The Story of Aladdin, or The Magic Lamp
Part 5
Catagory:Fiction
Author:Translated BY MALCOLM C. LYONS( THE ARABIAN NIGHTS TALES OF 1001 NIGHTS)
Posted Date:06/03/2025
Posted By:utopia online
While I am making a fire, you go and gather the driest bushes you can
find for kindling.’ There was such a quantity of brushwood that Aladdin had soon amassed more than enough in the time that the magician was still
starting up the fire. He set light to the pile and the moment the twigs
caught fire, the magician threw on to them some incense that he had
ready at hand. A dense smoke arose, which he made to disperse right
and left by pronouncing some words of magic, none of which Aladdin
could understand. At the same moment, the earth gave a slight tremor and opened up in front of Aladdin and the magician, revealing a stone about one and a half feet square and about one foot deep, lying horizontally on the
ground; fixed in the middle was a ring of bronze with which to lift it up.
Aladdin, terrified at what was happening before his very eyes, would
have fled if the magician had not held him back, for he was necessary
for this mysterious business.
He scolded him soundly and gave him such a blow that he was flung to the ground with such force that his front teeth were very nearly pushed back into his mouth, judging from the blood which poured out. Poor Aladdin, trembling all over and in tears, asked his uncle: ‘What have I done for you to hit me so roughly?’ ‘I have my reasons for doing this,’ replied the magician. ‘I am your uncle and at present take the place of your father. You shouldn’t answer me back.’ Softening his tone a little, he went on: ‘But, my child, don’t be afraid. All I ask is that you obey me exactly if you want to benefit from and be worthy of the great advantages I propose to give you.’ These fine
promises somewhat calmed Aladdin’s fear and resentment, and when the
magician saw he was completely reassured, he went on: ‘You have seen
what I have done by virtue of my incense and by the words that I what I have done by virtue of my incense and by the words that I
pronounced. Know now that beneath the stone that you see is hidden a
treasure which is destined for you and which will one day make you
richer than the greatest kings in all the world. It’s true, you are the only
person in the world who is allowed to touch this stone and to lift it to go
inside. Even I am not allowed to touch it and to set foot in the treasure
house when it is opened. Consequently, you must carry out step by step
everything I am going to tell you, not omitting anything. The matter is of
the utmost importance, both for you and for me.’
Aladdin, still in a state of astonishment at all he saw and at what he
had just heard the magician say about this treasure, which was to make
him happy for evermore, got up, forgetting what had just happened to
him, and asked: ‘Tell me then, uncle, what do I have to do? Command
me, I am ready to obey you.’ ‘I am delighted, my child, that you have
made this decision,’ replied the magician, embracing him. ‘Come here,
take hold of this ring and lift up the stone.’ ‘But uncle, I am not strong
enough – you must help me,’ Aladdin cried, to which his uncle replied:
‘No, you don’t need my help and we would achieve nothing, you and I, if
I were to help you. You must lift it up all by yourself. Just say the names
of your father and your grandfather as you hold the ring, and lift. You
will find that it will come without any difficulty.’ Aladdin did as the
magician told him. He lifted the stone with ease and laid it aside.
When the stone was removed, there appeared a cavity about three to
four feet deep, with a small door and steps for descending further. ‘My
son,’ said the magician to Aladdin, ‘follow carefully what I am going to
tell you to do.
Go down into this cave and when you get to the foot of
the steps which you see, you will find an open door that will lead you
into a vast vaulted chamber divided into three large rooms adjacent to
into a vast vaulted chamber divided into three large rooms adjacent to
each other. In each room, you will see, on the right and the left, four
very large bronze jars, full of gold and silver – but take care not to touch
them. Before you go into the first room, pull up your gown and wrap it
tightly around you. Then when you have entered, go straight to the
second room and the third room, without stopping. Above all, take great
care not to go near the walls, let alone touch them with your gown, for if
you do, you will immediately die; that’s why I told you to keep it tightly
wrapped around you. At the end of the third room there is a gate which
leads into a garden planted with beautiful trees laden with fruit. Walk
straight ahead and cross this garden by a path which will take you to a
staircase with fifty steps leading up to a terrace.
When you are on the terrace, you will see in front of you a niche in which there is a lighted lamp. Take the lamp and put it out and when you have thrown away the
wick and poured off the liquid, hold it close to your chest and bring it to
me. Don’t worry about spoiling your clothes – the liquid is not oil and
the lamp will be dry as soon as there is no more liquid in it. If you fancy
any of the fruits in the garden, pick as many as you want – you are
allowed to do so.’ When he had finished speaking, the magician pulled a ring from his finger and put it on one of Aladdin’s fingers, telling him it would protect him from any harm that might come to him if he followed all his
instructions. ‘Be bold, my child,’ he then said. ‘Go down; you and I are
both going to be rich for the rest of our lives.’
Lightly jumping into the cave, Aladdin went right down to the bottom
of the steps. He found the three rooms which the magician had described
to him, passing through them with the greatest of care for fear he would
die if he failed scrupulously to carry out all he had been told. He crossed the garden without stopping, climbed up to the terrace, took the lamp
alight in its niche, threw away the wick and the liquid, and as soon as
this had dried up as the magician had told him, he held it to his chest.
He went down from the terrace and stopped in the garden to look more
closely at the fruits which he had seen only in passing. The trees were all
laden with the most extraordinary fruit: each tree bore fruits of different
colours – some were white; some shining and transparent like crystals;
some pale or dark red; some green; some blue or violet; some light
yellow; and there were many other colours. The white fruits were pearls;
the shining, transparent ones diamonds; the dark red were rubies, while
the lighter red were spinel rubies; the green were emeralds; the blue
turquoises; the violet amethysts; the light yellow were pale sapphires;
and there were many others, too.
All of them were of a size and a perfection the like of which had never before been seen in the world. Aladdin, however, not recognizing either their quality or their worth, was unmoved by the sight of these fruits, which were not to his taste –
he would have preferred real figs or grapes, or any of the other excellent
fruit common in China. Besides, he was not yet of an age to appreciate
their worth, believing them to be but coloured glass and therefore of
little value. But the many wonderful shades and the extraordinary size
and beauty of each fruit made him want to pick one of every colour. In
fact, he picked several of each, filling both pockets as well as two new
purses which the magician had bought him at the same time as the new
clothes he had given him so that everything he had should be new. And
as the two purses would not fit in his pockets, which were already full,
he attached them to either side of his belt.
Some fruits he even wrapped in the folds of his belt, which was made of a wide strip of silk wound several times around his waist, arranging them so that they could no fall out. Nor did he forget to cram some around his chest, between his gown and his shirt.Thus weighed down with such, to him, unknown wealth, Aladdin hurriedly retraced his steps through the three rooms so as not to keep the magician waiting too long. After crossing them as cautiously as he had before, he ascended the stairs he had come down and arrived at the entrance of the cave, where the magician was impatiently awaiting him.
As soon as he saw him, Aladdin cried out: ‘Uncle, give me your hand, I
beg of you, to help me climb out.’ ‘Son,’ the magician replied, ‘first, give
me the lamp, as it could get in your way.’ ‘Forgive me, uncle,’ Aladdin
rejoined, ‘but it’s not in my way; I will give it you as soon as I get out.’
But the magician persisted in wanting Aladdin to hand him the lamp
before pulling him out of the cave, while Aladdin, weighed down by this
lamp and by the fruits he had stowed about his person, stubbornly
refused to give it to him until he was out of the cave. Then the magician,
in despair at the young man’s resistance, fell into a terrible fury:
throwing a little of the incense over the fire, which he had carefully kept
alight, he uttered two magic words and immediately the stone which
served to block the entrance to the cave moved back in its place, with
the earth above it, just as it had been when the magician and Aladdin
had first arrived there. Now this magician was certainly not the brother of Mustafa the tailor, as he had proudly claimed, nor, consequently, was he Aladdin’s uncle. But he did indeed come from Africa, where he was born, and as Africa is a country where more than anywhere else the influence of magic persists, he had applied himself to it from his youth, and after forty years or so of practising magic and geomancy and burning incense and of
reading books on the subject, he had finally discovered that there was
somewhere in the world a magic lamp, the possession of which, could he
lay hands on it, would make him more powerful than any king in the
world. In a recent geomantic experiment, he had discovered that this
lamp was in an underground cave in the middle of China, in the spot and
with all the circumstances we have just seen. Convinced of the truth of
his discovery, he set out from the furthest part of Africa, as we have
related. After a long and painful journey, he had come to the city that
was closest to the treasure, but although the lamp was certainly in the
spot which he had read about, he was not allowed to remove it himself,
he had ascertained, nor could he himself enter the underground cave
where it was to be found. Someone else would have to go down into it,
take the lamp and then deliver it into his hands.
…cont
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