علاءالدین و چراغ جادو

Chapter ten

Aladdin and the Lamp

Aladdin lived with his mother in a great city. They had very little money. Aladdin’s father was dead and his mother made clothes for rich people. Aladdin helped her in her work.

One day, a man stopped Aladdin in the street. This man wore very fine clothes.

‘Hello, Aladdin,’ he said. ‘I’m your uncle - your father’s brother. I came here from Morocco. I wanted to see him but he’s dead. So I’d really like to help you. Perhaps I can buy you a shop.’

Aladdin was very surprised. He didn’t know his father had a brother. They walked round the city, then the man said, ‘It’s a nice day. Let’s go outside the city.’

They walked for a long time, and Aladdin got very tired. Then his uncle stopped and hit the ground three times. There was a great noise and the ground opened.

Aladdin saw some dark stairs. They went down into the ground for a long way. Aladdin didn’t like these stairs, but his uncle pushed him down them.

‘Listen, boy’, he said. ‘At the bottom of the stairs there’s a cave. Go through the cave and you’ll come to a garden of fruit trees. You’ll see a dirty old lamp under a tree. Bring that lamp to me. Now go! Be quick!’

Aladdin was afraid of the stairs but he was more afraid of his uncle. So he went down the stairs to the cave. He walked through the garden and found the lamp. He put it inside his shirt. Then he started to take some fruit from the trees. The fruit was pieces of gold! He put the gold inside his shirt too.

His uncle waited at the top of the stairs.

‘Give me the lamp before you climb out. Then I’ll help you,’ said his uncle.

But Aladdin didn’t like this idea. ‘No,’ he answered. ‘Help me first, then I’ll give you the lamp.’

Aladdin’s uncle got very angry. He tried to take the lamp from Aladdin.

Suddenly there was a loud noise and everything went black. The ground closed over Aladdin.

Aladdin’s uncle wasn’t really his uncle. He was a magician. He wanted the lamp in the cave but the place was dangerous. So he used Aladdin. But now he couldn’t get the lamp.

‘Stupid boy!’ he said, and he went back angrily to Morocco.

It was very dark in the cave. Aladdin couldn’t get out. He stayed in the cave for two days and two nights.

‘Why did my uncle want this dirty old lamp?’ he thought. He moved his hands over the lamp. Suddenly there was a loud noise and a large genie stood in front of him.

‘I’m the genie of the lamp,’ he said. ‘What can I do for you, sir?’

Aladdin was surprised but he only wanted one thing. ‘I want to go home,’ he said.

The next minute, he was at home with his mother. He told her his story. His mother was very interested. ‘Let’s ask this genie for more things,’ she said.

So Aladdin called the genie and the genie came.

‘I’m very hungry,’ said Aladdin. ‘Bring my dinner.’

The genie brought wonderful food on gold plates. Then Aladdin and his mother asked for new clothes and other things. The genie brought everything.

For a time, Aladdin was happy. Then, one day, he saw the sultan’s beautiful daughter in a garden. From that minute, he was in love with her and wanted to marry her.

Aladdin dressed in fine clothes and went to see the sultan. He took forty servants with him. Each servant carried a gold box with many beautiful things inside. The sultan couldn’t say no to Aladdin.

‘This man is very rich,’ he thought. ‘He’ll be a good husband for my daughter.’

So Aladdin married the sultan’s daughter. The genie brought them a lovely house and they lived there happily.

But one person wasn’t happy - the magician in Morocco. He couldn’t stop thinking about the lamp. Was it under the ground with that stupid boy? Or did the boy get out of the cave? Were the boy and the lamp somewhere in the city? He had to know the answers to these questions. So he came back to Aladdin’s city.

The magician put on old clothes and bought some new lamps. Then he went round the streets of the city and cried, ‘New lamps for old lamps! New lamps for old lamps!’

People laughed at him and brought their old lamps to him. ‘This lamp seller is stupid,’ they thought.

The magician changed their old lamps for new ones. Then he stopped outside Aladdin’s house. Aladdin was out, but his wife sat at a window. She saw the magician and said to a servant girl, ‘There’s a dirty old lamp in my husband’s room. Give it to that man.’

When the magician had the lamp in his hands, he called the genie. The genie came and said,’ Sir, what can I do for you?’

‘Take me, this house and everything in it to Morocco.’

A big black cloud came down over the house. When the cloud went away again, Aladdin’s house wasn’t there.

When Aladdin came home, he cried, ‘This is that magician’s work. What am I going to do?’

He went to Morocco and looked for his house. After a long time he found it. His wife was inside. When she saw Aladdin, she put her arms round him.

‘You’re here, my love! I’m very happy now,’ she cried. ‘The magician comes to see me every night. He wants me to forget you and marry him.’

‘And my lamp?’ asked Aladdin. ‘Where is it?’

‘He carries it with him.’

‘I have to get that lamp,’ said Aladdin. ‘You’ll have to help me. Put something in the magician’s drink tonight.’

That night Aladdin waited in the next room. His wife put something in the magician’s drink and he slept. Then Aladdin cut off his head.

Aladdin took the lamp and called the genie.

‘Sir, what can I do for you?’ the genie asked.

‘Take this house and everything in it back to my city.’

Aladdin and his wife flew back home and lived happily for many years. But the lamp always stayed with Aladdin.

‘How many stories do you know?’ Shahriar asked.

‘I know stories for a thousand and one nights. And when I finish those stories, I’ll think of new ones.’

‘Then I can never cut off your head. But I don’t want to kill you. I love you, Sheherezade.’

So Sheherezade won the sultan’s love with her stories. She loved him too, and they were very happy.