Arabian Nights Story
The Arabian Nights
The Story of Aladdin
and the Wonderful Lamp
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.
Komentar
Posting Komentar