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 for
ever, 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 her-self,
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 were 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 honour. At night the princess said good-bye 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 jewelers 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 honour 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.
She went and said to the
magician: "Give me a new lamp for this."
He snatched it and bade the slave
take her choice, amid the jeers of the crowd. Little he cared, but
left off crying his lamps, and went out of the city gates to a lonely
place, where he remained till nightfall, when he pulled out the lamp
and rubbed it. The genie appeared, and at the magician's command
carried him, together with the palace and the princess in it, to a
lonely place in Africa.
Next morning the Sultan looked
out of the window towards Aladdin's palace and rubbed his eyes, for it
was gone. He sent for the vizir, and asked what had become of the
palace. The vizir looked out too, and was lost in astonishment. He
again put it down to enchantment, and this time the Sultan believed
him, and sent thirty men on horseback to fetch Aladdin in chains. They
met him riding home, bound him, and forced him to go with them on
foot. The people, however, who loved him, followed, armed, to see that
he came to no harm. He was carried before the Sultan, who ordered the
executioner to cut off his head. The executioner made Aladdin kneel
down, bandaged his eyes, and raised his scimitar to strike.
At that instant the vizir, who
saw that the crowd had forced their way into the courtyard and were
scaling the walls to rescue Aladdin, called to the executioner to stay
his hand. The people, indeed, looked so threatening that the Sultan
gave way and ordered Aladdin to be unbound, and pardoned him in the
sight of the crowd.
Aladdin now begged to know what
he had done.
"False wretch!" said
the Sultan, "come hither," and showed him from the window
the place where his palace had stood.
Aladdin was so amazed that he
could not say a word.
"Where is my palace and my
daughter?" demanded the Sultan. "For the first I am not so
deeply concerned, but my daughter I must have, and you must find her
or lose your head."
Aladdin begged for forty days in
which to find her, promising if he failed to return and suffer death
at the Sultan's pleasure. His prayer was granted, and he went forth
sadly from the Sultan's presence. For three days he wandered about
like a madman, asking everyone what had become of his palace, but they
only laughed and pitied him. He came to the banks of a river, and
knelt down to say his prayers before throwing himself in. In so doing
he rubbed the magic ring he still wore.
The genie he had seen in the cave
appeared, and asked his will.
"Save my life, genie,"
said Aladdin, "and bring my palace back."
"That is not in my
power," said the genie; "I am only the slave of the ring;
you must ask the slave of the lamp."
"Even so," said Aladdin
"but thou canst take me to the palace, and set me down under my
dear wife's window." He at once found himself in Africa, under
the window of the princess, and fell asleep out of sheer weariness.
He was awakened by the singing of
the birds, and his heart was lighter. He saw plainly that all his
misfortunes were owing to the loss of the lamp, and vainly wondered
who had robbed him of it.
That morning the princess rose
earlier than she had done since she had been carried into Africa by
the magician, whose company she was forced to endure once a day. She,
however, treated him so harshly that he dared not live there
altogether. As she was dressing, one of her women looked out and saw
Aladdin. The princess ran and opened the window, and at the noise she
made Aladdin looked up. She called to him to come to her, and great
was the joy of these lovers at seeing each other again.
After he had kissed her Aladdin
said: "I beg of you, Princess, in God's name, before we speak of
anything else, for your own sake and mine, tell me what has become of
an old lamp I left on the cornice in the hall of four-and-twenty
windows, when I went a-hunting."
"Alas!" she said
"I am the innocent cause of our sorrows," and told him of
the exchange of the lamp.
"Now I know," cried
Aladdin, "that we have to thank the African magician for this!
Where is the lamp?"
"He carries it about with
him," said the princess, "I know, for he pulled it out of
his breast to show me. He wishes me to break my faith with you and
marry him, saying that you were beheaded by my father's command. He is
for ever speaking ill of you, but I only reply by my tears. If I
persist, I doubt not that he will use violence."
Aladdin comforted her, and left
her for a while. He changed clothes with the first person he met in
the town, and having bought a certain powder returned to the princess,
who let him in by a little side door.
"Put on your most beautiful
dress," he said to her, "and receive the magician with
smiles, leading him to believe that you have forgotten me. Invite him
to sup with you, and say you wish to taste the wine of his country. He
will go for some, and while he is gone I will tell you what to
do."
She listened carefully to
Aladdin, and when he left her arrayed herself gaily for the first time
since she left China. She put on a girdle and head-dress of diamonds,
and seeing in a glass that she looked more beautiful than ever,
received the magician, saying to his great amazement: "I have
made up my mind that Aladdin is dead, and that all my tears will not
bring him back to me, so I am resolved to mourn no more, and have
therefore invited you to sup with me; but I am tired of the wines of
China, and would fain taste those of Africa."
The magician flew to his cellar,
and the princess put the powder Aladdin had given her in her cup. When
he returned she asked him to drink her health in the wine of Africa,
handing him her cup in exchange for his as a sign she was reconciled
to him.
Before drinking the magician made
her a speech in praise of her beauty, but the princess cut him short
saying:
"Let me drink first, and you
shall say what you will afterwards." She set her cup to her lips
and kept it there, while the magician drained his to the dregs and
fell back lifeless.
The princess then opened the door
to Aladdin, and flung her arms round his neck, but Aladdin put her
away, bidding her to leave him, as he had more to do. He then went to
the dead magician, took the lamp out of his vest, and bade the genie
carry the palace and all in it back to China. This was done, and the
princess in her chamber only felt two little shocks, and little
thought she was at home again.
The Sultan, who was sitting in
his closet, mourning for his lost daughter, happened to look up, and
rubbed his eyes, for there stood the palace as before! He hastened
thither, and Aladdin received him in the hall of the four-and-twenty
windows, with the princess at his side. Aladdin told him what had
happened, and showed him the dead body of the magician, that he might
believe. A ten days' feast was proclaimed, and it seemed as if Aladdin
might now live the rest of his life in peace; but it was not to be.
The African magician had a
younger brother, who was, if possible, more wicked and more cunning
than himself. He travelled to China to avenge his brother's death, and
went to visit a pious woman called Fatima, thinking she might be of
use to him. He entered her cell and clapped a dagger to her breast,
telling her to rise and do his bidding on pain of death. He changed
clothes with her, coloured his face like hers, put on her veil and
murdered her, that she might tell no tales. Then he went towards the
palace of Aladdin, and all the people thinking he was the holy woman,
gathered round him, kissing his hands and begging his blessing. When
he got to the palace there was such a noise going on round him that
the princess bade her slave look out of the window and ask what was
the matter. The slave said it was the holy woman, curing people by her
touch of their ailments, whereupon the princess, who had long desired
to see Fatima, sent for her. On coming to the princess the magician
offered up a prayer for her health and prosperity. When he had done
the princess made him sit by her, and begged him to stay with her
always. The false Fatima, who wished for nothing better, consented,
but kept his veil down for fear of discovery. The princess showed him
the hall, and asked him what he thought of it.
"It is truly
beautiful," said the false Fatima. "In my mind it wants but
one thing."
"And what is that?"
said the princess.
"If only a roc's egg,"
replied he, "were hung up from the middle of this dome, it would
be the wonder of the world."
After this the princess could
think of nothing but a roc's egg, and when Aladdin returned from
hunting he found her in a very ill humour. He begged to know what was
amiss, and she told him that all her pleasure in the hall was spoilt
for the want of a roc's egg hanging from the dome.
"It that is all,"
replied Aladdin, "you shall soon be happy."
He left her and rubbed the lamp,
and when the genie appeared commanded him to bring a roc's egg. The
genie gave such a loud and terrible shriek that the hall shook.
"Wretch!" he cried,
"is it not enough that I have done everything for you, but you
must command me to bring my master and hang him up in the midst of
this dome? You and your wife and your palace deserve to be burnt to
ashes; but this request does not come from you, but from the brother
of the African magician whom you destroyed. He is now in your palace
disguised as the holy woman--whom he murdered. He it was who put that
wish into your wife's head. Take care of yourself, for he means to
kill you." So saying the genie disappeared.
Aladdin went back to the
princess, saying his head ached, and requesting that the holy Fatima
should be fetched to lay her hands on it. But when the magician came
near, Aladdin, seizing his dagger, pierced him to the heart.
"What have you done?"
cried the princess. "You have killed the holy woman!"
"Not so," replied
Aladdin, "but a wicked magician," and told her of how she
had been deceived.
After this Aladdin and his wife
lived in peace. He succeeded the Sultan when he died, and reigned for
many years, leaving behind him a long line of kings.
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