Inthesecondyearthepianowassilentinthelodge，andtheprisoneraskedonlyfortheclassics。Inthefifthyearmusicwasaudibleagain，andtheprisoneraskedforwine。Thosewhowatchedhimthroughthewindowsaidthatallthatyearhespentdoingnothingbuteatinganddrinkingandlyingonhisbed，frequentlyyawningandangrilytalkingtohimself。Hedidnotreadbooks。
Sometimesatnighthewouldsitdowntowrite；hewouldspendhourswriting，andinthemorningtearupallthathehadwritten。Morethanoncehecouldbeheardcrying。
Inthesecondhalfofthesixthyeartheprisonerbeganzealouslystudyinglanguages，philosophy，andhistory。Hethrewhimselfeagerlyintothesestudies——somuchsothatthebankerhadenoughtodotogethimthebooksheordered。Inthecourseoffouryearssomesixhundredvolumeswereprocuredathisrequest。Itwasduringthisperiodthatthebankerreceivedthefollowingletterfromhisprisoner：
\"MydearJailer，Iwriteyoutheselinesinsixlanguages。Showthemtopeoplewhoknowthelanguages。Letthemreadthem。IftheyfindnotonemistakeIimploreyoutofireashotinthegarden。Thatshotwillshowmethatmyeffortshavenotbeenthrownaway。Thegeniusesofallagesandofalllandsspeakdifferentlanguages，butthesameflameburnsinthemall。Oh，ifyouonlyknewwhatunearthlyhappinessmysoulfeelsnowfrombeingabletounderstandthem！\"Theprisoner’sdesirewasfulfilled。Thebankerorderedtwoshotstobefiredinthegarden。
Thenafterthetenthyear，theprisonersatimmovablyatthetableandreadnothingbuttheGospel。Itseemedstrangetothebankerthatamanwhoinfouryearshadmasteredsixhundredlearnedvolumesshouldwastenearlyayearoveronethinbookeasyofcomprehension。TheologyandhistoriesofreligionfollowedtheGospels。