Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Now that Aladdin has learned from his mother that the sultan agreed to his marriage to Princess Badrou'l-Boudour, he prepared to finally go visit the sultan for the first time in his life.
And he does not prepare on the cheap!
ON THE TWENTY-SIXTH NIGHT
Sheherazade said:
And all the emirs and notables responded by bowing deeply to the ground three times, to show their assent to the words of their king.
Then the king hesitated no longer. And, without further worrying about whether Aladdin possessed all the qualities required of someone destined to become the husband of a king's daughter, he turned to Aladdin's mother, and said to her: " O venerable mother of Aladdin, I beg you to go and tell your son that, from that moment, he entered my race and my descendants, and I am only waiting to see him, to embrace him as a father kisses his child, and to unite him, by the Book and the Sunnah, to my daughter Badrou'l-Boudour! »
And Aladdin's mother, after the salams on both sides, hastened to retire and immediately, defying the speed of the wind, flew to her house and told her son what had just happened. And she urged him to hasten to present himself to the king, who was most impatient to see him. And Aladdin, whose wishes were satisfied by this news after such a long wait, did not want to show how drunk with joy he was. And, with a very calm air and a measured accent, he replied: “All this happiness comes to me from Allah and from your blessing, O mother, and from your tireless zeal!" And he kissed her hands, and thanked her very much, and asked her permission to retire to her room, to prepare to go to the sultan.
As soon as he found himself alone, Aladdin took the magic lamp, which had hitherto been so helpful to him, and rubbed it as usual. And instantly the genie appeared, who, after bowing before him, asked him, by the usual formula, what service he could render him. And Aladdin answered: “O genie of the lamp, I desire to take a bath! And, after the bath, I want you to bring me a dress that has no equal in magnificence among the greatest sultans of the earth, and is so beautiful that connoisseurs can estimate it at more than a million gold dinars, to say the least! And that's all for now!"
Then the genie of the lamp, after having bowed in sign of obedience, bowed his spine completely, and said to Aladdin: "Come up, O lord of the lamp, upon my shoulders!" And Aladdin climbed on the genie's shoulders, dangling his legs over his chest; and the genie lifted him up into the air, making him invisible like himself, and transported him to a hammam so beautiful that one could not find his brother among kings and kaïssars. And the hammam was all jade and transparent alabaster, with basins of pink carnelian and white coral and embellishments in emerald stone of charming delicacy. And the eyes and the senses could truly revel in it at their ease because nothing could offend the sight either by the whole or by the details! And the freshness there was delicious, and the warmth there was equal, and the heat there was measured and harmonious. And not a bather was there to disturb the peace of the white vaults with his presence or his voice. But as soon as the genie had placed Aladdin on the dais in the entrance hall, a handsome young genie, similar but more attractive to a damsel, appeared in front of him and helped him undress, and threw a large scented towel over his shoulders, held him up with great precaution and gentleness, and led him into the most beautiful of the rooms, which was entirely paved with jewels of various colors. And immediately other young genies, no less handsome and no less attractive, came to take him from the hands of their companion, seated him comfortably on a marble bench, and began to rub him and wash him with several kinds of scented waters. They massaged it with admirable art and washed it again with rosehip water. And their skillful care gave her a complexion as fresh as a rose petal and as white and vermilion as you wish. And he felt himself becoming so light that he would be able to fly away like the birds. And the handsome young efreet who had brought him came to take him back and lead him back to the platform, where he offered him, as refreshment, a delicious ambergris sorbet. And he found the genie of the lamp holding in his hands a garment of incomparable sumptuousness. And aided by the young genie with such soft hands, he put on this magnificence, and became like, with even more bearing, the son of a king among the great kings! And the genie of the lamp picked him up on his shoulders and carried him back to the bedroom of his house, without a jolt.
Then Aladdin turned to the genie of the lamp and said to him: "And now, do you know what you have to do?" He replied, “No, O lamp master! But command and I will obey, whether in the air I fly, or on the ground, I crawl!" And Aladdin said, "I want you to bring me a purebred horse, which has no handsome brother, no more in the stables of the sultan than in the most powerful monarchs of the world. And his harness alone must be worth at least a million gold dinars. At the same time, you will bring me forty-eight young slaves of beautiful build, of good size and full of grace, dressed with much cleanliness, elegance, and wealth, so that twenty-four of them, arranged in two files of twelve, can open the march in front of my horse, while the other twenty-four will follow behind me, in two files of twelve, also. In addition, you will not especially forget to find, for the service of my mother, twelve young girls like moons, unique in their kind, dressed with great taste and magnificence and carrying on their arms, each one, a dress of different fabric and color, and such as a king's daughter could wear with confidence! Finally, you will give each of my forty-eight slaves, to put around their necks, a bag of five thousand gold dinars, so that I can use it as I please.
And that's all I want from you, for today...
— At this point in her narration, Scheherazade saw the morning appear and quietly fell silent.
First Night - Second Night - Third Night - Fourth Night - Fifth Night - Sixth Night - Seventh Night
Eight Night - Ninth Night - Tenth Night - Eleventh Night - Twelfth Night - Thirtenth Night
Fourteenth Night - Fifteen Night - Sixteenth Night - Seventeenth Night - Eighteenth Night
Nineteenth Night - Twentieth Night - Twenty-first Night - Twenty-second Night - Twenty-third Night
Twenty-fourth Night - Twenty-fifth Night