Aladdin: Part 1

ALADDIN When Aladdin was fifteen years old his father died. Now there was just Aladdin and his mother.

‘What are we going to do, Aladdin?' his mother asked. 'We have no money.’

‘You can make dresses, mother,’ said Aladdin.

‘And will you help me in the house?’

‘Oh yes, Mother,’ said Aladdin. ‘I will work very hard.’

But Aladdin did not help his mother. He played all day in the street with the other boys. He only came home to eat and drink.

One day Aladdin was playing in the street with his friends. He did not see a man standing on the other side of the road. The man, a magician from a far-away country was watching Aladdin.

The magician After a few hours Aladdin went home for dinner. The magician watched him go. Then he walked over to the other boys ‘Who was that boy?’ he asked.

‘Aladdin, the son of Mustapha,’ said the boys.

The next day the magician met Aladdin in the street. ‘Are you Aladdin, son of Mustapha?’ he asked.

‘Yes, sir,’ said Aladdin. ‘But my father is dead.’

The magician put his arm around Aladdin. He started to cry. ‘Why are you crying, sir?’ Aladdin asked. ‘And how do you know my father’s name?’

Lost Uncle ‘Aladdin, your father was my brother,’ said the magician. ‘I am your uncle. For years I have looked for my brother. Someone told me he lived in this city. I came here quickly, but I am too late.’

Aladdin was surprised. He looked at the magician. ‘You are my uncle?’

‘Yes,’ said the magician. ‘I see my brother in your face!’

‘But I don’t look like my father,’ said Aladdin.

‘My father had a big nose.'

‘You are your father’s son!’ said the magician quickly.

The magician gave Aladdin a bag of coins. ‘Give this money to your mother,’ he said. ‘I will come to see her tomorrow. I want to see my dear brother’s house. I want to see his family.’

Brother?

Aladdin ran all the way home. ‘Mother,’ he cried. ‘I have an uncle.’

His mother looked at him in surprise. ‘No, you don’t,’ she said. ‘Your father had a brother, but he is dead. I have no brothers or sisters.’

Aladdin told his mother about the magician. ‘He gave me this money,’ he said. ‘And he will come and see us tomorrow.’

Aladdin’s mother shook her head. ‘This seems very strange,’ she said. ‘I have never heard of this brother. But we do need this money.’ * The magician came at eight. He had a servant with him. The servant brought in cakes and fruit and flowers.

‘This is wonderful!’ said the magician. ‘I’ve wanted to meet the wife of my brother for so long. Show me where my brother used to work.’

Aladdin’s mother showed him Mustapha’s chair. ‘Oh, my poor brother!’ the magician cried. ‘Why did you leave us?’

This made Aladdin’s mother sad. ‘Please don’t cry,’ she said. ‘He has gone to a happy place.’

‘You are right,’ said the magician. ‘But you are family now. I must help you.’

‘You can be a merchant’ The magician turned to Aladdin. ‘What work do you do, young man?’

‘Work!’ cried Aladdin’s mother. ‘That boy doesn’t work! He plays with his friends all day.’

The magician looked at Aladdin. Aladdin looked down at the floor.

‘This is not good,’ said the magician. ‘You are not a boy now, Aladdin.

You are a young man.’

‘I want to work,’ said Aladdin, but it was not true. He hated work.

‘Good,’ said the magician. ‘Would you like to be a merchant?’

Lazy Aladdin ‘What is a merchant?’ asked Aladdin.

‘A merchant buys and sells things,’ said the magician. ‘You can open a shop. I will give you things to sell. Would you like that?’

‘Oh yes!’ said Aladdin. ‘I want to help my mother.’

But Aladdin did not want to help his mother.

‘In a shop I can talk all day to my friends,’ he thought. ‘And I can have anything I want!’

The next morning the magician took Aladdin into the city. He bought the boy clothes.

‘Tomorrow we will find you a shop,’ he said. ‘But today I‘ll show you some beautiful gardens outside the city.’