"It is not prudent to keep this man imprisoned without knowing whether he is the right one to offer to the snake. You have seized the best, and in the meanwhile justice is forgotten. Have the priests to the snake called, that they may see him, and that I may speak with them."
The King answered that this would be easy, as two priests had arrived from the snake's temple, before they had gone into the garden, to demand an audience.
They were called, and there soon appeared the priests in long white garments, with particoloured girdles.
"Is this the man pointed out by your god?" asked she, as they approached Jussuf's cage.
"It is, it is!" they cried in the same voice, and bowed humbly before the Princess.
"What have you for a sign?" she again asked.
"We have no sign," they answered; "but he it is."
"You have no sign! How, then, do you know he is the right one?" asked she.
To which they answered, "The divine snake has discovered it."
Then she replied, with contempt, "Be silent to me about your snake!" And she turned to the King, and said, "My King and father, will you suffer yourself any longer to be deceived by these stupid and obstinate men? They give out that they have divine knowledge, and yet they are as ignorant as a maiden of sixteen! I beg you, have their god, the snake, brought here, and I will prove that I speak truth; but they, only deceit and falsehood."