I must go back to the description of my prison.

Having constructed my cell completely, I offered my jailer the following alternative:  He must observe with regard to me the rules of the prison regime in all its rigidness, and in that case he would inherit all my fortune according to my will, or he would receive nothing if he failed to do his duty.  It seemed that in putting the matter before him so clearly I would meet with no difficulties.  Yet at the very first instance, when I should have been incarcerated for violating some prison regulation, this naive and timid man absolutely refused to do it; and only when I threatened to get another man immediately, a more conscientious jailer, was he compelled to perform his duty.  Though he always locked the door punctually, he at first neglected his duty of watching me through the peephole; and when I tried to test his firmness by suggesting a change in some rule or other to the detriment of common sense he yielded willingly and quickly.  One day, on trapping him in this way, I said to him: 

“My friend, you are simply foolish.  If you will not watch me and guard me properly I shall run away to another prison, taking my legacy along with me.  What will you do then?”

I am happy to inform you that at the present time all these misunderstandings have been removed, and if there is anything I can complain of it is rather excessive strictness than mildness.  Now that my jailer has entered into the spirit of his position this honest man treats me with extreme sternness, not for the sake of the profit but for the sake of the principle .  Thus, in the beginning of this week he incarcerated me for twenty-four hours for violating some rule, of which, it seemed to me, I was not guilty; and protesting against this seeming injustice I had the unpardonable weakness to say to him: 

“In the end I will drive you away from here.  You must not forget that you are my servant.”

“Before you drive me away I will incarcerate you,” replied this worthy man.

“But how about the money?” I asked with astonishment.  “Don’t you know that you will be deprived of it?”

“Do I need your money?  I would give up all my own money if I could stop being what I am.  But what can I do if you violate the rule and I must punish you by incarcerating you?”

I am powerless to describe the joyous emotion which came over me at the thought that the consciousness of duty had at last entered his dark mind, and that now, even if in a moment of weakness I wanted to leave my prison, my conscientious jailer would not permit me to do it.  The spark of firmness which glittered in his round eyes showed me clearly that no matter where I might run away he would find me and bring me back; and that the revolver which he often forgot to take before, and which he now cleans every day, would do its work in the event I decided to run away.