midnight
`` Quick , slave , quick ! that I may drink and regain my youth ! '' `` Nay , listen , O king ! further said the star to me , -- ``` It is only at night , when the stars have power , that this their gift will avail ; wherefore the king must wait till the hush of the midnight , when the moon is high , and then may he mingle the liquid with his wine . And he must reveal to none that he hath received the gift from the hand of the servant of the stars . For THEY do their work in secret , and when men sleep ; therefore they love not the babble of mouths , and he who reveals their benefits shall surely die . '' `` Fear not , '' said the king , grasping the vessel ; `` none shall know : and , behold , I will rise on the morrow ; and my two sons , wrangling for my crown -- verily I shall be younger than they ! ''