midday
The house was worthy of its owner . Built throughout of the purest marble , the rooms were roofed and panelled with sweet-smelling cedar of Lebanon , whence hung many silver lamps , and decorated by statuary and frescoes . On the marble floors were spread rugs , beautifully wrought in colours , while here and there stood couches , tables and stools , fashioned for the most part of ebony from Libya , inlaid with ivory and pearl . Benoni , the owner of all this wealth , having finished his business for that day -- the taking count of a shipload of merchandise which had reached him from Egypt -- had eaten his midday meal and now sought his couch under the portico to rest a while in the sun . Reclining on the cushions , soon he was asleep ; but it would seem that his dreams were unhappy -- at the least he turned from side to side muttering and moving his hands . At last he sat up with a start . `` Oh , Rachel , Rachel ! ''