# The Brothers Karamazov, Kolya Krassotkin

Братья Карамазовы · Fyodor Dostoevsky · Book X — The Boys

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b10-c1. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b10-c1.json.


Ноябрь в начале.  
Early November.
> A verbless nominal sentence: There is no verb at all: «Ноябрь» (November, nominative) simply stands, with «в начале» ('at the beginning') as a frame. Russian needs no copula in the present, so a bare noun phrase can open a chapter like a stage direction — 'Early November.'

У нас стал мороз градусов в одиннадцать, а с ним гололедица.  
We had had a frost of some eleven degrees, and with it an icy glaze over everything.
> 'About eleven' — inverted approximation: Placing the noun before the numeral — «градусов в одиннадцать» instead of «одиннадцать градусов» — turns an exact count into an approximate one: 'some eleven degrees, give or take.' The noun «градусов» is genitive plural as numerals above five demand.
> «у нас» — the possessive 'we had': Russian has no verb 'to have'; «у нас» (literally 'at us', у + genitive) frames possession or local circumstance — here 'we had' a frost set in. The perfective «стал» marks the single onset of the cold snap.

На мерзлую землю упало в ночь немного сухого снегу, и ветер «сухой и острый» подымает его и метет по скучным улицам нашего городка и особенно по базарной площади.  
A little dry snow had fallen on the frozen ground in the night, and a wind 'dry and sharp' lifts it and sweeps it along the dreary streets of our little town, and most of all across the marketplace.
> Partitive genitive «снегу»: After «немного» ('a little') the noun stands in the genitive of quantity, and Dostoevsky uses the old partitive ending «-у» — «снегу» rather than «снега». This special masculine partitive (cf. «чаю», «сахару») marks 'some of' a mass and gives the line a homely, period flavour.
> Past then present — narrative shift: The snow «упало» (perfective past — a completed fall in the night) gives way to «подымает... и метет» (imperfective present), and the scene leaps into the living present tense: the wind is lifting and sweeping it now, before our eyes.

Утро мутное, но снежок перестал.  
The morning is murky, but the snowfall has stopped.
> Zero copula: 'the morning is murky': Two nominative words, no verb: «Утро» (morning) plus the long adjective «мутное» predicate to it across an absent 'is.' The present tense simply omits the copula, so the adjective alone carries the statement.
> «снежок» — a little snow: The diminutive of «снег», «снежок» softens the snowfall to a gentle, slight 'bit of snow' — an affectionate, scene-setting touch rather than a literal claim about size.

Недалеко от площади, поблизости от лавки Плотниковых, стоит небольшой, очень чистенький и снаружи и снутри домик вдовы чиновника Красоткиной.  
Not far from the square, close by the Plotnikovs' shop, stands the small house — very clean, both outside and in — of the widow Krassotkina, an official's wife.
> A chain of genitives: The 'of' relations stack up in the genitive: «домик вдовы чиновника Красоткиной» — the little house of the widow of the official, Krassotkina. Each noun governs the next in turn, a typical Russian way of nesting possession without prepositions.
> Verb-first existential word order: The verb «стоит» ('stands') comes before its subject «домик», placing the new information — the house — at the sentence's stressed end. This presentative inversion is how Russian introduces something onto the scene: 'there stands a little house.'
> «снутри» — old 'within': Paired with «снаружи» ('outside'), «снутри» is a colloquial, dated form of «изнутри» ('from within / inside'). The folksy doublet 'outside and in' fits the narrator's chatty, small-town register.

Сам губернский секретарь Красоткин помер уже очень давно, тому назад почти четырнадцать лет, но вдова его, тридцатилетняя и до сих пор еще весьма смазливая собою дамочка, жива и живет в своем чистеньком домике «своим капиталом».  
Krassotkin himself, a provincial secretary, had died a very long time ago, almost fourteen years back, but his widow — a woman of thirty, and still quite a pretty little thing — is alive and lives in her tidy little house 'on her own capital.'
> «помер» — the plain word for 'died': «Помер» is the colloquial, slightly rustic past of «помереть», less neutral than «умер». The narrator's choice keeps the homely small-town voice that runs through this whole portrait of the Krassotkins.
> «смазливая дамочка» — a pretty little thing: «Смазливая» means good-looking in a cheap, superficial way — 'pretty-faced' with a faint condescension. «Дамочка», the diminutive of «дама», adds a patronising, dismissive shade: not a grand lady but a 'little madam.' Together they gently belittle the widow.

Живет она честно и робко, характера нежного, но довольно веселого.  
She lives honestly and timidly, of a tender disposition, yet cheerful enough.
> Genitive of description: «Характера нежного» ('of a tender disposition') is a qualitative genitive describing the widow's nature without any preposition — a bookish, compact way to attach a trait to a person, here with adjective following noun for a literary cadence.

Осталась она после мужа лет восемнадцати, прожив с ним всего лишь около году и только что родив ему сына.  
She had been left a widow at about eighteen, after living with her husband only about a year and having just borne him a son.
> Two perfective gerunds: «Прожив» ('having lived') and «родив» ('having borne') are perfective past gerunds («деепричастия»): indeclinable verb-adverbs naming completed actions prior to the main verb «осталась». They compress two whole clauses — she had lived a year with him and just borne him a son — into the circumstances of her being widowed.
> Partitive «году» after «около»: «Около» ('about, around') governs the genitive, and Dostoevsky again reaches for the old partitive ending «-у» — «около году» for modern «около года». The archaic form is a recurring texture of his prose.

С тех пор, с самой его смерти, она посвятила всю себя воспитанию этого своего нещечка мальчика Коли, и хоть любила его все четырнадцать лет без памяти, но уж, конечно, перенесла с ним несравненно больше страданий, чем выжила радостей, трепеща и умирая от страха чуть не каждый день, что он заболеет, простудится, нашалит, полезет на стул и свалится, и проч., и проч.  
From that time on, from his very death, she devoted her whole self to the upbringing of this little treasure of hers, the boy Kolya, and though she had loved him without measure all those fourteen years, she had, of course, endured incomparably more suffering with him than she had ever lived to enjoy in gladness, trembling and dying of fear almost every day lest he fall ill, catch cold, get into mischief, climb up on a chair and tumble off, and so on, and so on.
> Loving 'without memory': The idiom «любить без памяти» literally means 'to love without memory,' i.e. to love madly, to distraction, losing one's head — we render it 'loved him without measure.' The same phrase can also mean to faint (потерять память = to lose consciousness), so context decides the sense.
> «нещечко» — a treasured darling: «Нещечко» is a rare, archaic endearment for a cherished, pampered thing or person — a 'precious little treasure.' It is markedly old and bookish even for Dostoevsky's day, casting the mother's doting in a faintly antique, ironical light.
> Present gerunds of attendant feeling: «Трепеща» (trembling) and «умирая» (dying of fear) are imperfective present gerunds, naming states that accompany the main verb simultaneously. They hang the mother's perpetual dread alongside her years of love — she loved while constantly trembling.
> A cascade of perfective futures: Each fear-verb — «заболеет», «простудится», «нашалит», «свалится» — is a perfective verb in present-form endings, which yields future meaning: she dreads lest he 'fall ill, catch cold, get up to mischief, tumble down.' The piled-up perfectives make each disaster a vivid, single completed event.

Когда же Коля стал ходить в школу и потом в нашу прогимназию, то мать бросилась изучать вместе с ним все науки, чтобы помогать ему и репетировать с ним уроки, бросилась знакомиться с учителями и с их женами, ласкала даже товарищей Коли, школьников, и лисила пред ними, чтобы не трогали Колю, не насмехались над ним, не прибили его.  
When Kolya began going to school and then to our preparatory gymnasium, his mother flung herself into studying all the subjects together with him, so as to help him and coach him on his lessons; she flung herself into getting to know the teachers and their wives, and even fawned upon Kolya's schoolmates, the schoolboys, ingratiating herself with them so that they would not pick on Kolya, or jeer at him, or beat him.
> «бросилась» + infinitive — flinging into action: The perfective «бросилась» ('flung herself, threw herself') governs an imperfective infinitive of the activity taken up — «изучать», «знакомиться». Its anaphoric repetition ('she flung herself into... she flung herself into...') drives the mother's frantic, all-out devotion.
> «лисить» — to fawn like a fox: «Лисить» (from «лиса», fox) means to ingratiate oneself cunningly, to flatter and wheedle — 'to play the fox.' The vivid, slightly disapproving verb captures the mother demeaning herself before schoolboys to protect her son.
> «чтобы» of purpose with negation: «Чтобы» introduces a purpose clause and takes past-form verbs; the negated «не трогали... не насмехались... не прибили» mean 'so that they would not pick on, jeer at, or beat' Kolya. The verbs are past-tense in form because «чтобы» always pairs with the irrealis past, never an infinitive when the subject differs.

Довела до того, что мальчишки и в самом деле стали было чрез нее над ним насмехаться и начали дразнить его тем, что он маменькин сынок.  
She carried it so far that the boys really did begin, because of her, to mock him, and took to teasing him with being a mama's boy.
> The frustrative particle «было»: «Было» after a perfective verb marks an action begun but cut short or reversed — the boys 'had started' to mock him but it came to nothing. This special particle «было» (distinct from the verb 'was') is a subtle period device for an aborted attempt.
> «маменькин сынок» — a mama's boy: A fixed jeer: «маменькин» is the possessive adjective from the affectionate «маменька» (mummy), so «маменькин сынок» is literally 'mummy's little son' — the exact equivalent of 'mama's boy,' a coddled, unmanly child.
> «чрез» — the bookish 'through': «Чрез» is the contracted, Church-Slavonic-flavoured form of «через» ('through, because of'). Here it means 'on her account, because of her' — and its archaic shape suits the elevated narrative register.

Но мальчик сумел отстоять себя.  
But the boy knew how to stand up for himself.
> «сумел» + perfective infinitive; reflexive «себя»: «Сумел» ('managed, knew how') governs the perfective infinitive «отстоять» ('to stand up for, defend'). The object is the full reflexive pronoun «себя» ('himself'), pointing back to the subject — he defended his own self.

Был он смелый мальчишка, «ужасно сильный», как пронеслась и скоро утвердилась молва о нем в классе, был ловок, характера упорного, духа дерзкого и предприимчивого.  
He was a bold lad, 'frightfully strong,' as the rumor about him swept through the class and quickly took hold; he was nimble, of a stubborn character, and of a daring, enterprising spirit.
> Stacked genitives of quality: 'Of a stubborn character, of a daring and enterprising spirit' — «характера упорного, духа дерзкого» are qualitative genitives describing the boy, with adjectives trailing their nouns for rhetorical poise. This portrait-by-genitive is a hallmark of 19th-century characterisation.
> Verb-first inversion for emphasis: Fronting «был» before the subject «он» — 'A bold lad was he' — gives the sentence a weighted, storytelling rhythm. Because case marks the roles, Russian can reorder freely, and this inversion stresses the predicate.
> «молва» — rumour, common talk: «Молва» is the slightly elevated word for word-of-mouth report, hearsay, the talk that spreads through a community — 'the rumour... swept through the class.' It recurs in this chapter as the engine of Kolya's growing legend.

Учился он хорошо, и шла даже молва, что он и из арифметики, и из всемирной истории собьет самого учителя Дарданелова.  
He did well at his studies, and there was even a rumor going around that in both arithmetic and world history he could best the teacher Dardanelov himself.
> «из» + subject = 'in (a subject)': «Из арифметики, из всемирной истории» uses «из» + genitive in its scholastic sense 'in (a school subject), at examination in' — he could best the teacher 'in arithmetic and world history.' «Собьёт» is a perfective future ('will knock off / best').
> «сбить» a teacher — to trip him up: «Сбить» literally 'knock down/off'; in school slang «сбить учителя» means to stump or out-argue the teacher, to catch him out — we render it 'best.' The colloquial verb belongs to the boys' competitive classroom world.

Но мальчик хоть и смотрел на всех свысока, вздернув носик, но товарищем был хорошим и не превозносился.  
But though the boy looked down on everyone, his little nose in the air, he was nonetheless a good comrade and did not put on airs.
> Perfective gerund «вздёрнув»: «Вздёрнув носик» ('having tilted up his little nose') is a perfective past gerund framing the manner in which he looked down on people. The gerund shares the main subject and adds a vivid, simultaneous gesture to «смотрел свысока».
> «носик» — the disarming diminutive: «Носик», the diminutive of «нос», softens the boy's haughty nose-in-the-air into something faintly comic and endearing — 'his little nose.' The narrator undercuts Kolya's pride with affection through the suffix alone.
> The concessive «хоть... но»: «Хоть» ('although') opens a concession answered by «но» ('but / yet'): 'though he looked down on everyone, yet he was a good comrade.' Russian often pairs the two explicitly, where English needs only one.

Уважение школьников принимал как должное, но держал себя дружелюбно.  
He accepted the schoolboys' respect as his due, but bore himself in a friendly way.
> Imperfective of habitual bearing: «Принимал» and «держал» are imperfective pasts describing his settled, habitual conduct — how he generally took the boys' respect and carried himself, not single events. The imperfective is the natural tense of standing character description.
> «как должное» — as his due: The set phrase «принимать как должное» means to take something as one's natural right, as only proper — 'as his due,' without surprise or gratitude. «Должное» is a substantivised neuter adjective, 'that which is owed.'

Главное, знал меру, умел при случае сдержать себя самого, а в отношениях к начальству никогда не переступал некоторой последней и заветной черты, за которою уже проступок не может быть терпим, обращаясь в беспорядок, бунт и в беззаконие.  
Above all, he knew where to draw the line, knew how to rein himself in when the occasion called for it, and in his dealings with those in authority never overstepped a certain final and sacred boundary, beyond which a misdeed can no longer be tolerated, turning into disorder, mutiny, and lawlessness.
> «себя самого» — emphatic reflexive: The reflexive object «себя» is reinforced by the intensifier «самого» ('his very self') — to rein in his own self. The pairing stresses self-mastery, the agent acting upon precisely himself.
> Relative «который» in the instrumental: «За которою» is the relative pronoun «который» governed by «за» ('beyond'); the old instrumental ending «-ою» (for «-ой») marks the bookish register. It agrees in feminine gender with «черта» (the line) but takes its own case from the preposition.
> Short-form passive participle «терпим»: «Терпим» is the short (predicative) form of the passive participle «терпимый» ('tolerated'): 'a misdeed can no longer be tolerated.' The short passive participle plus an auxiliary is Russian's bookish way of forming an impersonal passive.
> Present gerund «обращаясь»: «Обращаясь» ('turning into') is an imperfective present gerund describing what the unchecked misdeed becomes — disorder, mutiny, lawlessness. The reflexive «-ся» here gives the middle, intransitive sense 'turns/transforms itself into.'

И однако, он очень, очень не прочь был пошалить при всяком удобном случае, пошалить как самый последний мальчишка, и не столько пошалить, сколько что-нибудь намудрить, начудесить, задать «экстрафеферу», шику, порисоваться.  
And yet he was very, very far from averse to playing the prankster at every convenient opportunity — to playing the prankster like the most reckless of urchins — and not so much to mere pranks as to contriving something, working some marvel, dishing out a bit of 'extra pepper,' some flash, some showing off.
> The «не столько... сколько» correlative: «Не столько X, сколько Y» means 'not so much X as Y' — not so much to play pranks as to contrive something clever. The construction shifts the real emphasis onto the second member, framing Kolya's true craving for ingenious mischief.
> «намудрить», «начудесить» — to contrive marvels: A pair of expressive coinages: «намудрить» (from «мудрый», wise) means to over-cleverly contrive or complicate, «начудесить» (from «чудо», wonder) to work some wonder or stunt. The prefix «на-» piles up the action; both are playful, slangy verbs of boyish showing-off.
> «задать экстрафеферу» — to give 'em extra pepper: A jokey macaronic phrase: «феферу» is the genitive of «фефер», a Yiddish/German-tinged form of 'pepper' (cf. German Pfeffer), so «задать феферу» means to give someone a hot time, a thrashing — and «экстра-» mock-grandly intensifies it. The quotation marks flag it as Kolya's own swaggering slang.

Главное, был очень самолюбив.  
Above all, he was very vain.
> Short adjective «самолюбив»: «Самолюбив» is the short (predicative) form of «самолюбивый», used with «был» to state a trait — 'he was very vain/proud.' The short form, more bookish than the long one, here gives a crisp, summarising verdict on his character.
> «самолюбие» — touchy self-regard: «Самолюбив» (from «самолюбие», self-love) is a key Dostoevskian word: not mere vanity but prickly pride, amour-propre, an acute sensitivity to one's own dignity. It is the engine of much of Kolya's behaviour in the chapter.

Даже свою маму сумел поставить к себе в отношения подчиненные, действуя на нее почти деспотически.  
He even managed to put his own mama into a subordinate position toward himself, ruling over her almost despotically.
> «в» + accusative of resulting state: «Поставить в отношения подчинённые» — to place his mother 'into subordinate relations' toward himself. «В отношения» is accusative (motion-toward / into a state), the adjective «подчинённые» following its noun in literary style.
> Present gerund of manner: «Действуя» ('acting, operating') is an imperfective present gerund describing how he kept her down — by acting almost despotically upon her. «На неё» is «на» + accusative, 'acting upon her.'

Она и подчинилась, о, давно уже подчинилась, и лишь не могла ни за что перенести одной только мысли, что мальчик ее «мало любит».  
And she submitted — oh, she had submitted long ago — and the one thing she simply could not bear, for anything in the world, was the mere thought that her boy 'loved her too little.'
> Negative concord with «ни за что»: «Ни за что» ('for nothing, not for anything') reinforces the negated verb «не могла» — Russian piles negatives that English collapses into one: she 'simply could not, for anything in the world,' bear the thought. The «ни-» word and the verbal «не» work together, not against each other.
> Emphatic particle «и»: Here «и» is not 'and' but an emphasising particle before the verb — 'and submit she did,' confirming the expected outcome. The reflexive «подчинилась» ('submitted herself') is a middle-voice «-ся» verb of change of state.

Ей беспрерывно казалось, что Коля к ней «бесчувствен», и бывали случаи, что она, обливаясь истерическими слезами, начинала упрекать его в холодности.  
It seemed to her endlessly that Kolya was 'unfeeling' toward her, and there were times when she, dissolving in hysterical tears, would begin to reproach him for his coldness.
> «ей казалось» — a dative-subject impression: «Казалось» ('it seemed') is impersonal: there is no nominative subject, and the experiencer stands in the dative «ей» ('to her'). This dative-experiencer frame — 'it seemed to her' — is exactly how Russian voices inner, involuntary states of mind.
> Present gerund «обливаясь»: «Обливаясь ... слезами» ('drenching herself in tears') is an imperfective present gerund of attendant circumstance, with «слезами» in the instrumental of means. It paints the manner in which she would begin to reproach him.

Мальчик этого не любил, и чем более требовали от него сердечных излияний, тем как бы нарочно становился неподатливее.  
The boy did not like this, and the more heartfelt outpourings were demanded of him, the more — as if on purpose — he grew unyielding.
> The «чем... тем...» correlative with comparatives: «Чем более..., тем...» is 'the more..., the more...': the more outpourings were demanded, the more unyielding he grew. «Неподатливее» is the comparative of «неподатливый» ('unyielding'), and the construction links the two rising comparatives.
> Genitive after «требовать»: «Требовать» ('to demand') governs the genitive of the thing demanded — «излияний» ('outpourings,' genitive plural). «От него» ('from him') marks the source. The verb's genitive government is fixed and worth recognising.

Но происходило это у него не нарочно, а невольно — таков уж был характер.  
But this happened in him not on purpose but involuntarily — such, after all, was his nature.
> «таков» — the predicative demonstrative: «Таков» is the short predicative form of «такой» ('such'), agreeing in masculine gender with «характер»: 'such was his nature.' The particle «уж» adds a resigned 'after all, there's no help for it' shading.
> Contrastive «а» after negation: «Не нарочно, а невольно» — 'not on purpose but involuntarily.' The conjunction «а» here corrects a negated assertion, replacing the rejected term with the true one; this 'not X but Y' use of «а» is distinct from «но».

Мать ошибалась: маму свою он очень любил, а не любил только «телячьих нежностей», как выражался он на своем школьническом языке.  
His mother was mistaken: he loved his mama very much; what he did not love was only 'calf-like tendernesses,' as he put it in his schoolboy idiom.
> Fronted object «маму свою»: The object «маму свою» ('his own mama') is moved to the front for contrast — 'his mama he loved very much; what he did not love was...' The free word order makes 'mama' the topic against which the contrast is drawn. «Свою» is the reflexive possessive, 'his own.'
> «телячьи нежности» — calf-love mawkishness: A fixed scornful idiom: «телячьи нежности» (literally 'calf-like tendernesses') means sloppy, gushing sentimentality, the cooing affection a boy finds embarrassing. «Телячий» is the possessive adjective from «телёнок» (calf); the quotation marks mark it as Kolya's own schoolboy phrase.

После отца остался шкап, в котором хранилось несколько книг; Коля любил читать и про себя прочел уже некоторые из них.  
After his father there remained a cabinet in which a few books were kept; Kolya loved to read and had already read some of them on his own.
> «шкап» — the old spelling of 'cupboard': «Шкап» is the 19th-century variant of modern «шкаф» (cabinet, cupboard, bookcase). The older labial spelling is a period detail; here it is the late father's bookcase, the source of Kolya's precocious reading.
> Reflexive passive «хранилось»: «Хранилось» ('were kept') is a «-ся» verb used as an imperfective passive — the books 'were being kept' in the cabinet, with no agent named. The neuter singular agrees with the quantified «несколько книг», which counts as grammatically neuter.
> «про себя» — on his own / to himself: «Про себя» is an idiom meaning silently, to oneself, or here 'on his own, by himself' — Kolya read some of the books unaided. «Себя» is the reflexive pronoun governed by «про» (+ accusative).

Мать этим не смущалась и только дивилась иногда, как это мальчик, вместо того чтоб идти играть, простаивает у шкапа по целым часам над какою-нибудь книжкой.  
His mother was not troubled by this and only marveled sometimes that the boy, instead of going off to play, would stand for hours on end by the cabinet over some book or other.
> «вместо того чтоб(ы)» + infinitive: «Вместо того чтоб идти играть» means 'instead of going to play.' When the implied subject of «чтобы» is the same as the main clause's, it takes a bare infinitive rather than a past-form clause — hence «идти играть.» «Чтоб» is the colloquial clipped «чтобы».
> «про-» + «по целым часам» — durative standing: «Простаивает» (imperfective present) means to stand idle/spend time standing; «по целым часам» ('for whole hours at a time') uses «по» + dative plural to spread the action over repeated long stretches. The pairing stresses the boy's absorbed, hours-long lingering over a book.
> «дивиться» — to marvel: «Дивиться» ('to wonder, marvel at') is a somewhat folksy, old-fashioned synonym of «удивляться». The «-ся» verb takes its object in the dative; it colours the mother's naive astonishment at her bookish son.

И таким образом Коля прочел кое-что, чего бы ему нельзя еще было давать читать в его возрасте.  
And in this way Kolya read a thing or two that ought not yet to have been given him to read at his age.
> «бы» + dative-subject impossibility: A dense knot: «нельзя» ('one may not') is an impersonal predicate with the dative experiencer «ему» ('to him'), and «бы» makes the whole thing hypothetical — things that 'ought not to have been given him to read.' The relative «чего» is genitive (object under an implied negation/modal).
> The mobile particle «бы»: «Бы» here floats away from any verb and leans on the relative «чего», marking the clause as irrealis ('would/should not be permitted'). The particle's freedom to attach to the first stressed word, not the predicate, is characteristic of bookish syntax.

Впрочем, в последнее время хоть мальчик и не любил переходить в своих шалостях известной черты, но начались шалости испугавшие мать не на шутку, — правда, не безнравственные какие-нибудь, зато отчаянные, головорезные.  
Of late, however, though the boy did not like to carry his pranks past a certain known line, there began pranks that frightened his mother in earnest — not, it is true, anything immoral, but desperate ones, daredevil ones.
> Past active participle «испугавшие»: «Испугавшие» ('that frightened') is a past active participle from perfective «испугать», agreeing with «шалости» (pranks) in number and case. It condenses a «который»-clause — 'pranks which frightened the mother' — into a single modifier, the bookish participial style.
> «зато» — 'but on the other hand': «Зато» ('but to make up for it, on the other hand') sets a compensating contrast: not immoral, but instead desperate and daredevil. It answers the negation with a balancing positive, distinct from a plain «но».
> «не на шутку» — in earnest: The idiom «не на шутку» literally 'not for a joke' means seriously, in earnest, really and truly — the pranks frightened the mother 'in earnest.' «Головорезные» ('cut-throat, daredevil'), from «головорез», intensifies their recklessness.

Как раз в это лето, в июле месяце, во время вакаций, случилось так, что маменька с сынком отправились погостить на недельку в другой уезд, за семьдесят верст, к одной дальней родственнице, муж которой служил на станции железной дороги (той самой, ближайшей от нашего города станции, с которой Иван Федорович Карамазов месяц спустя отправился в Москву).  
That very summer, in the month of July, during the holidays, it happened that mother and son went off to stay for a little week in another district, some seventy versts away, with a distant kinswoman whose husband worked at a railway station (the very station nearest our town, the one from which Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov would set out for Moscow a month later).
> «маменька с сынком» — affectionate diminutives: Both nouns are tender diminutives: «маменька» (dear mama, from «мама») and «сынок» (little son, from «сын»). 'Mother and son' set off together in cosy, story-book endearments that match the narrator's fond tone toward the pair.

Там Коля начал с того, что оглядел железную дорогу в подробности, изучил распорядки, понимая, что новыми знаниями своими может блеснуть, возвратясь домой, между школьниками своей прогимназии.  
There Kolya began by inspecting the railway in every detail and studying its workings, understanding that with this new knowledge of his he could shine, once he returned home, among the schoolboys of his gymnasium.
> «начать с того, что» — 'began by': «Начал с того, что...» is a set frame meaning 'began by (doing)': literally 'began from that, that he looked over...' The correlative «того... что» links the main verb to the subordinate clause stating what the beginning consisted of.
> Perfective gerund «возвратясь»: «Возвратясь» ('having returned') is a perfective past gerund (the literary «-ясь» variant for «возвратившись»), marking the prior, completed action: he could shine 'once he had returned home.' The reflexive «-ся» belongs to «возвратиться».

Но нашлись там как раз в то время и еще несколько мальчиков, с которыми он и сошелся; одни из них проживали на станции, другие по соседству — всего молодого народа от двенадцати до пятнадцати лет сошлось человек шесть или семь, а из них двое случились и из нашего городка.  
But there happened to be just then several other boys as well, with whom he fell in; some of them lived at the station, others nearby — in all, of young folk between twelve and fifteen years old, some six or seven gathered together, and of these two happened to be from our little town as well.
> Relative «который» in the instrumental: «С которыми» is the relative pronoun governed by «с» ('with') in the instrumental plural — 'with whom he fell in.' The reflexive «сошёлся» ('became close, took up with', from «сойтись») is a reciprocal «-ся» verb of forming a bond.
> Approximation by inversion: «человек шесть»: «Человек шесть или семь» puts the counted noun «человек» (genitive plural here, the special count-form) before the numeral to mean 'some six or seven people, give or take.' The neuter singular verb «сошлось» agrees with the quantified subject.
> «народ» — folk, the young set: «Народ» normally means 'people/nation,' but in «молодого народа» it is the collective 'young folk, the young set' — a mass noun taken in the genitive of quantity after the count. The colloquial collective use suits the narrator's easy voice.

Мальчики вместе играли, шалили, и вот на четвертый или на пятый день гощения на станции состоялось между глупою молодежью одно преневозможное пари в два рубля, именно: Коля, почти изо всех младший, а потому несколько презираемый старшими, из самолюбия или из беспардонной отваги, предложил, что он, ночью, когда придет одиннадцатичасовой поезд, ляжет между рельсами ничком и пролежит недвижимо, пока поезд пронесется над ним на всех парах.  
The boys played and made mischief together, and there, on the fourth or fifth day of the visit at the station, a most impossible wager of two rubles was struck among this foolish youth — namely: Kolya, almost the youngest of them all and therefore somewhat despised by the elder ones, out of vanity or out of brazen daring, proposed that he, at night, when the eleven-o'clock train came in, would lie face down between the rails and lie there motionless while the train roared over him at full steam.
> Present passive participle «презираемый»: «Презираемый» ('despised, looked down on') is a present passive participle in «-емый» — rare and bookish — with the agent «старшими» ('by the elder ones') in the instrumental, exactly as the passive requires. It means 'somewhat despised by the older boys.'
> Perfective future in a «когда»-clause: «Придёт» is a perfective future ('when the train comes/will have come in'), and Russian, unlike English, keeps the future tense inside the «когда»-clause where English uses a present. The eleven-o'clock train is named exactly because the wager turns on its scheduled passing.

Правда, сделано было предварительное изучение, из которого оказалось, что действительно можно так протянуться и сплющиться вдоль между рельсами, что поезд, конечно, пронесется и не заденет лежащего, но, однако же, каково пролежать!  
True, a preliminary study had been made, from which it emerged that one really could stretch out and flatten oneself lengthwise between the rails in such a way that the train, of course, would rush over without touching the one lying there — but, all the same, to lie there!
> Impersonal «можно» + perfective infinitives: «Можно» ('one can, it is possible') is an impersonal predicate taking infinitives with no nominative subject — 'one could stretch out and flatten oneself.' Both «протянуться» and «сплющиться» are reflexive «-ся» verbs of changing one's own bodily position.
> Exclamatory «каково» + infinitive: «Каково пролежать!» is an exclamation: «каково» ('how (is it), what is it like') plus the bare perfective infinitive «пролежать» — 'but all the same, to lie there!' The construction throws the unspeakable ordeal of doing it into relief without a finite verb.

Коля стоял твердо, что пролежит.  
Kolya insisted firmly that he would lie there.
> «стоять твёрдо, что» — to insist firmly: Here «стоять» is not literal standing but the idiom 'to hold firm, insist': «стоял твёрдо, что пролежит» — 'he insisted firmly that he would lie there.' «Пролежит» is a perfective future ('will lie [the whole time]').

Над ним сначала смеялись, звали лгунишкой, фанфароном, но тем пуще его подзадорили.  
At first they laughed at him, called him a little liar and a braggart, but that only egged him on the more.
> «лгунишка», «фанфарон» — names they called him: «Лгунишка» is the pejorative-diminutive of «лгун» (liar) — a contemptible 'little liar' (the «-ишк-» suffix belittles). «Фанфарон» is a bookish loan (from French fanfaron) meaning a braggart, swaggerer. Both are predicate instrumentals after «звали» ('called him X').
> «тем пуще» — 'all the more so': «Тем пуще» means 'all the more, the more so for that': the mockery only egged him on the more. «Пуще» is an archaic comparative ('more, worse') no longer used outside set phrases, lending a folk-tale ring.

Главное, эти пятнадцатилетние слишком уж задирали пред ним нос и сперва даже не хотели считать его товарищем, как «маленького», что было уже нестерпимо обидно.  
The main thing was that these fifteen-year-olds had turned up their noses at him too haughtily and at first had even refused to count him as a comrade, as a 'little one,' which was already unbearably insulting.
> «задирать нос» — to turn up one's nose: The idiom «задирать нос» ('to lift/cock the nose') means to put on airs, look down on others haughtily — the fifteen-year-olds 'turned up their noses' at Kolya. «Пред» is the bookish form of «перед» ('before, in front of').
> Instrumental of the predicate after «считать»: «Считать кого товарищем» ('to count someone as a comrade') puts the predicate noun «товарищем» in the instrumental — the case Russian uses for the role something is regarded as. Here they 'refused to count him as a comrade.'
> Impersonal «обидно» — a feeling without a subject: «Было нестерпимо обидно» ('it was unbearably hurtful/insulting') is an impersonal predicate in «-о», stating an emotional state with no nominative subject — the slight 'was unbearably insulting' to him. This subjectless way of voicing hurt is deeply Russian.

И вот решено было отправиться с вечера за версту от станции, чтобы поезд, снявшись со станции, успел уже совсем разбежаться.  
And so it was decided to set out toward evening, a verst from the station, so that the train, having pulled away from the station, would already have built up its full speed.
> Short passive participle «решено»: «Решено было» ('it was decided') is the neuter short-form past passive participle of «решить» plus «было» — an impersonal passive with no named decider. It is the standard literary way to report a collective resolution.
> Perfective gerund «снявшись»: «Снявшись» ('having pulled away', reflexive «сняться») is a perfective past gerund framing the prior action: once the train had pulled out, it would have built up speed. «Чтобы... успел разбежаться» is a purpose clause with «чтобы» + past form.

Мальчишки собрались.  
The boys gathered.
> Reflexive «собрались» — middle voice: «Собрались» ('gathered, came together') is the reflexive/middle «-ся» form of «собрать»: the boys assembled themselves. The terse two-word sentence — perfective past, subject after no preamble — clips the narrative into a tense, cinematic beat.

Ночь настала безлунная, не то что темная, а почти черная.  
The night that came was moonless — not so much dark as almost black.
> Adjective after subject and verb: Word order weights the new fact: «Ночь настала безлунная» — 'the night that came was moonless,' with «безлунная» trailing for emphasis. The free order lets the predicate adjective land last, where the stress falls.
> «не то что..., а...» — 'not so much... as...': «Не то что тёмная, а почти чёрная» qualifies and corrects: not merely dark but almost black. The «не то что..., а...» frame, with corrective «а», refines the description by upgrading it to the stronger term.

В надлежащий час Коля лег между рельсами.  
At the appointed hour Kolya lay down between the rails.
> Perfective «лёг» — the decisive act: «Лёг» (perfective past of «лечь', to lie down) marks the single, completed action that moves the story forward — he lay down. «Между рельсами» ('between the rails') is «между» + instrumental, the case it governs for 'between.'
> «надлежащий» — the due, appointed time: «Надлежащий» ('proper, due, appointed') is a formal, bookish adjective; «в надлежащий час» means 'at the appointed hour.' The official-sounding word lends a mock-solemn weight to the boys' reckless ritual.

Пятеро остальных, державших пари, с замиранием сердца, а наконец в страхе и с раскаянием, ждали внизу насыпи подле дороги в кустах.  
The other five, who had laid the wager, waited with sinking hearts — and at last in terror and remorse — down below the embankment, in the bushes beside the line.
> Past active participle «державших»: «Державших пари» ('who had laid the wager') is a past active participle from imperfective «держать», agreeing in genitive plural with «остальных». «Держать пари» is the fixed idiom 'to make a bet'; the participle folds a whole relative clause into the noun phrase.
> «с замиранием сердца» — with sinking hearts: A set phrase: «замирание сердца» is the heart's 'standing still' from suspense or dread — 'with bated breath, with sinking hearts.' The instrumental «с замиранием» frames the manner of their waiting in the bushes.

Наконец загремел вдали поезд, снявшийся со станции.  
At last the train thundered in the distance, having pulled out from the station.
> Past active participle «снявшийся»: «Снявшийся со станции» ('that had pulled out from the station') is a past active participle (reflexive «-ся») modifying «поезд». The prefix «за-» on «загремел» marks the inceptive — the train suddenly 'began to thunder,' broke into noise in the distance.

Засверкали из тьмы два красные фонаря, загрохотало приближающееся чудовище.  
Two red lanterns flashed out of the darkness, and the approaching monster came roaring on.
> Inceptive «за-» and verb-first drama: Both verbs carry the inceptive prefix «за-» ('flashed out, began to roar') and stand before their subjects, hurling the action onto the page. The verb-first order — «Засверкали... фонаря, загрохотало... чудовище» — heightens the sudden onrush of the train.
> Present active participle «приближающееся»: «Приближающееся» ('approaching') is a present active participle (reflexive «-ся») agreeing with neuter «чудовище» ('monster'). It paints the train as a living thing closing in, the participle condensing 'which was approaching' into one charged adjective.

«Беги, беги долой с рельсов!» — закричали Коле из кустов умиравшие от страха мальчишки, но было уже поздно: поезд наскакал и промчался мимо.  
'Run, run, get off the rails!' the boys, dying of fear, shouted to Kolya from the bushes — but it was already too late: the train bore down and tore past.
> Imperative «беги!»: «Беги!» is the singular imperative of «бежать» ('run!'), repeated for urgency; «долой с рельсов» ('off, away from the rails') is a sharp exclamatory command. The doubled imperative captures the boys' panicked shout.
> Past active participle «умиравшие»: «Умиравшие от страха» ('dying of fear') is an imperfective past active participle modifying «мальчишки», naming an ongoing state — the boys who were dying of fright as they shouted. The imperfective stem gives the action duration, not completion.
> Two perfectives: bore down and tore past: «Наскакал» ('came charging on') and «промчался» ('tore past') are perfective pasts that snap off the climactic instant — the train was upon him and gone. The «про-» of «промчался» specifically means motion past/through.

Мальчишки бросились к Коле: он лежал недвижимо.  
The boys rushed to Kolya: he lay motionless.
> Reflexive «бросились» + «к» + dative: «Бросились» ('rushed, threw themselves') is the reflexive perfective of «броситься»; «к Коле» is «к» + dative, the case this preposition governs for motion toward. The colon then drops the bare result: 'he lay motionless.'

Они стали его теребить, начали подымать.  
They began to tug at him, started to lift him up.
> Phasal verbs + imperfective infinitive: «Стали» and «начали» ('began') are phasal verbs that always take an imperfective infinitive — «теребить» (to tug), «подымать» (to lift). «Подымать» is the older, colloquial form of «поднимать», a recurring period spelling in Dostoevsky.

Он вдруг поднялся и молча сошел с насыпи.  
Suddenly he rose and walked down the embankment in silence.
> Prefixed motion verbs «поднялся», «сошёл»: «Поднялся» ('rose up', reflexive) and «сошёл» ('came down', from «сойти») are prefixed perfective motion verbs: the prefixes «под-/вз-» and «с-» add precise direction (up, off-and-down). «Молча» ('silently') is a frozen gerund of «молчать» used as an adverb.

Сойдя вниз, он объявил, что нарочно лежал как без чувств, чтоб их испугать, но правда была в том, что он и в самом деле лишился чувств, как и признался потом сам, уже долго спустя, своей маме.  
Having come down, he announced that he had deliberately lain as if unconscious in order to frighten them, but the truth was that he had in fact lost consciousness, as he himself confessed afterward, long after, to his mama.
> Perfective gerund «сойдя»: «Сойдя вниз» ('having come down') is a perfective past gerund from «сойти», marking the action completed just before he spoke. The gerund shares the subject of «объявил» and chains the descent neatly to the announcement.
> «лишиться чувств» — to faint: «Лишиться чувств» (literally 'to be deprived of one's senses') is the standard idiom for fainting, losing consciousness. «Лишиться» governs the genitive «чувств» ('of his senses') — the genitive of the thing one is bereft of.
> «чтоб» of purpose with a shared subject: «Чтоб(ы) их испугать» ('in order to frighten them') takes a bare infinitive because the implied subject is the same as the main clause — Kolya frightens. «Как без чувств» ('as if unconscious') is the comparative «как» framing his feigned faint.

Таким образом слава «отчаянного» за ним укрепилась навеки.  
In this way the reputation of a 'desperate fellow' attached itself to him forever.
> Substantivised adjective «отчаянного»: «Отчаянный» ('desperate, daredevil') here stands alone as a noun in the genitive — the reputation 'of a desperate fellow.' Russian freely turns adjectives into nouns, and the quotation marks flag it as the town's own label. «Укрепилась» is a reflexive perfective ('took firm hold').

Воротился он домой на станцию бледный как полотно.  
He came back home to the station pale as a sheet.
> «бледный как полотно» — pale as a sheet: A fixed simile: «полотно» is linen/canvas cloth, so «бледный как полотно» is literally 'pale as linen' — the exact equivalent of English 'pale as a sheet.' «Воротился» ('came back') is the older, folksier form of «возвратился».

На другой день заболел слегка нервною лихорадкой, но духом был ужасно весел, рад и доволен.  
The next day he fell slightly ill with a nervous fever, but in spirit he was frightfully cheerful, glad, and content.
> Short adjectives in predicate; instrumental «духом»: «Весел, рад, доволен» are short (predicative) adjectives stating his temporary state of spirit — cheerful, glad, content. «Духом» ('in spirit') is an instrumental of respect, naming the sphere in which the statement holds.

Происшествие огласилось не сейчас, а уже в нашем городе, проникло в прогимназию и достигло до ее начальства.  
The affair did not come to light at once, but only later, in our town; it made its way into the gymnasium and reached the ears of its authorities.
> Chain of perfectives spreading the news: Three perfective pasts march the rumour forward step by step — «огласилось» (got out, reflexive), «проникло» (penetrated), «достигло» (reached). Each is a completed event, and the sequence enacts the news travelling from town to school to authorities.
> Genitive after «достигнуть»: «Достигнуть/достигать» ('to reach, attain') governs the genitive — «достигло... начальства» ('reached the authorities'). Dostoevsky doubles it with «до» ('reached even up to'), a period reinforcement of the verb's own government.

Но тут маменька Коли бросилась молить начальство за своего мальчика и кончила тем, что его отстоял и упросил за него уважаемый и влиятельный учитель Дарданелов, и дело оставили втуне, как не бывшее вовсе.  
But here Kolya's mama threw herself into pleading with the authorities on behalf of her boy, and it ended with the respected and influential teacher Dardanelov standing up for him and interceding for him, so the matter was let drop, as if it had never happened at all.
> «бросилась» + infinitive; «за» + accusative: «Бросилась молить» ('flung herself into pleading') again pairs the perfective «броситься» with an imperfective infinitive. «За своего мальчика» ('on behalf of her boy') uses «за» + accusative in its 'in defence/favour of' sense; «своего» is the reflexive possessive.
> «кончить тем, что» — 'ended with': «Кончила тем, что...» ('ended with the result that...') mirrors the «начать с того, что» frame: a correlative «тем... что» linking the outcome. Within it, the object «его» is fronted before its verbs «отстоял и упросил» for emphasis.
> «втуне» — in vain, let drop: «Втуне» is an archaic adverb meaning 'in vain, to no effect, idly'; «оставить дело втуне» means to let a matter drop, leave it without consequence. «Как не бывшее вовсе» ('as if it had never been at all') uses the bookish participle «бывшее».

Этот Дарданелов, человек холостой и нестарый, был страстно и уже многолетне влюблен в госпожу Красоткину и уже раз, назад тому с год, почтительнейше и замирая от страха и деликатности, рискнул было предложить ей свою руку; но она наотрез отказала, считая согласие изменой своему мальчику, хотя Дарданелов, по некоторым таинственным признакам, даже, может быть, имел бы некоторое право мечтать, что он не совсем противен прелестной, но уже слишком целомудренной и нежной вдовице.  
This Dardanelov, a bachelor and not an old man, had been passionately and for many years now in love with Madame Krassotkina, and once already, about a year before, had ventured — most respectfully, and dying of fear and delicacy — to offer her his hand; but she had refused flatly, considering that to consent would be a betrayal of her boy, although Dardanelov, by certain mysterious signs, might even, perhaps, have had some right to dream that he was not altogether repugnant to the charming but all too chaste and tender little widow.
> The aborted-action particle «было»: «Рискнул было предложить» — he 'ventured to offer' his hand, but «было» signals the attempt came to nothing (she refused). The idiom «предложить руку» ('to offer one's hand') means to propose marriage; «свою» is the reflexive possessive 'his own.'
> Present gerund + instrumental predicate: «Считая» ('considering') is a present gerund; «считать X изменой» puts the predicate noun «изменой» ('a betrayal') in the instrumental — the case for the role a thing is reckoned as. So consent would be 'a betrayal of her boy.'
> Conditional with «бы»: «Имел бы право мечтать» ('might have had some right to dream') is the conditional: past-form verb plus «бы» for the hypothetical. It softly hedges Dardanelov's hopes — he 'might, perhaps, have had' grounds to dream.
> «вдовица», «целомудренная» — elevated diction: «Вдовица» is the archaic, poetic-religious form of «вдова» (widow), and «целомудренная» ('chaste, virtuous') is a high, almost ecclesiastical word. Together they lift the widow's portrait into a mock-elevated, tender-ironic register.

Сумасшедшая шалость Коли, кажется, пробила лед, и Дарданелову за его заступничество сделан был намек о надежде, правда отдаленный, но и сам Дарданелов был феноменом чистоты и деликатности, а потому с него и того было покамест довольно для полноты его счастия.  
Kolya's mad prank seems to have broken the ice, and for his intercession Dardanelov was given a hint of hope — a distant one, true — but then Dardanelov himself was a phenomenon of purity and delicacy, and so even that much was, for the time being, enough for the fullness of his happiness.
> «пробить лёд» — to break the ice: The idiom «пробить лёд» ('to break the ice') means exactly what English does — to overcome the first stiffness between people. Kolya's mad prank, ironically, thaws his mother toward her suitor.
> Short passive participle «сделан»; dative recipient: «Сделан был намёк» ('a hint was given') is a short-form past passive participle with «был» — an impersonal passive — and «Дарданелову» is the dative of the person to whom the hint was made. The construction states the result without naming who hinted.
> Genitive of sufficiency after «довольно»: «Того было довольно» ('that much was enough') takes the genitive «того» — «довольно» ('enough') governs the genitive of what suffices. «С него» ('for him', literally 'from him') marks the person satisfied; the «и» emphasises 'even that much.'

Мальчика он любил, хотя считал бы унизительным пред ним заискивать, и относился к нему в классах строго и требовательно.  
He loved the boy, though he would have thought it demeaning to curry favor with him, and treated him strictly and exactingly in class.
> Conditional «бы» + instrumental predicate: «Считал бы унизительным заискивать» — he 'would have thought it demeaning to curry favour.' «Бы» makes it conditional, and «унизительным» ('demeaning') is an instrumental predicate after «считать», naming the quality he would assign to the act.
> «заискивать» — to curry favour: «Заискивать (перед кем)» means to ingratiate oneself, fawn, seek favour with someone in a self-abasing way. The proud Dardanelov would find it beneath him to do so with his own pupil — a nice touch of mutual stiff-necked pride.

Но Коля и сам держал его на почтительном расстоянии, уроки готовил отлично, был в классе вторым учеником, обращался к Дарданелову сухо, и весь класс твердо верил, что во всемирной истории Коля так силен, что «собьет» самого Дарданелова.  
But Kolya, for his part, kept him too at a respectful distance, prepared his lessons splendidly, was second in his class, addressed Dardanelov drily, and the whole class firmly believed that in world history Kolya was so strong that he could 'best' Dardanelov himself.
> Reflexive vs object «его»: «Держал его на расстоянии» ('kept him at a distance') uses the object pronoun «его» for the other person — contrast «держать себя» ('to bear oneself'), which would use the reflexive. Choosing «его» over «себя» keeps subject and object distinct.
> Short adjective «силён» in a «так... что» clause: «Так силён, что...» ('so strong that...') pairs the short predicative adjective «силён» with a result clause introduced by «что». The whole class 'firmly believed' he was so strong in history that he could best the teacher.

И действительно, Коля задал ему раз вопрос: «Кто основал Трою?» — на что Дарданелов отвечал лишь вообще про народы, их движения и переселения, про глубину времен, про баснословие, но на то, кто именно основал Трою, то есть какие именно лица, ответить не мог, и даже вопрос нашел почему-то праздным и несостоятельным.  
And indeed, Kolya once put a question to him: 'Who founded Troy?' — to which Dardanelov replied only in general terms, about peoples, their movements and migrations, about the depths of antiquity, about legend, but as to who exactly founded Troy — that is, what particular persons — he could not answer, and even found the question, for some reason, idle and unfounded.
> «то есть» — 'that is to say': «То есть» ('that is, i.e.') introduces a clarifying restatement — 'who founded Troy, that is, what particular persons.' It is the standard explanatory connector, glossing or narrowing what precedes.
> «баснословие» — legend, fable-lore: «Баснословие» (from «басня», fable + «слово») is a bookish word for the body of myth and legend, 'fabulous lore' — Dardanelov retreated into vague talk of 'legend.' «Несостоятельным» ('untenable, unfounded') is likewise an elevated, abstract term.

Но мальчики так и остались в уверенности, что Дарданелов не знает, кто основал Трою.  
But the boys remained convinced that Dardanelov did not know who founded Troy.
> Emphatic «так и» + «остаться в»: «Так и остались» means 'remained just so, stayed exactly that way' — the «так и» emphasises that nothing changed their conviction. «Остаться в уверенности» ('to remain in the certainty') uses «в» + prepositional for the state they stayed in.

Коля же вычитал об основателях Трои у Смарагдова, хранившегося в шкапе с книгами, который остался после родителя.  
Kolya, for his part, had read about the founders of Troy in Smaragdov, who was kept in the cabinet of books that had been left after his father.
> Topic-shifting «же»: The particle «же» here is not the emphatic 'precisely' but the soft topic-contrastive 'as for, for his part' — it pivots the narration back to Kolya after the surrounding boys. It always follows the word it foregrounds, never opening a clause.
> «вычитать» — to read up, glean from a book: The prefix «вы-» on «читать» gives 'to read out / extract by reading' — to find something by reading it somewhere. It is more pointed than plain «прочитать»: Kolya dug the founders of Troy out of his source.
> Past active participle «хранившегося»: «хранившегося» is a past active participle of «храниться» (to be kept) — a one-word «который»-clause, 'who/which was kept', here agreeing with Smaragdov in the genitive. Such participial chains, packed into a single sentence, are the texture of 19th-century literary prose.
> Archaic «шкап» for «шкаф»: «шкап» is the older 19th-century form of the modern «шкаф» (cupboard, cabinet). Dostoevsky's spelling preserves a now-obsolete variant; the word means a bookcase here.
> «родитель» — the formal 'parent/father': «родитель» is a more formal, almost legal word for 'parent' (here the late father), loftier than «отец». The phrase «остался после родителя» means the bookcase was 'left behind after' (i.e., inherited from) the deceased father.

Кончилось тем, что всех даже мальчиков стало наконец интересовать: кто ж именно основал Трою, но Красоткин своего секрета не открывал, и слава знания оставалась за ним незыблемо.  
It ended with all the boys, even, being at last curious to know just who had founded Troy, but Krassotkin would not give away his secret, and the reputation of knowledge remained his, unshakable.
> Impersonal «кончилось тем, что»: A subjectless, neuter-singular «кончилось» ('it ended') sets up the correlative «тем, что…» — literally 'it ended with the fact that…'. The instrumental «тем» is governed by «кончиться (чем)», and «что» opens the subordinate clause that fills it.
> Impersonal «стало интересовать» with accusative experiencer: Another subjectless frame: neuter «стало интересовать» ('it came to interest') takes the experiencers «всех мальчиков» in the accusative, while the real topic — who founded Troy — follows as a clause. The animate plural accusative «всех мальчиков» mirrors the genitive.
> Emphatic «ж» (= «же») after «кто»: «ж» is the reduced form of «же», leaning on the interrogative «кто» to sharpen it: 'just who on earth founded Troy'. The perfective «основал» views the founding as a single completed act.
> Genitive of negation «своего секрета»: Under the negated «не открывал», the direct object slips from accusative «свой секрет» into the genitive «своего секрета» — the classic genitive of negation. The reflexive possessive «своего» keeps the secret as Krassotkin's own.
> «оставаться за» + instrumental: to remain to one's credit: The idiom «оставаться за кем-то» means 'to remain (assigned) to someone' — the glory stayed his. «за ним» is the instrumental governed by «за», and «незыблемо» is an adverb, 'unshakably'.

После случая на железной дороге у Коли в отношениях к матери произошла некоторая перемена.  
After the affair on the railway a certain change came over Kolya's relations with his mother.
> Word order: the new information last: The verb «произошла» ('occurred') precedes its subject «некоторая перемена», so the subject — the change itself — lands in the stressed, news-bearing final position. Russian's free word order lets the topic (the time and persons) come first and the comment last.
> Possessive «у Коли» + dative «к матери»: «у Коли» (genitive after «у») marks whose relations these are, while «к матери» (dative after «к») names the person the relations are directed toward. Two prepositions, two cases, stacking the relationship precisely.

Когда Анна Федоровна (вдова Красоткина) узнала о подвиге сынка, то чуть не сошла с ума от ужаса.  
When Anna Fyodorovna (the widow Krassotkina) learned of her son's exploit, she nearly went out of her mind with horror.
> Correlative «когда… то…»: The «когда»-clause is answered by «то» heading the main clause — a bookish 'when…, then…' correlative pairing. The perfective «узнала» and «сошла» mark two completed events.
> Ironic diminutive «сынок»: «сынка» (genitive of «сынок») is an affectionate diminutive of «сын», 'sonny / dear little son'. Set against «подвиг» ('heroic exploit'), used here with a mother's frightened irony, the suffix tenderizes the dangerous deed.
> «чуть не» + «сойти с ума»: «чуть не» means 'all but, very nearly' (the action almost happened). «сойти с ума» is the fixed idiom 'to go out of one's mind' — together, 'she nearly went mad'.

С ней сделались такие страшные истерические припадки, продолжавшиеся с перемежками несколько дней, что испуганный уже серьезно Коля дал ей честное и благородное слово, что подобных шалостей уже никогда не повторится.  
She fell into such fearful hysterical fits, lasting on and off for several days, that Kolya, now seriously frightened, gave her his word of honor and his solemn promise that such pranks would never again be repeated.
> «сделались с ней» — fits came over her: The verb «сделаться» here means 'to come over, befall' someone; the person affected stands in «с ней» (instrumental after «с»), and the grammatical subject is «припадки» (the fits). A vivid impersonal-leaning construction of involuntary states.
> Past active participle «продолжавшиеся»: «продолжавшиеся» is a past active participle ('which lasted'), agreeing with «припадки» and folding a relative clause into one modifier. The imperfective stem gives the ongoing, drawn-out sense the prose wants.
> Past passive participle as attribute: «испуганный» ('frightened') is a past passive participle used attributively before «Коля», expanded by adverbs «уже серьезно» — 'now seriously frightened Kolya'. Russian readily stacks such participial phrases ahead of the noun.
> «честное благородное слово» — word of honor: «честное слово» is the everyday 'word of honor'; expanded with «благородное» ('noble') it becomes a more solemn, almost chivalric pledge — exactly the inflated register a proud, romantic boy like Kolya would reach for.
> Negative concord «уже никогда не»: Russian piles negatives by concord: «никогда» ('never') still requires «не» on the verb — 'will never again be repeated'. The reflexive «повторится» is the middle-voice 'to recur, repeat itself'.

Он поклялся на коленях пред образом и поклялся памятью отца, как потребовала сама госпожа Красоткина, причем «мужественный» Коля сам расплакался, как шестилетний мальчик, от «чувств», и мать и сын во весь тот день бросались друг другу в объятия и плакали сотрясаясь.  
He swore on his knees before the icon, and swore by his father's memory, as Madame Krassotkina herself demanded, whereupon the 'manly' Kolya himself burst into tears like a six-year-old boy, out of 'feelings,' and mother and son threw themselves into each other's arms all that day and wept, shaking.
> Archaic «пред» for «перед»: «пред» is the bookish, solemn short form of «перед» ('before, in front of'), fitting for the sacred act. It governs the instrumental «образом».
> Intensifier «сама»: «сама» ('herself') is the emphatic intensifier underlining that Madame Krassotkina personally demanded it. «госпожа» is the polite 'Madame / Mrs.', a respectful title.
> Inceptive «рас-» in «расплакаться»: The prefix «рас-» on «плакать» yields «расплакаться» — to burst into tears, to break out crying. It marks the sudden onset and full spilling-over of the weeping.
> Reciprocal «друг другу» and gerund «сотрясаясь»: «друг другу» is the reciprocal 'to each other' (in the dative, governed by «бросаться в объятия кому»). «сотрясаясь» is an imperfective present gerund ('shaking'), an attendant circumstance accompanying «плакали».

На другой день Коля проснулся по-прежнему «бесчувственным», однако стал молчаливее, скромнее, строже, задумчивее.  
The next day Kolya woke up 'unfeeling' as before, yet he had grown more silent, more modest, sterner, more thoughtful.
> «по-прежнему» — as before: The adverb «по-прежнему» means 'as before, just as previously'. The «по-…-ему» pattern builds manner adverbs (compare «по-русски», 'in Russian').
> A chain of comparatives: Four predicative comparatives in a row — «молчаливее, скромнее, строже, задумчивее» ('more silent, more modest, sterner, more thoughtful'). «строже» shows the consonant mutation (г→ж) typical of the -е comparative, against the regular -ее of the others.
> «бесчувственный» in scare quotes: «бесчувственный» means 'unfeeling, insensible' (без + чувство, 'without feeling'). Dostoevsky's quotation marks make it Kolya's own pose of cold-heartedness — ironic, since the previous day he had sobbed.

Правда, месяца чрез полтора он опять было попался в одной шалости, и имя его сделалось даже известным нашему мировому судье, но шалость была уже совсем в другом роде, даже смешная и глупенькая, да и не сам он, как оказалось, совершил ее, а только очутился в нее замешанным.  
True, about a month and a half later he was caught again in some prank, and his name became known even to our justice of the peace, but this prank was of an altogether different sort, even comical and silly, and besides, as it turned out, he had not committed it himself but only found himself mixed up in it.
> Inverted «чрез полтора месяца»: Normal order is «через полтора месяца» ('about a month and a half later'); inverting the noun before the preposition («месяца чрез полтора») gives an approximative 'a month and a half or so'. «чрез» is the archaic, contracted «через».
> The 'almost / annulled action' particle «было»: «было» here is not the past of «быть» but the special particle marking an action begun or about to happen that is then qualified or reversed — 'he was caught again (but…)'. It always follows a past-tense perfective and is a distinctly literary touch.
> Affectionate diminutive «глупенькая»: The «-еньк-» suffix on «глупый» gives «глупенькая» — 'silly in a sweet, harmless way', softening the judgment to something almost fond. The narrator forgives the prank with the very shape of the word.
> Contrastive «не… а…»: «не… а…» sets up a corrective contrast: 'not X but Y' — he did not commit it himself, but rather got mixed up in it. «замешанным» is a past passive participle in the instrumental, complement of «очутиться» ('to find oneself [in a state]').

Но об этом как-нибудь после.  
But of this some other time.
> Verbless aside with «как-нибудь»: A clipped, verbless narratorial aside — 'But of this some other time'. «как-нибудь» (here 'somehow, at some point') uses the «-нибудь» suffix marking a non-specific 'some-or-other' occasion. «об этом» is the prepositional of topic after «о/об».

Мать продолжала трепетать и мучиться, а Дарданелов по мере тревог ее всё более и более воспринимал надежду.  
His mother went on trembling and tormenting herself, while Dardanelov, in proportion to her anxieties, took up more and more hope.
> Imperfective infinitives after «продолжать»: «продолжать» ('to continue') governs imperfective infinitives only — «трепетать», «мучиться» — since one can only go on doing a process, not a completed act. «мучиться» is the reflexive 'to torment oneself, suffer'.
> Contrastive «а» and intensifying «всё более и более»: «а» is the soft contrastive 'while, whereas', pivoting from mother to Dardanelov. «всё более и более» ('more and more') uses «всё» + comparative to mark a steadily rising imperfective process — his hope kept growing.
> «по мере» — in proportion to: «по мере (чего)» means 'in proportion to, as' (governing the genitive «тревог»). The phrase ties Dardanelov's rising hope directly to the measure of the mother's anxieties.

Надо заметить, что Коля понимал и разгадывал с этой стороны Дарданелова и, уж разумеется, глубоко презирал его за его «чувства»; прежде даже имел неделикатность выказывать это презрение свое пред матерью, отдаленно намекая ей, что понимает, чего добивается Дарданелов.  
It should be noted that Kolya understood and read Dardanelov from this side, and, of course, deeply despised him for his 'feelings'; earlier he had even had the indelicacy to display this contempt of his before his mother, hinting to her from a distance that he understood what Dardanelov was after.
> Impersonal «надо» + infinitive: «надо заметить» is a subjectless modal frame, 'one must note / it should be noted', with no nominative subject and the predicate built on invariable «надо» plus an infinitive — a hallmark of Russian's experiencer-first, impersonal syntax.
> Emphatic particle «уж»: «уж» here is the intensifying particle (kin to «же», «ведь»), lending 'of course, naturally' an insistent, conversational force — 'and, needless to say'. It colors the narrator's confiding tone.
> Reflexive possessive «свое» and word order: «свое» ('his own') points back to Kolya, the clause's subject. Placing it after the noun — «презрение свое» rather than «свое презрение» — is a bookish, slightly emphatic inversion typical of the literary register.
> Present gerund «намекая»: «намекая» is an imperfective present gerund ('hinting'), describing the manner attending the main verb and sharing Kolya as its subject. «ей» is the dative of the person hinted to.
> Genitive object of «добиваться»: «добиваться» ('to strive after, be after') governs the genitive, hence «чего» (genitive of «что») rather than accusative «что» — 'what Dardanelov is after'. The verb is reflexive in form, an inherent -ся verb.

Но после случая на железной дороге он и на этот счет изменил свое поведение: намеков себе уже более не позволял, даже самых отдаленных, а о Дарданелове при матери стал отзываться почтительнее, что тотчас же с беспредельною благодарностью в сердце своем поняла чуткая Анна Федоровна, но зато при малейшем, самом нечаянном слове даже от постороннего какого-нибудь гостя о Дарданелове, если при этом находился Коля, вдруг вся вспыхивала от стыда, как роза.  
But after the affair on the railway he changed his conduct on this score as well: he no longer permitted himself any hints, even the most distant ones, and began to speak of Dardanelov before his mother more respectfully — which the sensitive Anna Fyodorovna at once grasped with boundless gratitude in her heart; yet at the slightest, most accidental word about Dardanelov, even from some outside guest, if Kolya happened to be present, she would suddenly flush all over with shame, like a rose.
> «на этот счет» — on this score: The idiom «на этот счет» means 'on this score, in this respect'. The perfective «изменил» ('changed') marks a single decisive shift, against the imperfective background of his earlier habits.
> Genitive of negation + reflexive «себе»: Negated «не позволял» pulls the object into the genitive «намеков» (genitive of negation, here plural). «себе» is the dative reflexive, 'to himself' — he allowed himself no more hints.
> Comparative adverb «почтительнее»: «почтительнее» is the comparative of the adverb «почтительно» ('respectfully') — 'more respectfully'. «стал» + imperfective infinitive «отзываться» marks the inception of a new habit.
> Archaic instrumental ending «-ою»: «беспредельною благодарностью» shows the older literary feminine instrumental ending «-ою» (modern «-ой»). Dostoevsky favors this fuller, more solemn 19th-century form. The phrase is instrumental of manner after the preposition «с».
> Object-fronted word order: The object clause «что» stands first and the subject «чуткая Анна Федоровна» is held to the very end, after its verb — an inversion that lets the long modifier «чуткая» ('sensitive') and the name carry the weight. Free case-marking makes this reordering legible.
> Superlative «малейшем» and «самом нечаянном»: «малейшем» is the suffixal superlative ('the slightest', from «малый»), while «самом нечаянном» builds the superlative periphrastically with «самый» ('the most accidental'). Both sit in the prepositional after «при», 'at the slightest… word'.
> «от стыда» — cause in the genitive: «от стыда» ('from / out of shame') uses «от» + genitive to express the cause of the blush. The imperfective «вспыхивала» renders the recurrent reaction — every time, she would flush.

Коля же в эти мгновения или смотрел нахмуренно в окно, или разглядывал, не просят ли у него сапоги каши, или свирепо звал Перезвона, лохматую, довольно большую и паршивую собаку, которую с месяц вдруг откуда-то приобрел, втащил в дом и держал почему-то в секрете в комнатах, никому ее не показывая из товарищей.  
Kolya, for his part, in such moments either looked frowning out the window, or examined whether his boots were 'asking for porridge,' or fiercely called for Perezvon — a shaggy, rather large, mangy dog that he had suddenly acquired from somewhere about a month before, dragged into the house, and kept for some reason a secret in the rooms, showing it to none of his comrades.
> Iterative imperfectives with «или… или…»: The repeated «или… или… или…» ('either… or…') strings three imperfective past verbs naming Kolya's habitual alternatives in such moments. The imperfective is exactly right for recurring, characteristic behavior.
> Embedded yes/no «ли»: «ли» turns the embedded clause into an indirect yes/no question — 'whether his boots were asking for porridge'. The focused verb «просят» is fronted and followed by «ли», the formal, literary way to mark such a question.
> Boots "asking for porridge": The idiom «сапоги каши просят» literally says the boots 'are asking for porridge' — it means the soles have split open at the toe so the boot gapes like an open mouth. We keep the vivid colloquial image; it is a homely Russian way of saying one's footwear is worn out and broken.
> The dog's name «Перезвон»: «Перезвон» means the pealing of bells, a chiming carillon (пере- + звон). A grandiose, ringing name bestowed on a shaggy mongrel — Kolya's romantic flair extends even to naming his dog.
> Relative «которую» and gerund «не показывая»: «которую» (accusative, animate-style, agreeing with «собаку») heads a relative clause governing a run of perfective and imperfective verbs. The closing «не показывая» is a negated present gerund, 'showing to no one', with negative concord on «никому».
> «паршивый» — mangy, wretched: «паршивый» literally means 'scabby, mangy' (from «парша», scurf/mange) and so 'wretched, lousy'. Here it is the literal mangy condition of the stray dog, with a sympathetic shading of pity for the creature.

Тиранил же ужасно, обучая ее всяким штукам и наукам, и довел бедную собаку до того, что та выла без него, когда он отлучался в классы, а когда приходил, визжала от восторга, скакала как полоумная, служила, валилась на землю и притворялась мертвою и проч., словом, показывала все штуки, которым ее обучили, уже не по требованию, а единственно от пылкости своих восторженных чувств и благодарного сердца.  
He tyrannized it dreadfully, training it in all sorts of tricks and lessons, and brought the poor dog to such a state that it would howl without him when he was away at his classes, and when he came home would squeal with delight, bound about like a creature half mad, beg, throw itself to the ground and play dead, and so on — in a word, show off all the tricks it had been taught, no longer on command but solely out of the ardor of its rapturous feelings and its grateful heart.
> Subject-dropping and gerund «обучая»: The subject (Kolya) is dropped — the past «тиранил» carries it — and «обучая» is an imperfective present gerund ('training it') giving the simultaneous activity. «обучать» governs the dative of what is taught: «штукам и наукам».
> «довести до того, что» — to drive to such a state that: The idiom «довести (кого) до того, что…» means 'to bring/drive someone to the point that…'. «до того» (genitive after «до») is the correlative filled by the «что»-clause that follows.
> Imperfective chain for habitual behavior: A cascade of imperfective past verbs («выла, визжала, скакала, служила, валилась, притворялась») paints the dog's repeated, characteristic routine. «та» ('that one') is the demonstrative re-referring to the dog as topic.
> «полоумный» — half-witted: «полоумная» (пол- 'half' + ум 'mind') means 'half-witted, crazed' — 'like a creature half mad'. The feminine ending agrees with the dog (собака).
> Relative «которым» in the dative: «которым» takes the dative because «обучить (кого) чему» governs the dative of the thing taught — 'all the tricks it had been taught'. The relative pronoun agrees in number/gender with «штуки» but draws its case from its own clause.
> Abbreviation «и проч.»: «и проч.» abbreviates «и прочее», 'and so forth, et cetera' — a slightly old-fashioned written equivalent of «и так далее». The narrator waves off the rest of the dog's repertoire.

Кстати: я и забыл упомянуть, что Коля Красоткин был тот самый мальчик, которого знакомый уже читателю мальчик Илюша, сын отставного штабс-капитана Снегирева, пырнул перочинным ножичком в бедро, заступаясь за отца, которого школьники задразнили «мочалкой».  
By the way: I quite forgot to mention that Kolya Krassotkin was that very boy whom the boy Ilyusha — already known to the reader, the son of the retired staff captain Snegiryov — stabbed in the thigh with a penknife while defending his father, whom the schoolboys had teased with the name 'wisp-of-tow.'
> Correlative «тот самый» + relative «которого»: «тот самый» ('that very') sets up the antecedent answered by «которого» — the accusative-as-genitive of the animate relative, object of «пырнул». The construction identifies Kolya as the exact boy from the earlier scene.
> «пырнуть» and the diminutive «ножичек»: «пырнуть» is a sharp, expressive perfective 'to jab, stab (once)'. «ножичком» is the affectionate diminutive of «нож» (a 'little knife'), and «перочинный» means 'pen-' (originally for trimming quills) — a small penknife, the homely weapon making the stabbing all the more startling.
> Present gerund «заступаясь»: «заступаясь» is an imperfective present gerund ('while defending'), giving the simultaneous motive of the stabbing and sharing Ilyusha as subject. «заступаться за (кого)» — 'to stand up for' — governs «за» + accusative.
> The taunt «мочалка»: «мочалка» is a loofah or wisp of bast/tow used for scrubbing; as a nickname it mocks Snegiryov's straggly, frayed appearance — 'wisp-of-tow'. The prefix «за-» on «дразнить» («задразнить») means to tease relentlessly, to torment with teasing.
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Source text: public domain (Fyodor Dostoevsky, d. 1881; Russian from the Nauka academic edition via ru.wikisource). English translation: original, © 1732 Studios (2026); rendered freshly from the public-domain Russian, not derived from any prior English translation. Sentence-aligned by 1732 Studios.