Section 13: Chapter 18 and Chapter 19 Summary

In the eighteenth chapter, Vladimir has a headache the next morning and is terribly depressed. He watches his parents at lunch; his mother is secretly irritated as usual, and his father is calm though he is not even coldly affectionate toward Vladimir. Vladimir wonders if he should talk to Zinaida. He goes to see her but does not get to talk to her because Princess Zasyekin's twelve year old son, a cadet, has arrived for his school holiday. Zinaida introduces the cadet and Vladimir, asking Vladimir to play with her younger brother. Vladimir takes the cadet to the garden and pushes him on a swing. Vladimir is sad because today he is only a little boy. Vladimir recalls his dropped penknife and retrieves it. The cadet borrows Vladimir's penknife to make a whistle. Vladimir refers again to...