" "This is not he, O my mother.
This who appeared before thee is the Slave of the Lamp!" "Who may this
be, O my son?" "This be a slave of sort and shape other than he.
That was the familiar of the ring, and this his fellow thou sawest was
the Slave of the Lamp thou hendest in hand." And when his parent heard
these words she cried: "There! there! So this accursed, who showed
himself to me and went nigh unto killing me with affright, is attached
to the lamp." "Yes," he replied, and she rejoined: "Now I conjure
thee, O my son, by the milk wherewith I suckled thee, to throw away
from thee this lamp and this ring, because they can cause us only
extreme terror, and I especially can never a-bear a second glance at
them. Moreover, all intercourse with them is unlawful, for that the
Prophet (whom Allah save and assain!) warned us against them with
threats."
He replied: "Thy commands, O my mother, be upon my head and mine
eyes, but as regards this saying thou saidest, 'tis impossible that
I part or with lamp or with ring. Thou thyself hast seen what good the
slave wrought us whenas we were famishing, and know, O my mother, that
the Maghrabi, the liar, the magician, when sending me down into the
hoard, sought nor the silver nor the gold wherewith the four halls
were fulfilled, but charged me to bring him only the lamp (naught
else), because in very deed he had learned its priceless value.
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