There once
          lived a poor tailor,
           who had a son
              called Aladdin,
         a careless,
           idle boy
             who would do nothing
               but play all day long
                   in the streets
              with little idle
                 boys like himself.

    This so grieved the father
         that he died;
        yet,
           in spite
               of his mother's tears
             and prayers,
         Aladdin did not
              mend his ways.

    One day,
           when he
            was playing in the streets
                   as usual,
         a stranger
              asked him his age,
           and if
             he was
                   not the son
                       of Mustapha the tailor.

    "I am,
           sir,"
          replied Aladdin;
            "but he died a long
                 while ago."

    On this the stranger,
           who was
               a famous African magician,
         fell on his neck and
              kissed him saying:
         "I am your uncle,
               and knew you
                   from your likeness
                       to my brother.

    Go to your mother
          and tell her
         I am coming."

    Aladdin ran home and
          told his mother
               of his newly
              found uncle.

    "Indeed,
           child,"
          she said,
               "your father had a brother,
             but I always thought
                 he was dead."

    However,
           she prepared supper,
         and bade Aladdin
              seek his uncle,
           who came
              laden with wine and fruit.

    He fell down and
          kissed the place
         where Mustapha used to sit,
           bidding Aladdin's mother not
              to be surprised at not
            having seen him before,
         as he
            had been forty years
                   out of the country.

    He then turned to Aladdin,
           and asked him his trade,
         at which the boy
              hung his head,
           while his mother
               burst into tears.

    On learning
         that Aladdin was idle
            and would learn no trade,
           he offered
              to take a shop
                   for him
                  and stock it with merchandise.

    Next day
         he bought Aladdin a fine
               suit of clothes
            and took him all
                   over the city,
           showing him the sights,
         and brought him home
               at nightfall to his mother,
           who was overjoyed
              to see
                   her son so fine.

    Next day the magician
          led Aladdin into some beautiful
              gardens a long way
                   outside the city gates.

    They sat down
           by a fountain
               and the magician
          pulled a cake
               from his girdle,
           which he divided between them.

    Then they journeyed onwards
         till they almost
              reached the mountains.

    Aladdin was so tired
         that he begged
              to go back,
           but the magician
              beguiled him with pleasant stories
                  and lead him on
             in spite of himself.

    At last
         they came to two mountains
              divided by a narrow valley.

    "We will go no farther,"
          said his uncle.

    "I will
          show you something wonderful;
        only do you
              gather up sticks
             while I kindle a fire."

    When it
        was lit the magician
            threw on it a powder
         he had about him,
           at the same time
               saying some magical words.

    The earth
        trembled a little
               in front of them,
           disclosing a square flat stone
               with a brass ring
             in the middle to
              raise it by.

    Aladdin tried to run away,
           but the magician caught him
            and gave him a blow
             that knocked him down.

    "What have I done,
           uncle?"

    he said piteously;
        whereupon the magician
              said more kindly:
         "Fear nothing,
               but obey me.

    Beneath this stone
           lies a treasure
          which is to be yours,
           and no one else
            may touch it,
         so you
            must do exactly as
             I tell you."