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Once upon a time, there was The Great Magician. The Great Magician was called such for his outstanding talent in the mystical arts. People from the lowest commoner to the highest king from distant lands paid respect to The Great Magician in search for his assistance.
One such traveler was a young woman who later became The Great Magician's wife. Over the years, the happy couple had three sons and became a happy family. However, grief interrupted this happiness when The Great Magician's wife died. The Great Magician wished to retire and dedicate his life to raising his sons, but he could not. Instead, The Great Magician used his vast wealth to buy everything his sons could ever be in want of, from toys to tutors. As the years passed, The Great Magician watched his sons grow into men of their own.
The eldest son, Abanoub, became a proficient magician and skilled in swordsmanship. Draped in shining armor and noble deeds, the people praised Abanoub as the protector of the land.
His second, Malik, was by far the most talented in magic matched only by his cleverness. His well-spoken manner and warm smiles became the jewel of the nobility.
His youngest, Mustapha, though not without talents, paled in comparison to in the face of his gifted brothers.
The Great Magician grew older wished to provide for his sons even after death. As per custom, The Great Magician observed his sons in secret to determine what kind of inheritance would best benefit them. However, The Great Magician soon discovered hidden sides to his sons.
Abanoub was vain. His noble deeds were performed only in times an audience would applaud him. His immaculate armor was kept clean in favor of performing acts of service.
Malik was greedy. As often as he used his charm and cleverness in proper diplomacy, Malik used them far more to speak sweet words to cheat others.
Who surprised The Great Magician most of all was Mustapha. His youngest helped those in need without a hope for a reward using magic that surpassed The Great Magician.
At The Great Magician's death, his three sons were shocked to find out the contents of the will. Mustapha had inherited most of their father's fortune, with a sum of gold to Abanoub and Malik.
The elder brothers were furious. More than the vast treasures their father owned, which included a growing garden of jewels, Abanoub and Malik desired the magical lamp and ring, which each contained a powerful genie.
Mustapha ran once he realized what his brothers were plotting. In hopes of hiding, Mustapha sealed away his power and possessions. Thus the jewel gardens, the ring, and the lamp became hidden among the dunes of the desert.
Mustapha traveled East for many days before he settled himself in a small town in China. Over time, Mustapha began a new life as a tailor's apprentice and fell in love with his mentor's daughter. The two tailors married and months later Mustapha was ecstatic to hear that their family would soon welcome a small addition. Mustapha named his son after his father: Aladdin.
Mustapha and his family lived many happy years together, though not without its problems. It was time for Aladdin to pick up a trade; however, Aladdin did not want to. While his wife despaired over their son's laziness, Mustapha noticed Aladdin's kindness and pure desire to enjoy his childhood. One night, Mustapha resolved to talk to his wife about allowing Aladdin more time as a child, but this was not to be.
On his walk home, a shadow loomed over Mustapha. It was Abanoub on a magic carpet! Mustapha tried to escape, but without powers, he was quickly overwhelmed by Abanoub.
Abanoub knew where Mustapha had hidden his treasures; only he could not access them. Instead, Ababoub cornered Mustapha and demanded the genie of the lamp in exchange for Mustapha's life. Mustapha refused. In his fury, Abanoub murdered Mustapha and devised a plan to get his unsuspecting nephew to deliver the lamp to his father's killer.
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Author's Note:
In the original "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," Alladin was an idle boy with a tailor father, Mustapha. The father was so sad that his son was a burden on society that he died. A magician pretended to be Mustapha's merchant brother and brought Alladin to a secret entrance which contains the jewel gardens, the genie with the ring, and the genie with the lamp. The evil magician tells Alladin to take the ring, go into the magical cave, and bring him the lamp in return for treasures.
Alladin obtains the lamp, but on his way out, the magician tells Alladin to give him the lamp already. Alladin refuses to do so while he is still in the cave. The magician traps Alladin in the cave.
Alladin rubs the lamp, and the genie from the lamp appears and saves Alladin, brings him home. Aladdin can make as many wishes as he likes from the genie. Years pass. Alladin falls in love with the princess. Eventually, Aladdin and the princess married. However, the evil magician and his younger brother still posed problems for the happy couple.
When I read the original story, I was confused for why Aladdin was chosen by the first evil magician to obtain the lamp. What more, why did the evil magician pretended to be Aladdin's uncle. How did the evil magician know that Aladdin's father was Mustapha, the tailor? I thought to myself, wouldn't it have been more interesting if Aladdin wasn't just a convenient lamp obtainer. What if Aladdin was the evil magician's nephew? What if only Aladdin could obtain the magical lamp because it was his birthright.
In the original story, Mustapha died because he was sad that Aladdin was lazy. I thought, what if Mustapha was proud of Aladdin because he had a good heart? What if Mustapha remembered his cruel brothers who lusted for power. Why would Mustapha die then? Because his brothers would return and want to obtain their late father's treasures.
From this thought process, I came up with a back story for why Aladdin was chosen to obtain the lamp and created this prequel to "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp."
Concerning names:
Mustapha was the original name of Aladdin's father, and the meaning of that name in Arabic can be "the chosen." I decided that the evil magician brothers should also have Arabic names with significance. Abanoub and Malik are both Arabic names which can be roughly translated to "King."
Bibliography:
Original Story: "Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp" from "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments" by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). Source.
Image Information: Lamp Photo Taken by Vicki Nunn. Source.
Wow! I loved your story! I at first before I got to the Author's note, I thought it was a straight retelling. It was such a believable take of a such a long-loved story. I wonder how the third child ended up not being the most spoiled and greedy- as an eldest kid, it feels like it would be that was around! What if you describe Aladdin as other than lazy? I understand his mother thinking of him in that way, but I love him so much I want to defend him!
ReplyDeleteHey Rebekah,
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a fascinating retelling! I had never known that there was a Prequel to Aladdin. I think that was really a “wow” moment for me because, after reading your story, I have a better understanding of the Aladdin that I grew up with. I wonder why this story is not more prevalent and why it is not told often. I think it would be interesting to make a prequel film to Aladdin to allow everyone to have a better understanding of how the genie got in the lamp in the first place. The only thing I would like to find out more about is how the wife of the magician died. I think that could be a real catalyst to why the brothers both have anger. I know it was touched on that they felt it was unfair about who got their father’s wealth, but I feel there could be an underlying factor as to why they were so outrage. Overall, I felt this story was very well told and was very descriptive and cannot wait to read more from you! Keep up the great work.
Hello! Wow your story was amazing! I loved the way you brought the story to life with such imagery! You totally went off the rails with a story of your own. I knew Aladdin from the movies as a kid and reading your story brought me back and made me think that this was how the Aladdin story actually came to be! I wonder why Mustapha sealed his powers? Was it so his brothers couldn’t find him? I can understand sealing all the treasures but why his powers? I wonder if Mustapha saw a little bit of himself in Aladdin and that is the reason, he didn’t press him to pick a trade. I also wonder what became of Aladdin’s mother because in the movie she was not around…. What if instead he cornered both his wife and Aladdin and the key to getting the lamp was Aladdin. Mustafa would never agree to using his son but maybe because if he didn’t his wife and son would be killed.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebekah,
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I love how you added to the story from the reading rather than just retelling it; the extra family drama sounds like it was straight out of the tale itself and makes the ensuing conflict all the more interesting and compelling. The care you took in choosing names and stitching together your prequel with the readings was also great. You mention in the author’s note that you were confused as to why the evil magician would have chosen Aladdin in the first place and this story perfectly answers this question.
I also like how Mustapha goes to far in allowing Alladin to be lazy because he saw what his accomplished brothers became. There’s a nice balance to that.
I wonder, though, why Mustapha never took any of his treasures to help his new family? Or had he lost them? Your prequel only makes me want to know more about these characters and the details that (because of length) you ellided.
Best,
A.M.
Hi Rebekah!
ReplyDeleteThis retelling was absolutely amazing! I read the original story and your writing style matched really well. It truly seemed like the original author had written a prequel. Awesome job!
Something I really enjoyed about your story was the section where the father was learning the new sides of his sons. I think this was not only really interesting and enjoyable to read, but it also taught readers multiple moral lessons.
Did you ever considering expanding on Abanoub knew where the lamp and ring were hidden? That part confused me just a little bit because I thought the items were hidden well enough that no one could find them.
One suggestion would be to give a little more detail on Mustapha's family from the beginning of the story. I would have loved to hear more about that and how he developed as a character.
Overall, this was one of my favorite stories I've read this semester! Great job!
Hi Rebekah! Your story was awesome! I connected with how Alladin did not want to choose a trade yet and his dad wanted him to have more time to be a kid. Then when the evil uncles showed up I knew what was about to happen. One thing that I was confused about is why couldn't the uncles go into the cave themselves? If they knew the location and where to find all the buried treasure and the lamp and they had the ring, why couldn't they just go in? Was it possibly because they were scared of endangering their lives and was not willing to risk it? Were they too old and could not move as fast anymore? Perhaps a little bit of detail as to why the uncles could not go into the cave would be very helpful to the reader!
ReplyDeleteStill a great story though!!
Hi Rebekah!
ReplyDeleteI am amazed how much thought you put into this story. You did a great job at wondering about and questioning the original story to fill in any gaps. I like how you made Aladdin a part of the family dynamic and spent time explaining that. Your author's note was also super helpful! I wonder why no one wished for the two evil brothers to go away and never return?