EP 4

The episode discusses the folk tale of Alibaba and the Forty Thieves. It tells the story of two brothers, Alibaba and Hossam, who discover a cave filled with treasures belonging to the thieves. Alibaba becomes wealthy and recruits a clever maid. Hossam becomes jealous and tries to steal the treasures but fails and is killed by the robbers. Alibaba's maid helps him defeat the robbers and they live happily ever after. The story emphasizes the themes of greed, loyalty, and the consequences of one's actions. It reflects Middle Eastern culture and its negative view of greed. Hello, and welcome to episode 4 out of 5 of Chai with a Tongue. In this episode we will be talking about the story Alibaba and the Forty Thieves which is a folk tale. There were two brothers who lived in Persia, Hossam and Alibaba were their names. They lived with their father, but soon one day the father of both the boys died. After the death of their father, the brothers fought more often. It's not your home anymore, Hossam, the other brother, stated after fighting with his brother. Leave and don't return. Alibaba had gone out of his residence. He climbed a mountain and discovered forty thieves. Open sesame, they shouted in front of a large rock. The big rock parted with the magical chant, and all forty robbers rushed within. What a sight, Alibaba exclaimed. Open sesame, Alibaba exclaimed when the thieves had all fled. Alibaba entered through the door on the rock. The cave was brimming with valuables. Alibaba said, amazing. He returned home with some of the goodies, and slowly he grew wealthy. As he started living a happy life, he recruited a maid who would help Alibaba in his household chores. The maid was clever, brave, and a beautiful young woman. Hossam, Alibaba's sibling, found out about it shortly after. He was envious of Ali. Where did you obtain all these things? Hossam asked Alibaba when he paid him a visit. Ali did not answer at first. Hossam persisted in his inquiries. Finally, Alibaba revealed the remote location to Hossam. Hossam was impatient. Open sesame, he yelled as he dashed to the cave. The gate started opening. It was ecstatic, and he crammed all over the treasures into his sack. When he was ready to leave, however, he discovered the door had been shut. He sobbed as he struggled to recall the magical phrases. Open donkey, open monkey, he exclaimed. He tried over and over again, however, it was a complete failure. The thieves reappeared soon after, and Hossam was brutally murdered by the enraged robbers. Soon, Alibaba had learned about his brother's death. He went to the cave and took the body of his brother and buried him in a beautiful spot. After realizing the body of the man missing, the robbers were even more enraged than earlier. Someone was here, and he stole the man. They said, let's go to town and look for him. They quickly realized it was Alibaba. Finally, one of the robbers caught a glimpse of Alibaba. He scribbled something on Alibaba's door. Alibaba's maid, on the other hand, noticed it. She left the identical mark on all of the town's doors. The thieves arrived the next day to take Alibaba. They couldn't discover Alibaba's residence because all the doors had identical markings. Finally, the robbers discovered Alibaba's home and entered. They took refuge in large jars. However, the maid noticed them lurking once more. She filled the jars with hot oil. The screams of the robbers in the jars were followed by their deaths. The leader was the last robber alive. He disguised himself as a guest. He went to Alibaba's residence. Alibaba's maid, on the other hand, knew who he was. He arrived with two swords and began dancing to entertain the guest. She inched closer to the thief as she wanted. She instantly stabbed him. Alibaba afterwards found out what had transpired. Her assistance and insight astounded him. Thank you for saving my life, he expressed his gratitude. Alibaba married the maid and the two had a happy life together. From this story, we can understand that this folk story, folktale, is definitely folk. Uh, sorry, this folklore is obviously a folktale since it shows the idea of, about the culture and the story has been passed down for a long time since it's been, the story is from the 18th century, which is a very long time. And this, it's, uh, this story is connected to the Middle Eastern culture since, uh, the idea of greed is in this story, which in the Middle Eastern culture is something that you don't really want and being greedy in the Middle Eastern culture is a very bad thing. And this story clearly explains that. We can gather the theme of this story as well since the theme is definitely, it's definitely about being greedy and having consequences to being greedy, being very clever, as the maid was very clever in this story, and being very loyal since, again, the maid was very loyal to Alibaba. And the greedy part is about Hasim, Alibaba's brother, and the robbers.