose, and, seeing the oil jars
still there, asked why the merchant had not gone with his
mules. Morgiana bade him look in the first jar and see if
there was any oil. Seeing a man, he started back in
terror. "Have no fear," said Morgiana; "the man cannot
harm you: he is dead." Ali Baba, when he had recovered
somewhat from his astonishment, asked what had become
of the merchant. "Merchant!" said she, "he is no more a
merchant than I am!" and she told him the whole story,
assuring him that it was a plot of the robbers of the forest,
of whom only three were left, and that the white and red
chalk marks had something to do with it. Ali Baba at
once gave Morgiana her freedom, saying that he owed
her his life. They then buried the bodies in Ali Baba's
garden, while the mules were sold in the market by his
slaves.

The Captain returned to his lonely cave, which seemed
frightful to him without his lost companions, and firmly
resolved to avenge them by killing Ali Baba. He dressed
himself carefully, and went into the town, where he took
lodgings in an inn. In the course of a great many journeys
to the forest he carried away many rich stuffs and much
fine linen, and set up a shop opposite that of Ali Baba's
son. He called himself Cogia Hassan, and as he was both
civil and well dressed he soon made friends with Ali
Baba's son, and through him with Ali Baba, whom he
was continually asking to sup with him. Ali Baba, wishing
to return his kindness, invited him into his house and
received him smiling, thanking him for his kindness to his
son. When the merchant was about to take his leave Ali
Baba stopped him, saying: "Where are you going, sir, in
such haste? Will you not stay and sup with me?" The
merchant refused, saying that he had a reason; and, on
Ali Baba's asking him what that was, he replied: "It is,
sir, that I can eat no victuals that have any salt in them."
"If that is all," said Ali Baba, "let me tell you that there
shall be no salt in either the meat or the bread that we eat
to-night." He went to give this order to Morgiana, who
was much surprised. "Who is this man," she said, "who
eats no salt with his meat?" "He is an honest man,
Morgiana," returned her master; "therefore do as I bid you."
But she could not withstand a desire to see this strange
man, so she helped Abdallah to carry up the dishes, and
saw in a moment that Cogia Hassan was the robber
Captain, and carried a dagger under his garment. "I am
not surprised," she said to herself, "that this wicked
man, who intends to kill my master, will eat no salt with
him; but I will hinder his plans."

She sent up the supper by Abdallah, while she made
ready for one of the boldest acts that could be thought on.
When the dessert had been served, Cogia Hassan was left
alone with Ali Baba and his son, whom he thought to
make drunk and then to murder them. Morgiana, meanwhile,
put on a head-dress like a dancing-girl's, and clasped
a girdle round her waist, from which hung a dagger with a
silver hilt, and said to Abdallah: "Take your tabor, and
let us go and divert our master and his guest." Abdallah
took his tabor and played before Morgiana until they
came to the door, where Abdallah stopped playing and
Morgiana made a low courtesy. "Come in, Morgiana,"
said Ali Baba, "and let Cogia Hassan see what you can
do"; and, turning to Cogia Hassan, he said: "She's my
slave and my housekeeper." Cogia Hassan was by no
means pleased, for he feared that his chance of killing Ali
Baba was gone for the present; but he pretended great
eagerness to see Morgiana, and Abdallah began to play
and Morgiana to dance. After she had performed several
dances she drew her dagger and made passes with it,
sometimes pointing it at her own breast, sometimes at her
master's, as if it were part of the dance. Suddenly, out
of breath, she snatched the tabor from Abdallah with her
left hand, and, holding the dagger in her right hand, held
out the tabor to her master. Ali Baba and his son put a
piece of gold into it, and Cogia Hassan, seeing that she
was coming to him, pulled out his purse to make her a
present, but while he was putting his hand into it
Morgiana plunged the dagger into his heart.

"Unhappy girl!" cried Ali Baba and his son, "what have
you done to ruin us?"

"It was to preserve you, master, not to ruin you,"
answered Morgiana. "See here," opening the false
merchant's garment and showing the dagger; "see what an
enemy you have entertained! Remember, he would eat
no salt with you, and what more would you have? Look
at him! he is both the false oil merchant and the Captain
of the Forty Thieves."

Ali Baba was so grateful to Morgiana for thus saving
his life that he offered her to his son in marriage, who
readily consented, and a few days after the wedding was
celebrated with greatest splendor.

At the end of a year Ali Baba, hearing nothing of the
two remaining robbers, judged they were dead, and set
out to the cave. The door opened on his saying: "Open
Sesame!" He went in, and saw that nobody had been
there since the Captain left it. He brought away as much
gold as he could carry, and returned to town. He told
his son the secret of the cave, which his son handed down
in his turn, so the children and grandchildren of Ali Baba
were rich to the end of their lives.
[19]

Once upon a time there dwelt on the outskirts of a
large forest a poor woodcutter with his wife and two
children; the boy was called Hansel and the girl Grettel.
He had always little enough to live on, and once, when
there was a great famine in the land, he couldn't even
provide them with daily bread. One night, as he was tossing
about in bed, full of cares and worry, he sighed and said
to his wife: "What's to become of us? how are we to
support our poor children, now that we have nothing
more for ourselves?" "I'll tell you what, husband,"
answered the woman; "early to-morrow morning we'll
take the children out into the thickest part of the wood;
there we shall light a fire for them and give them each a
piece of bread; then we'll go on to our work and leave
them alone. They won't be able to find their way home,
and we shall thus be rid of them." "No, wife," said her
husband, "that I won't do; how could I find it in my
heart to leave my children alone in the wood? The wild
beasts would soon come and tear them to pieces." "Oh!
you fool," said she, "then we must all four die of hunger,
and you may just as well go and plane the boards for our
coffins"; and she left him no peace till he consented. "But
I can't help feeling sorry for the poor children," added the
husband.

The children, too, had not been able to sleep for hunger,
and had heard what their step-mother had said to their
father. Grettel wept bitterly and spoke to Hansel: "Now
it's all up with us." "No, no, Grettel," said Hansel,
"don't fret yourself; I'll be able to find a way to escape,
no fear." And when the old people had fallen asleep he
got up, slipped on his little coat, opened the back door and
stole out. The moon was shining clearly, and the white
pebbles which lay in front of the house glittered like bits
of silver. Hansel bent down and filled his pocket with as
many of them as he could cram in. Then he went back
and said to Grettel: "Be comforted, my dear little sister,
and go to sleep: God will not desert us"; and he lay down
in bed again.

At daybreak, even before the sun was up, the woman
came and woke the two children: "Get up, you lie-abeds,
we're all going to the forest to fetch wood." She gave
them each a bit of bread and said: "There's something for
your luncheon, but don't you eat it up before, for it's all
you'll get." Grettel took the bread under her apron, as
Hansel had the stones in his pocket. Then they all set
out together on the way to the forest. After they had
walked for a little, Hansel stood still and looked back at
the house, and this maneuver he repeated again and again.
His father observed him, and said: "Hansel, what are you
gazing at there, and why do you always remain behind?
Take care, and don't lose your footing." "Oh! father,"
said Hansel, "I am looking back at my white kitten,
which is sitting on the roof, waving me a farewell." The
woman exclaimed: "What a donkey you are! that isn't
your kitten, that's the morning sun shining on the chimney."
But Hansel had not looked back at his kitten, but
had always dropped one of the white pebbles out of his
pocket on to the path.

When they had reached the middle of the forest the
father said: "Now, children, go and fetch a lot of wood,
and I'll light a fire that you may not feel cold." Hansel
and Grettel heaped up brushwood till they had made a
pile nearly the size of a small hill. The brushwood was
set fire to, and when the flames leaped high the woman
said: "Now lie down at the fire, children, and rest
yourselves: we are going into the forest to cut down wood;
when we've finished we'll come back and fetch you."
Hansel and Grettel sat down beside the fire, and at midday
ate their little bits of bread. They heard the strokes
of the axe, so they thought their father was quite near.
But it was no axe they heard, but a bough he had tied on
a dead tree, and that was blown about by the wind. And
when they had sat for a long time their eyes closed with
fatigue, and they fell fast asleep. When they awoke at
last it was pitch dark. Grettel began to cry, and said:
"How are we ever to get out of the wood?" But Hansel
comforted her. "Wait a bit," he said, "till the moon is
up, and then we'll find our way sure enough." And when
the full moon had risen he took his sister by the hand and
followed the pebbles, which shone like new threepenny
bits, and showed them the path. They walked on through
the night, and at daybreak reached their father's house
again. They knocked at the door, and when the woman
opened it she exclaimed: "You naughty children, what
a time you've slept in the wood! we thought you were
never going to come back." But the father rejoiced, for
his conscience had reproached him for leaving his children
behind by themselves.