"The Thief of Baghdad" by Andrei Belyanin, summary

The humorous fantasy novel "The Thief of Baghdad" was written in 2002. This book is an ironic reimagining of Eastern fairy tales and the first part of a series of the same name, which also includes "Riding the Devil" and "Get Caught." In 2003, the work won the Star Bridge award, but it has not been adapted for film. The narrative’s main feature is the combination of contemporary Russian legal humor with Arabic folklore.

Travel to fairytale Baghdad

Moscow assistant prosecutor Lev Nikolaevich Obolensky is a hereditary nobleman distinguished by his athletic build and practical mind. One January morning in 1999, exhausted by nightmares of an execution at an oriental bazaar, Lev encounters a persistent wandering Uzbek at the entrance to his building. A little later, near the office building, Obolensky stumbles, hits the back of his head hard on the pavement, and falls into a deep coma.

Conventional medicine is powerless, and the patient lies in a clinic on an IV drip. Meanwhile, Lev’s consciousness materializes in a fairytale Baghdad. He comes to in a dilapidated hut in the middle of the desert. Two strange characters are arguing nearby: the decrepit former bandit Khayyam ibn Omar and the dark-skinned genie Babudai-Aga.

A genie transferred the soul of a Muscovite from a distant world at Khayyam’s request. The old poet wished to raise a successor to take revenge on the city’s ruler. Emir Selim ibn Harun al-Rashid had instituted harsh laws and ordered merciless beheadings for even petty thefts. An attempted magic spell deprives Lev of his memory: he remembers only his name and familiar slang. However, the magic imbues him with virtuoso thief skills.

Grandfather Khayyam’s plan

Khayyam proclaims the hero his legitimate grandson and a hereditary thief. Lev immediately snatches a copper coin from the old man, confirming his acquired abilities. The elder sends the Muscovite to Baghdad, instructing him to find the shoemaker Akhmed and the famous trickster Khoja Nasreddin.

The elderly poet asks not to shed blood, but to ridicule the ruler and restore justice. Lev receives a bag of food, the last of the water, and three copper dirhams. After bidding farewell to Khayyam and the genie, the hero sets off across the scorching dunes to meet the trade caravans.

The road with the caravan and penetration into the city

Exhausted by the heat, Lev overtakes Hasan Bey’s Bukharan caravan and grabs hold of a camel’s tail. The merchant mistakes him for a spy from the emir’s secret service. The Muscovite takes advantage of this misconception and obtains water and food.

That night, Lev gets drunk with Hasan Bey in his tent. The drunken merchant and the Muscovite decide to rob their own caravan. Lev scoops up skullcaps and valuables from the sleeping caravan drivers. The next morning, the caravan drivers find Lev’s torn, bloody clothing and assume the camels have eaten him. They mistake the drunken Hasan Bey for the thief and beat him with sticks.

The caravan approaches the gates of Baghdad. Lev hides in a bundle of women’s trousers. He later emerges unrecognized, steals the city guard’s green armband, and sneaks into the caravanserai. There, he returns the stolen rings to the chief of the guard, Shekhmet, and escapes in the chaos.

At the market, Leo cunningly takes a gray donkey from two arguing brothers. He names the animal Rabinovich and declares it his regular transport. Then the hero finds the shop of Akhmed the shoemaker. The timid Akhmed shelters his guest in the barn and reveals Nasreddin’s whereabouts.

Meeting Nasreddin and going to the dungeon

Hodja Nasreddin has settled down, completed his pilgrimage, and is preparing to become a mullah. Lev, using force and cunning, lures him into a gamble: he plants stolen carpets in Hodja’s yard and calls the guards.

Obolensky openly declares himself the Thief of Baghdad. Nasreddin sends guards to the old minaret for the supposed treasure, while he himself attempts to escape. However, a sack of opium is discovered in Hodja’s house, and both heroes are apprehended. The guards take the prisoners to the city prison — the zindan.

On the way, Khodja bribes the guards with the promise of revealing hidden gold. One of the warriors leads Khodja away, while the other leads Lev to the pit. The Muscovite easily ties up the guard with his own rope, leaves him in the alley, and leaves.

At Ahmed’s shop, Lev disguises himself in the mufti’s silk robes. Meeting Nasreddin, the heroes celebrate their successful escape. However, Shekhmet’s guards begin searching the bazaar. Nasreddin disguises himself as a guard, while Lev covers his comrades’ escape and provokes a fight between the townspeople and Shekhmet’s servants. In the confusion, the hero is knocked unconscious by a spear fragment and thrown into a deep dungeon.

That night, two guards and a latrine cleaner lower a ladder into the pit, wanting to test the prisoner’s thieving skills. Leo emerges, accepts the terms of the bet, and in one night completely empties Shekhmet’s compound.

The hero releases the horses, carries off the army’s treasury, four jugs of wine, and the captain of the guard’s ceremonial robe. He ties the sleeping Shekhmet by the leg with a rope and drags him out into the courtyard. The black cleaner turns out to be Nasreddin in disguise. Together, they carry off the plundered goods on Rabinovich’s donkey.

Rescuing Jamila and the death of the ghoul

Lev and Nasreddin hide on the outskirts of the city. For two tangas, a wealthy old man named Ai-Gul-aga hires the hero to carry sacks of cattle bones to a cemetery for the infidels. Lev spends the entire day performing hard labor behind the fortress walls.

That evening, the old man lures the hero into the room of young Jamila. The girl explains that her husband is a terrible ghoul, a living cannibal. He lures travelers and eats them, leaving only their bones.

An old ghoul enters the room to devour a Muscovite. Lev engages the monster in hand-to-hand combat, employing boxing and wrestling techniques. The ghoul bites through the hero’s shoulder and drinks his blood. However, the blood of an Orthodox Christian proves to be a deadly poison for the Eastern ghoul. The intruder instantly bursts into flames and turns into a pile of ash.

The rescued Jamila thanks her rescuer. Lev spends a romantic night with her and returns to Nasreddin in the morning.

The Shaming of Delilah and Zeinab

Ahmed the shoemaker returns beaten and robbed. He was deceived by notorious con artists — Dalila the Cunning and her daughter Zeinab the Fraudster. The women swindled the shoemaker out of twelve dinars, and at their request, the barber pulled out two of his healthy teeth.

Lev and Nasreddin decide to punish the swindlers. Nasreddin disguises himself as a doctor, and Lev as an Indian astrologer. On the street, they prophesy to Ali of Cairo (Shekhmet’s nephew and Zeinab’s fiancé) that his fiancée is unfaithful.

The heroes then arrive at Delilah’s house. They convince the old woman and her daughter that they have fatal illnesses. As a treatment, they force Delilah to wear a low-cut dress for cupping, and Zeinab to wear a revealing nurse’s outfit.

That night, Leo throws pepper in Shekhmet’s eyes. The blinded captain of the guards and his nephew, along with their troops, burst into Delilah’s courtyard. The black-robed guards and white-cloaked warriors mistake each other for demons and begin a brawl. While the brawl rages, Leo and Nasreddin steal valuables from the houses of Shekhmet and Ali, compensating Ahmed for his losses.

Flight of ghouls from the minaret

Jamila reports that eight desert ghouls are gathering at her late husband’s house for their semi-annual feast. The heroes decide to neutralize the monsters.

They lure the Armenian prince Mumarbek Kumgan-Zade, promising him rich spoils. Nasreddin and Leo disguise themselves in women’s clothing and offer the vampires strong wormwood vodka laced with opium smoke.

The monsters are stupefied. The smoke-addled Lev leads eight ghouls to the top of the old Gul-Mulla minaret. The hero convinces the ghouls that they possess the gift of flight. All eight monsters leap down and crash into dust. The Armenian prince clings to a fireplace hook and survives.

Exposure to the Emir and return home

Old Khayyam is caught in the bazaar for reciting free-thinking poetry. The emir orders the poet executed in the town square.

Lev disguises himself as a wealthy Samarkand bride and stops the execution. He tears off his women’s clothes in front of the emir and publicly reveals his identity. The Muscovite defends his grandfather and proves that Khayyam’s verses are poetic metaphors.

The hero summons the genie Babudai-Aga. Instead of seizing the throne, Lev spends his last wish on imbuing Emir Selim with a sense of humor. The ruler bursts into laughter, cancels the execution, and pardons all the accused.

At that moment, a silver alien disc appears over the square. The aliens return Lev to Earth, having failed to cope with his temper. The hero says goodbye to his grandfather, Nasreddin, Jamila, and Rabinovich the donkey.

Obolensky’s consciousness returns to a Moscow hospital ward. The assistant prosecutor awakens from his coma and recovers quickly. He later meets with the book’s author and tells his story, discreetly stealing his wristwatch as a memento.