In the meantime, a rumour was spread abroad that at sunset a public examination of all the candidates was to take place on the bank of the rapid-flowing river, which ran through a spacious meadow near to the city, in order to reject those candidates who might prove, by any scar or blemish not to come expressly within the meaning of the old king’s will.  Twelve old fakirs, and twenty-four mollahs with spectacles, were appointed as examining officers.  It was supposed, as this was a religious ceremony, that all the females of Souffra, who were remarkable for their piety, would not fail to attend—­and all the world were eager for the commencement of the examination.  O then it was pleasant to see the running, and mounting, and racing, among the young Souffrarian rayahs, who were expected to be examined; and a stranger would have thought that a sudden pestilence had entered the city, from the thousands upon thousands who poured out from it, hastening to the river side, to behold the ceremony.  But to the astonishment of the people, almost all the rayahs, as soon as they were mounted, left the city in an opposite direction, some declaring, that they were most surely without scar or blemish, but still they could not consent to expose their persons to the gaze of so many thousands; others declared, that they left on account of scars and honourable wounds received in battle, and until that afternoon, the Souffrarians were not aware of how much modesty and how much courage they had to boast in their favoured land; and many regretted, as they viewed the interminable line of gallant young men depart, that the will of the late king should have made scars received in battle to be a bar to advancement; but they were checked by the Brahmins, who told them that there was a holy and hidden mystery contained in the injunction of the old king’s will.

* * * * *

“By the beard of the prophet, it takes a long time to get a husband for this princess of yours, Menouni,” observed the pacha with a yawn.

“Your sublime highness will not be surprised at it, when you consider the conditions of the old king’s will.”

* * * * *

The examination was most strict, and even a small cut was sufficient to render a young man ineligible; a corn was considered as a blemish—­and a young man even having been bled by a leech to save his life, lost him all chance of the princess.

* * * * *

“Pray may I ask, if a barber had cut the skin in shaving their heads, was that considered as a scar?”

“Most decidedly, your highness.”

“Then those fakirs and mollahs, with their spectacles, and the Brahmins, were a parcel of fools.  Were they not, Mustapha?”

“Your highness’s wisdom is like the overflowing of the honey pot,” replied Mustapha.

“Your know, Mustapha, as well as I do, that it is almost impossible not to draw blood, if there happens to be a pimple, or a bad razor; but, however, proceed, Menouni, and if possible marry this beautiful princess.”