“Donotthankme。Indeedifyouarewiseyouwillrefuse。YouhavemetPambasa。Well，NehesiisPambasamultipliedbyten，arogue，athief，abully，andonewhohasPharaoh’sear。Hewillmakeyourlifeatormenttoyouandclipeveryringofgoldthatatlengthyouwringoutofhisgrip。Moreovertheplaceiswearisome，andIamfancifulandoftenill-humoured。Donotthankme，Isay。Refuse；returntoMemphisandwritestories。Shuncourtsandtheirplottings。Pharaohhimselfisbutafaceandapuppetthroughwhichothervoicestalkandothereyesshine，andthesceptrewhichhewieldsispulledbystrings。AndifthisissowithPharaoh，whatisthecasewithhisson？Thentherearethewomen，Ana。Theywillmakelovetoyou，Ana，theyevendosotome，andIthinkyoutoldmethatyouknowsomethingofwomen。Donotaccept，gobacktoMemphis。IwillsendyousomeoldmanuscriptstocopyandpayyouwhateveritisNehesiallowsforthelibrarian。“
“YetIaccept，OPrince。AsforNehesiIfearhimnotatall，sinceattheworstIcanwriteastoryabouthimatwhichtheworldwilllaugh，andratherthanthathewillpaymemysalary。“
“YouhavemorewisdomthanIthought，Ana。ItnevercameintomymindtoputNehesiinastory，thoughitistrueItelltalesabouthimwhichismuchthesamething。“
Hebendforward，leaninghisheaduponhishand，andceasingfromhisbanteringtone，lookedmeintheeyesandasked：
“Whydoyouaccept？Letmethinknow。Itisnotbecauseyoucareforwealthifthatistobewonhere；norforthepompandshowofcourts；