PERSIAN. Cleopatra is not yet a woman: neither is she wise. But
she already troubles men's wisdom.

BELZANOR. Ay: that is because she is descended from the river
Nile and a black kitten of the sacred White Cat. What then?

PERSIAN. Why, sell her secretly to Ptolemy, and then offer
ourselves to Caesar as volunteers to fight for the overthrow of
her brother and the rescue of our Queen, the Great Granddaughter
of the Nile.

THE GUARDSMEN. O serpent!

PERSIAN. He will listen to us if we come with her picture in our
mouths. He will conquer and kill her brother, and reign in Egypt
with Cleopatra for his Queen. And we shall be her guard.

GUARDSMEN. O subtlest of all the serpents! O admiration! O
wisdom!

BEL AFFRIS. He will also have arrived before you have done
talking, O word spinner.

BELZANOR. That is true. (An affrighted uproar in the palace
interrupts him.) Quick: the flight has begun: guard the door.
(They rush to the door and form a cordon before it with their
spears. A mob of women-servants and nurses surges out. Those in
front recoil from the spears, screaming to those behind to keep
back. Belzanor's voice dominates the disturbance as he shouts)
Back there. In again, unprofitable cattle.