Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Vietnamese Folktales English Up

Once upon a time, in a great city of the Persian kingdom, there lived two brothers. The elder brother, Kasim, had married a wealthy woman and lived in luxury, surrounded by riches. But the younger brother, Ali Baba, had married a poor girl whom he loved dearly. They worked hard from morning till night, yet their life remained very difficult. Every day, Ali Baba would take his donkey into the forest to gather firewood. One day, as Ali Baba was chopping wood in the forest, he suddenly heard the sound of hooves and loud voices coming from afar. He quickly climbed up a tall tree to hide and watch what was happening. A group of horsemen rode up to a large rock and jumped off their horses, laughing and talking loudly. Today is our lucky day! Look how much gold and silver we've stolen! one of them shouted. Ali Baba thought to himself, so these are bandits. Then, the thieves walked up to a huge rock. Their leader shouted loudly, Open sesame, open sesame! The giant rock slowly moved aside, revealing the entrance to a hidden cave. The bandits led their horses inside. After a while, they came back out. The leader turned toward the cave and called out, Close sesame! The rock rolled back into place, hiding the entrance as if nothing had ever happened. The thieves climbed onto their horses and rode away. He walked up to the rock and boldly shouted, Open sesame! To his amazement, the rock moved, and the cave opened wide before him. Inside, Ali Baba saw a mountain of gold, jewels, and treasures like he had never seen in his life. He stood in awe for a moment, speechless with wonder. Then, quickly gathering two baskets full of gold and precious jewels, he ran outside and said, Close sesame! The rock closed behind him just as it had before. Ali Baba loaded the treasure onto his donkey and returned home. When his wife saw all the gold and jewels he had brought back, she was stunned. Where did you get all this treasure? You didn't steal it, did you? She asked. Ali Baba told her everything that had happened in the forest. The next day, Ali Baba's wife, dressed in fine jewelry, went to visit Kasim's house. Only her sister-in-law was home. She gifted some of the beautiful jewels to her which both surprised and delighted her. But at the same time, the sister-in-law couldn't help but feel jealous.