noon
But to-day -- distinctly -- breaking in with brawling impassioned suddenness upon my consciousness ... . I heard . This late _ far niente _ and vacuous inaction here have been undermining my spirit ; this inert brooding upon the earth ; this empty life , and bursting brain ! Immediately after eating at noon to-day , I said to myself : ` I have been duped by the palace : for I have wasted myself in building , hoping for peace , and there is no peace . Therefore now I shall fly from it , to another , sweeter work -- not of building , but of destroying -- not of Heaven , but of Hell -- not of self-denial , but of reddest orgy . Constantinople -- beware ! ' I tossed the chair aside , and with a stamp was on my feet : and as I stood -- again , again -- I heard : the startlingly sudden wrangle , the fierce , vulgar outbreak and voluble controversy , till my consciousness could not hear its ears : and one urged : ` Go !