So shalt thou be a wing overshadowing this orphan lad, and he shall
ever be obedient to thine orders, nor shall he do aught save whatso
thou biddest him thereunto."
The Maghrabi replied: "O wife of my brother, Aladdin is now a man of
sense and the son of goodly folk, and I hope to Allah that he will
follow in the footsteps of his sire and cool thine eyes. But I
regret that, tomorrow being Friday, I shall not be able to open his
shop, as 'tis meeting day when all the merchants, after congregational
prayer, go forth to the gardens and pleasaunces. On the Sabbath,
however, Inshallah!- an it please the Creator- we will do our
business. Meanwhile tomorrow I will come to thee betimes and take
Aladdin for a pleasant stroll to the gardens and pleasaunces without
the city, which haply he may hitherto not have beheld. There also he
shall see the merchants and notables who go forth to amuse themselves,
so shall he become acquainted with them and they with him."
The Maghrabi went away and lay that night in his quarters, and early
next morning he came to the tailor's house and rapped at the door. Now
Aladdin (for stress of his delight in the new dress he had donned
and for the past day's enjoyment in the hammam and in eating and
drinking and gazing at the folk, expecting futhermore his uncle to
come at dawn and carry him off on pleasuring to the gardens) had not
slept a wink that night, nor-closed his eyelids, and would hardly
believe it when day broke.
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