15. — ALADDIN, OR THE WONDERFUL LAMP.

PART III.

bur'nished, polished, bright.
com-mis'sion [-mish'un], charge,
duty.

dis-patch', speed, promptness.
dow'ry, reward paid for a wife.
eq'ui-page [ek'wi-pej], attendance.

mass'y, heavy, massive.
nup'tial [-shal], pertaining to a
wedding.

ret'i-nue, train of attendants.
se-cured, took careful possession of.
viz'ier [viz'yer], councilor of state.

1. WHEN the three months had passed, Aladdin sent his mother to the divan as before. The sultan remembered her; but, having no inclination to give the princess to her son, he consulted his vizier, who advised him to demand of Aladdin a nuptial present so exceedingly valuable that it would be out of his power to procure it. The sultan was well pleased with the advice, which he doubted not would effectually prevent his hearing any more of Aladdin. He then beckoned the old woman to him, and told her he was ready to give the princess to her son, provided Aladdin sent him forty basins of massy gold, full of the same kind of stones she had brought him before, each basin to be carried by a black slave led by a young and handsome white slave, all of them magnificently dressed. "Go," said he, "and tell him that on these conditions I am ready to receive him as my son-in-law."

2. The old lady returned home much dejected; but Aladdin heard her report with great pleasure, and, summoning the genie, ordered him to provide the present the sultan had demanded.

In a few minutes the house of Aladdin was filled by the eighty slaves: forty black ones, bearing large golden basins filled with all sorts of jewels, each basin being covered with a silver stuff embroidered with flowers of gold. Aladdin requested his mother to return to the sultan, and present him with the dowry he had demanded; and, opening the door, he ordered a white slave to go out, and a black one with his basin to follow. In this order they all set forth, and the mother of Aladdin closed the procession.

3. When they entered the divan, they formed a semicircle before the throne; the black slaves laid the basins on the carpets, and uncovered them; and the whole company, having paid proper compliments to the sovereign, modestly stood with folded arms.

The sultan surveyed the whole with the utmost amazement. The vizier admitted that Aladdin's present merited his reception into the royal family. All the court agreed with this opinion; and the sultan dismissed the old lady with orders that her son should hasten to receive the princess from the hands of her father.

4. The joy with which Aladdin received this message was unspeakable. He summoned the genie, and said, "Provide me with proper apparel and equipage, that I may visit the sultan, who has consented to receive me as a son." No sooner had he spoken these words than the genie clothed him in most magnificent garments.

5. When Aladdin arrived at court, and was introduced to the sultan, he would have prostrated himself in the usual manner, but the monarch prevented this by receiving him in his arms and embracing him. They

conversed together a long time, and the sultan was charmed with the wit and good sense of his intended son-in-law. The judge presented the contract, and the sultan asked Aladdin to stay in the palace and conclude the marriage immediately.

6. But Aladdin with great gratitude declined the sultan's request. "I wish first," said he, "to build a palace fit for the reception of the charming princess; and for this purpose I humbly beg your majesty to grant me a piece of ground near your own." The sultan bade him take any ground he pleased, but begged him to consider how long it must be before he could complete a new palace; and all that time he should be without the pleasure of calling him son.

7. When Aladdin returned home, he summoned the genie in the usual manner. "Genie," said he, "the speed with which thou hast executed my orders deserves all praise. I have now a commission of still greater importance for thee. Build me a palace opposite the sultan's, fit to receive the princess Bulbul. Let the materials be the most rare and costly. Let there be a large hall in it with a dome at the top, and fourand-twenty windows. Decorate these windows with the most splendid jewels. Let the walls of the hall be formed of massy gold and silver. Provide the most sumptuous furniture, and a proper number of handsome slaves to perform the necessary duties. Do all this, I charge thee by the lamp, in the most perfect manner, and with all possible dispatch."

8. By the time Aladdin had finished his instructions to the genie the sun was set. The next morning at daybreak the genie presented himself, and said, "Mas

ter, your palace is finished: come and see how you like it." Aladdin consenting, he transported him thither, and led him through the various apartments. He found that his orders had been faithfully fulfilled. The treasury was filled to the ceiling with bags of money, the palace with the most costly furniture, and the stables with the finest horses in the world. When Aladdin had reviewed the whole, he gave it the praise deserved. He then ordered the genie to spread a piece of fine velvet from the sultan's palace to his own, for the princess to walk on.

9. Aladdin now sent a message to the sultan, requesting that he might be permitted to wait on him and on the princess Bulbul, and that the wedding might take place that day. The sultan consenting, Aladdin bade adieu for ever to his parental dwelling. He first requested his mother to go to the palace with her slaves to attend the princess; he then secured his wonderful lamp, and, mounting his horse, attended by a numerous and splendid retinue, he arrived at the palace.

10. The marriage was performed, and in the evening Aladdin received the lovely bride in his own palace, and conducted her into the grand hall, which was superbly illuminated. The princess being seated, a noble feast was served up. The plates and dishes were all of burnished gold, and contained the most delicious meats; and all the furniture in the hall was magnificent. Although the princess Bulbul had been used to the splendor of a court from her infancy, she was much struck with the magnificence of her new home, and expressed her pleasure to Aladdin in the strongest

terms.

11. After supper there was a concert of music and a dance by genii and fairies. The day following, the royal parents came to Aladdin's palace to congratulate the princess; she received them, and conducted them to the hall, where they were astonished at the display of riches and elegance.

46. — ALADDIN, OR THE WONDERFUL LAMP.

PART IV.

cai'tiff [ka'tif], wretch, villain.
de-lu'sions [-zhunz], deceptions.
de-võt'ed, doomed, destined.
hor'o-scope, plan of finding secrets
by the stars.
in'ter-val, space of time.
khan, an Oriental inn.

ma-lig'ni-ty, ill-will, malevolence.
per-fid'i-ous, faithless, treacherous.
pin'ioned [-yund], bound, confined.
port'al, small door or gate.
re-pair', go.

sire, your majesty.

sub'tle [sut'l], artful, cunning.

1. No situation in human life is free from misfortune. Several years after these events, the African magician, who without intending it had been the means of Aladdin's good fortune, chanced to recollect him, and resolved to know if he had perished in the cave. He drew a horoscope, by which he found that Aladdin had escaped, lived splendidly, was rich, and had married a princess.

2. On this discovery, the natural malignity of the wizard increased tenfold. He burst out in a rage, saying, "Has this fellow discovered the virtue of the lamp? does he whom I despised and devoted to death