"I can tell you exactly. It was quite a crazy business. Terenti, that uncle of yours, he began the thing. All at once he said to Petrusha, 'Let me go to Kiev,' he said, 'to the holy men!' Petrusha was delighted; that hump of Terenti's has worried his eyes, and to tell the truth, he's jolly glad to see Terenti's back; it's not nice to have some one about who knows a secret of yours--he! he! 'All right,' he says. 'Go along, and put in a little word for me too with the holy men.' And then Jakov starts in all of a sudden: 'Let me go too,' he says." Perfishka began to roll his eyes, made a fierce grimace, and cried in a hoarse voice, imitating Petrusha: "'Wha--a--at do you want to do?'" "'I want to go with uncle to the holy men.' "'What do you mean?' "Jakov says, 'I could pray for you too.' Then Petrusha begins to roar, 'I'll teach you to pray!' Jakov sticks to his point. 'Let me go. God is pleased with the prayers of sons for their fathers' sins.' My word, how Petrusha hit him in the mouth, and again and again." "I can't live with him," cried Jakov. "I'll go away. I'll hang myself. Why did he beat me--why? All I said came from my heart." Ilya's heart sank at this outcry, and with a despairing shrug of his shoulders, he left the cellar. He was glad to hear that his uncle was going on a pilgrimage. Once Terenti was gone, he would finally leave this house, take a little room somewhere for himself, and be his own master. As he entered his room, Terenti appeared, following him. His eyes shone, his face wore an expression of joy. He approached Ilya and said: "Well, I'm going. O Lord, how glad I am! To step out of a cave, a cellar, into God's world. Surely He will not despise my prayer, since He lets me get away from this place." "Do you know what's happened to Jakov?" said Ilya, drily. "What?" "He's got drunk." "What do you say? That is wrong of him! Silly boy! And just now he was begging his father to let him go with me." "Were you there when his father beat him?" "Yes, of course. Why?" "Why, can't you understand? That's why he's got drunk." "Because of that? It's not possible!" Ilya saw clearly that Jakov's fate was a matter of indifference to his uncle, and that strengthened his feeling of enmity against the hunchback. He had never seen Terenti so overjoyed, and the sight of this happiness, coming right after Jakov's misery, moved him strangely. He sat down at the window and said: "Go on into the bar." "Petrusha is there. I want to talk to you." "Oh! what about?" The hunchback came up to him and said mysteriously: "I'm getting away. You're staying behind and that means--well----" "Hurry up," said Ilya. "Yes--yes, I want to; it isn't easy to say," said Terenti, in a subdued way, while his eyes blinked. "Do you want to talk about me? eh?" "Yes--yes--about you, too, but presently. I've saved some money." Ilya looked at him and laughed maliciously. "What d'you mean? Why d'you laugh?" cried his uncle, frightened.