But when he came to the souterrain stairs and clomb the
steps till naught remained but the last, and finding this higher
than an the others, he was unable alone and unassisted, burthened
moreover as he was, to mount it. So he said to the Maghrabi, "O my
uncle, lend me thy hand and aid me to climb." But the Moorman
answered: "O my son, give me the lamp and lighten thy load. Belike
'tis that weighteth thee down." The lad rejoined: "O my uncle, 'tis
not the lamp downweigheth me at all, but do thou lend me a hand, and
as soon as I reached ground I will give it to thee." Hereat the
Moroccan, the magician, whose only object was the lamp and none other,
began to insist upon Aladdin giving it to him at once. But the lad
(forasmuch as he had placed it at the bottom of his breast pocket
and his other pouches, being full of gems, bulged outward) could not
reach it with his fingers to hand it over, so the wizard after much
vain persistency in requiring what his nephew was unable to give
fell to raging with furious rage and to demanding the lamp, whilst
Aladdin could not get at it. Yet had the lad promised truthfully
that he would give it up as soon as he might reach ground, without
lying thought or ill intent.
Pages:
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721