The Tale of Ali Baba in Verse

 

Beneath the pines where desert winds would sing,
A band of thieves rode hard through clouded dust;
They spoke a word that made the cavern spring,
And stone obeyed their vow, their secret trust.

“Open, O Sesame!” the leader cried,
The rocks withdrew, the treasure shone within;
A mountain’s heart of gold lay open wide,
A trove of plunder born of blood and sin.

Young Ali Baba watched with careful eye,
A woodman poor, yet sharp of mind and will;
He marked the phrase, the thieves then passed him by,
And silence cloaked the forest, dark and still.

He spoke the words, the stony lips withdrew,
And wonder blazed before his startled sight;
The walls with emerald fire and ruby hue
Transformed his want to sudden, rich delight.

Yet fortune’s gift breeds danger as its twin,
For greed will whisper where the gold is piled;
Cassim, his brother, sought the cave within,
But lost his wits, and thus the thieves beguiled.

They struck him down, his folly paid with breath,
And left him bound to terror’s grisly end;
Yet Morgiana, quick to foil death,
Contrived a plan no thief could comprehend.

With dancer’s art, she lulled them into mirth,
Her dagger flashed beneath the torch’s glow;
The forty fell, brought low in sudden dearth,
Their fury quenched, their secret overthrown.

So Ali lived, preserved by cunning’s hand,
His fortune safe, his household firm and free;
While whispers tell, across the desert sand,
How wit defeats the sword and thievery.

based on: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37679/37679-h/37679-h.htm