Midnight
What are your views about it ? '' Theodore , Ottmar and Cyprian all thought that their union would have been sure to assume a literary character , of itself , though nothing had been expressly stipulated to that affect , -- and at once took the vow of obedience to the rule of Serapion the Hermit , so clearly formulated by Lothair ; which , as Theodore pointed out , amounted to this -- that they should never vex each other 's souls by the production of scamped work . So they clinked their glasses joyously , and gave each other the fraternal embrace of the true Serapion Brother . `` Midnight , '' said Ottmar , `` is still a long way off , and I think it would be very nice if one of us were to relate something more pleasant and amusing , by way of throwing the melancholy , nay terrible , events we have been dealing with into the background a little . I think it rests properly with Theodore to operate his promised ` Transition to Ordinary Rationality . ' '' `` If you like , '' said Theodore , `` I will read you a little story which I wrote some time ago , which was suggested to me by a picture . When I saw this picture , I discovered a meaning in it which the painter of it had certainly never dreamt of -- could not have dreamt of in fact -- because it referred to circumstances in my own early life , which the picture brought strangely back to my memory . ''