coat and an old wadded quilt. He was evidently unwell, and, judging by his glittering eyes, he was in a fever. He looked at Alyosha without fear, as though he felt he was at home and could not be touched.
“What! Did he bite your finger?” The captain jumped up from his chair. “Was it your finger he bit?”
“Yes. He was throwing stones with other schoolboys. There were six of them against him alone. I went up to him, and he threw a stone at me and then another at my head. I asked him what I had done to him. And then he rushed at me and bit my finger badly, I don’t know why.”
“I’ll thrash him, sir, at once—this minute!” The captain jumped up from his seat.
“But I am not complaining at all, I am simply telling you … I don’t want him to be