noon
He strove to free himself from the temptations , which more and more tightly closed in upon him , but it was with him as with a man who has fallen into a bog , who , the more vehemently he tries to escape from the mire , sinks the deeper . As the sun rose , so rose his vital energy and his self-confidence , and when he prepared to quit his dwelling , in his most costly clothing , he had arrived once more at the decision of the night before , and had again resolved to fight for his purpose , without -- and if need were -- against the Gods . The Mohar had chosen his road , and he never turned back when once he had begun a journey . It was noon : the rays of the sun found no way into the narrow shady streets of the city of Thebes , but they blazed with scorching heat on the broad dyke-road which led to the king 's castle , and which at this hour was usually almost deserted . To-day it was thronged with foot-passengers and chariots , with riders and litter-bearers . Here and there negroes poured water on the road out of skins , but the dust was so deep , that , in spite of this , it shrouded the streets and the passengers in a dry cloud , which extended not only over the city , but down to the harbor where the boats of the inhabitants of the Necropolis landed their freight . The city of the Pharaohs was in unwonted agitation , for the storm-swift breath of rumor had spread some news which excited both alarm and hope in the huts of the poor as well as in the palaces of the great .