The day before his birthday, Seryozha cheerfully enters his house after a walk  and asks the hall porter if the bandaged clerk has been here today; the tall servant winks at him good-naturedly as he tells him the man was announced as soon as was possible. Seryozha’s feeble-voiced tutor speaks but the boy does not listen; he wants to hear what happened to the bandaged man.

The clerk with the bandaged face has been to see Alexey Alexandrovitch seven times to ask various favors. Seryozha has met him twice in the hallway and now has a great interest in the man. The porter says the bandaged man was almost dancing when he left. After a short pause, Seryozha asks if anything has been left for him today, and the porter whispers that there is something from the countess. Seryozha knows immediately that the Lidia Ivanovna has left him a gift for his birthday and asks more questions about the surprise.

The servant hears the boy’s tutor, Vassily Lukitch, approaching and quickly sends Seryozha toward him. The boy smiles sweetly and tells his tutor he will be right there. Everything is too delightful for the boy, and he must have a few more minutes so he can tell his friend the porter about his father’s honor which he had heard about from the countess’s niece while he was walking in the public gardens. This good news, the gladness of the bandaged clerk, and the promise of toys for his birthday all serve to make this an auspicious day; and Seryozha believes everyone ought to be as happy as he.

Instead of settling in to do his schoolwork, Seryozha asks his tutor to speculate with him about the gift waiting for him and then talks about his father’s achievement. The tutor explains that there are even higher orders of achievement that the one Alexey Alexandrovitch received today, and this sets the boy to daydreaming about his own future achievements. He envisions that the Tsar will have to create a new, even higher award with which to honor him.

When Lukitch comes back to check on Seryozha’s progress on his lessons, he is not only displeased but he is hurt. The boy senses his tutor’s hurt and is touched by it, but he does not believe he is to blame for it. While Lukitch is instructing him, Seryozha is able to concentrate and comprehends everything that is being said. Once the man leaves, though, he is unable to understand or remember anything he had just been taught. Nevertheless, he is sorry the tutor is sad.

In a quiet moment, Seryozha suddenly asks Lukitch when his birthday is. The tutor tells him birthdays are nothing special, just another day on which one must do one’s work. As Lukitch begins the lesson again, the boy asks himself mournfully why his tutor insists on speaking in such a dreary monotone, why he keeps his distance at all times, and why he does not love him. Seryozha cannot think of an answer.