noon
-- `` Tush , dolt , '' answered Vathek , `` and know that all this infinitely charms me . Nor shall I leave the meadow till I have visited every hive of these pious mendicants . '' Wherever the caliph directed his course , objects of pity were sure to swarm round him ; the blind , the purblind , smarts without noses , damsels without ears , each to extol the munificence of Fakreddin , who , as well as his attendant grey-beards , dealt about , gratis , plasters and cataplasms to all that applied . At noon , a superb corps of cripples made its appearance ; and soon after advanced , by platoons , on the plain , the completest association of invalids that had ever been embodied till then . The blind went groping with the blind , the lame limped on together , and the maimed made gestures to each other with the only arm that remained . The sides of a considerable waterfall were crowded by the deaf ; amongst whom were some from Pegû , with ears uncommonly handsome and large , but who were still less able to hear than the rest . Nor were there wanting others in abundance with hump-backs , wenny necks , and even horns of an exquisite polish .