# Búlka and the Wolf explained — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories

> Chapter companion for The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

The narrator, preparing to leave the war-torn Caucasus at night, hears a pig being attacked. He and others rush out, and he fires at a wolf jumping a fence, but his gun misfires. His dogs, Milton and Búlka, chase the wolf. Búlka is slightly wounded in the encounter. The group debates whether the creature was a wolf or a witch, and the narrator treats Búlka's wound with gunpowder to cauterize it, fearing rabies.

## Themes in this chapter

### War and Peace

The chapter opens with the narrator leaving the Caucasus 'where they were still fighting,' framing the personal anecdote within a backdrop of conflict and danger.

### Rural Life and the Landowner

Depicts a village incident involving livestock, hunting dogs, and folk beliefs (the witch), illustrating the perils and superstitions of rural life.

## Character check-ins

### Búlka

Chases the wolf and is wounded on the head. The narrator treats his wound with gunpowder, fearing rabies.

### The Master

The narrator who attempts to shoot the wolf, treats Búlka's wound, and recounts the event.

### The Cossacks

An old Cossack suggests the creature was a witch who charmed the gun, influencing the group's interpretation of the event.

## Key lines

> I burned out the sore with powder, in order to burn away the poisonous saliva, if it had not yet entered the blood.

The narrator uses a folk remedy of cauterizing the wound to try and prevent rabies infection.

_Shows pre-modern medical understanding and the fear of rabies from a wolf bite._

> An old Cossack said that there was nothing remarkable about it, because that was not a wolf, but a witch who had charmed my gun.

A local explains the gun's misfire and the wolf's boldness as the work of a witch, not a natural animal.

_Highlights the clash between rational thought and superstitious belief in the rural setting._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/b-lka-and-the-wolf
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters