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 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 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-vizier 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 vizier: "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 vizier,
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 vizier, 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 vizier said: "What sayest thou?
Ought I not to bestow the princess on one who values her at such a
price?"
The vizier, 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 vizier's son is to have
the princess. My command is that tonight 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 vizier'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 vizier'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 vizier'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 vizier's son if it were not so. The Sultan told
the vizier 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 vizier's advice, who counseled 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-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.
The 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 vizier
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 traveled 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 marvelous 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.
The 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 vizier, and asked what had
become of the palace. The vizier 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 vizier, 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 forever 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 traveled 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, colored 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 humor. 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.