Fairy tales from the Arabian nights/The Story of Aladdin; or, the Wonderful Lamp. Part 2

by Antoine Galland

THE STORY OF ALADDIN

PART II

LADDIN AND HIS WIFE had lived happily after this manner for several years, when the African magician, who undesignedly had been the means of raising him to such good fortune, bethought himself of him in Africa, whither, after his expedition, he had returned. And though he was almost persuaded that Aladdin had died miserably in the subterranean abode where he left him, he had the curiosity to learn about his end with certainty. As he was a great magician, he took out of a cupboard a square covered box, which he made use of in his observations; then sat himself down on his sofa, set it before him, and uncovered it. After he had prepared and levelled the sand which was in it, to discover whether or no Aladdin died in the subterranean abode, he cast the points, drew the figures, and formed a horoscope, by which, when he came to examine it, he found that Aladdin, instead of dying in the cave, had escaped out of it, lived splendidly, was very rich, had married a princess, and was very much honoured and respected.

The magician no sooner understood by the rules of his diabolical art that Aladdin had arrived at that height of good fortune, than a colour came into his face, and he cried out in a rage, 'This poor sorry tailor's son has discovered the secret and virtue of the lamp! I believed his death to be certain, but find too plainly he enjoys the fruit of my labour and study! But I will prevent his enjoying it long, or perish in the attempt.' The next morning the magician mounted a horse which was in his stable, set out, and stopped only to refresh himself and horse till he arrived at the capital of China. He alighted, took up his lodging in a khan, and stayed there the remainder of the day and the night, to rest after so long a journey.

The next day his first object was to inquire what people said of Aladdin; and, taking a walk through the town, he went to the most public and frequented places, where people of the highest distinction met to drink a certain warm liquor, which he had drunk often when he was there before. As soon as he sat down he was given a glass of it, which he took; but listening at the same time to the discourse of the company on each side of him, he heard them talking of Aladdin's palace. When he had drunk off his glass, he joined them, and taking the opportunity, asked them what palace it was they spoke so well of. 'From whence come you?' said the person to whom he addressed himself; 'you must certainly be a stranger not to have seen or heard talk of Prince Aladdin's palace (for he was called so after his marriage with the Princess Badroulboudour). I do not say,' continued the man, 'that it is one of the wonders of the world, but that it is the only wonder of the world; since nothing so grand, rich, and magnificent was ever seen. Certainly you must have come from a great distance, not to have heard of it; it must have been talked of all over the world. Go and see it, and then judge whether I have told you more than the truth.'

'Forgive my ignorance,' replied the African magician; 'I arrived here but yesterday, and came from the furthest part of Africa, where the fame of this palace had not reached when I came away. For the affair which brought me hither was so urgent, that my sole object was to get here as soon as I could, without stopping anywhere, or making any acquaintance. But I will not fail to go and see it; I will go immediately and satisfy my curiosity, if you will do me the favour to show me the way.'

The person to whom the African magician addressed himself was pleased to show him the way to Aladdin's palace. When he came to the palace, and had examined it on all sides, he doubted not that Aladdin had made use of the lamp to build it; for he knew that none but the genies, the slaves of the lamp, could have performed such wonders; and piqued to the quick at Aladdin's happiness and greatness, he returned to the khan where he lodged.

The next thing was to learn where the lamp was; if Aladdin carried it about with him; or where he kept it; and this he was able to discover by an operation of magic. As soon as he entered his lodging, he took his square box of sand, which he always carried with him when he travelled, and after he had performed some operations, he knew that the lamp was in Aladdin's palace, and so great was his joy at the discovery that he could hardly contain himself. 'Well,' said he, 'I shall have the lamp, and I defy Aladdin to prevent my carrying it off and making him sink to his original meanness, from which he has taken so high a flight.'

It was Aladdin's misfortune at that time to have gone hunting for eight days, of which only three were past. After the magician had performed the operation which gave him so much joy, he went to the master of the khan, entered into talk with him on indifferent matters, and among the rest, told him he had been to see Aladdin's palace; and added, 'and I shall not be easy till I have seen the person to whom this wonderful edifice belongs.'

'That will be no difficult matter,' replied the master of the khan; 'there is not a day passes but he gives an opportunity when he is in town, but at present he is not at home, and has been gone these three days on a hunting-match, which will last eight.'

The magician wanted to know no more: he took leave of the master of the khan, and returning to his own chamber, said to himself, 'This is an opportunity I ought by no means to let slip.' For this purpose he went to a maker and seller of lamps, and asked for a dozen copper lamps: the master of the shop told him he had not so many by him, but if he would have patience till the next day, he would get them for him. The magician appointed his time, and bid him take care that they should be handsome and well polished. After promising to pay him well, he returned to his inn.

The next day the magician called for the twelve lamps, paid the man his full price for them, put them into a basket which he bought on purpose, and with the basket hanging on his arm, went straight to Aladdin's palace; and when he came near it he began crying, 'Who will change old lamps for new ones?' As he went along, he gathered a crowd of children about him, who hooted at him, and thought him, as did all who chanced to be passing by, mad or a fool, to offer to change new lamps for old ones.

The African magician never minded all their scoffs and hootings, but still continued crying, 'Who will change old lamps for new ones?' He repeated this so often, walking backwards and forwards about the Princess Badroulboudour's palace, that the princess, who was then in the hall with the twenty-and-four windows, hearing a man cry something, and not being able to distinguish his words, by reason of the hooting of the children and increasing mob about him, sent one of her women-slaves down to know what he cried.

It was not long before the slave returned, and ran into the hah, laughing heartily, 'Well, giggler,' said the princess, 'will you tell me what you are laughing at?'

'Madam,' answered the slave, laughing still, 'who can help laughing to see a fool with a basket on his arm, full of fine new lamps, ask to change them for old ones; the children and mob, crowding about him so that he can hardly stir, make all the noise they can by deriding him.'

Another woman-slave, hearing this, said, 'Now you speak of lamps, I know not whether the princess has observed it, but there is an old one on the shelf, and whoever owns it will not be sorry to find a new one in its stead. If the princess has a mind she may have the pleasure of trying if this fool is so silly as to give a new lamp for an old one without taking anything for the exchange.'

The lamp this slave spoke of was Aladdin's wonderful lamp, which he, for fear of losing, had laid on the shelf before he went hunting, which precaution he had taken several times before, but neither the princess, the slaves, nor the attendants had ever taken any notice of it. At all other times he carried it about with him, and then indeed he might have locked it up, but other people have been guilty of oversights as great, and will be so to the end of time.

The Princess Badroulboudour, who knew not the value of this lamp, and the importance for Aladdin, not to mention herself, of keeping it safe from everybody else, entered into the joke, and bade an attendant take it, and go and make the exchange. The attendant obeyed, went out of the hall, and no sooner got to the

palace gates than he saw the African magician, called to him, and showing him the old lamp, said to him, 'Give me a new lamp for this.'

The magician never doubted but this was the lamp he wanted. There could be no other like it in this palace, where all was gold or silver. He snatched it eagerly out of the man's hand, and thrusting it as far as he could into his breast, offered him his basket, and bid him choose which he liked best. The man picked out one, and carried it to the Princess Badroulboudour, but the exchange was no sooner made than the place rang with the shouts of the children, deriding the magician's folly.

The African magician gave everybody leave to laugh as much as they pleased. He stayed not long about Aladdin's palace, but made the best of his way back without crying any longer, 'New lamps for old ones.' His end was answered, and by his silence he got rid of the children and the mob.

As soon as he got out of the square between the two palaces he skulked down the streets which were the least frequented, and having no more need for his lamps or basket, set them all down in the midst of a street where nobody saw him; then scouring another street or two, he walked till he came to one of the city gates, and pursuing his way through the suburbs, which were very long, he bought some provisions before he left the city, got into the fields, and turned into a road which led to a lonely remote place, where he stopped for a time to execute the design he came about, never thinking about his horse, which he had left at the khan, but considering himself perfectly compensated by the treasure he had acquired.

In this place the African magician passed the remainder of the day, till the darkest time of night, when he pulled the lamp out of his breast, and rubbed it. At that summons the genie appeared, and said, 'What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their hands, both I and the other slaves of the lamp.'

'I command thee,' replied the magician, 'to transport me immediately, and the palace which thou and the other slaves of the lamp have built in this town, just as it is, with all the people in it, to a place in Africa.' The genie made no reply, but with the assistance of the other genies, the slaves of the lamp, transported him and the palace entire immediately to Africa, where we will leave the magician, palace, and the Princess Badroulboudour, to speak of the surprise of the sultan.

As soon as the sultan rose the next morning, according to custom, he looked out of the window to have the pleasure of contemplating and admiring Aladdin's palace. But when he first looked that way, and instead of a palace saw an empty space such as it had been before the palace was built, he thought he was mistaken, and rubbed his eyes. He looked again, and saw nothing more the second time than the first, though the weather was fine, the sky clear, and the daybreak had made all objects very distinct. He looked through the two openings on the right and left, and saw nothing more than he had formerly been used to see out of them. His amazement was so great that he stood for some time turning his eyes to the spot where the palace had stood, but where it was no longer to be seen. He could not comprehend how so large a palace as Aladdin's, which he saw plainly every day, and but the day before, should vanish so soon and not leave the least trace behind. 'Certainly,' said he, to himself, 'I am not mistaken. It stood there. If it had tumbled down, the materials would have lain in heaps, and if it had been swallowed up by an earthquake there would be some mark left.' Though he was convinced that no palace stood there, he could not help staying there some time, to see whether he might not be mistaken. At last he retired to his apartment, not without looking behind him before he quitted the spot, and ordered the grand vizier to be fetched in all haste, and in the meantime sat down, his mind agitated by many different thoughts.

The grand vizier did not make the sultan wait long for him, but came with so much haste that neither he nor his attendants as they passed by missed Aladdin's palace; neither did the porters, when they opened the palace gates, observe any alteration.

When he came into the sultan's presence, he said to him, 'Sir, the haste with which your majesty has sent for me makes me believe something very extraordinary has happened, since you know this is council-day, and I should not fail to attend you there very soon.'

'Indeed,' said the sultan, 'it is something very extraordinary, as you say, and you will allow it to be so. Tell me what has become of Aladdin's palace.'

'Aladdin's palace!' replied the grand vizier, in great amazement, 'I thought as I passed by, that it stood in its usual place; such substantial buildings are not so easily removed.'

'Go to my window,' said the sultan, 'and tell me if you can see it.'

The grand vizier went to the window, where he was struck with no less amazement than the sultan had been. When he was well assured that there was not the least appearance of this palace, he returned to the sultan 'Well,' said the sultan, 'have you seen Aladdin's palace?'

'Sir,' answered the vizier, 'your majesty may remember that I had the honour to tell you that that palace, which was the subject of your admiration, with all its immense riches, was only the work of magic and a magician, but your majesty would not pay the least attention to what I said.'

The sultan, who could not deny what the grand vizier had represented to him, flew into a great passion. 'Where is that impostor, that wicked wretch,' said he, 'that I may have his head cut off immediately?'

'Sir,' replied the grand vizier, 'it is some days since he came to take his leave of your majesty; he ought to be sent to to know what is become of his palace, since he cannot be ignorant of what has been done.'

'That is too great a favour,' replied the sultan: 'go and order a detachment of thirty horse, to bring him to me loaded with chains.' The grand vizier went and gave orders for a detachment of thirty horse, and instructed the officer who commanded them how they were to act, that Aladdin might not escape them. The detachment pursued their orders; and about five or six leagues from the town met him returning from hunting. The officer went up to him, and told him that the sultan was so impatient to see him, that he had sent them to accompany him home.

Aladdin had not the least suspicion of me true reason of their meeting him, but pursued his way hunting; but when he came within half a league of the city, the detachment surrounded him, and the officer addressed himself to him, and said, 'Prince Aladdin, it is with great regret that I declare to you the sultan's order to arrest you, and to carry you before him as a criminal; I beg of you not to take it ill that we acquit ourselves of our duty, and to forgive us.'

Aladdin, who felt himself innocent, was very much surprised at this declaration, and asked the officer if he knew what crime he was accused of; who replied he did not. Then Aladdin, finding that his retinue was much smaller than his detachment, alighted off his horse, and said to the officer, 'Execute your orders; I am not conscious that I have committed any crime against the sultan's person or government.' A large long chain was immediately put about his neck, and fastened round his body, so that both his arms were pinioned down; then the officer put himself at the head of the detachment, and one of the troopers took hold of the end of the chain, and proceeding after the officer, led Aladdin, who was obliged to follow him on foot, into the town.

When this detachment entered the suburbs, the people who saw Aladdin thus led as a state criminal, never doubted but that his head was to be cut off; and as he was generally beloved, some took sabres and other arms; and those who had none, gathered stones, and followed the detachment. The last five of the detachment faced about to disperse them; but their number presently increased so much that the detachment began to think that it would be well if they could get into the sultan's palace before Aladdin was rescued; to prevent which, according to the different extent of the streets, they took care to cover the ground by extending or closing. In this manner they arrived at the palace square, and there drew up in a line, and faced about till their officer and the troopers that led Aladdin had got within the gates, which were immediately shut.

Aladdin was carried before the sultan, who waited for him attended by the grand vizier in a balcony; and as soon as he saw him, he ordered the executioner, who waited there on purpose, to cut off his head, without hearing him, or giving him leave to clear himself.

As soon as the executioner had taken off the chain that was fastened about Aladdin's neck and body, and laid down a skin stained with the blood of the many criminals he had executed, he made Aladdin kneel down, and tied a bandage over his eyes. Then drawing his sabre, he prepared to strike the blow by flourishing it three times in the air, waiting for the sultan's signal to separate his head from his body.

At that instant the grand vizier, perceiving that the populace had forced the guard of horse, and crowded the great square before the palace, and were scaling the walls in several places and beginning to pull them down to force their way in, said to the sultan, before he gave the signal, 'I beg of your majesty to consider what you are going to do, since you will risk your palace being forced; and who knows what fatal consequences may attend it?'

'My palace forced!' replied the sultan; 'who can have such boldness?'

'Sir,' answered the grand vizier, 'if your majesty will but cast your eyes towards the great square, and on the palace walls, you will know the truth of what I say.'

The sultan was so frightened when he saw so great a crowd, and perceived how enraged they were, that he ordered the executioner to put his sabre in the scabbard immediately, and to unbind Aladdin; and at the same time bade the officers declare to the people that the sultan had pardoned him and that they might retire.

Then all those who had already got upon the walls and were witnesses of what had passed, got quickly down, overjoyed that they had saved the life of a man they dearly loved, and published the news among the rest, which was presently confirmed by the officers from the top of the terraces. The justice which the sultan had done to Aladdin soon disarmed the populace of their rage; the tumult abated, and the mob dispersed.

When Aladdin found himself at liberty, he turned towards the balcony, and perceiving the sultan, raised his voice, and said to him in a moving manner, 'I beg of your majesty to add one favour more to that which I have already received, which is, to let me know my crime.'

'Your crime!' answered the sultan; 'perfidious wretch! do you not know it? Come up hither, and I will show you.'

Aladdin went up, and presented himself to the sultan, who walked in front, without looking at him, saying, 'Follow me;' and then led him into his room. When he came to the door, he said, 'Go in; you ought to know whereabouts your palace stood; look round, and tell me what has become of it.'

Aladdin looked round, but saw nothing. He perceived very well the spot of ground his palace had stood on; but not being able to divine how it had disappeared, this extraordinary and surprising event threw him into such great confusion and amazement that he could not answer one word.

The sultan growing impatient, said to him again, 'Where is your palace, and what has become of my daughter?'

Then Aladdin, breaking silence, said to him, 'Sir, I see very well, and own that the palace which I have built is not in the place where it was, but is vanished; neither can I tell your majesty where it may be, but I can assure you I have had no hand in it.'

'I am not so much concerned about your palace,' replied the sultan; 'I value my daughter ten thousand times before it, and would have you find her out, otherwise I will cause your head to be struck off, and no consideration shall prevent it.'

'I beg your majesty,' answered Aladdin, 'to grant me forty days to make my inquiries; and if in that time I have not the success I wish for, I will come again and offer my head at the foot of your throne, to be disposed of at your pleasure.'

'I give you the forty days you ask for,' said the sultan; 'but think not to abuse the favour I show you by imagining you shall escape my resentment; for I will find you out in whatsoever part of the world you are.'

Aladdin went out of the sultan's presence with great humiliation, and in a condition worthy of pity. He crossed the courts of the palace, hanging down his head, and in such great confusion that he dared not lift up his eyes. The principal officers of the court, who had all professed themselves his friends, and whom he had never disobliged, instead of going up to comfort him, and offer him a refuge in their houses, turned their backs on him to avoid seeing him, lest he should know them. But had they accosted him with a word of comfort or offer of service, they would not have known Aladdin. He did not knew himself and was no longer in his senses, as plainly appeared by his asking everybody he met, at every house, if they had seen his palace, or could tell him any news of it.

These questions made everybody believe that Aladdin was mad. Some laughed at him, but people of sense and humanity, particularly those who had had any connection of business or friendship with him, really pitied him. For three days he rambled about the city after this manner, without coming to any decision, or eating anything, but what some good people forced him to take out of charity.

At last, as he could no longer, in his unhappy condition, stay in a city where he had formerly made so fine a figure, he quitted it, and took the road to the country; and after he had traversed several fields in frightful uncertainty, at the approach of night he came to a river-side. There, possessed by his despair, he said to himself,

'Where shall I seek my palace? In what province, country, or part of the world, shall I find that and my dear princess? I shall never succeed; I had better free myself at once from so much fruitless fatigue and such bitter grief.' He was just going to throw himself into the river, but, as a good Mussulman, true to his religion, he thought he could not do it without first saying his prayers. Going to prepare himself, he went first to the river-side to wash his hands and face, according to custom. But that place being steep and slippery, owing to the water's beating against it, he slid down, and would certainly have fallen into the river, but for a little rock which projected about two feet out of the earth. Happily also for him, he still had on the ring which the African magician put on his finger before he went down into the subterranean abode to fetch the precious lamp. In slipping down the bank he rubbed the ring so hard, by holding on the rock, that immediately the genie appeared whom he saw in the cave where the magician left him.

'What wouldst thou have?' said the genie, 'I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all those that have that ring on their finger; both I and the other slaves of the ring.'

Aladdin, agreeably surprised at an apparition he so little expected, replied, 'Save my life, genie, a second time, either by showing me to the place where the palace I have caused to be built now stands, or by immediately transporting it back to where it first stood.'

'What you command me,' answered the genie, 'is not in my power; I am only the slave of the ring; you must address yourself to the slave of the lamp.'

'If it be so,' replied Aladdin, 'I command thee, by the power of the ring, to transport me to the place where my palace stands, in what part of the world soever it is, and to set me down under the Princess Badroulboudour's window.' These words were no sooner out of his mouth than the genie transported him into Africa, to the midst of a large meadow, where his palace stood, a small distance from a great city, and set him exactly under the windows of the princess's apartment, and then left him. All this was done almost in an instant.

Aladdin, notwithstanding the darkness of the night, knew his palace and the Princess Badroulboudour's apartment again very well; but as the night was far advanced, and all was quiet in the palace, he retired to some distance, and sat down at the foot of a large tree. As he had not slept for five or six days, he was not able to resist the drowsiness which came upon him, but fell fast asleep where he was.

The next morning, as soon as the dawn appeared, Aladdin was agreeably awakened not only by the singing of the birds which had roosted in the tree under which he had passed the night, but of all those which perched in the thick trees of the palace garden. When he cast his eyes on that wonderful building, he felt an inexpressible joy to think he should soon be master of it again, and once more see his dear Princess Badroulboudour. Pleased with these hopes, he immediately got up, went toward the princess's apartment, and walked under her window, in expectation of her rising, that he might see her. Meanwhile, he began to consider with himself from whence his misfortune proceeded; and after mature reflection, he no longer doubted that it was owing to his having put his lamp out of his sight. He accused himself of negligence, and the little care he took of it, to let it be a moment away from him. But what puzzled him most was that he could not imagine who had been so jealous of his happiness. He would soon have guessed this, if he had known that both he and his palace were in Africa, the very name of which would soon have made him remember the magician, his declared enemy; but the genie, the slave of the ring, had not made the least mention of the name of the place, nor had Aladdin asked him.

The Princess Badroulboudour rose earlier that morning than she had done since her transportation into Africa by the magician, whose presence she was forced to endure once a day, because he was master of the palace; but she had always treated him so harshly that he dared not reside in it. As she was dressing, one of the women looking through the window perceived Aladdin, and ran and told her mistress. The princess, who could not believe the news, went herself to the window, and seeing Aladdin, immediately opened it. The noise the princess made in opening the window made Aladdin turn his head that way, and, knowing the princess, he saluted her with an air that expressed his joy. 'To lose no time,' said she to him, 'I have sent to have the private door opened for you; enter, and come up.' She then shut the window.

The private door, which was just under the princess's apartment, was soon opened, and Aladdin was conducted up into the princess's room. It is impossible to express their joy at seeing each other after a separation which they both thought was for ever. They embraced several times, and these embracings over, they sat down, shedding tears of joy, and Aladdin said, 'I beg you, Princess, before we talk of anything else, to tell me, both for your own sake, the sultan your father's, and mine, what is become of an old lamp which I left upon the shelf in the hall of the four-and-twenty windows, before I went hunting?'

'Alas! dear husband,' answered the princess, 'I am afraid our misfortune is owing to that lamp: and what grieves me most is that I have been the cause of it.'

'Princess,' replied Aladdin, 'do not blame yourself, since it was entirely my fault, and I ought to have taken more care of it. But let us now think only of repairing the loss; tell me what has happened, and into whose hands it has fallen.'

Then the Princess Badroulboudour gave Aladdin an account of how she changed the old lamp for a new one, which she ordered to be fetched, that he might see it, and how the next morning she found herself in the unknown country they were then in, which she was told was Africa by the traitor who had transported her thither by his magic art.

'Princess,' said Aladdin, interrupting her, 'you have informed me who the traitor is, by telling me we are in Africa. He is the most perfidious of all men; but this is neither the time nor the place to give you a full account of his villainies. I desire you only to tell me what he has done with the lamp, and where he has put it.'

'He carries it carefully wrapt up in his bosom,' said the princess: 'and this I can assure you, because he pulled it out before me, and showed it to me in triumph.'

'Princess,' said Aladdin, 'do not be displeased that I trouble you with so many questions, since they are equally important both to you and me. But tell me, I implore you, how so wicked and perfidious a man treats you.'

'Since I have been here,' replied the princess, 'he comes once a day to see me; and I am persuaded that the little satisfaction he receives from his visits makes him come no oftener. All his discourse tends to persuade me to break that faith I have pledged to you, and to take him for a husband; giving me to understand that I ought not to entertain any hope of ever seeing you again, for that you were dead, and had had your head struck off by the sultan my father's orders. He added, to justify himself, that you were an ungrateful wretch; that your good fortune was owing to him, and a great many other things which I forbear to repeat: but, as he received no other answer from me but grievous complaints and tears, he was always forced to retire with as little satisfaction as he came. I doubt not his intention is to allow me time to vanquish my grief, in the hope that I may change my mind; and if I persevere in an obstinate refusal, to use violence. But my dear husband's presence removes all my disquiet.'

'I think,' replied Aladdin, 'I have found means to deliver you from your enemy and mine: to execute this design, it is necessary for me to go to the town. I shall return by noon, and will then communicate my plan to you, and tell you what you must do to ensure success. But that you may not be surprised, I think it proper to tell you that I shall change my apparel, and beg you to give orders that I may not wait long at the private door, but that it may be opened at the first knock,' all of which the princess promised to observe.

When Aladdin had got out of the palace by that door, he looked round about him on all sides, and perceiving a peasant going into the country, he hastened after him; and when he had overtaken him, made a proposal to him to change clothes, which the man agreed to. They made the exchange; the countryman went about his business, and Aladdin to the city. After traversing several streets, he came to that part of the town where all sorts of merchants and artisans had their particular streets, according to their trades. He went into that of the druggists; and going into one of the largest and best shops, asked the druggist if he had a certain powder which he named.

The druggist regarding Aladdin from his clothes as very poor, told him he had it, but that it was very dear; upon which Aladdin, penetrating into his thoughts, pulled out his purse, and showing him some gold, asked for half a drachm of the powder, which the druggist weighed, and wrapped up in a piece of paper, and gave him, telling him the price was a piece of gold. Aladdin put the money into his hand, and staying no longer in the town, except just to get a little refreshment, returned to the palace, where he waited not long at the private door. When he came into the princess's apartment, he said to her, 'Princess, perhaps the aversion you tell me you have for the magician may hinder your doing what I am going to propose; but give me leave to tell you, it is proper that you should dissemble a little, and do violence to your feelings, if you would deliver yourself from him, and give the sultan your father the satisfaction of seeing you again.

'If you will take my advice,' continued he, 'dress yourself this moment in one of your richest robes, and when the African magician comes, give him the best reception; receive him with an open countenance, without constraint. From your conversation, let him suppose that you strive to forget me. Invite him to sup with you, and give him to understand you should be glad to taste of some of the best wines of his country. He will go and fetch you some. During his absence, put this powder into one of the cups, and setting it by, charge the slave who attends you to bring you that cup at a signal you shall agree on with her. When the magician and you have eaten and drunk as much as you choose, let her bring you the cup, and change cups with him. He will take it as so great a favour that he will not refuse you, and will drain the cup; but no sooner will he have drunk it off than you wih see him fall backwards.'

When Aladdin had finished, 'I own,' answered the princess, 'I shall do myself great violence in consenting to make the magician such advances as I see are absolutely necessary for me to make; but what cannot one resolve to do against a cruel enemy? I will therefore follow your advice.' After the princess had agreed to the measures proposed by Aladdin, he took his leave of her, and went and spent the rest of the day in the neighbourhood of the palace till it was night, when he might safely return to the private door.

The Princess Badroulboudour, who was inconsolable at being separated not only from her dear husband, but also from the sultan her father, had, ever since that cruel separation, lived in great neglect of her person. She had almost forgotten to keep herself neat, particularly after the first time the magician paid her a visit; for she learned from some of the women, who knew him again, that it was he who took the old lamp in exchange for a new one, which notorious cheat rendered the sight of him more abhorrent. However, the opportunity of punishing him as he deserved made her resolve to gratify Aladdin. As soon, therefore, as he was gone, she sat down at her toilet, and was dressed by her women to the best advantage, in the richest robes. Her girdle was of the finest and largest diamonds set with gold, which she matched in a necklace of pearls, six on a side, so well setting off the one in the middle, which was the largest and most valuable, that the greatest sultanesses and queens would have been proud to be adorned with only two of the smallest. Her bracelets were of diamonds and rubies intermixed.

When the Princess Badroulboudour was completely dressed, she consulted her glass and her women as to how she looked, and when she found she would easily be able to flatter the foolish magician, she sat down on a sofa, awaiting his arrival.

The magician came at the usual hour, and as soon as he entered the great hall, where the princess waited to receive him, she rose up and pointed with her hand to the most honourable place, waiting till he sat down, that she might sit at the same time, which was a piece of civility she had never shown him before.

The African magician was very much surprised. The majestic and graceful air with which she received him, so opposed to her former behaviour, quite bewildered him.

When he had sat down, the princess, to free him from his embarrassment, broke silence first, and said, 'You are doubtless amazed to find me so much altered to-day from what I used to be; but your surprise will not be so great when I tell you that I am naturally of a disposition so opposed to melancholy and grief, sorrow and uneasiness, that I always strive to put them as far away as possible when I find the reason of them is past. I have reflected on what you told me of Aladdin's fate, and know the sultan my father's temper so well that I am persuaded that Aladdin could not escape the terrible effects of his rage; therefore, should I continue to lament him all my life, my tears cannot recall him. To begin to cast off all melancholy, I am resolved to banish it entirely; and, persuaded you will bear me company to-night, I have ordered a supper to be prepared; but as I have no wines except those of China, I have a great desire to taste the African wine, and doubt not you will get some of the best.'

The African magician, who had looked upon the happiness of coming so soon and so easily into the Princess Badroulboudour's good graces as impossible, could not think of words enough to express his gratitude: but to put an end the sooner to a conversation which would have embarrassed him, he turned it upon the wines of Africa, and said, 'Of all the advantages Africa can boast, that of producing the most excellent wines is one of the principal. I have a vessel of seven years old, which has never been broached; and it is indeed not praising it too much to say that it is the finest wine in the world. If my princess,' added he, 'will give me leave, I will go and fetch two bottles, and return again immediately.'

'I should be sorry to give you that trouble,' replied the princess; 'you had better send for them.'

'It is necessary I should go myself,' answered the African magician; 'for nobody but myself knows where the key of the cellar is laid, or has the secret to unlock the door.'

'If it be so,' said the princess, 'make haste back again; for the longer you stay, the greater will be my impatience, and we shall sit down to supper as soon as you come back.'

The African magician, full of hope, flew rather than ran, and returned quickly with the wine. The princess, not doubting in the least but that he would make haste, put with her own hand the powder Aladdin gave her into the cup that was set apart for that purpose. They sat down at the table opposite to each other, the magician's back towards the sideboard. The princess presented him with the best on the table, and said to him, 'If it pleases you, I will entertain you with a concert of vocal and instrumental music; but, as we are only two, I think conversation may be more agreeable.' This the magician took as a new favour.

After they had eaten some time, the princess called for some wine, and drank the magician's health; and afterwards said to him, 'Indeed you were right to commend your wine, since I never tasted any so delicious in my life.'

'Charming princess,' said he, holding in his hand the cup which had been presented to him, 'my wine becomes more exquisite by your approbation of it.'

'Then drink my health,' replied the princess; 'you will find I understand wines.' He drank the princess's health, and returning the cup, said, 'I think myself happy, princess, that I reserved this wine for so good an occasion; and I own I never before drank any so excellent in every respect.'

Presently, the princess, who had completely charmed the African magician by her civility and obliging behaviour, gave the signal to the slave who served them with wine, bidding her bring the cup which had been filled for herself, and at the same time bring the magician a full cup. When they both had their cups in their hands, she presented to him the cup which was in her hand, and held out her hand to receive his. He for his part hastened to make the exchange with the greater pleasure because he looked upon this favour as the most certain token of an entire conquest over the princess, which raised his happiness to its height. Before he drank, he said to her, with the cup in his hand, 'Indeed, I shall never, lovely princess, forget my recovering, by drinking out of your cup, that life which your cruelty, had it continued, would have made me despair of.'

The Princess Badroulboudour, who began to be tired of this barefaced foolishness of the African magician, interrupted him, and said, 'Let us drink first, and then say what you will afterwards'; and at the same time set the cup to her lips, while the African magician, who was eager to get his wine off first, drank up the very last drop. Then he fell backwards lifeless.

The princess had no occasion to order the back-door to be opened to Aladdin; for her women were so arranged from the great hall to the foot of the staircase, that the word was no sooner given that the African magician was fallen backwards than the door was opened that instant.

As soon as Aladdin entered the hall, he saw the magician stretched backwards on the sofa. The Princess Badroulboudour rose from her seat, and ran overjoyed to embrace him; but he stopped her, and said, 'Princess, it is not yet time; oblige me by retiring to your apartment, and let me be left alone a moment, while I endeavour to transport you back to China as quickly as you were brought from thence.'

When the princess, her women and attendants, had gone out of the hall, Aladdin shut the door, and going to the dead body of the magician, opened his vest, and took out the lamp carefully wrapt up; and on his unfolding and rubbing it, the genie immediately appeared. 'Genie,' said Aladdin, 'I command thee, on the part of thy good mistress this lamp, to transport this palace directly into China.' The genie bowed his head in token of obedience, and disappeared. Immediately the palace was transported into China, and its removal was only felt by two little shocks, the one when it was lifted up, the other when it was set down, and both in a very short interval of time.

Aladdin went down to the princess' apartment, and embracing her, said, 'I can assure you, princess, that your joy and mine will be complete to-morrow morning.' The princess, who had not quite finished supper, guessed that Aladdin might be hungry, and ordered the meats that were served up in the great hall, and were scarcely touched, to be brought down. The princess and Aladdin ate as much as they thought fit, and drank in like manner of the African magician's old wine; then they retired to rest.

From the time of the transportation of Aladdin's palace, and of the Princess Badroulboudour in it, the sultan, that princess's father, was inconsolable. He hardly slept night or day, and instead of taking measures to avoid everything that could keep up his affliction, he indulged it; he went now many time in the day to renew his tears, and plunged himself into the deepest melancholy.

The very morning of the return of Aladdin's palace, the sultan went, at break of day, into his room to indulge his sorrows. Centred in himself, and in a pensive mood, he cast his eyes in a melancholy manner towards the place where he remembered the palace once stood, expecting only to see an open space. Perceiving that vacancy filled up, he at first imagined it to be the effect of a fog; but looking more attentively, he was convinced beyond the power of doubt that it was his son-in-law's palace. Then joy and gladness succeeded to sorrow and grief. He immediately ordered a horse to be saddled, which he mounted that instant, thinking he could not make haste enough to get to Aladdin's palace.

Aladdin, who foresaw what would happen, rose that morning by daybreak, put on one of the most magnificent robes his wardrobe afforded, and went up into the hall of twenty-four windows, from whence he perceived the sultan coming, and got down soon enough to receive him at the foot of the great staircase, and to help him to dismount. 'Aladdin,' said the sultan, 'I cannot speak to you till I have seen and embraced my daughter.'

He led the sultan into the Princess Badroulboudour's apartment. She had been told by him when he rose that she was no longer in Africa, but in China, and in the capital of the sultan her father. The sultan embraced her with his face bathed in tears of joy.

At last the sultan broke silence, and said, 'You have undergone a great deal; for a large palace cannot be so suddenly transported, as yours has been, without great fright and terrible anguish. Tell me all that has happened, and conceal nothing from me.'

The princess, who took great pleasure in complying, gave the sultan a full account of how the African magician disguised himself like a seller of lamps, and offered to change new lamps for old ones; and how she amused herself in making that exchange, being entirely ignorant of the secret and importance of the lamp; how the palace and herself were carried away and transported into Africa, with the African magician, who was recollected by two of her women when he had the boldness to pay her the first visit after the success of his audacious enterprise, to propose that she should marry him; how he persecuted her till Aladdin's arrival; how he and she concerted measures together to get the lamp again, which he carried about him, and the success they had; and how she had invited him to supper, and had given him the cup with the powder, prepared for him. 'For the rest,' added she, 'I leave it to Aladdin to give you an account.'

Aladdin had not much to tell the sultan, but only said, 'When the private door was opened, I went into the great hall, where I found the magician lying dead on the sofa. As soon as I was alone, and had taken the lamp out of the magician's breast, I made use of the same secret as he had done to remove the palace, and carry off the princess; and by that means the palace was brought into the same place where it stood before; and I have the happiness to bring back the princess to your majesty, as you commanded me. But that your majesty may not think that I impose upon you, if you will go up into the hall, you shall see the magician, punished as he deserved.'

The sultan, to be assured of the truth, rose up instantly, and went up into the hall, and when he saw the African magician dead, he embraced Aladdin with great tenderness, and said, 'My son, be not displeased at my proceedings against you; they arose from my love for my daughter, and therefore you ought to forgive the excesses to which it hurried me.'

'Sir,' replied Aladdin, 'I have not the least reason to complain of your majesty's conduct, since you did nothing but what your duty required of you. This infamous magician, the basest of men, was the sole cause of my misfortune. When your majesty has leisure, I will give you an account of another villainous action he was guilty of to me, which was no less black and base than this, from which I was preserved in a very strange manner.'

'I will take an opportunity, and that very shortly,' replied the sultan, 'to hear it; but in the meantime let us think only of rejoicing, and the removal of this odious object.'

Aladdin ordered the magician's dead carcass to be removed. In the meantime the sultan commanded the drums, trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments of music to sound, and a feast of ten days to be proclaimed for joy at the return of the Princess Badroulboudour, and Aladdin with his palace.

Thus Aladdin escaped a second time the danger of losing his life.

But the African magician had a younger brother, who was as great a necromancer, and even surpassed him in villainy and pernicious designs. As they did not live together, or in the same city, but oftentimes when one was in tho cast the other was in the west, they each failed not every year to discover by their art where the other was, and whether he stood in need of any assistance.

Some time after the African magician had failed in his enterprise against Aladdin's happiness, his younger brother, who had not heard any tidings of him for a year, and was not in Africa, but in a distant country, was anxious to know in what part of the world he was, how he did, and what he was doing; and as he, as well as his brother, always carried a geomantic square instrument about with him, he prepared the sand, cast the points, and drew the figures. On examining the 'houses' he found that his brother was no longer living, that he had been poisoned, and died suddenly; that it had happened in the capital of the kingdom of China, and that the person who had poisoned him was of low birth, and married to a princess, a sultan's daughter.

When the magician had after this manner learned his brother's fate, he lost no time in useless regret, which could not restore him to life again, but resolving immediately to avenge his deaths he took horse, and set out for China, where, after crossing plains, rivers, mountains, deserts, and a long tract of country, without stopping, he arrived after incredible fatigue.

When he came to the capital of China, which his knowledge of geomancy pointed out to him, he took a lodging. The next day he went out and walked through the town, not so much to observe its beauties, to which he was indifferent, as to take proper measures to execute his pernicious design. He went into the most frequented places, where he listened to everybody's conversation. In a place where people went to play at all sorts of games, he heard some persons talking of the virtue and piety of a woman called Fatima, who had retired from the world, and of the miracles she performed. As he fancied that this woman might be serviceable to him for the project he had in his head, he took one of the company aside, and desired him to tell him more particularly who this holy woman was, and what sort of miracles she performed.

'What!' said the person whom he addressed, 'have you never seen or heard of her? She is the admiration of the whole town, for her fastings, her austerities, and her exemplary life. Except on Mondays and Fridays, she never stirs out of her little cell; and the days on which she comes into the town she does an infinite deal of good; for there is not a person who has the headache who is not cured by her laying her hand upon him.'

The magician wanted no further information. He only asked in what part of the town this holy woman's cell was. After he had been told, he determined on a detestable design; and, that he might know the way again, and be fully informed, he watched her steps the first day she went out after he had made this enquiry, and never lost sight of her till evening, when he saw her re-enter her cell. Then he went to one of those houses where they sell a certain hot liquor, and where any person may pass the night, particularly during the great heats, when the people of that country prefer lying on a mat to going to bed. About midnight, after the magician had paid the master of the house for what little he had called for, he went direct to the cell of Fatima, the holy woman. He had no difficulty in opening the door, which was only fastened with a latch, and he shut it again after he had got in, without any noise. When he entered the cell he perceived Fatima in the moonlight lying on a sofa covered only by an old mat, with her head leaning against the wall. He awakened her, and clapped a dagger to her breast.

Poor Fatima, opening her eyes, was very much surprised to see a man with a dagger at her breast ready to stab her. 'If you cry out,' he said, 'or make the least noise, I will kill you; but get up and do as I bid you.'

Fatima, who had lain down in her clothes, got up, trembling with fear. 'Do not be so frightened,' said the magician; 'I only want your gown: give it me at once, and take mine.' Accordingly Fatima and he changed clothes. Then he said, 'Colour my face as yours is, that I may look like you;' but perceiving that the poor creature could not help trembling, he said, 'I tell you again, you need not fear anything; I will not take away your life. Fatima lighted her lamp, and made him come into the cell; and taking a pencil, and dipping it in a certain liquor, she rubbed it over his face and assured him that the dye would not change, and that his face was of the same colour as her own; after which, she put her own head-dress on his head, with a veil, with which she showed him how to hide his face as he passed through the town. After this, about his neck she put a long string of beads, which hung down to his waist, and, giving him the stick she was accustomed to walk with, she brought him a looking-glass, and bade him see if he were not as like her as possible. The magician found himself as much disguised as he wished to be; but he did not keep the promise he so solemnly gave to the good Fatima, for he killed her at once.

The magician, thus disguised like the holy woman, spent the remainder of the night in the cell. The next morning, two hours after sunrise, though it was not the day the holy woman used to go out, he crept out of the cell, being well persuaded that nobody would ask him any question about it; or, if they should, he had an answer ready for them. As one of the first things he had done after his arrival was to find out Aladdin's palace, he went straight thither.

As soon as the people saw the holy woman, as they imagined him to be, they gathered about him in a great crowd. Some begged his blessing, others kissed his hand, and some, more reserved, only the hem of his garment; while others, if their heads ached, or they desired to be preserved against headache, stooped for him to lay his hands upon them; which he did, muttering some words in form of a prayer. In short, he counterfeited so well that everybody took him for the holy woman.

After stopping frequently to satisfy these people, who received neither good nor harm from his imposition of hands, he came at last to the square before Aladdin's palace. The crowd was so great that the eagerness to get at him increased in proportion. Those who were the most zealous and strong forced their way through the crowd to get near. There were such quarrels and so great a noise that the princess, who was in the hall of the four-and-twenty windows, heard it, and asked what was the matter; but nobody being able to give an account, she ordered them to go and see. One of her women looked out of a window, and told her that a great crowd of people was gathered about the holy woman, to be cured of the headache by the imposition of her hands.

The princess, who had for a long time heard a great deal of this holy woman, but had never seen her, felt great curiosity to have some conversation with her, and immediately sent four chamberlains for the pretended holy woman.

As soon as the crowd saw the chamberlains coming, they made way, and the magician advanced to meet them, overjoyed to find his plot work so well. 'Holy woman,' said one of the officers, 'the princess wants to see you, and has sent us for you.'

'The princess does me too great an honour,' replied the false Fatima, 'but I am ready to obey her command,' and he followed the chamberlains into the palace.

When the magician, who under a holy garment disguised such a wicked heart, was introduced into the great hall, and perceived the princess, he began a prayer, which contained a long enumeration of vows and good wishes for the princess' health and prosperity, and that she might have everything she desired. Then he displayed all his deceitful, hypocritical rhetoric, to insinuate himself into the princess' favour under the cloak of piety, which it was no hard matter for him to do; for as the princess herself was naturally good, she was easily persuaded that all the world was like her, especially those who made profession of serving God in solitary retreat.

When the pretended Fatima had made an end of his long harangue, the princess said to him, 'I thank you, good mother, for your prayers. Come and sit by me.' The false Fatima sat down with affected modesty: then the princess said, 'My good mother, I have one thing to ask you, which you must not refuse me; which is, to stay with me, that you may teach me your way of living, and that I may learn from your good example.'

'Princess,' said the counterfeit Fatima, 'I beg of you not to ask what I cannot consent to, without neglecting my prayers and devotions.'

'That shall be no hindrance to you,' answered the princess, 'I have a great many apartments unoccupied; you shall choose which you like best, and shall have as much liberty to perform your devotions as if you were in your own cell.'

The magician, who wanted nothing better than to introduce himself into Aladdin's palace, where it would be a much easier matter for him to execute his pernicious design, under the favour and protection of the princess, than if he had been forced to come and go from the cell to the palace, did not urge much to excuse himself from accepting the obliging offer the princess made him. 'Princess,' said he, 'whatever resolutions a poor wretched woman, such as I am, may have made to renounce the pomp and grandeur of this world, I dare not presume to oppose the will and command of so pious and charitable a princess.'

Upon this the princess rose up and said, 'Come along with me, I will show you what empty apartments I have, that you may make choice of those which you like best.' The magician followed the Princess Badroulboudour, and made choice of that which was the most poorly furnished, saying, 'It is too good for me; I only accept it to please you.'

Then the princess wished to take him back again into the great hall to dine with her; but considering that then he would be obliged to show his face, which he had all the time taken care to hide, and fearing that the princess might find out that he was not Fatima, he begged her earnestly to dispense with him, telling her that he never ate anything but bread and dried fruits, and that he desired to eat a slight repast in his own room. This the princess granted him, saying, 'You may be as free here, good mother, as if you were in your own cell. I will order you a dinner, but, remember, I shall expect you as soon as you have finished.'

After the princess had dined, the false Fatima failed not to wait upon her. 'My good mother,' said the princess, 'I am overjoyed to have the company of so holy a woman as yourself, who will confer a blessing upon this palace. But now that I am speaking of this palace, pray how do you like it? And before I show you the rest, tell me first what you think of this hall.'

At this question the counterfeit Fatima, who, to act his part the better, pretended to hang down his head, without so much as ever once lifting it, at last looked up; and, surveying the hall from one end to the other, he said to the princess, 'As far as such a solitary being as I can judge, this hall is truly admirable and most beautiful; it lacks but one thing.'

'What is that, good mother?' answered the Princess Badroulboudour, 'tell me, I implore you. For my part, I have always believed and have heard that it lacked nothing; but if it does, that want shall be supplied.'

'Princess,' said the false Fatima, with great dissimulation, 'forgive me for the liberty I have taken; but if my opinion can be of any importance, it is that if a roc's egg were hung up in the middle of the dome, this hall would have no parallel in the four quarters of the world, and your palace would be the wonder of the universe.'

'My good mother,' said the princess, 'what is a roc, and where could I get an egg?'

'Princess,' replied the pretended Fatima, 'it is a bird of prodigious size, which inhabits the top of Mount Caucasus; the architect who built your palace can get you one.'

After the Princess Badroulboudour had thanked the false Fatima for what she believed her good advice, she conversed with her upon other matters, but she could not forget the roc's egg, of which she determined to tell Aladdin when he returned from hunting. He had been gone six days, which the magician knew, and therefore took advantage of his absence. But he returned that evening after the false Fatima had taken leave of the princess, and retired to his room. As soon as he arrived, Aladdin went straight up to the princess' apartment, and saluted and embraced her. She seemed to receive him coldly. 'My princess,' said he, 'I think you are not so cheerful as usual. Has anything happened during my absence to give you any trouble or dissatisfaction? If so, do not conceal it from me. I will leave nothing undone that is in my power to please you.'

'It is a trifling matter,' replied the princess, 'which gives me so little concern that I should not have thought you would perceive it in my countenance. But since you have unexpectedly discovered it, I will no longer disguise a matter of so little consequence from you.'

'I always believed, as you did,' continued the Princess Badroulboudour, 'that our palace was the most superb, magnificent, and complete one in the world, but I will tell you now what I find fault with upon examining the hall of four-and-twenty windows. Do you not think, with me, that it would be better if a roc's egg were hung up in the midst of the dome?'

'Princess,' replied Aladdin, 'it is enough that you think it needs such a thing. You shall see by my diligence that there is nothing which I would not do for your sake.'

Aladdin left the Princess Badroulboudour that very moment, and went up into the hall of four-and-twenty windows. Pulling out of his bosom the lamp, which, after the danger he had been exposed to, he always carried about with him, he rubbed it, upon which the genie immediately appeared. 'Genie,' said Aladdin, 'there ought to be a roc's egg hung up in the midst of the dome. I command thee, in the name of this lamp, to repair the deficiency.'

Aladdin had no sooner pronounced these words than the genie gave so loud and terrible a cry that the hall shook, and Aladdin could scarcely stand upright. 'What! wretch,' said the genie, in a voice that would have made the most undaunted man tremble, 'is it not enough that I and my companions have done everything for you, that you, with unheard-of ingratitude, must command me to bring my master, and hang him up in the midst of this dome? This attempt deserves that you, your wife, and your palace should be immediately reduced to ashes. You are fortunate, however, in not being the real author of this request. It does not come from yourself. Know, then, that the true author is the brother of the African magician, your enemy, whom you have destroyed as he deserved. He is now in your palace, disguised in the clothes of the holy woman Fatima, whom he has murdered, and it is he who has suggested to your wife to make this pernicious demand. His design is to kill you, therefore take care of yourself.' After these words the genie disappeared.

Aladdin lost not a word of what the genie had said. He had heard of the holy woman Fatima, and how she could cure the headache. He returned to the princess' apartment, and without mentioning a word of what had happened, he sat down, and complained of a great pain which had suddenly seized his head. Upon this the princess immediately ordered the holy woman to be fetched, and told Aladdin how she had come to the palace.

When the pretended Fatima came, Aladdin said, 'Come hither, good mother; I am glad to see you here at so fortunate a time. I am tormented with a violent pain in my head, and request your assistance. I hope you will not refuse me that kindness which you have done to so many persons afflicted with the headache.' So saying, he rose up, but held down his head.

The counterfeit Fatima advanced towards him, with his hand all the time on a dagger, concealed in his girdle under his gown. Aladdin saw this, and, seizing his hand, pierced him to the heart with his own dagger, and then threw him down on the floor dead.

'My dear husband, what have you done?' cried the princess in surprise. 'You have killed the holy woman!'

'No, my princess,' answered Aladdin, without emotion, 'I have not killed Fatima, but a wicked wretch that would have assassinated me, if I had not prevented him. This wicked man,' added he, uncovering his face, 'has strangled Fatima, whom you accuse me of killing, and disguised himself in her clothes, to come and murder me. He is the brother of the African magician.' Then Aladdin told her how he came to know these particulars, and afterwards ordered the dead body to be taken away.

Thus was Aladdin delivered from the persecution of the two magicians. Within a few years afterwards, the sultan died in a good old age, and the Princess Badroulboudour, as lawful heir of the crown, succeeded him. She shared her power with Aladdin, and they reigned together many years, and left a numerous and illustrious posterity behind them.