Heart of a Dog

The next morning, Sharikov cannot be found. Bormenthal goes to the House Committee to look for him, but the House Committee says they do not know Sharikov’s location. They report he stole seven rubles intended for the purchase of textbooks. A few hours later, Sharikov returns to the apartment, smelling of cat. He tells Philipovich and Bormenthal that he has gotten a job in animal control, killing cats. Philipovich makes Sharikov apologize to Darya and Zina for his behavior the night before, which Sharikov reluctantly does.

Two days later, a girl appears at the apartment with Sharikov. Sharikov tells Philipovich the girl is his fiancée. The professor objects, and he tells the girl the truth about Sharikov’s origins and gives her three 10 ruble notes. He makes Sharikov give back the girl’s emerald ring that he’s taken as a memento. The atmosphere in the apartment grows increasingly tense. Two days later, Philipovich receives a note from the Housing Committee that Sharikov has denounced him as a “Menshevik”—a member of the moderate, socialist faction of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party defeated by the Bolsheviks and banned in 1921. Philipovich is “hunched” with “despair.”