his jewels to be
brought out, and the jewellers took a great quantity, particularly those
Aladdin had made him a present of, which they soon used, without making
any great advance in their work. They came again several times for more,
and in a month's time had not finished half their work. In short, they
used all the jewels the sultan had, and borrowed of the vizier, but yet
the work was not half done.

Aladdin, who knew that all the sultan's endeavours to make this window
like the rest were in vain, sent for the jewellers and goldsmiths, and
not only commanded them to desist from their work, but ordered them to
undo what they had begun, and to carry all their jewels back to the
sultan and to the vizier. They undid in a few hours what they had been
six weeks about, and retired, leaving Aladdin alone in the hall. He took
the lamp, which he carried about him, rubbed it, and presently the genie
appeared. "Genie," said Aladdin, "I ordered thee to leave one of the
four-and-twenty windows of this hall imperfect, and thou hast executed
my commands punctually; now I would have thee make it like the rest."
The genie immediately disappeared. Aladdin went out of the hall, and
returning soon after, found the window, as he wished it to be, like the
others.

In the mean time, the jewellers and goldsmiths repaired to the palace,
and were introduced into the sultan's presence; where the chief jeweller
presented the precious stones which he had brought back. The sultan
asked them if Aladdin had given them any reason for so doing, and they
answering that he had given them none, he ordered a horse to be brought,
which he mounted, and rode to his son-in-law's palace, with some few
attendants on foot, to inquire why he had ordered the completion of the
window to be stopped. Aladdin met him at the gate, and without giving
any reply to his inquiries conducted him to the grand saloon, where the
sultan, to his great surprise, found the window, which was left
imperfect, to correspond exactly with the others. He fancied at first
that he was mistaken, and examined the two windows on each side, and
afterward all the four-and-twenty; but when he was convinced that the
window which several workmen had been so long about was finished in so
short a time, he embraced Aladdin and kissed him between his eyes. "My
son," said he, "what a man you are to do such surprising things always
in the twinkling of an eye! there is not your fellow in the world; the