basins of gold they carried on their heads. They entered the palace, and, after kneeling before the Sultan, stood in a half-circle round the throne with their arms crossed, while Aladdin’s mother presented them to the Sultan. He hesitated no longer, but said: ‘Good woman, return and tell your son that I wait for him with open arms.’ She lost no time in telling Aladdin, bidding him make haste. But Aladdin first called the genie. ‘I want a scented bath,’ he said, ‘a richly embroidered habit, a horse surpassing the Sultan’s, and twenty slaves to attend me. Besides this, six slaves, beautifully dressed, to wait on my mother; and lastly, ten thousand pieces of gold in ten purses.’
No sooner said than done. Aladdin mounted his horse and passed through the streets, the slaves strewing gold as they went. Those who had played with him in his childhood knew him not, he had grown so handsome. When the Sultan saw him he came down from his throne, embraced him, and led him into a hall where a feast was spread, intending to marry him to the Princess that very day. But Aladdin refused, saying, ‘I must build a palace fit for her,’ and took his leave. Once home, he said to the genie: ‘Build me a palace of the finest marble, set with jasper, agate, and other precious stones. In the middle you shall build me
