noon
The period of mourning had passed , yet he had not ceased to mourn for his parent . The years revolved with their moons , bringing him no hour of joy , no day of happy rest ; yet he never lamented his servitude , or failed to perform the rites of ancestral worship , -- until at last the fever of the rice-fields laid strong hold upon him , and he could not arise from his couch ; and his fellow-laborers thought him destined to die . There was no one to wait upon him , no one to care for his needs , inasmuch as slaves and servants were wholly busied with the duties of the household or the labor of the fields , -- all departing to toil at sunrise and returning weary only after the sundown . Now , while the sick youth slumbered the fitful slumber of exhaustion one sultry noon , he dreamed that a strange and beautiful woman stood by him , and bent above him and touched his forehead with the long , fine fingers of her shapely hand . And at her cool touch a weird sweet shock passed through him , and all his veins tingled as if thrilled by new life . Opening his eyes in wonder , he saw verily bending over him the charming being of whom he had dreamed , and he knew that her lithe hand really caressed his throbbing forehead . But the flame of the fever was gone , a delicious coolness now penetrated every fibre of his body , and the thrill of which he had dreamed still tingled in his blood like a great joy .