Thus incoherently, thus wildly wrote Ammalát, in order to cheat time and to divert his soul. Thus he tried to cheat himself, rousing himself to revenge, whilst the real cause of his bloody intentions, viz. the desire of possessing Seltanetta, broke through every word. In order to embolden himself for his crime, he drank deeply of wine, and maddened, threw himself, with his gun, into the Colonel's tent; but perceiving sentinels at the door, he changed his intention. The natural feeling of self-preservation did not abandon him, even in his madness. Ammalát put off till the morning the consummation of the murder; but he could neither sleep nor distract his thoughts ... and re-entering his tent, he seized Saphir Ali by the throat, who was lying fast asleep, and shaking him roughly: "Get up, sleepy rascal!"; he cried to him, "it is already dawn." Saphir Ali raised his head in a discontented mood, and yawning, answered: "I see only the dawn of wine on your cheek--good-night, Ammalát!" "Up, I tell you! The dead must quit their graves to meet the new-comer whom I have promised to send to keep them company!" "Why, brother, am I dead?... Even the _forty Imaums_[26] may get up from the burial-ground of Derbénd--but I will sleep." [26] The Mussulmans believe, that in the northern burial-ground of Derbénd, are buried the forty first true believers, who were martyred by the idolaters. "But you love to drink, Giaour, and you must drink with me." "That is quite another affair. Pour fuller, _Allah verdi_![27] I am always ready to drink and to make love." [27] God gave--Much good may it do you. "And to kill an enemy!... Come, some more! A health to the devil!--who changes friends into mortal enemies." "So be it! Here goes, then, to the devil's health! The poor fellow wants health. We will drive him into a consumption out of spite, because he cannot make us quarrel!" "True, true, he is always ready for mischief. If he had seen Verkhóffsky and me, he would have thrown down his cards. But you, too, will not, I hope, part from me?" "Ammalát, I have not only quaffed wine from the same bottle with thee, but I have drained milk from the same breast. I am thine, even if you take it into your head to build yourself, like a vulture, a nest on the rock of Khounzákh.... However, my advice would be"---- "No advice, Saphir Ali--no remonstrances.... It is now too late!" "They would be drowned like flies in wine. But it is now time to sleep." "Sleep, say you! Sleep, to me! No, I have bidden farewell to sleep. It is time for me to awaken. Have you examined the gun, Saphir Ali--is the flint good? Has not the powder on the shelf become damp with blood?" "What is the matter with you, Ammalát? What leaden secret weighs upon your heart? Your face is terrible--your speech is yet more frightful."