ALLADIN AND THE MAGIC LAMP

Once upon a time in China, there was a boy named Aladdin who lived with his mother. They were very poor. One day, a rich stranger came to their house looking for Aladdin. ‘I am a merchant,’ he told Aladdin’s mother. ‘I have come all the way from Arabia. I want to take your boy with me for a little work, but I will give him so much gold for this service that you will not be poor anymore.’

Aladdin’s mother agreed because they really needed the money. However, she did not know that the man who said he was a merchant was actually a wicked sorcerer.

Aladdin packed his things and left with the merchant. They travelled for many hours, finally the false merchant stopped. Aladdin was surprised, as it was a lonely spot and there was nothing or no one anywhere to be seen.

The merchant took out some coloured powder from his pocket. Then he threw it at the ground and smoke billowed all around. As the smoke cleared away, Aladdin saw a big opening in the ground, like a cave. The sorcerer asked Aladdin to go inside the cave. ‘You will see lots gold inside, more than you will ever see in your life. Take as much as you want. Inside the cave, you will also see an old lamp. Just get it out for me. That’s all I want.’ Aladdin became suspicious, as anyone would, but remembering his poor mother, he entered the cave.

Inside, he saw the cave was filled with gold. He filled up his pockets with it, stuffing in as much as he could. When he could take no more gold, he looked for the lamp and found it. It was old and dirty. He took the lamp and called out to the merchant to help him out. ‘Give me the lamp first,’ the merchant said. Aladdin was afraid that if he gave the lamp to the merchant, he would leave him there. So, he said ‘Please pull me out first.’

The merchant got angry and took out some more powder from his pocket. He threw it at the cave and the opening was shut, a huge rock blocking the way. Aladdin was scared. He waited inside and shouted, hoping that someone would come and help, many hours passed and no one came. As Aladdin was sitting alone, he started cleaning the lamp. Suddenly, a strange fog filled up the room and a voice said, ‘My Master, I am the genie of this lamp. What is your wish?’ The genie looked like a huge man, and very strange. Aladdin was afraid of him. But the genie assured him that he would do as Aladdin asked him. ‘Take me to my home’ he said.

The next instant, Aladdin was home and with his mother. They hugged each other and Aladdin told her all about his adventure. Aladdin called the genie again and he appeared, but now they were not afraid of him. He asked the genie for a palace and soon they were living inside a beautiful palace instead of the old hut where Aladdin had lived all his life.

People got to know about this rich young man, Aladdin, he became more famous. He married a princess, the daughter of the Sultan, and they were very happy. The wicked sorcerer, too, heard all about Aladdin. He came to Aladdin’s palace pretending to be an old man who exchanged old lamps for new. Aladdin had not told the princess about the magic lamp. She got it to give the magician. As soon as he saw the lamp he recognized it, and grabbing it, ran away.

He summoned the genie and he was now the new master. ‘Shift away Aladdin’s palace far away from here to the desert’ he said.

When Aladdin returned home he could not find his palace or his princess and mother. He was very worried, but then realized it must be the work of the evil sorcerer who wanted to take revenge. Aladdin thought hard and remembered that he had a ring that the magician had given him and that it could still help him. He rubbed the ring and another genie appeared. ‘Take me to wherever my princess is,’ he commanded the genie.