Years passed. Aladdin dressed well, spoke carefully, and listened to the merchants in the marketplace. Nobody guessed that a lamp spirit had filled his cupboard—or that a cave of jewels glittered inside his pockets.
One day the Sultan ordered every shop shut while his daughter, Princess Badroulbadour, travelled to the bath. Aladdin hid behind a door and saw her lift her veil. At once he decided to marry her.
His mother nearly dropped her spindle.
“The Sultan will laugh us out of the palace.”
Aladdin filled a porcelain bowl with the cave’s coloured stones.
“Take him these.”
For a week his mother waited in the audience hall, too nervous to speak. At last the Sultan called her forward. When she uncovered the bowl, rubies and diamonds lit his throne.
The Sultan was delighted, but his Grand Vizier wanted the Princess to marry his own son. He advised the Sultan to delay the answer for three months.
Before the three months ended, drums announced the Princess’s wedding to the Vizier’s son. Aladdin rubbed the lamp in dismay.
That night the spirit carried the bridegroom’s bed to Aladdin’s house. The terrified young man spent the night shivering outside while Aladdin explained to the Princess that the Sultan had already promised to consider his proposal. At dawn, the spirit returned everything untouched.
The same thing happened the next night. The Vizier’s son had had enough. He begged to cancel the marriage and fled from the palace celebrations.
When three months had truly passed, Aladdin’s mother returned to the Sultan. The Vizier tried another trick.
“Ask for forty trays of jewels,” he whispered, “carried by forty servants, each accompanied by another richly dressed servant.”
The Sultan named the price. Aladdin’s mother went home looking faint.
Aladdin rubbed the lamp.
Before sunset, eighty splendid attendants crossed the city. Forty carried golden trays piled with jewels more brilliant than the first gift. Crowds filled the roofs and streets. The Sultan could no longer doubt Aladdin’s wealth.
He welcomed the young man as his future son. Princess Badroulbadour, hearing how firmly Aladdin had kept the Sultan to his word, agreed to meet him at last.