The Story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp - Part I

In the capital of one of the large and rich provinces of the
kingdom of China there lived a tailor, named Mustapha,
who was so poor that he could hardly, by his daily labour,
maintain himself and his family, which consisted of a wife and
son.

His son, who was called Aladdin, had been brought up in a
very careless and idle manner, and by that means had contracted
many vicious habits. He was obstinate, and disobedient to his
father and mother, who, when he grew up, could not keep him
within doors. He was in the habit of going out early in the
morning, and would stay out all day, playing in the streets with
idle children of his own age.

When he was old enough to learn a trade, his father, not
being able to put him out to any other, took him into his own
shop, and taught him how to use his needle: but neither fair
words nor the fear of chastisement were capable of fixing his
lively genius. All his father's endeavours to keep him to his work
were in vain; for no sooner was his back turned, than he was
gone for that day. Mustapha chastised him, but Aladdin was
incorrigible, and his father, to his great grief, was forced to
abandon him to his idleness: and was so much troubled at not
being able to reclaim him, that it threw him into a fit of sickness,
of which he died in a few months.

The mother, finding that her son would not follow his father's
business, shut up the shop, sold off the implements of trade, and
with the money she received for them, and what she could get by
spinning cotton, thought to maintain herself and her son.

Aladdin, who was now no longer restrained by the fear of a
father, and who cared so little for his mother that whenever she
chid him he would abuse her, gave himself entirely over to his
idle habits, and was never out of the streets from his companions.
This course he followed till he was fifteen years old, without giving
his mind to any useful pursuit, or the least reflection on what
would become of him. In this situation, as he was one day
playing with his vagabond associates, a stranger passing by stood
to observe him.

This stranger was a sorcerer, called the African magician;
as he was a native of Africa, and had been but two days arrived
from thence.

The African magician, who was a good physiognomist,
observing in Aladdin's countenance something absolutely neces-
sary for the execution of the design he was engaged in, inquired
artfully about his family, who he was, and what were his inclina-
tions; and when he had learned all he desired to know, went up
to him, and taking him aside from his comrades, said: "Child,
was not your father' called Mustapha, the tailor.^" "Yes, sir,"
answered the boy; "but he has been dead a long time."

At these words, the African magician threw his arms about
Aladdin's neck, and kissed him several times with tears in his
eyes. Aladdin, who observed his tears, asked him what made
him weep. "Alas! my son," cried the African magician with
a sigh, "how can I forbear.^ I am your uncle; your worthy
father was my own brother. I have been many years abroad,
and now I am come home with the hopes of seeing him, you tell
me he is dead. But it is some relief to my affliction, that I
knew you at first sight, you are so like him." Then he asked
Aladdin, putting his hand into his purse, where his mother lived,
and as soon as he had informed him, gave him a handful of small
money, saying: "Go, my son, to your mother, give my love to
her, and tell her that I will visit her to-morrow, that I may have
the satisfaction of seeing where my good brother lived so long."

As soon as the African magician left his newly-adopted nephew,
Aladdin ran to his mother, overjoyed at the money his uncle had
given him. "Mother," said he, "have I an uncle .^" "No,
child," replied his mother, "you have no uncle by your father's
side, or mine." "I am just now come," said Aladdin, "from
a man who says he is my uncle on my father's side. He cried
and kissed me when I told him my father was dead ; and to show
you that what I tell you is truth," added he, pulling out the
money, "see what he has given me; he charged me to give his
love to you, and to tell you that to-morrow he will come and pay
you a visit, that he may see the house my father lived and died
in." "Indeed, child," replied the mother, "your father had a
brother, but he has been dead a long time, and I never heard of
another."

The mother and son talked no more then of the African
magician; but the next day Aladdin's uncle found him playing
in another part of the town with other youths, and embracing
him as before, put two pieces of gold into his hand, and said to
him: "Carry this, child, to your mother, tell her that I will come
and see her to-night, and bid her get us something for supper;
but first show me the house where you live."

After Aladdin had showed the African magician the house,
he carried the two pieces of gold to his mother, and when he had
told her of his uncle's intention, she went out and bought pro-
visions. She spent the whole day in preparing the supper ; and
at night, when it was ready, said to her son: "Perhaps your uncle
knows not how to find our house ; go and bring him if you meet
with him."

Though Aladdin had showed the magician the house, he was
ready to go, when somebody knocked at the door, which he im-
mediately opened; and the magician came in loaded with wine,
and all sorts of fruits, which he brought for a dessert.

After the African magician had given what he brought into
Aladdin's hands, he saluted his mother, and desired her to shew
him the place where his brother Mustapha used to sit on the sofa ;
and when she had so done, he fell down and kissed it several times,
crying out with tears in his eyes: "My poor brother! how un-
happy am I, not to have come soon enough to give you one last
embrace." Aladdin's mother desired him to sit down in the
same place, but he declined. "No," said he, "but give me leave
to sit opposite, that although I am deprived of the satisfaction of
seeing one so dear to me, I may at least have the pleasure of
beholding the place where he used to sit."

When the magician had sat down, he began to enter into dis-
course with Aladdin's mother: "My good sister," said he, "do
not be surprised at your never having seen me all the time you
were married to my brother Mustapha. I have been forty years
absent from this country, which is my native place, as well as my
late brother's; and during that time have travelled into the Indies,
Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt ; have resided in the finest towns
of those countries ; and afterward crossed over into Africa, where
I made a longer stay. At last, as it is natural for a man to re-
member his native country, I was desirous to see mine again,
and to embrace my dear brother; and finding I had strength
enough to undertake so long a journey, I immediately made the
necessary preparations, and set out. I will not tell you the length
of time it took me, all the obstacles I met with, and what fatigues
I have endured to come hither; but nothing ever afflicted me so
much, as hearing of my brother's death. I observed his features
in the face of my nephew, your son, and distinguished him among
a number of lads w ith whom he was at play ; he can tell you how
I received the most melancholy news that ever reached my ears.
But God be praised for all things ! it is a comfort for me to find, as it
were, my brother in a son, who has his most remarkable features."

The African magician, perceiving that the widow began to
weep at the remembrance of her husband, changed the conversa-
tion, and turning toward her son, asked him his name. *'I am
called Aladdin," said he. " Well, Aladdin," replied the magician,
*' what business do you follow ? Are you of any trade .^"

At this question the youth hung down his head, and was not
a little abashed when his mother answered: "Aladdin is an idle
fellow; his father, when alive, strove all he could to teach him
his trade, but could not succeed; and since his death he does
nothing but idle away his time in the slreets, as you saw him,
without considering he is no longer a child; and if you do not
make him ashamed of it, I despair of his ever coming to any
good. He knows that his father left him no fortune, and sees
me endeavour to get bread by spinning cotton; for my part, I
am resolved one of these days to turn him out of doors, and let
him provide for himself."

After these words, Aladdin's mother burst into tears ; and the
magician said: **This is not well, nephew; you must think of
getting your livelihood. There are many sorts of trades, consider
if you have not an inclination to some of them ; perhaps you did
not like your father's and would prefer another; come, do not
disguise your sentiments from me; I will endeavour to help you.'*

But finding that Aladdin returned no answer, "If you have no
mind," continued he, "to learn any handicraft, I will take a
shop for you, furnish it with all sorts of fine stuffs and liiiens;
and with the money you make of them lay in fresh goods, and
then you will live in an honourable way. Consult your inclina-
tion, and tell me freely what you think of my proposal."

This plan greatly flattered Aladdin, who hated work but had
sense enough to know that such shops were much frequented
and the owners respected. He told the magician he had a greater
inclination to that business than to any other, and that he should
be much obliged to him for his kindness. "Since this profession
is agreeable to you," said the African magician, "I will carry you
with me to-morrow, clothe you as handsomely as the best mer-
chants in the city, and afterward we will think of opening a
shop as I mentioned."

The widow, who never till then could believe that the magician
was her husband's brother, no longer doubted after his promises
of kindness to her son. She thanked him for his good intentions;
and after having exhort'ed Aladdin to render himself worthy of
his uncle's favour by good behaviour, served up supper, at which
they talked of several indifferent matters; and then the magician,
who saw that the night was pretty far advanced, took his leave,
and retired.

He came again the next day, as he had promised, and took
Aladdin with him to a merchant, who sold all sorts of clothes
for different ages and ranks ready made, and a variety of fine
stuffs. He asked to see some that suited Aladdin in size; and
Aladdin, charmed with the liberality of his new uncle, made
choice of one, and the magician immediately paid for it.

When the boy found himself so handsomely equipped, he
returned his uncle thanks; who promised never to forsake him,
but always to take him along with him ; which he did to the most
frequented places in the city, and particularly where the principal
merchants kept their shops. When he brought him into the street
where they sold the richest stuffs and finest linens, he said to
Aladdin: "As you are soon to be a merchant, it is proper you
should frequent these shops, and be acquainted with them."
He then showed him the largest and finest mosques, carried him
to the khans or inns where the merchants and travellers lodged,
and afterward to the sultan's palace, where he had free access;
and at last brought him to his own khan,where, meeting with some
merchants he had become acquainted with since his arrival, he
gave them a treat, to bring them and his pretended nephew
acquainted.

This entertainment lasted till night, when Aladdin would
have taken leave of his uncle to go home, but the magician would
not let him go by himself, but conducted him to his mother, who,
as soon as she saw him so well dressed, was transported with
joy, and bestowed a thousand blessings upon the magician, for
being at so great an expense for her child. " Generous relation ! "
said she, "I know not how to thank you for your liberality! I
wish you may live long enough to witness my son's gratitude,
which he cannot better shew than by regulating his conduct by
your good advice."

' Aladdin," replied the magician, "is a good boy, and I
believe we shall do very well ; but I am sorry for one thing, which
is, that I cannot perform to-morrow what I promised, because,
as it is Friday, the shops will be shut up, and therefore we cannot
hire or furnish one till Saturday. I will, however, call on him
to-morrow and take him to walk in the gardens, where people
of the best fashion generally resort. Perhaps he has never seen
these amusements, he has only hitherto been among children;
but now he must see men." The African magician then took his
leave of the mother and the son, and retired.

Aladdin rose early the next morning, dressed himself to be
ready, and after he had waited some time began to be impatient
and stood watching at the door ; but as soon as he perceived his
uncle coming, he told his mother, took his leave of her, and ran to
meet him.

The magician caressed Aladdin, and said: "Come, my dear
child, and I will shew you fine things." He then led him out at
one of the gates of the city, to some magnificent palaces, to each
of which belonged beautiful gardens, into which anybody might
enter. At every building he came to, he asked Aladdin if he did
not think it fine; and the youth was ready to answer when any
one presented itself, crying out: "Here is a finer house, uncle, than
any we have seen yet." By this artifice, the cunning magician
led Aladdin some way into the country; and as he meant to
carry him farther, pretending to be tired, he took an opportunity
to sit down in one of the gardens on the brink of a fountain of
clear water, which discharged itself by a lion's mouth of bronze
into a basin: "Come, nephew," said he, "you must be weary as
well as I; let us rest ourselves, and we shall be better able to
pursue our walk."

After they had sat down, the magician pulled from his girdle
a handkerchief with cakes and fruit, which he had provided, and
laid them on the edge of the basin. He broke a cake in two,
gave one half to Aladdin and ate the other himself; and in regard
to the fruit, left him at liberty to take which sort he liked best.
During this short repast, he exhorted his nephew to leave off
keeping company with vagabonds, and seek that of wise and
prudent men, to improve by their conversation; "For," said he,
"you will soon be at man's estate, and you cannot too early
begin to imitate their example." When they had eaten as much
as they Hked, they pursued their walk through gardens separated
from one another only by small ditches, which marked out the
limits without interrupting the communication ; so great was the
confidence the inhabitants reposed in each other. By this means,
the African magician drew Aladdin insensibly beyond the gardens,
and crossed the country, till they nearly reached the mountains.

Aladdin, who had never been so far before, began to find
himself much tired, and said to the magician: *' Where are we
going, uncle ? We have left the gardens a great way behind us,
and I see nothing but mountains ; if we go much farther, I do not
know whether I shall be able to reach the town again!" "Never
fear, nephew," said the false uncle; '*I will shew you another
garden which surpasses all we have yet seen ; and when we come
there, you will say that you would have been sorry to have been
so nigh, and not seen it." Aladdin was soon persuaded; and the
magician, to make the way seem shorter and less fatiguing, told
him a great many stories.

At last they arrived between two mountains of moderate
height, and equal size, divided by a narrow valley, which was the
place where the magician intended to execute the design that had
brought him from Africa to China. *' We will go no farther now,"
said he to Aladdin: '*I will shew you here some extraordinary
things, which, when you have seen, you will thank me for: but
while I strike a light, gather up all the loose dry sticks you can
see, to kindle a fire with."

Aladdin collected a great heap and the magician presently
set them on fire, and when they were in a blaze, threw in some
incense which raised a cloud of smoke. This he dispersed on
each side, by pronouncing several magical words which the lad
did not understand.

At the same time the earth, trembHng, opened just before the
magician, and uncovered a stone, laid horizontally, with a brass
ring fixed into the middle. Aladdin was so frightened at what
he saw, that he would have run away; but the magician caught
hold of him, abused him, and gave him such a box on the ear that
he knocked him down. Aladdin got up trembling, and with tears
in his eyes, said to the magician: *' What have I done, uncle, to be
treated in this severe manner ?" "I have my reasons," answered
the magician; "I am your uncle, I supply the place of your father,
and you ought to make no reply. But, child," added he, soften-
ing, "do not be afraid; for I shall not ask anything of you, but
that you obey me punctually, if you would reap the advantages
which I intend you." These fair promises calmed Aladdin's
fears and resentment; and when the magician saw that he was
appeased, he said to him: "You see what I have done by virtue
of my incense, and the words I pronounced. Know then, that
under this stone there is hidden a treasure, destined to be yours,
and which will make you richer than the greatest monarch in the
world: no person but yourself is permitted to lift this stone, or
enter the cave; so you must punctually execute what I may
command, for it is a matter of great consequence both to you
and me."

Aladdin, amazed at all he saw and heard the magician say of
the treasure which was to make him happy forevermore, forgot
what was past, and rising, said: "Well, uncle, w^hat is to be done ?
Command me, I am ready to obey." "I am overjoyed, child,"
said the African magician, embracing him; "take hold of the
ring, and lift up that stone." "Indeed, uncle," replied Aladdin,
"I am not strong enough; you must help me." "You have no
occasion for my assistance," answered the magician; "if I help
you, we shall be able to do nothing; take hold of the ring,

At the same time the earth, tremhling, opened just before the
magician, and uncovered a stone, laid horizontally, with
a brass ring fixed into the middle.

pronounce the names of your father and grandfather, then lift
it up, and you will find it will come easily." Aladdin did as the
magician bade him, raised the stone with ease, and laid it on one
side.

When the stone was pulled up, there appeared a cavity of
about three or four feet deep, with a little door, and steps to go
down lower. ''Observe, my son," said the African magician,
"what I direct. Descend into the cave, and when you are at the
bottom of those steps you will find a door which will lead you into
a spacious vault, divided into three great halls, in each of which
you will see four large brass cisterns placed on each side, full of
gold and silver; but take care you do not meddle with them.
Before you enter the first hall, be sure to tuck up your vest, wrap
it about you, and then pass through the second into the third
without stopping. Above all, have a care that you do not touch
the walls ; for if you do, you will die instantly. At the end of the
third hall, you will find a door which opens into a garden planted
with fine trees loaded with fruit; walk directly across the garden
by a path which will lead you to five steps that will bring you upon
a terrace, where you will see a niche before you, and in that niche
a lighted lamp. Take the lamp down, and extinguish it: when
you have thrown away the wick, and poured out the liquor, put
it in your vestband and bring it to me. Do not be afraid that the
liquor will spoil your clothes, for it is not oil; and the lamp will
be dry as soon as it is thrown out. If you should wish for any
of the fruit of the garden, you may gather as much as you please."

After these words, the magician drew a ring off his finger,
and put it on one of Aladdin's, telling him that it was a preserva-
tive against all evil, while he should observe what he had pre-
scribed to him. After this instruction he said: "Go down boldly,
child, and we shall both be rich all our lives."

Aladdin jumped into the cave, descended the steps, and found
the three halls just as the African magician had described. He
went through them with all the precaution the fear of death could
inspire; crossed the garden without stopping, took down the
lamp from the niche, threw out the wick and the liquor, and, as
the magician had desired, put it in his vestband. But as he came
down from the terrace, he stopped in the garden to observe the
fruit, which he only had a glimpse of in crossing it. All the trees
were loaded with extraordinary fruit, of different colours on each
tree. Some bore fruit entirely white, and some clear and trans-
parent as crystal ; some pale red, and others deeper; some green,
blue, and purple, and others yellow : in short, there was fruit of
all colours. The white were pearls; the clear and transparent,
diamonds; the deep red, rubies; the green, emeralds; the blue,
turquoises ; the purple, amethysts ; and those that were of yellow
cast, sapphires. Aladdin was altogether ignorant of their worth,
and would have preferred figs and grapes, or any other fruits.
But though he took them only for coloured glass of little value,
yet he was so pleased with the variety of the colours, and the
beauty and extraordinary size of the seeming fruit, that he re-
solved to gather some of every sort ; and accordingly filled the two
new purses his uncle had bought for him with his clothes. Some
he wrapped up in the skirts of his vest, which was of silk, large
and full, and he crammed his bosom as full as it could hold.

Aladdin, having thus loaded himself with riches, returned
through the three halls with the same precaution, made all the
haste he could, that he might not make his uncle wait, and soon
arrived at the mouth of the cave, where the African magician
expected him with the utmost impatience. As soon as Aladdin
saw him, he cried out: "Pray, uncle, lend me your hand, to help
me out." "Give me the lamp first/* replied the magician; **it
will be troublesome to you." "Indeed, uncle," answered
Aladdin, "I cannot now; it is not troublesome to me: but I will
as soon as I am up." The African magician was so obstinate,
that he would have the lamp before he would help him up; and
Aladdin, who had encumbered himself so much with his fruit
that he could not well get at it, refused to give it to him till he was
out of the cave. The African magician, provoked at this obstinate
refusal, flew into a passion, threw a little of his incense into the
fire, which he had taken care to keep in, and no sooner pronounced
two magical words, than the stone which had closed the mouth
of the cave moved into its place, with the earth over it in the same
manner as it lay at the arrival of the magician and Aladdin.

This action of the African magician's plainly shewed him to
be neither Aladdin's uncle, nor Mustapha the tailor's brother;
but a true African. Africa is a country whose inhabitants delight
most in magic of any in the whole world, and he had applied
himself to it from his youth. After forty years' experience in
enchantments and reading of magic books, he had found out that
there was in the world a wonderful lamp, the possession of which
would render him more powerful than any monarch; and by
a late operation of geomancy, he had discovered that this lamp
lay concealed in a subterranean place in the midst of China.
Fully persuaded of the truth of this discovery, he set out from
the farthest part of Africa; and after a long and fatiguing journey
came to the town nearest to this treasure. But though he had a
certain knowledge of the place where the lamp was, he was not
permitted to take it himself, nor to enter the subterranean place,
but must receive it from the hands of another person. For this
reason he had addressed himself to Aladdin, whom he looked
upon as a lad fit to serve his purpose, resolving, as soon as he
should get the lamp into his hands, to sacrifice him to his avarice
and wickedness, by making the fumigation mentioned before,
and repeating two magical words, the effect of which would re-
move the stone into its place, so that no witness would remain
of the transaction.

The blow he had given Aladdin was intended to make him
obey the more readily, and give him the lamp as soon as he should
ask for it. But his too great precipitation, and his fear lest some-
body should come that way and discover w^hat he wished to keep
secret, produced an effect quite contrary to what he had proposed.

When the African magician saw that all his hopes were
frustrated forever, he returned the same day for Africa ; but went
quite round the tow^n, and at some distance from it, lest some
persons who had observed him walk out with the boy, on seeing
him come back without him, should entertain suspicions, and
stop him.

According to all appearances, there was no prospect of Aladdin
being heard of any more. But the magician, when he had con-
trived his death, forgot the ring he had put upon his finger, which
preserved him, though he knew not its virtue. It may seem
astonishing that the loss of that, together with the lamp, did not
drive the magician to despair ; but magicians are so much used to
misfortunes that they do not lay them to heart, but still feed
themselves, to the end of life, with unsubstantial notions and
chimeras.

The surprise of Aladdin, who had never suspected this
treachery from his pretended uncle, is more easily to be imagined
than expressed. When he found himself buried alive, he cried,
and called out to his uncle, to tell him he was ready to give him
the lamp; but in vain, since his cries could not be heard. He
descended to the bottom of the steps, with a design to get into
the garden, but the door, which was opened before by enchant-
ment, was now shut by the same means. He then redoubled his
cries, sat down on the steps, without any hopes of ever seeing
light again, and in a melancholy certainty of passing from the
present darkness into that of a speedy death.

Aladdin remained in this state two days, without eating or
drinking, and on the third looked upon death as inevitable.
Clasping his hands with resignation to the will of God, he said:
*' There is no strength or power but in the great and high God."
In joining his hands he rubbed the ring which the magician had
put on his finger, and of which he knew not yet the virtue.
Immediately a genie of enormous size and frightful aspect rose
out of the earth, his head reaching the roof of the vault, and said
to him: "What wouldst thou have ? I am ready to obey thee as
the slave of all who may possess the ring on thy finger ; I, and the
other slaves of that ring."

At another time, Aladdin, who had not been used to such
appearances, would have been so frightened at the sight of so
extraordinary a figure that he would not have been able to speak;
but the danger he was in made him answer without hesitation:
*' Whoever thou art, deliver me from this place, if thou art able."
He had no sooner spoken these words, than he found himself on
the very spot where the magician had caused the earth to open.

It was some time before his eyes could bear the light, after
being so long in total darkness: but after he had endeavoured
by degrees to support it, and began to look about him, he was
much surprised not to find the earth open, and could not com-
prehend how he had got so soon out of its bowels. There was
nothing to be seen but the place where the fire had been, by
which he could nearly judge the situation of the cave. Then
turning himself toward the town, he perceived it at a distance in
the midst of the gardens that surrounded it, and saw the way by
which the magician had brought him. Returning God thanks
to find himself once more in the world, he made the best of his
way home. When he got within his mother's door, the joy of
seeing her and his weakness for want of food for three days made
him faint, and he remained for a long time as dead. His mother,
who had given him over for lost, seeing him in this condition,
omitted nothing to bring him to himself. As soon as he recovered,
the first words he spoke were: "Pray, mother, give me something
to eat, for I have not put a morsel of anything into my mouth
these three days." His mother brought what she had, and set it
before him. "My son," said she, "be not too eager, for it is
dangerous; eat but little at a time, and take care of yourself.
Besides, I would not have you talk; you will have time enough
to tell me what has happened to you when you are recovered.
It is a great comfort to me to see you again, after the affliction
I have been in since Friday, and the pains I have taken to learn
what was become of you."

Aladdin took his mother's advice, and ate and drank moder-
ately. When he had done, "Mother," said he to her, "I cannot
help complaining of you, for abandoning me so easily to the
discretion of a man who had a design to kill me, and who at this
very moment thinks my death certain. You believed he was my
uncle, as well as I ; and what other thoughts could we entertain
of a man who was so kind to me ? but I must tell you, mother,
he is a rogue and a cheat, and only made me those promises to
accomplish my death ; but for what reason neither you nor I can
guess. You shall judge yourself, when you have heard all that
passed from the time I left you, till he came to the execution of
his wicked design."

Aladdin then related to his mother all that had happened to
him, from the Friday when the magician took him to see the
palaces and gardens about the town, till they came to the place
between the two mountains where the great deed was to be
performed; how, with incense which the magician threw into
the fire, and some magical words which he pronounced, the earth
opened, and discovered a cave, which led to an inestimable
treasure. He did not forget the blow the magician had given
him, and in what manner he softened again, and engaged him
by great promises, and putting a ring on his finger, to go
down into the cave. He did not omit the least circumstance of
what he saw in crossing the three halls and the garden, and his
taking the lamp, which he pulled out of his bosom and shewed
to his mother : as well as the transparent fruit of different colours,
which he had gathered in the garden as he returned. But,
though these fruits were precious stones, brilliant as the sun, she
was as ignorant of their worth as her son. She had been bred
in a low rank of life, and her husband's poverty prevented his
being possessed of jewels, nor had she, her relations, or neighbours
ever seen any; so that we must not wonder that she regarded
them as things of no value.