four o'clock in the afternoon
For they are hardly worthy of Tamoszius , the other two members of the orchestra . The second violin is a Slovak , a tall , gaunt man with black-rimmed spectacles and the mute and patient look of an overdriven mule ; he responds to the whip but feebly , and then always falls back into his old rut . The third man is very fat , with a round , red , sentimental nose , and he plays with his eyes turned up to the sky and a look of infinite yearning . He is playing a bass part upon his cello , and so the excitement is nothing to him ; no matter what happens in the treble , it is his task to saw out one long-drawn and lugubrious note after another , from four o'clock in the afternoon until nearly the same hour next morning , for his third of the total income of one dollar per hour . Before the feast has been five minutes under way , Tamoszius Kuszleika has risen in his excitement ; a minute or two more and you see that he is beginning to edge over toward the tables . His nostrils are dilated and his breath comes fast -- his demons are driving him . He nods and shakes his head at his companions , jerking at them with his violin , until at last the long form of the second violinist also rises up .