person
Father Alexander
also: о. Александр, отец Александр
Klimov's regimental priest, who appears at his bedside during the delirium in his stole with missal in hand; ordinarily jovial and known for jokingly calling the regiment's Catholic officers "Poles," he does not laugh at Klimov's feverish joke but grows solemn and crosses him.
Reading notes
- Typhus §37 his regimental priest, Father Alexander
A regiment of the Imperial Russian army was assigned its own Orthodox priest (полковой священник) for services and pastoral care of the men; a stole (епитрахиль) and missal (требник) in hand mark Father Alexander here as having come prepared to administer last rites, which is why his uncharacteristic gravity -- he does not laugh at Klimov's joke as he usually would -- registers to the reader, though not yet to the delirious Klimov, as a sign of how serious his condition has become.