“You say, it is not customary to go to the sultan without a present, and that I have nothing worthy of his acceptance. As to what you say about the present, I agree with you, and own that I never thought of it; but as to what you say that I have nothing fit to present him with, do not you think, mother, that what I brought home with me that day on which I was delivered from an inevitable death, may be an agreeable present. I mean those things you and I both took for coloured glasses; but now I am undeceived, and can tell you that they are jewels of an inestimable value, and fit for the greatest monarchs. I know the worth of them by frequenting the jewellers’ shops; and you may take my word for it, all the jewels that I saw in the most capital jewellers’ shops were not to be compared to those we have, either for size or beauty, and yet they value them at an excessive price. In short, neither you nor I know the value of ours, but be it as it will, by the little experience I have, I am persuaded that they will be received very favourably by the sultan: you have a large porcelain dish fit to hold them; fetch it, and let us see how they will look, when we have ranged them according to their different colours.” Aladdin’s mother fetched the china dish, and he took the jewels out of the two purses in which he had kept them, and placed them in the dish. But the brightness and lustre they had in the day-time, and the variety of the colours, so dazzled the eyes both of mother and son, that they were astonished beyond measure; for they had only seen them by the light of a lamp; for though Aladdin had seen them hang on the trees like fruit, beautiful to the eye, yet as he was but a boy, he did not take much notice of them; but looked on them only as trinkets. After they had admired the beauty of this present some time, Aladdin said to his mother, “Now you cannot excuse yourself from going to the sultan, under the pretext of not having a present to make him, since here is one which will gain you a favourable reception.”