sentiments were very much changed, and his heart could not withstand all
those inclinations so charming an object inspires. The princess was the
most beautiful brunette in the world; her eyes were large, lively, and
sparkling; her looks sweet and modest; her nose was of a just proportion
and without a fault; her mouth small, her lips of a vermilion red, and
charmingly agreeable symmetry; in a word, all the features of her face
were perfectly regular. It is not therefore surprising that Aladdin, who
had never seen, and was a stranger to so many charms, was dazzled, and
his senses quite ravished with such an assemblage. With all these
perfections the princess had so delicate a shape, so majestic an air,
that the sight of her was sufficient to inspire respect.
After the princess had passed by Aladdin and entered the baths, he
remained some time astonished, and in a kind of ecstasy, retracing and
imprinting the idea of so charming an object deeply in his mind. But at
last considering that the princess was gone past him, and that when she
returned from the bath her back would be towards him, and then veiled,
he resolved to quit his post and go home. But when he came there, he
could not conceal his uneasiness so well but that his mother perceived
it, and was very much surprised to see him so much more thoughtful and
melancholy than usual; and asked him what had happened to him to make
him so, or if he was ill. Aladdin returned her no answer, but sat
carelessly down on the sofa, and remained in the same condition, full of
the image of the charming Badr-oul-boudour. His mother, who was dressing
supper, pressed him no more. When it was ready, she set it on the table
before him; but perceiving that he gave no attention to it, she bid him
eat, and had much ado to persuade him to change his place; and when he
did, he ate much less than usual, and all the time cast down his eyes,
and observed so profound a silence, that she could not possibly get the
least word out of him in answer to all the questions she put, to find
the reason of so extraordinary an alteration.
After supper, she asked him again, why he was so melancholy, but could
get no information, and he determined to go to bed, rather than give her
the least satisfaction. Without examining how Aladdin passed the night,
his mind full as it was with the beautiful charms of the princess
Badr-oul-boudour, I shall only observe that as he sat next day on the
sofa, over against his mother, as she was spinning cotton, he spoke to
her in these words: “I perceive, mother, that my silence yesterday has
very much troubled you; I was not, nor am I sick, as I fancy you
believed; but I can tell you, that what I felt then, and now endure, is
worse than any disease. I cannot tell what ails me, but doubt not what I
am going to tell you will inform you.
“It was not known in this quarter of the town, and therefore you could
know nothing of it, that the princess Badr-oul-boudour, the sultan’s
daughter, was to go to the baths after dinner. I heard this as I walked
about the town, and an order was issued, that, to pay all the respect
that was due to that princess, all the shops should be shut up in her
way thither, and everybody keep within doors, to leave the streets free
for her and her attendants. As I was not then far from the bath, I had a
great curiosity to see the princess’s face; and as it occurred to me
that the princess, when she came nigh the door of the bath, would pull
her veil off, I resolved to get behind that door. You know the situation
of the door, and may imagine that I must have a full view of her, if it
happened as I expected. The princess threw off her veil, and I had the
happiness of seeing her lovely face with the greatest satisfaction
imaginable. This, mother, was the cause of my melancholy and silence
yesterday; I love the princess with so much violence, that I cannot
express it; and as my lively passion increases every moment, I cannot
live without the possession of the amiable princess Badr-oul-boudour,
and am resolved to ask her in marriage of the sultan her father.”
Aladdin’s mother listened with attention to what her son told her; but
when he talked of asking the princess Badr-oul-boudour in marriage of
the sultan, she could not help bursting out into a loud laugh. Aladdin
would have gone on with his discourse, but she interrupted him. “Alas!
child,” said she, “what are you thinking of? You must be mad to talk
so.”
“I assure you, mother,” replied Aladdin, “that I am not mad, but in my
right senses: I foresaw that you would reproach me with this folly and
extravagance; but I must tell you once more, that I am resolved to
demand the princess Badr-oul-boudour of the sultan in marriage, and your
remonstrances shall not prevent me.”
“Indeed, son,” replied the mother, seriously, “I cannot help telling
you, that you have quite forgot yourself; and if you would put this
resolution of yours in execution, I do not see who you can get to
venture to propose it for you.” “You yourself,” replied he immediately.
“I go to the sultan!” answered the mother, amazed and surprised. “I
shall take care how I engage in such an affair. Why, who are you, son,”
continued she, “that you can have the assurance to think of your
sultan’s daughter? Have you forgot that your father was one of the
poorest tailors in the capital, and that I am of no better extraction?
and do not you know that sultans never marry their daughters but to
princes, sons of sultans like themselves?”
“Mother,” answered Aladdin, “I have already told you that I foresaw all
that you have said, or can say: and tell you again, that neither your
discourse nor your remonstrances shall make me change my mind. I have
told you that you must ask the princess Badr-oul-boudour in marriage for
me: it is a favour I desire of you, with all the respect I owe you; and
I beg of you not to refuse me, unless you would rather see me in my
grave, than by so doing give me new life.”
The good old woman was very much embarrassed, when she found Aladdin so
obstinately persisting in so foolish a design. “My son,” said she again,
“I am your mother, who brought you into the world, and there is nothing
that is reasonable but I would readily do for you. If I was to go and
treat about your marriage with some neighbour’s daughter, whose
circumstances were equal with yours, I would do it with all my heart:
and then they would expect you should have some little estate or
fortune, or be of some trade. When such poor folks as we are have a mind
to marry, the first thing they ought to think of is how to live. But
without reflecting on the meanness of your birth, and the little merit
and fortune you have to recommend you, you aim at the highest pitch of
fortune; and your pretensions are no less than to demand in marriage the
daughter of your sovereign, who with one single word can crush you to
pieces. I say nothing of what respects yourself. I leave you to reflect
on what you have to do, if you have ever so little thought. I come now
to consider what concerns myself. How could so extraordinary a thought
come into your head, as that I should go to the sultan, and make a
proposal to him, to give his daughter in marriage to you? Suppose I had,
not to say the boldness, but the impudence to present myself before the
sultan, and make so extravagant a request, to whom should I address
myself to be introduced to his majesty? Do you not think the first
person I should speak to would take me for a mad woman, and chastise me
as I should deserve? Suppose there is no difficulty in presenting myself
to an audience of the sultan, as I know there is none to those who go to
ask justice, which he distributes equally among his subjects; I know too
that to those who ask some favour, he grants it with pleasure when he
sees it is deserved, and the persons are worthy of it. But is that your
case? And do you think you have deserved the favour you would have me
ask for you? Are you worthy of it? What have you done to deserve such a
favour? What have you done either for your prince or country? How have
you distinguished yourself? If you have done nothing to merit so great a
favour, nor are worthy of it, with what face shall I ask it? How can I
open my mouth to make the proposal to the sultan? His majestic presence
and the lustre of his court would presently silence me, who used to
tremble before my late husband your father, when I asked him for
anything. Here is another reason, my son, which you do not think of,
which is, nobody ever goes to ask a favour of the sultan without a
present; for by a present, they have this advantage, that if for some
particular reasons the favour is denied, they are sure to be heard. But
what presents have you to make? And if you had any that was worthy of
the least attention of so great a monarch, what proportion could it bear
to the favour you would ask? Therefore, reflect well on what you are
about, and consider, that you aspire to a thing which is impossible for
you to obtain.”
Aladdin heard very calmly all that his mother could say to endeavour to
dissuade him from his design, and after he had weighed her
representation in all points, made answer: “I own, mother, it is great
rashness in me to presume to carry my pretensions so far; and a great
want of consideration, to ask you with so much heat and precipitancy to
go and make the proposal of my marriage, to the sultan, without first
taking proper measures to procure a favourable reception, and therefore
beg your pardon. But be not surprised, that through the violence of my
passion I did not at first see everything that was necessary to be done,
to procure me that happiness I seek after. I love the princess
Badr-oul-boudour beyond all you can imagine; or rather I adore her, and
shall always persevere in my design of marrying her; which is a thing I
am determined and resolved on. I am obliged to you for the hint you have
given me, and look upon it as the first step I ought to take to procure
me the happy success I promise myself.
“You say, it is not customary to go to the sultan without a present, and
that I have nothing worthy of his acceptance. As to what you say about
the present, I agree with you, and own that I never thought of it; but
as to what you say that I have nothing fit to present him with, do not
you think, mother, that what I brought home with me that day on which I
was delivered from an inevitable death, may be an agreeable present. I
mean those things you and I both took for coloured glasses; but now I am
undeceived, and can tell you that they are jewels of an inestimable
value, and fit for the greatest monarchs. I know the worth of them by
frequenting the jewellers’ shops; and you may take my word for it, all
the jewels that I saw in the most capital jewellers’ shops were not to
be compared to those we have, either for size or beauty, and yet they
value them at an excessive price. In short, neither you nor I know the
value of ours, but be it as it will, by the little experience I have, I
am persuaded that they will be received very favourably by the sultan:
you have a large porcelain dish fit to hold them; fetch it, and let us
see how they will look, when we have ranged them according to their
different colours.”
Aladdin’s mother fetched the china dish, and he took the jewels out of
the two purses in which he had kept them, and placed them in the dish.
But the brightness and lustre they had in the day-time, and the variety
of the colours, so dazzled the eyes both of mother and son, that they
were astonished beyond measure; for they had only seen them by the light
of a lamp; for though Aladdin had seen them hang on the trees like
fruit, beautiful to the eye, yet as he was but a boy, he did not take
much notice of them; but looked on them only as trinkets.
After they had admired the beauty of this present some time, Aladdin
said to his mother, “Now you cannot excuse yourself from going to the
sultan, under the pretext of not having a present to make him, since
here is one which will gain you a favourable reception.”
Though Aladdin’s mother, notwithstanding the beauty and lustre of the
present, did not believe it so valuable as her son esteemed it, she
thought it might nevertheless be agreeable to the sultan, and found that
she could not have anything to say against it, but was always thinking
of the request Aladdin wanted her to make to the sultan by favour of his
present. “My son,” said she, “I cannot conceive that your present will
have its desired effect, and that the sultan will look upon me with a
favourable eye; and I am sure, that if I attempt to acquit myself on
this message of yours, I shall have no power to open my mouth; and
therefore I shall not only lose my labour, but the present, which you
say is so extraordinary, and shall return home again in confusion, to
tell you that your hopes are frustrated. I have told you the
consequence, and you ought to believe me; but,” added she, “I will exert
my best endeavour to please you, and wish I may have power to ask the
sultan as you would have me; but certainly he will either laugh at me,
or send me back like a fool, or be in so great a rage, as to make us
both the victims of his fury.”
She used a great many more arguments to endeavour to make him change his
mind; but the charms of the princess Badr-oul-boudour had made too great
an impression on his heart to dissuade him from his design. Aladdin
persisted in desiring his mother to execute his resolution, and she, as
much out of tenderness as for fear he should be guilty of a greater
piece of extravagance, condescended to his request.
As it was now late, and the time of day for going to the sultan’s palace
was past, it was put off till the next. The mother and son talked of
different matters the remaining part of the day; and Aladdin took a
great deal of pains to encourage his mother in the task she had
undertaken to go to the sultan; while she notwithstanding all his
arguments, could not persuade herself she could ever succeed; and it
must be confessed she had reason enough to doubt. “Child,” said she to
Aladdin, “if the sultan should receive me as favourably as I wish for
your sake, and should hear my proposal with calmness, and after this
kind reception should think of asking me where lie your riches and your
estate, (for he will sooner inquire after that than your person,)—if, I
say, he should ask me the question, what answer would you have me return
him?”
“Let us not be uneasy, mother,” replied Aladdin, “about what may never
happen. First, let us see how the sultan receives, and what answer he
gives you. If it should so fall out, that he desires to be informed of
all that you mention, I have thought of an answer, and am confident that
the lamp, which hath subsisted us so long, will not fail me in time of
need.”
Aladdin’s mother could not say anything against what her son then
proposed; but reflected that the lamp might be capable of doing greater
wonders than just providing victuals for them. This consideration
satisfied her, and at the same time removed all the difficulties which
might have prevented her from undertaking the service she had promised
her son with the sultan; when Aladdin who penetrated into his mother’s
thoughts, said to her, “Above all things, mother, be sure to keep the
secret, for thereon depends the success we have to expect;” and after
this caution, Aladdin and his mother parted to go to bed. But violent
love, and the great prospect of so immense a fortune, had so much
possessed the son’s thoughts, that he could not rest as well as he could
have wished. He rose at daybreak, and went presently and awakened his
mother, pressing her to get herself dressed to go to the sultan’s
palace, and to get in first, as the grand vizier, the other viziers, and
all the great officers of state, went in to take their seats in the
divan, where the sultan always assisted in person.
Aladdin’s mother did all her son desired. She took the china dish, in
which they had put the jewels the day before, tied up in two napkins,
one finer than the other, which was tied at four comers for more easy
carriage, and set forwards for the sultan’s palace, to the great
satisfaction of Aladdin. When she came to the gates, the grand vizier,
and the other viziers and most distinguished lords of the court, were
just gone in; and, notwithstanding the crowd of people who had business
at the divan was extraordinarily great, she got into the divan, which
was a large spacious hall, the entry into which was very magnificent.
She placed herself just before the sultan, grand vizier, and the great
lords, who sat in that council, on his right and left hand. Several
causes were called, according to their order, and pleaded and adjudged,
until the time the divan generally broke up, when the sultan rising,
dismissed the council, and returned to his apartment, attended by the
grand vizier; the other viziers and ministers of state returned, as also
did all those whose business called them thither; some pleased with
gaining their causes, others dissatisfied at the sentences pronounced
against them, and some in expectation of theirs being heard the next
sitting.
Aladdin’s mother, seeing the sultan rise and retire, and all the people
go away, judged rightly that he would not come again that day, and
resolved to go home. When Aladdin saw her return with the present
designed for the sultan, he knew not at first what to think of her
success, and in the fear he was in lest she should bring him some ill
news, he had not courage enough to ask her any questions, till his
mother, who had never set foot into the sultan’s palace before, and knew
not what was every day practised there, freed him from his
embarrassment, and said to him, with a great deal of simplicity, “Son, I
have seen the sultan, and am very well persuaded he has seen me too; for
I placed myself just before him, and nothing could hinder him from
seeing me; but he was so much taken up with all those who talked on all
sides of him, that I pitied him, and wondered at his patience in hearing
them. At last I believe he was heartily tired, for he rose up suddenly,
and would not hear a great many who were ready prepared to speak to him,
but went away, at which I was very well pleased, for indeed I began to
lose all patience, and was extremely tired with staying so long. But
there is no harm done: I will go again to-morrow; perhaps the sultan may
not be so busy.”
Though Aladdin’s passion was very violent, he was forced to be satisfied
with this excuse, and to fortify himself with patience. He had at least
the satisfaction to find that his mother had got over the greatest
difficulty, which was to procure access to the sultan, and hoped that
the example of those she saw speak to him would embolden her to acquit
herself better of her commission when a favourable opportunity offered
to speak to him.
The next morning she went to the sultan’s palace with the present, as
early as the day before; but when she came there, she found the gates of
the divan shut, and understood that the council sat but every other day,
therefore she must come again the next. This news she carried to her
son, whose only relief was to guard himself with patience. She went six
times afterwards on the day appointed, placed herself always directly
before the sultan, but with as little success as the first time, and
might have perhaps come a thousand times to as little purpose, if the
sultan himself had not taken a particular notice of her: for it is very
probable that only those who came with petitions approached the sultan,
and each pleaded their cause in its turn, and Aladdin’s mother was not
one of them.
That day at last, after the council was broke up, when the sultan was
returned to his own apartment, he said to his grand vizier, “I have for
some time observed a certain woman, who comes constantly every day that
I go into council, and has something wrapped up in a napkin: she always
stands up from the beginning to the breaking up of the council, and
affects to place her self just before me. Do you know what she wants?”
“Sir,” replied the grand vizier, who knew no more than the sultan what
she wanted, but had not a mind to seem uninformed, “your majesty knows
that women often form complaints on trifles; perhaps this woman may come
to complain to your majesty, that somebody has sold her some bad flour,
or some such trifling matter.” The sultan was not satisfied with this
answer, but replied, “If this woman comes again next council-day, do not
fail to call her, that I may hear what she has to say.” The grand
vizier, made answer by kissing his hand, and lifting it up above his
head, signifying his willingness to lose it if he failed.
By this time, Aladdin’s mother was so much used to go to the council,
and stand before the sultan, that she did not think it any trouble, if
she could but satisfy her son that she neglected nothing that lay in her
power to please him; so the next council-day she went to the divan, and
placed herself before the sultan as usual; and before the grand vizier
had made his report of business, the sultan perceived her, and
compassionating her for having waited so long, he said to the vizier,
“Before you enter upon any business, remember the woman I spoke to you
about; bid her come near, and let us hear and dispatch her business
first.” The grand vizier immediately called the chief of the officers,
who stood ready to obey his commands; and pointing to her, bid him go to
that woman and tell her to come before the sultan.
The chief of the officers went to Aladdin’s mother, and, at a sign he
gave her, she followed him to the foot of the sultan’s throne, where he
left her, and retired to his place by the grand vizier. Aladdin’s
mother, by the example of a great many others whom she saw salute the
sultan, bowed her head down to the carpet which covered the steps of the
throne, and remained in that posture till the sultan bid her rise, which
she had no sooner done, than the sultan said to her, “Good woman, I have
observed you to stand a long time, from the beginning to the rising of
the divan; what business brings you here?”
At these words, Aladdin’s mother prostrated herself a second time; and
when she got up again, said, “Monarch of monarchs, before I tell your
majesty the extraordinary and almost incredible business which brings me
before your high throne, I beg of you to pardon the boldness or rather
the impudence of the demand I am going to make, which is so uncommon,
that I tremble, and am ashamed to propose it to my sultan.” In order to
give her the more freedom to explain herself, the sultan ordered
everybody to go out of the divan but the grand vizier, and then told her
that she might speak without restraint.
Aladdin’s mother, not content with this favour of the sultan’s to save
her the trouble and confusion of speaking before so many people, was
notwithstanding for securing herself against his anger, which, from the
proposal she was going to make, she was not a little apprehensive of;
therefore resuming her discourse, she said, “I beg of your majesty, if
you should think my demand the least injurious or offensive, to assure
me first of your pardon and forgiveness.” “Well,” replied the sultan, “I
will forgive you, be it what it will, and no hurt shall come to you:
speak boldly.”
When Aladdin’s mother had taken all these precautions, for fear of the
sultan’s anger, she told him faithfully how Aladdin had seen the
princess Badroul-boudour, the violent love that fatal sight had inspired
him with, the declaration he had made to her of it when he came home,
and what representations she had made to dissuade him from “a passion no
less injurious,” said she, “to your majesty, as sultan, than to the
princess your daughter. But,” continued she, “my son, instead of taking
my advice and reflecting on his boldness, was so obstinate as to
persevere in it, and to threaten me with some desperate act, if I
refused to come and ask the princess in marriage of your majesty; and it
was not till after an extreme violence on myself, I was forced to have
this complaisance for him, for which I beg your majesty once more to
pardon not only me, but forgive Aladdin my son, for entertaining such a
rash thought as to aspire to so high an alliance.”
The sultan hearkened to this discourse with a great deal of mildness,
without shewing the least anger or passion; but before he gave her any
answer, he asked her what she had brought tied up in that napkin. She
took the china dish, which she had set down at the foot of the throne,
before she prostrated herself before him; she untied it, and presented
it to the sultan.