three in the morning
Had I been a fool I should not to-day be the king of a great people and the husband of their queen ; indeed , I should not be alive . But enough of myself and my appearance in those years that seem as far off as though they had never been save in the land of dreams . Now I and my two serving men , sailors both of them like myself and most of the folk of Hastings set out upon a summer eve , purposing to fish all night and return at dawn . We came to our chosen ground and cast out the net , meeting with wonderful fortune since by three in the morning the big boat was full of every kind of fish . Never before , indeed , had we made so large a haul . Looking back at that great catch , as here in this far land it is my habit to do upon everything , however small , that happened to me in my youth before I became a wanderer and an exile , I seem to see in it an omen . For has it not always been my lot in life to be kissed of fortune and to gather great store , and then of a sudden to lose it all as I was to lose that rich multitude of fishes ?