Volovya station is a railway stop on Ivan’s route to Moscow and the point where a proposed detour to Tchermashnya becomes a test of his resolve to leave home. He arrives there with the option of turning aside, but boards the train instead; his departure is marked less by relief than by mounting anguish.

Setting and Route

The station lies on the railway journey Ivan makes after leaving home. From Volovya, Tchermashnya is reached by turning left from the station and traveling another twelve versts. That short onward route makes the station a literal fork in Ivan’s itinerary: he can leave by rail for Moscow or take the road toward Tchermashnya.

The Proposed Detour

Before reaching the station, Ivan is asked to do someone a favor by going to Tchermashnya. He initially declines, citing the long distance to the railway and the train’s departure. Yet the request stays with him. On the journey, he wonders why he told the other person he was going to Tchermashnya, and why a clever man’s remark has affected him so strongly that the thought seems to clutch at his breathing.

At Volovya, the drivers gather around Ivan to bargain over the twelve-verst journey to Tchermashnya. He tells them to harness the horses, briefly making the detour seem possible. The action does not settle his uncertainty: the station is where his intention turns back upon itself, and the possibility of returning becomes part of the departure scene.

Departure for Moscow

At seven o’clock Ivan boards the train and sets off for Moscow. He inwardly declares that he has finished with the old world and wants no news or echo from it, imagining a new life in new places. But the emotional result contradicts that declaration: instead of delight, he feels gloom, and his heart aches with an anguish he has never known before.

Volovya station thus marks more than a change of transport. The road to Tchermashnya remains close enough to be chosen, while the train carries Ivan away from the past he claims to have renounced. His departure is a physical break without the inner release he expects.