four o’clock in the morning
The Swedish lady was replaced by a young Swiss tutor , who was versed in gymnastics to perfection . Music , as a pursuit unworthy of a man , was discarded . The natural sciences , international law , mathematics , carpentry , after Jean-Jacques Rousseau 's precept , and heraldry , to encourage chivalrous feelings , were what the future `` man '' was to be occupied with . He was waked at four o'clock in the morning , splashed at once with cold water and set to running round a high pole with a cord ; he had only one meal a day , consisting of a single dish ; rode on horseback ; shot with a cross-bow ; at every convenient opportunity he was exercised in acquiring after his parent 's example firmness of will , and every evening he inscribed in a special book an account of the day and his impressions ; and Ivan Petrovitch on his side wrote him instructions in French in which he called him mon fils , and addressed him as vous . In Russian Fedya called his father thou , but did not dare to sit down in his presence . The `` system '' dazed the boy , confused and cramped his intellect , but his health on the other hand was benefited by the new manner of his life ; at first he fell into a fever but soon recovered and began to grow stout and strong . His father was proud of him and called him in his strange jargon `` a child of nature , my creation . ''