Chapter 2 Children

On a frigid Sunday morning, Kolya Krassotkin is home, eager to go out on “urgent business,” but is left supervising the lodger’s two children because their mother is attending her servant Katerina, who has gone into sudden labor at a midwife’s establishment.

Kolya patrols the house with his disciplined dog Perezvon hidden under a bench, worrying only about the children, Nastya and Kostya, whom he likes but refuses to entertain due to his impatience to leave. He repeatedly checks on them, overhearing their naïve debate about where babies come from, which amuses and distracts him.

When Agafya, the Krassotkins’ servant, is late returning from market, Kolya prepares to leave anyway, but first wins the children’s cooperation by producing a bronze toy cannon, gunpowder, and shot, dramatically explaining its use and danger. He bargains for their bravery and briefly entertains them further by commanding Perezvon to perform tricks, including “playing dead.”

Agafya finally returns; despite his earlier anxiety, Kolya completes the dog’s routine before confronting her with mock-stern demands to watch the children and feed them. After ensuring she will stay, he bids the children goodbye, pointedly warns Agafya not to frighten them with “old women’s nonsense,” and departs with Perezvon to pursue his mysterious errand.