Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part B
Today, I'm continuing on with my reading notes on Scheherazade's The 1001 Nights, specifically her stories about Aladdin and the Lamp. I've always been a huge fan of Disney's Aladdin (and I really loved the live-action remake), so I'm excited to give it a read.
1: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 1
-Aladdin's father, Mustapha, died because he was so disappointed that his son was lazy; one day, Aladdin meets a man from Africa in the street (a magician), who tells him that he is his uncle; Aladdin brings him home, and his uncle gives him lots of money and gifts
-one day, Aladdin and his uncle walk to the mountains; Aladdin's uncle uncovers a secret passageway and tells Aladdin to go in (without touching anything inside or else he'll die) and bring out a specific lamp; he gives Aladdin a ring to take with him; Aladdin goes in and gets the lamp; the magician (who is clearly not really his uncle at this point), after Aladdin refuses to give him the lamp until he gets out of the cave, throws a fit and locks Aladdin inside and leaves
-Aladdin sits inside the cave, wondering what to do; he rubs the ring the magician gave him absently, and a genie rises out of the earth, giving him wishes
2: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 2
-Aladdin wishes for the genie of the ring to get him out of the cave; the genie complies; Aladdin goes home and, in an attempt to clean it to sell it, his mother rubs the lamp, making the genie of the lamp appear; Aladdin wishes for it to bring them food, and the genie complies, bringing them a feast on silver plates; they eat, and Aladdin sells the plates for money
-Aladdin sees the princess one day and falls in love with her; Aladdin makes his mother go to the palace every day for a week and wait until the sultan notices her, so she can ask if Aladdin can marry the princess; on the seventh day, the sultan finally asks her what she wants, and she tells him that Aladdin wants to marry his daughter, offering him jewels Aladdin took from the cave; the sultan's grand-vizir convinces him to not make a decision for 3 months (to give his own son time to come up with a better gift), so the sultan tells Aladdin's mother to come back in 3 months
-after 3 months, she goes back to the palace and hears that the princess is to marry the grand-vizir's son; she tells Aladdin this, and he summons the genie of the lamp, and wishes that he bring him the princess and the vizir's son; the genie complies and they show up in bed; Aladdin has the genie put the vizir's son outside and Aladdin sleeps beside the princess for the night; then Aladdin has the genie take them both home
3: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 3
-the next morning, the princess and the vizir's son are upset; the sultan asked them what happened, and they tell him about them being taken to Aladdin's house, but he doesn't believe them; this happens again this next night, and the vizir's son gets so scared that he decides to break up with the princess
-after 3 months, Aladdin sends his mother to talk to the sultan about marriage again; this time, the sultan decides to set a price so high on his daughter that no man could ever pay it and marry her; Aladdin uses the genie to give the sultan whatever he wants for the princess; the sultan agrees to let Aladdin marry her, and Aladdin uses the genie to build an extravagant palace; Aladdin and the princess get married; they live happily for a few years, and Aladdin rises in the sultan's ranks; meanwhile, the sultan's grand-vizir is suspicious of Aladdin
4: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 4
-the magician who had wanted the lamp originally hears about Aladdin and his success, and figures out that Aladdin has the lamp he wanted him to get; he devises a plan to get the lamp back; he goes to Aladdin's palace (while Aladdin is gone hunting) and offers to exchange any old lamps for new ones; a slave gives him the magic lamp for a newer lamp, not knowing its magic
-the next day, the magician wishes Aladdin's palace would disappear; convinced that Aladdin is a sorcerer, the sultan has him arrested; Aladdin is dragged back to the sultan's palace and almost executed, but the public saves him because they love him so much; the sultan gives Aladdin 40 days to find his daughter (because she disappeared with the palace) and bring her back; Aladdin searches for a while but doesn't find anything, so he asks the genie of the ring to bring his stuff back; the genie says he can't, only the genie of the lamp can do that; Aladdin wishes that the genie of the ring would take him to his palace and place him under the window of the princess; the genie complies and he ends up at his stolen palace
5: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 5
-Aladdin and the princess figure out that the magician has the lamp, and that is what has caused all of their problems; the princess tells Aladdin that the magician keeps the lamp on him at all times, and keeps asking her to marry him; Aladdin tells her to dress up and pretend to like the magician for a night so they can get the lamp back; she agrees
-that night, the princess asks the magician for wine, and when he goes to get it, she puts a powder Aladdin gave her in his glass; when he comes back, they have a toast, and he drinks from the cup and dies
6: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 6
-Aladdin takes the lamp back from the dead magician and wishes his palace back to China where it belongs; Aladdin tells the sultan what happened, and the sultan believed him, so they had a feast
-the magician's more evil and wicked brother shows up to the palace, disguised as a holy woman; the princess had longed to see this holy woman, so she tells a slave to bring her to her room; the princess tells the holy woman that she wants her to stay with them, and shows her around the palace; when she shows her the front hall, the holy woman tells the princess that the only thing that would make it better would be a roc's (a giant bird) egg, so later that night the princess asks Aladdin if they can have one
-Aladdin asks the genie of the lamp to give them a roc's egg, but the genie freaks out and gets very offended by this request; the genie knows that the idea of getting a roc's egg didn't come from Aladdin or the princess though, it came from the holy woman, so the genie tells Aladdin that the holy woman is really the magician's evil brother in disguise and advises him to kill him ASAP
-Aladdin asks the princess to summon the holy woman because he has a headache; when the holy woman showed up, Aladdin kills her, revealing the magician's brother in disguise; they all live happily ever after, and eventually Aladdin becomes the sultan
1: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 1
-Aladdin's father, Mustapha, died because he was so disappointed that his son was lazy; one day, Aladdin meets a man from Africa in the street (a magician), who tells him that he is his uncle; Aladdin brings him home, and his uncle gives him lots of money and gifts
-one day, Aladdin and his uncle walk to the mountains; Aladdin's uncle uncovers a secret passageway and tells Aladdin to go in (without touching anything inside or else he'll die) and bring out a specific lamp; he gives Aladdin a ring to take with him; Aladdin goes in and gets the lamp; the magician (who is clearly not really his uncle at this point), after Aladdin refuses to give him the lamp until he gets out of the cave, throws a fit and locks Aladdin inside and leaves
-Aladdin sits inside the cave, wondering what to do; he rubs the ring the magician gave him absently, and a genie rises out of the earth, giving him wishes
2: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 2
-Aladdin wishes for the genie of the ring to get him out of the cave; the genie complies; Aladdin goes home and, in an attempt to clean it to sell it, his mother rubs the lamp, making the genie of the lamp appear; Aladdin wishes for it to bring them food, and the genie complies, bringing them a feast on silver plates; they eat, and Aladdin sells the plates for money
-Aladdin sees the princess one day and falls in love with her; Aladdin makes his mother go to the palace every day for a week and wait until the sultan notices her, so she can ask if Aladdin can marry the princess; on the seventh day, the sultan finally asks her what she wants, and she tells him that Aladdin wants to marry his daughter, offering him jewels Aladdin took from the cave; the sultan's grand-vizir convinces him to not make a decision for 3 months (to give his own son time to come up with a better gift), so the sultan tells Aladdin's mother to come back in 3 months
-after 3 months, she goes back to the palace and hears that the princess is to marry the grand-vizir's son; she tells Aladdin this, and he summons the genie of the lamp, and wishes that he bring him the princess and the vizir's son; the genie complies and they show up in bed; Aladdin has the genie put the vizir's son outside and Aladdin sleeps beside the princess for the night; then Aladdin has the genie take them both home
3: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 3
-the next morning, the princess and the vizir's son are upset; the sultan asked them what happened, and they tell him about them being taken to Aladdin's house, but he doesn't believe them; this happens again this next night, and the vizir's son gets so scared that he decides to break up with the princess
-after 3 months, Aladdin sends his mother to talk to the sultan about marriage again; this time, the sultan decides to set a price so high on his daughter that no man could ever pay it and marry her; Aladdin uses the genie to give the sultan whatever he wants for the princess; the sultan agrees to let Aladdin marry her, and Aladdin uses the genie to build an extravagant palace; Aladdin and the princess get married; they live happily for a few years, and Aladdin rises in the sultan's ranks; meanwhile, the sultan's grand-vizir is suspicious of Aladdin
4: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 4
-the magician who had wanted the lamp originally hears about Aladdin and his success, and figures out that Aladdin has the lamp he wanted him to get; he devises a plan to get the lamp back; he goes to Aladdin's palace (while Aladdin is gone hunting) and offers to exchange any old lamps for new ones; a slave gives him the magic lamp for a newer lamp, not knowing its magic
-the next day, the magician wishes Aladdin's palace would disappear; convinced that Aladdin is a sorcerer, the sultan has him arrested; Aladdin is dragged back to the sultan's palace and almost executed, but the public saves him because they love him so much; the sultan gives Aladdin 40 days to find his daughter (because she disappeared with the palace) and bring her back; Aladdin searches for a while but doesn't find anything, so he asks the genie of the ring to bring his stuff back; the genie says he can't, only the genie of the lamp can do that; Aladdin wishes that the genie of the ring would take him to his palace and place him under the window of the princess; the genie complies and he ends up at his stolen palace
5: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 5
-Aladdin and the princess figure out that the magician has the lamp, and that is what has caused all of their problems; the princess tells Aladdin that the magician keeps the lamp on him at all times, and keeps asking her to marry him; Aladdin tells her to dress up and pretend to like the magician for a night so they can get the lamp back; she agrees
-that night, the princess asks the magician for wine, and when he goes to get it, she puts a powder Aladdin gave her in his glass; when he comes back, they have a toast, and he drinks from the cup and dies
6: Aladdin and the Lamp, Part 6
-Aladdin takes the lamp back from the dead magician and wishes his palace back to China where it belongs; Aladdin tells the sultan what happened, and the sultan believed him, so they had a feast
-the magician's more evil and wicked brother shows up to the palace, disguised as a holy woman; the princess had longed to see this holy woman, so she tells a slave to bring her to her room; the princess tells the holy woman that she wants her to stay with them, and shows her around the palace; when she shows her the front hall, the holy woman tells the princess that the only thing that would make it better would be a roc's (a giant bird) egg, so later that night the princess asks Aladdin if they can have one
-Aladdin asks the genie of the lamp to give them a roc's egg, but the genie freaks out and gets very offended by this request; the genie knows that the idea of getting a roc's egg didn't come from Aladdin or the princess though, it came from the holy woman, so the genie tells Aladdin that the holy woman is really the magician's evil brother in disguise and advises him to kill him ASAP
-Aladdin asks the princess to summon the holy woman because he has a headache; when the holy woman showed up, Aladdin kills her, revealing the magician's brother in disguise; they all live happily ever after, and eventually Aladdin becomes the sultan
Aladdin and the genie. Source: Untextbook.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"The Arabian Nights Entertainments" by Andrew Lang. WebSource: Untexbook.
Comments
Post a Comment