midnight
To take care of her , to deny herself , and bear the severest fatigue for her had been her pleasure ; and now as she appealed to her father -- as she wont to do -- as if he were present , and asked him in an inaudible cry : `` Tell me , have I not done all for her that I could do ? '' and said to herself that he could not possibly answer her appeal but with assent , her eyes filled with tears ; the bitterness and discontent which had lately filled her breast gradually disappeared , and a gentle , calm , refreshing sense of satisfaction came over her spirit , like a cooling breeze after a scorching day . As she now again stood still , straining her eyes which were growing more accustomed to the darkness , to discover one of the temples at the end of the alley of sphinxes , suddenly and unexpectedly at her right hand a solemn and many-voiced hymn of lamentation fell upon her ear . This was from the priests of Osiris-Apis who were performing the sacred mysteries of their god , at midnight , on the roof of the temple . She knew the hymn well -- a lament for the deceased Osiris which implored him with urgent supplication to break the power of death , to rise again , to bestow new light and new vitality on the world and on men , and to vouchsafe to all the departed a new existence . The pious lament had a powerful effect on her excited spirit . Her parents too perhaps had passed through death , and were now taking part in the conduct of the destiny of the world and of men in union with the life giving God .