2020.03.22(星期日)

阿里巴巴和四十大盜

一個古老的故事

An ancient story

阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）是個貧窮的伐木工，有一個富有的兄弟卡西姆（Kasim），他從未與他的兄弟分享錢財。相反，他對妻子、兒子和阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）非常惡劣。有一天，當阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）在森林裡砍伐原木時，他看到很多人騎馬，他躲了起來。

他爬上一棵樹，看著四十個騎兵。這些人揹著裝滿黃金的馬鞍袋，然後把它們帶到了一塊大石頭上。其中一名男子喊道：「芝麻開門」，岩石中的一扇門打開，男子進入山洞。其他人緊隨其後。過了一會兒，他們出來了，領導又喊，「芝麻關門」。

小偷離開時，阿里·巴巴走到洞穴的入口。他說出了神奇的話，然後進入。他為堆積的金，絲綢，珠寶和金皇冠感到驚訝。覺得可以從盜賊那裡偷東西，阿里·巴巴決定為自己和家人帶回一些金子。

當他回到家時，他向妻子展示了金子。他的妻子想知道他們有多少黃金。她去卡西姆（Kasim）的房子借秤，這樣她就可以稱重黃金了。她不希望卡西姆和他的妻子知道黃金，所以她說他們在稱肉。卡西姆（Kasim）的妻子不相信阿里巴巴（Ali Baba）的妻子，並想知道他們在哪裡可以得到買肉的錢。

她通過在秤底里放蜂蜜來欺騙阿里·巴巴的妻子。第二天，阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）的妻子將秤歸還時，蜂蜜上貼了一個金幣。卡西姆的妻子知道他們的秘密。當她告訴卡西姆（Kasim）他哥哥的金子時，他很嫉妒。

他去了阿里巴巴（Ali Baba）的房子，問他哥哥在哪裡買的。當阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）看到金幣時，他告訴他的兄弟有關洞穴和40個小偷的事情。第二天早上，卡西姆帶著十隻驢子帶著十個巨大的箱子去了山洞。他通過說出密碼進入了房間，但是他忘記了要出來的魔咒。

小偷在裡面發現他並殺死了他。當卡西姆沒有回來時，阿里·巴巴去找他。他發現他哥哥的屍體懸在洞穴內，並將屍體帶回家。在卡辛（Kasim）的僕人瑪莉娜（Marjaneh）的幫助下，他們為卡辛（Kasim）埋葬了，卻沒人知道他的死因。

小偷發現屍體已經消失了，很快就意識到其他人知道他們的秘密。他們開始在城裡尋找他。他們提出了許多計劃來尋找那個人。但是，每次他們的計畫都被聰明的Marjaneh破解了。小偷最終找到了他們要找的那個人的房子。他們不知道他的名字阿里·巴巴。

盜賊的首領制定了一個計畫，要殺死偷東西的那個人。 他買了二十隻驢子和四十個有鬆蓋的大油壺。 他給驢子各裝了兩個罐子，並在一個罐子裡裝了油。 他告訴他的三十九個人拿著劍和匕首，藏在罐子裡。 他命令他們準備好跳出並襲擊偷走他們的人。

領袖把第四十個罐子裝滿油。然後，他去了阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）的家，假裝自己是一個石油商人，需要過夜。阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）給了他食物和一張床，還有一個馬廄。小偷把他的四十個罐子放在院子裡排成一排。

Marjaneh發現了他的計畫，並向他們倒了沸騰的油，殺死了所有39個人。當領袖找到他的士兵為什麼不准備戰鬥的時候，他看到他們都死了，他逃跑了。幾週後，小偷的首領偽裝成商人回到鎮上。他很快與阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）的兒子哈立德（Khaled）成為朋友，哈立德將他帶回家吃晚飯。

阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）邀請他進屋，但馬里亞內（Marjaneh）很快就懷疑了他。晚餐後，Marjaneh用匕首表演了舞蹈以招待客人。完成時，她舉起匕首殺死了晚餐客人。

四十名小偷全部死亡，阿里·巴巴及其家人一勞永逸。阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）對瑪雅妮（Marjaneh）印象深刻，以至於他將兒子獻給她作為丈夫。 Khaled快樂地與Marjaneh結婚，並有了一個孩子。阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）決定向哈立德（Khaled）展示寶藏。 Khaled承諾，當他足夠大時，他也將向兒子展示洞穴。因此，阿里·巴巴（Ali Baba）和他的家人再也不貧窮。

Ali Baba and Forty Thieves :

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter, had a rich brother, Kasim, who never shared any of his money with his brother. Instead, he treated Ali Baba, his wife and son badly. One day, as Ali Baba finished cutting logs in the forest, he saw lots of men on horses and he hid.

He climbed up a tree and watched the forty horsemen. The men had saddlebags full of gold and they took them to a big rock. One of the men cried, ‘Open, Sesame’, and a door in the rock opened and the man entered the cave. The others followed. After a while they came out and the leader cried, ‘Close, Sesame’.

When the thieves left, Ali Baba walked to the entrance of the cave. He said the magic words and entered. He was amazed by all the gold, silk, jewels and gold crowns piled up. Feeling it was alright to steal from thieves, Ali Baba decided to take some gold home for himself and his family.

When he got home, he showed the gold to his wife. His wife wanted to know how much gold they had. She went to Kasim’s house to borrow his wife’s scales so she could weigh the gold. She did not want Kasim and his wife to know about the gold, so she said they were weighing meat. Kasim’s wife did not believe Ali Baba’s wife and wondered where they could have got the money to buy meat.

She tricked Ali Baba’s wife by putting honey in the bottom of one of the pans. When Ali Baba’s wife returned the scales the next day, a gold coin was stuck to the honey. Kasim’s wife knew their secret. When she told Kasim about his brother’s gold, he was jealous.

He went to Ali Baba’s house and asked his brother where he got it. When Ali Baba saw the gold coin, he told his brother about the cave and the forty thieves. The next morning, Kasim went to the cave with ten donkeys carrying ten huge chests. He got inside by saying the password but he forgot the magic words to get back out.

The thieves found him inside and killed him. When Kasim did not come back, Ali Baba went to look for him. He found his brother’s body hanging inside the cave and brought the body home. With the help of Marjaneh, Kasim’s servant girl, they gave Kasim a good burial without anybody wondering about the cause of his death.

The thieves found that the body had gone and soon realized that somebody else must know their secret. They set out to look for him in town. They came up with many plans to find the man. However, each time their plans were foiled by the clever Marjaneh. The thieves eventually found the house of the man they were looking for. They did not know his name, Ali Baba.

The leader of the thieves made a plan to kill the man who had stolen from them. He bought twenty donkeys and forty large clay oil jars with loose lids. He loaded the donkeys with two jars each and filled one jar with oil. He told his thirty-nine men to take their swords and daggers and to hide inside the jars. He gave them orders to be ready to jump out and attack the man who stole from them.

The leader filled the fortieth jar with oil. He then went to Ali Baba’s house, pretending to be an oil merchant in need of a bed for the night. Ali Baba gave him food and a bed and a stable for his donkeys. The thief left his forty jars in a long row in the courtyard.

Marjaneh discovered his plan and killed all thirty-nine men by pouring boiling oil on them. When the leader came to find why his men were not ready to fight, he saw they were all dead and he ran away. A few weeks later the leader of the thieves went back to the town, disguised as a merchant. He soon became friends with Ali Baba’s son, Khaled, who took him home for dinner.

Ali Baba invited him inside, but Marjaneh soon grew suspicious of the man. After dinner, Marjaneh performed a dance with daggers to entertain the guest. As she finished, she raised her dagger and killed the dinner guest.

All forty thieves were dead and Ali Baba and his family were safe once and for all. Ali Baba was so impressed with Marjaneh that he offered his son to her for her husband. Khaled happily married Marjaneh and they had a baby. Ali Baba decided to show Khaled the cave with the treasure. Khaled promised that he, too, would show his son the cave when he was old enough. And so Ali Baba and his family were never poor again.