six o'clock
It was night , and he said to himself : `` Here , at last , I shall find a quiet place to sleep . '' But when he chose a dark room and lay down , someone came in with a lamp , flashing the merciless light into his eyes , and said : `` Get up ; you are wanted . '' He rose and wandered on , staggering and stumbling like a creature wounded to death ; and heard the clocks strike one , and knew that half the night was gone already -- the precious night that was so short . Two , three , four , five -- by six o'clock the whole town would wake up and there would be no more silence . He went into another room and would have lain down on a bed , but someone started up from the pillows , crying out : `` This bed is mine ! '' and he shrank away with despair in his heart . Hour after hour struck , and still he wandered on and on , from room to room , from house to house , from corridor to corridor .