A long time ago in faraway china, there lived a poor tailor, his wife and their son, aladdin. The tailor worked hard and hoped that his son would one day enter the family business.. But all aladdin liked to do was spend time with his friends. Even when his father died, aladdin didn't stop being lazy. It was left to his poor old mother to bring a little money into the house by spinning cotton.
One day, while he was lazing around as usual, a stranger approached aladdin and said,"my goodness, but you must be aladdin. You look just like your father! I am your father's brother who has been away for many years. Please take me to your mother at once."
Aladdin was surprised. He didn't think he had an uncle but did as he was told, anyway. When his mother saw the stranger she was also confused and said,"yes, my husband did have brother. I never met him. I thought he died many years ago.
But it was such a happy meeting and the stranger seemed such a nice man, she found it easy to believe that it was her dead husbands brother.
What aladdin and his mother didn't know was that the stranger was an evil magician who had picked aladdin because he looked like a wastrel. He wanted to use aladdin for his own ends and then get rid of him. However; for the time being, he was very charming to the boy and his mother.
After treating them to a good meal, the magician told the boy he'd like to show him around the richer parts of the city. They walked through beautiful gardens and wide streets with magnificent houses. After a while, aladdin and the magician found themselves in a small, dark alley. Without warning, the magician stopped and pulled on a big metal ring attached to a flat stone in the middle of the street. Underneath the stone were stairs, leading down into darkness.
"Nephew," began the magician. "You must go down these stairs for me. At the bottom you will find these three caves full of gold and silver. You must pass through all of the caves an promise you won't touch anything! Then you will enter a garden full of strange stone- fruit hanging from the trees. You may pick some of it if you wish. At the end of the garden you will find a dirty old lamp. Empty the oil from it and bring it to me. The lamp is the only thing I wish for."
Aladdin was a little nervous, but the magician had given him a beautiful emerald ring to keep if he promised to bring the lamp back. Aladdin went slowly down the stairs. At the bottom, he found the three caves that were full of gold and silver, just as his uncle had said. But he kept his promise and didn't touch any of it.
Then he entered the garden with the strange stone-fruit hanging from the trees. He stuffed as many as he could into his pockets, then carried on until he reached the end of the garden. There, he saw the old oil lamp. He picked it up, poured out the old, dirty oil and walked back through the garden and the three caves until he reached the stairs again.
The magician was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. "Give me the lamp!" He said eagerly.
"Help me out of here first, and then I'll give you the lamp,"said aladdin.
"I want it now!" Cried the magician, and tried to grab the lamp out of Aladdin's hand. This had been his plan all along. He was going to take the lamp,then shut aladdin beneath the ground forever. But as the two of them struggled, the stone suddenly fell back over the hole, shutting aladdin, firmly inside.
The magician quickly realised that his plan had failed, and left china, never to be seen again.
For two days aladdin stayed in the cave without any food an water. He was getting very weak. Then, by chance, he rubbed the ring the magician had gave him. All of a sudden, there was a blinding flash and a very large man appeared in front of him. "Who are you?"asked aladdin in astonishment.
"I am the genie of the ring, master. Your wish is my command. What can I do for you?"
"Get me out of here!" Cried aladdin.
There was another blinding flash and Aladdin found himself standing in the alley above. Looking down, he saw that the big metal ring and the flat stone had completely disappeared. He rushed home to his mother, who was overjoyed to see him.
"Where have you been, my boy?" She asked, hugged him.
"I'll tell you later," said aladdin. "I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten for two days. Please feed me, mother."
His mother cooked up whatever bits she had in the house, but it wasn't very much and, after he'd finished eating, aladdin was still hungry. 'Maybe I can sell the lamp for food,"he said. "I'd better give it a polish."
As soon as he started to rub the lamp, there was another blinding flash and another large man appeared!
Both aladdin and his mother cried out in amazement.
"Who are you?" Asked aladdin in a trembling voice.
"I am the genie of the lamp, master," said the large man. "Your wish is my command. What can I do for you?"
"Bring me a table full of food," commanded aladdin. In the blink of the eye, a table appeared crammed full of the most delicious food, all served on silver plates. When aladdin and his
mother had eaten everything, they sold the silver plates for a lot of money, which bought them enough food not to go hungry again for a very long time.
One day, while strolling in the market, aladdin saw the Sultan's daughter, Princess Badrolboudoir, fell in love with her instantly. He went to see the Sultan and asked for his daughter's hand in marriage. As a gift, aladdin gave the Sultan all of the stone-fruit he'd found hanging from the trees in the cave. "You must be very rich to give me such a present," smiled the Sultan.
"You're exactly the sort of man I wish my daughter to marry."
But the Sultan's chief courtier wanted his son to marry the Princess, so he urged the Sultan to give Aladdin a test to prove himself. So the Sultan asked aladdin for even more of the stone-fruit. But this time the Sultan wanted forty servants to carry the fruit to his palace on forty silver platters.
When he was alone, Aladdin once again rubbed the lamp, and again the genie appeared.
"What can I do for you, master?" he asked Aladdin.
"Send forty servants, bearing forty platters of stone-fruit, to the Sultan's palace,"ordered Aladdin.
The Sultan was astonished when, the very next day, forty servants bearing forty platters of fruit arrived at his palace. "Look at this!" Exclaimed the Sultan. "I am now certain that Aladdin will make a fine husband for my daughter."
But the chief courtier, who still had hopes that his son might marry the Sultan's daughter, suggested one final test for Aladdin.
"This is all well and good," he said. "But where would they live if they were married? If Aladdin is as
