So he said to him: "Since thou art content that I open thee a
merchant's store and make thee a gentleman, do thou, O son of my
brother, prove thyself a man and Inshallah- God willing- tomorrow I
will take thee to the bazaar in the first place have a fine suit of
clothes cut out for thee, such gear as merchants wear; and secondly, I
will look after a store for thee and keep my word."
Now Aladdin's mother had somewhat doubted the Moroccan being her
brother-in-law, but as soon as she heard his promise of opening a
merchant's store for her son and setting him up with stuffs and
capital and so forth, the woman decided and determined in her mind
that this Maghrabi was in very sooth her husband's brother, seeing
that no stranger man would do such goodly deed by her son. So she
began directing the lad to the right road and teaching him to cast
ignorance from out his head and to prove himself a man. Moreover,
she bade him ever obey his excellent uncle as though he were his
son, and to make up for the time he had wasted in frowardnes with
his fellows. After this she arose and spread the table, then served up
supper, so all sat down and fell to eating and drinking while the
Maghrabi conversed with Aladdin upon matters of business and the like,
rejoicing him to such degree that he enjoyed no sleep that night.
Pages:
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705