The king could hardly believe his eyes; he had to rub them to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming. When he looked again, there was still nothing. How could this be? How could a whole palace suddenly disappear and not leave a trace behind?

  Quickly the king’s astonishment turned to grief and rage. Where was Princess Laila? Gone, along with the rest of Aladdin’s palace. It was all Aladdin’s fault. It had to be. Who else was responsible for building the palace overnight? Who else could be responsible for making it vanish into thin air?

  By now the king was shaking with fury. “Summon the prime minister!” he shouted to the slave nearest him.

  The prime minister arrived within minutes. “Where is Aladdin?” the king shouted.

  “Don’t you remember, Your Majesty?” the prime minister said. “You sent him on a diplomatic mission. He’ll be back in a few days.”

  “Don’t you dare question my memory!” the king bellowed. “I don’t care where Aladdin is, or who remembers it! I want him brought back immediately, and I want him brought back in chains!”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” said the prime minister, with an inward smile. (He had always thought that Aladdin was a commoner and an upstart.)

  Two days later, Aladdin was brought back to the city by a troop of soldiers, his hands and feet bound in chains. When people saw that he had been taken prisoner, they realized that the king intended to kill him. And since they loved Aladdin so much, they took their weapons, swarmed out of their houses, and hurried after the soldiers to see how they could help.

  The soldiers reached the palace and brought Aladdin to the executioner’s stand. The executioner tied a blindfold around Aladdin’s eyes, pushed his head onto the chopping block, walked around him three times, and stood beside him, with his ax upraised.

  By now the crowd had broken through the palace gates and surrounded the palace. Thousands of people were waving their weapons in the air and shouting, “Let Aladdin go! If you hurt him, we will destroy the palace and everyone in it! Let Aladdin go, right now!”

  The king and the prime minister were watching from the window. “You’ve stirred up a hornets’ nest, Your Majesty,” the prime minister said. “These people mean business. If Aladdin is executed, they’ll storm the palace, and that will be the end of you and of me. I think it would be a good idea to pardon him— the sooner the better.”

  The king was sweating with fear. He signaled to the executioner to stop the proceedings, then sent a herald out to announce to the crowd that Aladdin had been pardoned. When the crowd heard the news, they began to cheer. Soon they dispersed and went back to their homes peacefully.

  The herald brought Aladdin to the king’s chambers. When Aladdin entered the room, he bowed deeply to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you’ve been so kind to me. You’ve been like a father, and much more than a father. Tell me, please, what I have done to cause your displeasure?”

  “Traitor!” the king shouted. “How dare you play the innocent! Are you pretending not to know what’s happened?”

  “I swear to you, Your Majesty,” Aladdin said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Look out this window, then, you miserable wretch,” the king shouted, “and tell me what you see!”

  Aladdin was astonished to see no sign of his glorious palace. The ground where it had stood was absolutely bare.

  “I don’t know what to say, Your Majesty,” Aladdin said. “I don’t know what could have happened.”

  “And where is my daughter?” the king said, bursting into tears. “Where is my beloved daughter? What have you done with her?”

  “I assure you, Your Majesty,” Aladdin said, “that I don’t know where she can be. This is certainly not my doing. I love the princess more than life itself. I would die before I would let her be harmed. You must know that by now.”

  “Then find her and bring her back,” the king sobbed. “My heart is breaking. If you don’t bring her back, I’ll die. But before I die, I swear to you that I’ll cut off your head.”

  “I will find her, Your Majesty,” Aladdin said. “But grant me forty days. If I don’t bring her back to you within forty days, you can go ahead and kill me.”

  “That’s a deal,” said the king. “If you don’t find her, I will die of a broken heart, and you will die of a severed head.”

  Chapter 15

  Bewildered and distraught, Aladdin wandered through the streets of the city. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have the slightest idea how to begin his search for the princess. (He was so grief-stricken that he completely forgot about the sorcerer’s ring, which was still on the middle finger of his left hand.) He asked a few of his friends and acquaintances if they knew where the palace had gone, but they looked at him as if he’d gone insane.

  Thirty-nine days went by. Aladdin wandered through the whole city and the surrounding countryside. He slept very little during this time and ate only to keep up his strength. Finally one evening, in despair, he wandered to the banks of a river and, for an instant, thought of drowning himself. When he realized what he was about to do, he put his palms together and began to pray. “Dear God,” he said, “please help me. Please let me find my beloved and—”

  As he said these last words, his right hand happened to make a tiny movement, so that his fingers, ever so gently, rubbed against the ring. All at once there was a flash of light, a sound like the crying of a puppy, and there before his eyes stood the genie of the ring, in his vest of crimson velvet and his royal-blue silk pants. “O Master, your wish is my command,” the genie said. “Ask me for anything your heart desires, and I shall make it happen. For I am the slave of whoever wears the blessed ring.”

  “Oh, thank God!” Aladdin said. “You can’t know how happy I am to see you, genie.”

  The genie bowed.

  “Here’s what I need,” Aladdin said, “I need you to bring back my wife and my palace and everything inside it. Please do this right away. I can’t wait a moment longer.”

  “I am sorry, Master,” the genie said, “but I cannot. I should have said, ‘Ask for almost anything your heart desires.’ This is the one exception. Only the slave of the lamp can perform this task. It is a task that is forbidden to me.”

  “If you can’t bring the princess to me,” Aladdin said, “can you take me to the princess?”

  “Yes, Master,” the genie said. “I shall transport you to Morocco as soon as you give me the command.”

  “To Morocco?” Aladdin said. “Of course! The sorcerer is the one who’s behind all this! I should have known. Take me to my palace, right away.”

  “Done!” said the genie.

  Instantly Aladdin found himself standing in front of his palace. The landscape was entirely different—palm trees, the air dry and warm, camels grazing—but the palace looked exactly the same. “Now bind the sorcerer,” Aladdin said, “and bring him to me.”

  “I cannot do that, either,” said the genie. “I am terribly sorry, Master. But the sorcerer keeps the lamp in his breast pocket at all times. And since the slave of the lamp is more powerful than I, I cannot fulfill any command that concerns the owner of the lamp. Ask for whatever else you desire, and I shall be happy to obey you.”

  “Bring me the princess, then,” Aladdin said.

  “O Master,” the genie said, “I am sorry to disappoint you again, but the princess is in the sorcerer’s power, and I am forbidden to interfere. You will have to rescue her yourself.”

  “But how can I do that?” said Aladdin. “What do you suggest?”

  “My job, Master, is not to suggest, but to obey,” the genie said, and he vanished.

  Aladdin felt very tired and confused. He lay down under a palm tree at the foot of the wall around the palace. At least I know where the princess is, he thought. I’ll sleep a little, and things will be clearer when I wake up.

  Early the next morning, when Princess Laila’s favorite slave girl opened the shutters in the princess’s bedroom, she saw Aladdin lying under the tree. “Your Highness, Your Highness!” she cried out. “It’s Prince Aladdin! He’s come to save us!”

  The princess hurried to the window. Just as she looked out, Aladdin awoke. When they saw each other, their hearts filled with joy.

  Aladdin ran to the palace and stopped just under the princess’s window. He was about to shout to her, but the princess put her index finger over her lips, then pointed down to the secret door to her chambers. A few moments later a slave girl opened the door, and Aladdin walked in.

  Princess Laila and Aladdin embraced. They covered each other’s cheeks with kisses. They wanted to know everything that had happened to the other during the last thirty-nine days, but there was only time for a few sentences. “How are you?” “I love you so much.” “I missed you.”

  Aladdin had to think fast since, for all he knew, the sorcerer might walk in at any moment. “Tell me one thing,” he said to the princess. “How has he been treating you? Has he been horrible?”

  “No, not horrible,” said the princess. “Just pathetic. He wants to marry me. He keeps saying that you’ve been executed and that I must forget you. I never believed him, of course.”

  “Of course,” Aladdin said.

  “But how did all this happen?” the princess asked.

  “Somehow he got control of my lamp,” Aladdin said.

  “Do you mean the old lamp in the back of your closet?” the princess said. “I gave that to a madman who was trading old lamps for new.”

  “That madman was him,” said Aladdin. “There’s a genie in that lamp. That’s how you and the whole palace were transported here to Morocco.”

  “Oh, dear,” the princess said, bursting into tears. “Then it was all my fault.”

  “My poor darling,” Aladdin said. “It was no one’s fault. You didn’t know. If it was anyone’s fault, it was mine, because I didn’t tell you about the lamp and didn’t keep it safe enough. But all that is in the past. The question is, What can we do now?”

  “Well,” the princess said, “the old man says he’s in love with me. He really tries to treat me very nicely.”

  “And …” Aladdin said.

  “And I was just thinking that maybe I could invite him to dinner.”

  “And …”

  “And pour some wine for him. I know he likes wine. I’ve seen him drink it.”

  “I’m not following you. So you pour some wine. What good will that do?”

  “Well, sweetheart,” said the princess, “if you could somehow find a powerful drug that will put him to sleep—”

  “You’ll put it in his wine?”

  “Yes, and when he’s unconscious—”

  “Yes, yes! When he’s unconscious, we can take the lamp out of his breast pocket, and he won’t have any power over us!”

  “But how will you find the drug?” the princess asked. “You don’t know the language here. How will you ask for it?”

  “Hmm,” said Aladdin. He thought for a moment. “I know the way,” he said. “You wouldn’t mind if I summoned a genie, would you, sweetheart?”

  “Of course not,” the princess said. “Why would I mind?”

  “Well,” Aladdin said, “some women are a little … let’s say, timid.”

  “You’re thinking of your mother,” the princess said, smiling. “You know I’m not like that. You shouldn’t even have to ask.”

  “I just wanted to make sure,” Aladdin said.

  “You’re going to ask the genie for the drug?” the princess asked.

  “I can’t do that,” Aladdin said. “The genie isn’t able to fulfill any command that concerns the owner of the lamp. But I have another idea.”

  He rubbed the ring. All at once there was a flash of light, a sound like the beating of rain against a window, and there before their eyes stood the genie of the ring, in his vest of crimson velvet and his royal-blue silk pants. “O Master, your wish is my command,” the genie said. “Ask me for anything—almost anything—your heart desires, and I shall make it happen. For I am the slave of whoever wears the blessed ring.”

  “Genie,” said Aladdin, “do you know the Moroccan language?”

  “Yes, Master,” the genie said. “I know all human languages.”

  “Then tell me how you say in Moroccan, ‘I want to buy your strongest sleep-producing drug. I want a drug that will make a man fall asleep in an instant.’ ”

  The genie told him how to say that.

  “Now I’ll go buy the drug,” Aladdin said to the princess, “and you can invite the old man to dinner as soon as you see him. I’ll wait outside your window. Give me a sign, and I’ll come up.”

  Three hours later Aladdin returned from the bazaar, where he had found a dealer in medicines and drugs. The princess was waiting at the window. She motioned Aladdin toward the secret door.

  “I found it!” Aladdin said when he had entered. He handed her the drug. “Just dissolve this powder in his wine, and he’ll fall asleep.”

  “Easier said than done,” the princess said. “What if he notices the powder?”

  “I know you’ll find a way,” said Aladdin. “Now, hide me in your closet. As soon as the old man is unconscious, call me, and I’ll come out.”

  “All right,” the princess said. They looked at each other for a few moments. “Are you nervous?”

  “A little,” Aladdin said.

  “So am I.”

  Chapter 16

  At seven o’clock the sorcerer arrived at the princess’s chambers.

  “Come in, come in,” the princess said. “My ladies have prepared a sumptuous meal for us. Sit down. Have a glass of wine.”

  “Thank you, my dear,” the sorcerer said, taking a seat at the dinner table. “I’m so glad that you’re feeling better. Tears never did anyone any good.”

  “I have cried an ocean of tears,” the princess said, pouring him a glass of red wine. “Now it’s time to stop mourning.”

  “Yes,” the sorcerer said, drinking the wine. “Your husband is dead and gone. Why should you spend your life mourning him? You are young and beautiful. You have your life ahead of you.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” said the princess. “Life is full of the most wonderful surprises. Who knows what lies ahead? Have some more wine.” And she poured more wine into his glass.

  “Once you have forgotten Aladdin,” the sorcerer said, “you’ll find it easy to love me.”

  “You could be right,” the princess said.

  “When you get to know me better, you’ll see that I’m a very lovable man,” the sorcerer said. “I’m a very wealthy man, and the wealthier a man is, the more lovable he is. “Don’t you agree?”

  “I never thought of it that way,” the princess said. “But have some more wine. Dinner will be coming soon.” And she poured more wine into his glass.

  “Yes,” said the sorcerer, “I can give you everything your little heart desires: diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, whatever you want. Just name it, and I will make it happen. I have my ways. In my country they call me the greatest sorcerer in the world.”

  “Really?” said the princess. “That’s quite a distinction.”

  “Yes,” the sorcerer said, “and they are right. The greatest sorcerer in the world, that’s what I am. I can’t say that I am the happiest man in the world. But if you marry me, I will be. The happiest man in the world, I mean. I will be the happiest man in the world if you marry me.”

  By now the sorcerer was getting drunk. He was slurring his words and rocking back and forth in his chair.

  “I hear you,” said the princess. “But I need time. Surely you can understand that. All this is so sudden. It takes time for feelings to change. Have another glass of wine.” And she poured more wine into his glass.

  “I don’t mind if I do,” the sorcerer said, and he drank the wine in one gulp. “Very good wine, too. What was I saying? Ah, yes! Of course it takes time, but time is precisely what we have. We have plenty of time. That is, we have as much of it as we need. I am not a man in a hurry. I am not a man in a rush. I am not an unreasonable man. I am not a man with a full glass.”

  “Then let me pour you some more,” the princess said.

  “Thank you, my dear,” said the sorcerer, and again he drank the wine in one gulp. “But will you excuse me for a moment? I’ve drunk so much that I have to go to the bathroom now.”

  “Of course,” the princess said.

  After the sorcerer had wobbled out of the room, Princess Laila took out the powder, poured another glass of wine, then mixed the powder into it.

  Soon the sorcerer returned and sat down at the table. “Now then, my dear—now then, now then,” he said, “what were we talking about?”

  “I was about to tell you,” the princess said, “that in my country we have a custom. At the beginning of dinner, the host exchanges glasses with the guest, and both drink to each other’s health.”

  “A fine custom,” said the sorcerer. “An excellent custom. I love that custom. Let’s drink to that custom.”

  “Then hand me your glass,” the princess said. “And I’ll hand you mine.”

  “Steady, steady,” the sorcerer said to himself. His hand was shaking.

  “Now let’s drink,” the princess said.

  No sooner had the sorcerer taken a drink from this glass than he fell over onto the rug and lay there completely motionless.

  “Aladdin!” the princess called. “It’s done!”

  Aladdin stepped out of the closet, walked over to the sorcerer, reached into his breast pocket, and took out the magic lamp. “It’s done, sweetheart,” he said. “We’re free now.”

  “But what should we do about the old man?” the princess said.

  “I suppose I could kill him,” Aladdin said. “But that doesn’t feel right.”

  “Not to me, either,” the princess said. “He hasn’t really done you any harm. He tried to hurt you, but he didn’t succeed.”

  “Actually,” Aladdin said, “he hasn’t hurt anyone but himself. His whole life has been about finding a treasure that wasn’t even his to begin with. He has just made himself miserable with envy and disappointment. I feel sorry for him.”

 

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