 | Aladdin ; or, The Wonderful Lamp |  |
A Room.
Aladdin. (To him enters Morgiana).
Aladdin
(runs to meet her).
Well, dearest mother?
Morgiana.
Well, my dearest son?
(Aside.)
I've not the heart to let him know the truth.
Aladdin.
Well, mother!—Well now, tell me,—you have been—
Morgiana.
At the butcher's? Yes, boy, that indeed I have,
And got a famous joint of venison.
Aladdin.
That's not the question. You've—
Morgiana.
Been at the tailor's?
Oh yes; I just look'd in upon him! Dear,
What a good, kindly, honest soul it is!
Your father and himself were ever friends,—
Ay, though they both were tailors to their craft.
Your father, none could match him at a cloak:
The genius of the other lay in hose.
And so they rubbed along, the best of friends,
Each in his line a master of his needle.
They never fell to loggerheads, these two;
He always trumpeted your father's cloaks,
Who always trumpeted his hose in turn.
So all went bravely many and many a year.
That was the golden age of tailorhood!
Aladdin.
But, mother, tell me—
Morgiana.
What the tailor said?
Good dame, you may be sure of this, said he,
That I will stitch as soundly for your son,
As for himself he could have stitched, if he
Had followed out his father's handicraft.
Aladdin.
Who, in the fiend's name, asked about the tailor?
Morgiana.
Who soars too high, my son, must have a fall.
Aladdin.
Now do I see, too plainly, what the bell
Has struck; but, by mine honour, he shall find,—
This Sultan,—that he plays a dangerous game.
Morgiana.
'Tis bad, my son, to eat cherries with great folks,
For they are apt in very wantonness
To throw the stones into your face.
Aladdin.
I'll stone him!
But quick, quick, mother,—tell me everything!
Morgiana.
What shall I tell you, boy? You know the truth.
You have already guessed it to a turn.
It's no use stirring in this business more.
Best, once for all, to let the stone lie still,
You find too hard to lift: this sort of thing
Is just like writing black upon the chimney.
Aladdin.
I almost burst. Ha, Sultan, wait awhile!
Thou beggar king! Just wait, thou haughty churl;
I'll teach thee what it is to play with me,
As though I were the meanest of thy slaves!
I'll teach thee to fulfil thy plighted word!
Not long shalt thou contemn me, like the sheep,
That from the rocks bleats mockery at the wolf,
Because I cannot reach thee. Reach thee I shall!
Yes, by the Prophet's beard I swear it here!
Morgiana.
Pray curb these hasty paroxysms, boy.
They make you most unhappy—that they do.
Aladdin.
Unhappy? And what makes my happiness,
Or my unhappiness? Canst tell me that?
To live a noble life, unsoiled by shame,
That constitutes my happiness; to be
Abased and scorned, my chiefest misery.
To vanquish obstacles, be what they may,
Hath Allah gifted me with strength and will,
With so much pride and constancy combined,
That though my love should bring disaster, death,
Yet shall I triumph even in my fall.
Morgiana.
Snap goes the bowstring that's too highly strung.
Aladdin.
Yes, if 'twas never fit to bear a strain.
Great Heaven! Shall the free spirit ne'er aspire!
Must we for ever stoop, for ever crawl?
But, psha! Enough of this! Tell me what passed.
He ordered you away, no doubt, at once?
No doubt he chid you for audacity,
And did not choose to recognise you?
Morgiana.
No,
That he did not, but, on the contrary,
Stuck to the promise which he gave before.
But what can all his promises avail?
They leave us just precisely where we were.
Aladdin.
What did he say?
Morgiana.
He said, if you to-morrow
Should send him forty vases, all of gold,
And filled with painted crystal, like the last,
That you should have his daughter for your wife.
But, look you! every vase was to be brought
By a black slave, and he,—his very words,—
Must be attended by another, white.
But how is all this to be brought about?
Aladdin.
How, mother, how! And this is all he asked?
Morgiana.
All! And a mighty deal too much, say I.
Aladdin.
Why did you fire my blood without a cause,
And stir my anger 'gainst the Sultan thus?
Most moderate, in sooth, is his demand,
And by to-morrow it shall be fulfilled.
Morgiana.
To-morrow! By to-morrow! Well, and how?
Aladdin.
How? By the lamp!
Morgiana.
The lamp! Ods pitikins!
The lamp! That's true! I never thought of that.
Who can remember an old rusty lamp?
The lamp, boy! So you really think, the lamp—
Aladdin.
Yes, mother, certainly—beyond a doubt.
Morgiana.
You and the lamp be blessed! Nobody has
A lamp like this, of course, but you; I mean,
That everybody has a lamp, but this—
Aladdin.
Is a lamp, mother, of no common kind.
Morgiana.
Still, boy, I have my doubts. To do all this
May be beyond the Spirit.
Aladdin.
We shall see.
What is beyond his power, and what is not,
The Spirit for himself can best decide;
We'll ascertain at once. (Takes out the lamp.)
Morgiana.
Just wait a bit,
I want to purchase something in the town,
And, as it's growing dark, I must be off. (Runs out.)
Aladdin.
She cannot get the lamp into her head!
She always will forget it. Strange enough!
While for my life she plans and schemes all day,
Her thoughts should never turn upon the lamp!
To her I'm but her son, not the lamp's lord;
Now, if I be its lord, this test will show.
(Rubs the lamp.)
The Spirit
(appears).
Lord, what will'st thou? Straight give order! All thy wishes to fulfil,
Hath Almighty Allah gifted me with power and strength and will.
Aladdin.
Precious to me is thine aidance; strong and great art thou, and I
Therefore with a bold assurance on thy potent help rely.
Spirit.
What thou wishest, say, and waste not praises of my skill and might.
Aladdin.
Forty mighty golden vases, as the flashing sunbeams bright,
Through the filmy streams of ether must thou bring me, brimming o'er
With the diamond's lustrous water, with the ruby's rosy gore;
With the emerald's earthy verdure, with the sapphire's heavenly blue,
As they gleam and glow in beauty in the mountain's spring-tide dew,
Large and lustrous, each a marvel, with no flaw in all their sheen,
As they bloomed within the garden, hidden deep the rocks between.
There no black stone intermingles, to set off the radiance gay,
But black slaves must bear the vases, night shall bring the glorious day.
And, a more imposing contrast to the mingling hues to lend,
Forty white slaves you must find me, with that dusky train to blend.
Pair by pair these slaves shall mingle, white and black and black and white;
Lay on every vase a napkin, woven with tissues dipt in light,
Where on ground of softest velvet, copied in the silk, are seen,
Rose and tulip and carnation, budding from the meadow green.
All this by to-morrow bring me, then thy power is firm and good.
Spirit
(in the act of vanishing).
They shall stand, great lord and master, there where even now I stood.
Aladdin
(rubs the lamp).
Not so fast, thou best of servants; stay, my further 'hests to hear!
Spirit
(reappears).
Thou hast but to rub, oh master! and straightway I reappear.
Aladdin.
List, then, to what more I order! Dexterous art thou, and swift:
All these treasures, I have ordered, for the Sultan are a gift;
And already thou divinest, I must come in such array,
As beseems a prince, before him such a princely gift to lay.
First a bath must thou prepare me, where on every wall doth shine
Marble, agate stone, and jasper, quaintly carved and polished fine.
Let two streams of purest water, hot and cold, be flowing still,
So contrived that I may mingle either current at my will.
There, attending on my pleasure, must be maidens fair and bright,
With sweet balsams to anoint me, and to steep me in delight.
Then the finest kaftan bring me, diapered with jewels rare,
Next a sabre of Damascus, and a wild Arabian mare,
Wild, but which the costly bridle at my will can turn and wind;
Fetch my mother, too, all vestments whereunto she hath a mind.
Bring her trusty handmaids also, oh thou Spirit good and great!
Who, to execute her wishes, on her every step shall wait.
Do thou this, and do it swiftly, and thy praise I'll sound alway!
Spirit.
All which thou hast yet commanded is to me but baby's play.
[Vanishes.
Aladdin
(rubs the lamp).
Servant, I again must call thee; doubly long thou mak'st thy flight.
Spirit
(appears).
Thou wilt sooner tire of rubbing, than will I of toil so light.
Aladdin.
When now all is fairly ordered, and when all is now complete,
When the nuptial hour approaches, hour of rapture heavenly sweet!
Then shalt thou a palace rear me, all of pure white marble, there,
Full before the Sultan's harem, in the midst of the great square;
After thine own wisdom rear it; but let it be gorgeous all,
Store it with the costliest treasures, and within it build a hall,
Vast, four-square, and highly vaulted, peerless for its pomp and pride;
Four-and-twenty spacious windows make for me on every side:
Yet of these so matchless windows one imperfect thou shalt leave,
Wherefore thus I do command thee, thou, true servant, wilt conceive.
Solemnize my nuptials nobly, make all sumptuous, festive, bright,
Let the torches fume with amber, day arise from dusky night.
Choirs of nimbly-footing fairies bring to lead the dance along,
Whilst a throng of loveliest damsels thrill all hearts with lute and song.
Canst thou do this? Of my wishes this within my heart is chief.
Spirit.
Yes; as easily, oh master! as the zephyr stirs the leaf.
[Vanishes.
Aladdin. (To him enters Morgiana).
Aladdin
(runs to meet her).
Well, dearest mother?
Morgiana.
Well, my dearest son?
(Aside.)
I've not the heart to let him know the truth.
103
Well, mother!—Well now, tell me,—you have been—
Morgiana.
At the butcher's? Yes, boy, that indeed I have,
And got a famous joint of venison.
Aladdin.
That's not the question. You've—
Morgiana.
Been at the tailor's?
Oh yes; I just look'd in upon him! Dear,
What a good, kindly, honest soul it is!
Your father and himself were ever friends,—
Ay, though they both were tailors to their craft.
Your father, none could match him at a cloak:
The genius of the other lay in hose.
And so they rubbed along, the best of friends,
Each in his line a master of his needle.
They never fell to loggerheads, these two;
He always trumpeted your father's cloaks,
Who always trumpeted his hose in turn.
So all went bravely many and many a year.
That was the golden age of tailorhood!
Aladdin.
But, mother, tell me—
Morgiana.
What the tailor said?
Good dame, you may be sure of this, said he,
That I will stitch as soundly for your son,
As for himself he could have stitched, if he
Had followed out his father's handicraft.
Aladdin.
Who, in the fiend's name, asked about the tailor?
104
Who soars too high, my son, must have a fall.
Aladdin.
Now do I see, too plainly, what the bell
Has struck; but, by mine honour, he shall find,—
This Sultan,—that he plays a dangerous game.
Morgiana.
'Tis bad, my son, to eat cherries with great folks,
For they are apt in very wantonness
To throw the stones into your face.
Aladdin.
I'll stone him!
But quick, quick, mother,—tell me everything!
Morgiana.
What shall I tell you, boy? You know the truth.
You have already guessed it to a turn.
It's no use stirring in this business more.
Best, once for all, to let the stone lie still,
You find too hard to lift: this sort of thing
Is just like writing black upon the chimney.
Aladdin.
I almost burst. Ha, Sultan, wait awhile!
Thou beggar king! Just wait, thou haughty churl;
I'll teach thee what it is to play with me,
As though I were the meanest of thy slaves!
I'll teach thee to fulfil thy plighted word!
Not long shalt thou contemn me, like the sheep,
That from the rocks bleats mockery at the wolf,
Because I cannot reach thee. Reach thee I shall!
Yes, by the Prophet's beard I swear it here!
Morgiana.
Pray curb these hasty paroxysms, boy.
They make you most unhappy—that they do.
105
Unhappy? And what makes my happiness,
Or my unhappiness? Canst tell me that?
To live a noble life, unsoiled by shame,
That constitutes my happiness; to be
Abased and scorned, my chiefest misery.
To vanquish obstacles, be what they may,
Hath Allah gifted me with strength and will,
With so much pride and constancy combined,
That though my love should bring disaster, death,
Yet shall I triumph even in my fall.
Morgiana.
Snap goes the bowstring that's too highly strung.
Aladdin.
Yes, if 'twas never fit to bear a strain.
Great Heaven! Shall the free spirit ne'er aspire!
Must we for ever stoop, for ever crawl?
But, psha! Enough of this! Tell me what passed.
He ordered you away, no doubt, at once?
No doubt he chid you for audacity,
And did not choose to recognise you?
Morgiana.
No,
That he did not, but, on the contrary,
Stuck to the promise which he gave before.
But what can all his promises avail?
They leave us just precisely where we were.
Aladdin.
What did he say?
Morgiana.
He said, if you to-morrow
Should send him forty vases, all of gold,
And filled with painted crystal, like the last,
106
But, look you! every vase was to be brought
By a black slave, and he,—his very words,—
Must be attended by another, white.
But how is all this to be brought about?
Aladdin.
How, mother, how! And this is all he asked?
Morgiana.
All! And a mighty deal too much, say I.
Aladdin.
Why did you fire my blood without a cause,
And stir my anger 'gainst the Sultan thus?
Most moderate, in sooth, is his demand,
And by to-morrow it shall be fulfilled.
Morgiana.
To-morrow! By to-morrow! Well, and how?
Aladdin.
How? By the lamp!
Morgiana.
The lamp! Ods pitikins!
The lamp! That's true! I never thought of that.
Who can remember an old rusty lamp?
The lamp, boy! So you really think, the lamp—
Aladdin.
Yes, mother, certainly—beyond a doubt.
Morgiana.
You and the lamp be blessed! Nobody has
A lamp like this, of course, but you; I mean,
That everybody has a lamp, but this—
107
Is a lamp, mother, of no common kind.
Morgiana.
Still, boy, I have my doubts. To do all this
May be beyond the Spirit.
Aladdin.
We shall see.
What is beyond his power, and what is not,
The Spirit for himself can best decide;
We'll ascertain at once. (Takes out the lamp.)
Morgiana.
Just wait a bit,
I want to purchase something in the town,
And, as it's growing dark, I must be off. (Runs out.)
Aladdin.
She cannot get the lamp into her head!
She always will forget it. Strange enough!
While for my life she plans and schemes all day,
Her thoughts should never turn upon the lamp!
To her I'm but her son, not the lamp's lord;
Now, if I be its lord, this test will show.
(Rubs the lamp.)
The Spirit
(appears).
Lord, what will'st thou? Straight give order! All thy wishes to fulfil,
Hath Almighty Allah gifted me with power and strength and will.
Aladdin.
Precious to me is thine aidance; strong and great art thou, and I
Therefore with a bold assurance on thy potent help rely.
Spirit.
What thou wishest, say, and waste not praises of my skill and might.
108
Forty mighty golden vases, as the flashing sunbeams bright,
Through the filmy streams of ether must thou bring me, brimming o'er
With the diamond's lustrous water, with the ruby's rosy gore;
With the emerald's earthy verdure, with the sapphire's heavenly blue,
As they gleam and glow in beauty in the mountain's spring-tide dew,
Large and lustrous, each a marvel, with no flaw in all their sheen,
As they bloomed within the garden, hidden deep the rocks between.
There no black stone intermingles, to set off the radiance gay,
But black slaves must bear the vases, night shall bring the glorious day.
And, a more imposing contrast to the mingling hues to lend,
Forty white slaves you must find me, with that dusky train to blend.
Pair by pair these slaves shall mingle, white and black and black and white;
Lay on every vase a napkin, woven with tissues dipt in light,
Where on ground of softest velvet, copied in the silk, are seen,
Rose and tulip and carnation, budding from the meadow green.
All this by to-morrow bring me, then thy power is firm and good.
Spirit
(in the act of vanishing).
They shall stand, great lord and master, there where even now I stood.
Aladdin
(rubs the lamp).
Not so fast, thou best of servants; stay, my further 'hests to hear!
Spirit
(reappears).
Thou hast but to rub, oh master! and straightway I reappear.
Aladdin.
List, then, to what more I order! Dexterous art thou, and swift:
All these treasures, I have ordered, for the Sultan are a gift;
And already thou divinest, I must come in such array,
As beseems a prince, before him such a princely gift to lay.
First a bath must thou prepare me, where on every wall doth shine
Marble, agate stone, and jasper, quaintly carved and polished fine.
Let two streams of purest water, hot and cold, be flowing still,
So contrived that I may mingle either current at my will.
109
With sweet balsams to anoint me, and to steep me in delight.
Then the finest kaftan bring me, diapered with jewels rare,
Next a sabre of Damascus, and a wild Arabian mare,
Wild, but which the costly bridle at my will can turn and wind;
Fetch my mother, too, all vestments whereunto she hath a mind.
Bring her trusty handmaids also, oh thou Spirit good and great!
Who, to execute her wishes, on her every step shall wait.
Do thou this, and do it swiftly, and thy praise I'll sound alway!
Spirit.
All which thou hast yet commanded is to me but baby's play.
[Vanishes.
Aladdin
(rubs the lamp).
Servant, I again must call thee; doubly long thou mak'st thy flight.
Spirit
(appears).
Thou wilt sooner tire of rubbing, than will I of toil so light.
Aladdin.
When now all is fairly ordered, and when all is now complete,
When the nuptial hour approaches, hour of rapture heavenly sweet!
Then shalt thou a palace rear me, all of pure white marble, there,
Full before the Sultan's harem, in the midst of the great square;
After thine own wisdom rear it; but let it be gorgeous all,
Store it with the costliest treasures, and within it build a hall,
Vast, four-square, and highly vaulted, peerless for its pomp and pride;
Four-and-twenty spacious windows make for me on every side:
Yet of these so matchless windows one imperfect thou shalt leave,
Wherefore thus I do command thee, thou, true servant, wilt conceive.
Solemnize my nuptials nobly, make all sumptuous, festive, bright,
Let the torches fume with amber, day arise from dusky night.
Choirs of nimbly-footing fairies bring to lead the dance along,
Whilst a throng of loveliest damsels thrill all hearts with lute and song.
Canst thou do this? Of my wishes this within my heart is chief.
Spirit.
Yes; as easily, oh master! as the zephyr stirs the leaf.
[Vanishes.
| Aladdin ; or, The Wonderful Lamp | |