the story takes place in baghdad during the abbasid era . ali baba and his elder brother cassim are the sons of a 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 . 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 . 
cassim marries a wealthy woman and ali baba marries a poor woman .
how are ali baba and cassim different ?
how are ali baba and cassim different ?