Colorful Foreign Fairy Tale Classics -- One Thousand and One Nights Exquisite

Author: Li Zhang Situnin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: "One Thousand and One Nights" is an invaluable and timeless world classic for children. The content of this book is extremely diverse, featuring descriptions of emperors and generals, as well as ordinary people, insects, fish, birds, and animals. There are also numerous tales of gods, demons, and monsters, but the sole purpose is to promote truth, goodness, and beauty while exposing falsehood, evil, and ugliness, providing readers with excellent education and moral cultivation. As a color-illustrated edition of "One Thousand and One Nights," this book contains many stories about young heroes, clever children, and erudite scholars. Their relentless pursuit of truth serves as great inspiration for young readers. The vivid and lively illustrations further enhance the joy of reading for children. "One Thousand and One Nights" is a classic on par with "A Christmas Carol" and "Grimms' Fairy Tales," translated into multiple languages and beloved by people around the world, especially children. The color-illustrated edition of "One Thousand and One Nights" is specially designed for children, featuring 27 selected stories from the original work. These stories focus on young heroes, clever children, and erudite scholars, closely reflecting children's lives and offering profound educational value. The book is richly illustrated, not only bringing joy to children's reading but also helping them understand the deeper meanings of the stories while learning lessons and gaining knowledge.
Excerpt: Aladdin and the Forty Thieves
In a city lived two brothers. The older brother was named Cassim, a greedy rich man. The younger brother was Alibaba, who made a living by cutting wood. One day, while Alibaba was chopping wood in the mountains, a horseman approached from below. He quickly climbed a tree to hide. Ah, it was a band of thieves! They had stolen a lot of gold, silver, and treasures and had dismounted under a large tree. The leader of the thieves walked to a stone wall and shouted, "Open, sesame!" With a loud crash, the wall opened like a door, revealing a cave inside. The thieves carried their loot inside. After hiding the treasure, they emerged, and the leader turned around and shouted, "Close, sesame!" The stone wall slammed shut. The thieves rode away on horseback.
Alibaba's father approached the stone wall and shouted, "Open, sesame!" The wall opened again like a door. Alibaba entered the cave and saw it filled with gold and silver treasures, shining so brightly that his eyes were blinded. Alibaba filled three sacks with gold and left the cave, shouting, "Close, sesame!" The wall immediately closed. From then on, Alibaba had wealth.
Cassim, seeing his younger brother had become rich, grew extremely envious and went to Alibaba's house to inquire. After persistent questioning, Alibaba's father, a honest man, revealed the secret of the thieves' treasure hidden in the cave. Cassim immediately returned home, brought twelve sacks, and mounted ten donkeys, heading to the mountains. He approached the stone wall and shouted, "Open, sesame!" The wall opened. He entered and shouted, "Close, sesame!" The wall closed again. Cassim saw countless gold and silver treasures and was overjoyed, continuously filling the twelve sacks. However, he forgot the closing spell, "Barley, black beans, corn," and kept shouting in vain, but the door wouldn't open!
At that moment, the thieves returned and shouted, "Open, sesame!" and rushed in. Cassim was terrified and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy. The thieves, seeing him had stolen their treasure, grew furious and raised their swords, beheading him. Cassim did not return, and his wife went to Alibaba's father.
Alibaba rode a donkey up the mountain overnight to find Cassim. He opened the stone door, entered the cave, and discovered Cassim's dead body, unable to hold back his tears. Alibaba placed his brother's body on the donkey and carried it home. Cassim's wife wailed in grief. Her maid, Morgiana, repeatedly persuaded her to stop crying and helped Alibaba's father with the funeral arrangements.
Later that night, Morgiana went to the tailor's house, gave him two gold coins, and asked for his help. The tailor followed Morgiana home. As they neared the house, Morgiana covered his eyes with a handkerchief and led him inside. The tailor saw Cassim's dead body with his head placed aside and stitched the head back onto the body with needle and thread. After finishing, he quietly left.
Finally, Alibaba held Cassim's funeral. Friends and neighbors came, none of them realizing the secret.
That day, the thieves returned to the cave and discovered Cassim's body was missing! They knew someone had entered the cave. The leader of the thieves sent a young thief to find the person who had moved the body. The young thief came to the city, inquired everywhere, but found no news. He entered a tailor shop and saw the old tailor making clothes. He praised the tailor's skill and took the opportunity to gather information. The old tailor casually said, "That's nothing. I stitched a head back onto a body just a few days ago!" The young thief was overjoyed. He gave the old tailor five gold coins and threatened him with a knife, forcing him to lead him to Alibaba's house. The old tailor had no choice but to comply.
He eventually found Alibaba's house. The young thief, fearing he might forget, took some white powder and drew a circle on the door. After marking it, he hurried back to the mountains.
Morgiana returned from outside and noticed the white circle on the door. She thought it must be a mark left by the thieves. After a moment's thought, she remained calm, took some white powder, and quietly marked the doors of every household.
That night, the thieves sneaked into the city. Seeing the marks on every door, they had to return dejectedly. The leader of the thieves was furious and killed the young thief, sending another one down to search. This young thief found Alibaba's house and marked the door with red powder. Morgiana noticed the mark again and, without hesitation, marked the doors of every household with the same symbol.
The thieves failed once more. The leader of the thieves killed this young thief and personally came down to search, eventually finding Alibaba's house. Upon returning to the mountains, he prepared forty oil barrels, three filled with oil and thirty-seven containing thirty-seven thieves.
That night, the leader of the thieves disguised himself as a merchant and led a donkey caravan into the city. He came to Alibaba's house and asked for shelter. Alibaba let his caravan enter the courtyard, unloaded the oil barrels, and warmly entertained him, talking with him by the light of the lamp.
Later, when the lamp oil ran out, Morgiana remembered the forty oil barrels in the courtyard and went inside to scoop some oil to light the lamp. She approached an oil barrel and heard someone whispering inside. She realized the thieves had returned! She quickly determined which barrels contained oil and which held thieves, then quietly filled a pot with hot oil.
Soon, the oil was boiling. She scooped up the hot oil and poured it into each barrel, killing all thirty-seven thieves.
Late at night, the leader of the thieves sneaked into the courtyard and called for the thieves to come out. Morgiana rushed forward and stabbed him to death with a single blow.
The next day, Alibaba learned what had happened and was deeply grateful to Morgiana for helping him defeat the Forty Thieves.
Alibaba transported the treasure from the cave back and distributed it to the poor, living a good life from then on.