Chapter 1: Comets Are Born at Night Summary

Chapter one introduces Kostia and Romachkin, who are neighbors in Moscow, living in small, mirror image rooms next door to one another. Romachkin is a sickly, old, little man who works as an assistant clerk in the wages department of the Moscow Clothing Trust. Kostia is a tall, young man, almost childlike in his exuberance. He works in the office of a subway construction yard.

Both Kostia and Romachkin are disenchanted with the direction their country is heading. They are tired of poverty and iniquity. Romachkin buys a Colt revolver on the black market one day with the idea that he will seek his own justice, but he is too frightened to take action. He eventually gives the gun away to Kostia.

One beautiful, wintry night in February, Kostia is walking along a...