Der falsche Prinz (1922)

The story takes place in the fairy-tale world of One Thousand and One Nights. Labakan, an apprentice tailor, is dissatisfied with his current circumstances and dreams of becoming a prince one day. When he is asked to alter a robe for the Sultan, he keeps it, puts it on, and immediately disappears from his familiar surroundings. On his travels, he meets Prince Omar, the son of his employer, whom the Sultan’s son is on his way to visit. Omar grew up with his uncle, so no one at court knows what he looks like. Wearing the fine clothes that make him appear to be more than he really is, Labakan is convinced he would make a much better prince than Omar. So he steals the sleeping Sultan’s son’s dagger and horse and passes himself off as Prince Omar, quite convincingly. A little later, the now-awake Omar arrives too, but he cannot convince anyone that he is the real Sultan’s son, and is arrested as an impostor. The false prince, Labakan, contemptuously calls him “a mad apprentice tailor from Alessandria.” While Labakan settles in at court, Omar’s mother, the Sultana, remains suspicious of the stranger and decides to reveal both her true son and the impostor by setting them a task: since one of the two must be a tailor, they are both to make a kaftan and a pair of trousers. Labakan does not see through the ruse and makes a splendid outfit, while the real prince, as expected, makes a botched job of it. Now the Sultan too has his doubts and seeks out the fairy Adolzaide. She gives him two precious caskets, from which the two supposed sons of the Sultan must each choose one. On the lid of one, the words “Honor and Glory” are written in diamond letters; on the other, “Happiness and Wealth.” Labakan chooses “Happiness and Wealth,” while Omar chooses “Honor and Glory.” The caskets then spring open: Omar receives a crown and a scepter, while Labakan finds a needle and thread. Labakan is exposed, but they decide to show the impostor mercy and merely banish him from the court. Labakan quickly returns to his old tailor’s workshop, where he is given a thorough beating for his theft. The chastened Labakan then sells his splendid casket and uses the money to set up his own tailor’s shop. His deeper realization is that the fairy’s gifts of needle and thread are valuable too, for the magic needle sews all by itself, and the thread never runs out. Thus, despite all his misdeeds, the false prince is assured of happiness and wealth.