Storytelling for Week 4:

Jasmine wondered through her father's marble palace disgusted with the day's events. She had been told that she would be marrying a man who had presented jewels beyond compare to her father for her hand. Of course she would want to marry someone who thought that she was worth such precious stones. What turned her day so sour, however, was when her father told her that the plan had changed and that she was to marry the vizir's son, Iago.

Iago had always gazed at Jasmine longingly every time they were together. He was the type of boy who had trouble holding a normal conversation and - needless to say - had a way of making Jasmine feel uneasy.

The next day, the wedding bells were chiming and Jasmine was dressed in a flowing white dress standing hand in hand at the alter with a crooked grinning Iago.

Later that night, as the newly wedded couple slipped into bed, a strange sensation overcame them as their surroundings suddenly changed. Jasmine now found herself sitting upright in her bed with another man!

"Who are you? Where is my husband? What do you want with me?" Jasmine yelled at the strange man.

"Calm down Jasmine whose beauty is beyond compare. I am the man your father promised you to," Aladdin said calmly as he slid under the covers. Before Jasmine could say another word, Aladdin was softly snoring.

***

Well as you can probably guess, Aladdin removed Iago from the equation and took Jasmine as his wife. Jasmine was far happier with her kindhearted and handsome new husband and she was even more elated to be residing the the most beautiful palace she - or anyone else - had ever laid eyes on. Hers and Aladdin's bedroom alone was larger than the grand hall in her father's palace. This one even went to the extremes of having precious jewels dispersed about the walls so that when they early morning son hit them, her bedroom glowed with vibrant reds and piercing blues.

(Woman that I imagine to look like Jasmine: Photo by Frank Kovalchek)

Author's Note: I based this storytelling assignment off of the story Aladdin from Arabian Nights. In the beginning of the story, Aladdin falls in love with the princess and has his genie provide him with jewels to present to the sultan for Jasmine's hand in marriage (by the way, the name Jasmine was not used in the story, so I added it into mine). The sultan's vizir had always wanted his son to marry the princess, so I gave his son the name Iago, since the Disney parrot, Iago, was not a part of the original story. I decided to retell this marriage fiasco through Jasmine's eyes instead of Aladdin's.
Bibliography: "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp" from Arabian Nights by Scheherazade. Web Source: Un-Textbook