He was awakened by the insistent feeling that he had overslept. He wanted to sit down, but hit his head and dropped back onto the bed. He lay still for a moment.
"Where am I?" Was his first thought as the headache shuddered. The first timid hints of a rising day slowly began to creep into the room where he lay. The angle of the incoming faint morning light was so unusual that he turned to his left side and searched the window. During this automatic movement, he realized he was in his former children's room, which was placed in the attic of his parents' house. That's why the head blow. In his sleepiness he didn't realize where he was and forgot the slope of the roof under which the bed stood.
He sat up again, this time without striking the low ceiling. Dressing quietly, avoiding the creaking steps, he went down to the ground floor. He put on his shoes, groped for a small basket under the stairs, and walked out into the cold, beginning day.
His footsteps headed toward the stream where he rinsed his face with cold water. Refreshed, he continued walking quickly along the dormant houses of the village to the opposite hillside. He crossed a flimsy wooden footbridge over another stream, running through a narrow alley between two houses to climb a steep slope above the village. He watched the eastern horizon all the time. The sun had not yet risen, but it was far enough to welcome the sun from its top.
He stopped in the middle of the hillside. His legs were cold as they were wet from the morning dew, but that didn't bother him. He glanced toward the Golden Hill. The strip of clouds above the chlum got golden edges. Unmistakable sign of the rising sun.
He really can't make it on his rock. So he stayed where he had a good view of the chilly. The valley with the village below was slowly awakening. The roosters started their song as if trying to get the sun to speed up the sky above the village. The summit on the opposite side of the valley has already caught the first sunbeam. Nature fell silent in anticipation of the new day. Only at the bottom of the village were the sounds of human activity.
He turned his attention to the northeast horizon just in time to feel the first fleeting touch of sunlight on his face. He stood still for a moment. Only when it was fully illuminated by the rising sun, did it move toward the forest.
Znovu se posadil, tentokrát bez úderu o nízký strop. Tiše se oblékl a vyhýbajíc se vrzavým schodům, sešel do přízemí. Obul se, zašmátral po malém košíku pod schody a vyšel do chladivého začínajícího dne.
Jeho kroky zamířily k potoku, kde si opláchl obličej studenou vodou. Takto osvěžen, pokračoval rychlou chůzí po cestě kolem ještě spících domů vesnice k protější stráni. Přešel po chatrné dřevěné lávce přes další potok, protáhl se úzkou uličkou mezi dvěma domy, aby začal stoupat do prudké stráně nad vesnicí. Celou dobu sledoval po oko východní obzor. Slunce ještě nevyšlo, ale k jeho skále to bylo dost daleko, aby přivítal slunce z jejího temene.
Zastavil uprostřed stráně. Nohy jej studily, jak byly mokré od ranní rosy, ale to ho netrápilo. Zahleděl se směrem ke Zlatému chlumu. Pás oblaků nad chlumem dostával zlatavé okraje. Neklamné znamení vycházejícího slunce.
Na jeho skálu to opravdu nestihne. Zůstal proto stát na místě, kde měl dobrý výhled na chlum. Údolí s vesnicí pod ním se začalo pomalu probouzet. Kohouti spustili svou píseň, jako by se snažili přimět slunce k rychlejší cestě na oblohu nad vesnicí. Vrchol na protější straně údolí již zachytil první sluneční paprsek. Příroda ztichla v očekávání nového dne. Jen dole ve vesnici se začaly ozývat zvuky lidské činnosti.
Obrátil svou pozornost k severovýchodnímu obzoru právě včas, aby ucítil na své tváři první letmý dotek slunečních paprsků. Chvíli ještě stál na svém místě. Teprve když byl celý ozářen vycházejícím sluncem, dal se do pohybu směrem k lesu.
