“Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp.” Fairy Tales in Easy Words, Springfield, MA: McLoughlin Brothers, Inc., 1923, pp. 67-98.

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 17:21:07 +0000

“Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp.” Fairy Tales in Easy Words, Springfield, MA: McLoughlin Brothers, Inc., 1923, pp. 67-98. Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/21/2022 - 10:21

Tale Summary

Aladdin is a young man from a very poor family whose laziness causes his parents great stress. After his father, Mustapha, dies, his mother seeks to provide for her family through her own hard work. One day, a wizard who claims to be Aladdin’s uncle visits Aladdin and gives him a valuable ring, which the wizard says will protect Aladdin from harm. The wizard then leads Aladdin to a cave and asks Aladdin to retrieve a lamp from it. Aladdin retrieves the lamp; however, after an argument, the wizard becomes enraged and utters a spell that causes the entrance to the cave to close, trapping Aladdin inside. After multiple days in the cave, Aladdin rubs his ring and a genie appears, asking Aladdin what he desires. Aladdin requests to be freed from the cave and after his wish is granted, he goes home. By chance, Aladdin rubs the lamp, and a genie appears and asks what he desires. Aladdin asks for food, and a banquet appears before him. Soon after, Aladdin comes across the daughter of the Sultan, a princess, and falls in love. His mother gives the Sultan a gift of gems, but the Sultan requests that Aladdin give a much larger gift to marry his daughter. Using the genie’s powers, Aladdin gives the Sultan the gift he requests and wishes for many luxurious things such as servants, gems and gold, a horse, and fine clothes. The Sultan, impressed by Aladdin’s incredible wealth, promises his daughter to Aladdin. Once Aladdin and the Sultan meet, Aladdin requests that the Sultan grant him a plot of land and time to build a castle upon it before marriage, to which the Sultan agrees. Aladdin uses the genie’s powers yet again to build a castle more exquisite than even the Sultan’s. Aladdin and the princess enjoy a great feast at his new palace, and Aladdin makes himself well-known to all the nobles and clergymen of the town. However, the wizard finds out about Aladdin’s success and vows to take the lamp from him. The wizard uses trickery to take Aladdin’s lamp from his palace and when he summons to genie, wishes that he, the palace, and the princess be transported to a faraway land. The Sultan, upon seeing the empty land where Aladdin’s palace used to be, becomes angry and requests that Aladdin be brought to him in chains in order to cut off his head. When Aladdin is brought before him, all the townspeople take up arms to defend Aladdin’s life. Upon seeing the love, the people have for Aladdin, the Sultan agrees to give Aladdin 12 days to find the palace. Using his ring, Aladdin finds his palace, poisons the wizard, and takes the princess to be his bride.

Fairy Tale Title

Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp

Fairy Tale Author(s)/Editor(s)

None listed

Fairy Tale Illustrator(s)

None listed

Common Tale Type

Aladdin

Tale Classification

ATU 561

Page Range of Tale

pp. 67-98

Full Citation of Tale

“Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp.” Fairy Tales in Easy Words, Springfield, MA: McLoughlin Brothers, Inc., [1923], pp. 67-98.

Original Source of the Tale

The French translator of the 1001 Nights, Antoine Galland (1646-1715), added this story to the Arabic collection of tales, claiming he heard it recounted by Hanna Diyab in Paris.

Tale Notes

Interestingly, there are two different genies that are summoned in this tale. As we would expect from modern retellings, one of these genies appears when the lamp is rubbed. However, there is also a second genie that only appears when Aladdin rubs the ring that was given to him by the wizard at the beginning of the story.

Research and Curation

Anonymous student, 2022

Book Title

Fairy Tales in Easy Words

Book Author/Editor(s)

None listed

Illustrator(s)

None listed

Publisher

McLoughlin Brothers, Inc.

Date Published

[1923]

Decade Published

1920-1929

Publisher City

Springfield, Massachusetts

Publisher Country

United States

Language

English

Rights

Public Domain

Digital Copy

Available on the CU Digital Library

Book Notes

None

Traditional

White