No sooner had she begun to rub it than a hideous genie of gigantic size appeared before her, and said in a voice of thunder, "What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave, and the slave of all those who have the lamp in their hands,—I and the other slaves of the lamp."
In terror at the sight, Aladdin's mother fainted; but the boy, who had already seen a genie, said boldly, "I am hungry; bring me something to eat."
The genie disappeared, and returned in an instant with a large silver tray, holding twelve covered silver dishes filled with tempting viands, six large white bread cakes on two plates, two flagons of wine, and two silver cups. All these he placed upon a carpet, and disappeared before Aladdin's mother had come out of her swoon.
When she was herself again, they satisfied their hunger, and still there was enough food for the rest of that day and two meals on the next. This they put aside, and Aladdin's mother made him tell of all that had passed between him and the genie during her swoon. The simple woman thought it all a dangerous and wicked business, and begged Aladdin to sell both the lamp and the ring; but he persuaded her to let him keep them both, on the condition that she should have nothing to do with genies again.
When they had eaten all the food left from the feast the genie brought, Aladdin sold the silver plates one by one to a Jew, who cheated him by paying but a small part of their value, and yet made the boy think himself rich. The tray he sold last, and when the money it brought was spent he rubbed the lamp again, and again the genie appeared, and provided the mother and son with another feast and other silver dishes. These kept them in funds for some time longer, especially as Aladdin had the good fortune to meet with an honest goldsmith, who paid him the full value of the metal. Aladdin, all the while, by visiting the shops of merchants, was gaining knowledge of the world and a desire to improve himself. From the jewelers he came to know that the fruits he had gathered when he got the lamp were not merely colored glass, but stones of untold value, the rarest in the city. This, however, he had the prudence not to tell to any one, even his mother.
III
One day, as Aladdin was walking about the town, he heard an order proclaimed that the people should close their shops and houses and keep within doors while the Princess Buddir al Buddoor, the Sultan's daughter, should go to the bath and return. Aladdin was filled with an eager desire to see the face of the princess, and contrived to place himself behind the door of the bath. When she was a few paces away from it she removed her veil, and Aladdin saw for a moment one of the most beautiful faces in the world. When she passed by him he quitted his hiding-place, and went home thoughtful and grave.
"Are you ill?" asked his mother.
"No," he answered, "but I love the princess more than I can express, and am resolved that I will ask her in marriage of the Sultan."
His mother thought him mad, but Aladdin said, "I have the slaves of the lamp and the ring to help me," and then told her for the first time what riches he possessed in the jewels brought from the underground palace. "These," he said, "will secure the favor of the Sultan. You have a large porcelain dish fit to hold them; fetch it, and let us see how they will look when we have arranged them according to their different colors."