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The phrase first appears in [[Antoine Galland]]'s ''[[One Thousand and One Nights#Modern translations|Les Mille et une nuits]]'' (1704–1717) as ''Sésame, ouvre-toi'' (English, "Sesame, open!").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5564679j/f299.image.r=sesame.langEN |title=Les mille et une nuits : contes arabes / traduits par Galland, ornés de gravures |publisher=Gallica.bnf.fr |date=2009-05-25 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref> No earlier oral or written version of the story is known in any language. |
The phrase first appears in [[Antoine Galland]]'s ''[[One Thousand and One Nights#Modern translations|Les Mille et une nuits]]'' (1704–1717) as ''Sésame, ouvre-toi'' (English, "Sesame, open!").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5564679j/f299.image.r=sesame.langEN |title=Les mille et une nuits : contes arabes / traduits par Galland, ornés de gravures |publisher=Gallica.bnf.fr |date=2009-05-25 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref> No earlier oral or written version of the story is known in any language. |
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Galland's phrase has been variously translated from the French into English as "Sesame, Open",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hFAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA562 |title=The Novelist's Magazine - Google Boeken |accessdate=2013-08-15|year=1785 }}</ref> "Open, Sesame" and "Open, O Simsim".<ref>Burton</ref> |
Galland's phrase has been variously translated from the French into English as "Sesame, Open yourself",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hFAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA562 |title=The Novelist's Magazine - Google Boeken |accessdate=2013-08-15|year=1785 }}</ref> "Open, Sesame" and "Open, O Simsim".<ref>Burton</ref> |
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==Classification== |
==Classification== |
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Revision as of 16:34, 9 June 2019
"Open Sesame" (French: Sésame, ouvre-toi) (Arabic: افتح يا سمسم) is a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in One Thousand and One Nights. It opens the mouth of a cave in which forty thieves have hidden a treasure.
Documentation
The phrase first appears in Antoine Galland's Les Mille et une nuits (1704–1717) as Sésame, ouvre-toi (English, "Sesame, open!").[1] No earlier oral or written version of the story is known in any language.
Galland's phrase has been variously translated from the French into English as "Sesame, Open yourself",[2] "Open, Sesame" and "Open, O Simsim".[3]
Classification
Open Sesame has been classified by Stith Thompson as motif element D1552.2, "Mountain opens to magic formula".[4]
Use in the story
In the story, Ali Baba overhears the 40 thieves saying "open sesame". His brother later cannot remember the phrase, and confuses it with the names of other grains (becoming trapped in the magic cave).
Origin
Sesame seeds grow in a seed pod that splits open when it reaches maturity,[5] and the phrase possibly alludes to unlocking of treasures,[6] although it is not certain that the word "sesame" actually refers to the sesame plant or seed.[7]
Other theories include:
- Sesame is a reduplication of the Hebrew šem 'name', i.e. God or a kabbalistic word representing the Talmudic šem-šamáįm ("shem-shamayim"), 'name of heaven'.[8]
- Sesame is connected to Babylonian magic practices which used sesame oil.[9]
See also
Notes
- ^ "Les mille et une nuits : contes arabes / traduits par Galland, ornés de gravures". Gallica.bnf.fr. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
- ^ "The Novelist's Magazine - Google Boeken". 1785. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
- ^ Burton
- ^ S. Thompson, Motif-index of folk-literature : a classification of narrative elements in folktales, ballads, myths, fables, mediaeval romances, exempla, fabliaux, jest-books, and local legends", 1955-1958. [1] cf. Aarne–Thompson classification system
- ^ "Sesame: Origin, History, Etymology and Mythology". MDidea.com. 2015-11-30. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
- ^ "Open Sesame". The New York Times Magazine. 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
- ^ Armstrong, Marian (2007). Wildlife and Plants. Vol. 16. Marshall Cavendish. p. 972. ISBN 978-0761477105. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
- ^ Felix Ernst Peiser in Orientalistische Literaturzeitung (1902), as reported in Haupt.
- ^ Theodor Nöldeke in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie (1914), as reported in Haupt.
Bibliography
- Template:En icon Paul Haupt, "Open Sesame" in Beiträge zur assyriologie und semitischen sprachwissenschaft 10:2, 1927, p. 165ff. Originally presented at the meeting of the American Oriental Society, Washington, April 15, 1916.