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"After
this, O mother mine, I reached the hoard door carrying the lamp and shouted to
the accursed sorcerer which called himself my uncle to lend me a hand and hale
me up, I being unable to mount of myself the last step for the overweight of my
burthen. But he would not and said only, 'First hand me the lamp!' As, however,
I had placed it at the bottom of my breast pocket and the other pouches bulged
out beyond it, I was unable to get at it and said, 'O my uncle, I cannot reach
thee the lamp, but I will give it to thee when outside the treasury.' His only
need was the lamp, and he designed, O my mother, to snatch it from me and after
that slay me, as indeed he did his best to do by heaping the earth over my
head. Such then is what befell me from this foul sorcerer." Hereupon
Aladdin fell to abusing the magician in hot wrath and with a burning heart, and
crying: "Wellaway! I take refuge from this damned wight, the forswearer
the wrongdoer, the forswearer, the lost to all humanity, the archtraitor, the
hyprocrite, the annihilator of ruth and mercy." When Aladdin's mother
heard his words and what had befallen him from the Maghrabi, the magician, she
said: "Yea, verily, O my son, he is a miscreant, a hypocrite who
murthereth the folk by his magic. But 'twas the grace of Allah Almighty, O my
child, that saved thee from the tricks and the treachery of this accursed
sorcerer whom I deemed to be truly thine uncle."
Then,
as the lad had not slept a wink for three days and found himself nodding, he
sought his natural rest, his mother doing on like wise, nor did he awake till
about noon on the second day. As soon as he shook off slumber he called for
somewhat of food, being sore a-hungered, but said his mother: "O my son, I
have no victual for thee, inasmuch as yesterday thou atest all that was in the
house. But wait patiently a while. I have spun a trifle of yarn which I will
carry to the market street and sell it and buy with what it may be worth some
victual for thee." "O my mother," said he, "keep your yarn
and sell it not, but fetch me the lamp I brought hither that I may go vend it,
and with its price purchase provaunt, for that I deem 'twill bring more money
than the spinnings." So Aladdin's mother arose and fetched the lamp for
her son, but while so doing she saw that it was dirty exceedingly, so that
said: "O my son, here is the lamp, but 'tis very foul. After we shall have
washed it and polished it 'twill sell better." Then, taking a handful of
sand, she began to rub therewith, but she had only begun when appeared to her
one of the Jann, whose favor was frightful and whose bulk was horrible big, and
he was gigantic as one of the Jababirah. And forthright he cried to her:
"Say whatso thou wantest of me. Here am I, thy slave and slave to whoso
holdeth the lamp, and not I alone, but all the Slaves of the Wonderful Lamp
which thou hendest in hand."
She
quaked and terror was sore upon her when she looked at that frightful form, and
her tongue being tied, she could not return aught reply, never having been
accustomed to espy similar semblances. Now her son was standing afar off, and
he had already seen the Jinni of the ring which he had rubbed within the
treasury, so when he heard the slave speaking to his parent, he hastened
forward, and snatching the lamp from her hand, said: "O Slave of the Lamp,
I am a-hungered, and 'tis my desire that thou fetch me somewhat to eat, and let
it be something toothsome beyond our means." The Jinni disappeared for an
eye twinkle and returned with a mighty fine tray and precious of price, for that
'twas all in virginal silver, and upon it stood twelve golden platters of meats
manifold and dainties delicate, with bread snowier than snow; also two silvern
cups and as many black jacks full of wine clear-strained and long-stored. And
after setting all these before Aladdin, he vanished from vision.
Thereupon
the lad went and sprinkled rose-water upon his mother's face and caused her
snuff up perfumes pure and pungent, and said to her when she revived:
"Rise, O mother mine, and let us eat of these meats wherewith Almighty
Allah hath eased our poverty." But when she saw that mighty fine silvern
tray she fell to marveling at the matter, and quoth she: "O my son, who be
this generous, this beneficent one who hath abated our hunger pains and our
penury? We are indeed under obligation to him, and meseemeth 'tis the Sultan
who, hearing of our mean condition and our misery, hath sent us this food
tray." Quoth he: "O my mother, this be no time for questioning.
Arouse thee and let us eat, for we are both a-famished." Accordingly they
sat down to the tray and fell to feeding, when Aladdin's mother tasted meats
whose like in all her time she had never touched. So they devoured them with
sharpened appetites and all the capacity engendered by stress of hunger. And secondly,
the food was such that marked the tables of the kings. But neither of them knew
whether the tray was or was not valuable, for never in their born days had they
looked upon aught like it.
As
soon as they had finished the meal (withal leaving victual enough for supper
and eke for the next day), they arose and washed their hands and sat at chat,
when the mother turned to her son and said: "Tell me, O my child, what
befell thee from the slave, the Jinni, now that Alhamdolillah- laud to the
Lord!- we have eaten our full of the good things wherewith He hath favored us
and thou hast no pretext for saying to me, 'I am a-hungered."' So Aladdin
related to her all that took place between him and the slave what while she had
sunk upon the ground a-swoon for sore terror, and at this she, being seized
with mighty great surprise, said: "'Tis true, for the Jinns do present
themselves before the sons of Adam, but I, O my son, never saw them in all my
life, and meseemeth that this be the same who saved thee when thou wast within
the enchanted hoard." "This is not he, O my mother. This who appeared
before thee is the Slave of the Lamp!" "Who may this be, O my
son?" "This be a slave of sort and shape other than he. That was the
familiar of the ring, and this his fellow thou sawest was the Slave of the Lamp
thou hendest in hand." And when his parent heard these words she cried:
"There! there! So this accursed, who showed himself to me and went nigh
unto killing me with affright, is attached to the lamp." "Yes,"
he replied, and she rejoined: "Now I conjure thee, O my son, by the milk
wherewith I suckled thee, to throw away from thee this lamp and this ring,
because they can cause us only extreme terror, and I especially can never
a-bear a second glance at them. Moreover, all intercourse with them is
unlawful, for that the Prophet (whom Allah save and assain!) warned us against
them with threats."
He
replied: "Thy commands, O my mother, be upon my head and mine eyes, but as
regards this saying thou saidest, 'tis impossible that I part or with lamp or
with ring. Thou thyself hast seen what good the slave wrought us whenas we were
famishing, and know, O my mother, that the Maghrabi, the liar, the magician,
when sending me down into the hoard, sought nor the silver nor the gold wherewith
the four halls were fulfilled, but charged me to bring him only the lamp
(naught else), because in very deed he had learned its priceless value. And had
he not been certified of it, he had never endured such toil and trouble, nor
had he traveled from his own land to our land in search thereof, neither had he
shut me up in the treasury when he despaired of the lamp which I would not hand
to him. Therefore it besitteth us, O my mother, to keep this lamp and take all
care thereof, nor disclose its mysteries to any, for this is now our means of
livelihood and this it is shall enrich us. And likewise as regards the ring, I
will never withdraw it from my finger, inasmuch as but for this thou hadst
nevermore seen me on life- nay, I should have died within the hoard
underground. How then can I possibly remove it from my finger? And who wotteth
that which may betide me by the lapse of time, what trippings or calamities or
injurious mishaps wherefrom this ring may deliver me? However, for regard to
thy feelings I will stow away the lamp, nor ever suffer it to be seen of thee
hereafter." Now when his mother heard his words and pondered them, she
knew they were true and said to him: "Do, O my son, whatso thou willest.
For my part, I wish never to see them nor ever sight that frightful spectacle I
erst saw."
Aladdin
and his mother continued eating of the meats brought them by the Jinni for two
full told days till they were finished. But when he learned that nothing of
food remained for them, he arose and took a platter of the platters which the
slave had brought upon the tray. Now they were all of the finest gold, but the
lad knew naught thereof, so he bore it to the bazaar and there, seeing a man
which was a Jew, a viler than the Satans, offered it to him for sale. When the
Jew espied it, he took the lad aside that none might see him, and he looked at
the platter and considered it till he was certified that it was of gold
refined. But he knew not whether Aladdin was acquainted with its value or he
was in such matters a raw laddie, so he asked him, "For how much, O my
lord, this platter?" and the other answered, "Thou wottest what be
its worth." The Jew debated with himself as to how much he should offer,
because Aladdin had returned him a craftsmanlike reply, and he thought of the
smallest valuation. At the same time he feared lest the lad, haply knowing its
worth, should expect a considerable sum. So he said in his mind, "Belike
the fellow is an ignoramus in such matters, nor is ware of the price of the
platter." Whereupon he pulled out of his pocket a dinar, and Aladdin eyed
the gold piece lying in his palm and, hastily taking it, went his way, whereby
the Jew was certified of his customer's innocence of all such knowledge, and
repented with entire repentance that he had given him a golden dinar in lieu of
a copper carat, a bright-polished groat.
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