Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (Literature) - TV Tropes Page 1 of 5

Literature / Ali Baba and the Forty

Thieves

Kasim is stumped.

"Open sesame!"

"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" is a story from the Arabian Nights
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/ArabianNights).

Ali Baba, a poor woodcutter, stumbles on the treasure cave of a band of robbers,
which is magically sealed and must be opened by speaking the words "Open
Sesame". He takes some of the treasure from the cave and becomes rich, but his
brother Kasim, a greedy merchant, discovers this new wealth and demands to know
the secret of the cave. Unfortunately, once inside he forgets the magic password to
open the door, and subsequently he is discovered by the robbers and killed. They cut
his body into quarters and hang it up at the entrance to the cave. Ali Baba finds his

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brother's body, and buries him, doing what he can to disguise the cause of death, but
the robbers realize that someone else has discovered their hiding place. Their
attempts to identify Ali Baba and kill him are repeatedly foiled by a clever slave-girl
named Morgiana, and all the thieves wind up dead. Morgiana marries Kassim's son,
Ali Baba makes Kasim's widow his second wife, and the family lives happily ever
after.

Although the story is best-known as part of the Arabian Nights, and is one of the best-
known stories from the Arabian Nights, it appears to be a late ring-in. The earliest
existing written version is in the first European translation of the Arabian Nights,
published in the 18th century by Antoine Galland, and it's thought that he included the
tale from a separate source.

This story provides examples of:

Action Girl (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ActionGirl): Morgiana is
a borderline case. She personally kills 38 of the 40 thieves, and her last kill is up
close and personal, with a knife.
Asshole Victim (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AssholeVictim): In
some versions Kassim bullies or blackmails Ali Baba into revealing the secret of
the cave. You don't feel to sorry for him when he meets his fate.
Big Bad (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad): The chief bandit
of the 40 Thieves.
Blindfolded Trip (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlindfoldedTrip):
Morgiana does this with Baba Mustafa the tailor, leading him to Kasim's house
so Mustafa can stitch Kasim's body back together. This precaution fails when
the bandits arrive to seek Ali Baba on three separate trips the blindfolded
Mustafa successfully retraces his steps to lead the bandits to Kasim's house,
where Ali Baba is now living.
Canon Immigrant (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CanonImmigrant):
As noted above, this tale was not included in any of the ancient manuscripts that
make up the Arabian Nights and in fact there is no source for it before Antoine
Galland included it in his early 18th-century translation of the Arabian Nights into
French.
Character Name and the Noun Phrase
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CharacterNameAndTheNounPhras
e)
Dead Guy on Display
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeadGuyOnDisplay): Poor Kasim,
chopped up in quarters and hung outside the door to the cave as a warning.

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Decoy Protagonist
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DecoyProtagonist): Ali Baba is the
protagonist at first, but he pretty much stops being such after he recovers
Kasim's body; at that point, the story belongs to Morgiana, with Ali Baba now a
supporting character.
Desert Bandits (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DesertBandits): The
40 thieves rob caravans then place the bounty in their magic cave.
Faking the Dead (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FakingTheDead):
An odd case where the victim truly is dead but the manner of death needs to be
faked. Kasim's household spends two or three days building the ruse that their
master is desperately ill, so when he is finally pronounced 'dead' it raises no
suspicion.
Family-Unfriendly Death
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FamilyUnfriendlyDeath): In order to
infiltrate Ali-Baba's house the chief bandit poses as an oil merchant and hides
his men in large oil jars. (One of the jars actually does contain oil, to keep up the
ruse). When Morgiana discovers the hiding bandits, she dispatches them all by
heating the oil to boiling and pouring it over them.
Greed (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Greed): Kasim's Fatal Flaw
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FatalFlaw). He apparently intends to
loot the whole treasure cave in one take, lingers too long and forgets the
password.
Guile Hero (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GuileHero): Morgiana.
He Knows Too Much
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeKnowsTooMuch): At first, this is
the reason why the Bandit Chief devotes so much time to finding and killing Ali
Baba, to keep the location of his hoard a secret. (When all his men are dead,
however, it becomes a matter of self-preservation.)
Needle in a Stack of Needles
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeedleInAStackOfNeedles): One of
the thieves learns the location of Ali Baba's house, and puts a mark on his door.
While he's away fetching the rest of the thieves, Morgiana sees the mark, and
thinking quickly she puts the same mark on every other door in the street. A
second thief tries to mark the door more surreptitiously, but Morgana notices the
mark anyway and does the same thing. The leader of the thieves is smarter,
however, and chooses to study the house and area until he memorizes the
location.
Open Sesame (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OpenSesame): The
Trope Namer (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropeNamer). Also
requires a "Shut Sesame" upon leaving the cave.

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Sacred Hospitality
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SacredHospitality): A dinner guest
at Ali Baba's house says that he is unable to eat salt; his excuse is a dietary
restriction, but actually he's the bandit chief, come in disguise to kill Ali Baba,
and if he eats salt while he's a guest, he has "shared salt" with his host and is
bound by the laws of hospitality. Clever Morgiana quickly figures out that this
man is up to no good.
Slave Liberation (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SlaveLiberation):
Ali Baba frees Morgiana after she saves his life multiple times.
Spanner in the Works
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpannerInTheWorks): Ali Baba's
cover is blown when Baba Mustafa, the tailor, brags to a stranger that he is so
skilled he can sew a human body back together. Later, Kassim's son unwittingly
brings the bandit chief into Ali Baba's home.
Spell My Name with an "S"
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpellMyNameWithAnS): Depending
on the version of the story, Ali Baba's brother is either spelled "Kasim",
"Cassim", or "Kasym".
Standard Hero Reward
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StandardHeroReward): Ali Baba
marries his nephew to Morgiana as a reward for her heroism.
Stupid Evil (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StupidEvil): The Forty
Thieves are obsessed with finding Ali Baba to silence him, and just don't know
when to quit. They spend a fortune to find the place (as the tailor gets smart and
charges a larger fee each time) two of them are killed by the leader for messing
up, and when they finally do find his house, all of them but the leader are killed
in the attempt. But the leader still doesn't give up, and his final attempt gets him
killed. Relocating and setting up shop elsewhere may have been the smart
thing, but they clearly lacked smarts.
Treasure Room (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TreasureRoom):
The thieves' cave.
Try Everything (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TryEverything): Ali
Baba's brother Kasim attempts his own raid on the thieves' cave, but forgets the
password, attempting several different kinds of grain without recalling the right
one. "Open Barley?"
Women Are Wiser
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WomenAreWiser): Kassim's wife
discovers Ali Baba's new treasure; Morgiana foils all of the thieves' attempts to
harm him. Meanwhile, Kassim forgets how to exit the cave, and Ali Baba never
once realizes his life is in danger until Morgiana's already saved him.

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You Have Failed Me

(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YouHaveFailedMe): The bandit
leader kills two of his men who volunteer to find the house and mess up. (See
Needle in a Stack of Needles
(http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeedleInAStackOfNeedles),
above.) Then he wises up and decides to do it himself.

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