Aladdin & the Magic Lamp by Kieran McGovern

!"!##$%& & How Aladdin found the magic lamp.

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.’

Part 2 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.’

Something Strange They walked out of the city. Soon Aladdin began to feel tired. He wanted to go home. ‘Where are gardens?’ he asked. ‘Very near,’ said the magician. Walking between two mountains, they came to a small field. ‘This is the place,’ said the magician. ‘Now you will see some wonderful things.’ ‘Can we sit down?’ asked Aladdin. ‘I’m very tired.’ ‘First you must find some wood,’ said the magician. ‘I want to make a fire.’

Aladdin went and found some wood. But he was not happy. There was something strange about his new uncle.

Magician The magician made a fire. Then he said some strange magic words over it. ‘What are you doing?’ asked Aladdin. ‘You’re a magician, aren’t you Uncle?’ The magician did not answer. Suddenly the sky turned dark. The ground began to move. 'What's happening?' The ground in front of Aladdin opened. He looked down and saw a big square stone. On the stone was a large ring. ‘What’s going on?’ cried Aladdin. He turned to run away but the magician grabbed his shoulder. ‘Stay here!’ said the magician. There was no smile on his face now. He was very angry. ‘What’s happening, Uncle?’ Aladdin cried.

Treasure ‘Listen to me, boy,’ said the magician. ‘Under that stone is treasure.’ ‘Treasure?’ ‘That’s right,’ said the magician. The smile returned to his face. ‘The treasure is all for you. I can make you rich. You’ll never have to work.’ Aladdin stood up. ‘Tell me what to do, Uncle,’ he said. ‘I want you to get me an old lamp,’ said the magician. ‘You’ll find it at the end of the garden. Get the lamp first. Then you can take all the treasure you want.’ The magician gave Aladdin a silver ring. ‘This will help you,’ he said, putting the ring on the second finger of Aladdin’s right hand. ‘Now these are the words you must say.’ Aladdin memorised the magic words. Then he put his hand on the ring on the stone. ‘Say the magic words,’ said the magician. ‘Then pull the ring on the stone.’

Aladdin pulled hard. ‘Open for Aladdin, son of Mustapha,’ he cried.Suddenly the stone moved.

PART 3

A Strange Place Under the stone there were some steps. Aladdin walked down the steps and entered a large cave. There were bags of gold against the walls. ‘What strange place is this?’ he whispered to himself. Aladdin did not touch the gold. He walked through the cave and came to an enormous garden. The garden was full of trees. On the trees there was strange, beautiful fruit. Aladdin walked through the garden. At the end of the garden he saw a small table. On the table was an old lamp. Taking the lamp, Aladdin walked back through the garden and the cave.

The magician was waiting at the top of the steps. He shouted down at Aladdin. ‘Where’s the lamp?’ Aladdin looked up. ‘I have it here,’ he said. A strange look came into the magician’s eyes. ‘Give me the lamp,’ he shouted. ‘Give it to me now

A magic lamp Aladdin began to climb the steps but then stopped. Suddenly he felt very frightened. ‘Give me the lamp!’ the magician shouted again. Aladdin climbed two more steps. The magician put his hand out. Aladdin held out up the lamp but at the last moment pulled it back. Suddenly he magician pulled out a big knife. ‘Give me the lamp!’ Aladdin moved back down he steps. ‘Why do you want the lamp, Uncle?’ ‘I am not your uncle,’ said the magician. ‘I sent you into the cave to get the lamp.’ ‘Because it’s a magic lamp. Only a boy of fifteen can take the lamp from the cave. That’s why I asked you to get it.’

The magician stopped shouting. He smiled ‘Aladdin, you are a clever boy! I can make you rich. Give me the lamp.’ Looking up, Aladdin saw the magician standing in front of the entrance. He was hiding the knife behind his back. Shaking his head, Aladdin said, ‘No, I won’t give you it!’ The magician was very angry. ‘Then nobody shall have the lamp!’ he cried. ‘And you will die here in this cave.’ ‘No!’ cried Aladdin. ‘Don’t leave me here!’ But the magician closed the entrance and walked away. Aladdin sat down and cried. ‘I’m going to die!’

A Ring For two days and nights Aladdin sat in the dark without food or drink. He felt cold and frightened. ‘I’m going to die!’ he cried, putting his face in hands. He felt something hard on his finger. It was the magician’s ring.

The ring made Aladdin angry. He tried to take it off. He pulled and pulled. It would not come off. As he pulled the ring he accidentally rubbed it. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke. For a moment Aladdin closed his eyes. When he opened them again he had a big surprise. A genie was standing in front of Aladdin. ‘I am the genie of the ring,’ said the genie. ‘What do you want from me?’ ‘Take me out of this cave!’ cried Aladdin. A moment later Aladdin was outside the cave. He looked around for the genie. ‘Genie, where are you?’ he cried. ‘How did you do that?’ But no one answered. Please throw the lamp away. Aladdin ran back to his mother’s house. ‘Where have you been?’ she cried. ‘And where is your uncle?’ ‘He’s not my uncle,’ said Aladdin. ‘He only wanted this lamp.’ He showed the lamp to his mother. ‘It does not look very nice,’ she said. ‘But perhaps we can use the money to buy food.’

‘Why did the magician want it?’ Aladdin’s mother picked up the ladder. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘But it’s very dirty. I’ll clean it.’ She began cleaning the lamp with a cloth. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke. They both closed their eyes. When they opened them again there was a genie standing in front of them. ‘I am the master of land, sea and air,’ cried the genie. ‘What do you want from me?’ Aladdin’s mother was too frightened to speak. ‘We are hungry,’ he said. ‘We want to eat.’

Puff of smoke The genie disappeared in a puff of smoke. When Aladdin and his mother looked around they saw gold plates on the table. They were full of food. Aladdin and his mother sat down to eat. ‘This is wonderful food,’ Aladdin’s mother said, ‘but I think this genie is a bad thing. Please throw the lamp away.’

‘I won’t throw the lamp away,’ said Aladdin. ‘But I won’t use it. I will hide it in a safe place.’ Re told by Kieran McGovern You can find learning activities to accompany this text here: