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VI . The Oil Merchant The captain went back to the cave with a plan . He sent his men to the villages to buy nineteen mules and thirty - eight big leather jars . People carried wine or oil in jars like these . The captain filled one jar with oil . Inside each of the other thirty - seven jars he put one of his men with a knife . He left the top of each jar a little open , so the men could breathe . Then he rubbed oil on the outside of all the jars . Now they all looked full of oil . One evening , an hour after sunset , he came with his mules to Ali Baba’s house . He was dressed as an oil merchant . Ali Baba was sitting outside his door , enjoying the cool evening air . “ Sir , ” said the captain , “ I have brought this oil from far away . I want to sell it at the market tomorrow . But it is late , and I don’t know where to sleep . Can I stay the night in your house ? ” Ali Baba had seen this man once in the forest , but now he did not recognise him . “ You are welcome , ” he said . “ Please come in . ” They put the jars in the yard , and Abdallah , Ali Baba’s slave , took the mules to the stable . The guest wanted to sleep in the yard , next to his jars . But Ali Baba did not let him . He took him into the house and gave him supper . Then he went to the kitchen . “ Morgiana , take good care of our guest , ” he said . “ Tomorrow , before sunrise , I am going to the baths with Abdallah . Get my towels ready , and make me some good soup for when I come back . ” Then he went to bed . Meanwhile , the captain went out into the yard . He spoke quietly to his men , jar by jar . “ Tonight I will throw some small stones from my window , ” he said . “ That is the sign . Cut the jar open with your knife and come out . I will be with you at once . ” Then he went up to his room , put out the light and lay down in his clothes . In the kitchen , Morgiana was making the soup when the lamp went out . There was no more oil in the house , and there were no candles either . “ Take a little oil from those jars in the yard , ” said Abdallah , and he went to bed . Morgiana took an oil pot and went out into the yard . When she came near the first jar , somebody inside it said very quietly , “ Is it time ? ” There was a man in the jar ! Morgiana was frightened , but she did not scream . One scream could be the end of the whole family . In a moment she understood the danger , and she knew what to do . She answered in a quiet voice , “ Not yet , but soon . ” She went from jar to jar . At each jar she heard the same question and gave the same answer . Only the last jar was full of oil . So now she knew the truth : with the false merchant , there were thirty - eight robbers in the house .
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