Arabian Nights

by Richard Burton

  The next morning Aladdin arose to look at their work and noticed that they had not finished even a half of what they needed to do to complete the window. As a result, he ordered them to undo all they had done and restore the jewels to their owners. Accordingly, they pulled out the precious stones and sent those that belonged to the sultan back to him and the others to the viziers and grandees. Then the craftsmen went to the sultan and told him what Aladdin had ordered them to do. So he asked them, “What did he say to you? Why wasn’t he content with your work? And why did he make you undo everything?”

  “We have no idea, your majesty,” they replied. “He just made us to take everything apart.”

  At once the sultan called for his horse, and after mounting it, he rode over toward the pavilion.

  In the meantime, after Aladdin had dismissed the workers, he retired to his room and rubbed the lamp. Immediately the jinnee appeared and said, “Ask what you want. Your slave is at your service.”

  “I want you to finish the window that was left unfinished,” said Aladdin.

  “As you command,” said the marid and vanished. Within seconds he returned and said, “My lord, I have carried out your command.”

  When Aladdin went upstairs to the dome, he found that the entire window had been finished. While he was still inspecting it, one of his eunuchs came to him and said, “My lord, the sultan has come to visit you and is at the pavilion gate.”

  So Aladdin went at once to greet his father-in-law, who, upon seeing him approach, cried out, “Why didn’t you allow the craftsmen complete their work?”

  “Great king,” Aladdin replied, “I had purposely left this window unfinished. Indeed, I was perfectly capable of completing it. Certainly I did not intend to invite your majesty to a pavilion that was still deficient. And since I want to show you that I capable of making everything perfect, I would like you to accompany me upstairs to inspect the window.”

  So the sultan went up with him, and after entering the dome, he looked all over but saw nothing missing in the windows. Indeed, they were all perfect. Astounded by the sight, he embraced Aladdin and said, “My son, how did you accomplish this? How is it that you can finish something in a single night that my workers need months to finish? By Allah, there’s no one in the world who can rival you!”

  “May Allah grant you long life and prosperity!” Aladdin replied. “Your slave does not deserve such a compliment.”

  “My son,” the sultan asserted, “you deserve all the praise in the world for a feat that no craftsman could ever accomplish.”

  Then the sultan went downstairs with him to the apartment of his daughter, where he relaxed for some time with her. He was pleased to see how much she enjoyed the glory and grandeur of the pavilion, and after reposing awhile, he returned to his palace.

  Now, Aladdin was accustomed to ride through the city street every day with his mamelukes in front and behind him, and he would scatter gold among the people. There was not a person, native or foreigner, who did not love him for his generosity and kindness. Moreover, he increased the payments to help the poor and needy, and he himself helped distribute alms to them. Because of his good deeds, he won high renown throughout the realm, and most of the lords and emirs of the realm ate at his table. Everyone wished him well.

  Aside from helping those in need, Aladdin continued enjoying such pastimes as riding and hunting. He would often go to the parade ground in the presence of the sultan and display his equestrian skills. And whenever the Lady Badar al-Budur watched him riding his magnificent steeds, her love for him grew, and she thought to herself that Allah had been most beneficent to her by causing what happened to the vizier’s son and preserving her virginity for her true bridegroom.

  Day by day Aladdin’s fame grew, and his reputation became so great that everyone loved and admired him. Moreover, it so happened at that time that certain enemies of the sultan began to wage war against him. Therefore, the sultan equipped an army and made Aladdin the commander in chief. Before long he marched out with his men until he drew near the hostile forces, which were vast. When the action began, he bared his sword and charged at the enemy. The battle was violent, but at last Aladdin broke through the enemy’s lines and put the foe to flight. His troops destroyed a good part of their army, and plundered their cattle, property, and possessions. Moreover, Aladdin confiscated countless goods. Then he returned victorious to the capital, which had been decorated in his honor. The sultan went forth to meet him and embraced him in joy. Following this, there were great festivities held throughout the kingdom, and the king and his son-in-law retired to the pavilion, where they were met by the Princess Badar al-Budur, who rejoiced when she saw her husband again. After kissing him on his forehead, she led him to her apartment. After a while the sultan joined them, and they sat down while the slave girls brought them sherbets and desserts, which they drank and ate. Then the sultan commanded that the whole kingdom be decorated to celebrate the victory of his son-in-law over the invader.

  By this time, all the soldiers and people of the kingdom looked only to Allah in heaven and Aladdin on earth. They loved him more than ever because of his generosity and kindness, his noble horsemanship and his success in defeating the foes of their country. Such then was the great fortune of Aladdin.

  Now let us return to the magician, that Moor, who had traveled back to his own country after he failed to obtain the lamp. Once he was there, he spent his days bemoaning all the hardships that he had suffered in his attempt to win the lamp. It had been most frustrating for him to lose the lamp just when he was about to taste victory. Whenever he thought about it, he became enraged, and at times he would exclaim, “My only satisfaction is that the little bastard has perished in the cave, and I can only hope that someday I may still obtain the lamp, since it is still safe underground.”

  One day, he cast a geomantic table of sand and noted their figures so that he could transfer them to paper. After this, he studied them carefully, because he wanted to make sure of Aladdin’s death and determine the exact position of the lamp beneath the ground. Soon he established the sequence of the figures, their origins and destinations, but he could not see the lamp. The result made him furious, and he made another try with the sand to ascertain Aladdin’s death, but he did not see him in the enchanted cave. Now he almost exploded with anger when he realized that the boy had escaped from the underground and was somewhere on the face of the earth, alive and well. Moreover, it became clear to him that Aladdin must be the possessor of the lamp for which he himself had endured more hardship than any other man could possibly have endured for such a great object. “I have suffered more pain than any other mortal could bear because of that lamp, and that miserable creature did not have to do a thing for it to fall into his hands. If he has learned the virtues of the lamp, he must be the richest man in the world. All the more reason why I must destroy him!”

  Then the Moor struck another geomantic table and examined the figures, which revealed to him that Aladdin had become immensely rich and had married the sultan’s daughter. Therefore, his envy was fired with the flame of wrath, and without delay, he arose and equipped himself for a journey to distant China, where he arrived in due time.

  Now, when he reached the king’s capital, he took lodgings at one of the khans. After he had rested from his long and exhausting journey, he donned his suit and wandered about the streets. Wherever he went, he continually heard people praising the pavilion and its grandeur and vaunting the handsome features of Aladdin, his kindness, generosity, fine manners, and good morals. Soon he entered a tavern where men were drinking a warm beverage, and after approaching one man who was lauding Aladdin, he said to him, “Young man, who is this man you’ve been praising?”

  “Apparently, you’re a stranger,” the man said, “and you’ve come from far away. But even if this is true, how is it that you’ve never heard of the Emir Aladdin, whose renown, I would imagine, has spread all over the universe and whose pavilion is known to people far and w
ide as one of the wonders of the world? How come you’ve never heard of the name of Aladdin and his fame, may Allah increase his glory?”

  “It would be my greatest wish to see his pavilion,” the Moor said. “In fact, I would be very much obliged if you could show it to me, since I am a foreigner.”

  “As you wish,” the man said, and after bringing him to the pavilion, he departed.

  When the Moor saw it, he realized at once that it was the work of the lamp. So he cried, “Ah! Ah! I’m going to dig the grave of this son of a tailor, who was such a rotten egg that he couldn’t even earn his own living! If the fates are with me, I’ll destroy his life and send his mother back to her spinning wheel.” After exclaiming this, he returned to the khan in a downcast and furious mood. Once he was alone in his room, he took out his astrological equipment and geomantic table to discover where the lamp was being kept, and he learned that it was in the pavilion and that Aladdin was not carrying it with him. This disclosure made him feel happy, and he exclaimed, “Now it will be an easy task to take the life of this miserable wretch and obtain the lamp.”

  Then he went to a coppersmith and said to him, “Make me a set of lamps, and if you do a fast job, I’ll pay you more than they’re worth.”

  “Your wish is my command,” said the coppersmith, and he began work on the lamps immediately. When they were finished, the Moor gave him what he demanded. Then he took them to the khan and put them in a basket. Soon thereafter he began wandering through the streets and markets of the city crying aloud, “Ho! Who will exchange old lamps for new lamps!”

  When the people heard him cry out like this, they derided him and said, “He’s surely mad! Who would offer new lamps for old ones?” Many people began following him, and little scamps ran after him and laughed at him from place to place. But he did not mind their treatment and derision. He kept walking about the streets until he came to Aladdin’s pavilion, where he shouted with his loudest voice, and the boys screamed at him, “Madman! Madman!”

  Now, as destiny would have it, the Lady Badar al-Budur was sitting near a window of the dome, and she heard the cries of the Moor and the children bawling at him. Since she did not understand what was going on, she gave orders to one of her slave girls to find out who was crying and why. The girl went outside and came upon a man crying, “Ho! Who will exchange old lamps for new lamps?” And there were boys chasing after him and laughing at him. When she returned and told the princess what was going on, Lady Badar al-Budur laughed loudly. Now Aladdin had carelessly left the lamp in his apartment without hiding it and locking it up in his strongbox, and one of the slave girls, who had seen it, said, “I think I noticed an old lamp in the apartment of my lord Aladdin. So why don’t we take it down to the old man and see if he is telling the truth and will exchange with us?”

  “Bring me the old lamp which you’ve seen in my lord’s apartment,” the princess said.

  Lady Badar al-Budur knew nothing about the lamp and its secret powers that had enabled Aladdin to marry her and achieve such grandeur. She was merely bemused by the old man in the street and wanted to find out whether he would really exchange a new lamp for an old one. So when the slave girl returned from Aladdin’s apartment with the lamp, she ordered a chief eunuch to go down and exchange the old lamp for a new one, not suspecting how cunning the Moor really was. The eunuch did as he was commanded, and after taking a new lamp from the Moor, he returned and placed it before his lady, who broke into laughter about the demented state of the man when she saw that the lamp was brand-new.

  However, as soon as the Moor held the lamp in his hands, he knew it was the magic one from the enchanted cave, and he immediately stuck it into his breast pocket, leaving all the other lamps to the crowd of people that had gathered around him. Then he ran through the streets until he was clear of the city and could slow down. Once he reached the open plains, he felt more relaxed and waited for nightfall. There in the desert he took out the lamp and rubbed it. Immediately the jinnee appeared and said, “I am at your service. Ask whatever you want.”

  “I want you to lift up Aladdin’s pavilion from its present place with all the people and contents in it, and then transport it along with me to my own country in Africa,” said the Moor. “You know my home city, and I want the building placed in the gardens that are right near it.”

  “As you command,” the marid replied. “Close your eyes and open your eyes, and you will find yourself together with the pavilion in your own country.”

  The Moor did this, and in the twinkle of an eye, the magician and the pavilion with everything in it were transported to Africa. Such, then, was the work of the Moor. But now let us return to the sultan and his son-in-law.

  * * *

  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,

  Because of the affection that the king had for his daughter, it was his custom to look out his window every morning after he got out of bed and to gaze at her abode. So, that day, he arose and did what he usually did. But when the king drew near his window this time and looked out at Aladdin’s pavilion, he saw nothing. In fact, the site was as smooth as a well-paved street and just as it had been before. There was no edifice, nothing. He was so astonished and bewildered that he rubbed his eyes to make sure his vision was not impaired, but he was finally certain that there was no trace or sign of the pavilion. Nor did he have the slightest idea about why and where it had gone. His astonishment quickly turned to grief, and he wrung his hands while tears trickled down his cheeks and over his beard, for he was worried about his daughter. Then he sent out officials right away and summoned the grand vizier, who came to him at once. When he saw the sultan in such a miserable state, he said, “Pardon, your majesty, may Allah keep you from evil. Why are you so downcast?”

  “Don’t you know why?” asked the sultan

  “Not at all,” said the minister. “By Allah, I don’t know anything.”

  “Then it’s quite clear that you haven’t looked at Aladdin’s pavilion today.”

  “True, my lord, it must still be shut.”

  “Since you have no inkling of what has happened,” said the king, “I want you to go over to the window and look over at Aladdin’s pavilion and tell me whether it is still shut.”

  The vizier did what the sultan commanded, but he could not see anything. There was no pavilion nor anything else. Completely baffled, he returned to his lord, who remarked, “Now you know why I’m so distressed.”

  “Great king,” the vizier said, “I told you before that the pavilion and all those other feats were brought about through magic.”

  On hearing this, the sultan fumed with rage and cried out, “Where is Aladdin?”

  “He’s gone hunting,” answered the vizier.

  Immediately the king ordered some of his chief eunuchs and officers to find Aladdin and bring him back in chains and manacles. So they went in search of him, and when they found him, they said, “My lord, excuse us and don’t be angry with us. The king has commanded that we take you to him in chains and manacles. Those were his royal orders, and we must obey them.”

  Aladdin was greatly surprised by their words and baffled by the king’s orders. At first he did not know what to say, but once he recovered from the shock, he said to the officers, “Do you know why the king is doing this? I know that I’m innocent and that I’ve never sinned against the king or his kingdom.”

  “My lord,” they answered, “we have no idea whatsoever why the king has issued his orders.”

  So Aladdin dismounted from his horse and said to them, “Do whatever the king ordered you to do, for you are obliged to carry out his commands.”

  After the officers had bound Aladdin with chains and manacled him, they brought him back to the city. But when the people saw him in bonds, they realized that the king intended to cut off his head, and since they loved and admired him so much, the
y took out their weapons, swarmed out of their houses, and followed the soldiers to see what they could do. When the troops arrived with Aladdin at the palace, they entered and informed the sultan that they had found Aladdin. Thereupon the king ordered the executioner right away to cut off his son-in-law’s head.

  Now, as soon as the crowds of people were aware of this order, they barricaded the gates, closed the doors of the palace, and sent a message announcing to the king that they would level his palace and everyone in it if Aladdin was harmed in the slightest way.

  So the vizier went to the sultan and reported, “Great king, your order is also our death warrant. I think that it would be a better idea if you pardoned your son-in-law, or else we shall have to pay the price. Your subjects love him far more than they love us.”

  The executioner had already spread the carpet of blood and had compelled Aladdin to take his place on it. After tying a blindfold around his eyes, he walked around him three times awaiting the king’s final orders. However, the king looked out the window and saw that his subjects had already begun storming the palace and were climbing over the walls. So he immediately ordered the executioner to stay his hand and commanded the herald to go out to the crowds and announce that he had pardoned Aladdin. But when his son-in-law found himself free and saw the sultan seated on his throne, he went up to him and said, “My lord, until recently you had treated me with extreme favor. Therefore, I beg you, be gracious enough to tell me how and why I have sinned against you.”

  “Traitor!” cried the king. “Do you pretend not to know your own sin?” And turning to his vizier, he said, “Take him to the window and make him look out. After that, let him tell us where his pavilion is.”

  After Aladdin saw that the pavilion had disappeared and the site was as level as a paved road, he was astonished and bewildered, since he did not know what had happened. When he returned to the king, his father-in-law asked, “Where is your pavilion and where is my daughter, the darling of my heart, my only child?”