Chapter IV

Of course Aladdin had not forgotten the Sultan's promise, and on the very day which ended the three months, his mother came again to the divan, and stood in her old place. When the Sultan saw her she was called forward, and, having bowed to the floor, she said,--

"Sire, I come at the end of three months to ask you to fulfill the promise you made to my son."

The Sultan could hardly believe the request had been made in earnest, and, after a few words with the Grand Vizier, decided to propose terms which one of Aladdin's humble position could not possibly fulfill.

"Good woman," he said, "it is true that sultans ought to abide by their word, and I am ready to keep mine. But as I cannot marry my daughter without further proof that your son will be able to support her in royal state, you may tell him that I will fulfill my promise so soon as he shall send me forty trays of massy gold, full of the same sort of jewels you have already given me, and carried by forty black slaves, who shall be led by as many young and handsome white slaves, all dressed magnificently. When this is done, I will bestow my daughter, the princess, upon him. Go, good woman, and tell him so, and I will wait till you bring me his answer."

As Aladdin's mother hurried home she laughed to think how far the Sultan's demand would be beyond her son's power. "He awaits your answer," she said to Aladdin when she had told him all, and added, laughing, "I believe he may wait long."

"Not so long as you think," replied Aladdin. "This demand is a mere trifle. I will prepare to answer it at once."

In his own chamber he summoned the genie of the lamp, who appeared without delay, and promised to carry out Aladdin's commands. Within a very short time, a train of forty black slaves, led by as many white slaves, appeared opposite the house in which Aladdin lived. Each black slave carried on his head a basin of massy gold, full of pearls, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Aladdin then said to his mother,--

"Madam, pray lose no time. Go to the Sultan before he leaves the divan, and make this gift to him, that he may see how ardently I desire his daughter's hand."

With Aladdin's mother at its head, the procession began to move through the streets, which were soon filled with people praising the beauty and bearing of the slaves, splendidly dressed, and walking at an equal distance from one another. At the palace nothing so brilliant had ever been seen before. The richest robes of the court looked poor beside the dresses of these slaves. When they had all entered they formed a half-circle around the Sultan's throne; the black slaves laid the golden trays on the carpet, touched it with their foreheads, and at the same time the white slaves did likewise. When they rose the black slaves uncovered the trays, and then all stood with their arms crossed over their breasts.

This done, Aladdin's mother advanced to the throne, bowed to the floor, and said,--

"Sire, my son knows that this present is much below the notice of the Princess Buddir al Buddoor, but hopes that your majesty will accept of it, and make it pleasing to the princess. His hope is the greater because he has tried to carry out your own wish."

With delight the Sultan replied,--

"Go and tell your son that I wait with open arms to embrace him; and the more haste he makes to come and receive the princess, my daughter, from my hands, the greater pleasure he will give me."

While he showed the slaves and the jewels to the princess, Aladdin's mother carried the good news to her son. "My son," she said, "you may rejoice, for the Sultan has declared that you shall marry the Princess Buddir al Buddoor. He waits for you with impatience."

Aladdin was overjoyed, but, saying little, retired to his chamber. Here he rubbed the lamp, and when its slave appeared said,--

"Genie, convey me at once to a bath, and give me the richest robe ever worn by a monarch."

This was soon done, and he found himself again in his own chamber, where the genie asked if he had any other commands.

"Yes," answered Aladdin; "bring me a charger better than the best in the Sultan's stables. Fit him with trappings worthy of his value. Furnish twenty slaves, clothed as richly as those who carried the presents to the Sultan, to walk by my side and follow me, and twenty more to go before me in two ranks. Besides these, bring my mother six women slaves, as richly dressed as any of the Princess Buddir al Buddoor's, each carrying a complete dress fit for a Sultan's wife. I want also ten thousand pieces of gold in ten purses: go, and make haste."

The commands were instantly fulfilled, and Aladdin gave the six women slaves to his mother, with the six dresses they had brought, wrapped in silver tissue. Of the ten purses he gave four to his mother, and the other six he left in the hands of the slaves who brought them, saying that they must march before him and throw the money by handfuls into the crowd as the procession moved to the Sultan's palace. Mounted on his horse, Aladdin, though he had never ridden before, appeared with a grace which the most practiced horseman might have envied. It was no wonder that the people made the air echo with their shouts, especially when the slaves threw out the handfuls of gold.

The Sultan met him at the palace with joy and surprise that the son of so humble a mother as the woman he had seen should have such dignity and good looks, and should be dressed more richly than he himself had ever been. He embraced Aladdin, held him by the hand, and made him sit near the throne. Then there was a great feast, and after it the contract of marriage between the princess and Aladdin was drawn up. When the Sultan asked him if he would stay in the palace and complete the marriage that day, Aladdin answered,--

"Sire, though my impatience is great to enter on the honor your majesty has granted, yet I beg first to be allowed to build a palace worthy of the princess, your daughter. I pray you to give me ground enough near your own, and I will have it finished with the utmost speed."

The request was granted, and Aladdin took his leave with as much politeness as if he had always lived at court. Again, as he passed through the streets, the people shouted and wished him joy. In his own chamber once more, he took the lamp, rubbed it, and there was the genie.

"Genie," said Aladdin, "build me a palace fit to receive the Princess Buddir al Buddoor. Let its materials be of the rarest. Let its walls be of massive gold and silver bricks. Let each front contain six windows, and let the lattices of these (except one, which must be left unfinished) be enriched with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, beyond anything of the kind ever seen in the world. Let there be courts and a spacious garden, kitchens, storehouses, stables,--well equipped,--offices, servants, and slaves. Above all, provide a safe treasure-house, and fill it with gold and silver. Go, and fulfill my wishes."

Early the next morning the genie returned, and bore Aladdin to the place where the palace had been built. Everything was done as Aladdin had commanded. The officers, slaves, and grooms were at their work in hall and stable. The hall, with the twenty-four windows, was beyond his fondest hopes.

"Genie," he said, "there is but one thing wanting,--a fine carpet for the princess to walk upon from the Sultan's palace to mine. Lay one down at once."

In an instant the desire was fulfilled. Then the genie carried Aladdin to his own home.

When the Sultan looked out of his windows in the morning, he was amazed to see a shining building where there had been but an empty garden. "It must be Aladdin's palace," he said, "which I gave him leave to build for my daughter. He has wished to surprise us, and let us see what wonders can be done in a single night."

He was only a little less surprised when Aladdin's mother, dressed more richly than ever his own daughter had been, appeared at the palace. So good a son, he thought, must make a good husband. And soon the son himself appeared; and when in royal pomp he left his humble house for the last time, he did not fail to take with him the wonderful lamp which had brought him all his good fortune, or to wear the ring he had received as a talisman.