Arabian Nights: 289th Night: Ala-ed-Din & The Wonder Lamp -5

The following night Shahrazad said:

Ala-ed-Din told his mother to keep the story of the Lamp and Signet Ring a secret, and the mother agreed. 

Ala-ed-Din continued to eat the food the Jinni had brought and they were done by two days. He took one of the plates which the Jinni had brought and went to the market. In the market he met a Jew to whom he offered the plate. The Jew inspected the plate and saw that it was gold. He took Ala-ed-Din aside to a corner with the intention to bargain. Jew did not know whether Ala-ed-Din was acquainted with its worth or was inexperienced, and he said, "O my master, how much is it?" 

Ala-ed-Din replied, "You know it." The Jew considered how much he should bid. The boy had given me a business like reply. Perhaps he may not know the real worth of it. He took from his pocket a dinar of gold and gave it to him. Ala-ed-Din looked at the gold coin and quickly went away. The Jew found that the boy was ignorant of the worth of the plate, and repented that he had given him a dinar instead of a carat of a sixtieth. Ala-ed-Din went to a baker's shop bought bread and changed the dinar and went home. He gave the bread and the change to his mother and  said, "Go and buy whatever you need." She went to the market and bought the provisions. 

Thus the mother and son lived happily. Every time there was shortage of money Ala-ed-Din took a plate, went to the Jew, took a Dinar, returned home, gave the money to his poor mother, who went to market and bought all the provisions. Their life revolved the golden plates the Jinni had brought. Nobody cared them and they never took care of others. 

One by one, the plates went to the Jew in the market. There remained the tray on which the plates were set when the Jinni brought them. The tray was large and heavy, and Ala-ed-Din brought the Jew to the house. This time the Jew gave him ten dinars and took away the tray. Ala-ed-Din and his mother subsisted on ten dinars until they were exhausted. 

Ala-ed-Din fetched the Lamp and rubbed it. The Jinni appeared before him and said, "Command, O my master, what shall I do for you? I am the slave of him who possesses the Lamp."

"You bring me the tray with plates of food, the kind of which you brought last time."

In the blink of an eye the slave brought a tray containing twelve gold plates containing food and bottles filled with wine and clear white bread. Ala-ed-Din's mother skipped the scene to avoid the sight of the slave. When she returned, the rich aroma of the food lingered everywhere in the house.  The mother and son sat down to eat. 

After the food, Ala-ed-Din took a plate and went to the market in search of the Jew.  Ala-ed-Din was not an inquisitive boy, nor was he ambitious. Eating, drinking, and playing with his  vagabond friends he had been spending his aimless life.  His mother was a poor woman, who knew nothing beyond cookery and spinning.

But Ala-ed-Din was an intelligent boy who took care not to let the cat out of his bag. And his mother blindly stuck on to him.

And luck had first visited him as the Moor. And the second time the luck was waiting to visit him as a jeweller.

Jeweller used to observe Ala-ed-Din hurrying to the Jew and back. And this day Jeweller asked him, "O my son, what do you want?  I have seen you often passing by, and you were dealing with the Jewish man, and I have seen you making over to him various things. It seems you have something with you, and you seek him."

Ala-ed-Din hesitated a moment. This jeweller has been watching me and he saw me dealing with the Jew. What shall I do?

"Come on, let me look at it and I will give you a fair price." 

Ala-ed-Din approached the Jeweller, and showed him the plate. The Jeweller took the plate, inspected it, and weighed it in his balance, and asked Ala-ed-Din, "Did you sell the like of this to the Jew?" 

"Yes, its like and its fellows."

" How much did he give you?" asked the Jeweller.

"He gave me a dinar for each of them."

"Woe to this accursed, who cheats the innocent."  He looked at Ala-ed-Din, and said, "O my son, this rascal had cheated you, and mocked at you. Your plate is virgin silver, and I have weighed it and found its value to be seventy dinars. If you agree take it." The Jeweller counted seventy dinars and paid it to Ala-ed-Din.  He took the money and thanked the Jeweller and went home. From that time onwards Ala-ed-Din became the customer of the Jeweller. The mother and son continued to live as of old, as middle class people, without excess or waste.

The Morning overtook and Shahrazad lapsed into silence.