The sultan approved of the advice of the grand vizier and, turning towards Aladdin’s mother, he said to her, after a moment’s reflection: ‘My good woman, sultans should keep their word; I am ready to keep mine and to make your son happy by marrying my daughter, the princess, to him. However, as I can’t marry her before I know what advantage there is in it for her, tell your son that I will carry out my word as soon as he sends me forty large bowls of solid gold, full to the brim with the same things you have already presented to me on his behalf, and carried by a similar number of black slaves who, in their turn, are to be led by forty more white slaves – young, well built, handsome and all magnificently clothed. These are the conditions on which I am prepared to give him my daughter. Go, good woman, and I will wait for you to bring me his reply.’
Aladdin’s mother prostrated herself in front of the sultan’s throne and withdrew. As she went on her way, she laughed at the thought of her son’s foolish ambition. ‘Really,’ she said to herself, ‘where is he going to find so many golden bowls and such a large quantity of those coloured bits of glass to fill them? Will he go back to that underground cave with the entry blocked and pick them off the trees there? And all those slaves turned out as the sultan demanded, where is he going to get them from? He hasn’t the remotest chance and I don’t think he’s going to be happy with the outcome of my mission.’ When she got home, her mind was filled with all these thoughts, which made her believe Aladdin had nothing more to hope for, so she said to him: ‘My son, I advise you to give up any thought of marrying the princess. The sultan did, indeed, receive me very kindly and I believe he was full of goodwill towards you; but the grand vizier, I am almost sure, made him change his mind, and I think you will think the same after you have heard what I have to say. After I reminded his majesty that the three months had expired and had begged him, on your behalf, to remember his promise, I noticed that he only gave the reply I am about to relate after a whispered conversation with his grand vizier.’ Aladdin’s mother then proceeded to give her son a faithful account of all that the sultan had said to her and the conditions on which he said he would consent to the marriage between him and the princess, his daughter. ‘My son,’ she said in conclusion, ‘he is waiting for your reply, but, between ourselves,’ she added with a smile, ‘I believe he will have to wait for a long time.’
‘Not so long as you would like to think, mother,’ said Aladdin, ‘and the sultan is mistaken if he thinks that by such exorbitant demands he is going to prevent me from desiring his daughter. I was expecting other insurmountable difficulties or that he would set a far higher price on my incomparable princess. But for the moment, I am quite content and what he is demanding is a mere trifle in comparison with what I would be in a position to offer him to obtain possession of her. You go and buy some food for dinner while I go and think about satisfying his demands – just leave it to me.’
As soon as Aladdin’s mother had gone out to do the shopping, Aladdin took the lamp and rubbed it; immediately the jinni rose up before him and, in the same terms as before, asked Aladdin what was his command, saying that he was ready to serve him. Aladdin said to him: ‘The sultan is giving me the hand of the princess his daughter in marriage, but first he demands of me forty large, heavy bowls of solid gold, filled to the brim with the fruits from the garden from where I took the lamp whose slave you are. He is also demanding from me that these forty bowls be carried by a similar number of black slaves, preceded by forty white slaves – young, well built, handsome and magnificently clothed. Go and bring me this present as fast as possible so that I can send it to the sultan before he gets up from his session at the council.’ The jinni told him his command would be carried out without delay, and disappeared.
Shortly afterwards, the jinni reappeared, accompanied by the forty black slaves, each one bearing on his head a heavy bowl of solid gold, filled with pearls, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, all chosen for their beauty and their size so as to be better than those which had already been given to the sultan. Each bowl was covered with a silver cloth embroidered with flowers of gold. All these slaves, both black and white, together with all the golden dishes, occupied almost the whole of the very modest house, together with its small courtyard in front and the little garden at the back. The jinni asked Aladdin if he was satisfied and whether he had any other command to put to him, and when Aladdin said he had nothing more to ask him, he immediately disappeared.
When Aladdin’s mother returned from the market and entered the house, she was very astonished to see so many people and so many riches. She put down the provisions she had bought and was about to remove the veil covering her face when she was prevented by Aladdin, who said to her: ‘Mother, we have no time to lose; before the sultan finishes his session, it is very important you return to the palace and immediately bring him this present, Princess Badr’s dowry, which he asked me for, so that he can judge, by my diligence and punctuality, the sincerity of my ardent desire to procure the honour of entering into an alliance with him.’
Without waiting for his mother to reply, Aladdin opened the door to the street and made all the slaves file out in succession, a white slave always followed by a black slave, bearing a golden bowl on his head, and so on, to the last one. After his mother had come out, following the last black slave, he closed the door and sat calmly in his room, in the hope that the sultan, after receiving the present he had demanded, would at last consent to receive him as his son-in-law.
The first white slave who came out of Aladdin’s house made all the passers-by who saw him stop, and by the time eighty black and white slaves had finished emerging, the street was crowded with people rushing up from all parts of the city to see this magnificent and extraordinary sight. Each slave was dressed in such rich fabrics and wore such splendid jewels that those who knew anything about such matters would have reckoned each costume must have cost more than a million dinars: the neatness and perfect fit of each dress; the proud and graceful bearing of each slave; their uniform and symmetrical build; the solemn way they processed – all this, together with the glittering jewels of exorbitant size, encrusted and beautifully arranged in their belts of solid gold, and the insignias of jewels set in their headdresses, which were of a quite special type, roused the admiration of this crowd of spectators to such a state that they could not leave off staring at them and following them with their eyes as far as they could. The streets were so crowded with people that no one could move but each had to stay where he happened to be.
As the procession had to pass through several streets to get to the palace, a good number of the city’s inhabitants, of all kinds and classes, were able to witness this marvellous display of pomp. When the first of the eighty slaves arrived at the gate of the first courtyard of the palace, the doorkeepers, who had drawn up in a line as soon as they spotted this wonderful procession approaching, took him for a king, thanks to the richness and splendour of his dress and they went up to him to kiss the hem of his garment. But the slave, as instructed by the jinni, stopped them and solemnly told them: ‘We are but slaves; our master will appear in due course.’
Then this first slave, followed by the rest, advanced to the second courtyard, which was very spacious and was where the sultan’s household stood during the sessions of the council. The palace officials who headed each rank looked very magnificent, but they were eclipsed in splendour by the appearance of the eighty slaves who bore Aladdin’s present. There was nothing more beautiful, more brilliant in the whole of the sultan’s court; however splendid his courtiers who surrounded him, none of them could compare with what now presented itself to his sight.
The sultan, who had been informed of the procession and arrival of the slaves, had given orders to let them in, and so, as soon as they appeared, they found the entrance to the council chamber open. They entered in orderly fashion, one half filing to the right, one half to the left. After they had all entered and had formed a large semicircle around the sultan’s throne, each of the black slaves placed the bowl he was carrying on to the carpet in front of the sultan. All then prostrated themselves, touching the carpet with their foreheads. At the same time, the white slaves did the same. Then they all got up and the black slaves, as they rose, skilfully uncovered the bowls in front of them and stood with their hands crossed on their chests in great reverence.
Aladdin’s mother, who had, meanwhile, advanced to the foot of the throne, prostrated herself before the sultan and addressed him, saying: ‘Sire, my son, Aladdin, knows well that this gift he sends to your majesty is far less than Princess Badr deserves, but he hopes nonetheless that your majesty will be pleased to accept it and consider it acceptable for the princess; he offers it all the more confidently because he has endeavoured to conform to the condition which your majesty was pleased to impose on him.’
The sultan was in no state to pay attention to her compliments: one look at the forty golden bowls, filled to the brim with the most brilliant, dazzling and most precious jewels ever to be seen in the world, and at the eighty slaves who, as much by their handsome appearance as by the richness and amazing magnificence of their dress, looked like so many kings, and he was so overwhelmed that he could not get over his astonishment. Instead of replying to Aladdin’s mother, he addressed the grand vizier, who likewise could not understand where such a great profusion of riches could have come from. ‘Well now, vizier,’ he publicly addressed him, ‘what do you think about a person, whoever he may be, who sends me such a valuable and extraordinary present, someone whom neither of us knows? Don’t you think he is fit to marry my daughter, Princess Badr?’
For all his jealousy and pain at seeing a stranger preferred before his son to become the son-in-law of the sultan, the vizier nonetheless managed to conceal his feelings. It was quite obvious that Aladdin’s present was more than enough for him to be admitted to such a high alliance. So the vizier agreed with the sultan, saying: ‘Sire, far from believing that someone who gives you a present so worthy of your majesty should be unworthy of the honour you wish to do him, I would be so bold as to say that he deserves it all the more, were I not persuaded that there is no treasure in the world precious enough to be put in balance with your majesty’s daughter, the princess.’ At this, all the courtiers present at the session applauded, showing that they were of the same opinion as the grand vizier.
The sultan did not delay; he did not even think to enquire whether Aladdin had the other qualities appropriate for one who aspired to become his son-in-law. The mere sight of such immense riches and the diligence with which Aladdin had fulfilled his demand without making the slightest difficulty over conditions as exorbitant as those he had imposed on him, easily persuaded the sultan that Aladdin lacked nothing to render him as accomplished as the sultan wished. So, to send Aladdin’s mother back with all the satisfaction she could desire, he said to her: ‘Go, my good woman, and tell your son that I am waiting to receive him with open arms and to embrace him, and that the quicker he comes to receive from me the gift I have bestowed on him of the princess, my daughter, the greater the pleasure he will give me.’
Aladdin’s mother left with all the delight a woman of her status is capable of on seeing her son, contrary to all expectations, attain such a high position. The sultan then immediately concluded the day’s audience and, rising from his throne, ordered the eunuchs attached to the princess’s service to come and remove the bowls and carry them off to their mistress’s chamber, where he himself went to examine them with her at his leisure. This order was carried out at once, under supervision of the head eunuch.
The eighty black and white slaves were not forgotten; they were taken inside the palace and, a little later, the sultan, who had been telling the princess about their magnificence, ordered them to be brought to the entrance of her chamber so that she could look at them through the screens and realize that, far from exaggerating anything in his account, he had not told her even half the story.
Meanwhile, Aladdin’s mother arrived home with an expression which told in advance of the good news she was bringing. ‘My son,’ she said to him, ‘you have every reason to be happy: contrary to my expectations – and you will recall what I told you – you have attained the accomplishment of your desires. In order not to keep you in suspense any longer, the sultan, with the approval of his entire court, has declared that you are worthy to possess Princess Badr. He is waiting to embrace you and to bring about your marriage. You must now think about how to prepare for this meeting so that you may come up to the high opinion the sultan has formed of you. After all the miracles I have seen you perform, I am sure nothing will be lacking. I must not forget to tell you also that the sultan is waiting impatiently for you, and so waste no time in going to him.’
Aladdin was delighted at this news and, his mind full of the enchanting creature who had so bewitched him, after saying a few words to his mother, withdrew to his room. Once there, he took the lamp which had hitherto been so useful to him in fulfilling all his needs and wishes, and no sooner had he rubbed it than the jinni appeared before him and immediately proceeded to offer him his services as before. ‘O jinni,’ said Aladdin, ‘I have summoned you to help me take a bath and when I have finished, I want you to have ready for me the most sumptuous and magnificent costume ever worn by a king.’ No sooner had he finished speaking than the jinni, making them both invisible, lifted him up and transported him to a bath made of the finest marble of every shade of the most beautiful colours. Without seeing who was waiting on him, he was undressed in a spacious and very well-arranged room. From this room he was made to go into the bath, which was moderately hot, and there he was rubbed and washed with several kinds of perfumed waters. After he had been taken into various rooms of different degrees of heat, he came out again transformed, his complexion fresh, all pink and white, and feeling lighter and more refreshed. He returned to the first room, but the clothing he had left there had gone; in its place the jinni had carefully set out the costume he had asked for. When he saw the magnificence of the garments which had been substituted for his own, Aladdin was astonished. With the help of the jinni, he got dressed, admiring as he did so each item of clothing as he put it on, for everything was beyond anything he could have imagined.
When he had finished, the jinni took him back to his house, to the same room from where he had transported him. He then asked Aladdin whether he had any other demands. ‘Yes,’ replied Aladdin, ‘I want you to bring me as quickly as possible a horse which is finer and more beautiful than the most highly valued horse in the sultan’s stables; its trappings, its harness, its saddle, its bridle – all must be worth more than a million dinars. I also ask you to bring me at the same time twenty slaves as richly and smartly attired as those who delivered the sultan’s present, who are to walk beside me and behind me in a group, and twenty more like them to precede me in two files. Bring my mother, too, with six slave girls to wait on her, each dressed at least as richly as the princess’s slave girls, and each bearing a complete set of women’s clothes as magnificent and sumptuous as those of a sultana. Finally, I need ten thousand pieces of gold in ten purses. There,’ he ended, ‘that’s what I command you to do. Go, and make haste.’
As soon as Aladdin had finished giving him his orders, the jinni disappeared; shortly afterwards, he reappeared with the horse, the forty slaves – ten of whom were each carrying a purse containing a thousand pieces of gold, and the six slave girls – each one bearing on her head a different costume for Aladdin’s mother, wrapped up in a silver cloth, and all this he presented to Aladdin. Of the ten purses Aladdin took four, which he gave to his mother, telling her she should use them for her needs. The remaining six he left in the hands of the slaves who were carrying them, charging them to keep them and throw out handfuls of gold from them to the people as they passed through the streets on their way to the sultan’s palace. He also ordered these six slaves to walk in front of him with the others, three on the right and three on the left. Finally, he presented the six slave girls to his mother, telling her that they were hers to use as her slaves and that the clothes they brought were for her.
When Aladdin had settled all these matters, he told the jinni as he dismissed him that he would call him when he needed his services and the jinni instantly disappeared. Aladdin’s one thought now was to reply as quickly as possible to the desire the sultan had expressed to see him. So he despatched to the palace one of the forty slaves – I will not say the most handsome, for they were all equally handsome – with the order to address himself to the chief usher and ask him when Aladdin might have the honour of prostrating himself at the feet of the sultan. The slave was not long in carrying out his task, returning with the reply that the sultan was awaiting him with impatience.
Aladdin made haste to set off on horseback and process in the order already described. Although this was the first time he had ever mounted a horse, he appeared to ride with such ease that not even the most experienced horseman would have taken him for a novice. In less than a moment, the streets he passed through filled with an innumerable crowd of people, whose cheers and blessings and cries of admiration rang out, particularly when the six slaves with the purses threw handfuls of gold coins into the air to the left and right. These cheers of approval did not, however, come from the rabble, who were busy picking up the gold, but from a higher rank of people who could not refrain from publicly praising Aladdin for his generosity. Anyone who could remember seeing him playing in the street, the perpetual vagabond, no longer recognized Aladdin, and even those who had seen him not long ago had difficulty making him out, so different were his features. This is because one of the properties of the lamp was that it could gradually procure for those who possessed it the perfections which went with the status they attained by making good use of it. Consequently, people paid more attention to Aladdin himself than to the pomp which accompanied him and which most of them had already seen that same day when the eighty slaves marched in procession, bearing the present. The horse was also much admired for its beauty alone by the experts, who did not let themselves be dazzled by the wealth or brilliance of the diamonds and other jewels with which it was covered. As the news spread that the sultan was giving the hand of his daughter, Princess Badr, in marriage to Aladdin, without regard to his humble birth, no one envied him his good fortune nor his rise in status, as they seemed well deserved.
Aladdin arrived at the palace, where all was set to receive him. When he reached the second gate, he was about to dismount, following the custom observed by the grand vizier, the generals of the armies and the governors of the provinces of the first rank; but the chief usher, who was waiting for him by order of the sultan, prevented him and accompanied him to the council chamber, where he helped him to dismount, despite Aladdin’s strong opposition, but whose protests were in vain for he had no say in the matter. The ushers then formed two lines at the entrance to the chamber and their chief, placing Aladdin on his right, led him through the middle right up to the sultan’s throne.
As soon as the sultan set eyes on Aladdin, he was no less astonished to see him clothed more richly and magnificently than he himself had ever been, than surprised at his fine appearance, his handsome figure and a certain air of grandeur, which were in complete contrast to the lowly state in which his mother had appeared before him. His astonishment and surprise did not, however, prevent him from rising from his throne and descending two or three steps in time to stop Aladdin from prostrating himself at his feet and to embrace him in a warm show of friendship. After such a greeting Aladdin still wanted to throw himself at the sultan’s feet, but the sultan held him back with his hand and forced him to mount the steps and sit between the vizier and himself.
Aladdin now addressed the sultan. ‘Sire,’ he said, ‘I accept the honours your majesty is so gracious as to bestow on me; but permit me to tell you that I have not forgotten I was born your slave, that I know the greatness of your power and I am well aware how much my birth and upbringing are below the splendour and the brilliance of the exalted rank to which I am being raised. If there is any way I can have deserved so favourable a reception, it is maybe due to the boldness that pure chance inspired in me to raise my eyes, my thoughts and my aspirations to the divine princess who is the object of my desires. I beg pardon of your majesty for my rashness but I cannot hide from you that I would die of grief if I were to lose hope of seeing these desires accomplished.’
‘My son,’ replied the sultan, embracing him a second time, ‘you do me wrong to doubt for a single instant the sincerity of my word. From now on, your life is too dear to me for me not to preserve it, by presenting you with the remedy which is at my disposal. I prefer the pleasure of seeing you and hearing you to all my treasures and yours together.’
When he had finished speaking, the sultan gave a signal and immediately the air echoed with the sound of trumpets, oboes and drums. At the same time, the sultan led Aladdin into a magnificent room where a splendid feast was prepared. The sultan ate alone with Aladdin, while the grand vizier and the court dignitaries stood by during the meal, each according to their dignity and rank. The sultan, who took such great pleasure in looking at Aladdin that he never took his eyes off him, led the conversation on several different topics and throughout the meal, in the conversation they held together and on whatever matter the sultan brought up, Aladdin spoke with such knowledge and wisdom that he ended by confirming the sultan in the good opinion he had formed of him from the beginning.
Once the meal was over, the sultan summoned the grand qadi and ordered him immediately to draw up a contract of marriage between Princess Badr, his daughter, and Aladdin. While this was happening, the sultan talked to Aladdin about several different things in the presence of the grand vizier and his courtiers, who all admired Aladdin’s soundness and the great ease with which he spoke and expressed himself and the refined and subtle comments with which he enlivened his conversation.
When the qadi had completed drawing up the contract in all the required forms, the sultan asked Aladdin if he wished to stay in the palace to complete the marriage ceremonies that same day, but Aladdin replied: ‘Sire, however impatient I am fully to enjoy your majesty’s kindnesses, I beg you will be so good as to allow me to put them off until I have had a palace built to receive the princess in, according to her dignity and merit. For this purpose, I ask you to grant me a suitable spot in the palace grounds so that I may be closer at hand to pay you my respects. I will do everything to see that it is accomplished with all possible speed.’ ‘My son,’ said the sultan, ‘take all the land you think you need; there is a large space in front of my palace and I myself had already thought of filling it. But remember, I can’t see you united to my daughter soon enough to complete my happiness.’ After he had said this, the sultan embraced Aladdin, who took his leave of the sultan with the same courtesy as if he had been brought up and always lived at court.
Aladdin remounted his horse and returned home the same way he had come, passing through the same applauding crowds, who wished him happiness and prosperity. As soon as he got back and had dismounted, he went off to his own room, took the lamp and summoned the jinni in the usual way. The jinni immediately appeared and offered him his services. ‘O jinni,’ said Aladdin, ‘I have every reason to congratulate myself on how precisely and promptly you have carried out everything I have asked of you so far, through the power of this lamp, your mistress. But now, for the sake of the lamp, you must, if possible, show even more zeal and more diligence than before. I am now asking you to build me, as quickly as you can, at an appropriate distance opposite the sultan’s residence, a palace worthy of receiving Princess Badr, my wife-to-be. I leave you free to choose the materials – porphyry, jasper, agate, lapis lazuli and the finest marble of every colour – and the rest of the building. But at the very top of this palace, I want you to build a great room, surmounted by a dome and with four equal sides, made up of alternating layers of solid gold and silver. There should be twenty-four windows, six on each side, with the latticed screens of all but one – which I want left unfinished – embellished, skilfully and symmetrically, with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, so that nothing like this will have ever been seen in the world. I also want the palace to have a forecourt, a main court and a garden. But above all, there must be, in a spot you will decide, a treasure house, full of gold and silver coins. And I also want this palace to have kitchens, pantries, storehouses, furniture stores for precious furniture for all seasons and in keeping with the magnificence of the palace, and stables filled with the most beautiful horses complete with their riders and grooms, not to forget hunting equipment. There must also be kitchen staff and officials and female slaves for the service of the princess. You understand what I mean? Go and come back when it’s done.’
It was sunset when Aladdin finished instructing the jinni in the construction of his imagined palace. The next day, at daybreak, Aladdin, who could not sleep peacefully because of his love for the princess, had barely risen when the jinni appeared before him. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘your palace is finished. Come and see if you like it.’ No sooner had Aladdin said he wanted to see it than in an instant the jinni had transported him there. Aladdin found it so beyond all his expectations that he could not admire it enough. The jinni led him through every part; everywhere Aladdin found nothing but riches, splendour and perfection, with the officials and slaves all dressed according to their rank and the services they had to perform. Nor did he forget to show him, as one of the main features, the treasure house, the door to which was opened by the treasurer. There Aladdin saw purses of different sizes, depending on the sums they contained, piled up in a pleasing arrangement which reached up to the vault. As they left, the jinni assured him of the treasurer’s trustworthiness. He then led him to the stables where he showed him the most beautiful horses in the world and the grooms who were grooming them. Finally, he took him through storerooms filled with all the supplies necessary for both the horses’ adornment and their food.
When Aladdin had examined the whole palace from top to bottom, floor by floor, room by room, and in particular the chamber with the twenty-four windows, and had found it so rich and magnificent and well furnished, beyond anything he had promised himself, he said to the jinni: ‘O jinni, nobody could be happier than I am and it would be wrong for me to complain. But there’s one thing which I didn’t tell you because I hadn’t thought about it, which is to spread, from the gate of the sultan’s palace to the door of the room intended for the princess, a carpet of the finest velvet for her to walk on when she comes from the sultan’s palace.’ ‘I will be back in a moment,’ said the jinni. A little after his disappearance, Aladdin was astonished to see that what he wanted had been carried out without knowing how it had been done. The jinni reappeared and carried Aladdin back home, just as the gate of the sultan’s palace was being opened.
