Their kisses will not awaken me, and they will shake me by the shoulder; I will turn over on the other side and sleep on." Thus, inspired by fierce joy, I set out in quest of a tavern.

As it was past midnight some were closed; this put me in a fury.

"What!" I cried, "even that consolation is refused me!" I ran hither and thither knocking at the doors of taverns, crying: "Wine! Wine!" At last I found one open; I called for a bottle, and without caring whether it was good or bad, I gulped it down; a second followed, and then a third.

I dosed myself as with medicine, and forced the wine down as if it had been prescribed by some physician to save my life.
The heavy fumes of the liquor, doubtless adulterated, mounted to my head.

As I had gulped it down at a breath, drunkenness seized me promptly; I felt that I was becoming muddled, then I experienced a lucid moment, then confusion followed.