~~In Shahryar’s room
Just before daybreak, the little sister wakes up Scheherazade and asks her to continue narrating her story. Scheherazade obliges and Shahryar too listens with deep interest.
~~Story narrated by Scheherazade
The evil magician plots his revenge against Aladdin and prepares to go to China. Once he reaches the city where Aladdin is residing, everyone is busy talking about one person. Spread in small groups here and there, everyone was talking about that one person. The evil magician then joined a group of 2 men who were talking and asked them as to who it was they were talking about. One of them said that it was Aladdin and immediately, the magician became very frustrated and asked if he could show him where he lived. The man agreed and took the magician to the big palace which stood. People stood crowded around the palace and were admiring its beauty.
The magician then saw the princess in the balcony standing with her maid and hatched upon a scheme to trick them into handing over the magic lamp. He disguised himself as a lamp seller and bought a few lamps. As he walked across the streets, towards Aladdin’s palace, he shouted in a loud voice saying that he would take old lamps in exchange for new ones. The maid who was standing with the princess heard this and told the princess that she will get the old lamp in the house exchanged for a new one. The princess agreed and the maid took the magic lamp and gave it to the lamps seller who in return, gave her a new lamp. The magician smiled to himself with glee and went away, hiding the lamp.
Once he reached his home, he rubbed the lamp. The genie appeared from a dense cloud of smoke and asked him to make a wish. The evil magician then told the genie to bring the palace of Aladdin along with his wife near his home. The genie agreed and in a fraction of a second, Aladdin’s palace was transported from China to a place outside the magician’s home. The magician then seized control of the people inside the palace and started to abuse Aladdin’s wife.
Meanwhile in China, the guards reported to the king that the entire palace had vanished without a trace and the king was very angry. He immediately ordered the guards to drag Aladdin to the court in handcuffs. The guards obliged and went in search of him. After a long search, they found him hunting in the forest. The guards narrated to him about what had taken place. Apologising to Aladdin in advance, they handcuffed him and took him to the king.
In the court, the king was visibly angry with Aladdin and he demanded an explanation from Aladdin regarding the disappearance of his daughter and the palace. Aladdin replied saying that he did not know anything and would need time to investigate what happened. The king granted him 40 days’ time and said if he did not have any results to show by then, he would be beheaded. Aladdin agreed and went in search of his wife and palace.
He searched everywhere and asked various people regarding the same, but no one had any idea about the situation. However, one of them said that there was a new person in the market that day who was exchanging old lamps for new ones. Aladdin did not find this of much importance and so he brushed it aside carelessly.
He then started to roam around, searching for his wife and the palace. Many days passed by and he had roamed quite far in his search. He stopped at a place to refresh himself and there, he rubbed his palms together. By this action, he rubbed against the ring which was given to him by the magician a long time ago and from that, a genie emerged. The genie then asked him to make a wish.
Aladdin wished for him to bring the palace back to where it was placed originally. Surprisingly, the genie refused saying that this was beyond his powers. Aladdin thought for some time and then told the genie to transport him to his palace instead. The genie agreed and transported Aladdin at once to his palace. Once he was inside the palace, he went in search of his wife and found her to be safe with the other maids. The wife rejoiced on seeing him and told him about everything that had happened. Aladdin then realised that the new lamp seller in the market was none other than the evil magician. She then warned him that the magician would be coming around this time. He then thought of a plan and told it to her, giving her a small secret bottle. After this, Aladdin went and hid himself.
Soon, the magician came and started to speak with the princess. They then went to eat and after eating, they started to drink some juice. At this time, the princess said to the magician that it was part of her tradition to drink from the glass of the partner before sleeping. The magician did not object and said that they can exchange the glasses in the bedroom. So saying, the magician proceeded towards the bedroom. She followed behind him and silently, she emptied the content of the small secret bottle into her glass. After reaching the bedroom, the magician greedily grabbed the glass from the hands of the princess and drank it. Within no time, his eyes started to lose vision and he fainted and fell to the ground. She at once called out to Aladdin and he came dashing out from outside.
Aladdin saw that his plan had worked out perfectly and was delighted by it. He told his wife to go and hide in another room. After that, he took the lamp from the magician who was lying unconscious on the floor. Drawing his sword, Aladdin stabbed the magician through the heart and killed him in his sleep itself. Then, he rubbed the lamp and wished for the genie to take the palace back to its original place in China. The genie agreed and immediately took the entire palace with everyone inside, back to China.
The king was standing in his balcony as he saw the entire palace materialise in front of his eyes. He was very happy to see his daughter once again and praised Aladdin for his valour. They all lived happily ever after.
~~In Shahryar’s room
The little sister, as well as Shahryar himself, was impressed with the story. In order to hear more of her amazing stories, Shahryar kept postponing her death day by day. But as days went by, Shahryar was getting more reformed due to the various morals contained in each of the stories. Soon, Scheherazade managed to change Shahryar completely into a noble man and her death was no longer a cause for concern. Scheherazade, Shahryar and the little sister all lived happily ever after. One fine morning, Scheherazade started to narrate a new story as it became a daily habit.
Once upon a time, there lived a man called Ali Baba…