A Tale from the Arabian Nights

Long ago in Baghdad there lived a merchant named Ali Cogia. He had no wife or child. He made a modest profit and lived a modest life.

One night he dreamed his father appeared to him and scolded him because he had not made a pilgrimage to Mecca, as is the duty of a good Muslim. Ali Cogia woke from the dream and said, “My father is right, but how can I leave? Who will tend my shop? Who will take care of my house?”

But the dream occurred again and again until Ali Cogia knew he would not sleep soundly until he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. He sold all his wares, his shop, and his small house. He received over a thousand pieces of gold. “I will take some gold for the journey, but where can I leave the rest?”

When he thought of a plan, he put the coins in a large jar and filled the rest of the jar with olives. He carried the jar to the neighboring merchant. “My old friend, you have probably heard that I am leaving for Mecca in a few days. Could you keep this jar of olives for me until I come back?”

The merchant replied, “Of course, here is the key to my shop. Take the jar into the shop. Put it wherever you like. I promise that you shall find it in the same place when you get back.”

Ali Cogia put the jar in a dusty corner of a back room, said his goodbyes, and joined a caravan to Mecca. He liked traveling so much that after his visit to the mosque in Mecca, he bought some goods with his remaining gold coins, and joined a caravan to Cairo. He sold his goods in Egypt and journeyed to visit the Pyramids and the Nile River. Next, he met some merchants on their way to India. He joined them. So it was that Ali Cogia traveled and traded for seven years. One day he said, “I am tired of traveling. I long for Baghdad. And with my thousand pieces of gold that I left in the olive jar, I can buy a new shop and live out my life in the city where I was born.”

On the very day that Ali Cogia decided to return home, his friend’s wife remarked, “I have been craving olives all day. If only I had some olives, I would be content,”

The merchant remembered the jar left by Ali Cogia. “There are olives in the back room. Ali Cogia left them with me. Bur he has been gone for seven years. Surely he is dead. So bring a lamp-I will fetch them, and we will see if they are still fit to eat.”

“Oh, no, husband. Ali Cogia may return any day. le would be shameful to betray your trust. Do not pay attention to my idle words; I have no desire for olives.”

But the merchant got a lamp and found the olive jar. He broke the seal on the top and pulled out the cork. The topmost olives were rot­ ten, so he scooped them out and reached deep into the bottom to see if the remaining olives were in better condition. He pulled out a handful of olives, and also found a piece of gold. He did not tell his wife what he found. Instead, he told her, “The olives are all rotten. I recorked the jar.”

When his wife was asleep, he crept into the back room and emp­ tied the jar. “So much gold! All for me!” He hid the money. The next day he went out and bought fresh olives, filled the jar, and sealed it. Then he put the vase in the same spot where Ali Cogia had left it.

Only a few days later, Ali Cogia reentered Baghdad. He went to see his old friend the merchant, who received him with open arms. “Welcome back, Ali Cogia. We feared you were dead.”

“Allah be praised, I am well. And I am blessed to have a friend like you. Could you please give me the jar of olives that you have been so kind to care for?”

“Oh, yes, dear friend,” said the merchant. “Here is the key to my shop. The jar is where you put it.”

Ali Cogia unlocked the shop, went to the spot where he put the jar, and pulled the cork out. He thrust his hand to the bottom. There was no gold!

Ali Cogia ran to the merchant’s house. “My friend,” he cried, “my thousand pieces of gold are gone. Perhaps you might have borrowed it for your business purposes. If that is so, you are most welcome. I only ask you to give me a receipt. Then you can repay at your leisure.”

“Ali Cogia, what gold are you talking about? I gave you the key to my shop; you placed the jar there yourself. Did you not find it in the same spot? I have not touched your jar.”

“Please, old friend, I love peace:. Don’t make me call the law. Give
me my gold.”

“Ali Cogia, a crowd is gathering, even the children are listening.
Please go away.”

By this time, neighbors, children, and merchants were listening to the dispute. Ali Cogia turned and laid his cause before them. He showed them the vase of olives. The crowd said, “Merchant, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Friends, it is true I kept the vase in my shop for seven years. But I swear I did not open it.”

Ali Cogia challenged the merchant, “Will you dare repeat your story before the cadi?”

“I would like nothing better. Let’s go.”

The two men presented themselves m the cadi and told their stories. The cadi asked Ali Cogia, “Do you have witnesses that saw you put the gold in the vase?”

“No, I did it in secret,” the man replied.

Without a moment’s thought the cadi said, “l find for the merchant.” And the merchant returned home in triumph.

Ali Cogia vowed to appeal to the caliph. He drew up a petition, and waited alongside the road where the caliph walked after midday prayer. The caliph heard the petition and granted an audience the next morning.

Later that evening, the caliph went out for a stroll through the town. He was in disguise so he could pass unnoticed through the crowds. He heard children talking. “Let’s play being the cadi of Baghdad,” said the children. The caliph looked into the courtyard and saw the children gathered in the moonlight.

The smartest and quickest child said, “I will be the cadi. Bring me Ali Cogia and the merchant. I will settle the question of the thousand pieces of gold.” The caliph remembered the petition he had read that morning, and he listened with interest to what the children said.

The children liked the game, and they decided the part each would play. The child cadi solemnly took his seat. The child Ali Cogia and the child merchant came forward. Ali Cogia made a low bow. “Please hear my plea. This merchant kept the gold pieces I hid in a vase of olives.” He rold the entire story he had heard from the real Ali Cogia.

The boy cadi said, “Merchant, tell me your side of the story.” The boy merchant repeated all the reasons the real merchant had given to the Cadi of Baghdad. “I never opened the vase in seven years,” he responded.

Instead of finding for the merchant, the boy cadi asked a question, “Where is the vase of olives? Bring it to me.”

The children pretended to carry a vase and put it at the feet of the boy cadi. “Open the vase.”

The children pretended to open the vase. The cadi pretended to eat one. “What good olives. Such bright color and good taste. It seems odd that olives that are seven years old would be so good. Bring me some olive merchants.”

Two children came forward as olive merchants. The boy cadi questioned them, “How long can olives be stored and remain good?”

“Three years,” said the olive merchants. “After that, they lose color and taste and are only fit to be thrown away.”

“Merchants, examine the olives in this vase.”

The children pretended to examine the olives. “My lord, these are fresh olives, not even a year old.”

The merchant tried to protest, but the boy cadi said, “Be silent. You are a thief. Take him to prison.”

So, the play ended, and the children all clapped and led the criminal away to prison. The caliph was amazed. “Can there be any better judgment? I will follow this example.” He commanded his servants to summon the parties, plus two olive merchants and the boy who acted as cadi. “Instruct Ali Cogia to bring the vase of olives. We will be ready to see justice done. And the cadi will learn from the mouth of a child.”

The next morning the boy came to the palace in his finest clothes. The Caliph said, “Last night, I overheard your judgment in the case of the stolen gold. I am pleased with the way you conducted the trial. Come seat yourself next to me. Today you will see the real Ali Cogia and the real merchant.”

The parties came and bowed before the throne. The caliph said, “Cadi, observe!” To the parties, the caliph commanded, “Now speak This child will give you justice.”

Ali Cogia and the merchant told their stories. Then, just as the night before, the boy said, “Bring me the vase of olives.” The boy, the caliph, and the olive merchants tasted the olives. “These olives are fresh and good; they could not have been kept in the vase for seven years,” pronounced the olive merchants.

The boy looked at the caliph and said, “My lord, this is not a game now, it is for you, not me, to condemn the merchant.”

The caliph stood. “Merchant, you are a thief; you emptied the vase to take the gold. Then you filled the jar with fresh olives. You will go to prison, but first, you will tell the place where you hid Ali Cogia’s gold.”

The merchant told the hiding place and went to prison.

The caliph scolded the cadi for his incompetence. “Learn from the wisdom of this child,” he said. Last of all, he sent the boy home with one hundred pieces of silver as a mark of his favor.