Aladdin's Lamp

In a large city of ancient Arabia the merchants' quarter was full of strangers as it always happened on market
day.
There was a very tall outsider, in rich clothes, who wandered about with his camel, and instead of buying, he
looked at the boys, he asked them questions.
His attention was especially drawn to Aladdin, the son of a poor spinner widow, who looked intelligent and
trustworthy
He asked him if he would like to work for him; the mother agreed, and the young man left with the outsider
After a long journey they came to a valley, where there was a small cave that the man sought was looking for.
The stranger told Aladdin: "Come in and go down the stairs, which leads to an underground garden. Look for
the lamp I forgot a long time ago and bring it to me.
The young man obeyed, more calm because his master had given him an enchanted ring that would protect
him from any danger
He found the garden and the lamp, and in his dim light he saw that the trees in the garden had fruits and flowers
of precious stones!
The boy filled his pockets and started to climb the steps; But by enchantment the more he climbed, the more
the ladder grew.
A soon after he felt strangely tired, but he had not yet come halfway.
He sat on a step and fell asleep
Outside, the master, after much waiting, thought that Aladdin had deceived him and walked away, very angry. In
the cave, Aladdin slept three days in a row, and when he finally realized that he was trapped on the bewitched
stairs, he became desperate.
He clapped his hands together and unintentionally rubbed the ring that the unknown had given him: at that time
a genius appeared
- I'm the ring genius. Give me an order, and I will obey you.
"I want to go back to my house."
In a moment he stood before his mother, who reprimanded him for abandoning his master
The poor woman did not stop crying even when Aladdin took the rubies and emeralds from his pockets that he
had picked up in the cave:
"What do you want me to do with these colored pieces of glass?"
Because at that moment she had to get herself something to eat, and since there was not a single coin in the
house, the woman thought that she could sell the lamp that her son had brought
But before that she wanted to clean it, to make it look better: when rubbing it came another genius, bigger than
the one that had appeared in the cave.
- I'm the genie of the lamp. Give me an order, and I will obey you.
"Let us have a good dinner," said Aladdin, who had not had the time to think of anything better. Immediately
there appeared a table set with the most refined delicacies and silverware .Thanks to him, the young man and
his mother could eat not only that night but also the following days, since each time they ran out of money they
would sell silverware or some plate.
As the years went by, Aladdin became a handsome young man, and all the girls in the city smiled at him; But he
was in with no other than Badur, the sultan`s daughter. When he asked his mother to ask the princess`s hand in
marriage, the poor women thought her son had gone mad: "Do you think the Sultan is going to give his
daughter to a poor weaver?"
"The colored glasses I found in the cave are precious stones and are worth a lot," said Aladdin. "Take them to
the Sultan in my name, and perhaps he will agree to give me Badur as a wife.
So it was. The sultan accepted, but in exchange for his daughter's hand he asked for ten baskets full of jewels
and that the princess should live in a palace as rich as his. Thanks to the genie of the lamp, Aladdin was able to
do both things, so that the wedding was celebrated the next day.
Badur and Aladdin lived happily ever after for many years, until one day the stranger returned to the city. In fact,
he was a magician, and because of his crystal ball he was able to find the old servant.
He thought Aladdin had betrayed him, robbed his lamp, and came to take his revenge.
He waited for Aladdin to leave on his way to the palace. The maids gave him the magic lamp and he brought out
the genie:
"Take Badur and the whole palace for my kingdom," he ordered.
When Aladdin came back he saw what he had happened, he remembered the enchanted ring and ordered the
genius to take him to his wife. With the aid of Badur, Aladdin succeeded in getting the wizard to fall asleep and
took over the lamp again, and the genius who appeared at that moment obeyed his third order, returning them
to the city with the palace.

Manuel Antnio de Azevedo Colnia R.