The Arabian Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern stories told by a Queen to her husband who wished to kill her moved him so much that he gave up his cruel ambition. The stories have been told and handed down through the generations. However, I have just started to read the rest of the stories apart from the ones in them that interest me the most, Aladdin and Ali Baba, the former of which is the only Chinese story in the Arabian Nights and the former of which (in my opinion) is the best of all the other Arabic tales of the Arabian Nights
These stories have been printed in various versions and many movies as well as television shows have been made about them. Disney and Anime have both done so but Disney indirectly and Anime more directly. Anime’s version of the story was told in the series ‘My Favourite Fairy Tales’ which depicted some of the most famous fairy tales in the world although for the most part, some of them like Snow White were inaccurate (probably the only exception was The Little Mermaid which was far more faithful to the original story than Disney was although a much more faithful version of the tale also released fourteen years before the Disney film)
Ali Baba was also covered but like some of the other fairy tales in the series, apart from its storyline, it strayed away from most of the content presented in the original tale which is revealed here and differentiates it from what was part of the Arabian Nights
– Vikram
- The Anime version is set in Persia whereas it is not known were in the Arabian world the original story happens.
(OPEN SESAME!) - Nothing is mentioned about the father of Casim and Ali Baba whose wealth and business was inherited by the former before he married another wealthy woman although it continues with Ali Baba being the poor woodcutter that he is. Like some versions of the story however, Casim is shown as rude and devious in addition to being greedy and ambitious as much as his brother is honest and hardworking.
(OPEN SESAME!) - Ali Baba had many donkeys to carry the wood that he cut in the original story but he has only one in the Anime version. When he is introduced to the forty thieves upon spying on them, his donkeys who are loyal to him, obey his instructions to remain hidden until he returns from the perch of the tree where he is hiding although in the Anime story, he and his donkey are at their timbering duty on a hill just near the cave and he gives the donkey no instructions to remain hidden.
(OPEN SESAME!) - The forty thieves are not named in the original story let alone their cruel leader who is known as ‘The Pacca’ or simply ‘Pacca’ in the Anime version. They are implied to be well-known in the community while the original leaves it ambiguous as to whether or not this is the case.
(OPEN SESAME!) - Unlike the original story (while the cave opens at the command ‘Open Sesame’ to open it) the closing of the cave is not triggered by the words ‘Hemasas Nepo’ to seal it. The original tale uses ‘Open Sesame’ to open and ‘Close Sesame’ to close although Ali Baba once successful testing use of the cave once the thieves have finished also takes just one bag of gold home much as he does in the original story.
(OPEN SESAME!) - Due to the difficulty in counting the money in terms of time, Ali Baba and his wife borrow a measuring cup from Casim’s wife to count money discreetly. Casim’s wife becomes suspicious (since they do not have enough money for so much flour as they claim they wish to use the cup for) and uses wax in the cup to reveal Ali Baba’s newfound wealth. In the Anime version, Casim learns about this from his sister-in-law and agrees with his wife’s disbelief after she pours wax into the cup to reveal her brother-in-law’s wealth. However, in the original fairy tale, Casim does not verbally abuse his wife (neither is she teasingly used to it), and she is portrayed as doubtful and curious in the original story, not ill-meaning as in the Anime version.
(OPEN SESAME!) - In the Anime version, upon their discovery, that Ali Baba has gold, Casim and his wife believe that if he gives his slave girl Morgiana to his brother, then he will tell him where he found the gold. In the story that inspired the Anime version however Morgiana was always in the service of Ali Baba although she divided her time between him and Casim and Casim simply goes to ask his brother where he found the gold at which Ali Baba tells him of the cave and how to access it.
(OPEN SESAME!) - In different versions of the tale, Casim takes either one horse or multiple horses (or mules) to retrieve the gold from the cave. The Anime version, inspired by the story, shows Casim taking all his horses to get the treasure. His greed leads him to forget how to open the cave, mirroring the original version. When the thieves arrive, his fate remains grim, but the specifics vary. While the original version depicts the thieves cutting his body after killing him (as a warning sign for others who discover the cave), newer versions have him beaten and left in the cave to die. Some versions show Casim joining the robbers after betraying his brother and revealing the cave’s location. In the end, he fights the lead robber, and both of them succumb to their wounds.
(OPEN SESAME!) - Casim’s wife does not seem to be bothered about her relationship with her husband and is never seen again after she partakes in helping Casim expose evidence of his brother having found gold. In the original story, she deeply cares for her husband and goes to her brother-in-law for help upon which he takes it upon himself to find him and is distraught to see his brother either brutally murdered or beaten nearly to death but still takes home what is left of Casim all the same.
(OPEN SESAME!) - A character who is absent in the Anime version of Ali Baba is Baba Mustapha, a skilled tailor, shoemaker, and practitioner of Apothecary, who is approached by Morgiana to tend to Casim. Whether Casim is cut up or beaten, Morgiana instructs Baba Mustapha not to reveal anything and leads him blindfolded both to Cassim’s house and back (paying him for his service). After attempting to treat Casim’s wounds and failing, he admits it is the first time he could not save someone if the version depicts a mortally wounded Cassim. When Casim dies of his wounds and is mourned by everyone upon burial (the message being spread by Morgiana), Ali Baba goes to live in his sister-in-law’s house with his wife while his son takes over Casim’s business.
(OPEN SESAME!) - When the thieves return to the cave and find Casim missing, they realize that someone else knows about the cave as well (and retrieved him) since their victim would not have vanished if someone did not know. In the Anime version, before his death at the hands of the robbers, Casim admits that he was told of the cave by Ali Baba upon which the lead robber takes it upon himself to find Ali Baba and does not know that it is him right away although he still sends one of his men to find out who else knows of their secret advantage in storing their treasured loot
(OPEN SESAME!) - The robber who is instructed by his master to find out who else knows about the cave approaches Baba Mustapha when he is interested in buying shoes and upon he asking him how long he has made shoes for, the tailor-shoemaker talks of his career even in curing people apart from talking about his main career in making shoes. He even goes onto mention how he failed to save a man for the first time (some versions saying that he simply stitched up a mutilated body and was given a bag of gold for doing so) and deducing that the man is Casim who he and his friends killed, the robber asks Baba Mustapha to retrace his footsteps since he was asked not to see where he was going and asks to be blindfolded again upon which thanks to his memory, the tailor-shoemaker arrives at the house of Ali Baba and upon directing the thief to Ali Baba’s house (despite his closed eyes), the thief puts a cross mark on it before taking the tailor shoemaker back and leaving although unlike the original story the thief charged with this task has no name like Achmed and he is not the most trusted man of the lead robber’s men. Morgiana while protecting her master by marking all houses with crosses in the same manner after having seen the thief doing so, believes that if it were the work of children then only one house would not be marked
(OPEN SESAME!) - When the thieves return to find Ali Baba’s house thanks to it being marked by the thief who was charged by his master and friend to do so in the first place and they find all the doors marked, the thief who was charged with the task is killed for his failure before the leader instructs another of his men to carry out the similar task due to knowing about Baba Mustapha from the man who was killed, he find the tailor-shoemaker who leads him there again with closed eyes and tells directs him to where the house is although Morgiana again sees what is happening and upon a red cross being marked this time and a chip carved out of the stone step, she does the same thing to each house nearby and upon failing to identify the house thanks to this, the second thief is killed for his failure as well before the lead thief again takes Baba Mustapha’s help and without making any mark, simply memorises the house through its exterior and placement although Baba Mustapha, sensing something amiss refuses to help anyone else who wants to undergo a similar visit and informs Morgiana of the recent turn of events, a sentiment which she shares in terms of his not wanting anyone else to discover Ali Baba’s house unless they are friends of his
(OPEN SESAME!) - Once the thieves find out about Ali Baba’s discovery of the cave, they make their plans to purchase jars at the behest of their master who will pose as an oil merchant leaving only one jar applicable for oil while his men hide in the other jars and are meant to kill Ali Baba at their leader’s orders. However it is unclear what animals are used to bring in the jars, be it the robbers’ horses themselves or camels or donkeys depending on the version but unlike the Anime version where the disguised robber chief requests a place from Ali Baba to stay the latter verbally gives thought and immediately the robber chief invites himself in which Ali Baba complies. However in the original story when the robber chief asked for permission to stay, Ali Baba did agree so right away because of seeing how much the man was carrying
(OPEN SESAME!) - In the Anime version of Ali Baba when Morgiana is given permission to use the oil in one of the jars for lighting the lamps during the dinner when the lead robber is with Ali Baba and his wife, she hears the voice of the thieves and deducing that her master’s life is in danger, heats up the oil she finds and pours it onto the robbers, causing each of them to hysterically scream from their pain and run away (although it is unknown why their leader does not hear them). The original story states that when she pours the oil on the robbers in their jars, it kills them instantly
(OPEN SESAME!) - The lead robber upon being exposed by Morgiana in the Anime version is about to be killed by her during the sword dance, and staggering out of the house orders his men to help him but they are gone, having run away from the pain of the oil poured on them and this causes the leader to escape himself, never to be heard from again. In the original story, he simply goes to call his men to launch the attack on Ali Baba and when he finds them all dead, escapes on his horse. In some versions to cease the brutality of the original story, he is never heard from again
(OPEN SESAME!) - What is not mentioned in the Anime version of the tale is that following his escape after his failure to kill Ali Baba, the lead robber takes up a new disguise as a merchant and befriends Ali Baba’s son. Upon being introduced to Ali Baba (whom he already knows), Morgiana recognizes him again and when she performs a sword dance at the blessing of her master, kills the lead robber on the spot during the performance. Ali Baba is angry with Morgiana but his rage turns to gratitude immediately when he hears from her of how the lead robber intended to kill him
(OPEN SESAME!) - Many versions of Ali Baba tell a different story as to how Morgiana is given her freedom by Ali Baba before marrying his son. The original story states that following foiling the robbers’ plan by killing the lead robber’s men through the pouring of hot oil, resulting in his escape, Ali Baba is grateful and frees her after which he marries her to his son when she kills the lead robber. After the lead robber escapes following the death of his men in the Anime version, Ali Baba takes Morgiana to his son (named Abdallah) and tells her that they both can marry (the story also implies that Ali Baba’s son wanted to marry Morgiana before). She realizes that Ali Baba’s words mark her freedom as a slave girl that Ali Baba grants her before she marries his son
(OPEN SESAME!) - Different versions of Ali Baba tell a different story as to how he uses the cave after the death of the robbers. In most cases, he is left as the only one knowing the secret of the cave and uses the treasures in it with his family as often as he can. In other versions, he choses not to make many trips to the cave since his family is already wealthy beyond question and when he is in his 80s and ready to retire, he takes his son to the cave and tells him that he is in charge of using it now before teaching him how to use it and generationally, Ali Baba’s richness and wealth is passed down from father to son (and mother to daughter). What is shown in the Anime version is that after the battle against the thieves, Ali Baba opens the cave to other people to use so they can claim treasure as well
CLOSE SESAME!