Antoine Galland, from the telling of Hannā Diyāb · Complete work
The Borrowed Measure
The Borrowed Measure of 14. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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Pour se satisfaire, la femme d’Ali Baba sort, et elle va chez Cassim, son beau-frère, qui ne demeuroit pas loin. Cassim n’étoit pas chez lui, et à son défaut, elle s’adresse à sa femme, qu’elle prie de lui prêter une mesure pour quelques momens. La belle-sœur lui demanda si elle la vouloit grande ou petite, et la femme d’Ali Baba lui en demanda une petite.
« Très-volontiers, dit la belle-sœur; attendez un moment, je vais vous l’apporter. »
La belle-sœur va chercher la mesure, elle la trouve; mais comme elle connoissoit la pauvreté d’Ali Baba, curieuse de savoir quelle sorte de grain sa femme vouloit mesurer, elle s’avisa d’appliquer adroitement du suif au-dessous de la mesure, et elle y en appliqua. Elle revint, et en la présentant à la femme d’Ali Baba, elle s’excusa de l’avoir fait attendre sur ce qu’elle avoit eu de la peine à la trouver.
La femme d’Ali Baba revint chez elle; elle posa la mesure sur le tas d’or, l’emplit et la vuida un peu plus loin sur le sofa, jusqu’à ce qu’elle eût achevé, et elle fut contente du bon nombre de mesures qu’elle en trouva, dont elle fit part à son mari qui venoit d’achever de creuser la fosse.
Pendant qu’Ali Baba enfouit l’or, sa femme, pour marquer son exactitude et sa diligence à sa belle-sœur, lui reporte sa mesure; mais sans prendre garde qu’une pièce d’or s’étoit attachée au-dessous.
« Belle-sœur, dit-elle en la rendant, vous voyez que je n’ai pas gardé long-temps votre mesure; je vous en suis bien obligée, je vous la rends. »
La femme d’Ali Baba n’eut pas tourné le dos, que la femme de Cassim regarda la mesure par le dessous; et elle fut dans un étonnement inexprimable d’y voir une pièce d’or attachée. L’envie s’empara de son cœur dans le moment.
« Quoi, dit-elle, Ali Baba a de l’or par mesure! Et où le misérable a-t-il pris cet or? »
Cassim son mari n’étoit pas à la maison, comme nous l’avons dit; il étoit à sa boutique, d’où il ne devoit revenir que le soir. Tout le temps qu’il se fit attendre fut un siècle pour elle, dans la grande impatience où elle étoit de lui apprendre une nouvelle dont il ne devoit pas être moins surpris qu’elle.
À l’arrivée de Cassim chez lui: « Cassim, lui dit sa femme, vous croyez être riche, vous vous trompez: Ali Baba l’est infiniment plus que vous; il ne compte pas son or comme vous, il le mesure. »
Cassim demanda l’explication de cette énigme, et elle lui en donna l’éclaircissement en lui apprenant de quelle adresse elle s’étoit servie pour faire cette découverte, et elle lui montra la pièce de monnoie qu’elle avoit trouvée attachée au-dessous de la mesure: pièce si ancienne, que le nom du prince qui y étoit marqué lui étoit inconnu.
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from Antoine Galland’s French text of “Histoire d’Ali Baba, et de quarante voleurs exterminés par une esclave” (Les Mille et une nuits, Le Normant edition of 1806, volume VI), paragraph for paragraph, and checked against the French before publication.
To have her way, Ali Baba's wife went out to the house of Cassim, her brother-in-law, who lived not far off. Cassim was not at home, so she turned instead to his wife and asked her to lend her a measure for a few moments. The sister-in-law asked whether she wanted a large one or a small one, and Ali Baba's wife asked for a small one.
"Gladly," said the sister-in-law. "Wait a moment and I will bring it to you."
The sister-in-law went to look for the measure and found it. But since she knew how poor Ali Baba was, she was curious to learn what kind of grain his wife meant to measure, and she hit on the idea of deftly smearing a little tallow on the bottom of the measure, and so she did. She came back and, handing it to Ali Baba's wife, apologized for keeping her waiting, saying she had had trouble finding it.
Ali Baba's wife went home. She set the measure on the heap of gold, filled it, and emptied it a little farther along the sofa until she had finished, and she was pleased with the good number of measures she found, which she reported to her husband, who had just finished digging the pit.
While Ali Baba buried the gold, his wife, to show her sister-in-law how prompt and careful she was, took the measure back to her, but without noticing that a gold piece had stuck to the bottom.
"Sister," she said as she returned it, "you see I have not kept your measure long. I am much obliged to you for it; here it is."
Ali Baba's wife had no sooner turned her back than Cassim's wife looked at the underside of the measure, and she was astonished beyond words to see a gold piece stuck to it. Envy seized her heart that very moment.
"What!" she said. "Ali Baba has gold by the measure! And where did the wretch get this gold?"
Her husband Cassim was not at home, as we have said; he was at his shop, and would not return until evening. All the time she had to wait for him seemed an age to her, so great was her impatience to tell him a piece of news that would surprise him no less than it had surprised her.
When Cassim came home, his wife said to him, "Cassim, you think you are rich, but you are wrong. Ali Baba is infinitely richer than you. He does not count his gold as you do; he measures it."
Cassim asked her to explain this riddle, and she made it clear to him by telling him what trick she had used to make the discovery, and she showed him the coin she had found stuck to the bottom of the measure, a coin so old that the name of the prince stamped on it was unknown to her.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same French text of Galland’s 1806 Le Normant edition, paragraph for paragraph.
Ali Baba's wife wanted to get her way, so she went out. She went to the house of Cassim, her brother-in-law, who lived close by. Cassim wasn't home, so she asked his wife instead if she could borrow a measuring bowl for a few minutes. Cassim's wife asked if she needed a big one or a small one. Ali Baba's wife said a small one.
"Of course," said Cassim's wife. "Wait here a minute and I'll get it for you."
Cassim's wife went and found the bowl. But she knew how poor Ali Baba was, and she wondered what kind of grain his wife could want to measure. So she had a clever idea. She quietly rubbed some animal fat on the bottom of the bowl. Then she came back and handed it over. She said she was sorry for the wait, because it had taken her a while to find it.
Ali Baba's wife went home. She put the bowl into the pile of gold and filled it. Then she emptied it out on the couch a bit further along. She kept doing this until she was done. She was happy with how many bowlfuls there were, and she told her husband. He had just finished digging the hole.
While Ali Baba buried the gold, his wife took the bowl back to her sister-in-law. She wanted to show how careful and quick she was about returning it. But she didn't notice that a gold coin had stuck to the bottom.
"Here you are," she said, giving it back. "You see, I didn't keep your bowl for long. Thank you very much. Here it is."
As soon as Ali Baba's wife turned away, Cassim's wife looked at the bottom of the bowl. She was more shocked than words can say to find a gold coin stuck to it. At that moment she was filled with envy.
"What?" she said. "Ali Baba has so much gold he measures it by the bowl! Where did that poor nobody get this gold?"
As we said, her husband Cassim wasn't home. He was at his shop and wouldn't be back until evening. She was so eager to tell him the news that the wait felt like a hundred years. She knew he would be just as surprised as she was.
When Cassim got home, his wife said, "Cassim, you think you're rich. You're wrong. Ali Baba is far, far richer than you. You count your gold. He measures his."
Cassim asked her what she meant. She explained. She told him about the trick she had used to find out, and she showed him the coin she had found stuck under the bowl. The coin was so old that she didn't know the name of the king printed on it.