injury; for he had only to thrust his left arm in
front of him, and the steel would break off as it crashed upon the wood,
and thus his body could not be reached at any point.

With such purpose, then, Artasires did as I have said. And to Artabanes
he spoke as follows: "As for me, I have hopes that I shall prove equal
to the undertaking and shall not hesitate, and also that I shall touch
the body of Gontharis with this sword; but as for what will follow, I am
unable to say whether God in His anger against the tyrant will
co-operate with me in this daring deed, or whether, avenging some sin of
mine, He will stand against me there and be an obstacle in my way. If,
therefore, you see that the tyrant is not wounded in a vital spot, do
you kill me with my sword without the least hesitation, so that I may
not be tortured by him into saying that it was by your will that I
rushed into the undertaking, and thus not only perish myself most
shamefully, but also be compelled against my will to destroy you as
well." And after Artasires had spoken such words he too, together with
Gregorius and one of the body-guards, entered the room where the couches
were and took his stand behind Artabanes. And the rest, remaining by the
guards, did as they had been commanded.

So Artasires, when the banquet had only just begun, was purposing to set
to work, and he was already touching the hilt of his sword. But
Gregorius prevented him by saying in the Armenian tongue that Gontharis
was still wholly himself, not having as yet drunk any great quantity of
wine. Then Artasires groaned and said: "My good fellow, how fine a heart
I have for the deed, and now you have for the moment wrongfully hindered
me!" And as the drinking went on, Gontharis, who by now was thoroughly
saturated with wine, began to give portions of the food to the
body-guards, yielding to a generous mood. And they, upon receiving these
portions, went outside the building immediately and were about to eat
them, leaving beside Gontharis only three body-guards, one of whom
happened to be Ulitheus. And Artasires also started to go out in order
to taste the morsels with the rest. But just then a kind of fear came
over him lest, when he should wish to draw his sword, something might
prevent him. Accordingly, as soon as he got outside, he secretly threw
away the sheath of the sword, and taking it naked under his arm, hidden
by his cloak, he rushed in to Gontharis, as if to say something wit