The Little Hero

Dostoevsky wrote the story "The Little Hero" while he was in solitary confinement at the Peter and Paul Fortress. Years later, he told a friend:
“When I found myself in prison, I thought my life was over. But soon, I was overwhelmed by a sudden and deep sense of calm. So what did I do? I wrote 'The Little Hero'. Read it! Do you see any trace of anger, resentment, or pain? In prison, I dreamed peaceful, beautiful, gentle dreams. And the longer I stayed, the stronger my inner peace grew.”
This contrast between the harshness of the damp cell and the long wait for an unknown fate, and the serene dreams and pure, luminous memories, represents a rare psychological phenomenon. Dostoevsky interpreted this phenomenon by saying:
“There is an astonishing energy in human nature! I would never have believed that a person possesses such vitality, but now I know it from experience.”
Dostoevsky once said: “My childhood has ended,” in a touching description of the intense emotions burning in the heart of a passionate young boy. The final lines of "The Little Hero", written just before his transfer to a Siberian labor camp, are among the purest romantic dreams he ever penned — as if they were a painful farewell to youth, just before life unveiled to him the darkness of the human soul and its hidden forces of evil.
This romantic spirit shines through most of the stories included in this collection.