Week 6 Story: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

BREAKING NEWS: September 20th, 12:38 p.m.

Breaking News

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Son of well-known tailor has been missing for 72 hours.

Camera man: "And.. we're rolling."

News Anchor: "This is Lisa Lawson with Channel 82 News. Aladdin, the famous son of the founder of Mustapha's Tailor Co., has been missing for 72 hours now. Police are here at the gardens located on the outskirts of the city. This was the last place that he was seen. A couple, who we spoke to earlier, is claiming to have seen him with a man about fifty years old, dark hair, a beard, and he was wearing a nice black suit. We will keep you all updated. If you have any information on this young man's whereabouts please notify the police immediately."

Update: 1:16 p.m.

News Anchor: "We're back at the gardens where Aladdin was last seen, and after watching security camera footage it has been confirmed that he was here three days ago. We are glad to be getting some information about his disappearance. Police were also able to speak to Aladdin's mother, and we have now identified the man who may have been responsible for this. We will provide a picture of him on our website. His mother says she trusted the man and let him into her home because he was pretending to be a distant uncle. He even had pictures of Aladdin's late father as a child, so she believed it was the real deal. Police have taken the next step and are now tracking their cell phones to see where they may be located."


Update: 3:08 p.m.
News Anchor: "Aladdin has been found unharmed! And he has a very interesting story to tell. Here he is now."

Aladdin: "Well, this all began with my fake "uncle" which as you all already know, tricked me. I believed he was trying to help me out because my father died recently. But boy, was I wrong. He bought me clothes, showed me around town, and gave me hope for finding a trade. We ate lunch at the gardens, and then he took me out into the forest. He told me to gather firewood and he would show me something wonderful. Next, I heard him chanting. All of a sudden, the earth started to rumble, and the land began to split between the two mountains! He placed a ring on my finger and shoved me into the split earth. I saw a glowing, golden lamp and he yelled for me to grab it. So, I grabbed the lamp and took off running deeper in until I couldn't see him anymore! I knew then that he used me to get the lamp that he wanted, and he also wanted to hurt me. I had to get away from him. I wondered why he went through all this trouble for a simple lamp? But, there I waited for a couple of days. I was afraid and lonely. One night, I was so cold and began to rub the lamp. Then, that's when my magic genie appeared! He came out of the lamp and told me that he was a slave to me because I was wearing the ring that was given to me. He saved me! That's how I made it back to town safely. I'm happy to go home to my mother and my new friend the genie. I hope that harmful man gets caught."


Author's Note: This story is quite different than the original because I decided to tell it through a news report. In the original story it begins with introducing Aladdin as the son of Mustapha, a poor tailor. He is disappointed in Aladdin for not learning a trade, so much that he dies. Aladdin still does not mend his ways, and his mother is upset too. One day a man approaches Aladdin claiming to be his uncle. He comes over for dinner, and then takes Aladdin out to the gardens and then out to the mountains. When they arrived at a valley between two mountains Aladdin was asked to gather wood for a fire. When the fire was lit the "uncle" threw a powder on it and the ground began to shake, opening the earth below. A stone appeared and steps leading down into the earth. the magician told Aladdin to go down for a treasure awaiting him. He asked Aladdin to get the lamp, but Aladdin knew better and stayed down there until the uncle left. He stayed down there for days when he realized his "uncle" was a lying magician who used him. Finally, the genie came out of the lamp and said that he was now a slave to Aladdin.

The main thing that is different about my story is the way that I told it through a news report. I also added in that Aladdin was missing for three days and everyone was worried about him. When Aladdin tells the story himself, it is quite similar to the story, but it is a more summarized version.

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 1

Reading Notes: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 1, Part B

For Part B, I chose to focus on the beginning of the story, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 1. The story comes from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang. This story source can be found at the Sacred Texts website.

The only previous knowledge about this story, came from Disney. So I was definitely in for a different story. I focused on the first story because I like to retell stories from the beginning. To me, it's easier to retell something when I am imagining and creating it from the very beginning. When the story first mentioned that Aladdin had an uncle, I was skeptical about it. Come to find out, I was right in the end because he was not truly an uncle, but a man preying on Aladdin because he was naive. I like how this introduces how Aladdin comes in contact with the genie lamp. 

One thing I would like to change is the setting. When the magician takes Aladdin different places and they finally arrive at their final destination between the mountains, he first encounters the genie lamp. I would like to change the mountains to the clouds. It sounds somewhat strange, but I imagine the magician leading Aladdin up a stairwell to the clouds and that is where the genie appears. 

I also think that since the genie is now a slave to Aladdin, he was the power to get rid of the magician who acted like his uncle. Instead of killing him, Aladdin will ask that he be transformed into a genie himself and forced to obey the wishes of someone else. 

Aladdin's next wish will be to bring his father back. He has the guilt of knowing his father died disappointed in him. He wants to change that more than anything, and now he has the chance. 

Disney's Aladdin and Genie

Source: Flickr

Reading Notes: The Story of the Fisherman, Part A

For this 6th week, I chose to focus on the Arabian Nights stories. In Part A, my favorite story was The Story of the Fisherman which came from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang. This story can be found at the Sacred Texts website.

I enjoyed this story because it didn't play out how I expected it to. When he released the genie from the lamp, I thought he would be granted wishes, simply because that's what I've heard in other stories. This one was different, and I like that it was unexpected. The fisherman did go through all the trouble to provide for his family, and he never received anything. I would like to change the story for that reason. I think he should be granted at least one wish before he dies. But, instead of dying, the genie will still be tricked back inside his lamp.

I would also like to introduce another character to the story. I think I would like to add one of the fisherman's children into the plot. His son will be the one to find the lamp, but the fisherman will be the one to break the seal. The son will also try to bargain with the genie, and maybe in the end he will be the one to end up saving his dad.

The genie seems to be very mean because he has been trapped for so long. The son will reason with the genie by promising him revenge on the King who shut him in the vase in the first place. He will try to make him see that killing an innocent, poor fisherman is not the right thing to do.

The story doesn't tell why the genie was forced into the lamp other than that he rebelled against the King. I would like to give a reason as to why he was punished so severely.

Fisherman 

Source: Wikimedia Commons