Chapter 3

They would have lived like this forever if Aladdin had not been on the street when he heard the town crier shouting, “Back to your houses, all!Shutter your windows! Princess Buddir will go to the bath!” No one was allowed to see the Sultan's daughter without her veil. Aladdin hid himself behind the wall of the bathhouse, eager to see the princess's face. When she came by with her servants, Aladdin was so struck by her beauty, he vowed he would marry her.

“Have you lost your senses?” cried his mother when he told her his plans.

“Only my heart,” Aladdin replied. “Take this silver tray from our meal and load it with fruit from the cavern. Wrap it carefully in rags and take it to the Sultan to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage.”

Though she grumbled that a tailor's wife would never be allowed to see the Sultan, Aladdin's mother piled the tray with gleaming jewels and wrapped it in rags. The Sultan's guards would have thrown her out, but the Sultan was curious as to what was hidden inside the bundle. He ordered Aladdin's mother into his hall.

Aladdin's mother bowed low, holding up the rag bundle, which was scarcely distinguishable from her clothing.“Sultan, my son begs for your daughter's hand in marriage.”

The Sultan burst out laughing. “Even if I allowed it, my daughter would be insulted to live with someone as poor as your son. But before I toss you out, unwrap your bundle and show me what you have brought.”

Aladdin's mother unwrapped the package, and the enormous jewels glittered in the sunlit hall. The Sultan's jaw fell open as he admired a gold pear, for he had never seen such treasures.

“I am very impressed. Perhaps your son is worthy after all. But before I allow my daughter to marry him, he must truly prove his worth. Tell him he has seven days to deliver forty trays of these same gems. Each tray must be solid gold. Each gold tray must be carried by two slaves, and each slave must be dressed in the richest clothing.”

Aladdin's mother went back to her son and told him what the Sultan had said. Aladdin laughed, for the power of the lamp could get him anything. Instantly, the genie produced a train of eighty slaves carrying trays of gold and jewels. A crowd gathered to watch them march to the Sultan's palace behind Aladdin's ragged mother.

“Again, you have impressed me,” the Sultan said. “But I must know that he will keep my daughter happy. Tell your son to have a splendid palace ready for her by the end of the week.”

In a flash, Aladdin ordered the genie to build a magnificent palace in the garden across from the Sultan's window. The genie even ran a soft red carpet from the door of Aladdin's palace to the door of the Sultan's. Aladdin himself, dressed in the finest silk, rode to the Sultan's door on a horse more beautiful than any in the Sultan's stables.

“It would be unfair to my daughter if I did not allow her to marry such a worthy man,” said the Sultan.

And so it was that Aladdin and the princess were married. All the kingdom came to the wedding procession. Musicians led the Princess Buddir down the carpet toward Aladdin's palace, and four hundred torches lit the street as bright as day. Inside Aladdin's palace, they ate a sumptuous feast on solid silver plates. It was the most joyful occasion the kingdom could remember, and Aladdin and Buddir had happiness for many years.