The Brothers Karamazov — Part IV

In early November, the story turns to Madame Krassotkin and her only child, Kolya. Widowed young, she has devoted herself fearfully and tenderly to Kolya’s upbringing, often smothering him with anxious attention. Kolya, admired at school for intellect and strength, is vain yet disciplined enough not to cross teachers’ limits, and he keeps his classmates’ respect without becoming aloof.

Seeking to impress older boys during a summer visit to a railway station, Kolya bets he will lie between the rails as the eleven o’clock train passes. Despite last-minute pleas, he remains on the track; the train thunders over him, and he briefly loses consciousness but pretends calm. The stunt builds his reputation as “desperate,” though it triggers a nervous fever and sends his mother into hysterics.

Kolya swears before an icon to renounce such pranks, then grows more reserved and thoughtful. At school, teacher Dardanelov—long discreetly in love with Madame Krassotkin—intercedes to keep the incident quiet, which gives him faint hope of marriage. Kolya, aware of the teacher’s feelings, stops mocking him and speaks of him more respectfully to his mother.

At home, Kolya dominates gently, disdaining overt sentimentality, yet he is genuinely attached to his mother. He secretly keeps and trains a mangy dog, Perezvon, who adores him. The chapter concludes by identifying Kolya as the boy earlier stabbed with a penknife by Ilusha Snegiryov while Ilusha defended his father from classmates’ taunts.