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The
Maghrabi replied: "O wife of my brother, Aladdin is now a man of sense and
the son of goodly folk, and I hope to Allah that he will follow in the
footsteps of his sire and cool thine eyes. But I regret that, tomorrow being
Friday, I shall not be able to open his shop, as 'tis meeting day when all the
merchants, after congregational prayer, go forth to the gardens and
pleasaunces. On the Sabbath, however, Inshallah!- an it please the Creator- we
will do our business. Meanwhile tomorrow I will come to thee betimes and take
Aladdin for a pleasant stroll to the gardens and pleasaunces without the city,
which haply he may hitherto not have beheld. There also he shall see the
merchants and notables who go forth to amuse themselves, so shall he become
acquainted with them and they with him."
The
Maghrabi went away and lay that night in his quarters, and early next morning
he came to the tailor's house and rapped at the door. Now Aladdin (for stress
of his delight in the new dress he had donned and for the past day's enjoyment
in the hammam and in eating and drinking and gazing at the folk, expecting
futhermore his uncle to come at dawn and carry him off on pleasuring to the
gardens) had not slept a wink that night, nor-closed his eyelids, and would
hardly believe it when day broke. But hearing the knock at the door, he went
out at once in hot haste, like a spark of fire, and opened and saw his uncle,
the magician, who embraced him and kissed him. Then, taking his hand, the
Moorman said to him as they fared forth together, "O son of my brother,
this day will I show thee a sight thou never sawest in all thy life," and he
began to make the lad laugh and cheer him with pleasant talk. So doing, they
left the city gate, and the Moroccan took to promenading with Aladdin amongst
the gardens and to pointing out for his pleasure the mighty fine pleasaunces
and the marvelous high-builded pavilions. And whenever they stood to stare at a
garth or a mansion or a palace, the Maghrabi would say to his companion,
"Doth this please thee, O son of my brother?"
Aladdin
was nigh to fly with delight at seeing sights he had never seen in all his born
days, and they ceased not to stroll about and solace themselves until they
waxed a-weary, then they entered a mighty grand garden which was near-hand, a
place that the heart delighted and the sight belighted, for that its
swift-running rills flowed amidst the flowers and the waters jetted from the
jaws of lions molded in yellow brass like unto gold. So they took seat over
against a lakelet and rested a little while, and Aladdin enjoyed himself with
joy exceeding and fell to jesting with his uncle and making merry with him as
though the magician were really his father's brother.
Presently
the Maghrabi arose, and loosing his girdle, drew forth from thereunder a bag
full of victual, dried fruits and so forth, saying to Aladdin: "O my
nephew, haply thou art become a-hungered, so come forward and eat what thou
needest." Accordingly the lad fell upon the food and the Moorman ate with
him, and they were gladdened and cheered by rest and good cheer. Then quoth the
magician: "Arise, O son of my brother, an thou be reposed, and let us
stroll onward a little and reach the end of our walk." Thereupon Aladdin
arose and the Moroccan paced with him from garden to garden until they left all
behind them and reached the base of a high and naked hill, when the lad, who during
all his days had never issued from the city gate and never in his life had
walked such a walk as this, said to the Maghrabi: "O uncle mine, whither
are we wending? We have left the gardens behind us one and all and have reached
the barren hill country. And if the way be still long, I have no strength left
for walking. Indeed I am ready to fall with fatigue. There are no gardens
before us, so let us hark back and return to town." Said the magician:
"No, O my son. This is right road, nor are the gardens ended, for we are
going to look at one which hath ne'er its like amongst those of the kings, and
all thou hast beheld are naught in comparison therewith. Then gird thy courage
to walk. Thou art now a man, Alhamdolillah- praise be to Allah!"
Then
the Maghrabi fell to soothing Aladdin with soft words and telling him wondrous
tales, lies as well as truth, until they reached the site intended by the
African magician, who had traveled from the sunset land to the regions of China
for the sake thereof. And when they made the place, the Moorman said to
Aladdin: "O son of my brother, sit thee down and take thy rest, for this
is the spot we are now seeking and, Inshallah, soon will I divert thee by
displaying marvel matters whose like not one in the world ever saw, nor hath
any solaced himself with gazing upon that which thou art about to behold. But
when thou art rested, arise and seek some wood chips and fuel sticks which be
small and dry, wherewith we may kindle a fire. Then will I show thee, O son of
my brother, matters beyond the range of matter." Now when the lad heard
these words, he longed to look upon what his uncle was about to do and,
forgetting his fatigue, he rose forthright and fell to gathering small wood
chips and dry sticks, and continued until the Moorman cried to him,
"Enough, O son of my brother!"
Presently
the magician brought out from his breast pocker a casket, which he opened, and
drew from it all he needed of incense. Then he fumigated and conjured and
adjured, muttering words none might understand. And the ground straightway
clave asunder after thick gloom and quake of earth and bellowings of thunder.
Hereat Aladdin was startled and so affrighted that he tried to fly, but when
the African magician saw his design, he waxed wroth with exceeding wrath, for
that without the lad his work would profit him naught, the hidden hoard which
he sought to open being not to be opened save by means of Aladdin. So, noting
this attempt to run away, the magician arose, and raising his hand, smote
Aladdin on the head a buffet so sore that well-nigh his back teeth were knocked
out, and he fell swooning to the ground. But after a time he revived by the
magic of the magician, and cried, weeping the while: "O my uncle, what
have I done that deserveth from thee such a blow as this?" Hereat the
Maghrabi fell to soothing him, and said: "O my son, 'tis my intent to make
thee a man. Therefore do thou not gainsay me, for that I am thine uncle and
like unto thy father. Obey me, therefore, in all I bid thee, and shortly thou
shalt forget all this travail and toil whenas thou shalt look upon the marvel
matters I am about to show thee."
And
soon after the ground had cloven asunder before the Moroccan, it displayed a
marble slab wherein was fixed a copper ring. The Maghrabi, striking a geomantic
table, turned to Aladdin and said to him: "An thou do all I shall bid
thee, indeed thou shalt become wealthier than any of the kings. And for this
reason, O my son, I struck thee, because here lieth a hoard which is stored in
thy name, and yet thou designedst to leave it and to levant. But now collect
thy thoughts, and behold how I opened earth by my spells and adjurations. Under
yon stone wherein the ring is set lieth the treasure wherewith I acquainted
thee. So set thy hand upon the ring and raise the slab, for that none other
amongst the folk, thyself excepted, hath power to open it, nor may any of
mortal birth save thyself set foot within this enchanted treasury which hath
been kept for thee. But 'tis needful that thou learn of me all wherewith I
would charge thee, nor gainsay e'en a single syllable of my words. All this, O
my child, is for thy good, the hoard being of immense value, whose like the
kings of the world never accumulated, and do thou remember that 'tis for thee
and me."
So
poor Aladdin forgot his fatigue and buffet and tear-shedding, and he was dumbed
and dazed at the Maghrabi's words and rejoiced that he was fated to become rich
in such measure that not even the sultans would be richer than himself.
Accordingly he cried: "O my uncle, bid me do all thou pleasest, for I will
be obedient unto thy bidding." The Maghrabi replied: "O my nephew,
thou art to me as my own child and even dearer, for being my brother's son and
for my having none other kith and kin except thyself. And thou, O my child, art
my heir and successor." So saying, he went up to Aladdin and kissed him
and said: "For whom do I intend these my labors? Indeed, each and every
are for thy sake, O my son, to the end that I may leave thee a rich man and one
of the very greatest. So gainsay me not in all I shall say to thee, and now go
up to yonder ring and uplift it as I bade thee." Aladdin answered: "O
uncle mine, this ring is overheavy for me. I cannot raise it single-handed, so
do thou also come forward and lend me strength and aidance toward uplifting it,
for indeed I am young in years." The Moorman replied: "O son of my
brother, we shall find it impossible to do aught if I assist thee, and all our
efforts would be in vain. But do thou set thy hand upon the ring and pull it up,
and thou shalt raise the slab forthright, and in very sooth I told thee that
none can touch it save thyself. But whilst haling at it cease not to pronounce
thy name and the names of thy father and mother, so 'twill rise at once to
thee, nor shalt thou feel its weight."
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