Part 85

By this time Aladdin’s mother was so much used to go to the council, and stand before the sultan, that she did not think it any trouble, if she could but satisfy her son that she neglected nothing that lay in her power to please him: so the next council-day she went to the divan, and placed herself before the sultan as usual; and before the grand vizier had made his report of business, the sultan perceived her, and compassionated her for having waited so long, he said to the vizier, before you enter upon any business, remember the woman I spoke to you about: bid her come near, and let us hear and despatch her business first. The grand vizier immediately called the chief of the officers, who stood ready to obey his commands; and pointing to her, bid him go to that woman, and tell her to come before the sultan.

The chief of the officers went to Aladdin’s mother, and at a sign he gave her, she followed him to the foot of the sultan’s throne, where he left her, and retired to his place by the grand vizier. Aladdin’s mother, by the example of a great many others whom she saw salute the sultan, bowed her head down to the carpet, which covered the steps of the throne, and remained in that posture till the sultan bid her rise, which she had no sooner done, than the sultan said to her, Good woman, I have observed you to stand a long time, from the beginning to the rising of the divan; what business brings you here?

At these words, Aladdin’s mother prostrated herself a second time; and when she got up again, said, Monarch of monarchs, before I tell your majesty the extraordinary and almost incredible business which brings me before your high throne, I beg of you to pardon the boldness or rather impudence of the demand I am going to make, which is so uncommon, that I tremble, and am ashamed to propose it to my sultan. In order to give her the more freedom to explain herself, the sultan ordered every body to go out of the divan but the grand vizier, and then told her that she might speak without restraint.

Aladdin’s mother, not content with this favour of the sultan’s to save her the trouble and confusion of speaking before so many people, was notwithstanding for securing herself against his anger, which, from the proposal she was going to make, she was not a little apprehensive of; therefore resuming her discourse, she said, I beg of your majesty, if you should think my demand the least injurious or offensive, to assure me first of your pardon and forgiveness. Well, replied the sultan, I will forgive you, be it what it will, and no hurt shall come to you: speak boldly.

When Aladdin’s mother had taken all these precautions, for fear of the sultan’s anger, she told him faithfully how Aladdin had seen the princess Badroulboudour, the violent love that fatal sight had inspired him with, the declaration he had made to her of it when he came home, and what representations she had made to dissuade him from a passion, no less injurious, said she, to your majesty, as sultan, than to the princess your daughter. But, continued she, my son, instead of taking my advice and reflecting on his boldness, was so obstinate as to persevere in it, and to threaten me with some desperate act, if I refused to come and ask the princess in marriage of your majesty; and it was not till after an extreme violence on myself, I was forced to have this complaisance for him, for which I beg your majesty once more to pardon not only me, but forgive Aladdin my son, for entertaining such a rash thought as to aspire to so high an alliance.

The sultan hearkened to this discourse with a great deal of mildness, without showing the least anger or passion; but before he gave her any answer, he asked her what she had brought tied up in that napkin. She took the china dish, which she had set down at the foot of the throne before she prostrated herself before him; she untied it, and presented it to the sultan.

The sultan’s amazement and surprise were inexpressible, when he saw so many large, beautiful, and valuable jewels, collected in one dish. He remained for some time motionless with admiration. At last, when he had recovered himself, he received the present from Aladdin’s mother’s hand, and crying out in a transport of joy, How rich and now beautiful! After he had admired and handled all the jewels, one after another, he turned about to his grand vizier, and showing him the dish, said, Look here, and confess that your eyes never beheld any thing so rich and beautiful before. The vizier was charmed. Well, continued the sultan, what sayest thou to such a present? Is it not worthy of the princess my daughter? And ought I not to bestow her on one who values her at so great a price.

These words put the grand vizier into a strange agitation. The sultan had some time before signified to him his intention of bestowing the princess his daughter on a son of his; therefore he was afraid, and not without grounds, that the sultan, dazzled by so rich and extraordinary a present, might change his mind. Thereupon, going to him, and whispering him in the ear, he said to him, Sir, I cannot but own the present is worthy of the princess; but I beg of your majesty to grant me three months before you come to a resolution. I hope, before that time, my son, on whom you have had the goodness to look with a favourable eye, will be able to make a nobler present than Aladdin, who is an entire stranger to your majesty.

The sultan, though he was very well persuaded that it was not possible for the vizier to provide so considerable a present for his son to make the princess, yet he hearkened to him, and granted him that favour. So turning about to Aladdin’s mother, he said to her, Good woman, go home, and tell your son that I agree to the proposal you have made me; but I cannot marry the princess my daughter till some furniture I design for her be got ready, which cannot be finished these three months; but at the expiration of that time come again.

Aladdin’s mother returned home much more overjoyed than she could have imagined, for she looked upon her access to the sultan as a thing impossible; and besides, she had met with a favourable answer, instead of the refusal and confusion she expected. From two circumstances, Aladdin, when he saw his mother return, judged that she brought him good news; the one was, that she returned sooner than ordinary, and the next was, the gaiety of her countenance. Well, mother, said he to her, may I entertain any hopes, or must I die with despair? When she had pulled off her veil, and had sat herself down on the sofa by him, she said to him, Not to keep you long in suspense, son, I will begin by telling you, that instead of thinking of dying, you have every reason to be very well satisfied. Then pursuing her discourse, she told him, how that she had an audience before every body else, which made her come home so soon; the precautions she had taken lest she should have displeased the sultan, by making the proposal of marriage between him and the princess Badroulboudour, and the favourable answer she had from the caliph’s own mouth; and that, as far as she could judge, the present wrought that powerful effect. But when I least expected it, said she, and he was going to give me an answer, the grand vizier whispered him in the ear, and I was afraid might be some obstacle to his good intention towards us.

Aladdin thought himself the most happy of all men, at hearing of this news, and thanked his mother for all the pains she had taken in the pursuit of this affair, the good success of which was of so great importance to his peace. Though, through his impatience to enjoy the object of his passion, three months seemed an age, yet he disposed himself to wait with patience, relying on the sultan’s word, which he looked upon to be irrevocable. But all that time he not only counted the hours, days, and weeks, but every moment. When two of the three months were past, his mother one evening going to light the lamp, and finding no oil in the house, went out to buy some, and when she came into the city, found a general rejoicing. The shops, instead of being shut up, were open, drest with foliage, every one striving to show their zeal in the most distinguished manner. The streets were crowded with officers in habits of ceremony, mounted on horses richly caparisoned, each attended by a great many footmen. Aladdin’s mother asked the oil-merchant what was the meaning of all those doings. Whence came you, good woman, said he, that you don’t know that the grand vizier’s son is to marry the princess Badroulboudour, the sultan’s daughter, to-night? She will presently return from the baths; and these officers that you see are to assist at the cavalcade to the palace, where the ceremony is to be solemnized.

This was news enough for Aladdin’s mother. She ran till she was quite out of breath home to her son, who little suspected any such thing. Child, cried she, you are undone! you depend upon the sultan’s fine promises, but they will come to nothing. Aladdin was terribly alarmed at these words. Mother, replied he, how do you know the sultan has been guilty of a breach of promise? This night, answered the mother, the grand vizier’s son is to marry the princess Badroulboudour. She then related how she had heard it; so that from all circumstances, he had no reason to doubt the truth of what she said.

At this account Aladdin was thunder-struck. Any other man would have sunk under the shock; but a secret motive of jealousy soon roused his spirits, and he bethought himself of the lamp, which had till then been so useful to him; and without venting his rage in empty words against the sultan, the vizier, or his son, he only said, Perhaps, mother, the vizier’s son may not be so happy to-night as he promises himself: while I go into my chamber a moment, do you go and get supper ready. She accordingly went about it, and she guessed that her son was going to make use of the lamp, to prevent, if possible, the consummation of the marriage.

When Aladdin had got into his chamber, he took the lamp, and rubbed it in the same place as before, and immediately the genie appeared, and said to him, What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their hands; I and the other slaves of the lamp. Hear me, said Aladdin; thou hast hitherto brought me whatever I wanted as to provisions; but now I have business of the greatest importance for thee to execute. I have demanded the princess Badroulboudour in marriage of the sultan her father; he promised her to me, but only asked three months time; and instead of keeping that promise, has this night, before the expiration of that time, married her to the grand vizier’s son. I have just heard this, and have no doubt of it. What I ask of you is, That as soon as the bride and bridegroom are in bed, you bring them both hither in their bed. Master, replied the genie, I will obey you. Have you any other commands? None at present, answered Aladdin; and then the genie disappeared.

Aladdin went down stairs, and supped with his mother, with the same tranquillity of mind as usual; and after supper, talked of the princess’s marriage as of an affair wherein he had not the least concern; and afterwards returned to his own chamber again, and left his mother to go to bed; but he, for his part, sat up till the genie had executed his orders.

In the mean time, every thing was prepared with the greatest magnificence in the sultan’s palace to celebrate the princess’s nuptials; and the evening was spent with all the usual ceremonies and great rejoicings till midnight, when the grand vizier’s son, on a signal given him by the chief of the princess’s eunuchs, slipped away from the company, and was introduced by that officer into the princess’s apartment, where the nuptial bed was prepared. He went to bed first, and in a little time after, the sultaness, accompanied by her own women, and those of the princess, brought the bride, who, according to the custom of new married ladies, made great resistance. The sultaness herself helped to undress her, put her into bed by a kind of violence, and, after having kissed her, and wished her good-night, retired with all the women, and the last who came out shut the door.

No sooner was the door shut, but the genie, as the faithful slave of the lamp, and punctual in executing the commands of those who possessed it, without giving the bridegroom the least time to caress his bride, to the great amazement of them both, took up the bed, and transported it in an instant into Aladdin’s chamber, where he set it down.

Aladdin, who waited impatiently for this moment, did not suffer the vizier’s son to remain long in bed with the princess. Take this new-married man, said he to the genie, and shut him up in the house of office, and come again to-morrow morning after day-break. The genie presently took the vizier’s son out of bed, and carried him in his shirt whither Aladdin bid him; and after he had breathed upon him, which prevented his stirring, he left him there.

Great as was Aladdin’s love for the princess Badroulboudour, he did not talk much to her when they were alone; but only said, with a passionate air, Fear nothing, adorable princess; you are here in safety: for, notwithstanding the violence of my passion, which your charms have kindled, it shall never exceed the bounds of the profound respect I owe you. If I have been forced to come to this extremity, it is not with any intention of affronting you, but to prevent an unjust rival’s possessing you, contrary to the sultan your father’s promise in favour of me.

The princess, who knew nothing of these particulars, gave very little attention to what Aladdin could say. The fright and amazement of so unexpected an adventure had put her into such a condition, that he could not get one word from her. However, he undressed himself, and got into the vizier’s son’s place, and lay with his back to the princess, putting a sabre between himself and her, to show that he deserved to be punished, if he attempted any thing against her honour.

Aladdin, very well satisfied with having thus deprived his rival of the happiness he had flattered himself with enjoying that night, slept very quietly, though the princess Badroulboudour never passed a night so ill in her life; and if we consider the condition the genie left the grand vizier’s son in, we may imagine that the new bridegroom spent it much worse.

Aladdin had no occasion the next morning to rub the lamp to call the genie; he came at the hour appointed, and just when he had done dressing himself, and said to him, I am here, master; what are your commands? Go, said Aladdin, fetch the vizier’s son out of the place where you left him, and put him into his bed again, and carry it to the sultan’s palace, from whence you brought it. The genie presently returned with the vizier’s son. Aladdin took up his sabre, the bridegroom was laid by the princess, and in an instant the nuptial bed was transported into the same chamber of the palace from whence it had been brought. But we must observe that all this time the genie never appeared either to the princess or the grand vizier’s son. His hideous form would have made them die with fear. Neither did they hear any thing of the discourse between Aladdin and him; they only perceived the motion of the bed, and their transportation from one place to another; which we may well imagine was enough to frighten them.

As soon as the genie had set down the nuptial-bed to its proper place, the sultan, curious to know how the princess his daughter had spent the wedding-night, opened the door to wish her good morning. The grand vizier’s son, who was almost perished with cold, by standing in his shirt all night, and had not had time to warm himself in bed, no sooner heard the door open, but he got out of bed, and ran into the wardrobe, where he had undressed himself the night before.

The sultan went to the bed-side, kissed the princess between the eyes, according to custom, wishing her a good-morrow, and asked her, smiling, how she had passed the night. But lifting up her head, and looking at her more earnestly, he was extremely surprised to see her so melancholy, and that neither by a blush nor any other sign she could satisfy his curiosity. She only cast at him a sorrowful look, expressive of great affliction or great dissatisfaction. He said a few words to her; but finding that he could not get a word from her, he attributed it to her modesty, and retired. Nevertheless, he suspected that there was something extraordinary in this silence, and thereupon went immediately to the sultaness’s apartment, and told her in what a state he found the princess, and how she received him. Sir, said the sultaness, your majesty ought not to be surprised at this behaviour; all new-married people always have a reserve about them the next day; she will be quite another thing in two or three days time, and then she will receive the sultan her father as she ought; but I will go and see her, added she; I am very much deceived if she receives me in the same manner.

As soon as the sultaness was dressed, she went to the princess’ apartment, who was still in bed. She undrew the curtain, wished her good-morrow, and kissed her. But how great was her surprise when she returned no answer; and looking more attentively at her, she perceived her to be very much dejected, which made her judge that something had happened, which she did not understand. How comes it, child, said the sultaness, that you do not return my caresses? Ought you to treat your mother after this manner? And do you think I do not know what may have happened in your circumstances? I am apt to believe you do not think so, and something extraordinary has happened: come, tell me freely, and leave me no longer in a painful suspense.

At last the princess Badroulboudour broke silence with a great sigh, and said, Alas! madam, most honoured mother, forgive me if I have failed in the respect I owe you. My mind is so full of the extraordinary things which have befallen me this night, that I have not yet recovered my amazement and fright, and scarce know myself. Then she told her, how the instant after she and her husband were in bed, the bed was transported into a dark dirty room, where he was taken from her and carried away, where she knew not, and she was left alone with a young man, who after he had said something to her, which her fright did not suffer her to hear, laid himself down by her, in her husband’s place, but first put his sabre between them; and in the morning her husband was brought to her again, and the bed was transported back to her own chamber in an instant. All this, said she, was but just done, when the sultan my father came into my chamber. I was so overwhelmed with grief, that I had not power to make him one word of answer; therefore I am afraid that he is offended at the manner in which I received the honour he did me; but I hope he will forgive me, when he knows my melancholy adventure, and the miserable state I am in at present.

The sultaness heard all the princess told her very patiently, but would not believe it. You did well, child, said she, not to speak of this to your father: take care not to mention it to any body for you will certainly be thought mad if you talk at this rate. Madam, replied the princess, I can assure you I am in my right senses: ask my husband, and he will tell you the same story. I will, said the sultaness; but if he should talk in the same manner, I shall not be better persuaded of the truth. Come, rise, and throw off this idle fancy: it will be a fine story indeed, if all the feasts and rejoicings in the kingdom should be interrupted by such a vision. Do not you hear the trumpets sounding, and drums beating, and concerts of the finest music? Cannot all these inspire you with joy and pleasure, and make you forget all the fancies you tell me of? At the same time the sultaness called the princess’s women, and after she had seen her get up, and set her at her toilet, she went to the sultan’s apartment, and told him that her daughter had got some odd notions in her head, but that there was nothing in them.

Then she sent for the vizier’s son, to know of him something of what the princess had told her; but he, thinking himself highly honoured to be allied to the sultan, resolved to disguise the matter. Son-in-law, said the sultaness, are you as much infatuated as your wife? Madam, replied the vizier’s son, may I be so bold as to ask the reason of that question? Oh! that is enough, answered the sultaness; I ask no more, I see you are wiser than her.

The rejoicings lasted all that day in the palace, and the sultaness, who never left the princess, forgot nothing to divert her, and induce her to take part in the various diversions and shows; but she was so struck with the idea of what had happened to her that night, that it was easy to see her thoughts were entirely taken up about it. Neither was the grand vizier’s son’s affliction less, but that his ambition made him disguise it, and nobody doubted but he was a happy bridegroom.

Aladdin, who was well acquainted with what passed in the palace, never disputed but that the new-married couple were to lie together again that night, notwithstanding the troublesome adventure of the night before; and therefore, having as great an inclination to disturb them, he had recourse to his lamp, and when the genie appeared, and offered his service, he said to him, The grand vizier’s son and the princess Badroulboudour are to lie together again to-night: go, and as soon as they are in bed, bring the bed hither, as thou didst yesterday.

The genie obeyed Aladdin as faithfully and exactly as the day before: the grand vizier’s son passed the night as coldly and disagreeably as before, and the princess had the mortification again to have Aladdin for her bedfellow with the sabre between them. The genie, according to Aladdin’s orders, came the next morning, and brought the bridegroom and laid him by his bride, and then carried the bed and new-married couple back again to the palace.

The sultan, after the reception the princess Badroulboudour had given him that day, was very anxious to know how she passed the second night, and if she would give him the same reception, and therefore went into her chamber as early as the morning before. The grand vizier’s son, more ashamed and mortified with the ill success of this last night, no sooner heard him coming, but he jumped out of bed, and ran hastily into the wardrobe. The sultan went to the princess’s bed-side, and after the caresses he had given her the former morning, bid her good morrow. Well, daughter, he said, are you in a better humour than you was yesterday morning? Still the princess was silent, and the sultan perceived her to be more troubled, and in greater confusion than before; he doubted not but that something very extraordinary was the cause; but provoked that his daughter should conceal it, he said to her, in a rage, with his sabre in his hand, Daughter, tell me what is the matter, or I will cut off your head immediately.

The princess, more frightened at the menaces and tone of the enraged sultan, than at the sight of the drawn sabre, at last broke silence, and said, with tears in her eyes, My dear father and sultan, I ask your majesty’s pardon if I have offended you, and hope, that out of your goodness and clemency you will have compassion on me, when I have told you, in what a miserable condition I have spent this last night and the night before.