XII
Asenath felt Oni shaking her the next morning.
“My lady! Wake up!”
“What do you want?” Asenath growled.
“I’m sorry. I knew that you wouldn’t want to be woken, but it is the first hour of the day and my lord told me that he had something to do with you before he left at the second hour and…I thought…”
“Stop blubbering. Well, if I must get up, I must. Where is J…I mean, Zaphenath-paneah?”
“I don’t know completely, but I was told that he is in the back room alone,… talking to himself,” Oni finished quickly.
What a fool!
“Don’t speak with such rudeness! Come with me to the bathroom and assist me with my shower.”
Asenath stood in the mud brick enclosure while Oni poured cold water over her head. The icy water chilled her bones, but it helped her to wake up and think clearly.
I must not fall into blind love. I won’t speak to him nor look him in the eye. With luck, he will find it totally disrespectful and file for divorce.
After she dressed in a tasteful (and modest) cream and dark yellow tunic, Joseph’s male servant, Msrah, knocked.
“My lord wishes to have breakfast with you on the east portico.”
“Yes, of course. I will be there momentarily.”
While she walked to the portico, she took in more of the house, trying to remember how to get back to her room.
She came to the east portico. Joseph was setting the table. Asenath gasped.
Why won’t he just let the slaves do their jobs?
For a few minutes, she watched him from behind a column. He brought in food, poured drinks, and arranged a centerpiece of rose and myrtle flowers.
A man of many talents. How is it that he has not won a girl yet? Probably, his disregard of normality lost his admirers.
Though she tried to subdue it, Asenath was gaining an odd respect for this man.
She emerged and coughed to get his attention. He noticed her and smiled.
“I know that I should have let the slaves do it… but I wanted everything to be perfect. We can eat breakfast together while watching the sunrise. All the servants may leave the room.” Joseph reclined on the pillows while patting a spot for Asenath.
She lounged at the table covered with honey bread, milk, dates, and pine nuts. Joseph bowed his head for a minute.
He has such strange rituals!
The sun began peaking over the horizon. “What a beautiful morning!” Joseph exclaimed.
Asenath just munched on pine nuts and said nothing.
“How did you sleep?”
She said nothing.
Joseph lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll take that as ‘I slept very well, thank you’.”
She didn’t even look at him, but she imagined his face getting red.
“Tell me a little about yourself.”
She kept eating and prepared for him to explode.
“Well then…” he started tensely, but he stopped himself. “You are right. This is too gorgeous a sunrise to ruin with speaking.”
They ate the rest of breakfast in silence.
He is not angry! Why? I disrespected his authority and disobeyed him.
The meal ended. Joseph took Asenath’s rigid hand and kissed it. “Good bye, my love. I will be back for supper.” Putting on his wig and headpiece, he left.
Asenath watched him from the portico as he sped away on his chariot to the Pharaoh’s palace.
Now there is work to do.
First thing, Asenath called a meeting of the head slaves of the house in the main hall. The steward, head chef, chief gardener, and master of slaves were present.
Asenath sat at a high backed stool while Oni kept her cool with a fan of peacock feathers. “Since I am running the affairs of this household for now and I am new here, I called this meeting. Steward Msrah, explain to me the size of this estate.”
“My lady, Zaphenath-paneah has three acres of grape vineyards a few miles away. That is mostly my concern. Here there are thirty gardeners for the twenty gardens, twenty cooks, fifteen maids, five stable boys, three messenger boys, thirty musicians and dancer, twenty others, and forty guards. The fruit from our gardens go to the storeroom or the kitchen. Extras are given to the poor.”
“To the poor?”
“By order of Zaphenath-paneah. The estate is financially stable.”
“Good. You may go. Chef, tonight we will have stuffed and roasted duck. And I want my lunch in the shade garden.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Go now. Gardener, I would like fish added to the pool of the mosaic garden.”
He bowed and left.
“Master of slaves, tomorrow we will go to the market. I need at least four male attendants. Not Nubians, but of noble look and stature. And who is your most loyal and hard-working male slave with an excellent spirit?”
“Let’s see. Hmmmm. Probably Msrah, but he is my lord’s steward.”
“Is he married?”
“No.”
“Perfect! Oni, hand me papyrus and a quill.”
Oni gave it to her, and Asenath began to write. She finished the note, sealed it, and handed it to the man.
“Give this to my lord, Zaphenath-paneah. You are dismissed.” The man left, bowing profusely. “Oni, you are to be married.”
“My lady! To Msrah!”
“Yes.”
“Thank you! I can’t even express how happy I am!”
“Do not speak of it. I will finalize it with Zaphenath-paneah tonight. Now I must organize all those gifts we got. Some of them are probably worthless, others valuable. Come, this will be tedious.”
The rest of the morning was spent sorting money, linen clothing, jewelry, pots, and little idols. Asenath wasn’t sure what to do with the statues since she hadn’t seen any gods in the house.
I’ll ask Joseph about them tonight.
When the hottest part of the day came, Asenath made her way to the shade garden. It was a circular grove of persea and tamarisk trees. The branches were low, and their shadows offered a chance to shelter from the sun. In the center, a white pillar stood upright. Vines were connected from the top of the pillar to the tops of the trees like a spoked wheel. A low sofa sat on the grass by a table with a simple lunch of raisin cakes and grape juice. Asenath ate under the canopy of vines. Then, she began to do fine beaded stitchery on one of her tunics.
I hate stitchery. But proper noblewomen do stitchery. And that is what I am. For now. I will do this monotonous work until the month is up. Maybe I do have a little esteem for Joseph, no, I don’t care what he does. Well, I can’t ignore him anymore. I have to speak to him about Msrah and the statues. Perhaps he will tell me his story. I don’t deserve that after this morning.
The afternoon passed stale and sleepy.
Oni yawned as she fanned her mistress. She thought, “At least, back at the painted house, I had real work to do.”
The hot part of the day had just passed when Asenath spoke, “Tomorrow, I will spend rest time with a few politically connected women. My husband needs a sly woman like me to hear what the nobles of Egypt really think of him.”
“Very good plan, my lady. Are you ready to go in?”
“Yes. I have to change for dinner.”
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Asenath spent an hour getting ready for dinner because guests invited by Joseph were coming that night. She dressed modestly, of course, but she had realized that she could still be fashionable while being modest.
Dinner was held in the main hall. Musicians played Egyptian folk songs. Asenath sat to the right of Joseph at the table. The steward was there along with government officials, farm owners, and builders.
Joseph started the meal by bowing his head for a moment, like breakfast that morning.
What could he be doing? Remembering the dead? Keeping a vow?
The dinner was festive with smoky roasted duck stuffed with corn and vegetables.
Asenath laughed along with the jokes and added words to the discussions, but all of it was fake.
I loathe this marriage, but I cannot ruin his political career.
When dinner was finished, Joseph stood up. “Well, friends, what an enjoyable meal! Thank you, my love, for planning it.”
Asenath blushed.
He should not be so…so hasty! And outwardly affectionate! It is not right!
“I would love to talk and make merry the rest of the night. But we have business to attend to.”
The guests nodded.
“The Pharaoh has put me in charge of storing one fifth of all the food for the famine to come.”
Famine? How does he know that here is a famine coming?
“I have worked on plans all day.”
For the next two hours, Joseph laid out plans for building huge storage cellars in key cities and gathering grain. “During the next seven years of plenty, this is what we will work on. Once the seven years of famine begin, we will have to discuss ways to distribute the food.”
Asenath listened with interest and total confusion.
Seven years of plenty? Seven years of famine? Are these code words? Has the Pharaoh gone mad?
Finally, Joseph dismissed the group. He whispered, “Wait here a moment.” She noticed that he looked tired.
Probably hoping that I will succumb to his attempts at wooing me. Never!
She walked out onto a porch. The full moon beamed a silvery light that seemed to encompass her. The light was haunting and gripping. Asenath shivered.
Some might find the moon beautiful, not me. It is frightening. What is on the dark side of the moon that no one sees? What horrors lie there?
Madu came to her, “My lord is ready for you.”
Asenath walked to her room and opened the curtain. She gasped. “My lord… I mean, Joseph! What are you doing?”
He stood by the door wearing a loincloth of a slave and holding an alabaster bowl. “My lady, sit down,” he said humbly.
“No! You are my husband! You will never wash my feet.”
“I must do this. Allow me this one thing. Let me show my love for you by serving you,” he pleaded.
A spark of Asenath’s conceit came back. “Alright. Don’t make the water too cold.”
“Of course not.” He expertly unbuckled her sandals.
Reluctantly, she slipped her dirty feet into the bowl. He poured warm water over her feet.
Mmmmm. The perfect temperature.
Without hesitancy, he began to massage her feet with his warm hands.
He knows how to do this. I knew he was a slave but I thought that he was higher up. Only the lowest slaves wash feet!
He added perfumes to the water and continued to massage. His touch was not awkward or stiff as she had imagined it might be. When he was done, her feet felt soft and delicate. He bowed.
“Was my service to your liking?”
“Joseph, how…what? Yes.”
“I am glad. Now, unless I can serve you another way, I will go to bed.”
“No, go ahead. And…thank you.”
Asenath had a million questions in her mind to ask Joseph, but he was already lying on the couch.
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Asenath was in bed before she remembered about Oni and the statues of the gods.
I really shouldn’t wake him up. But this is important. And, if he wants to be of service to me, he shouldn’t mind too much.
“Joseph?”
He grunted from across the room.
“Are you awake?”
“Yes.”
“Oni, my attendant, is of age for marriage and I wish her to be married to Msrah.”
“Sounds reasonable. Alright. He needs a wife, and Oni seems to have a good spirit. They will be a nice fit.”
“May I have a house built for them? Not big, but decent.”
“Alright. Good night.”
“Good night.”
Oh! The famine!
A few minutes later, she said again, “Joseph?”
“Asenath?”
“Do you have a minute?”
“I always have a minute for you, my love.”
“What was all that at dinner about years of plenty and years of famine?”
“It’s quite a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?
“If you aren’t too tired…”
“Well, alright. But here’s the deal. You cannot comment until I have finished the story.”
“I won’t.”
“Alright. About a week ago, Pharaoh had a dream, actually two dreams. The first one was like this. There were seven fat cows eating by the Nile. Then, seven very skinny cows came up and ate the fat ones. But the skinny cows were still skinny. The next dream was this. Seven ears of corn grew, full and good. Then, seven thin and withered ears came up and ate the good ones. Pharaoh called to all his magicians for an interpretation, but none of them could give him one. My God Elohim has given me the gift of interpretation. Pharaoh called me and told me the dreams. And God revealed to me the meaning. The dreams had the same interpretation. Elohim showed to the Pharaoh what is to come. The seven fat cows and ears are seven years of great plenty. And the skinny cows and ears are seven years of severe famine.”
The whole time Asenath had listened with a blank stare.
When it was obvious that he was done, Asenath began to laugh. She put her hands on her stomach and bent over laughing.
“How could the Pharaoh be so foolish? He thinks that you can see the future! I see everything now! I see how you used these dreams to get into power!”
“No! Elohim revealed it to me! It was not a political game!”
“Zaphenath-paneah! The god speaks and lives! Pharaoh thinks that you are a god!”
“NO! NO! You are wrong! Elohim is God, the only God!”
Asenath became solemn. “Yes, I see that you really believe in this God. Where is His image then? I have seen none.”
“He is the God that created all Heaven and Earth. He is so majestic that His glory cannot be made into an image.”
“That is ridiculous. Egyptian gods have images. I have never heard of Elohim.”
“He is the God of the Hebrews and the only God!” he yelled.
“What about all the gods that we have in our storage room?”
“Melt them down. I won’t have idols in my house! And what idol do you serve, Asenath? Ra?”
Asenath spit. “I serve no one. There are no gods and if there are, they have no power.”
“You are wrong. Elohim has all power!”
“Believe what you want Joseph, but there will be no famine and there is no Elohim!”
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