Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Now that Aladdin is stuck in the vault, he thinks he will die there. And now, but only now, he thinks of his poor mother who has suffered from his bad behavior, and he regrets it.
But, of course, that cannot be the end of the story and Aladdin may be saved by a device he did not know the power of.
ON THE NINTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
And the Maghrebi was truly born in Africa, which is the country and the stock of magicians and sorcerers of the worst quality. And from his youth, he had applied himself stubbornly to the study of sorcery and spells, and the art of geomancy, alchemy, astrology, fumigations, and enchantments. And, after thirty years of magical operations, he had managed, by the force of his sorcery, to discover that there was, in an unknown place on earth, an extraordinarily magical lamp whose virtue was to make the man lucky enough to become its possessor more powerful than all the kings and sultans. So he had redoubled his fumigations and witchcraft and, by a last geomantic operation, he had succeeded in discovering that the lamp in question was in an underground passage located near the town of Kolo-ka-tsé, in the country of China. (And this place was precisely the one we have just seen with all its details.) And the magician, without delay, had set out and, after a long journey, had come to Kolo-ka-tsé, where he immediately set to explore the surroundings and had ended up delimiting exactly the location of the underground with what it contained. And, by his divinatory table, he had learned that the treasure and the magic lamp were written, by the underground powers, in the name of Aladdin, son of Mustapha, the tailor, and that he alone could succeed in opening the underground and removing the lamp, while everyone else would infallibly lose his life if he attempted the slightest undertaking in that direction! And that is why he had set out in search of Aladdin and had used, once he had found him, all the detours and expedients to attract him to him and lead him to this deserted place, without arousing his suspicions or those of his mother. And, once Aladdin had succeeded in the enterprise, he had only so hastily claimed the lamp from him because he wanted to steal it from him and wall him in the underground forever. But we have seen how Aladdin, for fear of receiving a second blow, had fled inside the vault where the magician could not enter, and how the magician, in revenge, had locked him up there all the same. inside, so that he would die of hunger and thirst!
Now, this act accomplished, the magician, foaming and convulsed, went on his way, probably towards his country in Africa. And that's it for him for now! But we will certainly see him again.
As for Aladdin, here is what happened!
As soon as he entered the underground, he heard the earthquake caused by the magic of the Maghrebian, and, terrified, he was afraid that the vault would collapse on his head, and he hastened to regain the entrance. . But, on reaching the stairs, he saw that the heavy slab of marble blocked the opening; and he was at the extreme limit of emotion and shock. Because, on the one hand, he could not understand the wickedness of the man he believed to be his uncle and who had caressed and cajoled him so much, and, on the other hand, he could not think of lifting the plate marble, since he couldn't reach it from below. Under these conditions, the desperate Aladdin began to utter loud cries, calling his uncle and promising him, by all sorts of oaths, that he was ready to give him the lamp at once. But his cries and his sobs were hardly heard by the magician, who was already far away. And Aladdin, seeing that his uncle did not answer him, began to have some doubts about him, especially when he remembered that he had called him the son of a dog, a very serious insult that a real uncle would never have addressed to his brother's son. Be that as it may, he then resolved to go into the garden, where there was light, and seek a way out to save himself from those places of darkness. But, on arriving at the door which opened onto the garden, he found that it was closed and that it no longer opened in front of him. Then, terrified, he ran again to the door of the vault and threw himself, crying, on the steps of the staircase. And he already saw himself buried alive between the four walls of this vault full of darkness and horror despite all the gold it contained. And he sobbed for a long time, lost in his pain. And, for the first time in his life, he began to think of all his poor mother's kindness and her untiring devotion, despite his bad behavior and his ingratitude. And death in this vault seemed to him much more bitter because he had not been able, during his life, to refresh his mother's heart by any improvement in his character and by some feelings of gratitude. And he sighed deeply at the thought, and began to wring his arms and rub his hands, as the desperate usually do, saying, in way of renouncing life: "There is no recourse and power except in Allah!" Now, in this movement, Aladdin, unwittingly, rubbed the ring he had on his thumb, which the magician had lent him to protect him against the dangers of the underground. And he didn't know, this cursed sorcerer, that this ring was precisely to save Aladdin's life, otherwise he certainly wouldn't have entrusted it to him, or would have hastened to snatch it from him, or even he would have closed the underground passage only after having made him return it. But magicians are all, by their very essence, similar to this Maghrebi, their brother: despite the power of their sorcery and their accursed science, they do not know how to foresee the consequences of the simplest actions, and never think of guard against the dangers that distinguish common men. For in their pride and self-confidence, they never have recourse to the Master of creatures, and their minds remain constantly clouded with smoke thicker than that of their fumigations, and their eyes are veiled with a blindfold, and they grope in the darkness!
So, when the desperate Aladdin had unwittingly rubbed the ring he had on his thumb, the virtue of which he was unaware...
— 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