more heard of. But the magician, when he contrived his death, had
forgotten the ring he put on his finger, which preserved him, though he
knew not its virtue; and it is amazing that the loss of that, together
with the lamp, did not drive the magician to despair; but magicians are
so much used to misfortunes, and events contrary to their wishes, that
they do not lay them to heart, but still feed themselves all their lives
with unsubstantial notions and chimeras.
As for Aladdin, who never suspected this bad usage from his pretended
uncle, after all his caresses, and what he had done for him, his
surprise is more easily to be imagined than expressed by words. When he
found himself buried alive, he cried, and called out to his uncle to
tell him he was ready to give him the lamp; but all in vain, since his
cries could not be heard by him and he remained in this dark abode. At
last when he had quite tired himself with crying, he went to the bottom
of the steps, with a design to get into the garden, where it was light;
but the door, which was opened before by enchantment, was now shut by
the same means. Then he redoubled his cries and tears, and sat down on
the steps, without any hopes of ever seeing the light again, and in a
melancholy certainty of passing from the present darkness into that of a
speedy death.
Aladdin remained in this state two days, without eating or drinking, and
on the third day looked upon death as inevitable. Clasping his hands
with an entire resignation to the will of God, he said, “There is no
strength or power but in the great and high God.” In this action of
joining his hands, he rubbed the ring which the magician put on his
finger, and of which he knew not yet the virtue, and immediately a genie
of an enormous size and frightful look rose out of the earth, his head
reaching the vault, and said to him, “What wouldst thou have with me? I
am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all who have the
ring on thy finger; I, and the other slaves of that ring.”
At another time, Aladdin, who had not been used to such visions, would
have been so frightened, that he would not have been able to speak at
the sight of so extraordinary a figure; but the danger he was in made
him answer without hesitation, “Whoever thou art, deliver me from this
place, if thou art able.” He had no sooner made an end of these words,
but the earth opened, and he found himself on the very spot where the
magician first brought him.
It was some time before Aladdin’s eyes could bear the light, after
having been so long in total darkness; but after he had endeavoured by
degrees to support it, and began to look about him, he was very much
surprised not to find the earth open, and could not comprehend how he
had got so soon out of its bowels. There was nothing to be seen but the
place where the fire had been, by which he could nearly judge
whereabouts the cave was. Then turning himself about towards the town,
he perceived it in the midst of the gardens that surrounded it, and knew
the way back by which the magician had brought him to it; then,
returning God thanks to see himself once more in the world, where he
never more expected to be, he made the best of his way home. When he got
within his mother’s door, the joy to see her, and his faintness for want
of sustenance for three days, made him faint, and he remained for a long
time as dead. His mother, who had given him over for lost or dead,
seeing him in this condition, omitted nothing to bring him to himself
again. As soon as he recovered, the first words he spake were, “Pray,
mother, give me something to eat, for I have not put a morsel of
anything into my mouth these three days.” His mother brought what she
had, and set it before him. “My son,” said she, “be not too eager, for
it is dangerous; eat but a little at a time, and take care of yourself.
Besides, I would not have you talk; you will have time enough to tell me
what has happened to you when you are recovered. It is a great comfort
to me to see you again, after the affliction I have been in since
Friday, and the pains I have taken to learn what had become of you, ever
since I found it was night, and you were not returned.”
Aladdin took his mother’s advice, and ate and drank moderately. When he
had done, “Mother,” said he to her, “I cannot help complaining of you,
for abandoning me so easily to the discretion of a man who had a design
to kill me, and who at this very moment thinks my death certain. You
believed he was my uncle, as well as I; and what other thoughts could we
entertain of a man who was so kind to me, and made such advantageous
offers? But I must tell you, mother, he is a rogue and a cheat, and only
did what he did, and made me all those promises, to accomplish my death;
but for what reason neither you nor I can guess.—For my part, I can
assure you I never gave him any cause to deserve the least ill-treatment
from him. You shall judge of it yourself, when you have heard all that
passed from the time I left you, till he came to the execution of his
wicked design.”
Then Aladdin began to tell his mother all that happened to him from
Friday, when the magician took him to see the palaces and gardens about
that town, and what fell out in the way, till they came to the place
between the two mountains, where the great prodigy was to be performed;
how, with incense which the magician threw into the fire, and some
magical words which he pronounced, the earth opened, and discovered a
cave which led to an inestimable treasure. He forgot not the blow the
magician gave him, and in what manner he softened again, and engaged by
great promises, and putting a ring on his finger, to go down into the
cave. He did not omit the least circumstance of what he saw in crossing
the three halls and the garden and his taking the wonderful lamp, which
he pulled out of his bosom and shewed to his mother, as well as the
transparent fruit of different colours, which he had gathered in the
garden as he returned, two purses full of which he gave to his mother.
But though these fruits were precious stones, brilliant as the sun, and
the reflection of a lamp which then lighted the room might have led them
to think they were of great value, she was as ignorant of their worth as
her son, and cared nothing for them. She had been bred in a middling
rank of life, and her husband’s poverty prevented her being possessed of
such things, nor had she, or her relations or neighbours ever seen them,
so that we must not wonder that she looked on them as things of no
value, and only pleasing to the eye by the variety of their colours.
Aladdin put them behind one of the cushions of the sofa he sat upon, and
continued his story telling his mother that when he returned and
presented himself at the mouth of the cave, upon his refusal to give the
magician the lamp till he had got out, the stone, by his throwing some
incense into the fire, and using two or three magical words, stopped it
up, and the earth closed again. He could not help bursting into tears at
the representation of the miserable condition he was in, to find himself
buried alive in a dismal cave, till by the touching of his ring, the
virtue of which he was then an entire stranger to, he, properly
speaking, came to life again. When he had made an end of his story, he
said to his mother, “I need say no more; you know the rest. This is my
adventure, and the danger I have been exposed to since you saw me.”
Aladdin’s mother heard with so much patience as not to interrupt him
this surprising and wonderful relation, notwithstanding it could be no
small affliction to a mother, who loved her son tenderly; but yet in the
most moving part, which discovered the perfidy of the African magician,
she could not help shewing, by marks of the greatest indignation, how
much she detested him; and when Aladdin had finished his story, she
broke out into a thousand reproaches against that vile impostor. She
called him perfidious traitor, barbarian, assassin, deceiver, magician,
and an enemy and destroyer of mankind. “Without doubt, child,” added
she, “he is a magician, and they are plagues to the world, and by their
enchantments and sorceries have commerce with the devil. Bless God for
preserving you from his wicked designs; for your death would have been
inevitable, if you had not called upon him, and implored his
assistance.” She said a great deal more against the magician’s
treachery; but finding, while she talked, her son Aladdin, who had not
slept for three days and nights, began to nod, she put him to bed, and
soon after went to bed herself.
Aladdin, who had not had one wink of sleep while he was in the
subterraneous abode, slept very heartily all that night, and never waked
till the next morning; when the first thing that he said to his mother
was, he wanted something to eat, and that she could not do him a greater
pleasure than to give him his breakfast. “Alas! child,” said she, “I
have not a bit of bread to give you, you ate up all the provisions I had
in the house yesterday; but have a little patience, and it shall not be
long before I will bring you some: I have a little cotton, which I have
spun; I will go and sell it, and buy bread, and something for our
dinner.” “Mother,” replied Aladdin, “keep your cotton against another
time, and give me the lamp I brought home yesterday; I will go and sell
it, and the money I shall get for it will serve both for breakfast and
dinner, and perhaps supper too.”
Aladdin’s mother took the lamp, and said to her son, “Here it is, but it
is very dirty; if it was a little cleaner I believe it would bring
something more.” She took a little fine sand and water to clean it; but
had no sooner begun to rub it, but in an instant a hideous genie of
gigantic size appeared before her, and said to her in a voice like
thunder, “What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave,
and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their hands; I, and the
other slaves of the lamp.”
Aladdin’s mother was not able to speak at the sight of this frightful
genie, but fainted away; when Aladdin, who had once before seen such
another genie in the cavern, without losing time or reflection, snatched
the lamp out of his mother’s hands, and said to the genie boldly, “I am
hungry; bring me something to eat.” The genie disappeared immediately,
and in an instant returned with a large silver basin on his head, and
twelve covered plates of the same metal, which contained some excellent
meats: six large white loaves on two other plates, and two bottles of
wine, and two silver cups in each hand. All these things he placed upon
a table, and disappeared; and all this was done before Aladdin’s mother
came out of her swoon.
Aladdin went presently, and fetched some water, and threw it in her
face, to recover her: whether that or the smell of the meats the genie
procured brought her to life again, it was not long before she came to
herself. “Mother,” said Aladdin, “do not mind this; it is nothing at
all; get up, and come and eat; here is what will put you in heart, and
at the same time satisfy my extreme hunger; do not let such fine meat be
cold, but fall to.”
His mother was very much surprised to see the great basin, twelve
plates, six loaves, and the two bottles and cups, and to smell the
delicious odour which exhaled from the plates. “Child,” said she to
Aladdin, “to whom are we obliged for this great plenty and liberality?
Has the sultan been made acquainted with our poverty, and had compassion
on us?” “It is no matter, mother,” said Aladdin, “let us sit down and
eat: for you have almost as much need of a good breakfast as myself,
when we have done, I will tell you.” Accordingly, both mother and son
sat down, and ate with the better stomach, as the table was so well
furnished. But all the time Aladdin’s mother could not forbear looking
at and admiring the basin and plates, though she could not well tell
whether they were silver or any other metal, so little accustomed were
she and her son to see such, and the novelty more than the value
attracted their attention.
In short, the mother and son sat at breakfast till it was dinner-time,
and then they thought it would be best to put the two meals together;
yet, after this, they found they should have enough left for supper, and
two meals for the next day.
When Aladdin’s mother had taken away and set by what was left, she went
and sat down by her son on the sofa. “Aladdin,” said she, “I expect now
that you should satisfy my impatience, and tell me exactly what passed
between the genie and you while I was in a swoon;” which he presently
complied with.
She was in as great amazement at what her son told her, as at the
appearance of the genie; and said to him, “But, son, what have we to do
with genies? I never in my life heard that any of my acquaintance had
ever seen one. How came that vile genie to address himself to me, and
not to you, to whom he had appeared before in the cave?” “Mother,”
answered Aladdin, “the genie you saw is not the same who appeared to me,
though he resembles him in size: no, they had quite different persons
and habits; they belong to different masters. If you remember, he that I
first saw called himself the slave of the ring on my finger; and this
you saw called himself the slave of the lamp you had in your hand: but I
believe you did not hear him, for I think you fainted away as soon as he
began to speak.”
“What!” cried the mother, “was your lamp, then, the occasion of that
cursed genie addressing himself rather to me than to you? Ah! my son,
take it out of my sight, and put it where you please. I will never touch
it. I had rather you would sell it, than run the hazard of being
frightened to death again by touching it: and if you would take my
advice, you would part also with the ring, and not have anything to do
with genies, who, as our prophet has told us, are only devils.”
“With your leave, mother,” replied Aladdin, “I shall now take care how I
sell a lamp, as I was going to do, which may be so serviceable both to
you and me. Have not you been an eye-witness of what it hath procured
us, and it shall still continue to furnish us with subsistence and
maintenance. You may suppose, as I do, that my false and wicked uncle
would not have taken so much pains, and undertaken so long and tedious a
journey, if it had not been to get into his possession this Wonderful
Lamp, which he preferred before all the gold and silver which he knew
was in his halls, and which I have seen with my own eyes. He knew too
well the merit and worth of this lamp, not to prefer it to so great a
treasure; and since chance hath discovered the virtue of it to us, let
us make a profitable use of it, without making any great stir, and
drawing the envy and jealousy of our neighbours upon us. However, since
the genies fright you so much, I will take it out of your sight, and put
it where I may find it when I want it. As for the ring, I cannot resolve
to part with that neither; for, without that, you had never seen me
again; and though I am alive now, perhaps, if it was gone, I might not
be so some moments hence; therefore I hope you will give me leave to
keep that, and to wear it always on my finger. Who knows what dangers
you and I may be exposed to, which neither of us can foresee, and which
it may deliver us from?” As Aladdin’s arguments were just, and had a
great deal of weight in them, his mother had nothing to say against
them, but only replied that he might do what he pleased, but for her
part, she would have nothing to do with genies, but, would wash her
hands of them, and never say anything more about them.
By the next night they had eaten all the provisions the genie had
brought; and the next day Aladdin, who could not bear the thoughts of
hunger, took one of the silver plates under his coat, and went out early
to sell it, and addressing himself to a Jew whom he met in the streets,
took him aside, and pulling out the plate, asked him if he would buy it.
The cunning Jew took the plate and examined it, and no sooner found that
it was good silver, but he asked Aladdin how much he valued it at.
Aladdin, who knew not the value of it, and never had been used to such
traffic, told him he would trust to his judgment and honour. The Jew was
somewhat confounded at this plain dealing; and doubting whether Aladdin
understood the material or the full value of what he offered him to
sell, he took a piece of gold out of his purse, and gave it him, though
it was but the sixtieth part of the worth of the plate. Aladdin took the
money very eagerly, and, as soon as he got it in his pocket, retired
with so much haste, that the Jew, not content with the exorbitancy of
his profit, was vexed he had not penetrated into Aladdin’s ignorance,
and was going to run after him, to endeavour to get some change out of
the piece of gold; but Aladdin ran so fast, and had got so far, that it
would have been impossible for him to overtake him.
Before Aladdin went home to his mother he called at a baker’s, bought a
loaf, changed his money, and went home, and gave the rest to his mother,
who went and bought provisions enough to last them some time. After this
manner they lived, till Aladdin had sold the twelve plates, one at a
time, to the Jew, for the same money; who, after the first time, durst
not offer him less, for fear of losing so good a chap. When he had sold
the last plate, he had recourse to the basin, which weighed ten times as
much as the plate, and would have carried it to his old purchaser, but
that it was too large and cumbersome; therefore he was obliged to bring
him home with him to his mother’s, where the Jew had examined the weight
of the basin, he laid down ten pieces of gold, with which Aladdin was
very well satisfied.
They lived on these ten pieces in a frugal manner a pretty while; and
Aladdin, who had been used to an idle life, left off playing with young
lads of his own age ever since his adventure with the African magician.
He spent his time in walking about, and talking with people with whom he
had got acquainted. Sometimes he would stop at the most capital
merchants’ shops, where people of distinction met, and listen to their
discourse, by which he gained some little knowledge of the world.
When all the money was spent, Aladdin had recourse again to the lamp. He
took it in his hand, looked for the same place where his mother had
rubbed it with the sand, and rubbed it also, and the genie immediately
appeared, and said, “What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as
thy slave, and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their
hands—I, and the other slaves of the lamp.” “I am hungry,” said Aladdin;
“bring me something to eat.” The genie disappeared, and presently
returned with a basin, and the same number of covered plates, &c., and
set them down on a table, and vanished again.
Aladdin’s mother, knowing what her son was going to do, went out at that
time about some business, on purpose to avoid being in the way when the
genie came; and when she returned, which was not long after, and found
the table and sideboard so furnished a second time, was almost as much
surprised as before, at the prodigious effect of the lamp. However, she
sat down with her son, and when they had eaten as much as they had a
mind to, she set enough by to last them two or three days.
As soon as Aladdin found that their provisions and money were spent, he
took one of these plates, and went to look for his Jew chapman again;
but passing by a goldsmith’s shop who had the character of a very fair
and honest man, the goldsmith perceiving him, called to him and said,
“My lad, I have often observed you go by, loaded as you are at present,
and talk with such a Jew, and then come back again empty-handed. I
imagine that you carry something that you sell to him; but perhaps you
do not know what a rogue he is, and that he is the greatest rogue among
all the Jews, and is so well known that nobody will have anything to do
with him. What I tell you is for your own good. If you will show me what
you now carry, and it is to be sold, I will give you the full worth of
it; or I will direct you to other merchants who will not cheat you.”
The hopes of getting more money for his plate induced Aladdin to pull it
from under his coat, and shew it to the goldsmith. The old man, who at
first sight saw that it was made of the finest silver, asked him if he
had sold any such as that to the Jew, and Aladdin told him plainly that
he had sold him twelve such, for a piece of gold each. “What a villain!”
cried the goldsmith; “but,” added he, “my son, what is past cannot be
recalled. By shewing you the value of this plate, which is of the finest
silver we use in our shops, I will let you see how much the Jew has
cheated you.”
The goldsmith took a pair of scales, weighed the plate, and after he had
told Aladdin how much an ounce of fine silver contained and was worth,
he demonstrated to him that his plate was worth by weight sixty pieces
of gold, which he paid him down immediately. “If you dispute my
honesty,” said he, “you may go to any other of our trade, and if he
gives you any more, I will be bound to forfeit twice as much; for we
gain only the fashion of the plate that we buy, and that the fairest
dealing Jews do not.”
Aladdin thanked him for his good advice, so greatly to his advantage,
and never after went to any other person, but sold him all his plates
and the basin, and had as much for them as the weight came to.
Though Aladdin and his mother had an inexhaustible treasure of money in
their lamp, and might have had whatever they had a mind to every time it
failed, yet they lived with the same frugality as before, except that
Aladdin went more neat: as for his mother, she wore no clothes but what
she earned by her spinning cotton. After their manner of living, we may
easily suppose that the money Aladdin had sold the plates and basin for
was sufficient to maintain them some time. They went on for many years
by the help of the produce Aladdin, from time to time, made of his lamp.
During this time Aladdin frequented the shops of the principal
merchants, where they sold cloth of gold and silver, and linens, silk
stuffs, and jewellery, and oftentimes joining in their conversation,
acquired a complete knowledge of the world, and assumed its manners. By
his acquaintance among the jewellers, he came to know that the fine
fruit which he had gathered when he took the lamp were not coloured
glass, but stones of extraordinary value. For as he had seen all sorts
of jewels bought and sold in their shops, but none that were so
beautiful or so large as his, he found, that instead of coloured glass,
he possessed an inestimable treasure; but had the prudence not to say
anything of it to anyone, not even to his mother.
One day, as Aladdin was walking about the town, he heard an order of the
sultan’s published, for all people to shut up their shops and houses,
and keep within doors, while the princess Badr-oul-boudour, the sultan’s
daughter, went to the baths and back again.
This public order inspired Aladdin with a great curiosity to see the
princess’s face, which he could not do without getting into the house of
some acquaintance, and through a window: but this did not satisfy him,
when he considered that the princess, when she went to the baths, had a
veil on; but to gratify his curiosity, he presently thought of a scheme
which succeeded; that was, to place himself behind the door of the bath,
which was so situated that he could not fail of seeing her face.
Aladdin had not waited long before the princess came, and he could see
her plainly through a chink of the door without being seen. She was
attended with a great crowd of ladies, slaves, and eunuchs, who walked
on each side, and behind her. When she came within three or four paces
from the door of the baths, she took off her veil, and gave Aladdin an
opportunity of a full look at her.
Till then Aladdin, who had never seen any woman’s face but his mother’s,
who was old, and never could boast of any such features, thought that
all women were like her, and could hear people talk of the most
surprising beauties without being the least moved; for whatever words
are made use of to set off the merit of a beauty, they can never make
the same impression as the beauty herself.