"Remove the bridegroom," said Aladdin to the genie, "and keep him a prisoner till to-morrow morning; then return with him here."
When Aladdin was left alone with the princess, he tried to quiet her fears and to explain to her the treachery practiced upon him by the sultan. Then, drawing his scimitar, he laid it down between them to show her that he would treat her with the utmost possible respect, and secure her safety.
At break of day, the genie appeared bringing back the bridegroom, whom he had entranced and left motionless outside the door of Aladdin's chamber during the night. By Aladdin's command the couch with the bride and groom was transported into the sultan's palace. A moment after the genie had set the couch down in the chamber of the palace, the sultan came to the door to offer his good wishes to his daughter. The grand vizier's son, who had almost perished from cold by standing in his thin undergarment all night, hurried to the robing chamber and dressed himself.
Having opened the door, the sultan went to the bedside, kissed the princess on the forehead, and was greatly surprised to find her apparently in the greatest affliction. He left the room in a few moments and hurried to the apartments of the sultaness, whom he told of the princess's melancholy.
"Sire," said the sultaness, "I will go and see her; she will not receive me in the same manner."
Nevertheless, the princess received the sultaness with sighs and tears, but after some persuasion she told her mother all that had happened during the night. The sultaness urged her to say nothing about it, as no one would believe so strange a tale. Naturally the grand vizier's son, proud of being the sultan's son-in-law, was more than willing to keep silence.
The next night everything happened precisely as it had on the preceding night, but the second morning the princess told the sultan everything she had told her mother. On hearing this strange piece of news he summoned the grand vizier and declared the marriage canceled, for he feared even worse treatment from the invisible agency which had troubled the young couple.
Everybody was astonished at the sultan's change of mind, but no one except Aladdin knew the cause, and he kept profound silence.
On the very day that the three months expired, Aladdin's mother went again to the divan and stood in the same place. The sultan knew her and directed her to be brought before him.
Having prostrated herself before him, she said, "Sire, I come at the end of three months to ask of you the fulfilment of the promise you have made to my son."