Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp - Page 8

Author: Laurence Housman

Now, while he was holding his hands in supplication, he felt the ring upon his middle finger - the ring which the Dervish had placed there saying, " In whatever difficulty thou mayst find thyself this ring will be thy protection; thou hast only to - but of that I will tell thee later." The Dervish had perhaps given him the ring to gain his confidence, and had purposely omitted to reveal its secret. But now, in answer to Aladdin's prayer, the power of the ring was revealed as if by the merest chance; for, when he felt the ring, he looked at it; and, seeing a light from the jewel therein, he breathed upon it and rubbed it with his palm to increase its lustre. No sooner had he done this when, lo, the Slave of the Ring . appeared, and gathered shape before him, first in a luminous haze, and then, gradually, in clearer and clearer contour.

"Ask what thou wilt, and it shall be done," said the apparition; "for know that I am the Slave of the Ring and the slave of him on whose finger my master placed the ring."

Aladdin, seeing before him an Efrite after the order of those invoked by the Lord Suleiman, was terrified, and his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, so that he could not speak. But the Efrite reassured him with kindly speech. " Thou hast only to ask," he said, " and thy wish will be fulfilled; for, since my master's ring is on thy hand, I am thy servant."