Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

Aladdin is an impoverished young ne’er-do-well dwelling in “one of the cities of China”. He is recruited by a sorcerer from the Maghreb, who passes himself off as the brother of Aladdin’s late father, Mustapha, the tailor, convincing Aladdin and his mother of his goodwill by pretending to set up the lad as a wealthy merchant. The sorcerer aims to persuade young Aladdin to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp (Chirag) from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him, Aladdin finds himself trapped in the cave. Aladdin is still wearing a magic ring the sorcerer has lent him. When he rubs his hands in despair, he inadvertently rubs the ring, and a genie appears and releases him from the cave, allowing him to return to his mother while possessing the lamp. When his mother tries to clean the lamp so they can sell it to buy food for their supper, a second, far more powerful genie appears who is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp.

With the aid of the lamp’s genie, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries Princess Badroulbadour, the sultan’s daughter (after magically foiling her marriage to the vizier’s son). The genie builds Aladdin and his bride a wonderful palace, far more magnificent than the sultan’s. The sorcerer hears of Aladdin’s good fortune and returns; he gets his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdin’s wife (unaware of the lamp’s importance) by offering to exchange “new lamps for old”. He orders the genie of the lamp to take the palace, along with all its contents, to his home in the Maghreb. Aladdin still has the magic ring and can summon the lesser genie. The Genie of the Ring cannot directly undo any of the magic of the Genie of the Lamp. Still, he can transport Aladdin to the Maghreb where, with the help of the “woman’s wiles” of the princess, he recovers the lamp and slays the sorcerer, returning the palace to its proper place. The sorcerer’s more powerful and evil brother plots to destroy Aladdin for killing his brother by disguising himself as an old woman known for her healing powers. Badroulbadour falls for his disguise and commands the “woman” to stay in her palace in case of any illnesses. Aladdin is warned of this danger by the lamp’s genie and slays the impostor. Aladdin eventually succeeds in gaining his father-in-law’s throne.