gallant slave girl had not aroused him, nor indeed had she deemed such
action expedient, because had she sought an opportunity of reporting

to him her plan, she might haply have lost her chance and spoiled
the project. The sun was high over the horizon when Ali Baba walked

back from the baths, and he marveled exceedingly" target="_blank" title="ad.非常地，极度地">exceedingly to see the jars still
standing under the shed, and said: "How cometh it that he, the oil

merchant, my guest, hath not carried to the market his mules and
jars of oil?" She answered: "Allah Almighty vouchsafe to thee sixscore

years and ten of safety! I will tell thee in privacy of this
merchant."

So Ali Baba went apart with his slave girl, who, taking him without
the house, first locked the court door, then, showing him a jar, she

said, "Prithee look into this and see if within there be oil or
aught else."

Thereupon, peering inside it, he perceived a man, at which sight
he cried aloud and fain would have fled in his fright. Quoth Morgiana:

"Fear him not. This man hath no longer the force to work thee harm, he
lieth dead and stone-dead." Hearing such words of comfort and

reassurance, Ali Baba asked: "O Morgiana, what evils have we
escaped, and by what means hath this wretch become the quarry of

Fate?" She answered: "Alhamdolillah- praise be to Almighty Allah!- I
will inform thee fully of the case. But hush thee, speak not aloud,

lest haply the neighbors learn the secret and it end in our confusion.
Look now into all the jars, one by one from first to last." So Ali

Baba examined them severally and found in each a man fully armed and
accoutered, and all lay scalded to death. Hereat, speechless for sheer

amazement, he stared at the jars, but presently, recovering himself,
he asked, "And where is he, the oil merchant?" Answered she: "Of him

also I will inform thee. The villain was no trader, but a traitorous
assassin whose honeyed words would have ensnared thee to thy doom. And

now I will tell thee what he was and what hath happened, but meanwhile
thou art fresh from the hammam and thou shouldst first drink

somewhat of this broth for thy stomach's and thy health's sake." So
Ali Baba went within and Morgiana served up the mess, after which

quoth her master: "I fain would hear this wondrous story. Prithee tell
it to me, and set my heart at ease." Hereat the handmaid fell to

relating whatso had betided in these words:
"O my master, when thou badest me boil the broth and retiredst to

rest, thy slave in obedience to thy command took out a suit of clean
white clothes and gave it to the boy Abdullah, then kindled the fire

and set on the broth. As soon as it was ready I had need to light a
lamp so that I might see to skim it, but all the oil was spent, and,

learning this, I told my want to the slave boy Abdullah, who advised
me to draw somewhat from the jars which stood under the shed.

Accordingly I took a can and went to the first vessel, when suddenly I
heard a voice within whisper with all caution, 'Is it now time for

us to sally forth?' I was amazed thereat, and judged that the
pretended merchant had laid some plot to slay thee, so I replied, 'The

time is not yet come.' Then I went to the second jar and heard another
voice, to which I made the like answer, and so on with all of them.

I now was certified that these men awaited only some signal from their
chief, whom thou didst take to guest within thy walls supposing him to

he a merchant in oil, and that after thou receivedst him hospitably
the miscreant had brought these men to murther thee and to plunder thy

good and spoil thy house.
"But I gave him no opportunity to will his wish. The last jar I

found full of od, and taking somewhat therefrom, I lit the lamp. Then,
putting a large caldron upon the fire, I filled it up with oil which I

brought from the jar and made a fierce blaze under it, and when the
contents were seething hot, I took out sundry cansful with intent to

scald them all to death, and going to each jar in due order, I
poured within them, one by one, boiling oil. On this wise having

destroyed them utterly, I returned to the kitchen, and having
extinguished the lamps, stood by the window watching what might

happen, and how that false merchant would act next. Not long after I
had taken my station, the robber captain awoke and ofttimes signaled

to his thieves. Then, getting no reply, he came downstairs and went
out to the jars, and finding that all his men were slain, he fled

through the darkness, I know not whither. So when he had clean
disappeared I was assured that, the door being double-locked, he had

scaled the wall and dropped into the garden and made his escape.
Then with my heart at rest I slept."

And Morgiana, after telling her story to her master, presently
added: "This is the whole truth I have related to thee. For some

days indeed have I had inkling of such matter, but withheld it from
thee, deeming it inexpedient to risk the chance of its meeting the

neighbors' ears. Now, however, there is no help but to tell thee
thereof. One day as I came to the house door I espied thereon a

white chalk mark, and on the next day a red sign beside the white. I
knew not the intentwherewith the marks were made, nevertheless I

set others upon the entrances of sundry neighbors, judging that some
enemy had done this deed, hereby" target="_blank" title="ad.凭什么；靠那个">whereby to encompass my master's

destruction. Therefore I made the marks on all the other doors in such
perfect conformity with those I found that it would be hard to

distinguish amongst them. Judge now and see if these signs and all
this villainy be not the work of the bandits of the forest, who marked

our house that on such wise they might know it again. Of these forty
thieves there yet remain two others concerning whose case I know

naught, so beware of them, but chiefly of the third remaining
robber, their captain, who fled hence alive. Take good heed and be

thou cautious of him, for shouldst thou fall into his hands, he will
in no wise spare thee, but will surely murther thee. I will do all

that lieth in me to save from hurt and harm thy life and property, nor
shall thy slave be found wanting in any service to my lord."

Hearing these words, Ali Baba rejoiced with exceeding joyance and
said to her: "I am well pleased with thee for this thy conduct, and

say me what wouldst thou have me do in thy behalf. I shall not fail to
remember thy brave deed so long as breath in me remaineth." Quoth she:

"It behooveth us before all things forthright to bury these bodies
in the ground, that so the secret be not known to anyone." Hereupon

Ali Baba took with him his slave boy Abdullah into the garden and
there under a tree they dug for the corpses of the thieves a deep

pit in size proportionate to its contents, and they dragged the bodies
(having carried off their weapons) to the fosse and threw them in.

Then, covering up the remains of the seven and thirty robbers, they
made the ground appear level and clean as it wont to be. They also hid

the leathern jars and the gear and arms, and presently Ali Baba sent
the mules by ones and twos to the bazaar and sold them all with the

able aid of his slave boy Abdullah. Thus the matter was hushed up, nor
did it reach the ears of any. However, Ali Baba ceased not to be ill

at ease, lest haply the captain or the surviving two robbers should
wreak their vengeance on his head. He kept himself private with all

caution, and took heed that none learn a word of what had happened and
of the wealth which he had carried off from the bandits' cave.

Meanwhile the captain of the thieves, having escaped with his
life, fled to the forest in hot wrath and sore irk of mind, and his

senses were scattered and the color of his visage vanished like
ascending smoke. Then he thought the matter over again and again,

and at last he firmlyresolved" target="_blank" title="a.决心的；坚定的">resolved that he needs must take the life of Ali
Baba, else he would lose all the treasure which his enemy, by

knowledge of the magical words, would take away and turn to his own
use. Furthermore, he determined that he would undertake the business

singlehanded; and that after getting rid of Ali Baba, he would
gather together another band of banditti and would pursue his career

of brigandage, as indeed his forebears had done for many
generations. So he lay down to rest that night, and rising early in

the morning, donned a dress of suitable appearance, then, going to the
city, alighted at a caravanserai, thinking to himself: "Doubtless

the murther of so many men hath reached the wali's ears, and Ali
Baba hath been seized and brought to justice, and his house is leveled

and his good is confiscated. The townfolk must surely have heard
tidings of these matters." So he straightway asked of the keeper of

the khan, "What strange things have happened in the city during the