midnight
His talk was of dark-skinned bearded men , of lions , and of monstrous serpents . Then Demetrius , the Cilician , an austere man of sixty , told how he also had built up his mighty wealth . He spoke of a journey over the Danube and through the country of the fierce Huns , until he and his friends had found themselves in the mighty forest of Germany , on the shores of the great river which is called the Elbe . His stories were of huge men , sluggish of mind , but murderous in their cups , of sudden midnight broils and nocturnal flights , of villages buried in dense woods , of bloody heathen sacrifices , and of the bears and wolves who haunted the forest paths . So the two elder men capped each other 's stories and awoke each other 's memories , while Manuel Ducas , the young merchant of gold and ostrich feathers , whose name was already known all over the Levant , sat in silence and listened to their talk . At last , however , they called upon him also for an anecdote , and leaning his cheek upon his elbow , with his eyes fixed upon the great red star which burned in the south , the younger man began to speak . `` It is the sight of that star which brings a story into my mind , '' said he .