The story of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” is known to Western audiences through The Thousand and One Nights, a compilation of fantastical tales from the Near and Middle East. The tales are told within a framing narrative in which Scheherazade, the new bride of a murderous king, regales him with nightly stories to forestall her intended execution. The collection’s version of Aladdin’s story was added by French translator Antoine Galland in the early 18th century.

In the original tale, Aladdin, a poor boy, lives with his mother in China. A sorcerer promises to make Aladdin rich if he retrieves a lamp from a cave, but Aladdin keeps the lamp for himself and commands the genie inside to make him and his mother wealthy. As Aladdin prospers, he woos and wins the sultan’s daughter, though he must defeat the sorcerer, and later another magician, with magical aid, the help of the genie, and the cleverness of his new wife. The story derives its lasting appeal from its rag-to-riches plot that features an ambitious and not entirely scrupulous protagonist who uses trickery to get what he wants.