"Beloved of my soul," said the princess, "I have at last invented a plan
by which our happiness will be secured!" and in a low tone of voice, but
without looking at each other, that they might not attract the
observation of the chamberlain, they sweetly communed. Acota listened a
few minutes to the soft voice of the princess, and then took up his
broken-stringed mandolin, and with a profound reverence for the benefit
of the old chamberlain, he departed.
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.
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