Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

Once upon a time there was the son of a poor tailor in the Arabian Desert named Aladdin.

The father would ask Aladdin everyday to work with him in his job as a tailor, but instead Aladdin spent most of his days in the streets of their neighborhood, playing with other lazy boys.

Aladdin never helped his father with work.

Aladdin’s father became so overwhelmed and tired with all the work he had to do on his own, that he fell ill and died. This left Aladdin alone with his upset widowed mother, whom he was now responsible for taking care of.

Even then, he did not try to change his lazy and passive ways. He continued to waste time in the streets of his town, playing with friends and ignoring the responsibility he was left with for his household and mother.

Eventually; his mother had to put herself to work just to get by, in place of her son.

One intensely hot day in Arabia, a stranger approached Aladdin in the streets where he played all day. This stranger was tall, with long dark hair and foreign clothing. He asked Aladdin:
“Are you Aladdin, the son of the local tailor that recently passed?” asked the mysterious man.

Aladdin nodded, and then the stranger hugged Aladdin in a firm embrace.

“I am your uncle,” said the man proudly, “I could tell you were my brother’s son due to your similar features,” he smiled widely.

He told Aladdin to tell his mother about his arrival, and to expect him soon for dinner.

“I knew your father had a brother,” Aladdin’s mother said happily. “However; since we’ve never seen him before, I thought he passed away a while ago,” she sighed. She hoped that this uncle of Aladdin had good intentions. She asked her son to go out and seek his uncle as he prepared dinner.

The uncle came back with various expensive fruits and drinks for the family, which shocked Aladdin’s mother. While she was happy with the pricey gifts the uncle came with, she was still confused as to where he came from.

“Why have you been silent for all these years?” Aladdin’s mother asked.

“I’ve been out of the country for decades,” the uncle said, “working hard to make money.”

“How about you, boy?” the uncle turned towards Aladdin. “How’s work going for you? You look old enough to be putting yourself to work.”

Aladdin’s mother suddenly burst into tears. Mention of work to Aladdin reminded her of his laziness, which frustrated her so much that she couldn’t help but cry.

“Aladdin doesn’t work at all,” the mother answered the uncle’s question. “He just bums around in the streets of the town while I labour all day!”

The mysterious uncle was surprised. “Why, let me put him to work! We can open a shop together.”

And indeed, he did. The uncle bought Aladdin a shop, along with all the products he would sell to customers. On the same day, the uncle bought Aladdin dazzling new clothes.

When they returned to Aladdin’s home at sunset, mother’s frustration with Aladdin was replaced with pride as she saw his fancy new clothes, and learned of his fancy new shop.

“My son will finally make something of himself!” she exclaimed with pride.

The following day, the uncle took Aladdin to a place far from his hometown, and into the mountainous regions of the Arabian desert. Aladdin became nervous as he has never been this far from his town before, but he trusted his uncle and continued to follow his path.

“Please, tell me uncle… where are we heading?” Aladdin asked quietly.

The uncle suddenly stopped walking.

“Here; we shall start a fire,” stated the uncle, ignoring Aladdin’s question. “We will be here for a while; so be quick and gather some sticks!”

Once the fire was ready, the uncle pulled out a small pouch from inside his robe, which contained a fine powder. He sprinkled this powder onto the fire, while he muttered words underneath his breath.

Is he casting a spell? Aladdin thought to himself. He remembered what his mother told him about magic; it was the work of demons!

The ground began to shake.

“Uncle, what is happening?” Aladdin cried. The sun was beginning to set as well, and there was no way he’d be back home by nightfall.

From the earth emerged a flat stone, which held a brass ring.

“Now, do as I say,” said the uncle. “Hold the ring in your hand and then lift the stone beneath it, and you will come upon a treasure for you and you only.”

Aladdin’s nervousness eased at the word ‘treasure’. Maybe his uncle really was trying to help him out, after all?

Beneath the stone a staircase descended into the earth.

“At the end of these stairs you will find a door, which then leads to three separate pathways,” the uncle began, “be careful as the walls will be coated with gold. If even just the sleeve of your shirt touches these golden walls, you will die instantly!”

“What?!” Aladdin cried in fear. Was he willing to sacrifice his life for treasure?

The uncle continued. “These pathways will lead you to a garden that takes you upon a path to a lighted lamp. Take out its light, pour out its oil, and bring it to me.”

The uncle then offered Aladdin a ring that was on his finger. “This ring will protect you, as long as you do what I say.”

Aladdin did exactly what his uncle told him to do in the cave. He also took some fruit from the garden before the path that led to the lamp.

Once he brought the lamp to the opening of the cave, the uncle began to become nervous.

“Hurry and give me the lamp! Then I’ll help you out of the cave,” he called out to Aladdin.

Aladdin refused to give his uncle the lamp until after he was brought out of the cave.

In a fit of rage and frustration, the uncle poured some more of his magical powder onto the open fire while he muttered another spell. The stone that barred the cave from the outside world rolled back, trapping Aladdin in the cave.

The uncle abandoned Arabia, as he was never Aladdin’s uncle in the first place. He was a magician from North Africa, who only came to Arabia to obtain the lamp.

He learned of the magical lamp from his many magic books, knowing that whoever claimed it would be granted a great amount of power. However, only an individual other than himself could get the lamp from the cave. His goal with Aladdin was to use him to get the lamp, then get rid of him by leaving him to die in the cave.

For days, Aladdin wept alone in the cave. He had no idea what he was going to do, and how he was going to get back. He knew for sure that his mother was worried sick, which only made him cry more.

As he cried, he put his hands together and prayed for a way out. As he was praying, he had rubbed his hands together, which meant he was rubbing his hand against the special ring the magician gave him.

Out came from the ring a genie, which said with a booming voice:

“I am a slave of the ring… now, tell me what you need.”

Aladdin responded quickly: “help me get out of this cave!”

The walls of the cave that surrounded Aladdin separated, creating a way out. He walked all the way back home to his mother as quickly as he could.

Once he got home and explained the recent sequence of events to her, he showed his mother the lamp he found, along with the fruit he plucked from the garden.

“Mother, I have grown quite hungry these past few days,” Aladdin said as his stomach began to growl. “Would you mind preparing a meal?”

“I have nothing in the house currently, but I can sell some things to the market to get some coin to buy some food,” his mother replied. Aladdin responded by shaking his head.

“Do not worry about that,” he said. “I’ll clean this old lamp and sell it.”

As he rubbed against the lamp with a cloth, a flash of light emerged from it. A genie came out of thin air.

Aladdin’s mother fainted in shock. Aladdin knew what a genie meant - any wish of his will be granted, just like with the ring!

“Bring a feast for me and my mother!” He called out to the genie. Silver plates, delicacy meats, and many other treats came out of thin air and onto Aladdin’s dinner table.

After Aladdin’s mother woke up, she decided it was best for her not to question the sudden (and very expensive) feast that was on her dinner table. Her and Aladdin dined from breakfast to dinner.

“How… and where did you get all this food? Did the lamp really sell for that much?” His mother asked. Her mind suppressed any memories before she fainted.

“I rubbed the lamp enough so that a genie emerged from it, and he was able to grant me a wish. So, I asked for a feast!” Aladdin replied in confidence.

Aladdin’s mother’s face went white in shock.

“What are you talking about, Aladdin?! That’s a genie! A demon!” She cried. “Sell the lamp right away, I don’t want it in this house!”

“No, mother, we will take advantage of both the genie of the ring and of the lamp in helping us out of our situation,” Aladdin said, “especially now that father is dead.”

Aladdin sold all the silver plates of their feast, which made him enough money to live off of for many years to come.

One day, the Sultan of the town declared that everyone stay home as his daughter, the princess, went to the bathhouse to bathe. She always wore a veil as no one in the town was allowed to see her.

Instead of listening to the Sultan, Aladdin hid behind a wall in the bathhouse so he could see the princess’ face. When she made it to the bathhouse and took off the veil that covered her face, Aladdin saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

He promised himself that he would marry her one day.

“Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind?” His mother said when she heard of his plan to propose to the princess. “What will she ever want from a poor tailor’s son?”

Aladdin told her to take the fruits he found in the cave to the Sultan to ask for the princess’ hand in marriage.

Despite knowing that his plan would not be fruitful, Aladdin’s mother took a silver plate and placed all the cave’s fruit on it. She wrapped the plate with a white rag. She made her way out of her house and to the Sultan’s palace.

Upon seeing Aladdin’s mother in her raggedy clothing at the door of his palace, the Sultan was already planning on throwing her out. However, he noticed that she was holding something covered in a white rag. He was so curious as to what was under the rag, that he let her in.

“Dear Sultan,” she began, “my son sent me to bring you this in exchange for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

The Sultan laughed. “You really think I would let my daughter marry your son? You must be joking”.

Aladdin’s mother nodded her head shyly. She knew this would happen.

“However, would you mind if you showed me what you had underneath that white rag? What could you have possibly brought in exchange for my blessing?”

She took off the rag to reveal jewels and pieces of gold shaped as many kinds of fruit. The Sultan looked at the gifts with widened eyes.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before!” He said with excitement as he picked up one of the fruits, which was made of solid gold.

He sat in silence for a moment and thought of what to say next, as he really liked these gifts that Aladdin brought him.

“Tell your son to bring forty more bundles of these same gifts, on trays of solid gold, in which each tray is held by two servants dressed in the finest clothes in all of Arabia.”

With the help of the magical genie, forty golden trays held by two servants each marched through the town to the Sultan’s palace within the same day. The Sultan was impressed once more.

“So I can make sure that this mysterious Aladdin will have my daughter living in luxury, he must have a gorgeous palace prepared for her within the next week.” The Sultan asked.

Aladdin’s genie created a palace in an instant. It was right by the Sultan’s, so the genie created a red carpet that led to Aladdin’s palace to the Sultan’s.

Wearing a gorgeous outfit of silk on a horse more beautiful than any of the Sultan’s stallions, Aladdin made his way from his palace to the Sultan’s.

In the Sultan's palace, he convinced the Sultan to let him marry the beautiful princess.

Aladdin married the princess within that week, and they had an amazing big wedding with nice music and great feasts. It was one of the biggest celebrations the people of the kingdom ever had.

After many years of marriage to the princess of the kingdom, Aladdin was still fooling around in the streets of the town. However, instead of simply playing around, he was giving out gold to anyone, anywhere.

Soon Aladdin became very famous among the people of his town, since it seemed like he could make wealth and fortune out of nothing. That was not far from the truth.

He was so famous that the magician that abandoned him in that cave so many years ago heard of him, knowing that he made his wealth from the genie of the lamp.

The magician knew that he had to do something about this.

He made his way to the town in the Arabian desert, but this time disguised himself as a simple street dweller.

He gathered many new lamps into a basket, then made his way to Aladdin’s palace when he knew that Aladdin wasn’t there.

He knocked on the door to the palace and waited for a response, his basket in hand. Aladdin’s wife; the princess, answered.

“Hello, dear princess,” the magician said as he opened the lid to his basket, showing her his lamps. “Would you like to exchange some old lamps for new ones?”

While his lamps were much newer than the one that contained the genie, they did not hold any special powers.

The princess did not know that though, as even she was not sure where Aladdin’s sudden and very massive fortune came from.

“I think Aladdin would be so happy to see a new lamp in place of that dusty old one in our palace!” the princess exclaimed.

She switched the old lamp for the new ones that the magician had in his basket.

The magician was happy to finally have the lamp. Quickly, he rubbed it to summon the genie.

“And what would you like?” the genie of the lamp said as it came out of the lamp.

“I want you to take this palace, all of its treasures and its servants, as well as the princess, to my homeland in North Africa!” Said the magician excitedly.

The genie did what the magician asked, and everything Aladdin had vanished. The Sultan soon noticed that Aladdin’s palace was gone, along with his daughter.

He became enraged with Aladdin as he realized that the palace and the riches must have been a product of magic. His whole palace just disappeared into thin air!

He asked his servants to search for Aladdin in the town, and to bring him to the Sultan’s palace as soon as possible.

Aladdin was brought before the Sultan after he noticed his palace and wife were gone.

“Whatever you did to create this palace and this fortune, I don’t care! Just bring back my daughter in one piece within five days, or I’ll have your head!” said the Sultan, enraged.

Aladdin began to cry. He begged the Sultan, asking for an extension of time to find the princess, or at least a lighter punishment.

The Sultan wasn’t having any of it, and had his servants quickly lead Aladdin out of the castle.

Due to his sadness, Aladdin wandered the streets of his kingdom aimlessly for three days.

On the fourth day, he realized that he was almost out of time to find the princess; so he tried to ask the townspeople if they had seen the princess. No one had any idea where she was or could have been.

Realizing how hopeless his situation was, he bent down to pray, again rubbing his hands and accidentally rubbing against the magical ring he was wearing. The genie of the ring came out again.

“Oh genie, rebuild my palace and return my princess!” Aladdin cried.

“I can’t do anything to change what the genie of the lamp has done,” the genie of the ring said.

“How about… show me where my palace is?” Aladdin asked. The genie nodded as he did what he was told.

Aladdin was taken to a mostly empty desert in North Africa, except for a single building - his palace!

He snuck into the palace in search of his wife. When she found him, they held each other in a strong embrace.

“I will find a way to get this palace and you back home,” Aladdin promised, “I just need to get back my lamp.”

Aladdin handed the princess a potion that makes whoever drinks it drowsy and fall asleep.

“Add this to his drink when he’s not looking,” Aladdin said, “and he’ll feel so tired that he won’t know what’s going on when we take back the magical lamp!”

As the princess and the magician had a feast, she added the potion to his drink. Soon enough, the magician was getting tired.

“Isn’t it getting quite dark in here?” the princess asked the magician. Of course it was for him, as his eyes were about to shut close.

“Why don’t I get that old lamp of yours so that we can have some light in the room as we eat?” She asked him. Aladdin's plan better work! she thought to herself.

Not really thinking of what was going on, the magician nodded in agreement as he gave her the lamp. She rubbed the lamp, and out came the genie.

She wished for her, Aladdin, and the palace to be taken back home to their town, leaving the magician behind in the desert.

Soon enough, the Sultan noticed that the palace was back. This meant his daughter was back, too! He was so happy that he made Aladdin heir to his throne. After the Sultan’s passing, Aladdin ruled the kingdom alongside his wife for many years.