What I learned from "Tammy meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!"

Most of us remember that Ali Baba was a fictional character that appeared in one of the 1001 Arabian Nights tales. If you are like me, you do not remember any of the details other than his cave opened up when he said the magic words, "Open Sesame!" Tammy's encounter occurred many years later and Ali Baba tells Tammy that he used the name as it instilled fear in king's soldiers. In that he and his landowner friends were banished from their lands they used the cave as a hideout.

Tammy's mission was to save Mansa Musa's gold from the evil sultan who had taken over the kingdom. "Oh, oh," you ask,
"Who is Mansa Musa?"

Tammy writes "We settled under scarlet parasols where she explained that something had gone horribly wrong in the year 1324. Lucinda unveiled her crystal ball and we could see a string of camels winding through a desert."

She said, "This is the caravan of Mansa Musa making its historic journey to Medina." She explained that Mansa Musa was an African king who owned the North African gold mines of Timbuktu and decided he wanted to make a holy journey to Medina. He always thought big and wanted to make an impression upon the citizenry, so he took one hundred camels with each carrying three hundred pounds of gold. When he arrived a royal wedding in Medina was abruptly cancelled. An evil empire ruled from that moment and the entire history of the world took an ugly turn."

A quick check with the history book tells me that Mansa Musa ruled the trade routes of North Africa and was very likely the most powerful ruler of the region in many years. When he did make the famous journey, he spread so much wealth around Arabia that the economies were disrupted for decades.

"Okay," you ask," so what did you learn?"

I was just getting to that part as so far this is a mere history lesson. The little tidbits seem to come from our cuddly creatures, Cedric and Zeke at the end of each adventure. I suspect they are a lot smarter than they would lead us to believe.

Tammy writes in her diary.

"We enjoyed discussing recent events while we tucked ourselves in. "What have we learned from our trip to the time of the Arabian Nights?" I asked.

Each night, Zeke liked to use use that flowery language that he learned from Thomas Jefferson, "Forsooth, Mistress Wurtherington, I have observed that things may not be what they first appear 'eth."

Cedric asked, "Aye, Sir Zeke—What, prithee tell us, hath thou learned?"

Zeke said, "Ali Baba, who we thought was a rogue, was a good person."

Cedric said, "Aye, thoust speak 'eth the truth. Hath we perchance learned anything more?"

Zeke said, "Those with great power tend to corrupt. Albeit, they treat others with little regard when they have no one to answer 'eth to."

Cedric said, "Alfred the Great is kind'th and benevolent. How would 'eth you account 'eth for him in your most astute observation?"

Zeke had the answer. "Alfred sees the world from both sides. He views the world often times as a mere mouse and it giveth him a clear mind, making him a person of all seasons."

Cedric said, "'Tis rare that anyone sees the world from both sides. We could say that Alfred truly is great and stands apart from all others."

Zeke said, "'Tis so true."

Yep, these furry guys have pegged it once again. If I were to toss in my two cents, I would say that awesome power at the top end is a dangerous place to be. Our founding fathers knew that and split up our government such that a president that might consider himself a ruling monarch would be quickly replaced.

Thanks for reading this far. See ya next time....