That is exactly what happened to the young tailor Aladdin. With sinister intentions, the evil wizard Noureddin lured him into a dark cave to fetch an old corroded lamp that didn't seem special in any way. But it contained the greatest treasure: When Aladdin rubbed it, the lamp's genie appeared and was able to grant all his desires. Irrespective of whether his wish was for the princess or the entire kingdom. How unjust it was, thought the cruel wizard Noureddin, who had found the cave after years of tireless searching and had led Aladdin to it.
Well-known story
Do you feel you know the story? Then you are probably right! Disney, for example, created a cartoon from the fairytale that originates from the famous collection of Arabic stories, The Arabian Nights. The Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger did the same thing. He was greatly inspired by the wave of German romanticism and delved into our Nordic history and folklore to write Guldhornene (The Golden Horns) in 1802. Two years later, it was the Orient and its mysticism that formed the basis for his lengthy fairytale play Aladdin.
The Orient in Copenhagen
The play was written in verse and features myriads of characters. All of them gleaned from early 19th century Copenhagen. With her down-to-earth sense and outspoken energy, Aladdin's mother is the epitome of an old tailor's wife in the streets of Copenhagen at the time. Noureddin the Wizard is depicted as a Jewish merchant, and with his constant search for the good bargain, he lives up to the contemporary prejudices of Jews as misers. And Aladdin? He probably resembles any of the lazy youngsters that young Oehlenschläger saw running in the street.
Born to fortune
The fact that Aladdin fared so much better than most other young people was thanks to one thing: Aladdin was not the son of a tailor, but of an emir, an Arab prince. Aladdin was born to the fortune he achieved through the lamp and its genie. This is how all the creatures of the world had their predestined place. At that time, people were either born to be tailors, priests or princes.
It was only after the introduction of the Danish constitution in 1849, and the freedom of trade in 1859, that this "cosmological world order" ceased to place barriers in the way of energetic fortune hunters - such as, for instance, the ambitious wizard Noureddin.
Lone Nyhuus is a former dancer and choreographer. As a freelance journalist she works for the DR P2 radio programme Teatermagasinet (The Theatre Magazine).
Aladdin by C. Bruun, 1839. Photo: Teatermuseet i Hofteateret.