Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Source
The three months have not yet passed, but the princess is marrying the grand-vizier's son today! There is something wrong here.
And Aladdin will do something about it with the help of the genie.
Note that so far Aladdin has not asked for enormous wealth from the genie. Just the minimum so that he could marry princess Badrou'l-Boudour.
ON THE NINETEENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
Aladdin's said: "May Allah preserve the life of our glorious sultan, and keep the happiness that awaits you, O my son Aladdin! »
And Aladdin, on hearing what his mother had just announced to him, rejoiced with ease and contentment and exclaimed: "Glorified be Allah, O mother, who sends down His graces on our house and gives you a princess for a daughter, blood of the greatest kings! And he kissed his mother's hand and thanked her very much for all the pains she had taken in pursuing this delicate matter. And his mother kissed him tenderly and wished him all kinds of prosperity and wept thinking that her husband the tailor, father of Aladdin, was no longer there to see the fortune and the marvelous effects of the destiny of her son, the rascal of yesteryear!
And, from that day, they began to count, with extreme impatience, the hours which separated them from the happiness which they promised themselves, at the expiration of the three months. And they kept talking about their projects and the feasts and largesse they intended to give to the poor, thinking that only yesterday they themselves were in misery and that the most meritorious thing in the eyes of the Retributor was, without a doubt, generosity.
Two months passed like this. And Aladdin's mother, who went out every day to make the necessary pre-wedding purchases, had gone to the souk one morning and was beginning to go into the shops, doing a thousand purchases, large and small, when she got there. noticed something she hadn't noticed when she arrived. She saw that all the shops were decorated and adorned with foliage, lanterns, and multicolored streamers which went from one end of the street to the other end, and that all the shopkeepers, buyers, and people of the souk, rich and poor alike, were making great displays of joy, and that all the streets were crowded with palace officials, richly dressed in their ceremonial brocades and mounted on marvelously harnessed horses, and that everyone was coming and going. with unusual animation. So she hastened to ask the oil merchant, where she was stocking up, what festival unknown to her was celebrating all this rejoicing crowd, and what all these demonstrations meant. And the oil merchant, extremely formalized by such a question, looked at her askance and answered: “By Allah! you look like you're kidding! Or would you be a stranger to ignore the marriage of the grand-vizier's son to princess Badrou'l-Boudour, daughter of the sultan? And it is precisely the time when she will leave the hammam! And all these horsemen richly dressed in gold are the guards who will form his escort to the palace!"
When Aladdin's mother heard these words from the oil merchant, she did not want to learn more and, distraught and tearful, she began to run through the souks, forgetting her purchases from the merchants, and arrived at her house, where she entered, and threw herself, out of breath, on the divan, where she remained for a moment without being able to utter a word. And when she could speak, she said to Aladdin running up: “Ah! my child, destiny has turned the ominous page of its book towards you! and behold, all is lost, and the happiness towards which you were marching vanished before it was realized!" And Aladdin, much alarmed at the state in which he saw his mother and the words he heard, asked her: “What so ill-fated has happened, O my mother? Hurry up and tell me!" She said: “Alas! my son, the sultan has forgotten the promise he made to us! And he is marrying today, precisely, his daughter Badrou'l-Boudour to the son of the grand-vizier, that tarred face, that calamity that I feared so much! And the whole city is decorated, as in the great celebrations, for the wedding tonight!" And Aladdin, on hearing this news, felt the fever invade his brain and make his blood run wild. And he remained speechless and dazed for a moment as if he were going to fall and die instantly. But he soon mastered himself, remembering the marvelous lamp he had in his possession and which was going to be of great help to him more than ever. And he turned to his mother and said to her, in a very calm tone: "By your life, O my mother, I do believe that the son of the vizier will not enjoy this night all the delights he promises himself in my place! So have no fear on this subject and, without further ado, get up and prepare us to eat. And then we will see what remains to be done, with the assistance of the Most High!"
Aladdin's mother, therefore, got up and prepared the meal, which Aladdin ate with great appetite, and immediately afterward, he retired to his room, saying: "I wish to be alone and not be disturbed!" And he locked the door behind him and drew the magic lamp from where he had kept it hidden. And He took it and rubbed it in the spot he knew. And, at the same time, the genie slave of the lamp appeared before him and said: “I am in your hands, here, your slave is here! Speak, what do you want? I am the servant of the lamp, whether in the air I fly, or on the earth I crawl!" And Aladdin said to him: “Hear me well, O servant of the lamp! for it is no longer a question of bringing me something to eat and drink, but of helping me in a matter of quite another importance! Know, indeed, that the sultan promised me in marriage his marvelous daughter Badrou'l-Budour, after having received from me a present of fruit in jewels. And he asked me for three months for the wedding celebration. And now he's forgotten his promise and, without even thinking of sending me back my present, he's marrying his daughter to the grand-vizier's son! But things don't have to happen that way! And I ask you to serve me in the accomplishment of my project! And the genie answered: “Speak, O my master Aladdin! And you hardly need to give me so many explanations! Command and I will obey!" And Aladdin answered: "So tonight, as soon as the two newlyweds are lying in their nuptial bed, and before they have time to even touch each other, you will take them up with their bed and carry them here, where I'll see what I have to do!" And the genie of the lamp raised his hand to his forehead and answered: "I listen and I obey!", and he disappeared…
— At this point in her narration, Scheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
First Night - Second Night - Third Night - Fourth Night - Fifth Night - Sixth Night - Seventh Night
Eight Night - Ninth Night - Tenth Night - Eleventh Night - Twelfth Night - Thirtenth Night
Fourteenth Night - Fifteen Night - Sixteenth Night - Seventeenth Night - Eighteenth Night