five in the
morning
During the forty days of the voyage he had never left the interpreter Ventura ; so that with his admirable facility he had learned , if not to speak Arabic fluently , at least to make himself understood in that language . Therefore it often happened that , when the general did not wish to use the native interpreter , Roland was charged with certain communications to the Muftis , the Ulemas , and the Sheiks . During the night of October 20th and 21st Cairo revolted . At five in the morning the death of General Dupey , killed by a lance , was made known . At eight , just as the revolt was supposedly quelled , an aide-de-camp of the dead general rode up , announcing that the Bedouins from the plains were attacking Bab-el-Nasr , or the Gate of Victory . Bonaparte was breakfasting with his aide-de-camp Sulkowsky , so severely wounded at Salahieh that he left his pallet of suffering with the greatest difficulty only . Bonaparte , in his preoccupation forgetting the young Pole 's condition , said to him : `` Sulkowsky , take fifteen Guides and go see what that rabble wants . ''