" Withal he fell to devising a device against the
King, that he might withhold the Lady Badr al-Budur from Aladdin,
and accordingly he continued: "O my liege, the treasures of the
universe all of them are not worth a nail paring of thy daughter.
Indeed thy Highness hath prized these things overmuch in comparison
with her."
When the King heard the words of his Grand Wazir, he knew that the
speech was prompted by excess of envy, so, turning to the mother of
Aladdin, he said: "O woman, go to thy son and tell him that I have
accepted of him the dower and stand to my bargain, and that my
daughter be his bride and he my son-in-law. Furthermore, bid him at
once make act of presence that I may become familiar with him. He
shall see naught from me save all honor and consideration, and this
night shall be the beginning of the marriage festivities. Only, as I
said to thee, let him come to me and tarry not." Thereupon Aladdin's
mother returned home with the speed of the storm winds that she
might hasten her utmost to congratulate her son, and she flew with joy
at the thought that her boy was about to become son-in-law to the
Sultan.
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