noon
Keep your groschen . '' George blushed scarlet , put his money in his pocket , and replied : `` Then may God reward you . '' The words sprang naturally and easily to his lips , and yet they were the very ones that the beggars in the duchy of the Greylocks always used . He ran along by the side of the stream quite fast , in order to dry his clothes , until it was noon , and many thoughts passed through his mind , but so rapidly that he could hardly remember whether they were gay or sad . When at last he sat down to rest under a flowering elder bush , he thought of his mother , and of the great sorrow that he was causing her , of his brother , and Norma , and old Pepe , and his heart failed him , and he wept . He might never see them again , for how could he ever accomplish anything that was good and great , and yet the fish had demanded it of him ! For three days he continued to be very dejected , and whenever he passed boys at play , or boys and maidens dancing and singing under the trees , he would say to himself : `` You are happy , for you were not born under an evil star as I was . ''