midday
But if he had not brought much with him in the way of worldly goods , János Bélyi did not find much either in his new parish , which appeared to be going to wreck and ruin . The relations of the dead priest had taken away every stick they could lay hands on , and had only left a dog , his favorite . It was a dog such as one sees every day , as far as his shape and coat were concerned , but he was now in a very unpleasant position . After midday he began to wander from house to house in the village , slinking into the kitchens ; for his master had been in the habit of dining every day with one or other of his parishioners , and always took his dog with him . The dog 's name was Vistula , but his master need not have gone so far to find the name of a river , when the Bjela Voda flowed right through the meadows outside the village . -LRB- The Hungarian peasants generally give their dogs the name of a river , thinking it prevents hydrophobia . -RRB- The dog had already begun to feel that he and the priest together had been better received than he alone , though , until now , he had always imagined , with his canine philosophy , that his master had in reality been eating more than his share of the food .