# The Brothers Karamazov, He Gets Involved with the Schoolboys

Братья Карамазовы · Fyodor Dostoevsky · Book IV — Lacerations

Source: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b4-c3. Data: https://1732studios.com/books/karamazov/b4-c3.json.


«Слава богу, что он меня про Грушеньку не спросил, — подумал в свою очередь Алеша, выходя от отца и направляясь в дом госпожи Хохлаковой, — а то бы пришлось, пожалуй, про вчерашнюю встречу с Грушенькой рассказать».  
"Thank God he didn't ask me about Grushenka," thought Alyosha in his turn, as he left his father's house and set off for Madame Hohlakov's, "for otherwise I might have had to tell him about yesterday's meeting with her."
> Two simultaneous gerunds: Both «выходя» (going out) and «направляясь» (heading) are imperfective present gerunds («деепричастие») in -я, painting the actions as going on at the same time as Alyosha's thought. They share the main clause's subject, Alyosha, and fold two background motions into one flowing sentence — a hallmark of literary narration.
> Conditional with бы: what would have followed: «а то бы пришлось» is the irrealis: the particle «бы» plus the past-form «пришлось» yields "otherwise I would have had to." «пришлось» is itself an impersonal dative construction (one would have had to), so the whole clause is a hypothetical with no nominative subject — the necessity that did not, in fact, arise.
> "In his turn": «в свою очередь» — "in his/her turn," "for his part." The narrator marks that Alyosha is now thinking his own private thought, mirroring the thoughts his father had a moment before; «свою» is the reflexive possessive, pointing back to Alyosha himself.

Алеша больно почувствовал, что за ночь бойцы собрались с новыми силами, а сердце их с наступившим днем опять окаменело: «Отец раздражен и зол, он выдумал что-то и стал на том; а что Дмитрий?  
Alyosha felt with a pang that overnight the combatants had gathered fresh strength, and that with the coming of day their hearts had hardened to stone again: "Father is irritated and spiteful; he has thought something up and dug himself in; and what of Dmitri?
> окаменеть — to turn to stone: «окаменело» (from «окаменеть») literally means "turned to stone, petrified." Applied to «сердце» (heart) it is a vivid metaphor for hardening — the combatants' hearts have gone stony again — and it quietly foreshadows the actual stones the boys are about to throw.
> Past active participle as a tight modifier: «наступившим» is a past active participle of «наступить» (to set in, arrive), agreeing with «днем» in the instrumental after «с». It compresses "with the day that had come" into a single adjective-like word — the bookish economy of literary Russian.
> Short-form adjectives in the predicate: «раздражен» and «зол» are short-form adjectives — predicate-only forms that here read as a present, almost diagnostic state: "Father is irritated and spiteful." The short form lends a clipped, judging immediacy well suited to Alyosha's anxious inner summary.

Тот тоже за ночь укрепился, тоже, надо быть, раздражен и зол, и тоже что-нибудь, конечно, надумал… О, непременно надо сегодня его успеть разыскать во что бы ни стало…»  
He too has braced himself overnight, he too, no doubt, is irritated and spiteful, and he too has certainly hit upon some scheme… Oh, today, without fail, I must manage to track him down whatever it costs…"
> Anaphoric "тоже" binding Dmitri to the father: The triple «тоже» ("too, likewise") drives the parallel: just as the father is dug in, so too is Dmitri. The repetition is a rhetorical device of free indirect thought — we hear Alyosha's mind ticking off the symmetry between the two combatants.
> надо быть — "most likely": «надо быть» here is not "one must be" but a colloquial parenthetical meaning "probably, no doubt, I suppose." It is a marker of the speaker's guesswork, common in 19th-century conversational Russian.
> "Whatever it costs" — a fixed idiom: The set phrase «во что бы то ни стало» means "at all costs, no matter what" (the standard form has «то»; the source prints «во что бы ни стало»). The «бы … ни» frame is the concessive "whatever" construction, frozen here into an unbreakable idiom of fierce resolve.

Но Алеше не удалось долго думать: с ним вдруг случилось дорогой одно происшествие, на вид хоть и не очень важное, но сильно его поразившее.  
But Alyosha was not allowed to think for long: along the way something suddenly happened to him that seemed, on the face of it, not very important, yet struck him deeply.
> Dative subject: it "did not come off" for Alyosha: «Алеше … не удалось» is an impersonal construction with the experiencer in the dative: literally "to Alyosha it did not succeed [to think]." There is no nominative subject; the event simply happens to him, a pattern Russian uses constantly for things outside a person's control.
> Past active participle: the thing that struck him: «поразившее» is a past active participle of «поразить» (to strike, astonish), neuter to agree with «происшествие». It replaces a который-clause ("an incident which struck him deeply") with one weighty word — the bookish way Dostoevsky stacks description onto a noun.

Как только он прошел площадь и свернул в переулок, чтобы выйти в Михайловскую улицу, параллельную Большой, но отделявшуюся от нее лишь канавкой (весь город наш пронизан канавками), он увидел внизу пред мостиком маленькую кучку школьников, всё малолетних деток, от девяти до двенадцати лет, не больше.  
As soon as he had crossed the square and turned into the lane that leads to Mikhailovskaya Street — which runs parallel to the Bolshaya and is divided from it only by a little ditch (our whole town is laced with such ditches) — he caught sight, down below by a small bridge, of a little knot of schoolboys, all of them small children, between nine and twelve years old, no more.
> Perfective chain of completed motions: «прошел», «свернул», «выйти» are all perfective verbs of motion: each names a single completed step (crossed, turned, get out to). The perfectives move the scene forward event by event, setting up the sudden encounter, while «чтобы выйти» gives the purpose of the turn.
> Past active participle modifying the street: «отделявшуюся» is a past active participle (imperfective stem) agreeing with «улицу», meaning "which was separated." «канавкой» is the instrumental of means — separated *by* a little ditch — showing how the instrumental case names the thing that does the dividing.
> канавка — a little ditch (diminutive): «канавка» is the diminutive of «канава» (ditch, gutter). The narrator's aside «весь город наш пронизан канавками» (our whole town is laced with little ditches) uses the affectionate diminutive to sketch the homely, provincial texture of the town.
> кучка — a little knot of people: «кучка», diminutive of «куча» (heap, pile), means a small cluster or knot — here a little huddle of schoolboys. Russian readily applies "heap" words to gatherings of people, the diminutive softening it to a cosy clump.

Они расходились по домам из класса со своими ранчиками за плечами, другие с кожаными мешочками на ремнях через плечо, одни в курточках, другие в пальтишках, а иные и в высоких сапогах со складками на голенищах, в каких особенно любят щеголять маленькие детки, которых балуют зажиточные отцы.  
They were going home from school, some with little satchels on their backs, others with leather pouches slung on straps across the shoulder, some in short jackets, others in little overcoats, and a few even in tall boots with folds wrinkled down the legs — the kind that small children, spoiled by well-off fathers, are especially fond of showing off.
> Diminutives that color the scene: Russian piles on affectionate diminutive suffixes here: «курточки» (little jackets), «пальтишки» (little overcoats), «детки» (little kids). They signal the smallness and dearness of the children and the narrator's warm, slightly tender gaze — a nuance English can only partly render with "little."
> Distributive "some … others … still others": The correlative chain «другие … одни … другие … а иные» distributes the boys into groups: some this way, others that. «иные» (an old, bookish word for "some, certain others") and the contrastive «а» mark each new subset, giving the inventory its surveying rhythm.
> щеголять — to show off, parade: «щеголять» means to flaunt, to swagger about in fine clothes (from «щёголь», a dandy). The detail of tall boots with folds is precisely what spoiled little boys love to «щеголять» — to strut in — a touch of social observation in the narrator's eye.
> зажиточный — well-to-do: «зажиточный» means prosperous, comfortably off — not aristocratic but solidly provided-for. The narrator quietly classes these boys as the sons of the town's comfortable households, the kind who can afford to spoil («баловать») them.

Вся группа оживленно о чем-то толковала, по-видимому совещалась.  
The whole group was talking something over with animation, apparently holding a council.
> толковать — to talk over, discuss: «толковать (о чём-то)» means to talk something over, to discuss or interpret. Imperfective, it gives the ongoing buzz of the group's debate, neatly paired with «совещалась» (was conferring), so the two verbs frame a little council in session.
> Reflexive -ся as a mutual action: «совещаться» carries the reflexive clitic -ся, here in its reciprocal sense: the boys were conferring *with one another*. Many verbs of joint action (совещаться, сговариваться, ссориться) live in the -ся form precisely because the action runs between the participants.

Алеша никогда не мог безучастно проходить мимо ребяток, в Москве тоже это бывало с ним, и хоть он больше всего любил трехлетних детей или около того, но и школьники лет десяти, одиннадцати ему очень нравились.  
Alyosha could never walk past little children indifferently — it had been so with him in Moscow too — and although he loved three-year-olds best of all, or thereabouts, he was also very fond of schoolboys of ten or eleven.
> Negative concord with никогда … не: «никогда … не мог» shows Russian's obligatory double negative: the negative adverb «никогда» (never) still requires «не» on the verb. The imperfective «проходить» (to pass by) marks it as a habit — something Alyosha could never do, time after time.
> ребятки — dear little kids: «ребятки» is a warm diminutive of «ребята» (kids, lads), here in the genitive «ребяток» after «мимо». It radiates Alyosha's tenderness toward children — the very quality the sentence is about — far more affectionately than a neutral "children."
> Genitive of approximate age: «лет десяти» uses the genitive plural «лет» with a numeral to express age, and the inversion (number after the noun) signals approximation: "of some ten years." «десяти, одиннадцати» are genitive numerals agreeing in that frame — a standard way Russian says "around ten or eleven."

А потому как ни озабочен он был теперь, но ему вдруг захотелось свернуть к ним и вступить в разговор.  
And so, preoccupied as he now was, he suddenly felt a wish to turn aside to them and strike up a conversation.
> Dative subject of a sudden wish: «ему … захотелось» is the classic dative-experiencer pattern: literally "to him it suddenly came-to-wanting [to turn aside]." The desire arises in Alyosha rather than being willed by him — the reflexive «захотеться» plus the dative frames feeling as something that happens to a person.
> Concessive "however preoccupied he was": «как ни озабочен … был» is the concessive frame «как ни» + short adjective: "however preoccupied he was." «озабочен» is a short-form adjective in the predicate, and the «ни» here is the concessive particle (not a negation), conceding his distraction before the wish overrides it.

Подходя, он вглядывался в их румяные, оживленные личики и вдруг увидал, что у всех мальчиков было в руках по камню, у других так по два.  
As he came up, he looked into their ruddy, animated little faces, and suddenly saw that every one of the boys had a stone in his hand, and some of them two.
> Gerund of simultaneous approach: «Подходя» is the imperfective present gerund of «подходить» (to approach): "as he was coming up." It sets the ongoing background motion against which the perfective «увидал» (caught sight) lands — the gerund frames the moment, the perfective delivers the discovery.
> Distributive "по" — one stone apiece: The preposition «по» here is distributive: «по камню» means "a stone each," «по два» "two apiece." This «по» + the count is how Russian says everyone has the same amount individually — every boy with his own stone (or two) in hand.
> личико — dear little face: «личики» is the diminutive of «лицо» (face) — "little faces." Paired with «румяные, оживленные» (ruddy, animated), it keeps the narrator's fond, almost caressing view of the children even as the scene turns to stones and violence.

За канавкой же, примерно шагах в тридцати от группы, стоял у забора и еще мальчик, тоже школьник, тоже с мешочком на боку, по росту лет десяти, не больше, или даже меньше того, — бледненький, болезненный и со сверкавшими черными глазками.  
Across the ditch, about thirty paces from the group, another boy was standing by a fence, also a schoolboy, also with a little pouch at his side, by his height about ten years old, no more, or even younger — a pale, sickly child, with flashing black eyes.
> Prepositional of distance with в: «в тридцати шагах» uses «в» + prepositional to state distance: "thirty paces off." «примерно» (approximately) softens it. This «в … шагах» frame is the standard way to place something at a measured remove — here, the lone boy thirty paces across the ditch.
> Participle + instrumental of accompanying detail: «сверкавшими» is a past active participle (imperfective) of «сверкать» (to flash, sparkle), agreeing with «глазками» in the instrumental after «с». "With flashing black little eyes" — the participle compresses a whole relative clause into the description of the boy.
> Diminutive-tinged sickliness: «бледненький» is the expressive diminutive of «бледный» (pale) — "pale and pathetic-looking little thing." The -еньк- suffix adds pity, not size; together with «болезненный» (sickly) it pre-loads our sympathy for the outcast child before we even learn his name.

Он внимательно и пытливо наблюдал группу шести школьников, очевидно его же товарищей, с ним же вышедших сейчас из школы, но с которыми он, видимо, был во вражде.  
He was watching the group of six schoolboys attentively and warily — evidently his own classmates, who had just come out of school with him, but with whom he was plainly at war.
> Past active participle with the particle же: «вышедших» is a past active participle of «выйти» (to come out), genitive plural agreeing with «товарищей»: "who had come out … with him." The particle «же» here means "the very same" — emphasizing that these are precisely his own classmates, sharpening the irony of the feud.
> Relative который taking its own case: «с которыми» is the relative pronoun «который» agreeing with «товарищей» in plural but taking the instrumental after «с» — "with whom he was at feud." Its case is fixed by its job inside the relative clause, not by the antecedent: a key reading skill.
> быть во вражде — to be at feud: «быть во вражде (с кем-то)» means to be on hostile terms, at enmity, with someone. «вражда» (enmity, feud) is a weighty word — heavier than "quarrel" — that frames the boys' conflict as a settled state of war rather than a passing spat.

Алеша подошел и, обратясь к одному курчавому, белокурому, румяному мальчику в черной курточке, заметил, оглядев его:  
Alyosha went up and, turning to one curly-headed, fair, ruddy-cheeked boy in a black jacket, remarked, after looking him over:
> Perfective verbs framed by gerunds: Around the main perfectives «подошел» (came up) and «заметил» (remarked) cluster two perfective past gerunds: «обратясь» (having turned) and «оглядев» (having looked over). Each names a completed prior action sharing Alyosha's subject — a dense gerund chain typical of Dostoevsky's narration.

— Когда я носил вот такой, как у вас, мешочек, так у нас носили на левом боку, чтобы правою рукой тотчас достать; а у вас ваш мешок на правом боку, вам неловко доставать.  
"When I carried a pouch like yours, we used to wear it on the left side, so we could get at it at once with the right hand; but you've got your pouch on the right side, so it's awkward for you to reach."
> Imperfective past for habit: Both «носил» (I used to carry) and «носили» (we used to wear) are imperfective past, marking a repeated, customary action in Alyosha's schooldays — "we always wore it on the left." The imperfective is precisely the aspect for "used to" and habitual recollection.
> Purpose clause with чтобы + infinitive: «чтобы … достать» is a purpose clause: "so as to reach it at once." When the subject is the same as the main clause, «чтобы» takes a bare infinitive rather than a past-form verb. «правою рукой» is the instrumental of means — "with the right hand."
> Archaic instrumental ending -ою: «правою (рукой)» uses the older feminine instrumental ending -ою instead of the everyday -ой. This longer form is a literary and slightly archaic variant, common in 19th-century prose and verse; it lends Alyosha's speech a faintly old-fashioned, measured cadence.

Алеша безо всякой предумышленной хитрости начал прямо с этого делового замечания, а между тем взрослому и нельзя начинать иначе, если надо войти прямо в доверенность ребенка и особенно целой группы детей.  
Alyosha began straight off with this practical remark, without any premeditated cunning; and indeed a grown-up cannot begin otherwise if he wants to enter directly into the confidence of a child, and especially of a whole group of children.
> Dative subject of impossibility: «взрослому … нельзя начинать» is impersonal: "for a grown-up it is impossible to begin [otherwise]." The person is in the dative «взрослому», «нельзя» is the invariable predicate of impossibility, and the «и» intensifies ("indeed cannot"). No nominative subject — the rule simply holds over the adult.
> войти в доверенность — to win confidence: «войти в доверенность (к кому-то)» means to gain someone's trust, to get into their confidence. «доверенность» today usually means a legal "power of attorney," but here it keeps its older, plainer sense of "trust, confidence" — a small period flavor.

Надо именно начинать серьезно и деловито и так, чтобы было совсем на равной ноге; Алеша понимал это инстинктом.  
One has to begin precisely in a serious, businesslike way, and so as to be altogether on an equal footing; Alyosha understood this by instinct.
> Impersonal надо and a чтобы result: «Надо начинать» is the subjectless "one must begin," with «надо» governing an infinitive. The dependent «чтобы было … на равной ноге» uses «чтобы» + the past-form «было» for a willed result — "so that it should be on an equal footing," the irrealis that «чтобы» always demands.
> на равной ноге — on an equal footing: «быть на равной ноге (с кем-то)» is the idiom "to be on an equal footing," to treat as a peer. The metaphor of the shared "foot/leg" (нога) for footing matches the English idiom almost exactly — the secret, Alyosha senses, to talking with children.

— Да он левша, — ответил тотчас же другой мальчик, молодцеватый и здоровый, лет одиннадцати.  
"But he's left-handed," another boy answered at once, a sturdy, dashing fellow of about eleven.
> Sentence-initial Да as a turn-taking particle: «Да» here is not "yes" but a discourse particle opening a retort — roughly "But (you see), he's left-handed." Starting a reply with «да» is a lively conversational move, flagging that the speaker is adding or correcting information.
> молодцеватый — dashing, jaunty: «молодцеватый» means dashing, smart, sprightly — having the bearing of a «молодец» (a fine, brave fellow). Of an eleven-year-old it captures a cocky, self-assured swagger, exactly the boy who pipes up first with the answer.

Все остальные пять мальчиков уперлись глазами в Алешу.  
All the other five boys fixed their eyes on Alyosha.
> упереться глазами — to fix one's gaze: «упереться глазами (в кого-то)» — literally "to prop/brace one's eyes against" — is an expressive idiom for fixing a hard, unblinking stare on someone. The reflexive «упереться» (to brace, dig in) gives the stare a physical, almost stubborn quality.

— Он и камни левшой бросает, — заметил третий мальчик.  
"He throws stones left-handed too," remarked a third boy.
> Intensifying и and instrumental of manner: The «и» before «камни» means "even / also" — "he throws stones left-handed *too*." «левшой» is the instrumental, here of manner: "as a left-hander, with his left hand." The instrumental routinely answers "in what manner" as well as "with what instrument."

В это мгновение в группу как раз влетел камень, задел слегка мальчика-левшу, но пролетел мимо, хотя пущен был ловко и энергически. Пустил же его мальчик за канавкой.  
At that very moment a stone came flying into the group, grazing the left-handed boy slightly but sailing past him, though it had been thrown deftly and with force. It was the boy across the ditch who had let it fly.
> Perfective burst of the flying stone: Three perfective verbs in quick succession — «влетел» (flew in), «задел» (grazed), «пролетел» (flew past) — narrate the stone's path as a chain of completed instants. The perfective is the aspect of sudden, punctual events, and here it makes the action snap.
> Short passive participle: "had been thrown": «пущен» is the short form of the past passive participle of «пустить» (to let fly), forming a periphrastic passive with «был»: "although it had been thrown deftly." The short passive participle plus «быть» is the standard way Russian states a completed, agentless action upon a thing.
> Inversion and particle же for emphasis: Word order is inverted — verb «Пустил» first, subject «мальчик» last — to put the new, stressed information (who threw it) at the sentence's end. The particle «же» reinforces that focus: "It was the boy across the ditch who let it fly."

— Лупи его, сажай в него, Смуров! — закричали все.  
"Let him have it, get him, Smurov!" they all shouted.
> Imperatives of the brawl: «Лупи» (from «лупить», to thrash, pelt) and «сажай» (from «сажать», here "plant one on him, land it on him") are imperfective imperatives barked in the heat of the fight — the imperfective imperative is the urgent, immediate "do it now!" of command.
> лупить — to whack, pelt: «лупить» is rough colloquial slang for to beat, thrash, or (with «в») pelt hard. «сажать в кого-то» here means to "land" a hit on someone — "let him have it." Together they are exactly the crude, vivid shout of boys urging Smurov on.

Но Смуров (левша) и без того не заставил ждать себя и тотчас отплатил: он бросил камнем в мальчика за канавкой, но неудачно: камень ударился в землю.  
But Smurov (the left-hander) needed no urging and paid him back at once: he flung a stone at the boy across the ditch, but missed — the stone struck the ground.
> не заставить себя ждать — to not keep one waiting: «не заставить себя ждать» is the idiom "to lose no time, to respond at once" — literally "did not make [people] wait for him." The reflexive «себя» points back to Smurov: he didn't make others wait for him. The «и без того» ("even without that") adds: he needed no urging.
> Perfective payback: «отплатил» (paid back), «бросил» (flung), «ударился» (struck) are perfectives narrating the counter-throw as completed events. «ударился» carries -ся in its middle sense — the stone "struck itself against" the ground, i.e. simply landed there.

Мальчик за канавкой тотчас же пустил еще в группу камень, на этот раз прямо в Алешу, и довольно больно ударил его в плечо. У мальчишки за канавкой весь карман был полон заготовленными камнями. Это видно было за тридцать шагов по отдувшимся карманам его пальтишка.  
The boy across the ditch instantly hurled another stone into the group, this time straight at Alyosha, and struck him on the shoulder rather painfully. The little fellow across the ditch had a whole pocketful of stones already laid in. You could tell from thirty paces off by the bulging pockets of his little overcoat.
> Short adjective полон + instrumental of fullness: «полон» is the short-form adjective "full," and «камнями» is the instrumental — "full *with* stones." Russian regularly takes the instrumental after words of filling. «заготовленными» is a past passive participle ("laid in, prepared in advance"), agreeing with the stones.
> мальчишка — the pejorative shade: Where the others are «мальчики» (boys), the lone boy is now «мальчишка» — the suffix -ишк- adds a faintly disparaging, dismissive shade ("the little fellow," "the urchin"). The shift in suffix subtly tilts the narrator's framing toward the boys' contemptuous view of him.
> Past active participle as adjective: «отдувшимся» is a past active participle of «отдуться» (to bulge out, swell), dative plural agreeing with «карманам» after «по»: "by the bulging pockets." The reflexive -ся gives the middle, change-of-state sense — pockets that had puffed themselves out.

— Это он в вас, в вас, он нарочно в вас метил.  
"That was meant for you, for you — he aimed at you on purpose.
> Emphatic repetition and в for aim: The breathless repetition «в вас, в вас … в вас» (at you, at you) renders the boys' excited shouting. «в» + accusative «вас» marks the target of aiming and throwing — "метил в вас," aimed *at* you. «нарочно» means "on purpose."

Ведь вы Карамазов, Карамазов? — закричали хохоча мальчики. — Ну, все разом в него, пали!  
You're Karamazov, aren't you, Karamazov?" the boys shouted, laughing. "Come on, all together now, let him have it, fire!"
> ведь appealing to shared knowledge: The particle «ведь» appeals to what both sides supposedly know — "You *are* Karamazov, aren't you?" It seeks confirmation of a thing taken as obvious. Note too the zero copula: "вы Карамазов" has no verb "to be" — the present-tense "are" is simply unexpressed.
> пали — "fire!" (military imperative): «пали!» is the imperfective imperative of «палить» (the perfective «выпалить» would give «выпали») — "fire!", the command to a volley, borrowed from military usage. With «все разом в него» (all at once at him) it turns the stone-throwing into a mock battle, a child's reenactment of a firing line.

И шесть камней разом вылетели из группы.  
And six stones flew out of the group at once.
> Genitive plural after шесть: After «шесть» (six) the counted noun stands in the genitive plural: «шесть камней» (six stones). All numerals from five up govern the genitive plural — a core rule of Russian counting that the verb «вылетели» (flew out) then agrees with as a plural subject.

Один угодил мальчику в голову, и тот упал, но мигом вскочил и с остервенением начал отвечать в группу камнями.  
One struck the boy on the head, and he fell, but in a flash he was up again and began furiously firing stones back at the group.
> Perfective sequence with begin + imperfective: «упал» (fell), «вскочил» (sprang up) are punctual perfectives; then «начал отвечать» pairs the perfective «начал» (began) with the imperfective infinitive «отвечать» (to answer back). Phase verbs like «начать» always take an imperfective infinitive, since beginning opens a process.
> остервенение — frenzied fury: «остервенение» means a savage, frenzied rage, fury bordering on the animal (the root suggests a beast, «зверь»-like ferocity). «с остервенением» — "furiously, in a frenzy" — marks how fiercely the small, outnumbered boy hurls his stones back.

С обеих сторон началась непрерывная перестрелка, у многих в группе тоже оказались в кармане заготовленные камни.  
From both sides an unbroken volley began; many in the group too turned out to have stones laid up in their pockets.
> перестрелка — an exchange of fire: «перестрелка» is a military word for a firefight, an exchange of gunfire — used here, with grim playfulness, for the boys' stone-throwing. The prefix «пере-» captures the back-and-forth of fire between two sides; the narrator keeps up the battle metaphor of «пали».
> Genitive-of-possession 'у' construction: «у многих … оказались камни» is the Russian "have" pattern: «у» + genitive «многих» ("at many [of them]") with the thing possessed as nominative subject of «оказались» ("turned out to be"). Russian has no verb "to have" here — possession is framed as something existing "by" a person.

— Что вы это! Не стыдно ли, господа! Шестеро на одного, да вы убьете его! — закричал Алеша.  
"What are you doing! Aren't you ashamed, gentlemen! Six against one — you'll kill him!" cried Alyosha.
> Interrogative ли and a dative-experiencer of shame: «Не стыдно ли» fronts «стыдно» and adds the question particle «ли» — "Aren't you ashamed?" «стыдно» is an impersonal predicate of feeling; the experiencer (here "to you") would stand in the dative, though it is left implicit in the heat of the cry.
> Perfective future: you'll kill him: «убьете» is the perfective «убить» conjugated with present-type endings to give a simple future — "you will kill him." The perfective future names a single completed outcome, here the catastrophe Alyosha fears the volley will reach.

Он выскочил и стал навстречу летящим камням, чтобы загородить собою мальчика за канавкой.  
He sprang forward and stood facing the flying stones, to shield the boy across the ditch with his own body.
> Purpose clause and instrumental собою: «чтобы загородить … мальчика» is a purpose infinitive — "in order to shield the boy." «собою» is the instrumental of the reflexive «себя» ("with himself, with his own body"), the means of shielding. Note again the bookish instrumental ending -ою for ordinary -ой.
> Present active participle + dative after навстречу: «летящим» is a present active participle of «лететь» (to fly), agreeing with «камням» in the dative governed by «навстречу» (toward, to meet): "to face the flying stones." The participle paints them mid-flight, the dative-governing «навстречу» turning Alyosha bodily into their path.

Трое или четверо на минутку унялись.  
Three or four of them held off for a moment.
> Collective numerals трое / четверо: «трое», «четверо» are collective numerals, used for a group of people taken together (especially males and mixed sets): "three or four [of them]." They differ from plain «три, четыре» in flavor, grouping the boys as a little band rather than counting them off.
> уняться — to settle down, hold off: «уняться» (perfective, reflexive) means to calm down, quiet, leave off. «на минутку» (for a little minute) is the diminutive of «минута», softening the pause: three or four held off, just for a moment, before the fury resumed.

— Он сам первый начал! — закричал мальчик в красной рубашке раздраженным детским голоском, — он подлец, он давеча в классе Красоткина перочинным ножиком пырнул, кровь потекла.  
"He started it himself!" cried a boy in a red shirt, in an irritated, childish little voice. "He's a scoundrel — he stabbed Krasotkin with a penknife in class just now, drew blood.
> Intensifier сам — "he himself": «сам» is the emphatic intensifier "himself, of his own doing" — "*he* started it himself." Distinct from the reflexive «себя», «сам» agrees like an adjective and stresses that the agent and no one else is responsible, the eternal cry of the schoolyard quarrel.
> подлец — scoundrel, base wretch: «подлец» is a strong term of moral contempt — a base, vile scoundrel, from «подлый» (mean, ignoble). It is one of Dostoevsky's signature words of moral judgment; in a child's mouth it carries all the borrowed weight of adult condemnation.
> пырнуть — to stab, jab: «пырнуть» (perfective, semelfactive) is a blunt, expressive verb for a single stabbing jab — "to dig a blade into." The -ну- suffix marks one sharp, instantaneous action. «перочинным ножиком» (with a penknife, instrumental of means) names the weapon; «ножиком» is a diminutive — a *little* knife.

Красоткин только фискалить не хотел, а этого надо избить…  
Krasotkin just didn't want to tell tales, but this one ought to be thrashed…"
> фискалить — to tell tales: «фискалить» is schoolboy slang for "to inform on" or "snitch," from «фискал» (an old word for a treasury informer, ultimately from Latin fiscalis). Among the boys, refusing to «фискалить» — not telling the teacher — is a point of honor, which is why Krasotkin is respected for staying silent.
> Impersonal надо with accusative object: «этого надо избить» — "this one ought to be thrashed." «надо» is the impersonal predicate of necessity governing the infinitive «избить» (perfective, to beat thoroughly), and «этого» is its accusative object (animate, so genitive-shaped). No nominative subject: the obligation hangs over the scene impersonally.

— Да за что? Вы, верно, сами его дразните?  
"But why? Surely you're the ones who tease him?"
> за что — "what for, why": «за что?» (literally "for what?") is the idiomatic "why? what for? on what grounds?" — «за» + accusative «что» asking the cause or justification. Opening «Да» is the conversational particle again, here a mild remonstrance: "But what for?"
> сами and the modal верно: «сами» (you yourselves) throws the suspicion back on the boys, and «верно» here is a modal word meaning "surely, probably, I'll bet" rather than "correctly." The imperfective «дразните» (you tease) frames it as their habitual practice.

— А вот он опять вам камень в спину прислал. Он вас знает, — закричали дети. — Это он в вас теперь кидает, а не в нас. Ну все, опять в него, не промахивайся, Смуров!  
"There — he's sent another stone into your back. He knows who you are," the children shouted. "It's you he's pelting now, not us. Come on, all of you, at him again, don't miss, Smurov!"
> Contrastive а … не and topic fronting: «а не в нас» uses the contrastive «а» to oppose targets: "at *you* now, and not at us." Fronting «Это он в вас» puts the new point — that it is the boys' visitor he is pelting — up front, the topic-comment ordering Russian uses for emphasis.
> Negated imperfective imperative: «не промахивайся» — "don't miss!" A negated command in Russian normally takes the imperfective imperative (here «промахивайся», reflexive, from «промахиваться», to miss). The reflexive -ся marks the miss as something the thrower does to himself; «-сь» would follow a vowel.

И опять началась перестрелка, на этот раз очень злая.  
And the volley started up again, this time a very vicious one.
> Long-form adjective in apposition: «злая» (vicious, malicious) is a long-form feminine adjective agreeing with «перестрелка», here trailing as an afterthought: "the volley started again, a very vicious one this time." «злой» literally means "angry, evil" — the fight has turned spiteful, not just energetic.

Мальчику за канавкой ударило камнем в грудь; он вскрикнул, заплакал и побежал вверх в гору, на Михайловскую улицу.  
A stone struck the boy across the ditch in the chest; he cried out, burst into tears, and ran off uphill toward Mikhailovskaya Street.
> Impersonal blow: dative victim, instrumental stone: A vivid impersonal construction: «ударило» (it struck) has no nominative subject, the victim «мальчику» stands in the dative (the one it happened to), and «камнем» is the instrumental — "struck *with* a stone." Russian loves this subjectless framing for blows of fate and force.
> Perfectives of onset ("began to"): «вскрикнул» (cried out), «заплакал» (burst into tears), «побежал» (set off running) are all perfectives — the prefixes «вс-», «за-», «по-» mark the sudden onset of an action: the cry, the breaking into tears, the start of the run. A staccato sequence of beginnings.

В группе загалдели: «Ага, струсил, бежал, мочалка!»  
In the group they set up a clamor: "Aha, he's funked it, he's running, you wisp of tow!"
> загалдеть — to set up a clamor: «загалдеть» means to start jabbering and shouting all at once, to raise a din («галдеть» is to make a noisy, confused racket). The prefix «за-» marks the sudden onset; it perfectly catches a crowd of boys breaking into jeering noise.
> струсить — to chicken out, funk it: «струсить» (perfective of «трусить», from «трус», a coward) means to lose one's nerve, to funk it. «Ага, струсил, бежал, мочалка!» is the boys' triumphant taunt — caught his cowardice, watched him run. «мочалка» (bath-wisp) is the running insult for the disheveled boy.

— Вы еще не знаете, Карамазов, какой он подлый, его убить мало, — повторил мальчик в курточке, с горящими глазенками, старше всех по-видимому.  
"You don't yet know, Karamazov, what a vile creature he is — killing's too good for him," said the boy in the jacket again, his little eyes blazing, the eldest of them all by the look of it.
> Idiom: "killing is too good for him": «его убить мало» — literally "to kill him is too little" — is a fixed hyperbolic idiom meaning even killing him wouldn't be punishment enough. «мало» is the impersonal predicate "[it is] not enough," with the infinitive «убить» as logical subject and «его» its accusative object.
> Present active participle + expressive diminutive: «горящими» is a present active participle of «гореть» (to burn), agreeing with «глазенками» in the instrumental after «с»: "with blazing little eyes." «глазенки» is an expressive diminutive of «глаза» — here not affectionate but intensifying, the small fierce eyes of the ringleader.
> Comparative as superlative: старше всех: «старше всех» — "older than all," i.e. the eldest. Russian builds a superlative idiomatically with a comparative («старше», the comparative of «старый») plus the genitive «всех» (than all). «старше» is one of the irregular -е comparatives.

— А какой он? — спросил Алеша. — Фискал, что ли?  
"But what is he?" asked Alyosha. "A tattletale, is that it?"
> что ли — "is that it? or what?": «что ли» is a colloquial tag turning a guess into a tentative question — "a tattletale, is that it? or something?" It softens Alyosha's surmise into something hesitant and conversational. «Фискал» is the noun behind the verb «фискалить» — a snitch, an informer.

Мальчики переглянулись как будто с усмешкой.  
The boys glanced at one another as if with a smirk.
> Reciprocal -ся: glanced at one another: «переглянуться» means to exchange glances, to look at one another — the reflexive -ся here is reciprocal, and the prefix «пере-» gives the back-and-forth of mutual looks. «как будто с усмешкой» — as if with a smirk — colors the silent, knowing exchange.

— Вы туда же идете, в Михайловскую? — продолжал тот же мальчик. — Так вот догоните-ка его… Вон видите, он остановился опять, ждет и на вас глядит.  
"You're going that way too, toward Mikhailovskaya?" the same boy went on. "Well then, catch up with him… Look there, you can see he's stopped again, he's waiting and watching you."
> Imperative softened by -ка: «догоните-ка» is the perfective imperative «догоните» (catch up with) plus the friendly particle «-ка», which softens a command into coaxing encouragement — "go on, catch up with him." «-ка» gives the urging a casual, nudging tone, half dare and half invitation.
> Вон — "over there": «Вон» is the deictic "there, yonder" — pointing to something at a distance (versus «вот», "here, this"). «Вон видите" — "there, you can see" — directs Alyosha's gaze across the ditch to the boy who has stopped and turned to watch him.

— На вас глядит, на вас глядит! — подхватили мальчики.  
"He's watching you, he's watching you!" the boys chimed in.
> Fronting and imperfective "is watching": The object «на вас» (at you) is fronted and repeated for excited emphasis, with the imperfective «глядит» giving the ongoing, present "he's watching, watching." «глядеть» (to gaze, look) is a slightly more colloquial, vivid cousin of «смотреть».

— Так вот и спросите его, любит ли он банную мочалку, растрепанную. Слышите, так и спросите.  
"Then just ask him whether he likes a bathhouse wisp, a frayed one. Do you hear — go on and ask him that."
> Embedded yes/no question with ли: «спросите его, любит ли он …» is an indirect question: «ли» here means "whether" — "ask him whether he likes …" The focused word «любит» is fronted before «ли». This «ли» = "whether" in a subordinate clause is one of its two core jobs.
> Emphatic так и + imperative: «так и спросите» — "just go right ahead and ask." The combination «так и» before a verb is an emphatic egging-on, insisting the action be done exactly as said; with the imperative «спросите» it presses the dare onto Alyosha.

Раздался общий хохот.  
A general burst of laughter went up.
> Inversion: verb-first for a sudden sound: «Раздался … хохот» puts the verb first and the subject «хохот» (loud laughter, guffaw) last — a presentational order Russian favors for the eruption of a sound or event. «раздаться» (perfective, -ся) means "to ring out, resound."

Алеша смотрел на них, а они на него.  
Alyosha looked at them, and they at him.
> Gapping with the contrastive а: «а они на него» drops the repeated verb «смотрели», leaving just "and they at him" — gapping that Russian permits freely. The contrastive «а» sets the two gazes against each other in a balanced, mirror-image standoff.

— Не ходите, он вас зашибет, — закричал предупредительно Смуров.  
"Don't go — he'll hurt you," Smurov called out warningly.
> Negated imperfective imperative + perfective future: «Не ходите» is the negated imperfective imperative "don't go" (multidirectional «ходить», the right verb for a general prohibition). «зашибет» is the perfective future of «зашибить» — "he'll hurt you," a single feared outcome. The aspects split the warning cleanly: don't (process) or he'll (completed harm).
> зашибить — to hurt, injure (colloquial): «зашибить» is a folksy, colloquial verb for to hurt, bruise, or do bodily harm — earthier than the neutral «ранить» or «поранить». Smurov's warning has the homely register of children's speech, picturing a real knock or wound.

— Господа, я его спрашивать о мочалке не буду, потому что вы, верно, его этим как-нибудь дразните, но я узнаю от него, за что вы его так ненавидите…  
"Gentlemen, I won't ask him about the wisp, because you've surely been teasing him with it somehow, but I will find out from him why you hate him so…"
> Compound imperfective future of refusal: «не буду спрашивать» is the imperfective compound future — «буду» (future of быть) plus the imperfective infinitive «спрашивать»: "I will not ask." The imperfective fits a refusal to engage in the act at all; «о мочалке» (about the wisp) shows «о» + prepositional for the topic.
> Perfective future + embedded "why": «узнаю» is the perfective future "I will find out" (a single completed discovery), contrasting with the imperfective «не буду спрашивать» just before. The embedded clause «за что … ненавидите» is the indirect question "why you hate him," «за что» asking the cause.

— Узнайте-ка, узнайте-ка, — засмеялись мальчики.  
"Go on, find out, find out," the boys laughed.
> Mocking imperative with -ка: «Узнайте-ка» is the perfective imperative «узнайте» (find out) with the coaxing particle «-ка», repeated in jeering challenge — "go on then, find out, find out." The same -ка that softens a friendly request here turns sarcastic, daring Alyosha to try.

Алеша перешел мостик и пошел в горку мимо забора прямо к опальному мальчику.  
Alyosha crossed the little bridge and went up the slope along the fence, straight toward the outcast boy.
> Prefixed perfective motion + к with dative: «перешел» (crossed over) and «пошел» (set off) are perfective prefixed motion verbs marking completed moves. «к … мальчику» is «к» + dative, the standard "toward a person." «в горку» (up the little slope) uses «в» + accusative for motion onto/up the rise.
> опальный — fallen out of favor, outcast: «опальный» means in disgrace, out of favor — historically said of a noble who had incurred the tsar's «опала» (disfavor, banishment). Applied to the lone boy it lends his outsider status a faint dignity, as of someone fallen from grace rather than merely picked on.

— Смотрите, — кричали ему вслед предупредительно, — он вас не побоится, он вдруг пырнет, исподтишка… как Красоткина.  
"Watch out," they called warningly after him, "he won't be afraid of you, he'll stab you all at once, on the sly… like he did Krasotkin."
> Perfective futures of the warning: «не побоится» (won't be afraid) and «пырнет» (will stab) are both perfective futures — single, decisive future acts. The reflexive «побояться» (to take fright) carries -ся; «пырнет» repeats the stabbing verb from earlier, now projected as a threat.
> исподтишка — on the sly, behind one's back: «исподтишка» is an expressive adverb meaning stealthily, on the quiet, by an underhand stroke — striking when no one expects it. It blackens the threatened stabbing as treacherous, not open: he'll get you when you least look for it, "like he did Krasotkin."

Мальчик ждал его, не двигаясь с места.  
The boy waited for him without budging from the spot.
> Negated gerund of manner: «не двигаясь» is a negated imperfective present gerund of «двигаться» (to move) — "without moving / not stirring." The negated gerund neatly renders English "without doing," describing the manner of the boy's waiting: motionless, holding his ground.

Подойдя совсем, Алеша увидел пред собою ребенка не более девяти лет от роду, из слабых и малорослых, с бледненьким худеньким продолговатым личиком, с большими темными и злобно смотревшими на него глазами.  
Coming right up to him, Alyosha saw before him a child of no more than nine, one of the frail and undersized sort, with a pale, thin, longish little face and large dark eyes that looked at him with malice.
> Perfective gerund of a completed approach: «Подойдя» is the perfective past gerund of «подойти» (to come up): "having come right up." Unlike the imperfective «подходя» (s10), the perfective gerund marks the approach as *finished* before the main verb «увидел» — first he arrives, then he sees.
> Genitive of age after a quantity word: «не более девяти лет» — "no more than nine years [old]." «более» (more) governs the genitive «девяти лет», and «лет» is the suppletive genitive plural used for "years" after numbers. The whole phrase frames the boy's tiny age with the narrator's careful precision.
> Past active participle inside a description: «смотревшими» is a past active participle of «смотреть» (to look), agreeing with «глазами» in the instrumental after «с»: "with large dark eyes that looked at him malevolently." The participle folds the boy's whole glare — its size, color, and hostility — into one weighted noun phrase.
> A cascade of pity-diminutives: «бледненьким, худеньким … личиком» — "pale, thin little face" — stacks the -еньк- expressive diminutives, which here breathe pity rather than mere smallness. The narrator's pen tenderizes the very face that glares with malice, the double vision (frail yet fierce) at the heart of the encounter.

Одет он был в довольно ветхий старенький пальтишко, из которого уродливо вырос.  
He was dressed in a rather worn, shabby little overcoat that he had outgrown grotesquely.
> Short passive participle: "was dressed": «Одет … был» is the short past passive participle of «одеть» (to dress) plus «был» — "he was dressed in." The short passive participle plus «быть» states the resulting condition; «в … пальтишко» uses «в» + accusative for what he was dressed *into*.
> Relative который with the source preposition из: «из которого … вырос» — "out of which he had grown." The relative «который» takes the genitive after «из», governed by «вырасти из» (to outgrow, grow out of). «уродливо» (grotesquely) intensifies how badly the coat no longer fits the lengthening child.
> ветхий + pejorative diminutive: «ветхий» means decrepit, worn with age (the same root as in «Ветхий Завет», the Old Testament). Paired with «старенький» (poor old little) and the pejorative-tinged «пальтишко», it sketches a shabby, outgrown coat — the visible poverty of the boy under the malice.

Голые руки торчали из рукавов.  
His bare arms stuck out of the sleeves.
> торчать — to stick out: «торчать» (imperfective) means to stick out, protrude, jut — often with an awkward or comical edge. «Голые руки торчали из рукавов» — bare arms sticking out of too-short sleeves — quietly drives home the poverty and the body that has outgrown its clothes.

На правом коленке панталон была большая заплатка, а на правом сапоге, на носке, где большой палец, большая дырка, видно, что сильно замазанная чернилами.  
On the right knee of his trousers was a big patch, and on the right boot, at the toe, over the big toe, was a big hole, plainly daubed over thickly with ink.
> Prepositional of location + existential была: «На … коленке … была заплатка» locates a patch with «на» + prepositional «коленке» and the existential past «была» ("there was a patch"). Russian states "there is/was X at a place" with this location-phrase + быть pattern, the noun in the nominative as subject.
> Past passive participle + instrumental agent: «замазанная» is a past passive participle of «замазать» (to smear over), agreeing with «дырка» (the hole), and «чернилами» is the instrumental — "daubed over *with* ink." The instrumental marks the means/medium of the action upon the patient, here the ink that hides the hole.
> Everyday diminutives of the body and dress: «коленка» (knee) is the homely everyday form of «колено»; with «сапоге» (boot) and «носке» (toe), the close inventory of patch and hole reads like a sympathetic, almost loving catalogue of the poor child's worn clothing, detail by detail.

В оба отдувшиеся кармашка его пальто были набраны камни.  
Both bulging little pockets of his overcoat were stuffed with stones.
> Short passive participle + the numeral оба: «были набраны» is the short past passive participle of «набрать» (to gather, load in) with «были» — "stones had been packed in." «оба» (both) governs the genitive singular «кармашка», and «отдувшиеся» is again the participle for the bulging pockets. The whole sentence is a quiet, ominous passive: the stones lie ready.
> кармашек — little pocket: «кармашек» is the diminutive of «карман» (pocket) — "little pocket." The tender diminutive sits in unsettling contrast with what fills them: the small pockets of a small, sickly boy, stuffed with stones for war.

Алеша остановился пред ним в двух шагах, вопросительно смотря на него.  
Alyosha stopped two paces in front of him, looking at him questioningly.
> Imperfective gerund of manner: «смотря» is the imperfective present gerund of «смотреть» (to look) — "looking at him." It describes the manner attending the main verb «остановился» (stopped): Alyosha halts *while* gazing questioningly, the gerund and main verb sharing his subject.
> Distance with в + genitive numeral: «в двух шагах» — "two paces off." «два/двух» governs the genitive, and after the numeral «шагах» appears in the prepositional plural required by «в» for stating distance. The frame «в … шагах» measures the careful gap Alyosha leaves between himself and the wary child.

Мальчик, догадавшись тотчас по глазам Алеши, что тот его бить не хочет, тоже спустил куражу и сам даже заговорил.  
The boy, guessing at once from Alyosha's eyes that he did not mean to beat him, lost some of his bravado and even spoke first himself.
> Perfective gerund + reported clause: «догадавшись» is a perfective past gerund of «догадаться» (to guess, realize): "having guessed at once." It governs a «что»-clause of what he realized. Inside it «тот» ("that one") is the demonstrative tracking Alyosha as topic, neatly distinguishing him from the boy.
> спустить куражу — to lose one's bravado: «кураж» (from French courage) here means swagger, bravado, fighting spirit — and «спустить куражу» means to let it deflate, to climb down from one's defiance. The genitive «куражу» is a partitive ("let off some of his bravado"). The Gallicism gives the phrase a slightly raffish, period flavor.

— Я один, а их шесть… Я их всех перебью один, — сказал он вдруг, сверкнув глазами.  
"I'm one and there are six of them… I'll thrash the lot of them single-handed," he said suddenly, his eyes flashing.
> Genitive of the counted vs nominative "alone": «Я один» (I [am] one/alone) sets the lone boy against «их шесть» — "there are six of them," where «их» is the genitive of «они» governed by the numeral «шесть» in this existential count. The contrastive «а» pivots the lonely odds: one against six.
> Perfective future with the exhaustive пере-: «перебью» is the perfective future of «перебить», where the prefix «пере-» means "do to the whole lot, one after another" — "I'll thrash every last one of them." The perfective future names the completed deed; «один» (single-handed) and «всех» (all of them) frame the boy's defiant, doomed boast.
> Perfective gerund: a single flash: «сверкнув» is the perfective past gerund of «сверкнуть» (to flash once) — the -ну- semelfactive marking a single instantaneous flash, and the perfective gerund a completed action: "having flashed his eyes," the defiant glint accompanying his outburst.

— Вас один камень, должно быть, очень больно ударил, — заметил Алеша.  
"One of those stones must have hit you very painfully," remarked Alyosha.
> «должно быть» as a parenthetical: «должно быть» — literally 'it must be' — has frozen into a parenthetical adverbial meaning 'probably, must have'. It is set off by commas and stands outside the clause's grammar, a typical impersonal turn (no nominative subject).
> Accusative object fronted for focus: The animate accusative «вас» ('you') is placed first, before the subject «камень» ('a stone'), throwing the weight onto who was hit. Free word order lets Russian topicalize the object like this without ambiguity, since the case endings keep subject and object apart.

— А я Смурову в голову попал! — вскрикнул мальчик.  
"But I got Smurov on the head!" the boy cried out.
> «попасть в» + accusative — to hit a target: «попасть в голову» means 'to hit (someone) on the head', with «в» governing the accusative of the target struck. The perfective «попал» reports a single successful hit — note the construction попасть КОМУ (dative) В ЧТО (в + accusative): «Смурову» is the dative of «Смуров» (the person hit), and «в голову» the body part in в + accusative.
> Prefix вс- and the perfective of a sudden cry: «вскрикнуть» is the perfective 'to cry out (suddenly, once)'; the «-ну-» suffix marks a single instantaneous act, and the prefix «вс-» gives the upward burst. It moves the narrative forward against the imperfective background.

— Они мне там сказали, что вы меня знаете и за что-то в меня камнем бросили? — спросил Алеша.  
"They told me back there that you know me and threw a stone at me for some reason — is that so?" Alyosha asked.
> «за что-то» — 'for some reason' with indefinite -то: The indefinite particle «-то» on «что» marks a specific but unknown cause: 'for some (particular) reason I can't name'. Had Dostoevsky written «за что-нибудь», it would mean any reason at all; «-то» presumes a real, hidden motive.
> «бросить в» + instrumental of the missile: To throw a thing AT someone, Russian puts the target in «в» + accusative («в меня») and the thrown object in the bare instrumental («камнем» — 'with a stone'). The instrumental of the instrument is exactly its core job.

Мальчик мрачно посмотрел на него.  
The boy looked at him gloomily.
> Manner adverb + perfective glance: «мрачно» ('gloomily, darkly') is an adverb in «-о» modifying the perfective «посмотрел» ('shot a look'). The perfective frames the look as a single completed act, not a sustained gaze.

— Я вас не знаю. Разве вы меня знаете? — допрашивал Алеша.  
"I don't know you. Do you really know me?" Alyosha pressed.
> «разве» — incredulous question particle: «разве» opens a question coloured by surprise or doubt: 'do you REALLY know me?' / 'you don't actually know me, do you?'. Unlike a neutral yes/no question, it signals the speaker leans toward expecting 'no'.
> Imperfective «допрашивал» — pressing, interrogating: «допрашивать» is the imperfective 'to interrogate, question persistently' (the verb used for a formal police interrogation). The imperfective past paints Alyosha's questioning as an ongoing process, fitting the back-and-forth of the scene.

— Не приставайте! — вдруг раздражительно вскрикнул мальчик, сам, однако ж, не двигаясь с места, как бы всё чего-то выжидая и опять злобно засверкав глазенками.  
"Leave me alone!" the boy suddenly cried out in irritation, yet without moving from the spot, as though all the while waiting for something, his little eyes flashing with malice again.
> Negated imperfective imperative — 'stop pestering!': «Не приставайте!» is a negated imperfective imperative ('don't pester / leave off'). Russian uses the imperfective for prohibitions of an ongoing action, where a positive command would more often be perfective; the «-те» makes it plural/polite, the form a child uses to an adult.
> Chain of gerunds («деепричастия»): Three adverbial participles hang on the main verb: imperfective «не двигаясь» ('not moving') and «выжидая» ('waiting') give simultaneous circumstance, while perfective «засверкав» ('having flashed up') marks a fresh completed act. All share the boy's subject — a hallmark of literary narration.
> «глазёнки» — pitying-contemptuous diminutive of 'eyes': «глазёнки» (here instrumental «глазёнками») is a diminutive of «глаза» with the «-ёнк-» suffix, which carries a tinge of pity or belittlement — 'his little eyes'. It colours the half-feral boy as small and pitiable even as they flash with malice.
> «однако ж» — bookish 'however, yet': «однако» means 'however'; the tacked-on particle «ж» (a clipped «же») adds insistence — 'and yet'. The pairing is a period-flavoured, slightly bookish connective frequent in 19th-century narration.

— Хорошо, я пойду, — сказал Алеша, — только я вас не знаю и не дразню. Они мне сказали, как вас дразнят, но я вас не хочу дразнить, прощайте!  
"Very well, I'll go," said Alyosha, "only I don't know you and I'm not teasing you. They told me what they call you to tease you, but I have no wish to tease you — goodbye!"
> Perfective future «пойду» — 'I'll set off': «пойду» is the simple (perfective) future of the prefixed motion verb «пойти», conjugated with present-tense endings but meaning 'I will go / I'll be off'. The prefix «по-» adds the sense of setting out on the journey.
> Impersonal 3rd-person plural «дразнят»: «как вас дразнят» — literally 'how they tease you' — uses a subjectless 3rd-person plural ('they') for an unnamed general agent. Russian routinely expresses 'people / one' this way; here it means 'what nickname they tease you with'.
> «прощайте» — 'farewell', literally 'forgive': «прощайте» is the polite/plural imperative of «прощать» ('to forgive'), used as 'goodbye' — etymologically asking pardon as one parts. It is weightier and more final than the casual «до свидания».

— Монах в гарнитуровых штанах! — крикнул мальчик, всё тем же злобным и вызывающим взглядом следя за Алешей, да кстати и став в позу, рассчитывая, что Алеша непременно бросится на него теперь, но Алеша повернулся, поглядел на него и пошел прочь.  
"Monk in silk trousers!" the boy shouted, following Alyosha with the same malicious, defiant glare, and squaring up into a stance besides, reckoning that Alyosha would surely fling himself at him now; but Alyosha turned, looked at him, and walked away.
> Three gerunds stacking the boy's posture: The sentence piles up adverbial participles: imperfective «следя» ('following with his eyes') and «рассчитывая» ('reckoning') for simultaneous states, with perfective «став в позу» ('having struck a stance') for a completed move. The dense gerund chain is classic Dostoevskian syntax.
> Perfective future + reflexive «броситься на»: «бросится» is the perfective future of the reflexive «броситься» ('to fling oneself'); «на него» (accusative) marks the target of the lunge. The «-ся» here makes the throw self-directed — the boy expects Alyosha to hurl himself bodily at him.

Но не успел он сделать и трех шагов, как в спину его больно ударился пущенный мальчиком самый большой булыжник, который только был у него в кармане.  
But he had not taken three steps before the biggest cobblestone the boy had in his pocket struck him painfully in the back.
> «не успел ... как» — 'no sooner ... than': The frame «не успел + infinitive ..., как ...» means 'he had not managed to ... before ...'. The emphatic «и» before «трех шагов» means 'even (three steps)', and «трёх шагов» is genitive after the numeral 'three' plus the negated verb.
> Past passive participle + instrumental agent: «пущенный» is the past passive participle of «пустить» ('let fly, hurl'), agreeing with «булыжник» ('cobblestone'). Its agent stands in the instrumental — «мальчиком» ('by the boy') — the standard way Russian names the doer of a passive.
> Relative «который» — 'the very biggest he had': «который» heads the relative clause modifying «булыжник», agreeing in masculine singular but taking nominative for its own role. With «самый большой ... который только был» it means 'the very biggest one that he had at all'.

— Так вы сзади? Они правду, стало быть, говорят про вас, что вы нападаете исподтишка? — обернулся опять Алеша, но на этот раз мальчишка с остервенением опять пустил в Алешу камнем и уже прямо в лицо, но Алеша успел заслониться вовремя, и камень ударил его в локоть.  
"So you attack from behind? It's true, then, what they say about you, that you strike on the sly?" Alyosha turned around again, but this time the little wretch furiously hurled another stone at him, straight in the face — only Alyosha managed to shield himself in time, and the stone struck him on the elbow.
> «исподтишка» — 'on the sly, underhandedly': «исподтишка» is an expressive adverb meaning 'stealthily, behind one's back, on the sly' — acting underhandedly so as not to be seen. The accusation here is moral as much as physical: striking from cover.
> «стало быть» — 'so then, it follows': «стало быть» is a parenthetical 'so, therefore, it follows that' — a slightly old-fashioned, deductive connective. Like «должно быть» it is an impersonal frozen phrase set off by commas.
> «мальчишка» — the pejorative diminutive of 'boy': Where «мальчик» is neutral 'boy', «мальчишка» carries the dismissive «-ишк-» suffix — 'brat, urchin, the little wretch'. The narrator switches to it as the boy turns vicious; the translation's 'little wretch' catches the contempt.
> «пустить в» + instrumental — to let fly at: Same pattern as earlier: target in «в» + accusative («в Алёшу»), the missile in the instrumental («камнем»). The perfective «пустил» reports the single hurl that drives the action forward.

— Как вам не стыдно! Что я вам сделал? — вскричал он.  
"Aren't you ashamed! What have I done to you?" he cried out.
> Dative-subject shame: «вам ... стыдно»: This is the textbook impersonal construction: the experiencer in the dative («вам» — 'to you') plus the invariable predicate «стыдно» ('shameful'), with no nominative subject — literally 'how (it is) not shameful to you!', i.e. 'aren't you ashamed!'.
> Dative of the person affected: «вам» is the dative of the person wronged — 'what have I done TO you?'. Russian routinely marks the affected party in the dative with verbs of doing-to, where English needs the preposition 'to'.

Мальчик молча и задорно ждал лишь одного, что вот теперь Алеша уж несомненно на него бросится; видя же, что тот даже и теперь не бросается, совершенно озлился, как зверенок: он сорвался с места и кинулся сам на Алешу, и не успел тот шевельнуться, как злой мальчишка, нагнув голову и схватив обеими руками его левую руку, больно укусил ему средний ее палец.  
The boy waited in silence and defiance for one thing only — that now, surely, Alyosha would fling himself at him; but seeing that even now he did not, he flew into a complete fury, like a little wild beast: he tore from the spot and threw himself at Alyosha, and before Alyosha could stir, the spiteful little fellow, bending his head and seizing Alyosha's left hand with both of his own, bit the middle finger of it hard.
> Gerund «видя» + contrastive «же»: The imperfective gerund «видя» ('seeing') opens a clause sharing the boy's subject, and the particle «же» here is mildly adversative — 'but seeing that...'. «тот» ('that one') points back to Alyosha, tracking him as the distant referent.
> «озлиться» and «зверёнок» — feral fury: «озлиться» (perfective) is 'to become enraged, fill with spite'; «зверёнок» is a diminutive of «зверь» ('beast') — a 'little wild beast', the «-ёнок» suffix being the one used for animal young. The image fuses childishness with savagery.
> Perfective gerunds for prior, completed acts: «нагнув» ('having bent') and «схватив» ('having seized') are perfective past gerunds in «-в», each naming an action completed just before the main verb «укусил» ('bit'). They compress a sequence of moves into one breathless clause, all on the boy's subject.
> Dative of the possessor with body parts: «укусил ему ... палец» — 'bit him the finger' — uses the dative «ему» for the person whose body part is affected, a so-called dative of possession common with body parts where English uses a possessive ('bit his finger').

Он впился в него зубами и секунд десять не выпускал его.  
He sank his teeth into it and would not let go for some ten seconds.
> «впиться» — to sink/dig into: «впиться в» means 'to sink into, fasten onto' (of teeth, claws, eyes); the instrumental «зубами» ('with his teeth') names the means. The verb conveys a clamping, tenacious grip — he didn't merely bite, he locked on.
> Inverted numeral = approximation: Putting the noun before the numeral — «секунд десять» instead of «десять секунд» — signals approximation: 'some ten seconds, about ten seconds'. The genitive plural «секунд» is governed by the numeral 'ten'.

Алеша закричал от боли, дергая изо всей силы палец.  
Alyosha cried out with pain, tugging the finger with all his might.
> Imperfective gerund «дёргая» — simultaneous tugging: «дёргая» is the imperfective present gerund of «дёргать» ('to tug, jerk'), describing what Alyosha was doing at the same moment as «закричал» ('cried out'). Imperfective gerunds always render an action ongoing alongside the main verb.
> «изо всей силы» — 'with all his might': A set idiom, «изо всей силы» = 'with all one's strength'. The preposition «из(о)» takes the genitive «всей силы»; the «-о» of «изо» appears before the consonant cluster «вс-» for ease of pronunciation.

Мальчик выпустил его наконец и отскочил на прежнюю дистанцию.  
The boy let go at last and sprang back to his former distance.
> Two perfectives advancing the action: «выпустил» ('let go') and «отскочил» ('sprang back') are both perfective, each a single completed move that carries the narrative forward a step. The «вы-» and «от-» prefixes give 'out/release' and 'away/back' respectively.
> «дистанция» — a Gallicism: «дистанция» (from French/Latin) is a slightly bookish borrowing for 'distance', here 'his former distance'. Native «расстояние» would be plainer; the loanword lends a faint precision, almost as if measuring out a duel.

Палец был больно прокушен, у самого ногтя, глубоко, до кости; полилась кровь.  
The finger was painfully bitten, right by the nail, deep, to the bone; the blood ran.
> Short passive participle + «был» = stated result: «прокушен» is the short-form past passive participle of «прокусить» ('to bite through'), joined to «был» to state a result: 'the finger had been bitten through'. This periphrastic passive (short participle + быть) is the standard way Russian expresses a completed, resultant state.
> Verb-first word order: the new event last: «полилась кровь» ('the blood ran') puts the verb before the subject «кровь», which is the new information arriving last. The reflexive «-сь» on «полилась» (from «политься») marks the inchoative middle — the blood began to flow of itself.

Алеша вынул платок и крепко обернул в него раненую руку.  
Alyosha took out his handkerchief and bound the wounded hand tightly in it.
> Past passive participle «раненую» as attribute: «раненую» (accusative fem.) is the past passive participle of «ранить» ('to wound') used attributively — 'the wounded hand'. It declines and agrees with «руку» exactly like an adjective, condensing 'the hand that had been wounded' into one word.

Обертывал он почти целую минуту.  
He spent almost a whole minute binding it.
> Imperfective «обёртывал» for duration: The imperfective «обёртывал» ('was wrapping') is chosen precisely because the focus is on duration — 'almost a whole minute'. A perfective would report the act done; the imperfective dwells on the slow process, underscoring his deliberate calm. Fronting the verb stresses the lingering activity.

Мальчишка всё это время стоял и ждал.  
All this time the boy stood and waited.
> Paired imperfectives for sustained waiting: «стоял и ждал» ('stood and waited') are two imperfective pasts describing a held, ongoing state through 'all this time' («всё это время»). The imperfective is the aspect of background, of nothing yet happening.

Наконец Алеша поднял на него свой тихий взор.  
At last Alyosha raised his quiet gaze to him.
> Reflexive possessive «свой»: «свой» ('his own') refers back to the clause's subject, Alyosha — his own quiet gaze. Using «его» instead would oddly suggest someone else's gaze; «свой» keeps the gaze firmly his.
> «взор» — the elevated word for 'gaze': «взор» is a bookish, lyrical synonym of «взгляд» ('look, gaze'), belonging to the higher literary register. Paired with «тихий» ('quiet, gentle'), it lends Alyosha's look a near-icon-like serenity.

— Ну хорошо, — сказал он, — видите, как вы меня больно укусили, ну и довольно ведь, так ли? Теперь скажите, что я вам сделал?  
"All right," he said, "you see how painfully you've bitten me — well, that's enough now, isn't it? Now tell me, what have I done to you?"
> Particles «ведь» and «ли» — appeal and tag question: «ведь» appeals to shared understanding ('after all, you know'), softening 'that's enough'; «так ли?» is a tag question with the interrogative particle «ли» — 'is that so?, isn't it?'. Together they coax the boy gently rather than command him.
> Exclamatory «как» + perfective result: «как ... больно укусили» means 'how painfully you bit me' — «как» here is exclamatory ('how!') rather than 'how?'. The perfective «укусили» reports the completed bite whose result Alyosha now displays.

Мальчик посмотрел с удивлением.  
The boy looked at him in surprise.
> «с удивлением» — instrumental of manner under «с»: «с удивлением» ('with surprise') is the preposition «с» plus the instrumental «удивлением», a common way to express manner or accompanying feeling. Russian prefers this abstract noun phrase where English might say 'looked surprised'.

— Я хоть вас совсем не знаю и в первый раз вижу, — всё так же спокойно продолжал Алеша, — но не может быть, чтоб я вам ничего не сделал, — не стали бы вы меня так мучить даром.  
"Though I don't know you at all and am seeing you for the first time," Alyosha went on, just as calmly, "it cannot be that I've done nothing to you — you wouldn't torment me like this for no reason.
> «чтоб» + negative concord: «чтоб» (clipped «чтобы») introduces the irrealis clause after «не может быть» ('it cannot be that'). Inside it Russian stacks negatives — «ничего ... не сделал» ('did nothing', lit. 'nothing not did') — the obligatory negative concord, where the ни-word and «не» together make one negation.
> Conditional «бы» — counterfactual reasoning: «не стали бы вы ... мучить» is the conditional: past-form «стали» plus the particle «бы» = 'you would not (have) torment(ed) me'. Alyosha reasons hypothetically — you wouldn't do this for nothing, so there must be a cause.
> «даром» — 'for nothing, in vain': «даром» (frozen instrumental of «дар», 'gift') means 'for free' and, by extension, 'for no reason, in vain' — here 'you wouldn't torment me gratuitously'. A compact, idiomatic adverb.

Так что же я сделал и чем я виноват пред вами, скажите?  
So what have I done, and how am I to blame before you — tell me?"
> Instrumental «чем» + archaic «пред»: «чем» is the instrumental of «что» — 'in what way / by what am I guilty?'. «пред» is the bookish, elevated variant of «перед» ('before'), governing the instrumental «вами»; the short form «виноват» is predicative 'guilty, at fault'.
> Short adjective «виноват» — 'to blame': «виноват» is the short form of «виноватый» ('guilty'), used only predicatively and carrying a sense of the present, momentary state of being at fault. Such short adjectives in predicate position are a staple of this register.

Вместо ответа мальчик вдруг громко заплакал, в голос, и вдруг побежал от Алеши.  
Instead of answering, the boy suddenly burst into loud weeping, sobbing aloud, and suddenly ran away from Alyosha.
> «вместо» + genitive: «вместо ответа» ('instead of an answer') shows the preposition «вместо» governing the genitive «ответа». It is one of the many 'of'-type prepositions that fix the genitive on their object.
> Inceptive «за-» — 'burst into / set off': Both are inceptive perfectives, but with different prefixes: «заплакал» carries «за-» ('burst into tears'), while «побежал» carries «по-» ('set off running'), the ingressive prefix for unidirectional motion verbs; it is paired with «вдруг» ('suddenly ran off'). The doubled «вдруг ... вдруг» heightens the abruptness.
> «в голос» — 'aloud, at the top of one's voice': The idiom «в голос» (lit. 'into voice') means to weep loudly and openly, without restraint. It recurs in the next sentence, stressing the boy's unconcealed, full-throated sobbing.

Алеша пошел тихо вслед за ним на Михайловскую улицу, и долго еще видел он, как бежал вдали мальчик, не умаляя шагу, не оглядываясь и, верно, всё так же в голос плача.  
Alyosha walked quietly after him toward Mikhailovskaya Street, and for a long while still he could see the boy running in the distance, not slackening his pace, not looking back, and surely still sobbing aloud just the same.
> Imperfective «бежал» under «видел, как»: «видел, как бежал мальчик» — 'saw how the boy was running' — uses the imperfective «бежал» (unidirectional motion verb «бежать») to render a sustained sight watched over time. The construction «видеть, как» + imperfective renders perceived ongoing action.
> Three imperfective gerunds of attendant circumstance: «умаляя», «оглядываясь» and «плача» are imperfective present gerunds, each describing the boy's manner as he runs — not slackening pace, not looking back, weeping. «шагу» is an old partitive genitive ('of pace'); the whole chain shares the boy's subject.
> «верно» as 'probably' + «всё так же»: «верно» here is the parenthetical 'no doubt, probably' (not the adverb 'correctly'), an inference Alyosha makes from a distance. «всё так же» means 'still in the same way, just as before', echoing the boy's unbroken sobbing.

Он положил непременно, как только найдется время разыскать его и разъяснить эту чрезвычайно поразившую его загадку.  
He resolved, without fail, to seek him out as soon as he could find the time and to clear up this riddle that had struck him so deeply.
> «положить» = 'to resolve' + «непременно»: Here «положил» is not 'put/laid' but the idiomatic 'resolved, decided firmly' (cf. «положить себе» — to set oneself to). «непременно» ('without fail, by all means') reinforces the firmness of the resolve.
> Perfective future «найдётся» + reflexive: «найдётся» is the perfective future of «найтись» ('to turn up, be found'), with «-ся» giving the middle sense 'time would present itself'. The «как только» clause means 'as soon as time is found', the future being implied by the perfective.
> Past active participle «поразившую»: «поразившую» is the past active participle of «поразить» ('to strike, astonish'), agreeing with «загадку» (acc. fem.) — 'the riddle that had struck him so'. It packs a который-clause ('the riddle which had astonished him') into a single modifier.

Теперь же ему было некогда.  
But just now he had no time for it.
> Dative-subject «ему ... некогда»: A pure impersonal construction: the experiencer in the dative «ему» ('to him') with the predicate «некогда» ('there is no time') and neuter «было» — literally 'to him it was no-time', i.e. 'he had no time'. The contrastive «же» sets 'now' against his future resolve.
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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.