noon
The Ape scratched in the mud with a long forefinger . `` And yet , who would profit by the killing ? Very many would die . '' There came up from the water a snatch of a love-song such as the boys sing when they watch their cattle in the noon heats of late spring . The Parrot screamed joyously , sidling along his branch with lowered head as the song grew louder , and in a patch of clear moonlight stood revealed the young herd , the darling of the Gopis , the idol of dreaming maids and of mothers ere their children are born Krishna the Well-beloved . He stooped to knot up his long wet hair , and the Parrot fluttered to his shoulder . `` Fleeting and singing , and singing and fleeting , '' hiccupped Bhairon .