Part 3: The Hunt for Ali Baba
The second robber-guide also begins at Baba Mustafa's shop, and after bribing him with gold coins, he convinces him to lead him to the house inside whose compound he had sewn a dead body. He finds his predecessor's white mark still adorning the gate and adds a red chalk mark to distinguish his from the earlier one. He returns to his group in the woods and reports, "Oh Captain, I have found the house and marked in it such a way that we will distinguish it from the others."
Unknown to him, Morgiana notices the red mark as soon as he departs and draws similar red marks on all the houses on the street. When they arrive at midnight and discover a red mark on all the street gates, the captain is forced to call off the operation for the second time.
"Two of my men have failed, so I’ll do it myself," the captain says to himself.
He locates Ali Baba's home with the help of Baba Mustafa, the tailor who has earned many gold coins from this matter. Unlike his predecessors, the captain does not make an outward sign at the gate, but instead writes it on the tablet of his heart and saves the image on a page of his memory. Returning to the forest, he tells his men, "I know the place and have clearly marked it in my mind, so finding it will be no problem. Go buy and deliver to me 20 donkeys, one jar of mustard oil, and 39 empty jars of the same kind.”
After three days, he arrives at Qassim's house with the 20 animals, each carrying two jars, posing as a mustard oil salesman. Ali Baba happens to be walking down the street outside his new home at the time, and the two strike up a conversation.
“I am from a distant land, and I often come here selling mustard oil,” Captain explains.
Ali Baba thinks he has heard that voice before, but he can’t recall where.
"Today was a bad day for business, and I'm running late. Would you be so kind as to give me and my animals a place to sleep for the night?" asks Captain.
Ali Baba welcomes the stranger to his home, showing him an empty spot in the compound where he could tether his animals. He orders Abdullah, his slave boy, to feed and water the animals, and Morgiana, his slave girl, to prepare dinner and a bed for the visitor.
After the visitor has gone to bed, Morgiana joins Abdullah in the work area to finish the day's chores, but all the lamps run out of oil and turn off, and she’s stressed when she discovers there is no more oil left yet she has not prepared the clothes her master will wear tomorrow.
"Why are you so stressed about oil?" Abdullah inquires. "All of the donkeys out there are carrying oil jars. Simply go get some, and our master will pay for it tomorrow."
Morgiana thanks Abdullah for his suggestion, and as she prepares to fetch the oil, Abdullah goes to bed so he can wake up early to prepare a bath for Ali Baba.
Morgiana gets up and walks to the yard, where the jars are arranged in rows. As she approaches one of the jars, a robber, hidden inside the jar, hears footsteps and believes they are Captain's, whose summons he is awaiting.
"Is this the appointed time?" whispers the robber.
Morgiana is startled to hear a human voice, but she quickly gathers herself and responds, in a voice like the captain's, "No, it is not yet the appointed time. I'll let you know when I'm ready."
She realizes that the oil jars do not contain oil, but rather people, and that their visitor is not an oil merchant, but a bandit out to harm her master. She moves on to the next jar and gives the same response to the person inside, and so on, going through all the jars one by one.
She discovers the last jar is brimming with oil. She pours it into a large pot and takes it to the kitchen, where she sets it on fire to boil. When this is done, she pours it into the jars one by one. The thieves are unable to escape and are scalded to death. By her wit, she makes a clean end to all noiselessly and unknown even to the dwellers of the house. When she has satisfied herself that every of the men has been slain, she goes back to the kitchen, shuts the door, and starts brewing broth for Ali Baba.
Hardly an hour passes before the captain wakes up and, opening wide his window, he sees that all is dark and silent. He claps his hands as a signal for his men to come out but not a sound is heard in return. After a while, he claps again and calls out aloud but gets no answer. When he cries out aloud third time without reply he is perplexed and goes out to the shed where the jars stand. He thinks to himself, "Could it be that all are fallen asleep? The time for action is now at hand, so I must awaken them without stay or delay."
Approaching the nearest jar, he is startled by the smell of oil and seething flesh. He touches its outside and finds it reeking hot. Then, one by one, he finds the others in similar condition, and as soon as he discovers the fate that has befallen his band, he climbs over the wall and escapes, disappointed.
When Morgiana doesn't see Captain return from the shed, she assumes he has scaled the wall and fled, and she falls asleep in complete peace.
When Ali Baba wakes up, he is surprised to see the jars still standing under the shed, and Morgiana explains to him what happened.
