steepholm | Three Wishes

There's an interesting discussion going on on the child_lit listserv at the moment, about when the idea first emerged of Aladdin's lamp (or the genie therein) being allowed to dispense three wishes only, rather than the unlimited number available in 1001 Nights. The earliest linking of three wishes to a genie currently stands at 1940, with the Sabu film The Thief of Baghdad - though that of course is not about Aladdin.

I wonder whether the answer may lie in panto, but don't know enough about its history to be sure. Anyway, I thought this learned flist might have a few ideas...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

On the number 3 in folk tales and jokes, I've always assumed that, apart from any mystical associations it has, it also happens to be the smallest number necessary to set up the common pattern of Event-Repetition-Variation. You need two to create an expectation in the reader/hearer, and the third to frustrate it. In the case of wishes, two might be wasted and the third used wisely, for example.

I think you are right about this pattern effect. It appears in jokes too.

Three Wishes

The structuralist in me would add...

Re: The structuralist in me would add...