Knjigice
Fairy tale · Classic fairy tales
Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
The tale of a poor boy, a magic lamp and a mighty spirit
Also in: Aladin in čudežna svetilka (Slovenian) · Aladin a čarovná lampa (Slovak)
In a faraway city in an eastern land there lived a boy named Aladdin. His father the tailor had died when Aladdin was small, and he and his mother lived very poorly. All day Aladdin ran about the narrow streets and markets, while his mother spun cotton so they would have at least a modest supper. But Aladdin had bright eyes and a good heart.
1
One day a stranger with a long grey beard came up to Aladdin in the market. "Aladdin! I am your father's brother — your uncle," he said sweetly. "I shall make you rich." But he was no uncle at all — he was a cunning sorcerer from a distant land, who needed Aladdin for a secret plan. His mother was glad, and so was Aladdin: he had never had an uncle before.
2
The sorcerer led Aladdin far from the city, among bare hills. There he muttered strange words, threw fragrant powder into a fire — and the earth opened with a rumble. Under a stone slab, steps led down into darkness. "Climb down," said the sorcerer. "At the very bottom burns an old oil lamp. Bring it to me! And take this ring — it will keep you safe."
3
Aladdin went down the steps and stopped in amazement. Beneath the earth glowed halls full of gold, and gardens where jewels hung on the trees instead of fruit: rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Aladdin stuffed them into his sash and pockets, and at the very end he found an old brass lamp on a stone shelf and took it.
4
"Hand me the lamp! The lamp first!" the sorcerer shouted impatiently from above. "Help me out first," Aladdin answered, for the jewels weighed him down. At that the sorcerer flew into a terrible rage, spoke a spell — and the stone slab slammed shut with a dull thud. Aladdin was left alone, deep underground, in utter darkness.
5
For three days Aladdin sat in the dark. When he wrung his hands in despair, he happened to rub the sorcerer's ring — and a small spirit of silver mist shone out before him. "I am your servant, master. What do you wish?" — "Carry me home!" cried Aladdin. In an instant he was sitting in his own room, and his mother hugged him and wept for joy.
6
His mother wanted to clean the old lamp so she could sell it. But the moment she rubbed it with a cloth, a mighty spirit rose from it in a cloud of smoke, gold and grey, with eyes like glowing embers. "Master of the lamp, command me!" he thundered. "We are hungry," said Aladdin. And on the table appeared silver bowls full of the finest food.
7
From then on they never went hungry again. Aladdin grew into an honest young man. One day he saw the sultan's daughter, Princess Badroulbadour, and his heart leapt. "Mother, ask the sultan to give her to me as my wife." His mother brought the sultan a gift: a bowl of jewels from the underground garden. The sultan stared — no one had ever seen their like.
8
Aladdin rubbed the lamp. "Build me a palace worthy of the princess!" And behold: by morning a palace of white marble stood across from the sultan's court, with jewelled windows and gardens full of fountains. The sultan clapped in wonder. The princess and Aladdin were married — and from the very first day they truly loved each other.
9
But far away the sorcerer learned that Aladdin was alive and happy. Green with rage, he came to the city disguised as an old pedlar. "New lamps for old!" he called beneath the palace windows. The princess laughed and gave him the old lamp from the shelf in exchange for a shiny new one. She did not know what power was hidden inside it.
10
The sorcerer rubbed the lamp and commanded the spirit: "Carry the palace — princess and all — to my faraway land!" When Aladdin returned, only an empty field remained. The sultan was sad and angry. But Aladdin remembered the ring and rubbed it. "I cannot move the palace," said the little spirit, "but I can carry you to it."
11
Aladdin crept in through a window to the princess. Together they made a plan: the princess sprinkled sleeping powder into the sorcerer's cup. When the sorcerer drank it and fell fast asleep, Aladdin took the wonderful lamp from his belt. That was the end of the sorcerer — he never woke again. "Spirit of the lamp," said Aladdin, "carry us home!"
12
That very night the spirit of the lamp set the palace — with the princess and Aladdin inside — back in its own place. The sultan hugged them both for joy. When Aladdin came to the throne years later, he ruled wisely and generously: he never forgot what it was to be poor, and no one in the city went to bed hungry. And the lamp he kept safe — just in case.
13The End
