midday
`` I ca n't imagine how you pass your time , '' remarked Shafto , `` or how you stand the idleness -- a man like you who were accustomed to an active life . '' `` Oh , I get through me day all right . In the early morning there 's prayers and a small refreshment , and I sit and meditate ; the young fellows , like novices , sweep and carry water and put flowers about the Buddha ; then we all go with our bowls in our hands , parading through the village , looking neither right nor left , but we get all we want and more -- for giving is a great merit . When we return to the _ kyoung _ we have our big midday meal , and then for a few hours I meditate again . The life suits me . It 's a different country from India , with its blazing sun and great bare plains ; there the people seldom has a smile on them . Here they are always laughing ; here all is green and beautiful , with fine aisy times for flowers and birds and beasts .