palace, and were introduced into the sultan's presence, where the
chief jeweller presented the precious stones which he had brought
back. The sultan asked them if Aladdin had given them any reason
for so doing, and they answering that he had given them none, he
ordered a horse to be brought, which he mounted, and rode to his
son-in-law's palace, with some few attendants on foot, to inquire
why he had ordered the completion of the window to be stopped.
Aladdin met him at the gate, and without giving any reply to his
inquiries conducted him to the grand saloon, where the sultan, to
his great surprise, found the window which was left imperfect to
correspond exactly with the others. He fancied at first that he
was mistaken, and examined the two windows on each side, and
afterward all the four and twenty; but when he was convinced that
the window which several workmen had been so long about was
finished in so short a time, he embraced Aladdin and kissed him
between his eyes. "My son," said he, "what a man you are to do
such surprising things always in the twinkling of an eye! There is
not your fellow in the world; the more I know, the more I admire
you."
The sultan returned to the palace, and after this went frequently
to the window to contemplate and admire the wonderful palace of
his son-in-law.
Aladdin did not confine himself in his palace, but went with much
state, sometimes to one mosque, and sometimes to another, to
prayers, or to visit the grand vizier, or the principal lords of
the court. Every time he went out, he caused two slaves, who
walked by the side of his horse, to throw handfuls of money among
the people as he passed through the streets and squares. This
generosity gained him the love and blessings of the people, and it
was common for them to swear by his head. Thus Aladdin, while he
paid all respect to the sultan, won by his affable behavior and
liberality the affections of the people.
Aladdin had conducted himself in this manner several years, when
the African magician, who had for some years dismissed him from
his recollection, determined to inform himself with certainty
whether he perished, as he supposed, in the subterranean cave or
not. After he had resorted to a long course of magic ceremonies,
and had formed a horoscope by which to ascertain Aladdin's fate,
what was his surprise to find the appearances to declare that
Aladdin, instead of dying in the cave, had made his escape, and
was living in royal splendor, by the aid of the genie of the
wonderful lamp!
On the very next day, the magician set out and travelled with the
utmost haste to the capital of China, where, on his arrival, he
took up his lodging in a khan.
He then quickly learned about the wealth, charities, happiness,
and splendid palace of Prince Aladdin. Directly he saw the
wonderful fabric, he knew that none but the genies, the slaves of
the lamp, could have performed such wonders; and piqued to the
quick at Aladdin's high estate, he returned to the khan.
On his return he had recourse to an operation of geomancy to find
out where the lamp was--whether Aladdin carried it about with
him, or where he left it. The result of his consultation informed
him, to his great joy, that the lamp was in the palace. "Well,"
said he, rubbing his hands in glee, "I shall have the lamp, and I
shall make Aladdin return to his original mean condition."
The next day the magician learned, from the chief superintendent
of the khan where he lodged, that Aladdin had gone on a hunting
expedition, which was to last for eight days, of which only three
had expired. The magician wanted to know no more. He resolved at
once on his plans. He went to a coppersmith, and asked for a dozen
copper lamps: the master of the shop told him he had not so many
by him, but if he would have patience till the next day, he would
have them ready. The magician appointed his time, and desired him
to take care that they should be handsome and well polished.
The next day the magician called for the twelve lamps, paid the
man his full price, put them into a basket hanging on his arm, and
went directly to Aladdin's palace. As he approached, he began
crying, "Who will change old lamps for new ones?" As he went
along, a crowd of children collected, who hooted, and thought him,
as did all who chanced to be passing by, a madman or a fool, to
offer to change new lamps for old ones.
The African magician regarded not their scoffs, hootings, or all
they could say to him, but still continued crying, "Who will
change old lamps for new ones?" He repeated this so often, walking
backward and forward in front of the palace, that the princess,
who was then in the hall with the four-and-twenty windows, hearing
a man cry something, and seeing a great mob crowding about him,
sent one of her women slaves to know what he cried.
The slave returned laughing so heartily that the princess rebuked
her. "Madam," answered the slave, laughing still, "who can forbear
laughing, to see an old man with a basket on his arm, full of fine
new lamps, asking to change them for old ones? The children and
mob crowding about him so that he can hardly stir, make all the
noise they can in derision of him."
Another female slave, hearing this, said: "Now you speak of lamps,
I know not whether the princess may have observed it, but there is
an old one upon a shelf of the Prince Aladdin's robing-room, and
whoever owns it will not be sorry to find a new one in its stead.
If the princess chooses, she may have the pleasure of trying if
this old man is so silly as to give a new lamp for an old one,
without taking anything for the exchange."
The princess, who knew not the value of this lamp, and the
interest that Aladdin had to keep it safe, entered into the
pleasantry, and commanded a slave to take it and make the
exchange. The slave obeyed, went out of the hall, and no sooner
got to the palace gates than he saw the African magician, called
to him, and, showing him the old lamp, said, "Give me a new lamp
for this."
The magician never doubted but this was the lamp he wanted. There
could be no other such in this palace, where every utensil was
gold or silver. He snatched it eagerly out of the slave's hand,
and, thrusting it as far as he could into his breast, offered him
his basket, and bade him choose which he liked best. The slave
picked out one, and carried it to the princess; but the change
was no sooner made than the place rung with the shouts of the
children, deriding the magician's folly.
The African magician stayed no longer near the palace, nor cried
any more, "New lamps for old ones!" but made the best of his way
to his khan. His end was answered; and by his silence he got rid
of the children and the mob.
As soon as he was out of sight of the two palaces, he hastened
down the least frequented streets; and, having no more occasion
for his lamps or basket, set all down in a spot where nobody saw
him. Then going down another street or two, he walked till he
came to one of the city gates, and pursuing his way through the
suburbs, which were very extensive, at length reached a lonely
spot, where he stopped till the darkness of the night, as the most
suitable time for the design he had in contemplation. When it
became quite dark, he pulled the lamp out of his breast and rubbed
it. At that summons the genie 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; both I and the other
slaves of the lamp." "I command thee," replied the magician, "to
transport me immediately, and the palace which thou and the other
slaves of the lamp have built in this dity, with all the people in
it, to Africa." The genie made no reply, but, with the assistance
of the other genies, the slaves of the lamp, immediately
transported him and the palace entire to the spot whither he had
been desired to convey it.
Early the next morning when the sultan, according to custom, went
to contemplate and admire Aladdin's palace, his amazement was
unbounded to find that it could nowhere be seen. He could not
comprehend how so large a palace, which he had seen plainly every
day for some years, should vanish so soon and not leave the least
remains behind. In his perplexity he ordered the grand vizier to
be sent for with expedition.
The grand vizier, who in secret bore no goodwill to Aladdin,
intimated his suspicion that the palace was built by magic, and
that Aladdin had made his hunting excursion an excuse for the
removal of his palace with the same suddenness with which it had
been erected. He induced the sultan to send a detachment of his
guards and to have Aladdin seized as a prisoner of state. On his
son-in-law being brought before him, he would not hear a word from
him, but ordered him to be put to death. The decree caused so much
discontent among the people, whose affection Aladdin had secured
by his largesses and charities, that the sultan, fearful of an
insurrection, was obliged to grant him his life. When Aladdin
found himself at liberty, he again addressed the sultan: "Sire, I
pray you to let me know the crime by which I have thus lost the
favor of thy countenance." "Your crime," answered the sultan,
"wretched man! do you not know it? Follow me, and I will show
you." The sultan then took Aladdin into the apartment from whence
he was wont to look at and admire his palace, and said, "You ought
to know where your palace stood. Look! mind, and tell me what has
become of it." Aladdin did so, and, being utterly amazed at the
loss of his palace, was speechless. At last, recovering himself,
he said: "It is true, I do not see the palace. It is vanished; but
I had no concern in its removal. I beg you to give me forty days,
and if in that time I cannot restore it, I will offer my head to
be disposed of at your pleasure." "I give you the time you ask,
but at the end of the forty days forget not to present yourself
before me."
Aladdin went out of the sultan's palace in a condition of
exceeding humiliation. The lords who had courted him in the days
of his splendor now declined to have any communication with him.
For three days he wandered about the city, exciting the wonder and
compassion of the multitude, by asking everybody he met if they
had seen his palace, or could tell him anything of it. On the
third day he wandered into the country, and, as he was approaching
a river, he fell down the bank with so much violence that he
rubbed the ring which the magician had given him, so hard, by
holding on the rock to save himself, that immediately the same
genie appeared whom he had seen in the cave where the magician had
left him. "What wouldst thou have?" said the genie. "I am ready to
obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all those that have that
ring on their finger; both I and the other slaves of the ring."
Aladdin, agreeably surprised at an offer of help so little
expected, replied, "Genie, show me where the palace I caused to be
built now stands, or transport it back where it first stood."
"Your command," answered the genie, "is not wholly in my power; I
am only the slave of the ring, and not of the lamp." "I command
thee, then," replied Aladdin, "by the power of the ring, to
transport me to the spot where my palace stands, in what part of
the world soever it may be." These words were no sooner out of his
mouth, than the genie transported him into Africa, to the midst of
a large plain, where his palace stood, at no great distance from a
city, and, placing him exactly under the window of the princess's
apartment, left him.
Now it so happened that shortly after Aladdin had been transported
by the slave of the ring to the neighborhood of his palace, one
of the Attendants of the Princess Buddir al Buddoor, looking
through the window, perceived him, and instantly told her
mistress. The princess, who could not believe the joyful tidings,
hastened herself to the window, and, seeing Aladdin, immediately
opened it. The noise of opening the window made Aladdin turn his
head that way, and perceiving the princess, he saluted her with an
air that expressed his joy.
"To lose no time," said she to him, "I have sent to have the
private door opened for you. Enter, and come up."
The private door, which was just under the princess's apartment,
was soon opened, and Aladdin conducted up into the chamber. It is
impossible to express the joy of both at seeing each other after
so cruel a separation. After embracing, and shedding tears of joy,
they sat down, and Aladdin said, "I beg of you, princess, to tell
me what is become of an old lamp which stood upon a shelf in my
robing chamber?"
"Alas!" answered the princess, "I was afraid our misfortune might
be owing to that lamp; and What grieves me" most is, that I have
been the cause of it. I was foolish enough to change the old lamp
for a new one, and the next morning I found myself in this unknown
country, which I am told is Africa."
"Princess," said Aladdin, interrupting her, "you have explained
all by telling me we are in Africa. I desire you only to tell me
if you know where the old lamp now is." "The African magician
carries it carefully wrapt up in his bosom," said the princess;
"and this I can assure you, because he pulled it out before me,
and showed it to me in triumph."
"Princess," said Aladdin, "I think I have found the means to
deliver you and to regain possession of the lamp, on which all my
prosperity depends. To execute this design it is necessary for me
to go to the town. I shall return by noon, and will then tell you
what must be done by you to insure success. In the meantime I
shall disguise myself; and I beg that the private door may be
opened at the first knock."
When Aladdin was out of the palace, he looked around him on all
sides, and perceiving a peasant going into the country, hastened
after him; and when he had overtaken him, made a proposal to him
to change clothes, which the man agreed to. When they had made the
exchange, the countryman went about his business, and Aladdin
entered the neighboring city. After traversing several streets, he
came to that part of the town where the merchants and artisans had
their particular streets according to their trades. He went into
that of the druggists, and entering one of the largest and best
furnished shops, asked the druggist if he had a certain powder,
which he named.
The druggist, judging Aladdin by his habit to be very poor, told
him he had it, but that it was very dear. Upon which Aladdin,
penetrating his thoughts, pulled out his purse, and, showing him
some gold, asked for half a dram of the powder, which the druggist
weighed and gave him, telling him the price was a piece of gold.
Aladdin put the money into his hand, and hastened to the palace,
which he entered at once by the private door. When he came into
the princess's apartment, he said to her, "Princess, you must take
your part in the scheme which I propose for our deliverance. You
must overcome your aversion to the magician, and assume a most
friendly manner toward him, and ask him to oblige you by partaking
of an entertainment in your apartments. Before he leaves ask him
to exchange cups with you, which he, gratified at the honor you do
him, will gladly do, when you must give him the cup containing
this powder. On drinking it he will instantly fall asleep, and we
will obtain the lamp, whose slaves will do all our bidding, and
restore us and the palace to the capital of China."
The princess obeyed to the utmost her husband's instructions. She
assumed a look of pleasure on the next visit of the magician, and
asked him to an entertainment, which he most willingly accepted.
At the close of the evening, during which the princess had tried
all she could to please him, she asked him to exchange cups with
her, and, giving the signal, had the drugged cup brought to her,
which she gave to the magician. He drank it out of compliment to
the princess to the very last drop, when he fell backward lifeless
on the sofa.
The princess, in anticipation of the success of her scheme, had so
placed her women from the great hall to the foot of the staircase,
that the word was no sooner given that the African magician was
fallen backward, than the door was opened and Aladdin admitted to
the hall. The princess rose from her seat, and ran overjoyed to
embrace him; but he stopped her, and said, "Princess, retire to
your apartment, and let me be left alone, while I endeavor to
transport you back to China as speedily as you were brought from
thence."
When the princess, her women, and slaves were gone out of the
hall, Aladdin shut the door, and going directly to the dead body
of the magician, opened his vest, took out the lamp, which was
carefully wrapped up, and rubbing it, the genie immediately
appeared. "Genie," said Aladdin, "I command thee to transport this
palace instantly to the place from whence it was brought hither."
The genie bowed his head in token of obedience, and disappeared.
Immediately the palace was transported into China, and its removal
was only felt by two little shocks, the one when it was lifted up,
the other when it was set down, and both in a very short interval
of time.
On the morning after the restoration of Aladdin's palace, the
sultan was looking out of his window, and mourning over the fate
of his daughter, when he thought that he saw the vacancy created
by the disappearance of the palace to be again filled up. On
looking more attentively he was convinced beyond the power of
doubt that it was his son-in-law's palace. Joy and gladness
succeeded to sorrow and grief. He at once ordered a horse to be
saddled, which he mounted that instant, thinking he could not make
haste enough to the place.
Aladdin rose that morning by daybreak, put on one of the most
magnificent habits his wardrobe afforded, and went up into the
hall of twenty-four windows, from whence he perceived the sultan
approaching, and received him at the foot of the great staircase,
helping him to dismount.
He led the sultan into the princess's apartment. The happy father
embraced her with tears of joy; and the princess, on her side,
afforded similar testimonies of her extreme pleasure. After a
short interval devoted to mutual explanations of all that had
happened, the sultan restored Aladdin to his favor, and expressed
his regret for the apparent harshness with which he had treated
him. "My son," said he, "be not displeased at my proceedings
against you; they arose from my paternal love, and therefore you
ought to forgive the excesses to which it hurried me." "Sire,"
replied Aladdin, "I have not the least reason to complain of your
conduct, since you did nothing but what your duty required. This
infamous magician, the basest of men, was the sole cause of my
misfortune."
The African magician, who was thus twice foiled in his endeavor to
ruin Aladdin, had a younger brother, who was as skilful a magician
as himself, and exceeded him in wickedness and hatred of mankind.
By mutual agreement they communicated with each other once a year,
however widely separate might be their place of residence from
each other. The younger brother, not having received as usual his
annual communication, prepared to take a horoscope and ascertain
his brother's proceedings. He, as well as his brother, always
carried a geomantic square instrument about him; he prepared the
sand, cast the points, and drew the figures. On examining the
planetary crystal, he found that his brother was no longer living,
but had been poisoned; and by another observation, that he was in
the capital of the kingdom of China; also that the person who had
poisoned him was of mean birth, though married to a princess, a
sultan's daughter.
When the magician had informed himself of his brother's fate, he
resolved immediately to avenge his death, and at once departed for
China; where, after crossing plains, rivers, mountains, deserts,
and a long tract of country without delay, he arrived after
incredible fatigues. When he came to the capital of China, he took
a lodging at a khan. His magic art soon revealed to him that
Aladdin was the person who had been the cause of the death of his
brother. He had heard, too, all the persons of repute in the city
talking of a woman called Fatima, who was retired from the world,
and of the miracles she wrought. As he fancied that this woman
might be serviceable to him in the project he had conceived, he
made more minute inquiries, and requested to be informed more
particularly who that holy woman was, and what sort of miracles
she performed.
"What!" said the person whom he addressed, "have you never seen or
heard of her? She is the admiration of the whole town, for her
fasting, her austerities, and her exemplary life. Except Mondays
and Fridays, she never stirs out of her little cell; and on those
days on which she comes into the town she does an infinite deal of
good; for there is not a person who is diseased but she puts her
hand on them and cures them."
Having ascertained the place where the hermitage of the holy woman
was, the magician went at night, and, plunging a poniard into her
heart--killed this good woman. In the morning he dyed his face of
the same hue as hers, and arraying himself in her garb, taking her
veil, the large necklace she wore round her waist, and her stick,
went straight to the palace of Aladdin.
As soon as the people saw the holy woman, as they imagined him to
be, they presently gathered about him in a great crowd. Some
begged his blessing, some kissed his hand, and others, more
reserved, only the hem of his garment; while others, suffering
from disease, stooped for him to lay his hands upon them, which he
did, muttering some words in form of prayer, and, in short,
counterfeiting so well that everybody took him for the holy woman.
He came at last to the square before Aladdin's palace. The crowd
and the noise was so great that the princess, who was in the hall
of four-and-twenty windows, heard it, and asked what was the
matter. One of her women told her it was a great crowd of people
collected about the holy woman to be cured of diseases by the
imposition of her hands.
The princess, who had long heard of this holy woman, but had never
seen her, was very desirous to have some conversation with her;
which the chief officer perceiving, told her it was an easy matter
to bring her to her, if she desired and commanded it; and the
princess, expressing her wishes, he immediately sent four slaves
for the pretended holy woman.
As soon as the crowd saw the attendants from the palace, they made
way; and the magician, perceiving also that they were coming for
him, advanced to meet them, overjoyed to find his plot succeed so
well. "Holy woman," said one of the slaves, "the princess wants to
see you, and has sent us for you." "The princess does me too great
an honor," replied the false Fatima; "I am ready to obey her
command," and at the same time followed the slaves to the palace.
When the pretended Fatima had made her obeisance, the princess
said, "My good mother, I have one thing to request, which you must
not refuse me: it is, to stay with me, that you may edify me with
your way of living, and that I may learn from your good example."
"Princess," said the counterfeit Fatima, "I beg of you not to ask
what I cannot consent to without neglecting my prayers and
devotion." "That shall be no hindrance to you," answered the
princess; "I have a great many apartments unoccupied; you shall
choose which you like best, and have as much liberty to perform
your devotions as if you were in your own cell."
The magician, who really desired nothing more than to introduce
himself into the palace, where it would be a much easier matter
for him to execute his designs, did not long excuse himself from
accepting the obliging offer which the princess made him.
"Princess," said he, "whatever resolution a poor wretched woman as
I am may have made to renounce the pomp and grandeur of this
world, I dare not presume to oppose the will and commands of so
pious and charitable a princess."
Upon this the princess, rising up, said, "Come with me; I will
show you what vacant apartments I have, that you may make choice
of that you like best." The magician followed the princess, and of
all the apartments she showed him made choice of that which was
the worst, saying that it was too good for him, and that he only
accepted it to please her.