Prev | Current Page 809 | Next

Burton, Richard Francis

"The Arabian Nights"


Then the Sultan commanded that the whole kingdom be decorated for
the triumph of his son-in-law and his victory over the invader, and
the subjects and soldiery and all the people knew only Allah in Heaven
and Aladdin on earth, for that their love, won by his liberality,
was increased by his noble horsemanship and his successful battling
for the country and putting to flight the foe.
Such then was the high fortune of Aladdin, but as regards the
Maghrabi, the magician, after returning to his native country he
passed all this space of time in bewailing what he had borne of toil
and travail to will the lamp, and mostly that his trouble had gone
vain and that the morsel when almost touching his lips had flown
from his grasp. He pondered all this and mourned and reviled Aladdin
for the excess of his rage against him, and at times he would exclaim:
"For this bastard's death underground I am well satisfied, and hope
only that some time or other I may obtain the lamp, seeing how 'tis
yet safe." Now one day of the days he struck a table of sand and
dotted down the figures and carefully considered their consequence,
then he transferred them to paper that he might study them and make
sure of Aladdin's destruction and the safety of the lamp preserved
beneath the earth.


Pages:
797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821