Page:Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp.djvu/128

86 remained to him but a small matter, to wit, the last step, which was much higher than the others, he could not avail to mount it of himself, having regard to that which he was carrying; so he said to the Maugrabin, “O my uncle, give me thy hand and help me up.” Quoth he, “O my son, give me the lamp and lighten thyself; maybe it is that which hindereth thee.” “Nay, O my uncle,” answered Alaeddin, “the lamp hindereth me nought; but do thou give me thy hand and when I am up, I will give thee the lamp.” The enchanter, who wanted the lamp and that only, fell to urging Alaeddin to give it him; but the latter, having wrapped it within his clothes, with purses of jewel-fruits atop of it, could not reach it