Opening, part 30 · page 21 2101However, she prepared supper, and bade Aladdin seek his uncle, who came laden with wine and fruit.102He presently fell down and kissed the place where Mustapha used to sit, bidding Aladdin's mother not to be surprised at not having seen him before, as he had been forty years out of the country.103He then turned to Aladdin, and asked him his trade, at which the boy hung his head, while his mother burst into tears.104On learning that Aladdin was idle and would learn no trade, he offered to take a shop for him and stock it with merchandise.105Next day he bought Aladdin a fine suit of clothes, and took him all over the city, showing him the sights, and brought him home at nightfall to his mother, who was overjoyed to see her son so fine.106Next day the magician led Aladdin into some beautiful gardens a long way outside the city gates.107They sat down by a fountain, and the magician pulled a cake from his girdle, which he divided between them.108They then journeyed onwards till they almost reached the mountains.109Aladdin was so tired that he begged to go back, but the magician beguiled him with pleasant stories, and led him on in spite of himself.checked by a teacher110At last they came to two mountains divided by a narrow valley.checked by a teacher111"We will go no farther," said the false uncle. "112I will show you something wonderful; only do you gather up sticks while I kindle a fire."113When it was lit the magician threw on it a powder he had about him, at the same time saying some magical words.114The earth trembled a little and opened in front of them, disclosing a square flat stone with a brass ring in the middle to raise it by.115Aladdin tried to run away, but the magician caught him and gave him a blow that knocked him down.116"What have I done, uncle?" he said piteously; whereupon the magician said more kindly: "Fear nothing, but obey me.117Beneath this stone lies a treasure which is to be yours, and no one else may touch it, so you must do exactly as I tell you."1 2← previousOpening, part 29next →Opening, part 31↑ back to The Arabian Nights EntertainmentsThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg128/30/page/2/