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.”