aid the princess, opening upon him all the tenderness of
her large and beaming eyes, "how weary am I of sitting on my cushion,
and seeing fop after fop, fool after fool, dawdle down upon their faces
before me; and, moreover, I am suffocated with perfumes. Strike your
mandolin again louder, beloved of my soul--still louder, that I may be
further relieved of this unwished-for crowd."

Thereupon, Acota seized his mandolin, and made such an unaccountable
confusion of false notes, such a horrid jarring, that all the birds
within one hundred yards shrieked as they fled, and the watchful old
chamberlain, who was always too near the princess, in her opinion, and
never near enough, in his own, cried out, "Yah--yah--baba senna, curses
on his mother, and his mandolin into the bargain!" as his teeth
chattered; and he hastened away, as fast as his obesity would permit
him. The faithful damsels who surrounded the princess could neither
stand it nor sit it any longer--they were in agonies, all their teeth
were set on edge; and at last, when Acota, with one dreadful crash,
broke every string of his instrument, they broke loose from the reins of
duty, and fled in every direction of the garden, leaving the princess
and Acota alone.

"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 Souffraria