Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Finally, during the 11th night, the genie of the lamp appears. And it is not Aladin that makes him appear, but his mother, while trying to clean the lamp, Aladdin had not yet realized that there was a good reason why the Maghrebi absolutely wanted the lamp. Now he knows.
Note that the genie does not say that they have only three wishes. The number of wishes is unlimited. And, indeed, in the rest of the story, the genie will grant many wishes to Aladdin.
ON THE ELEVENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
Now, the next day, when they woke up, Aladdin and his mother began to kiss each other a lot, and Aladdin told his mother that his adventure had corrected him forever from childishness and vagrancy and that he was now going to look for work, as a man. Then, as he was still hungry, he asked for lunch, and his mother said to him: “Alas! my son, all that was in the house, I gave it to you last night, and I have not a single piece of bread left. But be patient, until I can go sell the little cotton I've been spinning for the past few days and buy you something with the money from the sale!" But Aladdin replied, "Leave the cotton for another time, o my mother, and today take this old lamp which I brought from the underground, and go and sell it in the souk of the copper merchants. And probably you'll get some money out of it that'll keep us going all day!" And Aladdin's mother replied, "You are right, my son! And tomorrow I will take the glass balls which you have also brought from this cursed place, and I will go and sell them in the quarter of the negroes, who will buy them from me at a better price than the ordinary merchants!"
So Aladdin's mother took the lamp to sell it; but she found it very dirty, and said to Aladdin: “I will first, my son, clean this lamp which is dirty, to make it shiny and to be able to get the best price from it!" And she went to her kitchen, took a little ash in her hand, mixed it with water, and began to clean the lamp. Now, she had hardly begun to rub it when suddenly there appeared in front of her, out of nowhere, a frightful genie, certainly uglier than the one in the underground, and so huge that its head touched the ceiling. And he bowed before her and said in a loud voice: "I am in your hands, here, your slave! Speak, what do you want? I am the servant of the lamp, whether in the air I fly, or on the earth, I crawl!"
When Aladdin's mother saw this apparition which she was far from expecting, and as she was not accustomed to such things, she was nailed to her place in terror; and his tongue was tied, and his mouth was opened; and, maddened with terror and horror, she could bear no longer to have before her eyes so hideous and dreadful a face as that, and she fell fainting.
Then Aladdin, who was also in the kitchen, and who had already been somewhat accustomed to figures of this sort by the one, perhaps uglier and more monstrous, which he had seen in the vault, was not as moved as his mother. And he understood that this lamp was the cause of the appearance of the genie; and he hastened to take it from the hands of his mother, who was still unconscious; and he held it firmly between the ten fingers, and said to the genie: "O servant of the lamp, I am very hungry, and I desire that you bring me, to eat, extremely excellent stuff! And the genie disappeared immediately, but returned, a moment later, carrying on his head a large solid silver platter, on which were ranged twelve golden dishes full of fragrant and exquisite dishes to taste and sight, with six loaves all warm and white as snow and golden in the middle, two large flasks of a clear and excellent old wine, and, between his hands, an ebony stool inlaid with mother-of-pearl and silver and two silver cups. And he put the tray on the stool, quickly put away what needed to be put away, and, discreetly, disappeared.
Then Aladdin, seeing that his mother was still unconscious, threw rose water on her face, and this freshness, added to the delicious smells of the steaming dishes, did not fail to reunite the spirits which had been separated and to bring them back to life. the poor woman. And Aladdin hastened to say to her: “Come, o my mother, that is nothing! Get up and come eat! Thanks to Allah, here is something to completely restore your heart and senses and satisfy our hunger! Please, let's not let these excellent dishes get cold!"
When Aladdin's mother saw the silver tray placed on this beautiful stool, the twelve golden dishes with their contents, the six marvelous cakes, the two flasks, and the two cups, her sense of smell had been touched by the sublime perfume that was exhaled from all these good things, she forgot the circumstances of her fainting and said to Aladdin: “O my son, may Allah protect the life of our sultan! He must have heard of our poverty and sent us this tray by one of these cooks!" But Aladdin replied, “O my mother, this is no time for guessing or asking! Let's eat first, and then I'll tell you what happened."
Then Aladdin's mother came and sat down beside him, opening her eyes full of astonishment and admiration before such marvelous food; and both began to eat with great appetite. And they experienced such pleasure that they stayed around the tray for a long time, never tired of tasting such well-prepared dishes, so much so that they ended up joining together the morning meal and the evening meal. And when they were finally done, they put aside the meal's leftovers for the next day. And it was Aladdin's mother who went to put the dishes and their contents in the kitchen cupboard, only to return immediately to Aladdin to listen to what he had to tell her about this generous gift. And Aladdin then revealed to him what had happened, and how the genie servant of the lamp had carried out the order, without hesitation.
Then Aladdin's mother, who had listened to her son's story with growing terror, was seized with great agitation and exclaimed: "Ah! my son, I conjure you by the milk with which I nursed your childhood, to throw away from you this magic lamp and to get rid of this ring, gift of the cursed ifrits! for I will not be able a second time to bear the sight of such ugly and frightful figures, and I will certainly die of it. Besides, I feel that these dishes I have just eaten are going up my throat and are going to choke me. And then our prophet Mohammad (may He be blessed!) has recommended us to be on our guard against the genies and the ifrits, and never to seek their company! Aladdin replied, "Your words, my mother, are on my head and my eyes! But, truly, I cannot get rid of either the lamp or the ring! For the ring was of great help to me in saving me from certain death in the vault, and you have just witnessed for yourself the service rendered to us by this lamp which is so precious that the cursed Maghrebi hadn't hesitated to come from so far in search of it. However, my mother, to please you and for your sake, I will hide the lamp, so that the sight of it does not strike your eyes and cause you no fear in the future! And Aladdin's mother replied, "Do what you want, my son." But, for my part, I declare that I want to have no more to do with the ifrits, nor with the servant of the ring, nor with the servant of the lamp! And I don't want you to talk to me about it anymore, no matter what."
— At this point in her narration, Scheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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