Tasyo lost his wife and mother within a year. Seeking consolation and in order to free himself from the cockpit and the dangers of idleness, he took up his studies once more. But he became so addicted to his studies and the purchase of books that he entirely neglected his fortune and gradually ruined himself. Persons of culture called him Don Anastacio, or "Pilósopong Tasyo", while the great crowd of the ignorant knew him as "Tasio el Loco" on account of his peculiar ideas and his eccentric manner of dealing with others.