In VN’s novel Bend Sinister (1947) the soldier asks Krug (who just learned that his son David was sadistically murdered at the hospital) "Yablochko, kuda-zh ty tak kotishsa [little apple, whither are you rolling]:"
Krug was caught by a friendly soldier.
'Yablochko, kuda-zh ty tak kotishsa [little apple, whither are you rolling]?' asked the soldier and added:
'A po zhabram, milaĭ, khochesh [want me to hit you, friend]?' (Chapter 17)