"Yes, the municipal school."
"And I taught myself."
"Did you really?"
"Yes, I was cook at Astrachan, in a lawyer's house, and his son taught me to read."
"Then you didn't learn by yourself!" She continued—"Shouldn't you like to read books?"
"No.... What should I want to read for?"
"Oh! I should like so much to read!... Look here.... I asked the inspector's wife to lend me this book, and I am reading it."
"What is it?"
"The story of the saint Alexis, a man of God." And in a serious voice she told him how a young lad, the son of rich and noble parents, had left them, had turned his back on all happiness, and finally had returned, a beggar and in rags, and lived in the kennel with the dogs, without telling any one till his last hour who he was. She ended by asking Jakoff in a low voice—
"Why did he act in this way?"