“Nikita Nikitich Rulev was married twice and had two sons. The eldest (from his first marriage) was called Andrei Nikitich, and the younger (from the second) was Stepan Nikitich. Old Rulev was at first a peasant and plowed the land; then he was recruited as a soldier and performed his duty very diligently: from the battles he suffered eleven wounds and a captain's uniform. The old man was smart, brave and very strong. Rulev Jr., having a rather smart mother and, moreover, being born completely healthy, had no reason to turn out to be a fool, especially since life from the very beginning led him not to apathy, but to increased brain activity. The father did not interfere in the development of his youngest son because he did not love him, and thanks to the mother of Rulev Jr., another person, at that time an extremely useful and rare person, acted on the child...”