d my dreams.
In the daytime I could deceive his attention with lies, assuming a
cheerful and carefree expression on my face, but I have rarely met the
man who could lie even in his sleep. No matter how much I would be on my
guard during the day, at night I would betray myself by an involuntary
moan, by a twitch of the face, by an expression of fatigue or grief, or
by other manifestations of a guilty and uneasy conscience. Only very
few people of unusual will power are able to lie even in their
sleep, skilfully managing the features of their faces, sometimes even
preserving a courteous and bright smile on their lips, when their souls,
given over to dreams, are quivering from the horrors of a monstrous
nightmare--but, as exceptions, these cannot be taken into consideration.
I am profoundly happy that I am not a criminal, that my conscience is
clear and calm.

"Read, my friend, read," I say to the watchful eye as I lay myself down
to sleep peacefully. "You will not be able to read anything on my face!"

And it was I who invented the window in the prison door.

I feel that my reader is astonished and smiles incredulously, mentally
calling me an old liar, but there are instances in which modesty is
superfluous and even dangerous. Yes, this simple and great invention
belongs to me, just as Newton's system belongs to Newton, and as
Kepler's laws of the revolution of the planets belong to Kepler.

Later on, encouraged by the success of my invention, I devised and
introduced in our prison a series of little innovations, which were
concerned only with details; thus the form of chains and locks used in
our prison has been changed.

The little window in the door was my invention, and, if any one should
dare deny this, I would call him a liar and a scoundrel.

I came upon this invention under the following circumstances: One day,
during the roll call, a certain prisoner killed with the iron leg of his
bed the Inspector who entered his cell. Of course the rascal was hanged
in the yard of our prison, and the administration light mindedly grew
calm, but I was in despair--the great purpose of the prison proved to be
wrong since such horrible deeds were possible. How is it that no one had
noticed that the prisoner had broken off the leg of his bed? How is it
that no one had noticed the state of agitation in which the prisoner
must have been before committing the murder?

By taking up the question so directly I thus approached cons