“My son,” said the widow, “wishes to marry the Princess Buddir al Baddoor, and I have come here to ask you to give her to him as a wife; and my son also sends this small present, which he begs you to accept.”
When this widow, so poor and meanly dressed, said that her son wished to marry the Princess the Sultan could hardly keep from laughing; but when she uncovered the dish of jewels he was amazed. He took up one after another and examined it with admiration. He turned to the Vizier, who stood beside him: “Never in all my life before,” said he, “have I seen such beautiful jewels. Truly a man who can send me such a gift as this is worthy to have a princess for a wife. Do you not agree with me?”
When the Grand Vizier heard this he was troubled. He had indeed hoped that his own son might marry the Princess. Now he said, “Your Majesty, these jewels are indeed very wonderful; but we know nothing of the man who sent them. He may be only some beggarly rogue who has stolen them.”
“That is true,” said the Sultan. He thought for a moment, still turning the jewels with his fingers. Then he said to the woman, “I am indeed very much pleased with the gift your son has sent me. Go back and tell him I am inclined to give him the Princess for a wife, but first he must send me forty basins of massy gold filled with the same sort of jewels as these. If he can do this I will gladly have him for a son-in-law.”
The widow returned home and told her son what the Sultan had said. Aladdin was overjoyed when he heard the message. He now felt sure that before long he would be married to the Princess. He took the lamp and rubbed it, and at once the genie appeared.
“What dost thou wish?” asked the genie. “I and the other slaves of the lamp are ready to serve thee in all things.”
“I wish,” said Aladdin, “for forty basins of massy gold, filled with jewels such as I gathered in the garden. I also wish for forty black slaves, magnificently dressed, to carry the basins, and forty white slaves, also magnificently dressed and mounted on fine horses, to ride before them and behind.”
“To hear is to obey,” answered the genie.
At once he disappeared, but almost in a moment of time a long procession of slaves appeared in the street where Aladdin lived and gathered before his house. There were forty black slaves, magnificently dressed, and each bearing on his head a golden basin filled with jewels even more magnificent than those Aladdin had gathered for himself, and there were also forty white slaves, mounted on horses, to ride before them and behind.
When Aladdin saw these slaves and the jewels they bore his eyes sparkled with joy. He at once commanded them to march to the palace and present the jewels to the Sultan, and the widow herself hastened away, so as to reach the palace at the same time that they did.