The acolyte seemed disappointed, shaking his head. "I see. Well, I understand your hesitation. Tis an important decision to make after all. In any case I do not mind if you wish to read these books, however I must ask that you only read them here, in the temple, for safe keeping. We once allowed the villagers to take books to read at their own leisure however after many valuable books were lost we cannot allow any to be taken anymore. And naturally, please do not damage the books. These texts are fairly new but paper is a fragile thing." He left the two tomes on a small desk nearby. "When you are done, you may simply leave them on the table. I would not want you to risk harming yourself trying to climb the ladder whilst putting the tomes away. They can be quite heavy."