Counting sheep

Esther 6:1-4 - That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

"What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?" the king asked.

"Nothing has been done for him," his attendants answered.

The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had erected for him.

I wonder what time of night Xerxes finally gave up on trying to get to sleep. Before midnight? 2:00 in the morning? When did he usually go to bed?

How long did his attendants have to read to him? It sounds like they read until daybreak, because when they got to the part about Mordecai, Haman was already up and anticipating a visit to the king.

So even if Xerxes waited until 2:00 A.M. to be read to, that would mean someone had to read from the chronicles for several hours! I wonder what it was like to be working the graveyard shift in the palace and suddenly be called upon to read the king a bedtime story because counting sheep just wasn't working.

And did Xerxes expect the chronicles to put him to sleep? Hm.