Alibaba and Forty Thieves

Alibaba and the 45th

阿里巴巴与四十大盗

Chapter 1 A Secret Cave Long ago in Persia, there lived two brothers. Qasim was the rich merchant, but Ali Baba was only a poor woodcutter.

第一章 神秘洞穴 很久以前，波斯住着两兄弟。 卡西姆是个有钱的商人，可阿里巴巴只是个贫穷的樵夫。

While Qasim rent a large store in town, Alibaba spent his time collecting firewood. He would gather twigs and branches to sell at the market. It's a hard life. One day, Alibaba spotted a band of horsemen galloping into the wood. They had daggers and looked dangerous. Quickly, he hid in a tree. The men started at a cliff near Alibaba's tree. Open sesame! cried their leader and a hoe appeared in the rock. Silently they went in.

卡西姆在城里租了一间大商铺，阿里巴巴却天天上山砍柴。 他会把捡来的细枝和柴捆拿到集市上去卖。 日子过得十分辛苦。 有一天，阿里巴巴看见一群骑马的人冲进了树林。 他们都带着匕首，看起来很危险，阿里巴巴赶紧躲到了树上。 那群人停在阿里巴巴躲的树旁边的悬崖下。 “芝麻开门！” 他们的首领大喊一声，岩石上出现了一个洞口，一行人悄悄走了进去。

That's amazing! thought Alipaba. He wanted to explore but he was scared of them. After a long wait, he saw the rock open again. He counted the men as they hurried out. There were 40 of them. Shut, sesame! said their leader. The rock closed and the men rode away. Follow me, man! Alipaba slid down from his tree. He tried the magic words. Open sesame! Instantly, the rock opened. Alipaba grabbed inside and gasped. The cave was crammed with treasure.

太神奇了！阿里巴巴心想，他想去洞里一探究竟，可又害怕那群人。 等了好半天，他看见岩石再次打开，他数了数匆匆走出来的人。 一共有40个人。 “芝麻关门！”首领说道，岩石合上，那群人骑马离开了。 太好了，我去看看！ 阿里巴巴从树上滑下来，试着念出那句魔法咒语。 “芝麻开门！” 岩石立刻就打开了。 阿里巴巴探头往里一看，不由得倒吸一口凉气，洞里堆满了金银财宝。

Those men must be thieves! he thought. They won't miss a few coins. And he filled four bags with gold. He turned to go, but the rock had closed behind him. Help! Open sesame! he cried. The rock slid open and he darted out. Shut sesame! he added before racing home. Alibaba's wife was stunned to see his bags full of gold instead of wood. I must be dreaming! she sighed. Then Alibaba told her the whole story. We should hide the gold! she said. But first let's find out how rich we are!

这些人肯定是盗贼！他心想。 他们不会发现少了几枚金币的。 于是他往四个袋子里装满了金子。 他转身要走，却发现岩石已经在他身后合上了。 救命啊！ “芝麻开门！”他大喊道。 岩石滑开，他飞快地冲了出去。 “芝麻关门！”他补上一句，然后急急忙忙往家赶。 阿里巴巴的妻子看见他拎的袋子里装满了金子而不是木柴，惊讶极了。 我一定是在做梦！她感叹道。 接着阿里巴巴把整件事都告诉了她。 我们得把金子藏起来！她说。 不过先得弄清楚我们到底有多少钱！

She ran to Kasim's house and asked to borrow his wife's scales. Kasim's wife wondered why. Secretly, she smeared some wax on the scales before handing them over. Thank you! When the scales came back, Kasim's wife found a gold coin stuck to the wax. She showed it to Kasim. Your brother isn't a poor man after all! She cried. He waits his gold! The next day, Kasim took the coin to Alipaba. Tell me where this came from! He ordered. Alipaba couldn't lie to his brother. So he told him about the cave.

她跑到卡西姆家，想借卡西姆妻子的秤用用。 卡西姆的妻子很好奇她借秤做什么。 她偷偷在秤底抹了些蜡，才把秤递出去。 谢谢你啦！ 等秤还回来的时候，卡西姆的妻子发现蜡上粘了一枚金币。 她把金币拿给卡西姆看。 你弟弟根本就不是穷人！ 她大喊道。 他肯定是用这秤称金子呢！ 第二天，卡西姆拿着金币去找阿里巴巴。 告诉我这是从哪来的！ 他命令道，阿里巴巴没法对哥哥撒谎。 于是他把洞穴的事告诉了卡西姆。