This treat lasted till night, when Aladdin would have taken his leave of his uncle to go home, but the magician would not let him go by himself, but conducted him safe to his mother, who, as soon as she saw him so finely dressed, was transported with joy, and bestowed a thousand blessings upon the magician for being at so great an expense upon her child. “Generous relation,” said she, “I know not how to thank you for your liberality. I know that my son is not deserving of your favours; and was he never so grateful, and answered your good intentions, he would be unworthy of them. For my part,” added she, “I thank you with all my soul, and wish you may live long enough to be a witness of my son’s gratitude, which he cannot better shew than by regulating his conduct by your good advice.”
“Aladdin,” replied the magician, “is a good boy, and minds well enough, and I believe we shall do very well; but I am sorry for one thing, which is, that I cannot perform to-morrow what I promised, because it is Friday, and the shops will be shut up, and therefore we cannot hire or furnish one, but let it alone till Saturday. But I will call on him to-morrow, and take him to walk in the gardens, where people of the best fashion generally walk. Perhaps he has never seen these amusements, he has only hitherto been among children; but now he must see men.” Then the African magician took his leave of the mother and the son, and retired. Aladdin, who was overjoyed to be so well clothed, anticipated the pleasure of walking in the gardens which lay about the town. He had never been out of the town nor seen the environs, which were very beautiful and pleasant.
Aladdin rose early the next morning and dressed himself, to be ready against his uncle calling on him! and after he had waited some time, he began to be impatient, and stood watching for him at the door: but as soon as he perceived him coming, he told his mother, took his leave of her, and ran to meet him.
The magician caressed Aladdin when he came to him. “Come along, my dear child,” said he, “and I will shew you fine things.” Then he led him out at one of the gates of the city, to some large fine houses, or rather palaces, to each of which belonged beautiful gardens, into which anybody might go. At every house he came to, he asked Aladdin if he did not think it fine: and Aladdin was ready to answer when any one presented itself, crying out, “Here is a finer house, uncle, than any we have seen yet.” By this artifice the cunning magician got Aladdin a pretty way into the country; and as he had a mind to carry him farther, to execute his design, he took an opportunity to sit down in one of the gardens by a fountain of clear water, which discharged itself by a lion’s mouth of bronze into a great basin, pretending to be tired, the better to rest Aladdin. “Come, nephew,” said he, “you must be weary as well as me; let us rest ourselves, and we shall be better able to walk.”
After they had sat down, the magician pulled from his girdle a handkerchief with cakes and fruit, which he had provided on purpose, and laid them on the edge of the basin. He broke a cake in two, gave one half to Aladdin, and ate the other himself; and in regard to the fruit, he left him at liberty to take which sort he liked best. During this short repast, he exhorted his nephew to leave off keeping company with children, and seek that of wise and prudent men, to improve by their conversation; “for,” said he, “you will soon be at man’s estate, and you cannot too early begin to imitate their conversation.” When they had eaten as much as they liked, they got up, and pursued their walk through the gardens, which were separated from one another only by small ditches, which only marked out the limits without interrupting the communication; so great was the confidence the inhabitants reposed in each other. By this means, the African magician drew Aladdin insensibly beyond the gardens, and crossed the country, till they almost came to the mountains.
Aladdin, who had never been so far in his life before, began to find himself much tired with so long a walk, and said to the magician, “Where are we going, uncle? We have left the gardens a great way behind us, and I see nothing but mountains; if we go much farther, I do not know whether I shall be able to reach the town again.” “Never fear, nephew,” said the false uncle; “I will shew you another garden, which surpasses all we have yet seen; it is not far off, it is but a little step; and when we come there, you will say that you would have been sorry to have been so nigh it, and not seen it.” Aladdin was soon persuaded; and the magician, to make the way seem shorter and less fatiguing, told him a great many stories.
At last they came between two mountains of moderate height and equal size, divided by a narrow valley, which was the place where the magician intended to bring Aladdin, to put into execution a design that had brought him from Africa to China. “We will go no farther now,” said he to Aladdin: “I will shew you here some very extraordinary things, and what nobody ever saw before; which, when you have seen, you will thank me for; but while I strike fire, do you gather up all the loose sticks you can see, to kindle a fire with.”
Aladdin found there so many dried sticks, that before the magician had lighted a match, he had gathered up a great heap. The magician presently set them on fire, and when they were all in a blaze, the magician threw in some incense he had about him, which raised a great cloud of smoke, which he dispersed on each side, by pronouncing several magical words which Aladdin did not understand.
At the same time, the earth trembled a little, and opened just before the magician and Aladdin, and discovered a stone about half a yard square, laid horizontally, with a brass ring fixed into the middle of it, to raise it up by. Aladdin was so frightened at what he saw, that he would have run away; but as he was to be serviceable to the magician, he caught hold of him, scolded him, and gave him such a box on the ear, that he knocked him down, and had like to have beat his teeth down his throat. Poor Aladdin got up again trembling, and with tears in his eyes, said to the magician, “What have I done, uncle, to be treated after this severe manner?” “I have my reasons for it,” replied the magician: “I am your uncle, and supply the place of your father, and you ought to make no reply. But, child,” added he, softening, “do not be afraid of anything, for I shall not ask anything of you, but that you obey me punctually, if you would reap the advantages which I intended you should.” These fair promises calmed Aladdin’s fears and resentment; and when the magician saw that he was come to himself, he said to him, “You see what I have done by virtue of my incense, and the words I pronounced. Know, then, that under this stone there is hid a treasure which is destined to be yours, and which will make you richer than the greatest monarch in the world; this is so true, that no other person but yourself is permitted to touch this stone, and to pull it up and go in; for I am forbid ever to touch it, or set foot in this treasure when it is opened; so you must, without fail, punctually execute what I tell you, for it is a matter of great consequence both to you and me.”
Aladdin, amazed at all he saw and heard the magician say of the treasure, which was to make him happy for ever, forgot what was past, and rising up, said to the magician, “Well, uncle, what is to be done? Command me, I am ready to obey you.” “I am overjoyed, child,” said the African magician, embracing him, “to see you take the resolution; come, take hold of the ring, and lift up that stone.” “Indeed, uncle,” replied Aladdin, “I am not strong enough to lift it; you must help me.” “You have no occasion for my assistance,” answered the magician; “if I help you, we shall be able to do nothing: you must lift it up yourself: take hold of the ring, only pronounce the names of your father and grandfather, then lift it up, and you will find it will come easily.” Aladdin did as the magician bade him, and raised the stone with a great deal of ease, and laid it on one side.