noon
They are never intimate with those who hurry . Mere sight-seers seldom see much of anything . If possible , '' -- insisted the speaker , smiling gravely upon his companion , -- `` one should always spend , at least , a full day in the approach . Before entering the immediate presence of the hills , one should first view them from a distance , seeing them from base to peak -- in the glory of the day 's beginning , as they watch the world awake ; in the majesty of full noon , as they maintain their calm above the turmoil of the day 's doing ; and in the glory of the sun 's departure , as it lights last their crests and peaks . And then , after such a day , one should sleep , one night , at their feet . '' The artist listened with delight , as he always did when his friend spoke in those rare moods that revealed a nature so unknown to the world that had made him famous . When the novelist finished , the young man said gently , `` And your words , my friend , are almost a direct quotation from that anonymous book which my mother so loved . ''