"Hear me! This is an order from the sultan!" shouted one of the sultan's men.
"Cover your windows and close your doors.
Princess Badra will pass through these streets today to go to the bathhouse.
No one must look upon her!
Whoever does not obey this order will be killed!"
Did Aladdin run home when he heard these words?
No, he did not.
"Princess Badra," he sighed.
"Everyone thinks she must be very lovely."
It was true. She was very beautiful.
But only a few people had ever seen her face.
Whenever Princess Badra left the palace, she always wore a veil.
And every one of her visits to this bathhouse caused excitement.
"Get off the street, you people!" yelled one man in a red cap.
"Go home!" shouted an old woman.
"Or hide in your shops!"
Aladdin stood in the street as the merchants and shoppers pushed past him.
"I must see the face of the princess," Aladdin decided.
"I've heard her eyes are deep and dark like the night sky."
Soon Aladdin was the only one left in the street.
Suddenly he heard the sound of flutes from around a corner.
"It must be the princess and her attendants," said Aladdin.
"I must hurry."
He ran inside the bathhouse and quickly hid behind a door.
He was just in time.
Aladdin heard voices now, and one voice was sweeter than all the others.
"How lovely it will be to relax in the hot steam," sighed the voice.
As the princess entered the bathhouse, Aladdin peeked out from behind the door.
Just then Princess Badra removed the veil from her face.
"Oh my!" whispered Aladdin.
Aladdin saw her deep, dark eyes and her smiling, red mouth.
He could not breathe.
He could not move!
"I know nothing of beauty," he thought, "but I know Princess Badra must be the most beautiful girl in the world."
In one moment, he had fallen in love with the sultan's daughter.
No one saw Aladdin as he left the bathhouse through a back door.
When he returned home, his mother said, "Back so soon?"
Aladdin did not answer.
He sat down on a cushion and stared into space.
"Eat something," Zeba said.
She set some bread and dried fruits before him.
"You don't look well."
She poured him a cup of strong coffee, but Aladdin still did not say a word.
"What has happened to you?" she asked.
"Why won't you speak to me?"
"Please, leave me alone," Aladdin answered.
He ate a bite of bread and then went to his room.
He lay awake all night.
Morning came, but Aladdin still did not move.
Zeba was worried.
"Are you in pain?" she said.
"Shall I get a doctor?"
"I am not sick," he murmured.
"I am in love."
"In love!" cried his mother with delight.
"Oh, my son!
Who is this lucky lady?
Tell me quickly!"
"I am in love with Princess Badra," said Aladdin calmly.
"And I have decided to marry her."
Aladdin's mother stared at him with surprise and then burst out laughing.
"Marry the sultan's daughter?
You? A tailor's son?"
"Yes," said Aladdin quietly. "I will marry her."
Zeba raised her hands over her head and cried out, "My son has lost his mind!
The genies have made him crazy!"