many large, beautiful, and valuable jewels collected in one dish. He
remained for some time motionless with admiration. At last, when he had
recovered himself, he received the present from Aladdin’s mother’s hand,
and crying out in a transport of joy, “How rich and how beautiful!”
After he had admired and handled all the jewels, one after another, he
turned about to his grand vizier, and shewing him the dish, said, “Look
here, and confess that your eyes never beheld any thing so rich and
beautiful before.” The vizier was charmed. “Well,” continued the sultan,
“what sayest thou to such a present? Is it not worthy of the princess my
daughter! And ought I not to bestow her on one who values her at so
great price?”
These words put the grand vizier into a strange agitation. The sultan
had some time before signified to him his intention of bestowing the
princess his daughter on a son of his; therefore he was afraid, and not
without grounds, that the sultan, dazzled by so rich and extraordinary a
present, might change his mind. Thereupon, going to him, and whispering
him in the ear, he said to him, “Sir, I cannot but own that the present
is worthy of the princess; but I beg of your majesty to grant me three
months before you come to a resolution. I hope, before that time, my
son, on whom you have had the goodness to look with a favourable eye,
will be able to make a nobler present than Aladdin, who is an entire
stranger to your majesty.”
The sultan, though he was very well persuaded that it was not possible
for the vizier to provide so considerable a present for his son to make
the princess, yet he hearkened to him, and granted him that favour. So
turning about to Aladdin’s mother, he said to her, “Good woman, go home,
and tell your son that I agree to the proposal you have made me; but I
cannot marry the princess my daughter till some furniture I design for
her be got ready, which cannot be finished these three months; but at
the expiration of that time come again.”
Aladdin’s mother returned home much more overjoyed than she could have
imagined, for she looked upon her access to the sultan as a thing
impossible; and besides, she had met with a favourable answer instead of
the refusal and confusion she expected. From two circumstances Aladdin,
when he saw his mother return, judged that she brought him good news;
the one was, that she returned sooner than ordinary; and the next was,
the gaiety of her countenance. “Well, mother,” said he to her, “may I
entertain any hopes, or must I die with despair?” When she had pulled
off her veil, and had sat herself down on the sofa by him, she said to
him, “Not to keep you long in suspense, son, I will begin by telling
you, that instead of thinking of dying, you have every reason to be very
well satisfied.” Then pursuing her discourse, she told him how that she
had an audience before everybody else, which made her come home so soon;
the precautions she had taken lest she should have displeased the
sultan, by making the proposal of marriage between him and the princess
Badr-oul-boudour, and the favourable answer she had from the caliph’s
own mouth; and that, as far as she could judge, the present wrought that
powerful effect. “But when I least expected it,” said she, “and he was
going to give me an answer, the grand vizier whispered him in the ear,
and I was afraid it might be some obstacle to his good intentions
towards us.”
Aladdin thought himself the most happy of all men, at hearing of this
news, and thanked his mother for all the pains she had taken in the
pursuit of this affair, the good success of which was of so great
importance to his peace. Though, through his impatience to enjoy the
object of his passion, three months seemed an age, yet he disposed
himself to wait with patience, relying on the sultan’s word, which he
looked upon to be irrevocable. But all that time he not only counted the
hours, days, and weeks, but every moment. When two of the three months
were passed, his mother one evening going to light the lamp, and finding
no oil in the house, went out to buy some, and when she came into the
city, found a general rejoicing. The shops, instead of being shut up,
were open, dressed with foliage, every one striving to shew their zeal
in the most distinguished manner. The streets were crowded with officers
in habits of ceremony, mounted on horses richly caparisoned, each
attended by a great many footmen. Aladdin’s mother asked the
oil-merchant what was the meaning of all those doings. “Whence came you,
good woman,” said he, “that you don’t know that the grand vizier’s son
is to marry the princess Badr-oul-boudour, the sultan’s daughter,
to-night? She will presently return from the baths; and these officers
that you see, are to assist at the cavalcade to the palace, where the
ceremony is to be solemnised.”
This was news enough for Aladdin’s mother. She ran, till she was quite
out of breath, home to her son, who little suspected any such thing.
“Child,” cried she, “you are undone! you depend upon the sultan’s fine
promises, but they will come to nothing.” Aladdin was terribly alarmed
at these words. “Mother,” replied he, “how do you know the sultan has
been guilty of a breach of promise?” “This night,” answered the mother,
“the grand vizier’s son is to marry the princess Badr-oul-boudour.” She
then related how she had heard it; so that from all circumstances he had
no reason to doubt the truth of what she said.
At this account, Aladdin was thunderstruck. Any other man would have
sunk under the shock; but a secret motive of jealousy soon roused his
spirits, and he bethought himself of the lamp, which had till then been
so useful to him; and without venting his rage in empty words against
the sultan, the vizier, or his son, he only said, “Perhaps, mother, the
vizier’s son may not be so happy to-night as he promises himself: while
I go into my chamber a moment, do you go and get supper ready.” She
accordingly went about it, and she guessed that her son was going to
make use of the lamp, to prevent if possible, the consummation of the
marriage.
When Aladdin had got into his chamber, he took the lamp, and rubbed it
in the same place as before, and immediately the genie appeared, and
said to him, “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.” “Hear me,” said Aladdin; “thou hast
hitherto brought me whatever I wanted as to provisions; but now I have
business of the greatest importance for thee to execute. I have demanded
the princess Badr-oul-boudour in marriage of the sultan her father: he
promised her to me, but he asked three months’ time: and instead of
keeping that promise, has this night, before the expiration of that
time, married her to the grand vizier’s son. I have just heard this, and
have no doubt of it. What I ask of you is, that as soon as the bride and
bridegroom are in bed, you bring them both hither in their bed.”
“Master,” replied the genie, “I will obey you. Have you any other
commands?” “None, at present,” answered Aladdin; and then the genie
disappeared.
Aladdin went down stairs, and supped with his mother, with the same
tranquillity of mind as usual; and after supper, talked of the
princess’s marriage as of an affair wherein he had not the least
concern; and afterwards returned to his own chamber again, and left his
mother to go to bed; but he for his part, sat up till the genie had
executed his orders.
In the meantime, everything was prepared with the greatest magnificence
in the sultan’s palace, to celebrate the princess’s nuptials; and the
evening was spent with all the usual ceremonies and great rejoicings
till midnight, when the grand vizier’s son, on a signal given him by the
chief of the princess’s eunuchs, slipped away from the company, and was
introduced by that officer into the princess’s apartment, where the
nuptial bed was prepared. He went to bed first, and in a little time
after, the sultaness, accompanied by her own women, and those of the
princess, brought the bride, who, according to the custom of new-married
ladies, made great resistance. The sultaness herself helped to undress
her, put her into bed by a kind of violence; and after having kissed
her, and wished her good night, retired with all the women, and the last
who came out shut the door.
No sooner was the door shut, but the genie, as the faithful slave of the
lamp, and punctual in executing the command of those who possessed it,
without giving the bridegroom the least time to caress his bride, to the
great amazement of them both, took up the bed, and transported it in an
instant into Aladdin’s chamber, where he set it down.
Aladdin, who waited impatiently for this moment, did not suffer the
vizier’s son to remain long in bed with the princess. “Take this
new-married man,” said he to the genie, “and shut him up in the house of
office, and come again to-morrow morning after daybreak.” The genie
presently took the vizier’s son out of bed, and carried him in his shirt
whither Aladdin bid him; and after he had breathed upon him, which
prevented his stirring, he left him there.
Great as was Aladdin’s love for the princess Badr-oul-boudour, he did
not talk much to her when they were alone; but only said with a
passionate air, “Fear nothing, adorable princess; you are here in
safety; for, notwithstanding the violence of my passion, which your
charms have kindled, it shall never exceed the bounds of the profound
respect I owe you. If I have been forced to come to this extremity, it
is not with any intention of affronting you but to prevent an unjust
rival’s possessing you contrary to the sultan your father’s promise in
favour of me.”
The princess, who knew nothing of these particulars, gave very little
attention to what Aladdin could say. The fright and amazement of so
unexpected an adventure had put her into such a condition, that could
not get one word from her. However, he undressed himself and got into
the vizier’s son’s place, and lay with his back to the princess, putting
a sabre between himself and her, to show that he deserved to be
punished, if he attempted anything against her honour.
Aladdin, very well satisfied with having thus deprived his rival of the
happiness he had flattered himself with enjoying that night, slept very
quietly, though the princess Badr-oul-boudour never passed a night so
ill in her life; and if we consider the condition the genie left the
grand vizier’s son in, we may imagine that the new bridegroom spent it
much worse.
Aladdin had no occasion the next morning to rub the lamp to call the
genie; he came at the hour appointed, and just when he had done dressing
himself, and said to him, “I am here, master; what are your commands?”
“Go,” said Aladdin, “fetch the vizier’s son out of the place where you
left him, and put him into his bed again, and carry it to the sultan’s
palace, from whence you brought it.” The genie presently returned with
the vizier’s son. Aladdin took up his sabre, the bridegroom was laid by
the princess, and in an instant the nuptial bed was transported into the
same chamber of the palace from whence it had been brought. But we must
observe, that all this time the genie never appeared either to the
princess or the grand vizier’s son. His hideous form would have made
them die with fear. Neither did they hear anything of the discourse
between Aladdin and him; they only perceived the motion of the bed, and
their transportation from one place to another; which we may well
imagine was enough to frighten them.
As soon as the genie had set down the nuptial-bed in its proper place,
the sultan, curious to know how the princess his daughter had spent the
wedding-night, opened the door to wish her good morning. The grand
vizier’s son, who was almost perished with cold, by standing in his
shirt all night, and had not had time to warm himself in bed, no sooner
heard the door open, but he got out of bed, and ran into the wardrobe,
where he had undressed himself the night before.
The sultan went to the bed-side, kissed the princess between the eyes,
according to custom, wishing her a good-morrow, and asked her smiling,
how she had passed the night. But lifting up her head, and looking at
her more earnestly, he was extremely surprised to see her so melancholy,
and that neither by a blush nor any other sign she could satisfy his
curiosity. She only cast at him a sorrowful look, expressive of great
affliction or great dissatisfaction. He said a few words to her; but
finding that he could not get a word from her, he attributed it to her
modesty, and retired. Nevertheless, he suspected that there was
something extraordinary in this silence, and thereupon went immediately
to the sultaness’s apartment, and told her in what a state he found the
princess, and how she received him. “Sir,” said the sultaness, “your
majesty ought not to be surprised at this behaviour; all new-married
people always have a reserve about them the next day; she will be quite
another thing in two or three days’ time, and then she will receive the
sultan her father as she ought; but I will go and see her,” added she;
“I am very much deceived if she receives me in the same manner.”
As soon as the sultaness was dressed, she went to the princess’s
apartment, who was still in bed. She undrew the curtain, wished her
good-morrow, and kissed her. But how great was her surprise when she
returned no answer; and looking more attentively at her, she perceived
her to be very much dejected, which made her judge that something had
happened which she did not understand. “How comes it, child,” said the
sultaness, “that you do not return my caresses? Ought you to treat your
mother after this manner? And do you think I do not know what may have
happened in your circumstances? I am apt to believe you do not think so,
and something extraordinary has happened: come, tell me freely, and
leave me no longer in a painful suspense.”
At last the princess Badr-oul-boudour broke silence with a great sigh,
and said, “Alas! madam, most honoured mother, forgive me if I have
failed in the respect I owe you. My mind is so full of the extraordinary
things which have befallen me this night, that I have not yet recovered
my amazement and fright, and scarce know myself.” Then she told her how
the instant after she and her husband were in bed, the bed was
transposed into a dark dirty room, where he was taken from her and
carried away, where she knew not, and she was left alone with a young
man, who, after he had said something to her, which her fright did not
suffer her to hear, laid himself down by her, in her husband’s place,
but first put his sabre between them; and in the morning her husband was
brought to her again, and the bed was transported back to her own
chamber in an instant. “All this,” said she, “was but just done, when
the sultan my father came into my chamber. I was so overwhelmed with
grief, that I had not power to make him one word of answer; therefore I
am afraid that he is offended at the manner in which I received the
honour he did me: but I hope he will forgive me, when he knows my
melancholy adventure, and the miserable state I am in at present.”
The sultaness heard all the princess told her very patiently, but would
not believe it. “You did well, child,” said she, “not to speak of this
to your father: take care not to mention it to anybody, for you will
certainly be thought mad if you talk at this rate.” “Madam,” replied the
princess, “I can assure you I am in my right senses: ask my husband, and
he will tell you the same story.” “I will,” said the sultaness; “but if
he should talk in the same manner I shall not be better persuaded of the
truth. Come, rise, and throw off this idle fancy; it will be a fine
story indeed, if all the feasts and rejoicings in the kingdom should be
interrupted by such a vision. Do not you hear the trumpets sounding, and
drums beating, and concerts of the finest music? Cannot all these
inspire you with joy and pleasure, and make you forget all the fancies
you tell me of?” At the same time, the sultaness called the princess’s
women, and after she had seen her get up, and set her toilet, she went
to the sultan’s apartment, and told him that her daughter had got some
old notions in her head, but that there was nothing in them.
Then she sent for the vizier’s son, to know of him something of what the
princess had told her; but he, thinking himself highly honoured to be
allied to the sultan, resolved to disguise the matter. “Son-in-law,”
said the sultaness, “are you as much infatuated as your wife?” “Madam,”
replied the vizier’s son, “may I be so bold as to ask the reason of that
question?” “Oh! that is enough,” answered the sultaness; “I ask no more,
I see you are wiser than her.”
The rejoicings lasted all that day in the palace, and the sultaness, who
never left the princess, forgot nothing to divert her, and induce her to
take part in the various diversions and shows: but she was so struck
with the idea of what had happened to her that it was easy to see her
thoughts were entirely taken up about it. Neither was the grand vizier’s
son’s affliction less, but that his ambition made him disguise it, and
nobody doubted but he was a happy bridegroom.
Aladdin, who was well acquainted with what passed in the palace, never
disputed but that the new-married couple were to lie together again that
night, notwithstanding the troublesome adventure of the night before;
and therefore, having as great an inclination to disturb them, he had
recourse to his lamp, and when the genie appeared, and offered his
services, he said to him, “The grand vizier’s son and the princess
Badr-oul-boudour are to lie together again to-night: go, and as soon as
they are in bed, bring the bed hither, as thou didst yesterday.”
The genie obeyed Aladdin as faithfully and exactly as the day before:
the grand vizier’s son passed the night as coldly and disagreeably as
before, and the princess had the mortification again to have Aladdin for
her bedfellow, with the sabre between them. The genie, according to
Aladdin’s orders, came the next morning, and brought the bridegroom and
laid him by his bride, and then carried the bed and new-married couple
back again to the palace.
The sultan, after the reception the princess Badr-oul-boudour had given
him that day, was very anxious to know how she passed the second night,
and if she would give him the same reception, and therefore went into
her chamber as early as the morning before. The grand vizier’s son, more
ashamed and mortified with the ill success of this last night, no sooner
heard him coming, but he jumped out of bed, and ran hastily into the
wardrobe. The sultan went to the princess’s bed-side, and after the
caresses he had given her the former morning, bid her good-morrow.
“Well, daughter,” he said, “are you in a better humour than you were
yesterday morning?” Still the princess was silent, and the sultan
perceived her to be more troubled, in greater confusion than before, and
doubted not but that something very extraordinary was the cause; but
provoked that his daughter should conceal it, he said to her in a rage,
with his sabre in his hand, “Daughter, tell me what is the matter, or I
will cut off your head immediately.”
The princess, more frightened at the menaces and tone of the enraged
sultan, than at the sight of the drawn sabre, at last broke silence, and
said, with tears in her eyes, “My dear father and sultan, I ask your
majesty’s pardon if I have offended you, and hope, that out of your
goodness and clemency you will have compassion on me, when I have told
you in what a miserable condition I have spent this last night and the
night before.”
After this preamble, which appeased and affected the sultan, she told
him what had happened to her in so moving a manner, that he, who loved
her tenderly, was most sensibly grieved. She added, “If your majesty
doubts the truth of this account, you may inform yourself from my
husband, who, I am persuaded, will tell you the same thing.”
The sultan immediately felt all the extreme uneasiness so surprising an
adventure must have given the princess. “Daughter,” said he, “you are
very much to blame for not telling me this yesterday, since it concerns
me as much as yourself. I did not marry you with an intention to make
you miserable, but that you might enjoy all the happiness you deserve
and might hope for from a husband, who to me seemed agreeable to you.
Efface all these troublesome ideas out of your memory; I will take care
and give orders that you shall have no more such disagreeable and
insupportable nights.”
As soon as the sultan got back to his own apartment, he sent for the
grand vizier. “Vizier,” said he, “have you seen your son, and has he not
told you anything?” The vizier replied, “No.” Then the sultan related
all that the princess Badr-oul-boudour had told him, and afterwards
said, “I do not doubt but that my daughter has told me the truth; but
nevertheless I should be glad to have it confirmed by your son;
therefore go and ask him how it was.”
The grand vizier went immediately to his son, and communicated to him
what the sultan had told him, and enjoined him to conceal nothing from
him, but to tell him the whole truth. “I will disguise nothing from you,
father,” replied the son, “for indeed all that the princess says is
true; but what relates particularly to myself she knows nothing of.
After my marriage, I have passed two such nights as are beyond
imagination or expression; not to mention the fright I was in, to feel
my bed lifted up four times, and transported from one place to another,
without being able to guess how it was done. You shall judge of the
miserable condition I was in, to pass two whole nights in nothing but my
shirt, standing in a kind of privy, unable to stir out of the place
where I was put, or to make the least movement, though I could not
perceive any obstacle to prevent me. Yet I must tell you that all this
ill-usage does not in the least lessen those sentiments of love, respect
and latitude I entertain for the princess, and of which she is so
deserving; but I must confess, that notwithstanding all the honour and
splendour that attends my marrying my sovereign’s daughter I would much
rather die, than live longer in so great an alliance, if I must undergo
what I have already endured. I do not doubt but that the princess
entertains the same sentiments, and that she will readily agree to a
separation, which is so necessary both for her repose and mine.
Therefore, father, I beg you, by the same tenderness you had for me to
procure me so great an honour, to get the sultan’s consent that our
marriage may be declared null and void.”
Notwithstanding the grand vizier’s ambition to have his son allied to
the sultan, the firm resolution he saw he had formed to be separated
from the princess, made him not think it proper to propose to him to
have a little patience for a few days, to see if this disappointment
would not have an end; but left him to go and give the sultan an account
of what he had told him, assuring him that all was but too true. Without
waiting till the sultan himself, whom he found pretty much disposed to
it, spoke of breaking the marriage, he begged of him to give his son
leave to retire from the palace; alleging for an excuse, that it was not
just that the princess should be a moment longer exposed to so terrible
a persecution upon his son’s account.
The grand vizier found no great difficulty to obtain what he asked. From
that instant the sultan, who had determined it already, gave orders to
put a stop to all rejoicings in the palace and town, and sent expresses
to all parts of his dominions to countermand his first orders; and in a
short time all rejoicings ceased.
This sudden and unexpected change gave rise, both in the city and
kingdom, to various speculations and inquiries; but no other account
could be given of it, except that both the vizier and his son went out
of the palace very much dejected. Nobody but Aladdin knew the secret. He
rejoiced within himself for the happy success procured for him by his
lamp, which now he had no more occasion to rub to produce the genie, to
prevent the consummation of the marriage, which he had certain
information was broken off, and that his rival had left the palace. But,
what is most particular, neither the sultan nor the grand vizier, who
had forgotten Aladdin and his request, had the least thought that he had
any hand in the enchantment which caused the dissolution of the
marriage.