Aladdin is young boy living with his mother in poverty in a town in China. His father died recently, having tried unsuccessfully to persuade his son to knuckle down and learn a trade. Aladdin, however, prefers to go off and play with the other boys in the street.
One day, a sorcerer approaches Aladdin, claiming to be his uncle. He convinces Aladdin to work with him, telling Aladdin that if he does what he tells him, the boy will grow up to be rich. Aladdin’s mother, who has never met the sorcerer before, is initially suspicious of his claim to be a long-lost relative but she becomes convinced that the man is genuine.
The man shows Aladdin gardens full of beautiful riches, before leading Aladdin down into a cave, telling the boy to fetch an oil lamp found inside. He gives Aladdin a magic ring that will protect him while he searches for it. But when he finds the lamp, Aladdin refuses to pass it up to the sorcerer before he is out of the cave, so the sorcerer seals Aladdin inside the cave with the lamp!
But Aladdin, while rubbing his hands together to pray for help, accidentally rubs the ring the sorcerer gave to him, and a genie appears. The genie asks what he can do for Aladdin, and Aladdin says he wants to go home. And so the genie grants Aladdin’s wish.
Aladdin takes the lamp home with him, and tells his mother all about what happened, and about how his long-lost ‘uncle’ isn’t in fact his uncle at all, but a sorcerer. When cleaning the lamp, the mother rubs it and another genie appears. Aladdin and his mother ask for food, and their wish is granted. For several years, they both thrive, thanks to the genie’s help.
Then one day Aladdin catches sight of the beautiful sultan’s daughter, Lady Badar al-Budur, and vows to marry her. He persuades his mother to go to the sultan and request Lady Badar al-Budur’s hand in marriage for Aladdin, giving her some precious jewels Aladdin has obtained thanks to the genie. Sure enough, the sultan is sufficiently impressed by the jewels to grant Aladdin’s wish.
However, the vizier – the sultan’s chief adviser – is not happy with this plan, because he had planned for his own son to marry Lady Badar al-Budur. The sultan gives the vizier’s son three months to come up with an even better gift; if he can do so, then the sultan will let the vizier’s son marry his daughter instead.
But before the three months have elapsed, Aladdin’s mother learns that the vizier’s son has married the sultan’s daughter, and Aladdin assumes that the sultan has gone back on his promise. He is determined to prevent the marriage from being consummated, and sends the genie to throw the bridegroom in the toilet and transport the sultan’s daughter, and her bridal bed, to Aladdin’s home. He lies with the bride, guarding her all night, while she lies there, understandably terrified. In the morning, the genie returns the bride to her groom, who is released from the privy.