is wife and children but his daily labour of cutting wood, and bringing
it to town to sell, upon three asses, which were his whole substance.

One day, when Ali Baba was in the forest, and had just cut wood enough
to load his asses, he saw at a distance a great cloud of dust, which
seemed to be driven toward him: he observed it very attentively, and
distinguished soon after a body of horse. Though there had been no
rumour of robbers in that country, Ali Baba began to think that they
might prove such, and without considering what might become of his
asses, was resolved to save himself. He climbed up a large, thick tree,
whose branches, at a little distance from the ground, were so close to
one another that there was but little space between them. He placed
himself in the middle, from whence he could see all that passed without
being discovered; and the tree stood at the base of a single rock, so
steep and craggy that nobody could climb up it.

The troop, who were all well mounted and armed, came to the foot of this
rock, and there dismounted. Ali Baba counted forty of them, and, from
their looks and equipage, was assured that they were robbers. Nor was he
mistaken in his opinion; for they were a troop of banditti, who, without
doing any harm to the neighbourhood, robbed at a distance, and made that
place their rendezvous; but what confirmed him in his opinion was, that
every man unbridled his horse, tied him to some shrub, and hung about
his neck a bag of corn which they brought behind them. Then each of them
took his saddle wallet, which seemed to Ali Baba to be full of gold and
silver from its weight. One, who was the most personable amongst them,
and whom he took to be their captain, came with his wallet on his back
under the tree in which Ali Baba was concealed, and making his way
through some shrubs, pronounced these words so distinctly: "_Open,
Sesame_," that Ali Baba heard him. As soon as the captain of the robbers
had uttered these words, a door opened in the rock; and after he had
made all his troop enter before him, he followed them, when the door
shut again of itself. The robbers stayed some time within the rock, and
Ali Baba, who feared that some one, or all of them together, might come
out and catch him, if he should endeavour to make his escape, was
obliged to sit patiently in the tree. He was nevertheless tempted to get
down, mount one of their horses, and lead another, driving his asses
before him with al