One Thousand and One Nights

This is the tale of Aladdin, the son of a poor tailor from “a certain city of China” (165). Even though Aladdin’s father tries to teach him a trade and orient him towards work, he remains a “headstrong and incorrigible good-for-nothing” (165).

Aladdin continues to languish after the death of his father until a powerful Moroccan sorcerer spots him. This sorcerer realizes that Aladdin is the boy that he needs to obtain a hidden enchanted lamp. He tricks Aladdin and his mother into believing that he is Aladdin’s long-lost uncle and promises to set him up for a good future. Taking Aladdin out of the city and to “the open country and […] a high mountain,” the sorcerer explains to him that only he can open the hidden chamber holding the lamp and that “[Aladdin] shall be the richest man alive” (174). Once Aladdin obtains the lamp but fails to give it to the sorcerer, the sorcerer begins to believe that “he wished to keep the spoil for himself” (175) and shuts Aladdin into the chamber. After “giving up all hope of escape” (176), Aladdin remembers that the sorcerer had lent him a magic ring and uses this ring to escape with the enchanted lamp. Returning to his mother, the two summon the jinnee in the lamp and use him to feed themselves and make money. They “grew wealthier and wealthier, yet they continued to live modestly” (182). 

One day, Aladdin spots the Sultan’s daughter, Badr-al-Budur, and resolves to marry her. With the help of his mother and the wealth produced by the jinnee, as well as through his own trickery, he manages to convince the sultan to marry his daughter to him. He must contend with the sultan’s Vizier, who resents Aladdin and plots against him. Aladdin commands the jinnee to shower the royal family with riches, to distribute wealth throughout the city, and to build a magnificent palace next to the sultan’s palace.

While Aladdin lives happily with Badr-al-Budur and impresses the whole kingdom with his generosity and valor on the battlefield, the Moroccan sorcerer divines that Aladdin is alive and has the enchanted lamp. Enraged, he returns to China and tricks Badr-al-Budur in giving the lamp to him. Once in his possession, he commands the jinnee to move Aladdin’s entire palace with Badr-al-Budur to Morocco. Once the sultan learns of this, he curses Aladdin and gives him 40 days to return his beloved daughter.

Once again, Aladdin remembers the ring left to him by the sorcerer and summons its jinnee. He commands the jinnee to take him to his palace in Morocco, where he alerts Badr-al-Budur to his presence. They plot to trick the sorcerer by having Badr-al-Budur get him drunk and seduce him. She succeeds, so Aladdin kills the sorcerer and returns his palace to China.

Nevertheless, “Aladdin was not yet entirely secure” (230) because the sorcerer’s brother sought to avenge him. This sorcerer journeys to China and disguises himself as a local holy woman to gain access to Aladdin’s palace and to trick the couple. Although the trick works, the jinnee in the enchanted lamp advises Aladdin that the holy woman is a sorcerer in disguise. Aladdin kills the sorcerer and “lived happily with Badr-al-Budur” (236) until their deaths.