“Care and trouble may have clouded his mind,” the sorcerer said. “But when he was young, he was as smart as anyone you’d ever meet. His mind was like lightning.”

  “But how is it that you don’t look at all like him, sir?” Aladdin said.

  “Ah yes, you asked me that before,” said the sorcerer. “You are certainly a sharp-sighted young fellow. Well, the truth of the matter is that when I was a young man, I went to a great deal of trouble to disguise myself because of that dangerous mission. I had the best surgeons in the world operate on my face. They changed the color of my skin, made my whole face longer, even gave me a new nose, just so that I could protect myself and my dear brother. I had to pay them a lot of money, I assure you. After the operation, I had a new face and a new identity. That’s when I moved to North Africa. But enough about me. Tell me about yourself. How is your dear mother?”

  “Oh, she’s all right,” Aladdin said. “She works very hard. I don’t see her very much.”

  “Well, I would like to present her with this gift, a small token of my brotherly love,” the sorcerer said, taking out his purse. He counted three silver coins and put them into Aladdin’s palm.

  Aladdin was astonished. He had never touched so much money in his life. In fact, he had never even touched one silver coin.

  “Take these to your dear mother,” the sorcerer said, “with my compliments. Tell her that her husband’s brother—your uncle—has returned after twenty years and that he will pay her a visit tomorrow morning.”

  Aladdin thanked the sorcerer and ran home as fast as he could.

  “Mother! Mother!” he shouted as he dashed into the house. “My uncle has returned! I met him! He’s back!”

  “What’s all this nonsense?” Aladdin’s mother said. “You don’t have an uncle. What kind of trick are you trying to play on me now?”

  “No, this isn’t a trick! I swear!” Aladdin said. “My uncle really has returned. We don’t know about him because my father had to take an oath of secrecy because my uncle left on a dangerous mission and his enemies would have killed us if they had known that father was related to him and that’s why we never knew.”

  “Nonsense!” said Aladdin’s mother. “It’s all a lie. Your father never told me about a brother, and that means he never had a brother.”

  “Oh, and he gave me these,” Aladdin said, taking the three silver coins out of his pocket. They lay on his palm, shining.

  “Dear God!” Aladdin’s mother said. “Could it really be true?” And she burst into tears.

  Chapter 2

  The next morning, for once, Aladdin stayed home. He and his mother sat down at the kitchen table and waited. They were too excited to say a word.

  At nine o’clock they heard three loud raps. Aladdin’s mother, her heart pounding, got up and opened the door. She was surprised to see a tall, dark-skinned man standing there, in white robes and a white turban.

  “Good morning, dear lady,” the sorcerer said. “May I come in?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Aladdin’s mother, in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “Please come in. You are very welcome here, sir.”

  The sorcerer walked in, carrying a large bowl of fruit and a bottle of wine. After putting the fruit and wine on the rickety table, he began to sniffle. Tears rolled slowly down his cheeks.

  “Why are you crying, sir?” Aladdin’s mother asked.

  “I’m thinking of my dear brother,” the sorcerer said. “Please, for the love of God, show me where he used to sit.”

  “Over there, sir,” Aladdin’s mother said, pointing to a little rickety chair near the wall.

  The sorcerer walked over to the chair, sank to his knees, and burst into loud tears. “Oh, my dear, dear brother!” he sobbed. “Light of my eyes! Comfort of my soul! Dearest, kindest brother that any man ever had! What a misfortune that you are dead! How wretched my whole existence is, now that I know I will never see you again! I wish to God I had died instead of you, my dear, dear brother! Oh, misery! Oh, sorrow! Oh, grief!”

  “Please, sir,” Aladdin’s mother said, putting her hand on the sorcerer’s shoulder, “please don’t be so sad. You will hurt yourself.”

  “How can I stay alive when my poor dear brother is dead?” the sorcerer sobbed. “Life is not worth living without him.” His sobs grew faster and louder, until finally he was pounding the floor with his fists. “I want to die!” he screamed. “I want to die!” As he said these words he pretended to faint.

  “Quick, get some water!” Aladdin’s mother said.

  Aladdin ran to the water bucket, took a cupful, and splashed it on the sorcerer’s face. The sorcerer immediately sat up, with a loud grunt. His face was dripping wet. He looked to the right, then to the left, up to the ceiling, then down to the floor. “Where am I?” he said.

  “You’re in the house of your brother,” Aladdin’s mother said.

  “Ah, yes,” said the sorcerer. He seemed much calmer now. “Did your son explain why you never heard a word about me?”

  “Yes he did, sir. I must admit that when I first heard your story, I doubted it. But now that I see how brokenhearted you are, I believe you. You must have loved my husband very much.”

  “I loved him more than life itself,” the sorcerer said. “But come to the table. Have some of the delicious fruit and wine that I brought you. I want to talk about my nephew. I want to do something for him.”

  “You do?” said Aladdin’s mother as she bit into a large, luscious pear. It had been five years since she’d been able to afford a piece of fruit. The taste made her sigh with pleasure.

  “Yes, indeed,” said the sorcerer. “Now that my dear brother is gone—may God rest his soul—I stand in the place of a father to the boy. I want to do everything I can for him, and since, by the grace of God, I am a wealthy man, I can help him get ahead in the world very easily.”

  “That is wonderful, sir,” Aladdin’s mother said. “You are very kind. I couldn’t dream of a finer brother-in-law.”

  “Yes, I will certainly make his career,” the sorcerer said. “By the way, what is your career, young man?”

  “I don’t have one, sir,” Aladdin said. “Not yet. But I know that whatever it is, I’ll be a success.”

  “Oh, sir, don’t pay any attention to his nonsense,” said Aladdin’s mother. “He is a lazy, mischievous, good-for-nothing little rascal who was never willing to learn a trade and drove his dear father into the …” Suddenly she realized that if she went on talking in this way, her brother-in-law might change his mind; he might think so badly of Aladdin that he wouldn’t carry out his promise to help him. “Actually,” she continued, “what I mean is that he’s an unusual boy, not like your run-of-the-mill apprentices. He’s a very creative child, you know. He has a golden tongue, and you can sit and listen to his stories for hours on end. His mind is quicker than any child’s I ever met. I don’t see him as much as I’d like to, but his father and I always agreed that he was the best son a parent could ever have.”

  “Really, Mother?” Aladdin said. “You never told me that before. It’s awfully sweet of you to say.”

  “Not at all, dear child,” said Aladdin’s mother, blushing.

  “Well, then,” the sorcerer said, “since the boy doesn’t have a regular career yet, I will set him up as a merchant. Would you enjoy that, my boy?”

  “I don’t know, sir,” Aladdin said. “What would it be like?”

  “First of all,” said the sorcerer, “I will buy you four suits of the finest silk, and then I will take you to the public bath and have the attendants clean you from head to toe, rub you with fragrant oils, and dress you. You will come out looking like a prince and smelling like a rose. Then I will buy you a large booth at the bazaar, and I will fit it with the most elegant and desirable merchandise: cups and dishes of silver and gold, bolts of satin and silk, the highest-grade porcelain and crystal, scrolls painted on silk by the greatest artists in China—in short, only objects that the richest people in the land would want to have in their houses. And I will train you personally. I will teach you how to buy and sell. I’m sure that within a very short time, you will learn how to carry on the business by yourself, and you will become a very wealthy merchant, sought after and admired by all.”

  “I would like that,” Aladdin said. “Thank you, sir.”

  “Oh, sir,” said Aladdin’s mother, “that is such a generous offer. How can we ever repay you?”

  “There is no need to repay me, dear lady,” the sorcerer said. “I am only doing my duty as an uncle and a brother-in-law.” Then, turning to Aladdin, he said, “Come, my son, let’s go out and look for some fine clothes for you, and then we’ll go to the public bath.”

  Aladdin said good-bye to his mother and walked out the door with the sorcerer. He could hardly keep from jumping up and down for joy. This is going to be the greatest adventure of my life, he thought.

  Chapter 3

  The sorcerer led Aladdin through the bustling streets of the city. The first shop they passed had a silk suit displayed in its window. It was royal blue, Aladdin’s favorite color. Aladdin pointed and said, “Let’s stop here, Uncle. Would you buy me that suit? I think I’d look very nice in it. Very businesslike.”

  “No, my boy,” the sorcerer said. “I will buy you far more splendid clothing than that.”

  “Really?” Aladdin said. “How can anything be more beautiful?”

  “Wait and see,” said the sorcerer.

  They walked down street after street until they came to the outskirts of the city. Aladdin had never been here before; he had only known the poor, ragged sections of town. Now he saw the mansions and palaces of the very rich, and he was so astonished by their beauty that he forgot all about shopping. These palaces were surrounded by pleasure gardens and parks, with trees and flowers of every color and variety. Many of them had a huge lawn, with a stream running through it, and a pond in the middle, with families of ducks and geese swimming on the water or sitting on the grass beside it. Through the iron gates, Aladdin could see noblemen on horses, and elegantly dressed ladies drinking tea under pavilions of multicolored silk. Through one gate he saw a fountain spouting water high into the air, and from all four sides of the pool around it, water poured in through the mouths of four golden lions. Aladdin had never dreamed that people could live in such luxury.

  After a while they left the palaces and pleasure gardens behind. The landscape slowly changed from lush to desolate. There were fewer and fewer trees, until the only green you could see was from the small scrubby bushes scattered across the dusty soil. Finally Aladdin turned to the sorcerer and said, “Where are we going, Uncle? We’ve left the city, and there’s only desert here.”

  “Be patient, my boy,” the sorcerer said. “I know the way.”

  “But, Uncle,” Aladdin said, “I thought you were going to buy me four silk suits. We’ve left all the shops behind.”

  “Don’t worry,” said the sorcerer. “I will get you far more than pretty clothes.”

  “But this is the desert, Uncle. There’s nothing here. Please, let’s go back.”

  “Hold your tongue, you ignorant little urchin!” the sorcerer said. “I know what I’m doing. Just keep walking.”

  Aladdin was a little frightened by these harsh words, so he kept quiet for a while. But soon he became exhausted from all the walking, and he couldn’t help saying, “I’m so tired, Uncle. Can’t we rest now?”

  “No, we cannot, you little scum,” the sorcerer said. “Keep walking, or you’ll be very sorry you stopped.”

  “I’m sorry I made you angry,” Aladdin said.

  “You’ll be even sorrier if you keep talking,” said the sorcerer.

  They walked for another hour. Then they stopped in a valley between two barren mountains. The sorcerer was smiling. “Here we are, my boy. This is the place. I know it is. I can feel it in my bones.”

  “What place, Uncle?”

  “This is the place that will make me … I mean, that will make both of us the richest men in the world. That is, if you obey my commands to the letter. Will you promise to do that?”

  “Yes, Uncle,” said Aladdin. “Of course I will.”

  “Then the first thing I want you to do is to gather me a pile of dry twigs. Bring them here as fast as you can. And don’t dawdle.”

  As weary as he was, Aladdin also felt fascinated by the sorcerer’s words. What will happen now? he thought. How is this going to make us the richest men in the world?

  After Aladdin had gathered a pile of dry twigs, the sorcerer set fire to it, then took something out of his breast pocket. It was a little silver box, in the shape of a triangle, with a goat’s head embossed on the cover. He opened it, took a pinch of incense between his thumb and his index finger, sprinkled the incense on the fire, and muttered some words that Aladdin couldn’t understand.

  Immediately there was a loud burst of thunder, the earth quaked, and the ground in front of them split open. Only a few inches in front of their feet, where there had been solid ground, there was now a ditch five feet wide and five feet deep. Aladdin was so terrified that he started to run away. But at his first movement, the sorcerer caught him and hit him on the back of his head so hard that his teeth were almost knocked out.

  When he had recovered a bit from the pain, Aladdin said, “Uncle, what did I do? Why did you hit me?”

  “My dear child,” said the sorcerer, with tears in his eyes, “I only hit you for your own good, and I assure you that it hurt me more than it hurt you. In fact, I am deeply pained that you could even think of running away and leaving your only uncle in the lurch. How could you do that to me? How could you abandon me? What have I done to deserve your distrust?”

  “I’m sorry,” Aladdin said. “I was frightened. I didn’t mean to leave you. I’m really sorry.”

  “Well, I forgive you,” the sorcerer said. “Now, let’s get down to business. Look over into the ditch. What do you see?”

  “A lot of dirt and rocks, Uncle.”

  “Look a little to the right of us. What do you see?”

  “Oh,” said Aladdin. “There’s a slab of white stone.”

  “Yes,” the sorcerer said. “It’s marble. And what else?”

  “Well, there’s a large copper ring attached to it.”

  “Yes, my boy, my dear nephew, my favorite child, apple of my eye, joy of my heart. Beneath that marble slab, there is a treasure that only you can find for me, a treasure that will make all the kings of the earth seem like paupers. No one but you has the power to lift that slab. Can you do it?”

  “I don’t know, Uncle,” Aladdin said. “I will certainly try. But I don’t know if I’m strong enough. Maybe you can give me a hand.”

  “It is forbidden for anyone to help you,” the sorcerer said. “You must do it by yourself. And while you are pulling at the ring, you must say your own name and the names of your father and grandfather. Once you utter these three names, the slab will feel very light.”

  “All right,” said Aladdin. “If you say so.” He climbed down into the ditch, walked to the marble slab, and pulled at the huge copper ring. Nothing budged. Then he closed his eyes, whispered his name, his father’s, and his grandfather’s, and gave a yank. The marble slab lifted as easily as if it were made of paper. Wow! Aladdin thought. My uncle was right: it was easy!

  In front of him was a marble staircase with twelve steps that led down into a dark cave. “What should I do now?” he said, looking up at the sorcerer.

  “Do exactly as I tell you,” the sorcerer said. “If you don’t follow every detail of my instructions, you will ruin this whole adventure, and you may even cause your own death.”

  This is serious, Aladdin thought. I’d better listen very carefully.

  “First of all,” said the sorcerer, “walk down the steps. At the bottom you’ll find a large cave that is divided into four rooms. In each of these rooms, you’ll see a large brass urn filled with silver and gold. Do not touch these urns! Don’t even let your clothes brush against them! If you even brush against them with the hem of your sleeve, you’ll be turned into a black stone, and that will be the end of you. Walk around each of these four urns, keeping at least a five-foot distance between you and them, until you have walked through all four rooms. At the back of the fourth room you will find a door. Open this door. It will lead you into a garden filled with fruit trees. Take the path through the fruit trees. It’s about fifty yards long. Are you paying attention?”

  “Yes, Uncle, I am.”

  “Good. The path leads to another room with a ladder in the middle. Climb the ladder and reach up and take down the lamp that is hanging there from the ceiling. Pour out the liquid and put the lamp into your largest pocket. Don’t be afraid that the liquid will stain your clothes—it isn’t oil, and as soon as you pour it out, the lamp will be dry. After you climb back down the ladder, you may pick any fruit you want from the trees. They belong to you, as long as you have the lamp.”

  “Yes, Uncle. I understand.”

  “One last thing,” the sorcerer said. “Come here, to this side of the ditch.” When Aladdin came, the sorcerer leaned over, took a ring from the middle finger of his right hand, and gave it to Aladdin. “This ring will protect you from almost any harm that can come to you. Put it on.”

  “Oh,” said Aladdin, slipping on the ring. “Thank you.”

  “But it can only protect you if you follow my instructions to the letter. Will you do that?”

  “I promise,” Aladdin said. And he turned around, walked back to the marble staircase, and descended the stairs into the dark.

  Chapter 4

  Everything in the cave was just the way the sorcerer had said it would be. Aladdin walked very carefully around each of the four urns. In the fourth room, he opened the door into the garden, walked down the path through the fruit trees, came to the room with the ladder, climbed the ladder, took down the lamp, poured out the liquid, and put the lamp into his largest pocket. Then he climbed down the ladder and walked back on the path into the garden.

 

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