midday
One hears all the hawksters ' cries , all the clatter characteristic of that town . The milk-vendor , the honey-vendor , the chestnut-vendor , each has his own traditional theme . The candlestick-maker produces a sonorous peal from two copper candlesticks , the scissors-grinder whistles on his flute ... . Then , at midday , hawksters and peasants disappear , the sun shines hotter , and the afternoon is tiresome and enervating . FROM THE MIRADERO Castro Duro is situated on a hill of red earth . One goes up to the town by a dusty highway , with the remains of little trees which one Europeanizing mayor planted , and which all died ; or else by zigzag paths , up which saddle-animals and beasts of burden usually go . From the plain Castro Duro stands out in silhouette against the sky , between two high , many-sided edifices , one of a honey yellow , old and respectable , the church ; the other white , overgrown , modern , the prison .