Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
As predicted by Aladdin, when the sultan saw the gift of gems, he was dazzled and accepted the proposal of marriage of Aladdin to his daughter Badrou'l-Boudour.
But the grand-vizier is delaying the wedding. He is definitely hostile to Aladdin and nobody knows yet what other impediment he will put in Aladdin's way.
ON THE EIGHTEENTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
The sultan began to laugh kindly, and said to Aladdin's mother: “O poor woman, what are you wearing in this scarf which you hold by the four corners?"
Then Aladdin's mother silently untied the scarf and, without adding another word, presented the sultan with the porcelain dish on which were arranged the jeweled fruits. And immediately the whole diwan was illuminated with their brilliance, much more than if it had been illuminated by chandeliers and torches. And the sultan was dazzled by their clarity and was taken aback by their beauty. Then he took the porcelain from the good woman's hands and examined the marvelous gems, one after the other, taking them between his fingers. And he remained for a long time looking at them and feeling them, bordering on admiration. And he ended by exclaiming, turning to his grand-vizier: “By the life of my head! O my vizier, how beautiful all this is, and how marvelous these fruits are! Have you ever seen such or have you ever heard of the existence of such wonderful things on the face of the earth? What do you think? tell me!" And the vizier replied, "Verily, O great king, I have never seen nor heard of such wonderful things! Of course, these jewels are unique in their kind! And the most precious jewels in our king's cupboard are not worth, put together, the smallest of these fruits! No, I don't think so!" And the king said: "And is it not, O my vizier, that the young Aladdin who sends me, with his mother, such a beautiful present, deserves without any doubt, and much more than any king's son, to have his request for marriage with my daughter Badrou'l-Boudour approved? »
At this question from the king, which he was far from expecting, the vizier became very changed in complexion and very tied in tongue and very grieved! Because the sultan had promised him, for a very long time, not to grant the princess in marriage to anyone other than a son he had and who had been burning with love for her since childhood. So, after a long moment of perplexity, emotion, and silence, he finally replied in a very sad voice: “Yes, O king of time! But Your Serenity forgets that she promised the princess to the son of your slave! I, therefore, ask you in favor, if this gift from a stranger really pleases you, to grant me only a period of three months, at the end of which I undertake to find myself a present even more beautiful than this here to offer as a dowry, for my son, to our king!"
Now the king, who knew well, because of his knowledge of jewels and precious stones, that no man on earth, whether he was the son of a king or a sultan, would be able to find a gift approaching, near or far, these marvels unique in their kind, did not want to offend his old vizier by refusing him the delay he was asking for, however useless it was; and, in his benevolence, he replied: “Certainly! O my vizier, I grant you the delay you request. But know well that at the end of these three months, if you have not succeeded in finding, for your son, a dowry to offer me for my daughter which surpasses or even only equals the dowry offered to me by this woman in the name of her son Aladdin, I would have done everything possible for your son, because of your good and loyal service!" Then he turned to Aladdin's mother and said, with great affability: "O Aladdin's mother, you may return in joy and safety to your son, and tell him that his request is granted and that my daughter is now in his name! But tell him that the wedding can only take place in three months, to give us time to have my daughter's trousseau prepared and the furnishing fitted for a princess of her quality!"
And Aladdin's mother, extremely moved, raised her arms to heaven, made wishes for the sultan's prosperity and long life, and took leave to immediately, once out of the palace, fly away with joy to her house. And, as soon as she had entered, Aladdin saw her face lit up with happiness and ran to her and, much troubled, asked her: "Well, O mother, shall I live or shall I die?" And the poor woman, exhausted with fatigue, began by sitting down on the divan and removing her veil from her face, and said: “I bring you good news, O Aladdin! The sultan's daughter is now in your name! And your gift, as you see, is accepted with joy and contentment! Only, your marriage with Badrou'l-Boudour can only take place in three months! And this delay is due to the grand-vizier, this calamitous beard, who spoke in secret to the king and suggested postponing the ceremony, I don't know for what reason! But, Inshallah! only good will happen! And your desire will be satisfied beyond all expectation, oh my child!" Then she added: “As for this grand-vizier, O my son, may Allah curse him and reduce him to the worst condition! For I am very worried about what he may have said in the king's ear! Without him, the marriage will take place, apparently, today or tomorrow, so delighted was the king with the jeweled fruits of the porcelain dish!"
Then, without stopping and without breathing, she told her son everything that had happened from her entry into the diwan until her exit and ended by saying: "May Allah preserve the life of our glorious sultan, and keep the happiness that awaits you, O my son Aladdin...
— At this point in her narration, Scheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
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