Many years ago, in a city in Arabia, there was a boy called Aladdin. He lived with his mother in a little house near the market, and they were very poor. Aladdin's mother worked all day, and sometimes half the night, but Aladdin never helped her.
He was a lazy boy and he did not like to work. He only wanted to play all the time. Every morning he ran through the streets to the market. There, he talked and laughed and played with his friends all day. Then in the evening he went home for his dinner.
And every night his mother said to him: 'Oh, Aladdin, Aladdin! You are a lazy boy — a good-for-nothing! When are you going to do some work, my son?'
But Aladdin never listened to his mother.
One day in the market there was an old man in a long black coat. Aladdin did not see him, but the old man watched Aladdin very carefully. After some minutes he went up to an orange-seller and asked:
'That boy in the green coat — who is he?'
'Aladdin, son of Mustafa,' was the answer.
The old man moved away. 'Yes,' he said quietly. 'Yes, that is the boy. The right name, and the right father.'
Then he called out to Aladdin: 'Boy! Come here for a minute. Is your name Aladdin? Aladdin, son of Mustafa?'
Aladdin left his friends and came to the old man. 'Yes,' he said, 'I am Aladdin, son of Mustafa. But my father is dead. He died five years ago.'
'Dead!'said the old man.'Oh, no!'He put his face in his hands and began to cry.
'Why are you crying?' asked Aladdin. 'Did you know my father?'
The old man looked up. 'Mustafa was my brother!' he said. 'I wanted to see him again, and now you tell me he is dead. Oh, this is not a happy day for me!' Then he put his hand on Aladdin's arm. 'But here is my brother's son, and I can see Mustafa in your face, my boy. Aladdin, I am your uncle, Abanazar.'
'My uncle?' said Aladdin. He was very surprised. 'Did my father have a brother? I didn't know that.'
'I went away before you were born, my boy,' said the old man. 'Look.' He took ten pieces of gold out of his bag, and put them into Aladdin's hands. 'Go home to your mother and give this money to her. Tell her about me, and say this:"Her husband's brother wants to meet her, and he is going to visit her tomorrow."'
Ten pieces of gold is a lot of money and Aladdin was very happy. He ran home quickly and gave the gold to his mother. At first she was afraid.
'Where did you get this, Aladdin? Did you find it? It isn't our money. You must give it back.'
'But it is our money, Mother,' said Aladdin. 'My uncle, my father's brother, gave the money to us. Uncle Abanazar is coming to visit us tomorrow.'
'Who? You don't have an uncle Abanazar.'
'But he knows my name, and my father's name,' Aladdin said. 'And he gave ten pieces of gold to me. He's very nice. You must make a good dinner for him.'
The next day Abanazar arrived at Aladdin's house.
'My sister!' he said and smiled. 'My dead brother's wife! I am happy to find you and Aladdin.'
'Sit down, Abanazar. We're happy to see you in our poor home,' Aladdin's mother said. She put meat, rice and fruit on the table. 'But I don't understand. Why did my husband never speak about you?'
'I'm sorry, my sister. When we were young, my brother and I were not friends for many years. Then I went away to a far country. I am an old man now and wanted to see my brother again and take his hand. But he is dead, and I cannot speak to him or say goodbye to him now!'
Abanazar had tears in his eyes and Aladdin's mother began to cry too.
'But I am home again now,' the old man said, 'and I can help my brother's wife and his son, because I am a rich man.' He looked at Aladdin. 'Aladdin, my boy, what work do you do?'
Aladdin did not answer and his face was red.
'Oh, don't ask Aladdin questions about work!' his mother said. 'He never works. He plays with his friends all day, and only comes home when he is hungry.'
'Well, my boy, tomorrow we must get a new coat for you. Then we can talk about work. Would you like to have a shop in the market perhaps?'
Aladdin smiled. 'A shop,' he thought, 'and me, a rich market-seller. Why not?'
很多年以前,在一個阿拉伯城市里,有一個男孩兒叫阿拉丁。他和他的母親住在市場附近一個很小的屋子里,過著窮苦的日子。阿拉丁的母親整天都在辛勤地勞作,有時甚至忙碌到深夜,但阿拉丁從來都不幫助她。
他很懶惰,不喜歡勞動,只想整天玩耍。每天早晨他都穿過街道跑到市場上,一整天都和伙伴們在那兒說笑嬉戲,傍晚時分才回家吃飯。
每天晚上他的母親都對他說:“唉,阿拉丁,阿拉丁!你這個懶惰的孩子——真是沒用!你什么時候才能做點兒事呢,兒子?”
但阿拉丁從來都不聽母親的話。
一天,市場上來了一個身穿黑色長袍的老頭兒。阿拉丁并沒有注意到他,老頭兒卻在仔細(xì)地觀察著阿拉丁。過了好一會兒他走到一個賣橘子的攤販前問道:
“那個穿綠衣服的男孩子——他是誰啊?”
“阿拉丁,穆斯塔法的兒子。”攤販答道。
老頭兒隨即走開了。“是的,”他低聲地自言自語道,“是的,就是這個男孩兒。就是這個名字,他父親的名字也對。”
然后他沖阿拉丁喊道:“孩子!過來—下。你是叫阿拉丁嗎?阿拉丁,穆斯塔法的兒子?”
阿拉丁離開他的伙伴們來到老頭兒面前。“是的,”他說,“我是阿拉丁,穆斯塔法的兒子。但我父親已經(jīng)死了,他五年前就死了。”
“死了!”老頭兒說,“哦,不!”他用手蒙著臉哭了起來。
“你為什么哭?”阿拉丁問道,“你認(rèn)識我父親嗎?”
老頭兒抬起頭來。“穆斯塔法是我的兄弟!”他說,“我很想見到他,卻得知他已經(jīng)死了。哦,對我來說這是多么悲慘的一天啊!”他把手搭在阿拉丁的臂上,“但我兄弟的兒子在這里,我可以從你的臉上看到穆斯塔法的影子,我的孩子。阿拉丁,我是你的叔叔阿巴那扎爾啊。”
“我的叔叔?”阿拉丁很驚訝,“我父親有個兄弟嗎?可我并不知道。”
“在你出生之前我就離開了,我的孩子,”老頭兒說道,“拿著。”他從錢袋里拿出10枚金幣交到阿拉丁的手中,“回家把這些錢給你母親,告訴她她丈夫的兄弟想來看她,他明天就會來。”
10枚金幣是很大一筆錢,阿拉丁很高興。他飛快地跑回家中把金幣交給母親。起初她很害怕。
“阿拉丁,你是從哪兒弄來這些錢的?是撿來的嗎?這不是我們的錢,你必須還回去。”
“但這確實是我們的錢啊,媽媽,”阿拉丁說,“這是我叔叔、我父親的兄弟給咱們的錢。阿巴那扎爾叔叔明天會來看咱們。”
“誰?你沒有一個叫阿巴那扎爾的叔叔啊。”
“但他知道我的名字,也知道我父親的名字,”阿拉丁說,“他給了我10枚金幣。他是一個非常好的人。你要好好地給他做頓飯。”
第二天阿巴那扎爾來到阿拉丁的家中。
“我的嫂子!”他微笑道,“我死去的兄弟的妻子!我很高興能找到你和阿拉丁。”
“快請坐,阿巴那扎爾。很高興在我們的寒舍見到你,”阿拉丁的母親說。她把肉、米飯和水果擺上桌。“但我還是不明白,我丈夫怎么從來都沒有提起過你呢?”
“我很慚愧,嫂子。我們都還年輕的時候,我和我兄弟的關(guān)系有很多年都不是很好。后來我就離家去了一個遙遠(yuǎn)的國度?,F(xiàn)在我老了,想再見到我的兄弟,跟他和好。但他已辭世,我不能和他說話,也不能和他說再見了!”
阿巴那扎爾眼含熱淚,阿拉丁的母親也哭了起來。
“但我現(xiàn)在回家了,”老頭兒說,“我可以幫助我兄弟的妻子和兒子,因為我很有錢。”他轉(zhuǎn)過頭看著阿拉丁,“阿拉丁,我的孩子,你現(xiàn)在做什么工作呢?”
阿拉丁沒有回答,臉漲得通紅。
“哦,不要問阿拉丁工作的事!”他母親說,“他從來都不工作,整天在外面跟他那些朋友們玩耍,只有餓了的時候才回家。”
“好了,我的孩子,明天我得給你買件新外套,然后我們再談?wù)劰ぷ?。也許你想在市場上擁有一家店鋪?”
阿拉丁笑了。“一家店鋪,”他暗自想道,“我會成為一個富有的店主。為什么不呢?”