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If at first the members of the council thought that Kutuzov was

pretending to sleep, the sounds his nose emitted during the

reading that followed proved that the commander in chief at that

moment was absorbed by a far more serious matter than a desire to

show his contempt for the dispositions or anything else-he was

engaged in satisfying the irresistible human need for sleep. He

really was asleep. Weyrother, with the gesture of a man too busy

to lose a moment, glanced at Kutuzov and, having convinced

himself that he was asleep, took up a paper and in a loud,

monotonous voice began to read out the dispositions for the

impending battle, under a heading which he also read out:

"Dispositions for an attack on the enemy position behind

Kobelnitz and Sokolnitz, November 30, 1805."

The dispositions were very complicated and difficult. They began

as follows: