‘I'm sorry, my sister. When we were young, my brother and I were not friends for many years. Then I went away to a far country. I am an old man now and wanted to see my brother again and take his hand. But he is dead¹, and I cannot speak to him or say goodbye to him now!'

Abanazar had² tears³ in his eyes and Aladdin's mother began to cry too.

‘But I am home again now.' the old man said⁴, ‘and I can help my brother's wife⁵ and his son, because I am a rich man.' He looked at Aladdin. ‘Aladdin, my boy, what work do you do?'

Aladdin did⁶ not answer and his face was⁷ red.

‘Oh, don't ask Aladdin questions about work!' his mother said. ‘He never works⁸. He plays with his friends all day, and only comes home when he is hungry.'‘

Well , my boy, tomorrow we must get a new coat for you. Then we can talk about work. Would⁹ you like to have a shop in the market¹⁰ perhaps¹¹?'

Aladdin smiled. ‘A shop.' he thought¹², ‘and me, a rich market-seller. Why not?'

Early the next morning, Abanazar arrived at Aladdin's house and then he and Aladdin walked to the market.

'First of all we must look at coats,' Abanazar said.

Soon Aladdin had an expensive new coat and he felt very happy. Then Abanazar and Aladdin walked through the market and looked at the shops. They drank coffee, talked to people, and had a very good dinner. It was a wonderful day for Aladdin.

On Friday, when the market was closed¹³, Abanazar took¹⁴ Aladdin to the beautiful gardens in the city. They walked under the trees and talked about a shop for Aladdin.

‘You are very good to me, Uncle,' Aladdin said.

Alanazar smiled. ‘But of course,' he said. ‘You are my brother's son. Now, let us leave the city and go up into the hills. There is something wonderful there, and you must see it.'

“我很惭愧，嫂子。我们都还年轻的时候，我和我兄弟的关系有很多年都不是很好。后来我就离家去了一个遥远的国度。现在我老了，想再见到我的兄弟，跟他和好。但他已辞世，我不能和他说话，也不能和他说再见了！”

阿巴那扎尔眼含热泪，阿拉丁的母亲也哭了起来。

“但我现在回家了，”老头儿说，“我可以帮助我兄弟的妻子和儿子，因为我很有钱。”他转过头看着阿拉丁，“阿拉丁，我的孩子，你现在做什么工作呢？”

阿拉丁没有回答，脸涨得通红。

“哦，不要问阿拉丁工作的事！”他母亲说，“他从来都不工作，整天在外面跟他那些朋友们玩耍，只有饿了的时候才回家。”

“好了，我的孩子，明天我得给你买件新外套，然后我们再谈谈工作。也许你想在市场上拥有一家店铺？”

阿拉丁笑了。“一家店铺，”他暗自想道，“我会成为一个富有的店主。为什么不呢？”

第二天一早，阿巴那扎尔就来到阿拉丁的家里，带着阿拉丁去了市场。

“首先我们必须帮你挑选衣服。”阿巴那扎尔说。

很快阿拉丁就有了一件崭新的、价格不菲的外套，他非常高兴。然后他们就开始逛市场，看了很多家商店。他们喝了咖啡，和人们聊天，还吃了一顿丰盛的晚餐。对阿拉丁来说这真是美好的一天。

星期五市场关门以后，阿巴那扎尔就带着阿拉丁去了城里那座美丽的公园。他们在树下散步，讨论着为阿拉丁开店铺的事。

“你对我真是太好了，叔叔。”阿拉丁说道。

阿巴那扎尔露出了微笑。“那当然，”他说，“你是我兄弟的儿子。现在我们去城外的山里吧，那儿有一些美好的东西，你必须去看看。”