The Brothers Karamazov
smiling faces showed signs of uneasiness, but they did not
yet fully grasp what was expected of them.
‘You won’t be naughty while I am gone? You won’t climb
on the cupboard and break your legs? You won’t be fright-
ened alone and cry?’
A look of profound despondency came into the chil-
dren’s faces.
‘And I could show you something as a reward, a little
copper cannon which can be fired with real gunpowder.’
The children’s faces instantly brightened. ‘Show us the
cannon,’ said Kostya, beaming all over.
Krassotkin put his hand in his satchel, and pulling out a
little bronze cannon stood it on the table.
‘Ah, you are bound to ask that! Look, it’s on wheels.’ He
rolled the toy on along the table. ‘And it can be fired off, too.
It can be loaded with shot and fired off.’
‘And it could kill anyone?’
‘It can kill anyone; you’ve only got to aim at anybody,’
and Krassotkin explained where the powder had to be put,
where the shot should be rolled in, showing a tiny hole like a
touch-hole, and told them that it kicked when it was fired.
The children listened with intense interest. What particu-
larly struck their imagination was that the cannon kicked.
‘And have you got any powder?’ Nastya inquired.
‘Yes.’
‘Show us the powder, too,’ she drawled with a smile of
entreaty.
Krassotkin dived again into his satchel and pulled out a
small flask containing a little real gunpowder. He had some