Part 82

At these words, the African magician threw his arms about Aladdin’s neck, and kissed him several times with tears in his eyes. Aladdin, who observed his tears, asked him, What made him weep? Alas! my son, cried the African magician with a sigh, how can I forbear? I am your uncle; your good father was my own brother. I have been a great many years abroad travelling, and now I am come home with the hopes of seeing him, you tell me he is dead. I assure you it is a sensible grief to me to be deprived of the comfort I expected. But it is some relief to my affliction, that as far as I can remember him, I knew you at first sight, you are so like him; and I see I am not deceived. Then he asked Aladdin, putting his hand into his purse, where his mother lived; and as soon as Aladdin had informed him, he gave him a handful of small money, saying to him, Go, my son, to your mother, give my love to her, and tell her that I will come and see her to-morrow, if I have time, that I may have the satisfaction of seeing where my good brother lived so long, and ended his days.

As soon as the African magician left his new-adopted nephew, Aladdin ran to his mother, overjoyed at the money his uncle had given him. Mother, said he, have I an uncle? No, child, replied his mother, you have no uncle by your father’s side or mine. I am just now come, answered Aladdin, from a man who says he is my uncle by my father’s side, assuring me that he is his brother. He cried and kissed me when I told him my father was dead; and to show you that what I tell you is truth, added he, pulling out the money, see what he has given me; he charged me to give his love to you, and to tell you, if he has any time to-morrow, he will come and pay you a visit, that he may see at the same time the house my father lived and died in. Indeed, child, replied the mother, your father had a brother, but he has been dead a long time, and I never heard of another.

The mother and son talked no more then of the African magician; but the next day Aladdin’s uncle found him playing in another part of the town with other children, and embracing him as before, put two pieces of gold into his hand, and said to him, Carry this, child, to your mother, and tell her that I will come and see her to-night, and bid her get us something for supper; but first show me the house where you live.

After Aladdin had showed the African magician the house, he carried the two pieces of gold to his mother, and when he had told her of his uncle’s intention, she went out and bought provisions; and considering she wanted various vessels, she went and borrowed them of her neighbours. She spent the whole day in preparing the supper; and at night, when it was ready, she said to Aladdin, Perhaps your uncle knows not how to find our house, go and see for him, and bring him if you meet with him.

Though Aladdin had showed the magician the house, he was very ready to go, when somebody knocked at the door, which Aladdin immediately opened; and the magician came in, loaded with wine and all sorts of fruits, which he brought for a dessert.

After the African magician had given what he brought into Aladdin’s hands, he saluted his mother, and desired her to show him the place where his brother Mustapha used to sit on the sofa; and when she had so done, he presently fell down and kissed it several times, crying out with tears in his eyes, My poor brother! how unhappy am I, not to have come soon enough to give you one last embrace! Aladdin’s mother desired him to sit down in the same place, but he would not. No, said he, I shall take care how I do that; but give me leave to sit here over against it, that if I am deprived of the satisfaction of seeing the master of a family so dear to me, I may at least have the pleasure of seeing the place where he used to sit. Aladdin’s mother pressed him no farther, but left him at his liberty to sit where he pleased.

When the magician had made choice of a place, and sat down, he began to enter into discourse with Aladdin’s mother: My good sister, said he, do not be surprised at your never having seen me all the time you have been married to my brother Mustapha, of happy memory. I have been forty years absent from this country, which is my native place, as well as my late brother’s; and during that time have travelled into the Indies, Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, and have resided in the finest towns of those countries; and afterwards crossed over into Africa, where I made a longer stay. At last, as it is natural for a man, how distant soever it may be, to remember his native country, relations and acquaintance, I was very desirous to see mine again, and to embrace my dear brother; and finding I had strength and courage enough to undertake so long a journey, I immediately made the necessary preparations for it, and set out. I will not tell you the length of time it took me, all the obstacles I met with, and what fatigues I have endured, to come hither; but nothing ever mortified and afflicted me so much as the hearing of my brother’s death, for whom I always had a brotherly love and friendship. I observed his features in the face of my nephew, your son, and distinguished him from a number of children with whom he was at play; he can tell you how I received the most melancholy news that ever reached my ears. But God be praised for all things! it is a comfort to me to find him again in a son, who has his most remarkable features.

The African magician, perceiving that Aladdin’s mother began to weep at the remembrance of her husband, changed the discourse, and turning towards Aladdin, asked him his name. I am called Aladdin, said he. Well, Aladdin, replied the magician, what business do you follow? Are you of any trade?

At this question Aladdin hung down his head, and was not a little dashed when his mother made answer, Aladdin is an idle fellow; his father, when alive, strove all he could to teach him his trade, but could not succeed; and since his death, notwithstanding all I can say to him, he does nothing but idle away his time in the streets, as you saw him, without considering he is no longer a child; and if you do not make him ashamed of it, and make him leave it off, I despair of his ever coming to any good. He knows that his father left him no fortune, and sees me endeavour to get bread by spinning cotton every day; for my part, I am resolved one of these days to turn him out of doors, and let him provide for himself.

After these words, Aladdin’s mother burst out into tears; and the magician said, This is not well, nephew; you must think of helping yourself, and getting your livelihood. There are a great many sorts of trades, consider if you have not an inclination to some of them; perhaps you did not like your father’s trade, and would prefer another; come, do not disguise your sentiments from me; I will endeavour to help you. But finding that Aladdin returned no answer; If you have no mind, continued he, to learn any trade, and prove an honest man, I will take a shop for you, and furnish it with all sorts of fine stuffs and linens, and set you to trade with them; and with the money you make with them, lay in fresh goods, and then you will live after an honourable way. Consult your own inclination, and tell me freely what you think of it: you shall always find me ready to keep my word.

This proposal greatly flattered Aladdin, who mortally hated work, and had sense enough to know that such sort of shops were very much esteemed and frequented, and the owners honoured and respected. He told the magician he had a greater inclination to that business than to any other, and that he should be very much obliged to him all his life for his kindness. Since this profession is agreeable, to you, said the African magician, I will carry you along with me to-morrow, and clothe you as richly and handsomely as the best merchants in the city, and after that we will think of opening such a shop as I mean.

Aladdin’s mother, who never till then could believe that the magician was her husband’s brother, no longer doubted it after his promises of kindness to her son. She thanked him for his good intentions; and after having exhorted Aladdin to render himself worthy of his uncle’s favour by his good behaviour, served up supper, at which they talked of several indifferent matters: and then the magician, who saw that the night was pretty far advanced, took his leave of the mother and son, and retired.

He came again the next day as he promised, and took Aladdin along with him to a great merchant, who sold all sorts of clothes for different ages and ranks ready made, and a variety of fine stuffs. He asked to see some that suited Aladdin in size; and after choosing a suit which he liked best, and rejecting others which he did not think handsome enough, he bid Aladdin choose those he preferred. Aladdin, charmed with the liberality of his new uncle, made choice of one, and the magician immediately bought it, and all things proper to it, and paid for it without haggling.

When Aladdin found himself so handsomely equipped from top to toe, he returned his uncle all imaginable thanks; who, on the other hand, promised never to forsake him, but always to take him along with him, which he did to the most frequented places in the city, and particularly where the capital merchants kept their shops. When he brought him into the street where they sold the richest stuffs and finest linens, he said to Aladdin, As you are soon to be a merchant as well as these, it is proper you should frequent these shops, and be acquainted with them. Then he showed him the largest and finest mosques, and carried him to the khans or inns where the merchants and travellers lodged, and afterwards to the sultan’s palace, where he had free access; and at last brought him to his own khan, where meeting with some merchants he had got acquainted with since his arrival, he gave them a treat, to bring them and his pretended nephew acquainted.

This treat lasted till night, when Aladdin would have taken his leave of his uncle to go home, but the magician would not let him go by himself, but conducted him safe to his mother, who, as soon as she saw him so finely dressed, was transported with joy, and bestowed a thousand blessings upon the magician for being at so great an expense upon her child. Generous relation, said she, I know not how to thank you for your liberality. I know that my son is not deserving of your favours; and was he ever so grateful, and answered your good intentions, he would be unworthy of them. For my part, added she, I thank you with all my soul, and wish you may live long enough to be a witness of my son’s gratitude, which he cannot better show than by regulating his conduct by your good advice.

Aladdin, replied the magician, is a good boy, and minds well enough, and I believe we shall do very well; but I am sorry for one thing, which is, that I cannot perform to-morrow what I promised, because it is Friday, and the shops will be shut up, and therefore we cannot hire or furnish one, but let it alone till Saturday. But I will call on him to-morrow, and take him to walk in the gardens, where people of the best fashion generally walk. Perhaps he has never seen these amusements, he has only hitherto been among children; but now he must see men. Then the African magician took his leave of the mother and the son, and retired. Aladdin, who was overjoyed to be so well clothed, anticipated the pleasure of walking in the gardens which lay about the town. He had never been out of the town, nor seen the environs, which were very beautiful and pleasant.

Aladdin rose early the next morning and dressed himself to be ready against his uncle called on him; and after he had waited some time, he began to be impatient, and stood watching for him at the door; but as soon as he perceived him coming, he told his mother, took his leave of her, and ran to meet him.

The magician caressed Aladdin when he came to him: Come along, my dear child, said he, and I will show you fine things. Then he led him out at one of the gates of the city, to some large fine houses, or rather palaces, to each of which belonged beautiful gardens, into which any body might go. At every house he came to, he asked Aladdin if he did not think it fine; and Aladdin was ready to answer when any one presented itself, crying out, Here is a finer house, uncle, than any we have seen yet. By this artifice, the cunning magician got Aladdin a pretty way in the country; and as he had a mind to carry him farther, to execute his design, he took an opportunity to sit down in one of the gardens by a fountain of clear water, which discharged itself by a lion’s mouth of bronze into a great basin, pretending to be tired, the better to rest Aladdin: Come, nephew, said he, you must be weary as well as me; let us rest ourselves, and we shall be better able to walk.

After they had sat down, the magician pulled from his girdle a handkerchief with cakes and fruit, which he had provided on purpose, and laid them on the edge of the basin. He broke a cake in two, gave one half to Aladdin, and ate the other himself: and in regard to the fruit, he left him at liberty to take which sort he liked best. --During this short repast, he exhorted his nephew to leave off keeping company with children, and seek that of wise and prudent men, to improve by their conversation; for, said he, you will soon be at man’s estate, and you cannot too early begin to imitate their conversation. When they had eaten as much as they liked, they got up, and pursued their walk through the gardens, which were separated from one another only by small ditches, which only marked out the limits without interrupting the communication; so great was the confidence the inhabitants reposed in each other. By this means, the African magician drew Aladdin insensibly beyond the gardens, and crossed the country till they almost came to the mountains.

Aladdin, who had never been so far in his life before, began to find himself much tired with so long a walk, and said to the magician, where are we going, uncle? we have left the gardens a great way behind us, and I see nothing but mountains; if we go much farther, I do not know whether I shall be able to reach the town again. Never fear, nephew, said the false uncle; I will show you another garden, which surpasses all we have yet seen; it is not far off! it is but a little step; and when we come there, you will say that you would have been sorry to have been so nigh it, and not seen it. Aladdin was soon persuaded; and the magician, to make the way seem shorter and less fatiguing, told him a great many stories.

At last they came between two mountains of moderate height, and equal size, divided by a narrow valley, which was the place where the magician intended to bring Aladdin, to put into execution a design that had brought him from Africa to China. We will go no farther now, said he to Aladdin; I will show you here some very extraordinary things, and what nobody ever saw before; which, when you have seen, you will thank me for: but while I strike fire, do you gather up all the loose sticks you can see, to kindle a fire with.

Aladdin found there so many dried sticks, that before the magician had lighted a match, he had gathered up a great heap. The magician presently set them on fire, and when they were all in a blaze, the magician threw in some incense he had about him, which raised a great cloud of smoke, which he dispersed on each side, by pronouncing several magical words which Aladdin did not understand.

At the same time the earth trembled a little, and opened just before the magician and Aladdin, and discovered a stone about half a yard square, laid horizontally, with a brass ring fixed into the middle of it, to raise it up. Aladdin was so frightened at what he saw, that he would have run away: but as he was to be serviceable to the magician, he caught hold of him, scolded him, and gave him such a box on the ear, that he knocked him down, and had like to have beat his teeth down his throat. Poor Aladdin got up again trembling, and with tears in his eyes, said to the magician, What have I done, uncle, to be treated after this severe manner? I have my reasons for it, replied the magician: I am your uncle, and supply the place of your father, and you ought to make no reply. But, child, added he, softening, do not be afraid of any thing; for I shall not ask any thing of you, but that you obey me punctually, if you would reap the advantages which I intended you should. These fair promises calmed Aladdin’s fears and resentment; and when the magician saw that he was come to himself, he said to him, You see what I have done by virtue of my incense, and the words I pronounced. Know then, that under this stone there is hid a treasure, which is destined to be yours, and which will make you richer than the greatest monarch in the world: this is so true, that no other person but yourself is permitted to touch this stone, and to pull it up and go in; for I am forbid even to touch it, or set foot in this treasure when it is opened; so you must without fail punctually execute what I tell you, for it is a matter of great consequence both to you and me.

Aladdin, amazed at all he saw and heard the magician say of the treasure, which was to make him happy for ever, forgot what was past, and rising up, said to the magician, Well, uncle, what is to be done? command me, I am ready to obey you. I am overjoyed, child, said the African magician, embracing him, to see you take the resolution; come, take hold of the ring, and lift up that stone. Indeed, uncle, replied Aladdin, I am not strong enough to lift it; you must help me. You have no occasion for my assistance, answered the magician, if I help you, we shall be able to do nothing; you must lift it up yourself: take hold of the ring, only pronounce the names of your father and grandfather, then lift it up, and you will find it will come easily. Aladdin did as the magician bade him, and raised the stone with a great deal of ease, and laid it on one side.

When the stone was pulled up there appeared a cavity of about three or four feet deep, with a little door, and steps to go down lower. Observe, my son, said the African magician, what I am going to say to you: go down into that cave, and when you are at the bottom of those steps, you will find a door open, which will lead you into a large vaulted place, divided into three great halls, in each of which you will see four large brass vessels placed on each side, full of gold and silver, but take care you do not meddle with them. Before you go into the first hall, be sure to tuck up your gown, and wrap it well about you, and then go through the second into the third without stopping. Above all things, have a care that you do not touch the walls, so much as with your clothes; for if you do, you will die instantly. At the end of the third hall, you will find a door which leads into a garden planted with fine trees loaded with fruit; walk directly across the garden by a path which will lead you to five steps that will bring you upon a terrace, where you will see a niche before you, and in that niche a lighted lamp. Take the lamp down, and put it out; when you have thrown away the wick, and poured out the liquor, put it in your breast, and bring it to me. Do not be afraid that the liquor will spoil your clothes, for it is not oil, and the lamp will be dry as soon as it is thrown out. If you have a mind to any of the fruit of the garden, you may gather as much as you please.

After these words, the magician drew a ring off his finger, and put it upon one of Aladdin’s, telling him that it was a preservative against all evil, while he observed what he had prescribed to him. After this instruction he said, Go down boldly, child, and we shall both be rich all our lives.

Aladdin jumped into the cave, went down the steps, and found the three halls, just as the African magician had described them. He went through them with all the precaution the fear of death could inspire, if he failed to observe all that he was told very carefully; crossed the garden without stopping, took down the lamp from the niche, threw out the wick and the liquor, and, as the magician told him, put it in his bosom. But as he came down from the terrace, seeing it was perfectly dry, he stopped in the garden to observe the fruit, which he only had a glimpse of in crossing it. All the trees were loaded with extraordinary fruit, of different colours on each tree: some bore fruit entirely white, and some clear and transparent as crystal; some pale red, and others deeper; some green, blue, and purple, and others yellow; in short, there was fruit of all colours. The white were pearls; the clear and transparent, diamonds; the deep red, rubies; the paler, ballas rubies; [96] the green, emeralds; the blue, turquoises; the purple, amethysts; and those that were of yellow cast, sapphires; and so of the rest. All these fruits were so large and beautiful, that nothing was ever seen like them. Aladdin was altogether ignorant of their value, and would have preferred figs and grapes, or any other fruits, before them; and though he took them only for coloured glass of little value, yet he was so pleased with the variety of the colours, and the beauty and extraordinary size of the fruit, that he had a mind to gather some of every sort; and accordingly filled his two pockets, and the two new purses his uncle had bought for him with the clothes which he gave him; and as he could not put them in his pockets, he fastened them to his girdle. Some he wrapped up in the skirts of his gown, which was of silk, large and wrapping, and crammed his breast as full as it could hold.

Aladdin, having thus loaded himself with riches he knew not the value of, returned through the three halls with the same precaution, and made all the haste he could, that he might not make his uncle wait, and soon arrived at the mouth of the cave, where the African magician expected him with the utmost impatience. As soon as Aladdin saw him, he cried out, Pray, uncle, lend me your hand to help me out. Give me the lamp first, replied the magician; it will be troublesome to you. Indeed, uncle, answered Aladdin, I cannot now; it is not troublesome to me; but I will as soon as I am up. The African magician was so obstinate, that he would have the lamp before he would help him up; and Aladdin, who had incumbered himself so much with his fruit, that he could not well get at it, refused to give him it till he was out of the cave. The African magician, provoked at this obstinate refusal of the lad, flew into a terrible passion, and threw a little of his incense into the fire, which he had taken care to keep in, and no sooner pronounced two magical words, but the stone which had closed the mouth of the cave, moved into its place, with the earth over it, in the same manner as it lay at the arrival of the magician and Aladdin.