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34-700: Galland was born at Rollot in Picardy (now in the department of Somme ). After completing school at Noyon , he studied Greek and Latin in Paris, where he also acquired some Arabic. In 1670 he was attached to the French embassy at Istanbul because of his excellent knowledge of Greek and, in 1673, he travelled in Syria and the Levant , where he copied a great number of inscriptions, sketched and—in some cases—removed historical monuments. After

68-488: A Maronite Christian from Aleppo , Hanna Diab , who recounted fourteen more stories to Galland from memory. He chose to include seven of these tales in his version of the Nights . Mystery surrounds the origins of some of the most famous tales. For instance, there are no Arabic manuscripts of Aladdin and Ali Baba , the so-called "orphan tales", which pre-date Galland's translation. Galland had in turn heard these tales from

102-600: A Syrian Maronite story-teller called Hanna Diyab , who came from Aleppo in modern-day Syria and told the story in Paris . In any case, the earliest known text of the story is Galland's French version. Richard F. Burton included it in the supplemental volumes (rather than the main collection of stories) of his translation (published as The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night ). The American Orientalist Duncan Black MacDonald discovered an Arabic-language manuscript of

136-607: A brief visit to France, where his collection of ancient coins attracted some attention, Galland returned to the Levant in 1677. In 1679 he undertook a third voyage, being commissioned by the French East India Company to collect for the cabinet of Colbert . On the expiration of this commission, he was instructed by the government to continue his research, and had the title of antiquary to the king ( Louis XIV ) conferred upon him. During his prolonged residences abroad, he acquired

170-603: A cave filled with treasure, guarded by a ruthless character named Hassan. At the United States Air Force Academy , Cadet Squadron 40 was originally nicknamed "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" before eventually changing its name to the " P-40 Warhawks". The name "Ali Baba" was often used as derogatory slang by American and Iraqi soldiers and their allies in the Iraq War , to describe individuals suspected of

204-458: A clever slave-girl from Cassim's household, with the task of making others believe that Cassim has died a natural death. First, Morgiana purchases medicines from an apothecary , telling him that Cassim is gravely ill. Then, she finds an old tailor known as Baba Mustafa whom she pays, blindfolds, and leads to Cassim's house. There, overnight, the tailor stitches the pieces of Cassim's body back together. Ali Baba and his family are able to give Cassim

238-425: A proper burial without anyone suspecting anything. Cassim’s wife does not find out about the cave or treasure. The thieves, finding the body gone, realize that another person must have known their secret, so they set out to track him down. One of the thieves goes down to the town and comes across Baba Mustafa, who mentions that he has just sewn the pieces of a corpse back together. Realizing the dead man must have been

272-498: A thorough knowledge of the Arabic , Turkish , and Persian languages and literatures, which, on his final return to France, enabled him to render valuable assistance to Melchisédech Thévenot , the keeper of the royal library, and to Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville . When d'Herbelot died in 1695, Galland continued his Bibliothèque orientale ("Oriental Library"), a huge compendium of information about Islamic culture, and principally

306-516: A translation of a fourteenth- or fifteenth-century Syrian manuscript (now known as the Galland Manuscript ) of The Thousand and One Nights . The first two volumes of this work, under the title Mille et Une Nuits , appeared in 1704. The twelfth and final volume was published posthumously in 1717. He translated the first part of his work solely from the Syrian manuscript. In 1709 he was introduced to

340-476: A translation of the great Arabic encyclopedia Kaşf az-Zunūn by the celebrated Ottoman scholar Kâtip Çelebi . It was finally published in 1697 and was a major contribution to European knowledge about the Middle East, influencing writers such as William Beckford (in his oriental tale Vathek ). After the deaths of Thévenot and d'Herbelot, Galland lived for some time at Caen under the roof of Nicolas Foucault,

374-410: A wave of imitations and the widespread 18th century fashion for oriental tales. As Jorge Luis Borges wrote: Another fact is undeniable. The most famous and eloquent encomiums of The Thousand and One Nights – by Coleridge , Thomas de Quincey , Stendhal , Tennyson , Edgar Allan Poe , Newman – are from readers of Galland's translation. Two hundred years and ten better translations have passed, but

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408-578: Is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France . Rollot is situated 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Amiens , on the D 935 road. It is the most southerly commune in the département, just a few hundred yards from the département of Oise . Rollot is well known throughout France, thanks in part to the locally-made cheese of the same name, since the 18th century. This Arrondissement of Montdidier geographical article

442-548: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ali Baba " Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves " ( Arabic : علي بابا والأربعون لصا ) is a folk tale in Arabic added to the One Thousand and One Nights in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland , who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab . As one of the most popular Arabian Nights tales, it has been widely retold and performed in many media across

476-428: Is an Indian animated television series, produced by Shilpa Shetty Kundra, which aired on Colors Rishtey. A modern-day retelling of the folktale, it follows brothers Ali and Baba, who protect dungeons and fight evil forces with their supernatural powers. • Ali Baba Bunny (1957) is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones. Released on February 9, 1957, it features Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck stumbling upon

510-422: Is curious to know what kind of grain her impoverished brother-in-law needs to measure. To her shock, she finds a gold coin sticking to the scales and tells her husband. Under pressure from his brother, Ali Baba is forced to reveal the secret of the cave. Cassim goes to the cave, taking a donkey with him to take as much treasure as possible. He enters the cave with the magic words. However, in his excited greed over

544-459: Is recognized by Morgiana, who performs a sword dance with a dagger for the diners and plunges it into the thief's heart, when he is off his guard. Ali Baba is at first angry with Morgiana, but when he finds out the thief wanted to kill him, he is extremely grateful and rewards Morgiana by marrying her to his son. Ali Baba is then left as the only one knowing the secret of the treasure in the cave and how to access it. The story has been classified in

578-614: The Aarne–Thompson-Uther classification system as ATU 954 , "The Forty Thieves". The tale type enjoys "almost universal ... diffusion". A West African version, named The Password: Outwitting Thieves has been found. Percy Amaury Talbot located a Nigerian variant, called The Treasure House in the Bush , from Ojong Akpan of Mfamosing. An American variant was collected by Elsie Clews Parsons from Cape Verde . Audio readings/dramatizations include: • Adventures of Ali Baba (2018–2019)

612-471: The Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab . Galland also adapted his translation to the taste of the time. The immediate success the tales enjoyed was partly due to the vogue for fairy stories (French: contes de fées ), which had been started in France in the 1690s by his friend Charles Perrault . Galland was also eager to conform to the literary canons of the era. He cut many of the erotic passages as well as all of

646-403: The department of numismatics , Galland published in 1694 a compilation from the Arabic, Persian , and Turkish , entitled Paroles remarquables, bons mots et maximes des orientaux , and in 1699 a translation from an Arabic manuscript, De l'origine et du progrès du café . The former of these works appeared in an English translation in 1795. His Contes et fables indiennes de Bidpai et de Lokrnan

680-492: The intendant of Caen, himself no mean archaeologist. There he began, in 1704, the publication of Les mille et Une Nuits , which excited immense interest during the time of its appearance and is still the standard French translation. In 1709 he was appointed to the chair of Arabic in the Collège de France . He continued to discharge the duties of this post until his death in 1715. Besides a number of archaeological works, especially in

714-561: The man in Europe or the Americas who thinks of the Thousand and One Nights thinks, invariably, of this first translation. The Spanish adjective milyunanochesco [thousand-and-one-nights-esque] ... has nothing to do with the erudite obscenities of Burton or Mardrus and everything to do with Antoine Galland's bijoux and sorceries. Rollot Rollot ( French pronunciation: [ʁɔlo] )

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748-402: The other doorsteps, and the second thief is killed for his failure as well. At last, the leader of the thieves goes and looks himself. This time, he memorizes every detail he can of the exterior of Ali Baba's house. The leader of the thieves pretends to be an oil merchant in need of Ali Baba's hospitality, bringing with him mules loaded with 38 oil jars, one filled with oil, the other 37 hiding

782-552: The other remaining thieves. Once Ali Baba is asleep, the thieves plan to kill him. Again, Morgiana discovers and foils the plan when her lamp runs out of oil and she has to get it from the merchant's jars; the thieves give themselves away one by one hearing her approach and mistaking her for their boss. After refilling her lamp, Morgiana kills the 37 thieves in their jars by pouring boiling oil on them one by one. When their leader comes to rouse his men, he discovers they are all dead and escapes. The next morning, Morgiana tells Ali Baba about

816-441: The poetry. This caused Sir Richard Burton to refer to "Galland's delightful abbreviation and adaptation" which "in no wise represent(s) the eastern original." His translation was greeted with immense enthusiasm and had soon been translated into many other European languages: English (a " Grub Street " version appeared in 1706), German (1712), Italian (1722), Dutch (1732), Russian (1763), and Polish (1768). They produced

850-481: The story at the Bodleian Library ; however, this was later found to be a counterfeit. Ali Baba and his older brother, Cassim ( Arabic : قاسم Qāsim , sometimes spelled Kasim), are the sons of a merchant . After their father's death, the greedy Cassim marries a wealthy woman and becomes well-to-do, living lazily on their father's business and his wife’s wealth. Ali Baba marries a poor woman and settles into

884-429: The thief's plan by marking all the houses in the neighborhood similarly. When the 40 thieves return that night, they cannot identify the correct house, and their leader kills the unsuccessful thief in a furious rage. The next day, another thief revisits Baba Mustafa and tries again. Only this time, a chunk is chipped out of the stone step at Ali Baba's front door. Again, Morgiana foils the plan by making similar chips in all

918-403: The thieves in the jars. They bury them, and Ali Baba shows his gratitude by giving Morgiana her freedom. However, she continues living with Ali Baba and his family anyway. To exact revenge, the leader of the thieves establishes himself as a merchant, befriends Ali Baba's son (who is now in charge of his late uncle Cassim's business), and is invited to dinner at Ali Baba's house. However, the thief

952-407: The thieves' victim, the thief asks Baba Mustafa to lead the way to the house where the deed was performed. The tailor is blindfolded again, and in this state he is able to retrace his steps and find the house. The thief marks the door with a symbol so the other thieves can come back that night and kill everyone in the house. However, the thief has been seen by Morgiana who, loyal to her master, foils

986-430: The trade of a woodcutter . Cassim and his wife resent Ali Baba and his side of the family and do not share their wealth with them. One day, Ali Baba is at work collecting and cutting firewood in the forest, when he happens to overhear a group of 40 thieves visiting their stored treasure. Their treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed by a huge rock. It opens on the magic words " open sesame " and seals itself on

1020-424: The treasure for himself, but Ali Baba’s faithful slave-girl foils their plots. His son marries her, and Ali Baba keeps the secret of the treasure. The tale was added to the story collection One Thousand and One Nights by one of its European translators, Antoine Galland , who called his volumes Les Mille et Une Nuits (1704–1717). Galland was an 18th-century French Orientalist who heard it in oral form from

1054-439: The treasure, he forgets the words to get out again and ends up trapped. The thieves find him there and kill him. When his brother does not come back, Ali Baba goes to the cave to look for him, and finds the body quartered and with each piece displayed just inside the cave's entrance, as a warning to anyone else who might try to enter. Ali Baba brings the corpse home where he entrusts Morgiana ( Arabic : مرجانة Murjāna ),

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1088-410: The words "close sesame". When the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave himself and although there is a vast amount of riches stashed inside, he modestly takes only a single bag of gold coins home. Ali Baba and his wife borrow his sister-in-law's scales to weigh their new wealth. Unbeknownst to them, Cassim's wife puts a blob of wax in the scales to find out what Ali Baba is using them for, as she

1122-413: The world, especially for children (for whom the more violent aspects of the story are often removed). In the original version, Ali Baba ( Arabic : علي بابا ʿAlī Bābā ) is a poor woodcutter and an honest person who discovers the secret treasure of a thieves' den, and enters with the magic phrase " open sesame ". The thieves try to kill Ali Baba, and his rich and greedy brother Cassim tries to steal

1156-568: Was published posthumously in 1724. Among his numerous manuscripts are a translation of the Qur'an and a Histoire générale des empereurs Turcs . His journal was published by Charles Schefer in 1881. Galland had come across a manuscript of The Tale of Sindbad the Sailor in Constantinople during the 1690s and, in 1701, he published his translation of it into French. Its success encouraged him to embark on

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