midday
And this continued denial of wants , of needs , occasionally , hardened him , as his earlier experiences had hardened him , toughened him for the struggles to come , brought to him that which is good for all youth -- realization that life is not a mere span of days with sweets and comforts for the asking , but a time of struggle , a battle for supremacy , and it is only through the battle that one grows fit and ever more fit for the good of the All . Not the least of his trials was great loneliness . One day was so very like another . Regularly each morning , after seeking out his favorite corner in the corral , he would see the sun step from the mountain-tops , ascend through a cool morning , pour down scorching midday rays , descend through a tense afternoon , and drop from view in the chill of evening . Always he would watch this thing , sometimes standing , other times reclining , but ever conscious of the dread monotony of it all . Nothing happened , nobody came to caress him , no one paid him the least attention . A forlorn colt , a lonely colt , doubly so for lack of a mother , he spent long days in moody contemplation of an existence that irked .