There once lived a poor tailor, who had a son called Aladdin, a
careless, idle boy, who would do nothing but play all day long in the
streets with little idle boys like himself. This so grieved the father
that he died; yet, in spite of his mother's tears and prayers, Aladdin
did not mend his ways. One day, when he was playing in the streets as
usual, a stranger asked him his age, and if he were not the son of
Mustapha the tailor.
"I am, sir," replied Aladdin; "but he died a long while ago."
On this the stranger, who was a famous African magician, fell on his
neck and kissed him, saying: "I am your uncle, and knew you from your
likeness to my brother. Go to your mother and tell her I am coming."
Aladdin ran home, and told his mother of his newly-found uncle.
"Indeed, child," she said, "your father had a brother, but I always
thought he was dead."
However, she prepared supper, and bade Aladdin seek his uncle, who came
laden with wine and fruit. He presently fell down and kissed the place
where Mustapha used to sit, bidding Aladdin's mother not to be surprised
at not having seen him before, as he had been forty years out of the
country. He then turned to Aladdin and asked him his trade, at which the
boy hung his head, while his mother burst into tears. On learning that
Aladdin was idle and would learn no trade, he offered to take a shop for
him and stock it with merchandise. Next day he bought Aladdin a fine
suit of clothes, and took him all over the city, showing him the sights,
and brought him home at nightfall to his mother, who was overjoyed to
see her son so fine.
Next day the magician led Aladdin into some beautiful gardens a long way
outside the city gates. They sat down by a fountain, and the magician
pulled a cake from his girdle, which he divided between them. They then
journeyed onwards till they almost reached the mountains. Aladdin was so
tired that he begged to go back, but the magician beguiled him with
pleasant stories, and led him on in spite of himself.
At last they came to two mountains divided by a narrow valley.
"We will go no farther," said the false uncle. "I will show you
something wonderful; only do you gather up sticks while I kindle a
fire."
When it was lit the magician threw on it a powder he had about him, at
the same time saying some magical words. The earth trembled a little and
opened in front of them, disclosing a square flat stone with a brass
ring in the middle to raise it by. Aladdin tried to run away, but the
magician caught him and gave him a blow that knocked him down.
"What have I done, uncle?" he said piteously; whereupon the magician
said more kindly: "Fear nothing, but obey me. Beneath this stone lies a
treasure which is to be yours, and no one else may touch it, so you must
do exactly as I tell you."
At the word treasure, Aladdin forgot his fears, and grasped the ring as
he was told, saying the names of his father and grandfather. The stone
came up quite easily and some steps appeared.
"Go down," said the magician; "at the foot of those steps you will find
an open door leading into three large halls. Tuck up your gown and go
through them without touching anything, or you will die instantly. These
halls lead into a garden of fine fruit-trees. Walk on till you come to a
niche in a terrace where stands a lighted lamp. Pour out the oil it
contains and bring it to me."
He drew a ring from his finger and gave it to Aladdin, bidding him
prosper.
Aladdin found everything as the magician had said, gathered some fruit
off the trees, and, having got the lamp, arrived at the mouth of the
cave. The magician cried out in a great hurry:--
"Make haste and give me the lamp." This Aladdin refused to do until he
was out of the cave. The magician flew into a terrible passion, and
throwing some more powder on the fire, he said something, and the stone
rolled back into its place.
The magician left Persia forever, which plainly showed that he was no
uncle of Aladdin's, but a cunning magician who had read in his magic
books of a wonderful lamp, which would make him the most powerful man in
the world. Though he alone knew where to find it, he could only receive
it from the hand of another. He had picked out the foolish Aladdin for
this purpose, intending to get the lamp and kill him afterwards.
For two days Aladdin remained in the dark, crying and lamenting. At last
he clasped his hands in prayer, and in so doing rubbed the ring, which
the magician had forgotten to take from him. Immediately an enormous and
frightful genie rose out of the earth, saying:--
"What wouldst thou with me? I am the Slave of the Ring, and will obey
thee in all things."
Aladdin fearlessly replied: "Deliver me from this place!" whereupon the
earth opened, and he found himself outside. As soon as his eyes could
bear the light he went home, but fainted on the threshold. When he came
to himself he told his mother what had passed, and showed her the lamp
and the fruits he had gathered in the garden, which were in reality
precious stones. He then asked for some food.
"Alas! child," she said, "I have nothing in the house, but I have spun a
little cotton and will go and sell it."
Aladdin bade her keep her cotton, for he would sell the lamp instead. As
it was very dirty she began to rub it, that it might fetch a higher
price. Instantly a hideous genie appeared, and asked what she would
have. She fainted away, but Aladdin, snatching the lamp, said boldly:--
"Fetch me something to eat!"
The genie returned with a silver bowl, twelve silver plates containing
rich meats, two silver cups, and two bottles of wine. Aladdin's mother,
when she came to herself, said:--
"Whence comes this splendid feast?"
"Ask not, but eat," replied Aladdin.
So they sat at breakfast till it was dinner-time, and Aladdin told his
mother about the lamp. She begged him to sell it, and have nothing to do
with devils.
"No," said Aladdin, "since chance has made us aware of its virtues, we
will use it and the ring likewise, which I shall always wear on my
finger." When they had eaten all the genie had brought, Aladdin sold one
of the silver plates, and so on till none was left. He then had recourse
to the genie, who gave him another set of plates, and thus they lived
for many years.
One day Aladdin heard an order from the Sultan proclaimed that everyone
was to stay at home and close his shutters while the princess, his
daughter, went to and from the bath. Aladdin was seized by a desire to
see her face, which was very difficult, as she always went veiled. He
hid himself behind the door of the bath, and peeped through a chink. The
princess lifted her veil as she went in, and looked so beautiful that
Aladdin fell in love with her at first sight. He went home so changed
that his mother was frightened. He told her he loved the princess so
deeply that he could not live without her, and meant to ask her in
marriage of her father. His mother, on hearing this, burst out laughing,
but Aladdin at last prevailed upon her to go before the Sultan and carry
his request. She fetched a napkin and laid in it the magic fruits from
the enchanted garden, which sparkled and shone like the most beautiful
jewels. She took these with her to please the Sultan, and set out,
trusting in the lamp. The grand-vizir and the lords of council had just
gone in as she entered the hall and placed herself in front of the
Sultan. He, however, took no notice of her. She went every day for a
week, and stood in the same place.
When the council broke up on the sixth day the Sultan said to his vizir:
"I see a certain woman in the audience-chamber every day carrying
something in a napkin. Call her next time, that I may find out what she
wants."
Next day, at a sign from the vizir, she went up to the foot of the
throne, and remained kneeling till the Sultan said to her: "Rise, good
woman, and tell me what you want."
She hesitated, so the Sultan sent away all but the vizir, and bade her
speak freely, promising to forgive her beforehand for anything she might
say. She then told him of her son's violent love for the princess.
"I prayed him to forget her," she said, "but in vain; he threatened to
do some desperate deed if I refused to go and ask your Majesty for the
hand of the princess. Now I pray you to forgive not me alone, but my son
Aladdin."
The Sultan asked her kindly what she had in the napkin, whereupon she
unfolded the jewels and presented them.
He was thunderstruck, and turning to the vizir said: "What sayest thou?
Ought I not to bestow the princess on one who values her at such a
price?"
The vizir, who wanted her for his own son, begged the Sultan to withhold
her for three months, in the course of which he hoped his son would
contrive to make him a richer present. The Sultan granted this, and told
Aladdin's mother that, though he consented to the marriage, she must not
appear before him again for three months.
Aladdin waited patiently for nearly three months, but after two had
elapsed his mother, going into the city to buy oil, found everyone
rejoicing, and asked what was going on.
"Do you not know," was the answer, "that the son of the grand-vizir is
to marry the Sultan's daughter to-night?"
Breathless, she ran and told Aladdin, who was overwhelmed at first, but
presently bethought him of the lamp. He rubbed it, and the genie
appeared, saying: "What is thy will?"
Aladdin replied: "The Sultan, as thou knowest, has broken his promise to
me, and the vizir's son is to have the princess. My command is that
to-night you bring hither the bride and bridegroom."
"Master, I obey," said the genie.
Aladdin then went to his chamber, where, sure enough at midnight the
genie transported the bed containing the vizir's son and the princess.
"Take this new-married man," he said, "and put him outside in the cold,
and return at daybreak."
Whereupon the genie took the vizir's son out of bed, leaving Aladdin
with the princess.
"Fear nothing," Aladdin said to her; "you are my wife, promised to me by
your unjust father, and no harm shall come to you."
The princess was too frightened to speak, and passed the most miserable
night of her life, while Aladdin lay down beside her and slept soundly.
At the appointed hour the genie fetched in the shivering bridegroom,
laid him in his place, and transported the bed back to the palace.
Presently the Sultan came to wish his daughter good-morning. The unhappy
vizir's son jumped up and hid himself, while the princess would not say
a word, and was very sorrowful.
The Sultan sent her mother to her, who said: "How comes it, child, that
you will not speak to your father? What has happened?"
The princess sighed deeply, and at last told her mother how, during the
night, the bed had been carried into some strange house, and what had
passed there. Her mother did not believe her in the least, but bade her
rise and consider it an idle dream.
The following night exactly the same thing happened, and next morning,
on the princess's refusing to speak, the Sultan threatened to cut off
her head. She then confessed all, bidding him ask the vizir's son if it
were not so. The Sultan told the vizir to ask his son, who owned the
truth, adding that, dearly as he loved the princess, he had rather die
than go through another such fearful night, and wished to be separated
from her. His wish was granted, and there was an end of feasting and
rejoicing.
When the three months were over, Aladdin sent his mother to remind the
Sultan of his promise. She stood in the same place as before, and the
Sultan, who had forgotten Aladdin, at once remembered him, and sent for
her. On seeing her poverty the Sultan felt less inclined than ever to
keep his word, and asked the vizir's advice, who counselled him to set
so high a value on the princess that no man living could come up to it.
The Sultan then turned to Aladdin's mother, saying: "Good woman, a
Sultan must remember his promises, and I will remember mine, but your
son must first send me forty basins of gold brimful of jewels, carried
by forty black slaves, led by as many white ones, splendidly dressed.
Tell him that I await his answer." The mother of Aladdin bowed low and
went home, thinking all was lost.
She gave Aladdin the message, adding: "He may wait long enough for your
answer!"
"Not so long, mother, as you think," her son replied. "I would do a
great deal more than that for the princess." He summoned the genie, and
in a few moments the eighty slaves arrived, and filled up the small
house and garden.
Aladdin made them set out to the palace, two and two, followed by his
mother. They were so richly dressed, with such splendid jewels in their
girdles, that everyone crowded to see them and the basins of gold they
carried on their heads.
They entered the palace, and, after kneeling before the Sultan, stood in
a half-circle round the throne with their arms crossed, while Aladdin's
mother presented them to the Sultan.
He hesitated no longer, but said: "Good woman, return and tell your son
that I wait for him with open arms."
She lost no time in telling Aladdin, bidding him make haste. But Aladdin
first called the genie.
"I want a scented bath," he said, "a richly embroidered habit, a horse
surpassing the Sultan's, and twenty slaves to attend me. Besides this,
six slaves, beautifully dressed, to wait on my mother; and lastly, ten
thousand pieces of gold in ten purses."
No sooner said than done. Aladdin mounted his horse and passed through
the streets, the slaves strewing gold as they went. Those who had played
with him in his childhood knew him not, he had grown so handsome.
When the Sultan saw him he came down from his throne, embraced him, and
led him into a hall where a feast was spread, intending to marry him to
the princess that very day.
But Aladdin refused, saying, "I must build a palace fit for her," and
took his leave.
Once home he said to the genie: "Build me a palace of the finest marble,
set with jasper, agate, and other precious stones. In the middle you
shall build me a large hall with a dome, its four walls of massy gold
and silver, each side having six windows, whose lattices, all except
one, which is to be left unfinished, must be set with diamonds and
rubies. There must be stables and horses and grooms and slaves; go and
see about it!"
The palace was finished by next day, and the genie carried him there and
showed him all his orders faithfully carried out, even to the laying of
a velvet carpet from Aladdin's palace to the Sultan's. Aladdin's mother
then dressed herself carefully, and walked to the palace with her
slaves, while he followed her on horseback. The Sultan sent musicians
with trumpets and cymbals to meet them, so that the air resounded with
music and cheers. She was taken to the princess, who saluted her and
treated her with great honor. At night the princess said good-by to her
father, and set out on the carpet for Aladdin's palace, with his mother
at her side, and followed by the hundred slaves. She was charmed at the
sight of Aladdin, who ran to receive her.
"Princess," he said, "blame your beauty for my boldness if I have
displeased you."
She told him that, having seen him, she willingly obeyed her father in
this matter. After the wedding had taken place Aladdin led her into the
hall, where a feast was spread, and she supped with him, after which
they danced till midnight.
Next day Aladdin invited the Sultan to see the palace. On entering the
hall with the four-and-twenty windows, with their rubies, diamonds, and
emeralds, he cried:--
"It is a world's wonder! There is only one thing that surprises me. Was
it by accident that one window was left unfinished?"
"No, sir, by design," returned Aladdin. "I wished your Majesty to have
the glory of finishing this palace."
The Sultan was pleased, and sent for the best jewellers in the city. He
showed them the unfinished window, and bade them fit it up like the
others.
"Sir," replied their spokesman, "we cannot find jewels enough."
The Sultan had his own fetched, which they soon used, but to no purpose,
for in a month's time the work was not half done. Aladdin, knowing that
their task was vain, bade them undo their work and carry the jewels
back, and the genie finished the window at his command. The Sultan was
surprised to receive his jewels again and visited Aladdin, who showed
him the window finished. The Sultan embraced him, the envious vizir
meanwhile hinting that it was the work of enchantment.
Aladdin had won the hearts of the people by his gentle bearing. He was
made captain of the Sultan's armies, and won several battles for him,
but remained modest and courteous as before, and lived thus in peace and
content for several years.
But far away in Africa the magician remembered Aladdin, and by his magic
arts discovered that Aladdin, instead of perishing miserably in the
cave, had escaped, and had married a princess, with whom he was living
in great honor and wealth. He knew that the poor tailor's son could only
have accomplished this by means of the lamp, and travelled night and day
till he reached the capital of China, bent on Aladdin's ruin. As he
passed through the town he heard people talking everywhere about a
marvellous palace.
"Forgive my ignorance," he asked, "what is this palace you speak of?"
"Have you not heard of Prince Aladdin's palace," was the reply, "the
greatest wonder of the world? I will direct you if you have a mind to
see it."
The magician thanked him who spoke, and having seen the palace knew that
it had been raised by the genie of the lamp, and became half mad with
rage. He determined to get hold of the lamp, and again plunge Aladdin
into the deepest poverty.
Unluckily, Aladdin had gone a-hunting for eight days, which gave the
magician plenty of time. He bought a dozen copper lamps, put them into a
basket, and went to the palace, crying: "New lamps for old!" followed by
a jeering crowd.
The princess, sitting in the hall of four-and-twenty windows, sent a
slave to find out what the noise was about, who came back laughing, so
that the princess scolded her.
"Madam," replied the slave, "who can help laughing to see an old fool
offering to exchange fine new lamps for old ones?"
Another slave, hearing this, said: "There is an old one on the cornice
there which he can have."
Now this was the magic lamp, which Aladdin had left there, as he could
not take it out hunting with him. The princess, not knowing its value,
laughingly bade the slave take it and make the exchange.