full price, put them into a basket hanging on his arm, and went directly
to Aladdin's palace. As he approached, he began crying, "Who will
exchange old lamps for new ones?" As he went along, a crowd of children
collected, who hooted, and thought him, as did all who chanced to be
passing by, a madman or a fool, to offer to change new lamps for old
ones.

The African magician regarded not their scoffs, hootings, or all they
could say to him, but still continued crying, "Who will change old lamps
for new ones?" He repeated this so often, walking backward and forward
in front of the palace, that the princess, who was then in the hall with
the four-and-twenty windows, hearing a man cry something, and seeing a
great mob crowding about him, sent one of her women slaves to know what
he cried.

The slave returned, laughing so heartily that the princess rebuked her.
"Madam," answered the slave, laughing still, "who can forbear laughing,
to see an old man with a basket on his arm, full of fine new lamps,
asking to change them for old ones? the children and mob crowding about
him, so that he can hardly stir, make all the noise they can in derision
of him."

Another female slave hearing this, said, "Now you speak of lamps, I know
not whether the princess may have observed it, but there is an old one
upon a shelf of the Prince Aladdin's robing room, and whoever owns it
will not be sorry to find a new one in its stead. If the princess
chooses, she may have the pleasure of trying if this old man is so silly
as to give a new lamp for an old one, without taking anything for the
exchange."