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41-1
- Story
of Alaaddeen:
Alaaddeen Meets a Magician
1.
Alaaddeen Meets a Magician
2. Alaaddeen Meets the Genie
3. Alaaddeen Gets Married
4. Alaadeen Kills the Magician
5. Alaaddeen and the Magician's Brother
Once
there lived a tailor in a capital of a large province of China. His name was Mustafaa.
He was so poor that he could not even maintain his family -
his wife and a son. His son's name was Alaaddeen. His wife did not bring
him up properly so he had developed many bad habits. He was wicked,
disobedient, obstinate. As he grew up he went out of the house, roamed
here and there, and came back only in the evening. His father tried his
best to teach him tailoring but he could not learn it. After a few months
he died of an illness. His wife shut the shop and sold all the goods of the
shop. She used to spin cotton, so whatever she got from it and what she
got after selling her husband's shop, she started her family from that
money. Alaaddeen was now
15 years old.
One
day as he was out in the street, a stranger stood to look at him. This
stranger was a magician and he saw all the qualities in Alaaddeen he was
looking for to carry
out his plan. He found out about the boy's details and asked him -
"Are you not Mustafaa tailor's son?" "Yes, I am, but he has
died long time ago." The magician acted, he kissed him several times
and said to him - "Oh, my child. I am your uncle. Your father was my
brother. I am so grieved hearing about him." Then he took out some
money from his pocket and gave it to him and said - "Go to your
mother, and tell her that I will come tomorrow to see her."
Alaaddeen
immediately went to his mother and asked her - "Mother, Do I have an
uncle?" "No son, You don't have any uncle from your father's
side or my side." "But I have just met a man who called himself
my uncle and he has given me this money also. See. And he has told me to
tell you that he might come tomorrow to see you." His mother said -
"Well, He had a brother, but he has died long time ago, and I have never
heard of any other one." Next day the magician found the boy playing
in another part of the town. He gave him two gold coins and said -
"Give these to your mother and tell her that I will come in the
evening and have dinner with her."
Alaaddeen
went home and told her this to his mother. She waited for his brother the
whole day and cooked good food for him. He came in the evening bringing
some wine
and fruits with him and asked her to show him the place where his brother sat. As she showed
him the place, he kissed the place several times and said to her -
"You have not seen me because I was out of this country for 40 years.
I am sorry I could not see my dear brother." Then he asked the boy's
name. The boy said - "My name is Alaaddeen." "What do you do
for living?" His mother said - "He doesn't do anything. His
father has not left any money also for us. I don't know what to do."
And she started weeping.
The magician
said - "Don't worry, I will try to help you. I will take a shop for
you and you will sell some fresh stuff there. Thus you will be able to
live respectfully." Alaaddeen got very happy to hear this. Next day
the magician took him to market and bought some new clothes for him.
Alaaddeen's mother was so happy to have such a brother-in-law who was
helping her so much. Then he took him to mosques, and other places where
rich merchants used to meet. And then he took him to his own Khaan. At
night he himself escorted him to his home. Alaaddeen's mother thanked him
a lot.
Next
day he could not hire a shop for him, because it was Friday, and no shop
was open on that day, so he took him to gardens out of the city. He showed
him many fine houses on the way and thus took him a long way out of the
town. Pretending getting tired, he sat down in a garden. He ate something
himself and gave something to him also to eat. Then he took him far from the gardens. Alaaddeen asked - "Uncle, Where are we going? I don't think I can go
back to my home from here." Magician said - "I will show you
another garden. You have never seen such a garden."
Telling
stories on the way, the magician brought Alaaddeen to a valley and asked him to
bring some dry sticks. The magician set out the fire, threw some incense in
it, and spoke some magic words. The earth trembled a little and showed up
a square stone with a brass ring to lift it up. Seeing this Alaaddeen got
frightened and wanted to run away but the magician caught him and knocked
him down. Alaaddeen asked - "What wrong I have done to you, so that you are
treating me like this?" The magician said - "I am like your father
and own the right to behave like your father. You just obey me. See what I
have done with my power. Now there is a hidden treasure here which will be
yours, if you behave yourself. This treasure is yours only, because only you
can touch it, I cannot touch it."
Alaaddeen
got very excited hearing this, he asked him what he had to do to get it.
"Lift this stone." "I cannot lift it alone. You have to
help me." "No, I cannot, you will have to do this alone. Take
your father's and grandfather's names, and then lift it." As
Alaaddeen lifted it, he saw that there was a door about 4-5 feet below to
go down. The magician said - "Now listen to what I say to you - open this door,
you will find steps to go down, go down the steps, and you will be in a
large place at the end of the steps. That place is divided into three
great halls. In each of the halls you will find four large vessels placed
on each side - full of gold and silver, but just do not touch them. Even
your cloth should not touch them, so you should tuck your robe up and
around your body before you enter the first hall. Then you go in the
second hall and then in the third hall without stopping and without even touching
the walls, because if you do touch the wall you will die instantly.
At the
end of the third hall, you will find a door leading to a garden. Walk down
the path across that garden, that will take you to where the five steps
are. Climb up those steps and you will be on a terrace. There you will see
a lighted lamp. Take the lamp down, put it out, throw away the wick, pour
out its oil, hide it under your clothes and bring it to me. Do not care
for the oil which might spoil your clothes, because it is not the oil and the
lamp will also be dry as soon as it is thrown out. If you wish to have any fruit
from the garden, you may have as many as you wish." After this he
took out a ring from his finger and put it on Alaaddeen's finger saying
that it would guard him against all evils as long as he will put it on.
Contd
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