WAEL MOREICHEH-POETRY-وائل مريشة-ode-poem-stanza

Once upon a time . . . in a distant Persian city lived two brothers called Ali Baba and Kasim. Ali Baba was terribly poor, and he lived with his wife in a mud hut. He picked up sticks in the woods and sold them in bundles at the market.

Kasim, however, had a rich wife, and he lived in a big fine house and sold carpets. He became richer than ever. One day, as Ali Baba was gathering sticks in a wood some way from the city he heard a band of horsemen gallop towards him. Scared that he might be in trouble for stealing wood, he scrambled up a tree and hid amongst the foliage, seconds before the men, armed to the teeth, rode underneath.

They were robbers, no doubt about that. Ali could tell by their evil looks, rough beards and bad language. But what made it perfectly clear to him was the booty they unloaded from their horses, obviously plundered in a raid. Their leader was a grim wicked-looking man. Followed by his men, he strode towards a rocky mountain nearby. Throwing wide his arms suddenly shouted:

"Open sesame!"  

Ali Baba could hardly believe his eyes. For at the robber’s words, the rock face swung open to become the entrance to a deep, dark cave. The robbers trooped inside, dragging their sacks. Ali Baba was struck dumb by this amazing sight, and he crouched in his tree, without moving a muscle. He could cahear the robbers’ voices echo in the cave, then out they came. Again opening his arms, the leader exclaimed loudly:

"Close sesame!" And the rock swung tightly shut, as they leapt onto their horses and galloped away. Trembling with fear, Ali Baba climbed down the tree. He had just had the biggest shock of his life. Hardly aware of what he was doing, he muttered:

"Open sesame," But the mountain stood still. Ali Baba said the words again, but this time he shouted them. Suddenly, the rock began to move. Ali Baba lit a flare and entered the cave. In front of his bulging eyes lay vast piles of treasure: pots of silver gold, precious vases, weapons studded with rubbies and emeralds, diadems, carved plates and carpets, all heaped together.

The poveryt-striken stick-gatherer rubbed his eyes in disbelief. His hand was shaking like a leaf, as he picked up a gold coin.

"It’s real!" he said in awe. Jabbering with excitement and stunned at the sight of such untold wealth, he told himself:

"I’ll take some coins. Nobody will ever know!" And he filled four bags full. The second he reached home, Ali Baba locked the door and emptied the sacks in front of his astounded wife.

"Count them," he ordered her triumphantly, before telling her what had happened. But there were far too many coins for these poor people to count.

"We can’t count them all. Run to my brother’s house and ask him for a corn measure. We’ll use that," said Ali Baba. When Kasim’s wife heard this strange request, her curiosity was aroused.

"][ wonder what they want to measure. It can’t be corn, they’re far too poor." And she quickly brushed a touch of tar across the bottom of the measuring pail. And when she got the pail back there was something stuck to it - as the clever woman had known there would be. It was a gold coin.

"A gold coin. Where did that come from? They’re the poorest of the poor!" And she rushed off to tell her husband. Kasim was most annoyed.

"How dare my brother have gold coins without telling me about it," he snapped. And off he marched to ask Ali Baba for an explanation. Ali Baba innocently told Kasim his strange story, but asked him to keep it a secret. Of course, Kasim promised, but he quickly told his wife about it and ordered the servants to saddle ten sturdy mules for next morning.

"I’ll be richer than ever. Incredibly rich!" he said to himself as he went to bed. But he didn’t sleep a wink for thinking of the treasure. It was still dark when Kasim and his mule train set out. When he reached the mountain, beyond the forest, he pronounced the magic words and entered the cave. With a beating heart, he crammed as much as he could into the saddle bags. But Kasim’s greed led to his downfall, for the bags were so stuffed with treasure that they became too heavy to lift. Kasim realised, with a sinking feeling, that he would have to leave behind some of his precious burden. But it took him a long time, and he was still picking over what to keep and what to abandon, when . . .

. . . as fate would have it, the robber band returned. When they saw that the entrance to the cave was open, they rushed inside with drawn swords. Unlucky Kasim was quickly discovered and killed. And the robbers were so fierce that they chopped hlm into four and left the pieces at the entrance.

"That will warn any other snooper of the end that awaits him!" shouted the leader.

Kasim’s wife waited in vain for two days, then in desperation, she ran to Ali Baba and told him where her husband had gone, asking for help. Ali Baba was dismayed.

"He promised he would never . ." However, Ali Baba was fond of his brother, so he saddled a mule and rode to the mountain. When he saw, to his horror, the remains of Kasim, he broke down and wept. Then he plucked up enough courage to wrap them in a rug, which he tied to the mule’s back. But Kasim’s wife, when she saw what had happened to her husband, died of a broken heart. Ali Baba and his family went to live in Kasim’s palace. There he met Morgantina, a clever young slave girl who had long been a servant in the palace. It was she who told Ali Baba that his brother’s remains could be put together again before being buried. Mustapha, the cobbler, would do the job, for a good reward.

"I have to blindfold you," Morgantina told the cobbler, "so you can’t see where you’re going, then there won’t be any gossip." The cobbler did his work well and was led, still blindfolded, back to his shop, with a bag of gold for his trouble.

In the meantime, when the robber leader saw that the body had been removed, he knew that someone else had found the treasure trove. Angry and alarmed, he ordered one of his men to sneak into the city and find out what he could. Well, by sheer chance, the spy had a hole in the sole of his boot and he went into the cbobblers. Mustapha was bursting to tell someone all about his luck…

"…and they gave me a bag of gold for stitching the body together again."

"If you take me to the place, I’ll give you another bag of gold," said the robber immediately. The robber nearly danced for joy. Then his heart sank. How was he to find the house he had never seen.