ASENATH. (_coldly_) I really think it means that you have a
persecution--mania. You imagine that every woman you meet has designs
on you. . . . I suppose you think that _I_ came here to make love
to you?
JOSEPH. No, my dear Asenath. I know better than that. When young women
come to my room at midnight, it is only to borrow a book to read--or to
ask my advice about their personal affairs. I know, because they tell
me so. Which did you come for--a book, or advice?
ASENATH. Neither. I came to give a book to you--and to give you some
advice.... Do you remember telling me, once in Heliopolis, that the man
who knew enough about the climate of Egypt to predict a famine could
make himself the richest man in the kingdom? Well--here is everything
you want to know, in an old book I found in my father's library in
Heliopolis. This is the book I came to give you.
_She holds out a scroll_.