Once upon a time there lived a poor tailor. He had a son Aladdin. This boy was very idle, he wanted do nothing but play[1] all day long. Soon his father fell sick[2] and died.
One day Aladdin was sitting in the street and playing with his friends, a stranger came along.[3] The stranger was a magician. And he asked Aladdin, “Boy, are you not the son of the tailor?”
Aladdin answered, “Yes, O my master; but my father is dead.”
The magician began to weep. Aladdin asked the stranger, “Did you know my father?”
The stranger replied, “My boy, your father was my brother! And now he is dead. O my son, where is your house, and where is your mother?” Aladdin showed him the way to their house, and the sorcerer gave him some coins, “Take this money, and give it to your mother, and tell her that your uncle came.”
When the uncle saw the poor woman, he said, “I am your husband’s brother. Forty years ago I left this city and travelled around the world. I visited India and China, and Arabia, and Egypt. I studied magic there.”
The woman answered, “Indeed, my husband had a brother. But I always thought he was dead.”
“No, that’s not true, I’m alive! Please, tell me about this boy.”
“This is my son, and he is very lazy. He doesn’t like to work, he wants to play all day long.”
“That’s a pity,” said the magician. “But tomorrow I will show him something useful.”
The next day the magician took Aladdin to the market, and bought him a new dress. Then he led Aladdin from garden to garden till they came to a hill. Aladdin asked his uncle, “My uncle, where do we go? We came to the mountain. There are no more gardens ahead, so let us turn[4] and go back to the city.”
But his uncle replied, “No, my son. This is the road, and it is not an end of the gardens.”
At last[5] they came to two mountains. The stranger said, “Gather up[6] thin dry sticks to make a fire.”
Aladdin collected small dry sticks. His uncle burnt an incense and said mysterious words. Aladdin tried to run away,[7] but the magician caught him and gave him a blow.[8]
The poor boy asked, “Why do you beat me?”
His uncle answered, “My son, obey me, and shortly you will forget all your troubles.”
Suddenly the earth opened. There appeared a square flat stone with a brass ring in the middle.
The wizard said to Aladdin, “If you do what I tell you, you will become richer than all the Kings put together.[9] There is buried here a treasure[10] which is deposited in your name. No one else may touch it. Put your hand to the ring and raise the stone, only you have the power to open it. This treasure is immense. It is all for you and for me.”
So poor Aladdin said, “O my uncle, command me and I will obey you.”
And the wizard said to him, “You are like my own child! Go to that ring and lift it. And repeat your name and the names of your father and mother.”
So Aladdin said the names of his parents and lifted the stone. Before him lay[11] twelve steps.
The wizard said to him, “Aladdin, descend carefully there. You will find a place divided into three large halls. In each hall you will see four golden jars. Don’t touch anything, or you will die. Leave them and go on to the fourth hall. You will find a door. Open the door, enter, and you will see a garden full of fruit trees. Then you will see a ladder of about fifty steps. Come to a niche in a terrace. There stands a lighted lamp. Bring it to me.”
He gave a ring to Aladdin, and said, “My son, this ring will guard you. You will become the richest man in the world!”
So Aladdin went down into the cave. He found the halls and the golden jars. Then he came to the garden and went through it till he found the ladder. He climbed the ladder, took the Lamp, and went down into the garden.
The trees were all covered with precious stones instead of fruit. Each tree was of a different kind and had different jewels, of all colours, green and white and yellow and red and other colours. Aladdin gathered pockets full of them and said, “I will gather these glass fruits and play with them at home.”
When he came to the steps, he was unable to climb them by himself, without help. And he called to the magician, “O my uncle, give me your hand and help me to get up.” The wizard replied, “Give me the Lamp, it is very heavy.”
But Aladdin answered, “No, the Lamp is not heavy at all. Give me only your hand, and when I am up[12] I will give you the Lamp.” But the wizard wanted only the Lamp, and became very angry. The wizard cried, “You silly boy! You will stay here for ever![13]”
He said magical words and threw the stick into the fire. Immediately the earth closed again. Aladdin remained under the ground. The magician was just a stranger and no uncle of Aladdin. He read in his magic books about a wonderful Lamp. This Lamp could make him the most powerful man in the world. He heaped the earth over Aladdin. Then he went away.
But as for[14] Aladdin, he began to call his uncle. He shouted, and no one answered him. Then he understood, that the stranger was no uncle at all.
