Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights by William Harvey

Author:William Harvey
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141952314
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

Now to return to the Moorish sorcerer. When he had left Aladdin to perish in the cave, he journeyed back to his own land and passed his days bemoaning the vain hardships he had endured to secure the lamp. It pained him to think how the long-sought morsel had flown out of his hand just when it had reached his mouth, and he cursed Aladdin in his rage.

‘I am very glad,’ he would sometimes say to himself, ‘that the little wretch has perished under the ground. The lamp is still safe in the treasure house, and I may get it yet.’

One day he cast his magic sand to ascertain Aladdin’s death and the exact position of the lamp. He studied the resulting figures attentively, but he saw no lamp. Angrily he cast the sand a second time to confirm that the boy was dead, but he did not see him in the treasure house. His fury mounted when he learned that Aladdin was alive; he realized that he must have come up from the cave and gained possession of the lamp.

‘I have suffered many hardships, and endured pains such as no other man could bear, on account of the lamp,’ he thought to himself. ‘Now this worthless boy has taken it. It is all too clear that if he has discovered its magic power, he must now be the wealthiest man on earth. I must seek to destroy him.’

He cast the sand once more and scanned the figures. He found that Aladdin was master of great riches, and that he was married to a princess. Mad with envy, he set out for China. After a long journey he reached the capital where Aladdin lived, and put up at a travelers’ inn. There he heard the people talk of nothing but the magnificence of Aladdin’s palace. When he had rested a little, he changed his clothes and went out for a walk in the streets of the city. Wherever he passed he heard tell of nothing but the beauty of Aladdin and his manly grace, his generosity and rare virtues. The magician went up to a man who was praising Aladdin in these terms and said, ‘Tell me, my good friend, who is this man of whom you speak so highly?’

‘Why, sir, you must be a stranger in these parts,’ came the reply. ‘But even if you are, have you never heard of Prince Aladdin? His palace is one of the wonders of the world. How is it that you have never heard of it?’

‘I would very much like to see the palace,’ said the magician. ‘Would you be so kind as to direct me to it? I am indeed a stranger in this city.’

‘Why, gladly,’ the man replied and, walking before the magician, brought him to Aladdin’s palace.

The magician looked at the building and realized that it was the work of the enchanted lamp.

‘Ah,’ he thought to himself, ‘I must dig a pit for this vile tailor’s son who could never earn an evening’s meal before.

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