noon
But the sapient inmate sat still and cool in the midst . Absorbed in some other world of his occupations and thoughts , these insects , like daily cark and care , did not seem one whit to annoy him . It was a goodly sight to see this serene , cool and ripe old philosopher , who by sharp inquisition of man in the street , and then long meditating upon him , surrounded by all those queer old implements , charts and books , had grown at last so wondrous wise . There he sat , quite motionless among those restless flies ; and , with a sound like the low noon murmur of foliage in the woods , turning over the leaves of some ancient and tattered folio , with a binding dark and shaggy as the bark of any old oak . It seemed as if supernatural lore must needs pertain to this gravely , ruddy personage ; at least far foresight , pleasant wit , and working wisdom . Old age seemed in no wise to have dulled him , but to have sharpened ; just as old dinner-knives -- so they be of good steel -- wax keen , spear-pointed , and elastic as whale-bone with long usage . Yet though he was thus lively and vigorous to behold , spite of his seventy-two years -LRB- his exact date at that time -RRB- somehow , the incredible seniority of an antediluvian seemed his .