noon
HAIL , SAH-LUMA ! '' The new-comer thus enthusiastically welcomed bowed right and left , with a condescending air , in response to the general acclamation , and advancing to the spot where Theos stood , an enforced prisoner in the close grip of three or four able-bodied citizens , he said : `` What turbulence is here ? By my faith ! ... when I heard the noise of quarrelsome contention jarring the sweetness of this nectarous noon , methought I was no longer in Al-Kyris , but rather in some western city of barbarians where music is but an unvalued name ! '' And he smiled -- a dazzling , child-like smile , half petulant , half-pleased -- a smile of supreme self-consciousness as of one who knew his own resistless power to charm away all discord . Several voices answered him in clamorous unison : `` A traitor , Sah-luma ! '' `` A profane rebel ! ''