Place three bowls on a table, one containing clear water, another soapy or muddy water, and the third one empty.

Blindfold the players one at a time, and lead them to the bowls, (whose positions are changed each time) to put their fingers in one of them.

If a player touches the clear water, he will be happily married; if the soapy water, he will marry a widow; and if he puts his finger in the empty bowl, he will never marry.

For knowing the occupation of the future one, there are several ways. Articles suggestive of different trades may be buried in flour, and the players in turn take a spoonful out of the dish and see what they can find. If not successful the first time, they may have a second trial.

Another way is to melt lead and then drop in into cold water, and the form it takes will suggest the trade of the future husband. Sometimes the forms are intricate, but if they suggest any trade, that is the real one. If it flattens out and looks like a book, an author will be the fate; if in tiny pieces, like particles of dirt, a farmer will be suggested, and so on.