Reading Notes: Arabian Nights Part B

     In the second part of this week's reading, I read the story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. It was a much different tale from the Disney version. Although, it did still make me want to watch the original Disney Aladdin. 

(Illustration by H.J. Ford, 1898)


Plot

    This was a long story. So, I'm going to try to summarize the major plot points very briefly. 
    Aladdin is a lazy son of a poor tailor. He's so lazy that his father dies from the grief of it. One day, while Aladdin is playing outside, a magician approaches him and says he is his uncle. Aladdin runs home and tells his mom and the magician woos the family. He takes Aladdin under his wing. Eventually, he takes Aladdin to this spot between two mountains. He throws some magic powder on a fire and a door appears from the earth. He gives Aladdin a ring. Aladdin is made to open it and descend down to retrieve the lamp for the magician. He picks some special fruit along the way. When he gets back up, the magician tries to get the lamp before Aladdin is out of the cave. Aladdin refuses so the magician slams it shut and locks him down there. Aladdin cries for two days and then begins praying for a way out. He accidentally rubs the ring and a genie appears. He asks the genie to free him.
    He gets back home and wishes for some food for him and his mother. The genie obliges and brings food and drink on silver dishes. They eat and Aladdin sells the dishes. This repeats. One day Aladdin sees the beautiful princess and falls instantly in love. He tells his mother to go ask the Sultan for her hand in marriage. She takes the fruit Aladdin picked, which are actually gems, and asks the Sultan. The sultan's vizir convinces him to wait 3 months before they get married so his son can get together an even better gift and win the princess in marriage. Aladdin waits 2 months and finds out that the Princess is supposed to marry the vizir's son that night. Aladdin commands the genie to bring the couple to his home at night. The genie teleports their bed into aladdin's home and takes the vizir's son outside and leaves him in the cold for the night. Aladdin sleeps in the princess's bed with her. She's terrified. In the morning, the genie puts everything and everyone back. This continues for a few nights. The vizir's son is so afraid of this that he begs to be separated from the princess. So it is.
    Aladdin's mother returns a month later and calls the Sultan to fulfill his promise. Seeing now that she is poor, he doesn't want to. The vizir tells him to ask for a price so high that no man could pay it. He asks for 40 slaves each carrying a gold pot full of gems. Aladdin commands the genie to do exactly that. The Sultan happily agrees to the marriage. Aladdin says but wait there's more and builds a magnificent palace for the princess. They live happily for a while. Eventually, the magician hears tell of the new prince and knows that it could only happen because of the lamp. He returns to China to steal it. While Aladdin is away on a hunting trip, he disguises himself as a lamp salesman that offers new lamps in exchange for old ones. The princess, not knowing the lamp is magic, trades the old lamp for a new one to get the old man away.
    The magician uses the lamp to transport himself, the princess, and the castle to Africa. The sultan sees his daughter missing, and he has Aladdin arrested when he gets back from hunting. Aladdin is saved from execution by the city people and their love for him. He promises to get back the princess in 40 days or the sultan may have his head. He searches for the princess to no avail. He summons the ring genie and asks him to return her and the castle. He says he isn't strong enough for that. Aladdin has the genie teleport him to the Princess. He tells her to poison the magician with a powder he gives her. She does and Aladdin has the lamp genie bring them and the palace back. They live happily for a while.
    Eventually, the magician's even eviler brother shows up. He disguises himself as a holy woman and the princess lets him into the palace. This is what he wants so he can steal the lamp. He convinces the princess that she wants a Roc's egg hanging from the ceiling. Aladdin asks the genie for this and the genie gets pissed. But says it's not Aladdin's fault. He was duped by the magician disguised as the holy woman. Aladdin kills the magician. He and the princess live happily ever after. 

Characters

The characters are bit flat as they tend to be in folk tales. The magicians are just straight up bad guys who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Aladdin is a lovable hero who never forgets his roots. He is a bit creepy with the bed teleporting thing though. The princess is just a princess. That's it. She's an object in this story. The king and mother are similar. They're just there to facilitate the story. The vizir is mostly in the same boat. He's just a mild bad guy meant to test our hero a bit.

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