So Jadlowker mounted the steep ladder that led to the attic. A chair and a palliasse, a bottle of schnapps and a jug of water were also allotted to him.

Kapturak wished him goodnight, promised to bring him food regularly, and went away. As a precaution he slipped the bolt which was fixed to the trap-door of the attic. When he had climbed down the ladder he stood there for a while and reflected. He reflected whether he should take the ladder away or not. And he finally decided to take it away. He carried it into the yard and leaned it against the roof. He had made up his mind to use only the skylight when passing Jadlowker his food.

It was cold in the attic, colder even than in the cell, and Jadlowker tore open the palliasse at the top end and slid right down into the sack and put his fur coat over his head. Through the open skylight, which did not shut, the clear frosty night shimmered bluish-white. Before he fell asleep he noticed the motionless bats which were hibernating all around on the washing-lines above his head. For the first time in his life the lawless Jadlowker was afraid. And this fear was enough to send him into a deep, though restless, sleep.

He awoke early in the morning; the bitter breath of the icy morning woke him. He crept out of his sack with difficulty, took a swallow from the flask, put on his fur coat and went to the skylight. Flocks of crows recently woken from their sleep circled round the roofs, looking as if they were flying only in order to warm themselves. He saw the red sun rise, it looked like an orange, and at the sight of it he felt hungry. He knew he would have to wait for a good two hours before Kapturak would arrive with his food. He listened at the trap-door, for a good two hours he was occupied with nothing else than his hunger. It was as if his hunger were an affair of the head and not of the stomach. At last Kapturak appeared with tea and bread, not at the door, however, but at the skylight. He passed everything through very slowly; on the short journey up the ladder the tea had already grown cold, so severe was the frost. Jadlowker ate and drank hastily. He asked only, ‘Anything new?’ ‘Not yet,’ answered Kapturak, climbed down the ladder again, and placed it a little to one side.