person
The colonel (Sasha's uncle)
the colonel
also: дядя-полковник, полковник, the colonel-uncle, the colonel
One of Sasha Uskov's uncles on his father's side, a colonel with an odious, metallic voice who argues that shielding a scoundrel from justice is civic cowardice rather than family honor, and who at first pushes to hand Sasha over to the judicial authorities before relenting.
Reading notes
- A Problem §5 I am not speaking Chinese, I am speaking Russian
An idiom implying "I am speaking plainly, why don't you understand me" -- the colonel's exasperated insistence that his distinction (real family honor vs. a false, self-serving version of it) should be obvious.
- A Problem §39 goes out of the study not into the hall but through the anteroom
The colonel avoids Sasha entirely at the council's end, taking a separate exit rather than passing back through the hall where Sasha waits -- a small staged detail confirming his continued contempt even after outwardly agreeing to pay the note.