They failed to observe the hamster, and Yelka paid no attention to that at all – the hamster is much smaller than the old Saranskys. Though they’re old, they’re both as heavy as two bulls, how could they reach the hamster! Yelka didn’t even know that the hamster was living at the Saranskys. And the hamster didn’t die and didn’t disappear – he kept living in the piano. And he gnawed on the thick felt of the hammers, and then the hammers began to ruin the sound. And Ilya Rasvetovych at first thought that it was moths, and he instructed the Saranskys to sprinkle lavender mixture there, until he later discovered the hamster because the lavender didn’t help.” “Hamsters don’t and never have lived at my place. But when they appear, I’m not going to do battle with them with the aid of lavender,” I
