The sultan, on hearing these strange tidings, consulted with the grand
vizier; and finding from him that his son had been subjected by an
invisible agency to even worse treatment, he determined to declare the
marriage canceled, and all the festivities, which were yet to last for
several days, countermanded and terminated.
This sudden change in the mind of the sultan gave rise to various
speculations and reports. Nobody but Aladdin knew the secret, and he
kept it with the most scrupulous silence. Neither the sultan nor the
grand vizier, who had forgotten Aladdin and his request, had the least
thought that he had any hand in the strange adventures that befell the
bride and bridegroom.
On the very day that the three months contained in the sultan's
promise expired, the mother of Aladdin again went to the palace, and
stood in the same place in the divan. The sultan knew her again, and
directed his vizier to have her brought before him.
After having prostrated herself, she made answer, in reply to the
sultan: "Sire, I come at the end of three months to ask of you the
fulfillment of the promise you made to my son."
The sultan little thought the request of Aladdin's mother was made to
him in earnest, or that he would hear any more of the matter. He
therefore took counsel with his vizier, who suggested that the sultan
should attach such conditions to the marriage that no one of the
humble condition of Aladdin could possibly fulfill.
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