Aladdin hurried through three underground halls. Four golden jars stood in each, but he kept his loose robe from brushing them. Beyond lay a garden where trees glittered with fruit of red, blue, green, and white glass—or so he thought.
He filled his pockets with the brightest pieces, climbed the terrace steps, and found a smoky lamp in a niche. It looked less valuable than his mother’s oldest cooking pot. Aladdin poured out its oil and tucked it inside his clothes.
At the cave mouth, the magician stretched down his hands.
“Give me the lamp first.”
“Help me out first,” Aladdin answered. His pockets were so full that he could not climb the last step.
They argued. Wild with impatience, the magician threw powder on the fire and spoke another spell. The stone slammed shut, trapping Aladdin below. The magician returned to Africa, certain the lamp was lost forever.
For two days Aladdin wandered in darkness. As he clasped his hands, he rubbed the ring.
A huge spirit rose before him.
“I am the slave of the ring. What do you wish?”
“Take me home!”
The ground spun. Aladdin opened his eyes beside the cold ashes of the magician’s fire. He ran to his mother and told her everything, then slept until hunger woke him.
There was no food. His mother decided to sell the dirty lamp. She began rubbing it clean.
Another spirit burst through the ceiling, larger and louder than the first.
“I am the slave of the lamp!”
Aladdin’s mother fainted. Aladdin swallowed his fear and asked for dinner. The spirit vanished, then returned with twelve silver dishes loaded with meat, fruit, and sweets, two silver cups, and warm bread.
For days the little house smelled like a royal kitchen. When money ran short, Aladdin sold one silver dish. A dishonest merchant paid a single coin, hiding its true worth. Later a fair jeweller gave him seventy-two coins for each remaining plate.
Aladdin began to understand what treasure looked like. The coloured “glass” fruits from the cave were not glass at all. They were rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds large enough to make kings blink.
He hid them safely—and kept the battered old lamp even safer.