* * *
Despite the delay of three months, Aladdin was overjoyed by the news, and told his mother, “Inasmuch as the king has given his word, I am extremely pleased and want to thank you with all my heart. Before this, I felt as though I were dead, and now you’ve restored my life. Praise be to Allah, for there is no man on the face of this earth happier or more fortunate than I am!”
Aladdin showed great patience during the next two months and looked forward to the wedding. Then, one day toward sundown, his mother went to the bazaar to buy some oil, and she found all the shops shut and the whole city decorated. The people were hanging wax candles and flowers in their windows, and she saw soldiers and mounted troops in processions and carrying torches. Surprised by such a marvelous sight and glamorous scene, she went into a store that carried oil and that was still open, and as she was buying the supplies she needed, she asked why there was such a commotion.
“You must be a stranger in town,” the shopkeeper replied.
“Not at all,” she said.
“You’re from this town, and you don’t know that this is the wedding night of the sultan’s daughter with the son of the grand vizier?” the shopkeeper asked. “How is that possible? Right now he’s in the Hammam, and all these soldiers are standing guard and waiting for him to come out. Then they will escort him in the bridal procession to the palace, where the princess is expecting him.”
When Aladdin’s mother heard these words, she was extremely upset and also at a loss as to how to inform her son about this distressing news. She knew that the poor boy had been looking forward to his marriage with the princess, hour by hour, and could hardly wait until the three months would elapse. But she knew she had to tell him about this quickly, and when she returned home, she said, “My son, I must tell you some bad news that will cause you a great deal of suffering.”
“Tell me right away,” he said.
“The sultan has broken his promise to you,” she said. “The grand vizier’s son is to marry his daughter this very night. For some time I had suspected that the minister would change the king’s mind, for I noticed how he whispered something to the sultan when your request was granted.”
“And how did you learn that the vizier’s son is to marry the princess tonight?” Aladdin asked.
Then she told him the whole story, how she had seen the closed shops, the decorations, the soldiers, and the processions, and Aladdin was overcome by grief and jealousy. However, after a short time, he remembered the lamp and recovered his spirits.
“Upon your life, Mother,” he said resolutely, “I don’t believe that the vizier’s son will enjoy the princess tonight. But let’s drop the subject. Please get up and serve me my supper. After that, I’m going to retire to my room. Don’t worry, everything will turn out well.”
After eating his meal, Aladdin locked himself in his room. Then he brought out the lamp and rubbed it. Immediately the jinnee appeared and said, “Ask whatever you want, for I am your slave and beholden to whoever holds the lamp, I and the other slaves of the lamp.”
“Hear me!” Aladdin commanded. “I asked the sultan for his daughter’s hand, and he gave his word that I could marry her after three months. But he has not kept his word and has given her to the vizier’s son. Indeed, this very night the vizier’s son is to enjoy her. Therefore, I order you, if you are indeed a trustworthy slave of the lamp, to carry the bride and bridegroom to this room tonight once they have gotten into bed. This is all I ask for the present.”
Thereupon the slave disappeared, and Aladdin rejoined his mother to spend the rest of the evening with her. But at the hour when he knew that the slave would be coming, he arose and retired to his room. After a little while, the marid arrived and brought with him the newlyweds in their bridal bed. Aladdin rejoiced to see them and cried out to the slave, “Carry that scoundrel into the privy and put him to sleep!”
The jinnee did as he was commanded right away, but before leaving the vizier’s son in the privy, he blew such a cold blast on him that the bridegroom shriveled and looked pitiful. Then the slave returned to Aladdin and said, “If you require anything else, just call me.”
“Return to me in the morning,” Aladdin said, “so that you can take them back to the palace.”
“As you command,” the jinnee said and vanished.
Soon Aladdin got up, hardly believing that the affair had been such a success, but when he looked at the Lady Badar al-Budur lying under his own roof, he knew everything had actually happened as he had planned it. However, he did not allow his burning desire to get the best of him and treated her with respect.
“Oh, most beautiful of princesses,” he said, “don’t think that I’ve brought you here to dishonor you. Heaven forbid! No, it was only to prevent the wrong man from enjoying you, for your sire, the sultan, promised you to me. Have no fear and rest in peace.”
Now, when the Lady Badar al-Budur saw herself in that dark and dismal apartment and heard Aladdin’s words, she began to tremble and was so petrified that she could not utter a reply. Soon the young man moved toward her, and after stripping off his outer dress, he placed a sword between them and lay down beside her. He did not come near the princess or do anything indecent, for all he wanted to do was to prevent the consummation of her nuptials with the vizier’s son. On the other hand, the Lady Badar al-Budur spent a terrible night in bed and did not sleep a wink. The same was true of the vizier’s son, who lay in the privy and did not dare to stir for fear that the jinnee might harm him.
As soon as it was morning, the slave appeared before Aladdin without the lamp being rubbed and said to him, “My lord, if you require anything, command me, and it will be done immediately.”
“Go and return the bride and bridegroom to their apartment,” said Aladdin.
So the slave carried out his order in the twinkle of an eye and carried the pair in their bed to the palace without their being able to see who was transporting them. Both were terribly frightened, and the marid had barely time to set them down again and disappear when the sultan came to visit and congratulate his daughter. Of course, as soon as the vizier’s son heard the doors thrown open, he sprang quickly from the bed and got dressed, for he knew that it could only be the king who would enter at that hour. Nonetheless, it was extremely difficult for him to leave his bed, in which he would have preferred to warm himself after spending the night in the cold and damp privy.
And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,
After entering the apartment, the sultan kissed his daughter on her forehead, wished her good morning, and asked whether she was satisfied with the bridegroom. But her only reply was a scowl, which forced him to repeat his question a few times. However, she refused to answer. So the king left the room, and after going to the queen, he informed her of what had taken place between him and his daughter. Since the mother did not want her husband to stay mad at their daughter, she said, “This is just the way young married couples are nowadays, at least during the first few days of marriage. They’re bashful and somewhat coy. So be patient and excuse her. After a while she’ll become herself again and speak with people just as she did before. To be on the safe side, I’ll go and see how she is.”
So the queen arose and donned her dress. When she entered her daughter’s room, she went over to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. However, the princess did not respond, causing the queen to say to herself, “Something strange has definitely happened, otherwise she wouldn’t be so troubled.” Now she spoke directly to her daughter and said, “Tell me what’s the matter. I’ve come to wish you a good morning, and all I get is silence for an answer.”
Thereupon the Lady Badar al-Budur raised her head and said, “Pardon me, Mother, I’ve neglected my duty. I know I should have greeted you with respect, seeing that you have honored me by this visit. However, I want you to know the reaso
n why I am in such a terrible mood, and how I have just experienced the most vile night of my life. You see, no sooner had we gotten into bed than some invisible creature came, lifted our bed, and transported it to some dark and dismal place.” After that the princess related to her mother all that had happened that night: how the bridegroom had been taken away from her, how she had been left alone, and how another young man had come and lain down next to her after placing a sword between them. “In the morning,” she resumed, “the creature who had carried us off came and returned us to the palace. But as soon as we arrived and he disappeared, my father entered, and I had neither the heart nor the tongue to speak to him, for I was still trying to get over my fright and terror. I’m sure that my poor behavior has made him angry. So I hope, Mother, that you will explain to him why I acted the way I did and that he will pardon me for not answering him the way I should have.”
When the queen heard her daughter’s story, she said to her, “My child, pull yourself together. If you tell this story, people will probably say that the sultan’s daughter has lost her mind. And you’ve done the right thing by not recounting your adventure to your father. Beware, and again I say, beware of telling him anything about what happened last night.”
“Mother,” the princess replied, “I’ve told you the truth. I’m not crazy. This is what happened to me, and if you don’t believe me, ask my husband.”
“I want you to get up right away,” the queen said, “and banish all such thoughts from your mind. Put on some clothes and go and watch the bridal festivities they’ve organized for you throughout the city. Listen to the drumming and the singing, and look at the decorations that were all created in your honor.”
After saying this, the queen summoned the servants, who dressed and prepared the Lady Badar al-Budur. In the meantime she went to see the sultan and assured him that their daughter had suffered from some bad dreams and nightmares during the wedding night.
“Don’t be severe with her for not answering you this morning,” she said.
Thereafter she secretly sent for the vizier’s son and asked him what had happened and whether what the Lady Badar al-Budur had said was true. However, since he feared losing his bride, he said, “My lady, I don’t have the slightest clue about what you’ve just said.”
The queen was now certain that her daughter had either hallucinated or was suffering from bad dreams. The marriage festivities lasted the entire day, with professional dancers and singers performing to the accompaniment of all kinds of instruments with great mirth. Meanwhile the queen, the vizier, and the vizier’s son did their very best to make sure that the princess would enjoy herself. That day they left nothing undone to increase her pleasure and make her forget everything that had been bothering her. Yet it was all in vain, for she watched the spectacles in silence. Indeed, for the most part she was downcast and brooded about everything that had happened to her during the past night. It is true that the vizier’s son had suffered much more than she had, since he had spent the night in the privy. However, he had refused to tell the truth and repressed the incident for fear of losing his bride and the connection with the royal family that brought him so much honor. Moreover, everyone envied him because he had won such a lovely and beautiful young woman as the Lady Badar al-Budur.
In the meantime, Aladdin also went out that day to enjoy the festivities, which extended throughout the city as well as the palace. When he heard the people talk about the high honor that the vizier’s son had gained and how he would prosper by becoming the son-in-law of the sultan, he began to laugh. And he said to himself, “Indeed, you poor wretches, you don’t know what happened to him last night. Otherwise you wouldn’t envy him the way you do.”
When darkness fell and it was time for sleep, Aladdin arose in his room, rubbed the lamp, and the slave appeared in a flash. Once again Aladdin ordered him to bring the sultan’s daughter, together with her bridegroom, just as he had done on the previous night, before the vizier’s son could take her virginity. So the marid quickly vanished and at the appointed time returned with the Lady Badar al-Budur and the vizier’s son in the bed. Once again he carried the bridegroom to the privy and left him there in fear and trembling. Meanwhile Aladdin arose and placed the sword between the princess and himself and lay down beside her. When day broke, the slave transported the pair back to the palace, leaving Aladdin filled with delight at the condition of the minister’s son.
Now, when the sultan woke up in the morning, he decided to visit his daughter again and see if she would treat him as she had on the past day. So, shaking off his sleep, he jumped up, clothed himself, and went to the apartment of the princess. Upon hearing the knocking, the vizier’s son jumped up and began donning his garments while his ribs were still freezing because the jinnee had just returned them to the palace. The sultan moved toward the wedding bed, raised the curtain, and wished his daughter good morning. Then he kissed her forehead and asked her how she felt. However, she looked sad and sullen, and instead of answering, she just scowled at him as though she were angry and suffering from a terrible plight. Thereupon the sultan became extremely angry at her for not replying, and he suspected that something bad had happened to her. So he drew his sword and cried out to her, “What’s come over you? Either tell me what’s happened, or I’ll take your life this very moment! Is this the way to pay your respect to me, by not talking to me?”
When the Lady Badar al-Budur saw her father brandishing his sword at her and how furious he was, she felt somehow released from the past that was hanging over her and she managed to raise her head.
“Don’t be angry with me, dear father,” she cried out. “Please calm down, for I’m not responsible for the way I’ve been acting, as you will soon see. Please, if you listen to what happened to me during these past two nights, I’m sure you’ll pardon me and have pity on me, for I’m still your loving child.”
Then the princess told him all that had occurred during the past two nights and added, “If you don’t believe me, ask my husband, and he’ll tell your highness the whole story. I don’t know what they did with him when they took him away from me or where they kept him.”
When the sultan heard his daughter’s words, he became sad, and his eyes brimmed with tears. Then he sheathed his sword and kissed her.
“My daughter,” he said, “why didn’t you tell me yesterday what had happened to you the night before? Then I could have protected you from the terror that you suffered this past night. But it doesn’t matter now. Get up and forget about it all. Tonight I’ll have guards posted around your room so that you’ll never have to go through anything like this again.”
Then the sultan returned to his palace and summoned the grand vizier right away. When he arrived, the king asked him, “How do you view this whole matter? I’m sure your son has told you what happened to him and my daughter.”
The minister replied, “Great king, I haven’t seen my son for two days.”
Thereupon, the sultan told him what the princess had suffered and added, “I want you to find out what’s happened to your son and all the facts pertaining to this case. Since my daughter has had such a great shock and appears to be terrified, she may not really know what happened to her, although I think she’s told me the truth.”
So the grand vizier arose, went out, and summoned his son. When the young man arrived, his father asked him whether the princess had been telling the truth.
“Father,” he said, “heaven forbid that the Lady Badar al-Budur would ever lie. Indeed, she told the truth. These past two nights have been the most vile in my life when they should have been the most pleasurable. What happened to me was even worse than what happened to her, because I was not allowed the pleasure of sleeping in a bed. Instead, I was stuck in a frightful black hole that had a horrible smell and was truly damnable. Moreover, my ribs were frozen cold.”
In short, the young man told his father the whole story and added, “I implore you, Father, speak to the sultan and ask him to rele
ase me from this marriage. I confess that it’s a great honor for me to be the sultan’s son-in-law, and I’ve fallen terribly in love with the princess. But I have no strength left to endure what I’ve suffered these past two nights.”
When the vizier heard these words, he became exceedingly sad, for his most cherished wish had been to wed his son to the sultan’s daughter and help him advance in life. He thought about the entire affair a long time and was in a quandary about what to do. Indeed, it upset him to break off the marriage and he was reluctant to do so, especially since it had brought him such rare fortune. Consequently, he said, “Be patient, my son, until we see what happens tonight when we’ll assign guards to protect your room. Don’t be so quick to abandon the great distinction and honor that only you have achieved.”
Then the vizier returned to the sultan and informed him that everything that the Lady Badar al-Budur had said was true. As a result, the king said, “Well then, given the situation, I must act immediately,” and he commanded that all the festivities be stopped, and he annulled the marriage.
The people were stunned by this news, especially when they saw the grand vizier and his son leave the palace with miserable and angry faces. “Why was the marriage broken off?” They began to ask. “What happened?” Of course, nobody knew the truth except Aladdin, who claimed the princess’s hand and laughed in secret joy. But even after the marriage was dissolved, the sultan forgot the promise that he had made to Aladdin’s mother. The same was true with the grand vizier. Neither one of these men had an inkling of why and how everything had happened and did not link the incidents with Aladdin.
Aladdin waited patiently for the three months to elapse, and as soon as the term had expired, he sent his mother to the sultan to remind him of his promise. So she went to the palace, and when the king appeared in the divan and saw the old woman standing before him, he remembered his promise with regard to the marriage, and he turned to the minister and said, “That old woman over there is the one who gave me the jewels, and I gave her my word that when three months had elapsed, I would wed my daughter to her son.”
Arabian Nights Page 19