Book 1, The Short Stories : Chapter 7, The Crocodile & Bobok Summary

This story begins on the 13th of January 1865, with a decision to go to an Arcade to see a live crocodile. The owner was a German, who was very proud to be able to exhibit the only live crocodile in Russia. One of the visitors teases the crocodile and suddenly becomes one of its victims. Despite this, he is able to converse with his friends over the telephone. The guardian, the German, is surprisingly protective of his crocodile. He does not want to lose his precious crocodile. The group, once reassured that for the time being, both the soldier and the crocodile are alive, they begin to look at two aspects of the problem. One, is how to remove the soldier: can this be done without the loss of...