from thee all hurt and harm, and aid thee with a strong arm whereso
thou mayest be set." Now this was by Destiny of God the Great, that it

might be the means of Aladdin's escape. For whilst he sat wailing
and weeping over his case and cast away all hope of life, and utter

misery overwhelmed him, he rubbed his hands together for excess of
sorrow, as is the wont of the woeful. Then, raising them in

supplication to Allah, he cried, "I testify that there is no God
save Thou alone, the Most Great, the Omnipotent, the All-conquering,

Quickener of the dead, Creator of man's need and Granter thereof,
Resolver of his difficulties and duress and Bringer of joy, not of

annoy. Thou art my sufficiency and Thou art the Truest of Trustees.
And I bear my witness that Mohammed is Thy servant and Thine

Apostle, and I supplicate Thee, O my God, by his favor with Thee to
free me from this my foul plight."

And whilst implored the Lord and was chafing his hands in the
soreness of his sorrow for that had befallen him of calamity, his

fingers chanced to rub the ring, when, lo and behold! forthright its
familiar rose upright before him and cried: "Adsum! Thy slave

between thy hands is come! Ask whatso thou wantest, for that I am
the thrall of him on whose hand is the ring, the signet of my lord and

master." Hereat the lad looked at him and saw standing before him a
Marid like unto an Ifrit of our lord Solomon's Jinns. He trembled at

the terrible sight, but, hearing the Slave of the Ring say, "Ask
whatso thou wantest. Verily, I am thy thrallseeing that the signet of

my lord be upon thy finger," he recovered his spirits and remembered
the Moorman's saying when giving him the ring. So he rejoiced

exceedingly and became brave and cried, "Ho, thou slave of the Lord of
the Ring, I desire thee to set me upon the face of the earth." And

hardly had he spoken this speech when suddenly the ground clave
asunder and he found himself at the door of the hoard and outside it

in full view of the world. Now for three whole days he had been
sitting in the darkness of the treasury underground, and when the

sheen of day and the shine of sun smote his face he found himself
unable to keep his eyes open; so he began to unclose the lids a little

and to close them a little until his eyeballs regained force and got
used to the light and were purged of the noisome murk. Withal he was

astounded at finding himself without the hoard door whereby he had
passed in when it was opened by the Maghrabi, the magician, especially

as the adit had been lidded and the ground had been smoothed,
showing no sign whatever of entrance.

Thereat his surprise increased until he fancied himself in another
place, nor was his mind convinced that the stead was the same until he

saw the spot whereupon they had kindled the fire of wood chips and
dried sticks, and where the African wizard had conjured over the

incense. Then he turned him rightward and leftward and sighted the
gardens from afar and his eyes recognized the road whereby he had

come. So he returned thanks to Allah Almighty, Who had restored him to
the face of earth and had freed him from death after he had cut off

all hopes of life. Presently he arose and walked along the way to
the town, which now he knew well, until he entered the streets and

passed on to his own home. Then he went in to his mother, and on
seeing her, of the overwhelmingstress of joy at his escape and the

memory of past affright and the hardships he had borne and the pangs
of hunger, he fell to the ground before his parent in a fainting

fit. Now his mother had been passing sad since the time of his leaving
her, and he found her moaning and crying about him. However, on

sighting him enter the house she joyed with exceeding joy, but soon
was overwhelmed with woe when he sank upon the ground swooning

before her eyes. Still, she did not neglect the matter or treat it
lightly, but at once hastened to sprinkle water upon his face, and

after she asked of the neighbors some scents which she made him
snuff up. And when he came round a little, he prayed her to bring

him somewhat of food saying, "O my mother, 'tis now three days since I
ate anything at all." Thereupon she arose and brought him what she had

by her, then, setting it before him, said: "Come forward, O my son.
Eat and be cheered, and when thou shalt have rested, tell me what hath

betided and affected thee, O my child. At this present I will not
question thee, for thou art aweary in very deed." Aladdin ate and

drank and was cheered, and after he had rested and had recovered
spirits he cried:

"Ah, O my mother, I have a sore grievance against thee for leaving
me to that accursed wight who strave to compass my destruction and

designed to take my life. Know thou that I beheld death with mine
own eyes at the hand of this damnedwretch, whom thou didst to be my

uncle, and had not Almighty Allah rescued me from him, I and thou, O
my mother, had been cozened by the excess of this accursed's

promises to work my welfare, and by the great show of affection
which he manifested to us. Learn, O my mother, that this fellow is a

sorcerer, a Moorman, an accursed, a liar, a traitor, a hypocrite,
nor deem I that the devils under the earth are damnable as he. Allah

abase him in his every book! Hear then, O my mother, what this
abominable one did, and all that I shall tell thee will be soothfast

and certain. See how the damnedvillain brake every promise he made,
certifying that he would soon work all good with me. And do thou

consider the fondness which he displayed to me and the deeds which
he did by me, and all this only to win his wish, for his design was to

destroy me. And Alhamdolillah- laud to the Lord- for my deliverance.
Listen and learn, O my mother, how this accursed entreated me."

Then Aladdin informed his mother of all that had befallen him,
weeping the for stress of gladness- how the Maghrabi had led him to a

hill wherein was hidden the hoard and how he had conjured and
fumigated, adding: "After which, O my mother, mighty fear gat hold of

me when the hill split and the earth gaped before me by his
wizardry. And I trembled with terror at the rolling of thunder in mine

ears and the murk which fell upon us when he fumigated and muttered
spells. Seeing these horrors, I in mine affright desiped to fly, but

when he understood mine intent, he reviled me and smote me a buffet so
sore that it caused me swoon. However, inasmuch as the treasury was to

be opened only by means of me, O my mother, he could not descend
therein himself, it being in my name and not in his. And for that he

is an ill-omened magician, he understood that I was necessary to him
and this was his need of me." Aladdin acquainted his mother with all

that had befallen him from the Maghrabi, the magician, and said:
"After he had buffeted me, he judged it advisable to soothe me in

order that he might send me down into the enchanted treasury, and
first he drew from his finger a ring, which he placed upon mine. So

I descended and found four halls all full of gold and silver, which
counted as naught, and the accursed had charged me not to touch

aught thereof. Then I entered a mighty fine flower garden everywhere
bedecked with tall trees whose foilage and fruitage bewildered the

wits, for all, O my mother, were of varicolored glass, and lastly I
reached the hall wherein hung this lamp. So I took it straightway

and put it out and poured forth its contents." And so saying,
Aladdin drew the lamp from his breast pocket and showed it to his

mother, together with the gems and jewels which he had brought from
the garden. And there were two large bag pockets full of precious

stones, whereof not one was to be found amongst the kings of the
world. But the lad knew naught anent their worth, deeming them glass

or crystal. And presently he resumed:
"After this, O mother mine, I reached the hoard door carrying the

lamp and shouted to the accursed sorcerer which called himself my
uncle to lend me a hand and hale me up, I being unable to mount of

myself the last step for the overweight of my burthen. But he would
not and said only, 'First hand me the lamp!' As, however, I had placed

it at the bottom of my breast pocket and the other pouches bulged
out beyond it, I was unable to get at it and said, 'O my uncle, I

cannot reach thee the lamp, but I will give it to thee when outside
the treasury.' His only need was the lamp, and he designed, O my

mother, to snatch it from me and after that slay me, as indeed he
did his best to do by heaping the earth over my head. Such then is

what befell me from this foul sorcerer." Hereupon Aladdin fell to
abusing the magician in hot wrath and with a burning heart, and

crying: "Wellaway! I take refuge from this damned wight, the