I was in bad circumstances. I had survived the war in the Caucasus without injury and with high hopes for life in Moscow, but that had not come to pass. I lived in mean lodgings and worked long hours to pay off my debts. 

Next door to mine lived a pensioner named Kurzov. Heavy and lame, he limped and breathed heavily when he walked. I could hear him coming down the hall any time he ventured out of his room.

One day I came home from working and found Kurzov outside of my door, waiting for me.

"May I have a word with you, Pavel Andreeich?" he said.

I had hoped to fall as immediately into sleep as possible, but I invited him in. I motioned for him to sit in my one chair, but he elected to stay standing. I sat instead.

"I am afraid I am going to ask you a favor, Pavel Andreeich," he said. "There are times, not often but sometimes, when I collapse in the street.  My dignity...." Here he trailed off and then began afresh. "Would it be possible for you to accompany me four blocks tomorrow at six in the morning. The errand should not take long."

Tomorrow I did not have to work. An entire day of thinking of how to improve my situation loomed before me.

"Of course," I said.

The next morning I arose , washed and dressed, and had bread and tea. At six exactly Kurzov knocked lightly on my door. We set out together in silence.

Kurzov led the way. He looked unsteady at times—once I grasped him by both of his elbows—but he never fell. When we had gone the four blocks he nodded, and we stopped.

It was an unremarkable part of Moscow, a district of little-used warehouses. A carriage would go by from time to time, but we were alone among pedestrians.

At once, Kurzov began to weep. He made no sound, but the tears flowed and the misery on his face was absolute. I turned away to give him some small degree of privacy. After a few minutes he touched my elbow. He had wiped his face. We started the walk back to the lodgings.

"Every year I come here at exactly this time,"he said.

I nodded. "I take it something terrible happened at this spot," I said.

"Oh no," he said. "Seven blocks from here. But to go there, that would be too much, you know?"