Week Three Story: The Genie in the Lamp

Once upon a time there lived a young woman named Hannah who lived with her mother and father. One day while Hannah was out running errands for her family, a messenger approached her with urgent news. "Return home quickly," he said,"your father and mother have become extremely ill!" Hannah got home as fast as she could to find her mother and father in bed very sick.

"Hannah dear, this illness took over so quickly. We are going to die, but I have some instructions for you to ensure that you will be alright when we are gone," said her father. "First, as expected, you are going to mourn for us greatly for seven days. You will stop mourning on the eve of the festival of Passover. Next, you will go to the market and buy the first thing that is offered to you, no matter what the cost. Do as I say and you will be taken care of for life my daughter."

Hannah promised she would obey her father's wishes, and sure enough, his predictions started to come true. Hannah mourned for seven days and then finally she headed to the market. The first thing offered to her was an old, dusty lamp from a fragile, elderly man. "Buy this lamp, my dear, and good fortune will come to you," said the man. "Rub the lamp three times a day for three weeks and you will then understand."

As her father instructed, she bought the old lamp. The lamp cost her almost all that she had, but she carried on and went home. She was curious as to why she would need an old lamp and how that could ever bring her good fortune. Since her parents died, she had become lonely and very poor, but still she followed the old man's instructions. The weeks went by, and Hannah was living alone in poverty.

It was the last day of the three weeks and Hannah was hoping for a miracle. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke filled her home. A genie appeared and said,"Greetings caretaker! I am Genie. As a token of my appreciation for you taking great care of me and releasing me from my lamp, I will grant you three wishes!"

Hannah could not believe her eyes! She became overwhelmed thinking of all the things that she could wish for. "Hmmm... this is going to be a difficult decision. I first need someone who can help me make these choices. As I've been terribly lonely for these weeks, this is only right. I wish for the perfect husband!"

"Wish granted" said Genie as a tall, handsome man appeared. "You have two more wishes left."
Hannah and her new husband hugged and kissed and began discussing their next two wishes.
"My father was very intelligent and provided a good life for his family. I wish for wisdom for my husband and I!"

"Wish number two is granted,"said Genie. "Finally, I wish for wealth for my family," said Hannah, "I have been living in poverty for the past few weeks and I have had enough.
"That concludes your three wishes my friends! Thank you again for freeing me. But, I have one more gift for you," said Genie. He told them to follow him out to the woods. When they got to the middle of the forest, every animal began to appear with gifts. They began giving Hannah and her husband herbs and precious stones. "These are all for you. Best of luck to your family," said Genie.
And POOF! Genie and the lamp had vanished.

Hannah became well-known because of Genie. She was the smartest and wealthiest in all of the land, and she lived a happy life.



Author's Note: The original story this was based off of was titled The Fairy Frog by Gertrude Landa.
In this story, the main character is a man named Hanina. His father and mother are dying and his father gives him instructions on what to do after his death. He tells him first that he will mourn for seven days. After that, his mourning will pass on the eve of the festival of the Passover. Next, he must go to the market and buy whatever is offered to him first. Hanina's dad's predictions come true, and when he goes to the market he is offered a silver casket. He does not know what it contains, but he buys it anyway spending most of his money. He and his wife get home and find out the casket contains a frog. They had to feed the frog as it ate large amounts of food and started to grow and become huge. The frog ate so much that they ran out of food for themselves and were living in poverty. The frog was bigger than a man and spoke to them one day. He told them that he would grant whatever wishes they had. They first asked for food, then wisdom, and then wealth. Days later, the frog took them out to the woods where animals and insects gave Hanina and his wife precious stones and herbs. As they thanked the frog, they asked who he was and he replied that he was the fairy son of Adam. He then disappeared and they lived a happy rest of their life.
One change that I made in the story was that Hannah, a single woman rather than a married man, was the main character. I also changed the fairy frog into a genie because I liked the idea of a genie granting wishes more than a frog. I also changed one of the wishes from asking for food into asking for a husband.

Bibliography: "The Fairy Frog" from Jewish Fairy Tales by Gertrude Landa

The genie grants three wishes.

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