noon
For often as he sat waiting for her by the margin of the spring , she would suddenly fall down around him in a shower of sunny raindrops , with a rainbow glancing through them , and forthwith gather herself up into the likeness of a beautiful girl , laughing -- or was it the warble of the rill over the pebbles ? -- to see the youth 's amazement . Thus , kind maiden that she was , the hot atmosphere became deliciously cool and fragrant for this favored knight ; and , furthermore , when he knelt down to drink out of the spring , nothing was more common than for a pair of rosy lips to come up out of its little depths , and touch his mouth with the thrill of a sweet , cool , dewy kiss ! `` It is a delightful story for the hot noon of your Tuscan summer , '' observed the sculptor , at this point . `` But the deportment of the watery lady must have had a most chilling influence in midwinter . Her lover would find it , very literally , a cold reception ! '' `` I suppose , '' said Donatello rather sulkily , `` you are making fun of the story .