POTIPHAR. (_trembling with rage_) How dare you say such things! Do you
forget that I can have you beaten with rods?

JOSEPH. (_calmly_) Do you forget, sir, that I am no longer a slave?
Free men are not beaten in Egypt.

POTIPHAR. Free?

JOSEPH. Unless Potiphar takes back his word. It is true that I have no
witnesses to it.

POTIPHAR. (_with great dignity_) Witnesses are unnecessary. I had
forgotten for the moment. Let this remind me. (_He gives Joseph a
ring_.) You are a free man. And so--what I thought was an insolence is
merely a pleasantry. But--you take a quick advantage of your freedom.

JOSEPH. I accept the rebuke.

POTIPHAR. And--free man or slave--Joseph, you know too much!

_Potiphar walks out of the room. . . . Joseph seats himself at the
table, and takes up a scroll of papyrus. He reads a moment, then claps
his hands. A slave enters, stands before the table, and bows_.

JOSEPH. (_consulting the papyrus_) Bear word to the overseer of
the winepress that the grapes in the southeast section will be brought
in for pressing tomorrow morning. . . . Bear word to the chief
carpenter that a table and two couches, of the standard pattern, are
wanted--at once. . . . Bear word to the chief pastry-cook that his
request for another helper is denied.