City of Thieves: Chapter 25 Summary & Analysis

Lev is again exhausted and his finger is extremely painful. Kolya appears to be treating their walk like a leisurely stroll. He finally asks Lev if he's ever told him the story of where the name The Courtyard Hound comes from. He explains that the hero, Radchenko, lives in an old multi-family building, and one night an old dog walks into the courtyard and makes it his home. Radchenko sees the dog the next morning and throws it some sausage. Radchenko hasn't left his apartment in five years, but each day he tosses the dog some food when the church bells ring.

One morning, Radchenko wakes to the church bells, but sees that the hound is dead in the courtyard. Radchenko realizes that nobody will bury the dog because it technically didn't belong to anyone. Radchenko then leaves his apartment for the first time in seven years to bury the dog. Lev asks questions about where the dog will be buried and points out that Radchenko needs a shovel, and Kolya is annoyed. Kolya asks if Lev understands why The Courtyard Hound is such a great title, saying that all the women Radchenko sees aren't able to get him to go outside, but a dog can do what the women can't.

Kolya suddenly stops, eyes wide, and says that his long-awaited bowel movement is finally coming. He runs behind a tree and Lev waits, swaying and trying to not sleep. When Kolya returns, he tries to pull Lev to go look, but Lev refuses. They struggle for a moment and Kolya falls, and Lev yells that he doesn't want to look at Kolya's shit, he just wants to know if the eggs are broken. Kolya inspects the eggs, which are unbroken.

Lev and Kolya continue their march. Kolya declares that the colonel will invite them to his daughter's wedding, while Lev wonders where he's going to sleep now that the Kirov is gone. Kolya insists that Lev will stay with Sonya. Their conversation meanders from the chess match to the four girls in the farmhouse, and finally as they reach Piter's defenses, Kolya says he wants a piece of wedding cake.

Kolya and Lev then hear a gunshot. They leap to the ground and Kolya yells that they're Russian. The soldiers instruct Lev and Kolya to stand and walk towards them. When Kolya tries to stand, he stumbles, and he and Lev notice a bullet hole in the seat of his pants. At the officer's instruction, Kolya throws his rifle away and yells that he can't walk because he's been shot. Lev helps Kolya kneel as Kolya laments having to explain his fate to his battalion, and the soldiers yell that they'll come out to Lev and Kolya.

Lev asks what he should do, and Kolya says to apply pressure, taking off his hat and pressing it to the wound. Kolya takes the box of eggs from under his sweater and hands it to Lev. An armored car rolls towards them and a sergeant and a lieutenant get out, insisting they did the right thing since Kolya had a German gun. Lev addresses the lieutenant and asks if they can help Kolya now and ask questions later, and the lieutenant threatens to kill him. Kolya offers the letter from Colonel Grechko to the officers, and they stiffen when they see the name. As Kolya prepares to yell at the lieutenant, he finally seems to understand that not speaking is best.

Kolya assures Lev that it's not that much blood, and the driver and another soldier carry Kolya to the car and arrange him in the backseat. Lev sits with him, applying pressure to the bullet hole. Kolya jokes that he'd rather Vika were touching him like that, but when Lev asks, he admits that the wound hurts. The lieutenant ignores Kolya's sarcastic barbs and tells them that they're taking him to the hospital at the Works. Kolya asks them to take Lev to the colonel after.

The driver tells Lev that it's 8-10 minutes to the hospital. Lev and Kolya discuss how much blood a man can lose, and Kolya instructs Lev to dance with the colonel's daughter. The car is held up several times and Kolya is growing weaker by the minute, his lips blue. Lev asks for water and tries to offer some to Kolya. Kolya asks Lev if he likes the title for The Courtyard Hound, and they agree it's his best option.

Kolya smiles at Lev, and they both know that Kolya is going to die. Lev narrates that Kolya's smile was a gift to try to make Lev's fear of death a little easier to bear. Kolya muses that he was shot in the ass by his own people. Lev wants to make a joke but can't come up with anything. Kolya says that this isn't how he pictured it.