noon
By degrees he became unhinged , his vague boredom developing into restless , nervous excitement . All his days were precisely alike , spent among the same sounds and the same odours . In the mornings the noisy buzzing of the auction sales resounded in his ears like a distant echo of bells ; and sometimes , when there was a delay in the arrival of the fish , the auctions continued till very late . Upon these occasions he remained in the pavilion till noon , disturbed at every moment by quarrels and disputes , which he endeavoured to settle with scrupulous justice . Hours elapsed before he could get free of some miserable matter or other which was exciting the market . He paced up and down amidst the crush and uproar of the sales , slowly perambulating the alleys and occasionally stopping in front of the stalls which fringed the Rue Rambuteau , and where lay rosy heaps of prawns and baskets of boiled lobsters with tails tied backwards , while live ones were gradually dying as they sprawled over the marble slabs . And then he would watch gentlemen in silk hats and black gloves bargaining with the fish-wives , and finally going off with boiled lobsters wrapped in paper in the pockets of their frock-coats .