Sun Glory of Mankind
"We'll live happily ever after," Aladdin told his bride, right after their wedding. Both Jasmine and he believed these words were true.
The Sultan rested peacefully in his room, surrounded by tiny animal figurines. In his right hand he held a hippo; in the left a toucan. He was dreaming of the goodness that would come to his domain, and the excellence in Princess Jasmine's choice.
Suddenly, from without the Sultan's quarters, a trumpet blast was made, which, sonorously disturbing his dreams, forced him to awaken. Aladdin and Jasmine could hear nothing, for the magic of the instrument was that it could only be heard by those the player wished.
"What's that noise?" the Sultan asked, aloud. And then a man with slimy, green skin, a yellow beard that nearly reached the ground, a bare chest, and thick pantaloons, entered.
"Semalil! I thought you were banished from the kingdom!"
"I thought I was too, but my brother kindly granted me passage."
"That loathsome Jafar! Well, what do you desire? I don't normally permit anyone to disturb my slumber."
"You know what I want. You're entire animal figurine collection. Every last one, from the giraffe to the goat to the scorpion. If you don't give them to me, I shall take your life."
"No, I can't part with them!"
"In that case," Semalil said, pulling out a titanium sword from his belt, "assassination shall be your reward."
"No!" the Sultan shouted, shrinking back towards the wall. "No, not my life. Is there anything else I might interest you with?"
"Absolutely nothing!" He advanced forward. "Now I am even more in earnest. How you could maltreat Jafar, the best man in your court, I cannot begin to conjecture. Now you shall pay for your inequities!"
By now Semalil had cornered the Sultan. He took the sword and stripped off the cloth covering the ruler's left shoulder.
"Fine, I'll give you all my toys. Take them, but not my life!"
"Excellent answer," Semalil concurred. "But you must gather them for me. I will hold this sack, and you pour them in." A burlap bag was produced, for this endeavor.
The Sultan miserably got on all fours and grabbed the toys nearest him. Elephants and chickens, whales and alligators, platypuses and koalas, monkeys and lions, tigers and bears, dogs and pelicans and penguins and bovine and swine, all went into the sack.
When he had concluded, the Sultan said, "I have given you all. Now will you leave?"
"You lie! There are some under your pillow."
Never did anyone see an Arab move so slowly, without joy or vigor, as Semalil watched the Sultan. The pillow was removed, and sure enough, there was a gazelle, a serpent, and a field mouse.
"Thank you. Now your life shall be spared." Then Semalil left.
The next morning, Aladdin and Jamine were roughly awakened by a servant, who was retching in fear.
"Master Aladdin! Princess Jasmine! Something terrible has happened!"
"What?"
"Your father," the servant said, turning to the princess, "has killed himself!"
"Huh? But, that's impossible! He was just fine at the wedding yesterday."
"Allow us time to get dressed, and we'll discuss this in an hour," Aladdin said, dismissing the servant.
Once they had donned on some decent clothes (Jasmine wore a black dress), they came downstairs, where all the servants and guards were gathered.
"So, let me get this straight. The Sultan is dead?"
"Aye, Prince Aladdin. Poison, we believe. A witch-doctor is examining him as we speak."
"Why would he commit suicide?"
"We have no clue," said a female servant.
"Yes, we do," said the head of the guards. "His toys were missing."
"Those funny animal figures he liked to stack up to create a sort of house of cards?" Aladdin queried, laughing.
"Stop it!" Jasmine said, slapping his impetuously. She was terribly upset, and even the man she loved could be a victim of her anger.
"It was an idiosyncrasy of his," the guard said. "But an idiosyncrasy he could not live without. And now he is no longer among the living."
"But who could've stolen them? You don't suppose that it happened during the wedding?"
"Nope, not then, for I conducted him to his bedchambers afterward, and there they were."
"Then it happened during the night?"
"It appears so."
"The thief must've entered the palace somehow," Aladdin said, using his critical thinking skills. "Do you have any suspicions about that? For instance, how could he have gotten past the guards?"
"I suspect Filsha, the seventeen-year-old servant who kept an inventory of the Sultan's collection. And as for the guard, it had to be Lucario, whom I ordered to watch the west wing. They are suspected of being lovers, Prince."
"Then, I order Filsha and Lucario to step forward."
But no one moved.
"I'm sorry to inform you of this, Prince, but Filsha is not present, and Lucario has run away."
"Where is Filsha?"
"In the sewing room, weaving a silk gown for Princess Jasmine's soiree next month."
"Bring her here."
Four guards were sent to collect the deceitful woman, and when she was brought forward, she seemed to stare straight ahead, not even aware that she had brought an evil upon their heads.
"Filsha, you have been accused of helping a thief navigate the palace. Do you deny this charge?"
"Prince Aladdin," she said, curtseying, perhaps hoping that he would be lenient, "I deny only that I was in charge of my full faculties last night, for I had drunk quite a bit at the banquet."
"Quite a bit!" one of the other servants jeered. "You only had a half-glass on wine, hardly enough to become intoxicated with."
"What did the culprit look like?"
At first, Filsha refused to answer. But the impending silence taxed on her nerves, and finally she gave in. "He had green skin, a long yellow beard, and appeared to be thirsty for power."
Jasmine gasped. "Semalil!"
"Who's Semalil?" Aladdin wondered.
"Jafar's brother," the head of the guards supplied, when Jasmine became dumb again. "He was once known as the Green Warden. He used to have my position, but he abused it, and was sent away, banished from the kingdom and told if he ever came back here, he would be hung and his face would adorn the wall of His Majesty, the Sultan, like a game animal."
"It appears that he ignored the threat."
"Only because of the wedding, or something else. He must have a new confidence. Maybe he didn't expect that people would be overly cautious following a celebration. This does explain why Lucario permitted him entrance; Lucario was the most devoted to the Green Warden."
Filsha jumped at the name. "Please don't punish him, if he is caught! I'll suffer twice, for myself and for him, but do not harm Lucario!"
The head of the guards grinned. His suspicions had been correct. "Prince, what do you think the punishment shall be?"
"Fifty stripes," Aladdin said, without hesitation. "I'm sure Jasmine will agree." The beautiful princess nodded her head.
The head of the guards and four others took Filsha away. But just before they exited the room, Abu climbed down from Aladdin's shoulder. He ran after the six people going to the dungeon. All of the other guards and servants went out as well.
"I suppose the only thing we can do is prepare for the funeral."
"No!" Jasmine said. "A funeral will acknowledge that he is dead, which is exactly what I don't want."
"But, the people will eventually find out that the Sultan is gone."
"I'd like to prevent that moment as long as possible."
The Genie appeared out of thin air. "What's this I hear about a dead Sultan and a theft of toys?"
"All true, Genie."
"Al, this is bad, very bad. Hakuna matata is thrown out the door. PANIC! PAIN! If he is dead. If, if is good."
"There's no if in this case, Genie. He has poisoned himself."
"Ooh, an Emma Bovary moment. Now, my question to you is, why would anyone steal plastic animals?"
"It was Jafar's brother."
"Jafar has family? Oh, I think my friend Scuttle brought me a dinglehopper," he said, pulling out a fork from his pocket. He made his hairdo blond and girly, then started brushing it in a conceited manner. "Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? 'Semalil!'"
"Genie, if there was ever a time I wished you could bring someone back from the dead, now is it."
"You won't want me to after I tell you something I should've told you a long time ago. Sit down, please." He summoned three loveseats, red in hue. But Jasmine declined to join them.
"Is the princess feeling peachy?" the Genie asked Aladdin, never able to speak to Jasmine directly.
"I have a lot to think about," she said. And she went to her bedchambers.
The Genie now took on the form of a psychiatrist, with glasses and two hundred pounds, as well as a nurse's uniform. "Al, you've got problems."
"Yes I know, with this suicide and this burglary."
"No, it's much worse. Semalil is a monster, makes Jafar look like a domestic cat."
"You mean I'm up against something much greater?"
"Yes, even more than you ever imagined. And you won't be able to fight it cooped up in the palace."
"Then I must travel? Well, I'll take Abu and the Magic Carpet and Jasmine, and you'll come with me…"
"No, Aladdin. You must go alone."
"Alone? You mean without you and Jasmine?"
Now the Genie transformed into a teacher with a chalkboard, upon which he wrote "Alone means alone."
"Please be more explicit."
"You must go without Abu, the Magic Carpet, Jasmine, or me."
"Why? Abu will never let me leave without him."
"Oh, you'll find a way to get rid of him," the Genie said, his eyes twinkling, though one could not deduce that it was a happy twinkle.
Disbelieving, Aladdin said, "Well, Carpet and I will still journey together."
"Keep on thinking that. Now, let's get down to brass tacks. You have yet to ask me what the purpose of this journey is."
"Why, isn't it to punish Jafar's brother?"
"Substantially, yes; ostensibly, no. You'd never be able to defeat him anyhow, especially since he has what he desired."
"Oh, come on. Plastic animals can't harm anyone."
"In Semalil's hands, toys are greater weapons than real animals." Now Genie took on the form of a scholarly linguist. "When you translate Semalil from the original Morganian, it means 'Game.' To a purpose born with such a name, everything is play. He is ruthless, and shall play until he wins."
"Then what must I do?"
"You must find the three people known as the Trinity and induce them to give you their precious gifts. Game pieces, to fight Semalil."
"The Trinity?"
"Veronika, Nharla, and Debussy. Veronika possesses jewels, Nharla has the Golden Keycorn, and Debussy owns the Seventy Camels of Suderland. Each of these will help you in beating Semalil, but you must succeed at each individual task they ask of you first."
"I still don't see how two inch figures can be dangerous."
"Rest assured, you will, whether you remain here and await destruction, or go out there and seek it. The latter is an infinitely better option, for then you at least have a chance at survival."
There was a knock from without, and the Genie vanished. His chairs went with him, causing Aladdin to stumble to the ground.
Brushing himself off, he stood erect when the head of the guards entered, carrying a dead animal in his arms. "I'm sorry, Prince."
Aladdin looked carefully at the creature. "Abu! What happened?"
"He jumped in front of Filsha after watching her receive a few stripes. I think he took fifteen hits, but the punisher would not cease. He was a dead heap when we reached him."
"Nooooooooo!" Aladdin moaned. "How can this be?" Several flashbacks came to him. Abu as an elephant when he first wore his princely uniform. Abu and Carpet having one of their quarrels. Abu reaching to grab the gold that attracted him so much. This monkey, this friend, was no more.
"Put him in a sack. We will have to hold a double funeral."
"But ceremonies for animals are not conventional."
"And yet, somehow I feel that the Sultan would've been honored to be buried the same day as Abu."
"As you wish, Your Majesty. You are Sultan now."
