《阿里巴巴和四十大盗》05 强盗首领的到来

Chapter 5 The chief arrives

'Here we are,' the cobbler says. Najid puts a white mark on the door. 'I must tell Arshad about this,' he thinks, and he leaves. Baba Mustafa walks slowly back to his shop.       

Soon after that, Morgiana comes out. She sees the mark on Ali Baba's door.       

'Hmm. Somebody wants to mark our house,' she thinks. 'Perhaps it's the thieves. What shall I do?'  

Morgiana marks every door in the street.       
 
When Arshad arrives, he can't find Ali Baba's house.       
 
He visits the cobbler's shop, and gives three gold coins to Baba Mustafa.       
 
The cobbler takes him to Ali Baba's house. Arshad looks carefully at it. He doesn't mark it. Morgiana is watching through the window.       
 
Later, Arshad comes back in different clothes. He knocks on Ali Baba's door. 'I'm an oil merchant. I'm taking my oil to a town far away. Can I sleep here tonight?' he says. Ali Baba is a good man. 'Of course,' he answers. 'Leave your oil jars behind my house and come in.' 
 
Arshad leaves the forty jars behind the house. One jar has oil in, but there are thieves in thirty-nine of the jars. 'When I knock on the jars,' Arshad tells his men quietly, 'come out and kill Ali Baba!' Then he goes into the house.