Ali Baba and Forty Thieves

Antoine Galland
The story takes place in Baghdad during the Abbasid era. Ali Baba and his elder brother Cassim are the
sons of

Ali Baba and forty thievesa merchant. After the death of their father, the greedy Cassim marries a
wealthy woman and becomes well-to-do, building on their father's business - but Ali Baba marries a
poor woman and settles into the trade of a woodcutter.

One day Ali Baba is at work collecting and cutting firewood in the forest, and he happens to overhear a
group of forty thieves visiting their treasure store. The treasure is in a cave, the mouth of which is sealed
by magic. It opens on the words "Open, Simsim", and seals itself on the words "Close, Simsim". When
the thieves are gone, Ali Baba enters the cave himself, and takes some of the treasure home.

Ali Baba borrows his sister-in-law's scales to weigh this new wealth of gold coins. Unbeknownst to Ali,
she puts a blob of wax in the scales to find out what Ali is using them for, as she is curious to know what
kind of grain her impoverished brother-in-law needs to measure. To her shock, she finds a gold coin
sticking to the scales and tells her husband, Ali Baba's rich and greedy brother, Cassim. Under pressure
from his brother, Ali Baba is forced to reveal the secret of the cave. Cassim goes to the cave and enters
with the magic words, but in his greed and excitement over the treasures forgets the magic words to get
back out again. The thieves find him there, and kill him. When his brother does not come back, Ali Baba
goes to the cave to look for him, and finds the body, quartered and with each piece displayed just inside
the entrance of the cave to discourage any similar attempts in the future.

Ali Baba brings the body home, where he entrusts Morgiana, a clever slave-girl in Cassim's household,
with the task of making others believe that Cassim has died a natural death. First, Morgiana purchases
medicines from an apothecary, telling him that Cassim is gravely ill. Then, she finds an old tailor known
as Baba Mustafa whom she pays, blindfolds, and leads to Cassim's house. There, overnight, the tailor
stitches the pieces of Cassims' body back together, so that no one will be suspicious. Ali and his family
are able to give Cassim a proper burial without anyone asking awkward questions. In a place called
Moab there lived a nice family
Bible the story of ruth
Sharla Guenther
Elimelech, his wife Naomi and their two sons moved there because there was more food there than
where they used to live. After a while Elimelech died but Naomi wasn't alone she still had two sons.

Her sons got married but after about ten years they died too. At least Naomi still had her sons wives to
keep her company, their names were Orpah and Ruth.

Naomi called her sons wives and told them, "I am going to go back to where I used to live and I would
like you also to go back to your family where you used to live. May God show you kindness as you have
showed me." All the women cried and hugged each other because they were such good friends.

Orpah didn't want to leave Naomi but Naomi told her not to worry, she would be fine. So Orpah left to
go back to her family. But no matter what Naomi said to Ruth, Ruth would not leave. "Don't ask me to
leave. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your friends will be my friends and your
God will be my God."

So Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem together. It was a good thing Ruth went with Naomi because
Bethlehem was very far away and Naomi couldn't have traveled all that way by herself. Notice that Ruth
never complains but is a good friend to Naomi. She wasn't expecting anything in return, she just wanted
to help.

children's bible storiesWhen they got there Ruth decided that she should do some kind of work. It was
harvest time, so she worked in the fields following behind the harvesters and picked up any barley that
they had dropped.

The owner of the field came by to greet the harvesters and noticed Ruth in the field. He asked one of
the harvesters who she was. "She came back from Moab with Naomi, that's all I know." Lucky for Ruth
the owner of the field was Boaz, he was a kind man who believed in God. He had also been related to
Elimelech (Naomi's husband that died).

Boaz went to go talk to Ruth, he said to her, "Don't go work in any other field but stay here with the
other servant girls. I will make sure you are safe and whenever you are thirsty go and get a drink from
the water jars." When Ruth heard this she bowed down to Boaz and asked, "Why are you being so nice
to me, I'm not even from here."
Boaz replied, "I know what you've done for Naomi, you left your family and moved to a place you've
never been. May the Lord reward you for your kindness."

Ruth thanked Boaz and continued with her work in the hot sun. Boaz even ordered his workers to drop
extra barley so Ruth could have more for herself.

Ruth took all the barley home and shared what she had with Naomi. And eventually Ruth married Boaz
and everyone was very happy!

Being a good friend takes a long time to learn. A good friend is loyal, which means you keep your
promises and sometimes when you don't feel like being a friend you are anyway. Sometimes our friends
aren't perfect and they make mistakes but we make mistakes too, and we don't want our friends to
leave us when that happens.

God gives us friends when we need them, and we should treat them like a gift from God. Just like in the
story, Naomi could've insisted the women come with her, but she unselfish and wanted them to be free
to go home to be with their families. And Ruth had such a good attitude and wanted to help, she moved
away from everyone she knew and went to work to help Naomi. She didn't tell everyone what a good
friend she was, she knew that she should be a friend like God wanted her to be.

The thieves, finding the body gone, realize that yet another person must know their secret, and set out
to track him down. One of the thieves goes down to the town and comes across Baba Mustafa, who
mentions that he has just sewn a dead man's body back together. Realizing that the dead man must
have been the thieves' victim, the thief asks Baba Mustafa to lead the way to the house where the deed
was performed. The tailor is blindfolded again, and in this state he is able to retrace his steps and find
the house. The thief marks

forty thieves the door with a symbol. The plan is for the other thieves to come back that night and kill
everyone in the house. However, the thief has been seen by Morgiana and she, loyal to her master, foils
his plan by marking all the houses in the neighborhood with a similar marking. When the 40 thieves
return that night, they cannot identify the correct house and the head thief kills the lesser thief. The
next day, another thief revisits Baba Mustafa and tries again, only this time, a chunk is chipped out of
the stone step at Ali Baba's front door. Again Morgiana foils the plan by making similar chips in all the
other doorsteps. The second thief is killed for his stupidity as well. At last, the head thief goes and looks
for himself. This time, he memorizes every detail he can of the exterior of Ali Baba's house.

The Resiliency of a Filipino (Speech Choir Piece)

by William G. Bacani
B : Filipino is resilient

G : Since time immemorial, we are tested by countless calamities; volcanic eruptions, devastating
earthquakes and lahar flows, super typhoons, flash floods and landslides.

B : Victoriously, we surmounted these ordeals and pains, beyond imagination of the human race

G : Instant death of our loved ones, claimed by transportation mishaps and natural disasters. Thousands
also die in hunger and malnutrition.

All : Including ambushes and endless wars in Mindanao. They trampled our basic human rights, such as
the right to live

G (solo) : I lost my loving husband, who didn't want to join Abu Sayyaf.

G (solo) : I lost my only son, who opted to become a military man.

G : We lost our innocent children and women, we lost our homes and properties.

B : Survivors are Filipinos. The wrath of nature and cruel destiny may steal everything from us.

B (solo) : Wealth, properties, and family

All : But the Filipinos never give up

B : For us we are continuously scourged by the test of time. The spirit to survive and to bounce back
remains undefeated

All : I'm as pliant as a bamboo for I'm a man of Earth

G : My hair may all be blown away by the winds

B : And my legs may be crippled by the smash of waves

All : But I will stand and pick up the shattered pieces of myself and continue to live

B : Resolute to survive, clothed with an inspiration to live, not only for my family but also for my beloved
country

All : Filipinos unite in the midst of crisis, regardless of socio-economic status, tradition and creed

G : The world has seen the magnanimous spirit of the Filipinos in crucial times.

All : The gap between the rich and the poor was narrowed

G (solo) : Envy was replaced by sympathy

G (solo) : Hatred was conquered by love

B (solo) : Selfishness was set aside

B : And saving one's live is the ultimate desire

All : History tells us that the Filipinos have captured innumerable foes, natural and not. And shall always
strive to champion in all odds. Because innate in the Filipino is the will to survive

B : We may be daunted by the horrible scenes around us. But certainly, we will be strengthened by our
unwavering faith in God.

G : We have been lotted by many nations in the world, for our resiliency during disasters, others die in
saving lives.

All : But only few realize, that we are able to survive, because our spirit to fight is deeply anchored from
faith, that God Almighty will never forsake us.

B (solo) : I believe that Filipinos, divided by varied doctrines and cultures, are capable to be on top of any
situation, if united

All : Together, we can face any challenge ahead of us.

B : We may stumble and fall

All : But we will bounce back, arms stronger with vision and faith, that after darkness, after pains and
sufferings, the Filipino survives, the Filipino is resilient.

The Cat
by Banjo Paterson
Most people think that the cat is an unintelligent animal, fond of ease, and caring little for anything but
mice and milk. But a cat has really more character than most human beings, and gets a great deal more
satisfaction out of life. Of all the animal kingdom, the cat has the most many-sided character.

He -- or she -- is an athlete, a musician, an acrobat, a Lothario, a grim fighter, a sport of the first water.
All day long the cat loafs about the house, takes things easy, sleeps by the fire, and allows himself to be
pestered by the attentions of our womenfolk and annoyed by our children. To pass the time away he
sometimes watches a mouse-hole for an hour or two -- just to keep himself from dying of ennui; and
people get the idea that this sort of thing is all that life holds for the cat. But watch him as the shades of
evening fall, and you see the cat as he really is.
When the family sits down to tea, the cat usually puts in an appearance to get his share, and purrs
noisily, and rubs himself against the legs of the family; and all the time he is thinking of a fight or a love-
affair that is coming off that evening. If there is a guest at table the cat is particularly civil to him,
because the guest is likely to have the best of what is going. Sometimes, instead of recognizing this
civility with something to eat, the guest stoops down and strokes the cat, and says, "Poor pussy! poor
pussy!"

The cat soon tires of that; he puts up his claw and quietly but firmly rakes the guest in the leg.

"Ow!" says the guest, "the cat stuck his claws into me!" The delighted family remarks, "Isn't it sweet of
him? Isn't he intelligent? HE WANTS YOU TO GIVE HIM SOMETHING TO EAT."

The guest dares not do what he would like to do -- kick the cat through the window -- so, with tears of
rage and pain in his eyes, he affects to be very much amused, and sorts out a bit of fish from his plate
and hands it down. The cat gingerly receives it, with a look in his eyes that says: "Another time, my
friend, you won't be so dull of comprehension," and purrs maliciously as he retires to a safe distance
from the guest's boot before eating it. A cat isn't a fool -- not by a long way.

When the family has finished tea, and gathers round the fire to enjoy the hours of indigestion, the cat
slouches casually out of the room and disappears. Life, true life, now begins for him.

He saunters down his own backyard, springs to the top of the fence with one easy bound, drops lightly
down on the other side, trots across the right-of-way to a vacant allotment, and skips to the roof of an
empty shed. As he goes, he throws off the effeminacy of civilisation; his gait becomes lithe and
pantherlike; he looks quickly and keenly from side to side, and moves noiselessly, for he has so many
enemies -- dogs, cabmen with whips, and small boys with stones.

Arrived on the top of the shed, the cat arches his back, rakes his claws once or twice through the soft
bark of the old roof, wheels round and stretches himself a few times; just to see that every muscle is in
full working order; then, dropping his head nearly to his paws, he sends across a league of backyards his
call to his kindred -- a call to love, or war, or sport.
Before long they come, gliding, graceful shadows, approaching circuitously, and halting occasionally to
reconnoitre -- tortoiseshell, tabby, and black, all domestic cats, but all transformed for the nonce into
their natural state. No longer are they the hypocritical, meek creatures who an hour ago were cadging
for fish and milk. They are now ruffling, swaggering blades with a Gascon sense of dignity. Their fights
are grim and determined, and a cat will be clawed to ribbons before he will yield.

Even young lady cats have this inestimable superiority over human beings, that they can work off
jealousy, hatred, and malice in a sprawling, yelling combat on a flat roof. All cats fight, and all keep
themselves more or less in training while they are young. Your cat may be the acknowledged lightweight
champion of his district -- a Griffo of the feline ring!

Just think how much more he gets out of his life than you do out of yours -- what a hurricane of fighting
and lovemaking his life is -- and blush for yourself. You have had one little love-affair, and never had a
good, all-out fight in your life!

And the sport they have, too! As they get older and retire from the ring they go in for sport more
systematically; the suburban backyards, that are to us but dullness indescribable, are to them hunting-
grounds and trysting-places where they may have more gallant adventure than ever had King Arthur's
knights or Robin Hood's merry men.

Grimalkin decides to kill a canary in a neighbouring verandah. Consider the fascination of it -- the
stealthy reconnaissance from the top of the fence; the care to avoid waking the house-dog, the
noiseless approach and the hurried dash, and the fierce clawing at the fluttering bird till its mangled
body is dragged through the bars of the cage; the exultant retreat with the spoil; the growling over the
feast that follows. Not the least entertaining part of it is the demure satisfaction of arriving home in time
for breakfast and hearing the house-mistress say: "Tom must be sick; he seems to have no appetite."

It is always levelled as a reproach against cats that they are more fond of their home than of the people
in it. Naturally, the cat doesn't like to leave his country, the land where all his friends are, and where he
knows every landmark. Exiled in a strange land, he would have to learn a new geography, to exploit
another tribe of dogs, to fight and make love to an entirely new nation of cats. Life isn't long enough for
that sort of thing. So, when the family moves, the cat, if allowed, will stay at the old house and attach
himself to the new tenants. He will give them the privilege of boarding him while he enjoys life in his
own way. He is not going to sacrifice his whole career for the doubtful reward which fidelity to his old
master or mistress might bring.