~~In Shahryar’s room
The little sister asked Shahryar if she could listen to the story. The king thought for a moment and accepted. Just as the day was about to start, Scheherazade started to tell her little sister about the story of Aladdin and the magician.
~~Story narrated by Scheherazade
Once upon a time in China, there lived a widowed mother with her son, Aladdin. He was very lazy and loved to spend time playing with his friends. His mother was disappointed and in order to earn money, she sold the belongings of her husband and bought the necessary equipment for spinning yarn. With this, she started to earn some money.
One day, when Aladdin was playing with his friends, a magician was passing by. He saw Aladdin and was sure that he would be suitable for the task he had at hand. So, using his powers of magic, he made Aladdin’s friends disappear and approached Aladdin. Aladdin was shocked to see his friends disappear, but did not know that the magician had caused it. The magician went and told Aladdin that his father was his brother, and when Aladdin said that his father was dead, the magician started to shed crocodile tears. The magician then gave Aladdin a few gold coins and told him to tell his mother that his uncle was coming home soon.
Aladdin went and gave the gold coins to his mother and told that his uncle was coming. The mother was shocked to hear this as she knew that her husband’s brother was dead for a long time. Soon, the magician came and knocked on the door of the house. She opened and greeted him inside. He pretended to be very sad and asked to see the place where his brother lived. She showed the magician where her husband used to sit and after that she gave him the best food to eat. After eating, they went to sleep peacefully.
The next morning, the magician woke up Aladdin early in the morning and said that he wanted to show him something. Aladdin was happy and so he followed the magician. The magician travelled far and wide and crossed bridges and Aladdin followed behind him. They then reached a desolate place where they rested for some time. After resting, the magician ordered Aladdin to go and get some dry sticks for creating a fire for getting warmth. Aladdin went and gathered the dry sticks and together, they created the fire.
The magician then told Aladdin that there was a cave nearby and that there was a lot of treasure inside, but he needed a magic lamp which was hidden deep in the cave. Using his magic powers, he opened the entrance to the cave in a big rock nearby and ordered Aladdin to go inside and get the lamp for him as he was small and could get inside easily. He also told Aladdin that he could take whatever he wanted after taking the magic lamp. The magician also gave Aladdin a ring, saying that it would protect him from any harm inside the cave.
Wearing the ring, Aladdin then went inside the cave confidently. He went further and further inside the cave until he found a magic lamp which was placed alone apart from all the other treasures. He took the magic lamp and on his way back to the top, he took as many treasures as possible with him.
When he reached the entrance, the magician asked Aladdin to first hand over the magic lamp and then he would help him climb up. Aladdin refused and said that he would like to come up and then give the lamp. The magician got angry and in a fit of rage, he blocked the entrance to the cave…
~~In Shahryar’s room
Scheherazade stopped narrating the story when the sun was just about to come up. Shahryar was deeply engrossed in the story and he wanted to hear it fully and so he decided to postpone her death.
To know what happened to Aladdin, read Arabian Nights - Chapter 6!