Ivan and Klevshin are greeted by derision and curses from the men whom they have kept waiting in the cold. As the ritual of the counting of the prisoners begins, Ivan reveals in a conversation with the Captain that he is indeed a simple, superstitious Russian peasant: he believes that the moon which they see rising is a new one every month and that the old one is broken up into stars by God. New stars, according to Ivan, are constantly needed because the old ones fall from the sky. Yet, in spite of these rather pagan opinions, Ivan asserts that he believes in God.
The head count reveals that a man is missing; it turns out to be a prisoner from another gang who has fallen asleep in the repair shop, and the five hundred men whom he has kept waiting for half an hour hurl abuses at him and even assault him physically, because he has deprived them of precious minutes of comparative leisure back in camp. Finally, the column begins its long march home.
Here in this episode, the reality of preparing to go back to camp is an anticlimax to Ivan's frenzied happiness while he was at work. Slowly, reality begins to overtake him, and the battle for survival which had been suspended for a few hours must be fought again.
