Suddenly a moment of silence occurred amid our boisterous laughter--a
moment during which nothing was to be heard in the room but the panting
of the miserable Ilinka. It occurred to me at that moment that, after
all, there was nothing so very comical and pleasant in all this.

"Now, THAT'S a boy!" cried Seriosha, giving Ilinka a smack with his
hand. Ilinka said nothing, but made such desperate movements with his
legs to free himself that his foot suddenly kicked Seriosha in the
eye: with the result that, letting go of Ilinka's leg and covering the
wounded member with one hand, Seriosha hit out at him with all his might
with the other one. Of course Ilinka's legs slipped down as, sinking
exhausted to the floor and half-suffocated with tears, he stammered out:

"Why should you bully me so?"

The poor fellow's miserable figure, with its streaming tears, ruffled
hair, and crumpled trousers revealing dirty boots, touched us a little,
and we stood silent and trying to smile.

Seriosha was the first to recover himself.

"What a girl! What a gaby!" he said, giving Ilinka a slight kick. "He
can't take things in fun a bit. Well, get up, then."

"You are an utter beast! That's what YOU are!" said Ilinka, turning
miserably away and sobbing.

"Oh, oh! Would it still kick and show temper, then?" cried Seriosha,
seizing a dictionary and throwing it at the unfortunate boy's head.