Before Aladdin went home he called at a baker's, bought some cakes of
bread, changed his money, and on his return gave the rest to his
mother, who went and purchased provisions enough to last them some
time. After this manner they lived, until Aladdin had sold the twelve
dishes singly, as necessity pressed, to the Jew, for the same money;
who, after the first time, durst not offer him less, for fear of
losing so good a bargain. When he had sold the last dish, he had
recourse to the tray, which weighed ten times as much as the dishes,
and would have carried it to his old purchaser, but that it was too
large and cumbersome; therefore he was obliged to bring him home with
him to his mother's, where, after the Jew had examined the weight of
the tray, he laid down ten pieces of gold, with which Aladdin was very
well satisfied.
When all the money was spent, Aladdin had recourse again to the lamp.
He took it in his hands, looked for the part where his mother had
rubbed it with the sand, and rubbed it also. The genie immediately
appeared, and said, "What wouldst thou have? I am ready to obey thee
as thy slave, and the slave of all those who have that lamp in their
hands; I, and the other slaves of the lamp."
"I am hungry," said Aladdin. "Bring me something to eat."
The genie disappeared, and presently returned with a tray holding the
same number of covered dishes as before, set it down, and vanished.
As soon as Aladdin found that their provisions were again expended, he
took one of the dishes, and went to look for his Jew chapman. But as
he was passing by a goldsmith's shop, the goldsmith perceiving him,
called to him, and said, "My lad, I imagine that you have something to
sell to the Jew, whom I often see you visit. Perhaps you do not know
that he is the greatest rogue even among the Jews. I will give you the
full worth of what you have to sell, or I will direct you to other
merchants who will not cheat you."
This offer induced Aladdin to pull his plate from under his vest and
show it to the goldsmith. At first sight he perceived that it was made
of the finest silver, and asked if he had sold such as that to the
Jew. When Aladdin told him he had sold him twelve such, for a piece of
gold each, "What a villain!" cried the goldsmith. "But," added he, "my
son, what is past cannot be recalled. By showing you the value of this
plate, which is of the finest silver we use in our shops, I will let
you see how much the Jew has cheated you."
The goldsmith took a pair of scales, weighed the dish, and assured him
that his plate would fetch by weight sixty pieces of gold, which he
offered to pay down immediately.
Aladdin thanked him for his fair dealing, and never after went to any
other person.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account