Antoine Galland, from the telling of Hannā Diyāb · Complete work
The Captain Finds the House
The Captain Finds the House of 14. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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Le capitaine qui vit son dessein avorté, se rendit à la grande place, ou il fit dire à ses gens par le premier qu’il rencontra, qu’ils avoient perdu leur peine et fait un voyage inutile, et qu’ils n’avoient d’autre parti à prendre que de reprendre le chemin de leur retraite commune. Il en donna l’exemple, et ils le suivirent tous dans le même ordre qu’ils étoient venus.
Quand la troupe se fut rassemblée dans la forêt, le capitaine leur expliqua la raison pourquoi il les avoit fait revenir. Aussitôt le conducteur fut déclaré digne de mort tout d’une voix, et il s’y condamna lui-même, en reconnoissant qu’il auroit dû prendre mieux ses précautions, et il présenta le col avec fermeté à celui qui se présenta pour lui couper la tête.
Comme il s’agissoit, pour la conservation de la bande, de ne pas laisser sans vengeance le tort qui lui avoit été fait, un autre voleur, qui se promit de mieux réussir que celui qui venoit d’être châtié, se présenta, et demanda en grâce d’être préféré. Il est écouté. Il marche; il corrompt Baba Moustafa, comme le premier l’avoit corrompu, et Baba Moustafa lui fait connoître la maison d’Ali Baba les yeux bandés. Il la marque de rouge dans un endroit moins apparent, en comptant que c’étoit un moyen sûr pour la distinguer d’avec celles qui étoient marquées de blanc.
Mais peu de temps après, Morgiane sortit de la maison comme le jour précédent; et quand elle revint, la marque rouge n’échappa pas à ses yeux clairvoyans. Elle fit le même raisonnement qu’elle avoit fait, et elle ne manqua pas de faire la même marque de crayon rouge aux autres portes voisines et aux mêmes endroits.
Le voleur à son retour vers sa troupe dans la forêt, ne manqua pas de faire valoir la précaution qu’il avoit prise comme infaillible, disoit-il, pour ne pas confondre la maison d’Ali Baba avec les autres. Le capitaine et ses gens croient avec lui que la chose doit réussir. Ils se rendent à la ville dans le même ordre et avec les mêmes soins qu’auparavant, armés aussi de même, prêts à faire le coup qu’ils méditoient; et le capitaine et le voleur, en arrivant, vont à la rue d’Ali Baba; mais ils trouvent la même difficulté que la première fois. Le capitaine en est indigné, et le voleur dans une confusion aussi grande que celui qui l’avoit précédé avec la même commission.
Ainsi le capitaine fut contraint de se retirer encore ce jour-là avec ses gens, aussi peu satisfait que le jour d’auparavant. Le voleur, comme auteur de la méprise, subit pareillement le châtiment auquel il s’étoit soumis volontairement.
» Le capitaine qui vit sa troupe diminuée de deux braves sujets, craignit de la voir diminuer davantage s’il continuoit de s’en rapporter à d’autres pour être informé au vrai de la maison d’Ali Baba. Leur exemple lui fit connoître qu’ils n’étoient propres, tous, qu’à des coups de main et nullement à agir de tête dans les occasions. Il se chargea de la chose lui-même; il vint à la ville, et avec l’aide de Baba Moustafa, qui lui rendit le même service qu’aux deux députés de sa troupe, il ne s’amusa pas à faire aucune marque pour connoître la maison d’Ali Baba; mais il l’examina si bien, non-seulement en la considérant attentivement, mais même en passant et en repassant à diverses fois par-devant, qu’il n’étoit pas possible qu’il s’y méprît.
Le capitaine des voleurs, satisfait de son voyage, et instruit de ce qu’il avoit souhaité, retourna à la forêt; et quand il fut arrivé dans la grotte, où sa troupe l’attendoit: « Camarades, dit-il, rien enfin ne peut plus nous empêcher de prendre une pleine vengeance du dommage qui nous a été fait. Je connois avec certitude la maison du coupable sur qui elle doit tomber; et dans le chemin, j’ai songé aux moyens de la lui faire sentir si adroitement, que personne ne pourra avoir connoissance du lieu de notre retraite, non plus que de notre trésor; car c’est le but que nous devons avoir dans notre entreprise, autrement, au lieu de nous être utile, elle nous seroit funeste. Pour parvenir à ce but, continua le capitaine, voici ce que j’ai imaginé. Quand je vous l’aurai exposé, si quelqu’un sait un expédient meilleur, il pourra le communiquer. »
Alors il leur expliqua de quelle manière il prétendoit s’y comporter; et comme ils lui eurent tous donné leur approbation, il les chargea, en se partageant dans les bourgs et dans les villages d’alentour, et même dans les villes, d’acheter des mulets, jusqu’au nombre de dix-neuf, et trente-huit grands vases de cuir à transporter de l’huile, l’un plein, et les autres vuides.
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.
Seeing his plan miscarry, the captain went to the great square, where he had the first of his men he met pass word to the rest that they had wasted their effort and made a useless journey, and that they had no choice but to take the road back to their common hideout. He set the example, and they all followed him in the same order in which they had come.
When the band had gathered again in the forest, the captain explained to them why he had made them come back. At once the guide was declared worthy of death by a single voice, and he condemned himself, admitting that he should have taken better precautions, and he steadily offered his neck to the man who stepped forward to cut off his head.
Since the survival of the band required that the wrong done to it not go unavenged, another robber, who promised himself he would do better than the one just punished, came forward and begged as a favor to be chosen. He was heard. He set off. He bribed Baba Mustafa as the first had bribed him, and Baba Mustafa, blindfolded, led him to Ali Baba's house. He marked it in red in a less conspicuous place, reckoning that this was a sure way to tell it apart from the houses marked in white.
But shortly afterward Morgiana came out of the house as on the day before, and when she came back, the red mark did not escape her sharp eyes. She reasoned as she had before, and she did not fail to make the same mark in red chalk on the other doors nearby, in the same places.
The robber, on his return to his band in the forest, did not fail to make much of the precaution he had taken, infallible, he said, for not confusing Ali Baba's house with the others. The captain and his men believed with him that the thing was bound to succeed. They made their way to the city in the same order and with the same care as before, armed in the same way, ready to strike the blow they were planning. On arriving, the captain and the robber went to Ali Baba's street, but they met the same difficulty as the first time. The captain was furious, and the robber as bewildered as the one who had gone before him on the same errand.
So the captain was forced to withdraw again that day with his men, as little satisfied as the day before. The robber, as the author of the mistake, likewise suffered the punishment to which he had willingly submitted.
The captain, seeing his band reduced by two brave men, feared he would see it reduced further if he went on relying on others to learn the truth about Ali Baba's house. Their example showed him that they were all fit only for strokes of force and not at all for using their heads when the occasion called for it. He took the matter on himself. He came to the city, and with the help of Baba Mustafa, who did him the same service he had done the two envoys of his band, he did not bother to make any mark to know Ali Baba's house by. Instead he studied it so well, not only looking at it closely but passing back and forth before it several times, that he could not possibly mistake it.
The robber captain, satisfied with his journey and having learned what he wished, went back to the forest, and when he had reached the cave, where his band was waiting for him, he said, "Comrades, nothing at last can prevent us any longer from taking full revenge for the damage done to us. I know for certain the house of the guilty man on whom it must fall, and on the way I have thought of the means of making him feel it so skillfully that no one will be able to learn of the place of our hideout, nor of our treasure. For that is the aim we must have in our undertaking; otherwise, instead of serving us, it would be fatal to us. To reach that aim," the captain went on, "here is what I have devised. When I have laid it out for you, if anyone knows a better plan, he may put it forward."
Then he explained to them how he meant to go about it, and when they had all given their approval, he charged them to divide up among the market towns and villages round about, and even the cities, and buy mules, nineteen in all, and thirty-eight large leather jars for carrying oil, one full and the others empty.
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.
The leader saw that his plan had failed. He went to the big square. He told the first of his men he ran into to pass the word to the others. The message was that they had wasted their effort and made the trip for nothing. There was nothing to do but go back to their hideout. He left first, and they all followed him out in the same order they had come.
When the whole group was back together in the forest, the leader told them why he had made them come back. Right away they all agreed that the guide deserved to die. The guide agreed too. He admitted he should have been more careful. He bravely held out his neck to the man who stepped up to cut off his head.
To keep the gang going, they couldn't let the harm done to them go without revenge. Another robber stepped forward. He was sure he could do better than the one who had just been punished. He begged to be picked for the job. They agreed. He went into town. He paid off Baba Mustafa just like the first man had. With his eyes covered, Baba Mustafa showed him Ali Baba's house. The robber marked it in red, in a spot where it was harder to see. He thought this would be a sure way to tell it apart from the houses marked in white.
But a little later, Morgiana came out of the house, just like the day before. When she came back, her sharp eyes spotted the red mark. She thought it through the same way she had before. She made sure to put the same red chalk mark on the other doors nearby, in the same places.
When the robber got back to the others in the forest, he made a big deal of the extra step he had taken. He said it was a foolproof way to make sure nobody mixed up Ali Baba's house with the others. The leader and his men believed him. They were sure it would work this time. They went into town the same way as before, in the same order and just as carefully. They had the same weapons and were ready to carry out their plan. When they got there, the leader and the robber went to Ali Baba's street. But they ran into the same problem as the first time. The leader was furious. The robber was just as confused as the one who had gone before him on the same job.
So once again that day, the leader had to pull out with his men. He was just as unhappy as the day before. The robber had caused the mistake, so he got the same punishment he had agreed to take.
The leader saw that his gang had lost two brave men. He was afraid he would lose even more if he kept counting on others to find out the truth about Ali Baba's house. Watching those two made him realize that his men were only good for fighting and raids. None of them could think things through when it counted. He decided to do it himself. He went into town. Baba Mustafa helped him the same way he had helped the two men the gang sent before. This time the leader didn't bother marking anything. Instead he studied the house very closely. He looked at it carefully and walked back and forth past it several times. There was no way he could get it wrong.
The leader was happy with his trip. He had found out what he wanted. He went back to the forest. When he reached the cave, where his men were waiting, he said, "Men, now nothing can stop us from getting full revenge for the harm that's been done to us. I know for sure which house belongs to the guilty man who has to pay. On the way back, I thought of a clever way to make him pay. Nobody will be able to find out where we hide or where our treasure is. That's what we have to aim for. Otherwise this plan won't help us, it'll destroy us. So here's how we'll do it," the leader went on. "Once I've explained it, if anyone knows a better way, he can say so."
Then he told them how he planned to go about it. They all said yes. He sent them out in different directions, to the towns and villages around the area and even to the cities. They were to buy nineteen mules and thirty-eight big leather jars for carrying oil. One jar was to be full of oil. The rest were to be empty.