Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights

by William Harvey

  Then the Sultan rose to inspect the jewelers’ work, and to see how it compared with the workmanship of the palace. He went up to the unfinished window, but was disappointed to find that there was a great difference, and that his workers lacked the art to match the perfection of the whole. The jewelers informed him that they had brought all the gems they could find in his treasury, and that they needed more. He ordered that the great imperial treasury be opened and that they should be given all they required; if that was not enough, they were to use the jewels that Aladdin had sent him. The jewelers did as the Sultan had directed, but found that all those gems were not sufficient to ornament one half of the lattice. The Sultan next commanded that all the precious stones that could be found in the houses of the viziers and rich notables should be taken. The jewelers took all of these and worked with them, but still they needed more.

  Next morning Aladdin went up to the jewelers and, finding that they had not finished even half the lattice, told them to undo their work and restore the gems to their owners. The jewelers did so, and went to inform the Sultan of Aladdin’s instructions.

  ‘What did he say to you?’ the Sultan asked.

  ‘Why did he not let you finish the window? Why did he destroy what you had done?’

  ‘We do not know, Your Majesty,’ was their reply.

  The Sultan called for his horse and rode at once to his son-in-law’s palace.

  Now, when Aladdin had dismissed the jewelers, he had entered his room and rubbed the lamp. The jinnee appeared before him, saying, ‘Ask what you will, your slave is at your service.’

  ‘I want you to complete the unfinished window,’ Aladdin commanded.

  ‘It shall be as you wish,’ the jinnee replied.

  He vanished, and after a short while returned.

  ‘Master,’ he said, ‘the task is accomplished.’

  Aladdin climbed up to the dome of the palace and saw that all its windows were now complete. While he was examining them his footman came in to inform him that the Sultan had come. Aladdin went down to receive him.

  ‘Why did you do that, my son?’ cried the Sultan as soon as he saw him. ‘Why did you not let the jewelers complete the lattice, so that there would remain nothing amiss in your palace?’

  ‘Great Sultan,’ Aladdin replied, ‘it was left unfinished at my request. I was not incapable of completing it myself; nor would I wish to receive Your Majesty in a palace where there was something missing. May it please Your Highness to come up and see if there is anything imperfect now.’

  The Sultan mounted the stairs and went into the dome of the palace. He looked right and left, and was astonished to see that all the latticework was now complete

  ‘What an extraordinary feat, my son!’ he exclaimed. ‘In a single night you have finished a task that would have occupied the jewelers for months. Why, there cannot be anyone like you in the whole world!’

  ‘Your Majesty,’ Aladdin replied, ‘your servant is unworthy of such praise.’

  ‘My son,’ the Sultan cried, ‘you deserve all praise, because you have done that which no jeweler on earth could ever do.’

  From that time on, Aladdin went out into the city every day, his slaves scattering gold before him as he rode. The hearts of all the people, old and young, were drawn to him on account of his good deeds, and his fame spread far and wide throughout the realm.

  It also happened at that time that certain enemies marched against the Sultan, who gathered his armies and appointed Aladdin commander in chief. Aladdin led the troops to the battlefield, unsheathed his sword, and with extraordinary courage attacked the opposing forces. A mighty battle took place, in which the raiders were defeated and put to flight. Aladdin plundered their goods and belongings and returned in glorious triumph to the capital, which had been gaily decked to receive him. The Sultan came out to meet him; he congratulated him on his victory and took him into his arms amid the rejoicings of the people. He ordered the entire kingdom to be decorated in honor of the occasion. The soldiers and all the people now looked only to God in heaven and to Aladdin on earth. They loved him more than ever on account of his generosity and patriotism, his horsemanship and heroic courage. So much for Aladdin.

  Now to return to the Moorish sorcerer. When he had left Aladdin to perish in the cave, he journeyed back to his own land and passed his days bemoaning the vain hardships he had endured to secure the lamp. It pained him to think how the long-sought morsel had flown out of his hand just when it had reached his mouth, and he cursed Aladdin in his rage.

  ‘I am very glad,’ he would sometimes say to himself, ‘that the little wretch has perished under the ground. The lamp is still safe in the treasure house, and I may get it yet.’

  One day he cast his magic sand to ascertain Aladdin’s death and the exact position of the lamp. He studied the resulting figures attentively, but he saw no lamp. Angrily he cast the sand a second time to confirm that the boy was dead, but he did not see him in the treasure house. His fury mounted when he learned that Aladdin was alive; he realized that he must have come up from the cave and gained possession of the lamp.

  ‘I have suffered many hardships, and endured pains such as no other man could bear, on account of the lamp,’ he thought to himself. ‘Now this worthless boy has taken it. It is all too clear that if he has discovered its magic power, he must now be the wealthiest man on earth. I must seek to destroy him.’

  He cast the sand once more and scanned the figures. He found that Aladdin was master of great riches, and that he was married to a princess. Mad with envy, he set out for China. After a long journey he reached the capital where Aladdin lived, and put up at a travelers’ inn. There he heard the people talk of nothing but the magnificence of Aladdin’s palace. When he had rested a little, he changed his clothes and went out for a walk in the streets of the city. Wherever he passed he heard tell of nothing but the beauty of Aladdin and his manly grace, his generosity and rare virtues. The magician went up to a man who was praising Aladdin in these terms and said, ‘Tell me, my good friend, who is this man of whom you speak so highly?’

  ‘Why, sir, you must be a stranger in these parts,’ came the reply. ‘But even if you are, have you never heard of Prince Aladdin? His palace is one of the wonders of the world. How is it that you have never heard of it?’

  ‘I would very much like to see the palace,’ said the magician. ‘Would you be so kind as to direct me to it? I am indeed a stranger in this city.’

  ‘Why, gladly,’ the man replied and, walking before the magician, brought him to Aladdin’s palace.

  The magician looked at the building and realized that it was the work of the enchanted lamp.

  ‘Ah,’ he thought to himself, ‘I must dig a pit for this vile tailor’s son who could never earn an evening’s meal before. If fate allows it, I will destroy him utterly, and send his mother back to her spinning wheel.’

  Eaten up with sorrow and envy, he returned to his lodging and took out his magic board. He cast the sand to find out where the lamp was hidden, and saw that it was in the palace and not on Aladdin’s person.

  ‘My task is easy now,’ he cried with joy. ‘I know a way of getting the lamp.’

  He went off to a coppersmith and said to him, ‘Make me a few copper lamps. I will pay you well if you finish them fast enough.’

  ‘I hear and obey,’ replied the coppersmith and set to work at once.

  When they were finished, the magician paid him without haggling, took the lamps, and returned to his lodging. There he put them in a basket, and went about the streets and markets, crying, ‘Who will exchange an old lamp for a new one?’

  When the people heard his cry, they laughed at him.

  ‘No doubt the man is mad,’ they said to each other. ‘Who would go around offering to change old lamps for new?’

  A great crowd followed him, and the street urchins ran after him from place to place, shouting and laughing. But the magician took no notice of them and proceeded on his way until he fo
und himself in front of Aladdin’s palace. Here he began to shout at the top of his voice, while the children chanted back, ‘Madman! Madman!’ At last the Princess, who happened to be in the hall of the latticed dome, heard the noise in the street and ordered one of the maids to go and find out what it was all about.

  The maid returned to the Princess and said, ‘Your Highness, outside the gate there is an old man crying, “Who will exchange an old lamp for a new one?” Little boys are laughing at him.’

  The Princess laughed, too, at this strange offer. Now, Aladdin had left the lamp in his room and forgotten to lock it up. One of the girls, who had chanced to see it there, said, ‘Mistress, there is an old lamp in my master Aladdin’s room. Let us take it down to the old man and see if he will really exchange it for a new one.’

  ‘Fetch it to me, then,’ said the Princess.

  Badr-al-Budur knew nothing of the lamp or its magic powers, nor was she aware that it was this lamp that had brought Aladdin such vast wealth. She merely wished to see what sort of madness drove the magician to change old things for new.

  The maid went up to Aladdin’s room and returned with the lamp to her mistress, who then ordered a servant to go and exchange it for a new one. The servant gave the lamp to the Moor, took a new one in return, and carried it to the Princess. Badr-al-Budur examined it and, finding that it really was new, laughed at the old man’s folly.

  When the magician recognized the lamp he quickly hid it in the breast of his robe and flung his basket with all its contents to the crowd. He ran on and on until he came outside the city and reached the empty plains. Then he waited for the night and, when all was darkness, took out the lamp and rubbed it. At once the jinnee appeared before him.

  ‘I am here, master,’ he said; ‘ask what you will.’

  ‘Slave of the lamp,’ the magician said, ‘I order you to lift up Aladdin’s palace with all its contents and to transport it, and me as well, to my own country in Africa. You know my native city; there you shall set it down, among the gardens.’

  ‘I hear and obey,’ the jinnee replied. ‘Shut your eyes and open them and you shall find yourself in your own land with the palace.’

  At once the thing was done. In a flash the magician and Aladdin’s palace, together with all that it contained, were carried off to Africa.

  So much for the Moorish magician.

  Now to return to the Sultan and Aladdin. When the Sultan got up next day he opened the window and looked out, as was his custom every day, in the direction of his daughter’s palace. But he saw nothing there, only a vast, bare space as in the former days. He was greatly astonished and perplexed; he rubbed his eyes, opened them wide, and looked again. But he saw not a trace or vestige of the palace, and could not understand how or why it had vanished. He wrung his hands in despair and tears began to roll over his beard, for he did not know what had become of his daughter. At once he summoned the vizier; and when the vizier came in and saw the Sultan overcome with grief, he cried, ‘Heaven preserve Your Majesty from all evil! Why do I see you so distressed?’

  ‘Is it possible that you do not know the reason?’ the Sultan asked.

  ‘By my honor, I know nothing,’ returned the vizier, ‘nothing at all.’

  ‘Then you have not looked in the direction of Aladdin’s palace?’ the Sultan cried.

  ‘No,’ the vizier answered.

  ‘Since you know nothing about the matter,’ groaned the Sultan, ‘pray have a good look from the window and see where Aladdin’s palace is.’

  The vizier crossed over to the window and looked out toward Aladdin’s palace. He saw nothing there, neither palace nor anything else. Confounded at the mystery, he returned to the Sultan.

  ‘Well,’ said the Sultan, ‘do you know now the reason for my grief?’

  ‘Great Sultan,’ the vizier answered, ‘I have told Your Majesty time and time again that the palace and the whole affair were magic from beginning to end.’

  ‘Where is Aladdin?’ cried the Sultan, blazing with rage.

  ‘Gone to the hunt,’ the vizier replied.

  The Sultan instantly ordered a troop of officers and guards to go and bring Aladdin before him, manacled and bound with chains. The officers and guards rode off on their mission, and before long met Aladdin.

  ‘Pardon us, master,’ they said. ‘We are commanded by the Sultan to take you to him in chains. We beg you to excuse us; we are acting under royal orders, which we cannot disobey.’

  Aladdin was dumbfounded at these words, for he could think of no possible reason.

  ‘Good friend,’ he said at last to the officers, ‘do you know why the Sultan gave these orders? I know I am innocent; I have committed no crime against the Sultan or his realm.’

  ‘Master,’ they replied, ‘we know nothing at all.’

  ‘Then you must carry out your orders,’ said Aladdin, dismounting. ‘Obedience to the Sultan is binding on all his loyal subjects.’

  The officers chained their captive and dragged him in fetters to the capital. When the citizens saw Aladdin treated in this way, they realized that he was going to be put to death. But since they all loved him, they crowded in the street and, arming themselves with clubs and weapons, pressed at his heels to find out what would happen to him.

  The troops took Aladdin to the palace and informed the Sultan, who thereupon commanded the executioner to strike off his head. When the citizens learned of this order they locked up the gates of the palace and sent a warning to the Sultan, saying, ‘This very hour we will pull down your dwelling over your head and the heads of all who are in it, if Aladdin comes to the slightest harm.’

  The vizier went in and delivered the warning to the Sultan.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘this order will be the end of us all. It would be far better to pardon Aladdin, or the consequences would be terrible indeed. Your subjects love Aladdin more than us.’

  Meanwhile the executioner made ready to do his work. He had just bandaged Aladdin’s eyes and walked around him three times, waiting for the final order, when the Sultan saw his subjects storming the palace and climbing over the walls to destroy it. At once he ordered the executioner to stay his hand, and bade the crier go out among the people and proclaim that the Sultan had spared Aladdin’s life.

  Freed from his fetters, Aladdin went up to the Sultan.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘since you have been graciously pleased to spare my life, I beg you to tell me what I have done to earn your displeasure.’

  ‘Traitor,’ the Sultan exclaimed, ‘do you dare pretend you know nothing of what has happened?’ Then, turning to the vizier, he said, ‘Take him, and let him see from the window where his palace is!’

  The vizier led Aladdin to a window, and he looked out toward his palace. He found the site desolate and empty, with not a trace of any building upon it. He returned, utterly bewildered, to the Sultan.

  ‘What did you see?’ the Sultan asked. ‘Where is your palace? And where is my daughter, my only child?’

  ‘Great Sultan,’ Aladdin answered, ‘I know nothing of all this, nor do I know what has happened.’

  ‘Listen, Aladdin,’ the Sultan cried. ‘I have released you only that you may go and investigate this mystery and seek out my daughter for me. Do not return without her. If you fail to bring her back, I swear by my life that I will cut off your head.’

  ‘I hear and obey, Your Majesty,’ Aladdin replied. ‘Only grant me a delay of forty days. If I do not bring her to you by that time, cut off my head and do with me what you will.’

  ‘Very well,’ the Sultan said. ‘I grant you the delay. But do not think you can escape my reach; for I will bring you back even if you are above the clouds.’

  The people were glad to see Aladdin free. He came out of the palace pleased at his escape; but the disgrace of what had happened, and the triumphant glee of his enemies, caused him to hang his head. For two days he wandered sadly about the town, not knowing what he should do, while certain friends secr
etly brought him food and drink. Then he struck aimlessly into the desert and journeyed on until he came to a river. Thirsty and worn out, he knelt down upon the bank to wash and refresh himself. He took up the water in the hollow of his hands and began to rub between his fingers; and in so doing he rubbed the ring that the magician had given him. Thereupon a jinnee appeared, saying, ‘I am here. Your slave stands before you. Ask what you will.’

  Aladdin rejoiced at the sight of the jinnee.

  ‘Slave of the ring,’ he cried, ‘bring me back my wife and my palace with all its contents.’

  ‘Master,’ the jinnee replied, ‘that is beyond my power, for it concerns only the slave of the lamp.’

  ‘Very well,’ Aladdin said. ‘Since you cannot do this, take me away and set me down beside my palace, wherever it may be.’

  ‘I hear and obey, master.’

  So saying, the jinnee carried him up, and in the twinkling of an eye set him down beside his palace in Morocco, in front of his wife’s room. Night had fallen; and as he looked at his palace his cares and sorrows left him. He prayed, after he had given up all hope, to be united with his wife again. As he had had no sleep for four days on account of his anxiety and grief, he stretched himself out by the palace and slept under a tree; for, as I have told you, the palace stood among the gardens of Africa, outside a town.

  Thus, despite the anxious thoughts that troubled him, he slept soundly under the tree until daybreak, when he awoke to the singing of birds. He got up and walked down to a nearby river that flowed into the town, washed his hands and face, and said his prayers. Then he returned and sat down under the window of the Princess’ room.