The Merchant of Baghdad

THE MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD

THE MERCHANT OF BAGHDAD Ali Cogia was a very rich merchant who lived in Baghdad. One day, he decided to go to mecca on a pilgrimage 2

Ali had a thousand gold coins that he did not want to carry with him on his travels. So, he took a large pot and put his thousand gold coins at the bottom. Then, he convered them with fresh, green iloves. Ali took the pot to a merchant friend and said, “Will you pleace look after this pot of olives until I return?” The merchant agreed and put the pot in his store room. Ali thanked his friend and left for Mecca. It was a long journey and he was away for seven long years. 3

In the meantime, Ali’s friend the merchant needed olives one day. He decided to borrow a few olives from Ali’s pot. He started removing olives from the top. The merchant’s eyes windened in surprise when he saw the gold coins underneath. He became greedy and took the gold coins for himself. He quickly filled the pot with fresh olives and returned it to the store room. 4

When Ali reached Baghdad,his friend greeted him warmly and returned his pot of olives. However, when Ali went home and looked into pot, he realised that he had been cheated. He rushed back, and asked his friend, “Where are my gold coins?” The merchant pretended not to understand what Ali was saying. “you placed a pot of olives in my stromeroom and when returned, you found the same pot of olives. What gold coins are you speaking about?” 5

6 Ali and the merchant started arguing loudly. Soon, a crowd gathered and all the people strated discussing the metter. Finally, they said, “Let us go to the Caliph’s court to decide the case.” The Caliph of Baghdad, Haroun-al-Rashid, was a very fair and just man. He heard both Ali’s and the merchant’ story, and asked them to return the next day for his decision.

7 That evening, the Caliph decided to take a walk through the city, disguised as a poor man. As he walked, he tried to solve Ali’s case. ‘One of the men is lying ,’ he thought. ‘Is it Ali or the merchant? How shall I find out the truth?’

8 As the Caliph passed the market place, he saw a group of children playing on the street. They seemed to be acting out the same case that he had been trying to solve. The boy acting as the Caliph summoned an ‘Olive Merchant’ and asked him to taste the olives from Ali’s pot. “Mmmm, these olives are very juicy. But olives cannot last more than three years,” said the boy acting as the olive merchant. “ Very well, that means that Ali is telling the truth,” declared the boy asting as Caliph. Haroun-al-Rashid was stunned. The bot playing in the street had solved his case! He hurried back to the palace.

The Caliph punished the greedy merchant and made him return ali’s gold coins. He then called for the young boys who had been playing in the street, and rewarded them for their intelligence. 9