N.V. Gogol
Dead Souls
Volume one
Chapter first
The proposed history, as will become clear from what follows, took place somewhat shortly after the “glorious expulsion of the French.” Collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrives in the provincial town of NN (he is neither old nor too young, neither fat nor thin, rather pleasant in appearance and somewhat round) and checks into a hotel. He makes a lot of questions to the tavern servant - both regarding the owner and income of the tavern, and also exposing his thoroughness: about city officials, the most significant landowners, asks about the state of the region and whether there were “any diseases in their province, epidemic fevers” and other similar things misfortunes.Having gone on a visit, the visitor reveals extraordinary activity (having visited everyone, from the governor to the inspector of the medical board) and courtesy, for he knows how to say something nice to everyone. He speaks somewhat vaguely about himself (that he “has experienced a lot in his life, endured in the service for the truth, had many enemies who even attempted on his life,” and is now looking for a place to live). At the governor's house party, he manages to gain everyone's favor and, among other things, make acquaintance with the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. In the following days, he dines with the police chief (where he meets the landowner Nozdryov), visits the chairman of the chamber and the vice-governor, the tax farmer and the prosecutor, and goes to Manilov’s estate (which, however, is preceded by a fair author’s digression, where, justifying himself with a love of thoroughness, the author attests in detail to Petrushka, the newcomer’s servant: his passion for “the process of reading itself” and the ability to carry with him a special smell, “resembling a somewhat residential peace”).
Chapter two
Having traveled, as promised, not fifteen, but all thirty miles, Chichikov finds himself in Manilovka, in the arms of a kind owner. Manilov's house, standing on the south, surrounded by several scattered English flower beds and a gazebo with the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection,” could characterize the owner, who was “neither this nor that,” not burdened by any passions, only overly cloying. After Manilov’s confession that Chichikov’s visit is “a May day, the name day of the heart,” and dinner in the company of the hostess and two sons, Themistoclus and Alcides, Chichikov discovers the reason for his visit: he would like to acquire peasants who have died, but have not yet been declared as such in the audit certificate, registering everything in a legal manner, as if for the living (“the law - I am dumb before the law”). The first fear and bewilderment are replaced by the perfect disposition of the kind owner, and, having completed the deal, Chichikov leaves for Sobakevich, and Manilov indulges in dreams about Chichikov’s life in the neighborhood across the river, about the construction of a bridge, about a house with such a gazebo that Moscow can be seen from there, and about their friendship, if the sovereign had known about it, he would have granted them generals.Chapter Three
Chichikov's coachman Selifan, much favored by Manilov's servants, in conversations with his horses misses the necessary turn and, with the sound of a downpour, knocks the master over into the mud. In the dark, they find accommodation for the night with Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, a somewhat timid landowner, with whom in the morning Chichikov also begins trading in dead souls. Having explained that he himself would now begin to pay the tax for them, cursing the old woman’s stupidity, promising to buy both hemp and lard, but another time, Chichikov buys souls from her for fifteen rubles, receives a detailed list of them (in which Pyotr Savelyev was especially struck by Disrespect -Trough) and, having eaten unleavened egg pie, pancakes, pies and other things, departs, leaving the hostess in great concern as to whether she has sold too cheap.Chapter Four
Having reached the main road to the tavern, Chichikov stops to have a snack, which the author provides with a lengthy discussion about the properties of the appetite of middle-class gentlemen. Here Nozdryov meets him, returning from the fair in the chaise of his son-in-law Mizhuev, for he had lost everything on his horses and even his watch chain. Describing the delights of the fair, the drinking qualities of the dragoon officers, a certain Kuvshinnikov, a big fan of “taking advantage of strawberries” and, finally, presenting a puppy, “a real little face,” Nozdryov takes Chichikov (thinking of making money here too) to his home, taking his reluctant son-in-law as well. Having described Nozdryov, “in some respects a historical man” (for everywhere he went, there was history), his possessions, the unpretentiousness of the dinner with an abundance of, however, drinks of dubious quality, the author sends his dazed son-in-law to his wife (Nozdryov admonishes him with abuse and words “fetyuk”), and Chichikov is forced to turn to his subject; but he fails to either beg or buy souls: Nozdryov offers to exchange them, take them in addition to the stallion, or make them a bet in card game, finally scolds, quarrels, and they part for the night. In the morning, the persuasion resumes, and, having agreed to play checkers, Chichikov notices that Nozdryov is shamelessly cheating. Chichikov, whom the owner and the mongrels are already attempting to beat, manages to escape due to the appearance of the police captain, who announces that Nozdryov is on trial.Chapter Five
On the road, Chichikov’s carriage collides with a certain carriage, and, while onlookers come running and separate the tangled horses, Chichikov admires the sixteen-year-old young lady, indulges in speculation about her and dreams of family life. A visit to Sobakevich in his strong estate, like himself, is accompanied by a thorough dinner, a discussion of city officials, who, according to the owner, are all swindlers (one prosecutor is a decent person, “and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig”), and is married to the guest of interest deal. Not at all frightened by the strangeness of the object, Sobakevich bargains, characterizes the advantageous qualities of each serf, provides Chichikov with a detailed list and forces him to give a deposit. Sobakevich promises to sell dead Souls 100 rubles apiece, citing the fact that his peasants are real craftsmen (carriage maker Mikheev, carpenter Stepan Probka, shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov). The bargaining continues for a long time. In his hearts, Chichikov silently calls Sobakevich “fist”, and says out loud that the qualities of the peasants are not important, since they are dead. Not agreeing with Chichikov on the price and fully understanding that the deal is not entirely legal, Sobakevich hints that “this kind of purchase, I say this between us, out of friendship, is not always permissible, and tell me - I or someone else - such a person will not no power of attorney...” Ultimately, the parties agree on three rubles apiece, draw up a document, and each is afraid of being cheated by the other. Sobakevich offers Chichikov to buy a “female” at a cheap price, but the guest refuses (although he will later discover that Sobakevich nevertheless included a woman, Elizaveta Vorobei, in the deed of sale). Chichikov leaves and asks a peasant in the village how to get to Plyushkin’s estate (Plyushkin’s nickname among the peasants is “patched”). The chapter ends lyrical digression about the Russian language. “The Russian people are expressing themselves strongly! And if he rewards someone with a word, then it will go to his family and posterity... And then no matter how cunning and ennoble your nickname, even force the writing people to derive it from the ancient princely family for a rent, nothing will help... Like countless many churches, monasteries with domes, domes, crosses are scattered in holy, pious Rus', so a countless number of tribes, generations, peoples crowd, motley and rush about the face of the earth... The word of the British will respond with heart knowledge and wise knowledge of life; The short-lived word of a Frenchman will flash and spread like a light dandy; the German will intricately come up with his own, not accessible to everyone, clever and thin word; but there is no word that would be so sweeping, lively, would burst out from under the very heart, would boil and vibrate so much, like an aptly spoken Russian word.”You are reading a summary of Gogol's novel "Dead Souls" on Everything in Brief.ru
Chapter Six
Chichikov’s path to the neighboring landowner Plyushkin, mentioned by Sobakevich, is interrupted by a conversation with the man who gave Plyushkin an apt, but not very printed nickname, and the author’s lyrical reflection on his former love for unfamiliar places and the indifference that has now appeared. Chichikov at first takes Plyushkin, this “hole in humanity,” for a housekeeper or a beggar whose place is on the porch. His most important feature is his amazing stinginess, and he even carries the old sole of his boot into a pile piled up in the master's chambers. Having shown the profitability of his proposal (namely, that he will bear the taxes for the dead and runaway peasants), Chichikov is fully successful in his enterprise and, having refused tea and crackers, equipped with a letter to the chairman of the chamber, departs in the most cheerful mood.Chapter Seven
While Chichikov sleeps in the hotel, the author sadly reflects on the baseness of the objects he paints. Meanwhile, a satisfied Chichikov, having woken up, composes merchant fortresses, studies the lists of acquired peasants, reflects on their expected fates and finally goes to the civil chamber in order to quickly conclude the deal. Met at the hotel gate, Manilov accompanies him. Then follows a description of the official place, Chichikov’s first ordeals and a bribe to a certain jug snout, until he enters the chairman’s apartment, where, by the way, he finds Sobakevich. The chairman agrees to be Plyushkin’s attorney, and at the same time speeds up other transactions. The acquisition of Chichikov is discussed, with land or for withdrawal he bought peasants and in what places. Having found out that the conclusion and to the Kherson province, having discussed the properties of the sold men (here the chairman remembered that the coachman Mikheev seemed to have died, but Sobakevich assured that he was still alive and “became healthier than before”), they finished with champagne and went to the police chief, “father and to a benefactor in the city" (whose habits are immediately outlined), where they drink to the health of the new Kherson landowner, become completely excited, force Chichikov to stay and attempt to marry him.Chapter Eight
Chichikov's purchases create a sensation in the city, rumors spread that he is a millionaire. The ladies are crazy about him. Several times approaching to describe the ladies, the author becomes timid and retreats. On the eve of the ball, Chichikov even receives a love letter from the governor, although unsigned. Having, as usual, spent a lot of time on the toilet and being satisfied with the result, Chichikov goes to the ball, where he passes from one embrace to another. The ladies, among whom he is trying to find the sender of the letter, even quarrel, challenging his attention. But when the governor’s wife approaches him, he forgets everything, for she is accompanied by her daughter (“Institute, just graduated”), a sixteen-year-old blonde, whose carriage he collided with on the road. He loses the favor of the ladies because he starts a conversation with a fascinating blonde, scandalously neglecting the others. To top off the troubles, Nozdryov appears and loudly asks how many dead people Chichikov has traded. And although Nozdryov is obviously drunk and the embarrassed society is gradually distracted, Chichikov is not given either whist or the subsequent dinner, and he leaves upset.Chapter Nine
About this time, a carriage enters the city with the landowner Korobochka, whose growing anxiety forced her to come in order to find out what the price of dead souls is. The next morning, this news becomes the property of a certain pleasant lady, and she rushes to tell it to another, pleasant in all respects, the story acquires amazing details (Chichikov, armed to the teeth, bursts into Korobochka in the dead of midnight, demands the souls that have died, instills terrible fear - “ the whole village came running, the children were crying, everyone was screaming"). Her friend concludes that the dead souls are only a cover, and Chichikov wants to take away the governor’s daughter. Having discussed the details of this enterprise, Nozdryov’s undoubted participation in it and the qualities of the governor’s daughter, both ladies let the prosecutor know everything and set off to riot the city.Chapter Ten
In a short time, the city is seething, adding news about the appointment of a new governor-general, as well as information about the papers received: about a counterfeit banknote maker who showed up in the province, and about a robber who fled from legal prosecution. Trying to understand who Chichikov was, they remember that he was certified very vaguely and even spoke about those who attempted to kill him. The postmaster's statement that Chichikov, in his opinion, is Captain Kopeikin, who took up arms against the injustices of the world and became a robber, is rejected, since from the postmaster's entertaining story it follows that the captain is missing an arm and a leg, but Chichikov is whole. The assumption arises whether Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise, and many begin to find a certain resemblance, especially in profile. Questions of Korobochka, Manilov and Sobakevich do not produce results, and Nozdryov only increases the confusion by declaring that Chichikov is definitely a spy, a maker of false banknotes and had an undoubted intention to take away the governor’s daughter, in which Nozdryov undertook to help him (each of the versions was accompanied by detailed details right down to the name the priest who took up the wedding). All this talk has an enormous effect on the prosecutor; he suffers a blow and dies.Chapter Eleven
Chichikov himself, sitting in a hotel with a slight cold, is surprised that none of the officials are visiting him. Having finally gone on a visit, he discovers that the governor does not receive him, and in other places they fearfully shun him. Nozdryov, having visited him at the hotel, amid the general noise he made, partly clarifies the situation, announcing that he agrees to facilitate the kidnapping of the governor’s daughter. The next day, Chichikov hurriedly leaves, but is stopped by the funeral procession and forced to contemplate the whole world of officialdom flowing behind the coffin of the prosecutor. The brichka leaves the city, and the opened spaces on both sides bring to the author sad and joyful thoughts about Russia, the road, and then only sad ones about his chosen hero. Having concluded that it is time to give the virtuous hero a rest, but, on the contrary, to hide the scoundrel, the author sets out the life story of Pavel Ivanovich, his childhood, training in classes, where he had already shown a practical mind, his relationships with his comrades and the teacher, his later service in the government chamber, some commission for the construction of a government building, where for the first time he gave vent to some of his weaknesses, his subsequent departure to other, not so profitable places, transfer to the customs service, where, showing honesty and integrity almost unnatural, he made a lot of money in an agreement with smugglers, he went bankrupt, but dodged a criminal trial, although he was forced to resign. He became an attorney and, during the troubles of pledging the peasants, he formed a plan in his head, began to travel around the expanses of Rus', so that, having bought dead souls and deposited them in the treasury as living ones, he would receive money, perhaps buy a village and provide for future offspring.Having again complained about the properties of his hero’s nature and partly justified him, having found him the name of “owner, acquirer,” the author is distracted by the urged running of horses, by the similarity of the flying troika with rushing Russia and ends the first volume with the ringing of a bell.
Volume two
It opens with a description of the nature that makes up the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls “the smoker of the sky.” The story of the stupidity of his pastime is followed by the story of a life inspired by hopes at the very beginning, overshadowed by the pettiness of his service and troubles later; he retires, intending to improve the estate, reads books, takes care of the man, but without experience, sometimes just human, this does not give the expected results, the man is idle, Tentetnikov gives up. He breaks off acquaintances with his neighbors, offended by General Betrishchev’s address, and stops visiting him, although he cannot forget his daughter Ulinka. In a word, without someone who would tell him an invigorating “go ahead!”, he completely turns sour.
Chichikov comes to him, apologizing for a breakdown in the carriage, curiosity and a desire to pay respects. Having won the favor of the owner with his amazing ability to adapt to anyone, Chichikov, having lived with him for a while, goes to the general, to whom he weaves a story about a quarrelsome uncle and, as usual, begs for the dead. The poem fails at the laughing general, and we find Chichikov heading to Colonel Koshkarev. Contrary to expectations, he ends up with Pyotr Petrovich Rooster, whom he finds at first completely naked, keen on hunting sturgeon. At Rooster's, not having anything to get hold of, for the estate is mortgaged, he only overeats terribly, meets the bored landowner Platonov and, having encouraged him to travel together across Rus', goes to Konstantin Fedorovich Kostanzhoglo, married to Platonov's sister. He talks about the methods of management with which he increased the income from the estate tenfold, and Chichikov is terribly inspired.
Very quickly he visits Colonel Koshkarev, who has divided his village into committees, expeditions and departments and has organized a perfect paper production in the mortgaged estate, as it turns out. Having returned, he listens to the curses of the bilious Kostanzhoglo against the factories and manufactories that corrupt the peasant, the peasant’s absurd desire to educate, and his neighbor Khlobuev, who has neglected a sizable estate and is now selling it for next to nothing. Having experienced tenderness and even a craving for honest work, having listened to the story of the tax farmer Murazov, who made forty million in an impeccable way, Chichikov the next day, accompanied by Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, goes to Khlobuev, observes the unrest and dissipation of his household in the neighborhood of a governess for children, dressed in fashion wife and other traces of absurd luxury. Having borrowed money from Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, he gives a deposit for the estate, intending to buy it, and goes to Platonov’s estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who efficiently manages the estate. Then he suddenly appears at their neighbor Lenitsyn, clearly a rogue, wins his sympathy with his ability to skillfully tickle a child and receives dead souls.
After many seizures in the manuscript, Chichikov is found already in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric that is so dear to him, the lingonberry color with a sparkle. He runs into Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he spoiled, either depriving him, or almost depriving him of his inheritance through some kind of forgery. Khlobuev, who let him go, is taken away by Murazov, who convinces Khlobuev of the need to work and orders him to collect funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations against Chichikov are discovered both about the forgery and about dead souls. The tailor brings a new tailcoat. Suddenly a gendarme appears, dragging the smartly dressed Chichikov to the Governor-General, “angry as anger itself.” Here all his atrocities become clear, and he, kissing the general’s boot, is thrown into prison. In a dark closet, Murazov finds Chichikov, tearing his hair and tails of his coat, mourning the loss of a box of papers, with simple virtuous words awakens in him a desire to live honestly and sets off to soften the Governor-General. At that time, officials who want to spoil their wise superiors and get a bribe from Chichikov, deliver a box to him, kidnap an important witness and write many denunciations in order to completely confuse the matter. Unrest breaks out in the province itself, greatly worrying the Governor-General. However, Murazov knows how to feel the sensitive strings of his soul and give him true advice, which the Governor-General, having released Chichikov, is about to use when “the manuscript breaks off.”
To the estate of General Betrishchev. Chichikov ordered to report about himself and was taken to Betrishchev’s office. The general struck him with his majestic appearance, courageous face and thick neck - he was one of those picture generals with whom the famous 12th year was so rich.
General Betrishchev had a lot of advantages and a lot of disadvantages. In decisive moments, he could show magnanimity, courage, generosity, intelligence, but he combined with this whims, ambition and pride. He was a champion of enlightenment and loved to show off his knowledge of what others did not know, but he did not like people who knew something that he did not know. Brought up by a semi-foreign upbringing, he wanted to play at the same time the role of a Russian master. From his voice to the slightest body movement, everything about him was powerful, commanding, inspiring, if not respect, then at least timidity.
Gogol. Dead Souls. Volume 2, chapter 2. Audiobook
Chichikov immediately understood what kind of person he was. Respectfully tilting his head to the side and spreading his hands out to fly away, as if preparing to lift a tray with cups with them, he amazingly deftly bent down in front of the general and said: “Having respect for the valor of the men who saved the fatherland on the battlefield, I considered it my duty to introduce myself personally to your Excellency.”
The general liked it. He immediately got into conversation with Chichikov and asked where he served. Chichikov replied that his service flowed in different places, but everywhere - like a ship among the waves, from the intrigues of numerous enemies who even attempted on his life. “Now I’m staying with your neighbor Tentetnikov, who greatly repents of his previous quarrel with your Excellency, for he knows how to appreciate men who saved the fatherland.”
- What about him? But I'm not angry! - said the softened general.
Chichikov immediately told him that Tentetnikov was writing a serious essay.
- Which one?
Chichikov hesitated, not knowing what to answer, and suddenly said:
– A story about the generals of 12, Your Excellency.
Mentally, he almost spat and said to himself: “Lord, what kind of nonsense am I talking about!” But Betrishchev immediately perked up and began to be surprised:
- Why doesn’t Tentetnikov come to me? I could give him a lot of interesting materials.
Just then the door opened and Ulinka entered, striking Chichikov with her cuteness and beauty.
- I recommend you my pampered girl! - said the general. - Ulinka, Pavel Ivanovich just told me that our neighbor Tentetnikov is not at all as stupid a person as we thought. He studies the history of the twelfth year generals.
Ulinka said that she had not previously considered Tentetnikov stupid. She went home, and the general asked Chichikov:
- After all You I hope you're having lunch with me?
Chichikov, contrary to Tentetnikov, did not take offense at the word You. Meanwhile, the valet appeared with a washstand.
-Will you let me dress on my own? – Betrishchev asked Pavel Ivanovich.
- Not only get dressed, but you can do in front of me whatever your Excellency pleases.
The general began to wash himself so that water and soap flew in all directions. Noticing his goodwill, Chichikov decided to move on to the main matter.
“Your Excellency,” he said when the valet left. - I have an uncle, a decrepit old man. He has an estate of three hundred souls, of which I am the only heir. But my uncle is a strange man and does not want to bequeath his estate to me, saying: let the nephew first prove that he is not a spendthrift, but reliable person. Let him first make at least three hundred souls of peasants, then I will give him my three hundred souls.
- Isn’t he a fool? – asked Betrishchev.
- Yes, he’s old and out of his mind. But I came up with this. If you, Your Excellency, hand over all the dead souls of your village to me as if they were alive, I would then present this deed of sale to the old man, and he would give me the inheritance.
The general fell into his chair and laughed so loudly that Ulinka and the valet came running.
- Uncle, uncle! what a fool he will be,” he shouted. - Ha, ha, ha! He will receive the dead instead of the living. After all, he is a donkey! I would give God knows what to see you present him with a bill of sale for them.
- Donkey! – Chichikov confirmed.
- Is he old?
- Eighty years old.
- Are there any more teeth?
“Two teeth in total, Your Excellency,” Chichikov laughed.
- Yes, for such an invention I will give you the dead with land and housing! Take the entire cemetery for yourself!
And the general’s laughter began to reverberate again through the general’s quarters.
[The end of the 2nd chapter of the 2nd volume of “Dead Souls” is missing from Gogol. In the first edition of this book (1855) there is a note: “The reconciliation of General Betrishchev with Tentetnikov is omitted here; dinner with the general and their conversation about the twelfth year; Ulinka's engagement to Tentetnikov; her prayer and crying at her mother’s grave; conversation between the engaged in the garden. Chichikov goes, on behalf of General Betrishchev, to his relatives to notify his daughter’s engagement, and goes to one of these relatives, Colonel Koshkarev.”]
Chapter first
“A rather beautiful small spring britzka, in which bachelors ride, drove into the gates of the hotel in the provincial town of NN.” In the chaise sat a gentleman of pleasant appearance, not too fat, but not too thin, not handsome, but not bad-looking, you couldn’t say that he was old, but he wasn’t too young either. The chaise pulled up to the hotel. It was a very long two-story building with the lower floor unplastered and the upper floor painted in perpetual yellow paint. There were benches downstairs; in one of the windows there was a beater with a samovar made of red copper. The guest was greeted and taken to show his “peace,” usual for hotels of this kind, “where for two rubles a day travelers get... a room with cockroaches peeking out from everywhere, like prunes...” Following the master, his servants appear - the coachman Selifan , a short man in a sheepskin coat, and the footman Petrushka, a young man of about thirty, with somewhat large lips and nose.
During dinner, the guest asks the inn servant various questions, starting with who previously owned this inn, and whether the new owner is a big scammer, and ending with other details. He asked the servant in detail about who was the chairman of the chamber in the city, who was the prosecutor, did not miss a single more or less significant person, and was also interested in the local landowners. Questions regarding the state of affairs in the region did not escape the attention of the visitor: were there any diseases, epidemics or other disasters? After dinner, the gentleman, at the request of the tavern servant, wrote his name and rank on a piece of paper to notify the police: “Collegiate Councilor Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.” Pavel Ivanovich himself went to inspect the provincial town and was satisfied, since it was in no way inferior to other provincial towns. The same establishments as everywhere else, the same shops, the same park with thin trees that are still poorly established, but about which the local newspaper wrote that “our city has been decorated with a garden of branchy trees.” Chichikov questioned the guard in detail about the best way to get to the cathedral, to government offices, and to the governor. Then he returned to his hotel room and, having had dinner, went to bed.
The next day, Pavel Ivanovich went to pay visits to city officials: the governor, vice-governor, chairman of the chamber, police chief and other authorities. He even paid a visit to the inspector of the medical board and the city architect. I thought for a long time about who else I could pay my respects to, but there were no more significant people left in the city. And everywhere Chichikov behaved very skillfully, he was able to very subtly flatter everyone, which resulted in an invitation from each official to make a shorter acquaintance in home environment. The collegiate adviser avoided talking much about himself and was content with general phrases.
Chapter two
After spending more than a week in the city, Pavel Ivanovich finally decided to pay visits to Manilov and Sobakevich. As soon as Chichikov left the city, accompanied by Selifan and Petrushka, the usual picture appeared: bumps, bad roads, burnt pine trunks, village houses, covered with gray roofs, yawning men, women with fat faces, and so on.
Manilov, inviting Chichikov to his place, told him that his village was located fifteen miles from the city, but the sixteenth mile had already passed, and there was no village. Pavel Ivanovich was a smart man, and he remembered that if you are invited to a house fifteen miles away, it means you will have to travel all thirty.
But here is the village of Manilovka. She could lure few guests to her place. The master's house stood on the south, open to all winds; the hill on which he stood was covered with turf. Two or three flower beds with acacia, five or six sparse birches, wooden gazebo and the pond completed this picture. Chichikov began to count and counted more than two hundred peasant huts. The owner had been standing on the porch of the manor house for a long time and, putting his hand to his eyes, tried to make out a man approaching in a carriage. As the chaise approached, Manilov’s face changed: his eyes became more and more cheerful, and his smile became wider. He was very happy to see Chichikov and took him to his place.
What kind of person was Manilov? It is quite difficult to characterize it. He was, as they say, neither this nor that - neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan. Manilov was a pleasant person, but this pleasantness was laced with too much sugar. When the conversation with him just began, at first the interlocutor thought: “What a pleasant and a kind person! ", but after a minute I wanted to say: “The devil knows what it is!” Manilov did not take care of the house, nor did he manage the farm, he never even went to the fields. Mostly he thought and reflected. About what? - no one knows. When the clerk came to him with proposals for managing the household, saying that this and that should be done, Manilov usually answered: “Yes, not bad.” If a man came to the master and asked to leave in order to earn a quitrent, then Manilov would immediately let him go. It didn't even occur to him that the man was going out to drink. Sometimes he came up with different projects, for example, he dreamed of building a stone bridge across a pond, on which there would be shops, merchants would sit in the shops and sell various goods. He had beautiful furniture in his house, but two armchairs were not upholstered in silk, and the owner had already been telling guests for two years that they were not finished. In one room there was no furniture at all. On the table next to the dandy one stood a lame and greasy candlestick, but no one noticed this. Manilov was very happy because she was a match for him. During their rather long life together, the spouses did nothing but press long kisses on each other. A sensible guest might have many questions: why is the pantry empty and why is there so much cooking in the kitchen? Why does the housekeeper steal, and the servants are always drunk and unclean? Why does the mongrel sleep or openly idle? But these are all questions of a low nature, and the mistress of the house is well brought up and will never stoop to them. Over dinner, Manilov and the guest said compliments to each other, as well as various pleasant things about city officials. Manilov's children, Alcides and Themistoclus, demonstrated their knowledge of geography.
After lunch there was a conversation directly about the matter. Pavel Ivanovich informs Manilov that he wants to buy souls from him, which, according to the latest revision tale, are listed as living, but in fact have long since died. Manilov is at a loss, but Chichikov manages to persuade him to make a deal. Since the owner is a person trying to be pleasant, he takes upon himself the execution of the deed of sale. To register the deed of sale, Chichikov and Manilov agree to meet in the city, and Pavel Ivanovich finally leaves this house. Manilov sits in a chair and, smoking a pipe, ponders the events of today, rejoicing that fate brought him together with such a pleasant person. But Chichikov’s strange request to sell him dead souls interrupted his previous dreams. Thoughts about this request could not be digested in his head, and so he sat on the porch for a long time and smoked his pipe until dinner.
Chapter Three
Chichikov, meanwhile, was driving along the main road, hoping that Selifan would soon bring him to Sobakevich’s estate. Selifan was drunk and, therefore, did not watch the road. The first drops dripped from the sky, and soon a real long torrential rain began to fall. Chichikov's britzka completely lost its way, it got dark, and it was no longer clear what to do, when a dog was heard barking. Soon Selifan was already knocking on the gate of the house of a certain landowner, who allowed them to spend the night.
The inside of the rooms of the landowner's house were covered with old wallpaper, paintings with some birds and huge mirrors hung on the walls. Behind each such mirror was tucked either an old deck of cards, or a stocking, or a letter. The owner turned out to be an elderly woman, one of those landowner mothers who always cry about crop failures and lack of money, and themselves little by little put money away in little bundles and bags.
Chichikov stays overnight. Waking up, he looks through the window at the landowner’s farm and the village in which he finds himself. The window overlooks the chicken coop and fence. Behind the fence are spacious beds with vegetables. All the plantings in the garden are well thought out, here and there several apple trees grow to protect them from birds, and from them there are scarecrows with outstretched arms; one of these scarecrows was wearing the cap of the owner herself. Appearance peasant houses showed "the contentment of their inhabitants." The fence on the roofs was new everywhere, no rickety gates were visible anywhere, and here and there Chichikov saw a new spare cart standing.
Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka (that was the name of the landowner) invited him to have breakfast. Chichikov behaved much more freely in conversation with her. He stated his request regarding the purchase of dead souls, but soon regretted it, since his request caused bewilderment of the hostess. Then Korobochka began to offer hemp, flax, and other things, even bird feathers, in addition to the dead souls. Finally, an agreement was reached, but the old woman was always afraid that she had sold herself short. For her, dead souls turned out to be the same commodity as everything produced on the farm. Then Chichikov was fed pies, donuts and shanezhki, and a promise was made from him to buy the same in the fall lard and bird feathers. Pavel Ivanovich hurried to leave this house - Nastasya Petrovna was very difficult in conversation. The landowner gave him a girl to accompany him, and she showed him how to get onto the main road. Having let the girl go, Chichikov decided to stop at a tavern that stood on the way.
Chapter Four
Just like the hotel, it was a regular tavern for all county roads. The traveler was served traditional pig with horseradish, and, as usual, the guest asked the hostess about everything in the world - from how long she had been running the tavern to questions about the condition of the landowners living nearby. During the conversation with the hostess, the sound of the wheels of an approaching carriage was heard. Two men came out of it: blond, tall, and shorter than him, dark-haired. First, the blond man appeared in the tavern, followed by his companion who entered, taking off his cap. He was a young man of average height, very well built, with full rosy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, jet-black sideburns, and as fresh as blood and milk. Chichikov recognized him as his new acquaintance Nozdryov.
The type of this person is probably known to everyone. People of this kind are considered good friends at school, but at the same time they often get beaten. Their face is clean, open, and before you have time to get to know each other, after a while they say “you” to you. They will make friends seemingly forever, but it happens that after a while they fight with a new friend at a party. They are always talkers, revelers, reckless drivers and, at the same time, desperate liars.
By the age of thirty, life had not changed Nozdryov at all; he remained the same as he was at eighteen and twenty years old. His marriage did not affect him in any way, especially since his wife soon went to the next world, leaving her husband with two children who he did not need at all. Nozdryov had a passion for playing cards, but, being dishonest and dishonest in the game, he often brought his partners to assault, leaving two sideburns with only one, liquid. However, after a while he met people who pestered him as if nothing had happened. And his friends, oddly enough, also behaved as if nothing had happened. Nozdryov was a historical man, i.e. he always and everywhere ended up in stories. There was no way you could get along with him on short terms, much less open your soul - he would spoil it, and invent such a tall tale about the person who trusted him that it would be difficult to prove otherwise. After some time, he would take this same person by the buttonhole in a friendly manner when they met and say: “You’re such a scoundrel, you’ll never come to see me.” Another passion of Nozdryov was barter - its subject was anything, from a horse to the smallest things. Nozdryov invites Chichikov to his village, and he agrees. While waiting for lunch, Nozdryov, accompanied by his son-in-law, gives his guest a tour of the village, while boasting to everyone right and left. His extraordinary stallion, for which he supposedly paid ten thousand, is in fact not worth even a thousand, the field that ends his domain turns out to be a swamp, and for some reason the Turkish dagger, which the guests are examining while waiting for dinner, has the inscription “Master Savely Sibiryakov.” Lunch leaves much to be desired - some things were not cooked, and some were burnt. The cook, apparently, was guided by inspiration and put in the first thing that came to hand. There was nothing to say about the wine - the mountain ash smelled like fusel, and the Madeira turned out to be diluted with rum.
After lunch, Chichikov nevertheless decided to present his request to Nozdryov regarding the purchase of dead souls. It ended with Chichikov and Nozdryov completely quarreling, after which the guest went to bed. He slept disgustingly, waking up and meeting his owner the next morning was just as unpleasant. Chichikov was already scolding himself for trusting Nozdryov. Now Pavel Ivanovich was offered to play checkers for dead souls: if he won, Chichikov would get the souls for free. The game of checkers was accompanied by Nozdryov's cheating and almost ended in a fight. Fate saved Chichikov from such a turn of events - a police captain came to Nozdryov to inform the brawler that he was on trial until the end of the investigation, because he had insulted the landowner Maximov while drunk. Chichikov, without waiting for the end of the conversation, ran out onto the porch and ordered Selifan to drive the horses at full speed.
Chapter Five
Thinking about everything that had happened, Chichikov rode in his carriage along the road. A collision with another stroller shook him up somewhat - a lovely young girl was sitting in it with an attendant old woman. After they parted, Chichikov thought for a long time about the stranger he had met. Finally the village of Sobakevich appeared. The traveler's thoughts turned to his constant subject.
The village was quite large, it was surrounded by two forests: pine and birch. In the middle one could see the manor's house: wooden, with a mezzanine, a red roof and gray, one might even say wild, walls. It was evident that during its construction the taste of the architect was constantly in conflict with the taste of the owner. The architect wanted beauty and symmetry, and the owner wanted convenience. The windows on one side were boarded up, and one window was checked in their place, apparently needed for a closet. The pediment was not in the middle of the house, since the owner ordered one column to be removed, of which there were not four, but three. The owner’s concerns about the strength of his buildings were felt throughout. Very strong logs were used for the stables, sheds and kitchens; the peasant huts were also cut down firmly, firmly and very carefully. Even the well was lined with very strong oak. Approaching the porch, Chichikov noticed faces looking out the window. The footman came out to meet him.
When looking at Sobakevich, it immediately suggested itself: a bear! perfect bear! And indeed, his appearance was similar to that of a bear. A big, strong man, he always walked at random, which is why he constantly stepped on someone’s feet. Even his tailcoat was bear-colored. To top it all off, the owner's name was Mikhail Semenovich. He hardly moved his neck, kept his head down rather than up, and rarely looked at his interlocutor, and if he managed to do this, then his gaze fell on the corner of the stove or on the door. Since Sobakevich himself was a healthy and strong man, he wanted to be surrounded by equally strong objects. His furniture was heavy and pot-bellied, and portraits of strong, big men hung on the walls. Even the blackbird in the cage was very similar to Sobakevich. In a word, it seemed that every object in the house said: “And I, too, look like Sobakevich.”
Before dinner, Chichikov tried to start a conversation by speaking flatteringly about local officials. Sobakevich replied that “these are all swindlers. The whole city there is like this: a swindler sits on a swindler and drives the swindler.” By chance, Chichikov learns about Sobakevich's neighbor - a certain Plyushkin, who has eight hundred peasants who are dying like flies.
After a hearty and plentiful lunch, Sobakevich and Chichikov relax. Chichikov decides to state his request regarding the purchase of dead souls. Sobakevich is not surprised by anything and listens carefully to his guest, who began the conversation from afar, gradually leading him to the subject of the conversation. Sobakevich understands that Chichikov needs dead souls for something, so the bargaining begins with a fabulous price - one hundred rubles apiece. Mikhailo Semenovich talks about the merits of dead peasants as if the peasants were alive. Chichikov is perplexed: what kind of conversation can there be about the merits of dead peasants? In the end, they agreed on two rubles and a half for one soul. Sobakevich receives a deposit, he and Chichikov agree to meet in the city to complete the deal, and Pavel Ivanovich leaves. Having reached the end of the village, Chichikov called a peasant and asked how to get to Plyushkin, who feeds people poorly (otherwise it was impossible to ask, because the peasant did not know the name of the neighbor's gentleman). "Ah, patched, patched!" - the peasant cried and pointed the way.
Chapter Six
Chichikov grinned all the way, remembering Plyushkin’s description, and soon he didn’t notice how he drove into a vast village, with many huts and streets. The jolt produced by the log pavement brought him back to reality. These logs looked like piano keys - they either rose up or fell down. A rider who did not protect himself or, like Chichikov, who did not pay attention to this feature of the pavement, risked getting either a bump on his forehead, or a bruise, and, even worse, biting off the tip of his own tongue. The traveler noticed on all the buildings the imprint of some kind of special disrepair: the logs were old, many of the roofs were see-through, like a sieve, and others were left with only a ridge at the top and with logs that looked like ribs. The windows were either without glass at all, or covered with a rag or zipun; in some huts, if there were balconies under the roofs, they had long since turned black. Between the huts stretched huge piles of grain, neglected, the color of old brick, in places overgrown with bushes and other rubbish. From behind these treasures and huts two churches could be seen, also neglected and dilapidated. In one place the huts ended and some kind of wasteland surrounded by a dilapidated fence began. It made the manor's house look like a decrepit invalid. This house was long, in some places two floors, in others one; peeling, having seen a lot of all sorts of bad weather. All the windows were either tightly shuttered or completely boarded up, and only two of them were open. But they were also blind: a blue triangle from sugar paper was glued to one of the windows. The only thing that enlivened this picture was the wild and magnificent garden in its desolation. When Chichikov drove up to the manor’s house, he saw that up close the picture was even sadder. The wooden gates and fence were already covered with green mold. From the nature of the buildings it was clear that once the economy here was carried out extensively and thoughtfully, but now everything around was empty, and nothing enlivened the picture of general desolation. The whole movement consisted of a man who arrived in a cart. Pavel Ivanovich noticed a figure in a completely incomprehensible attire, which immediately began to argue with the man. Chichikov tried for a long time to determine what gender this figure was - a man or a woman. This creature was dressed in something similar to a woman’s hood, and on its head was a cap worn by courtyard women. Chichikov was embarrassed only by the hoarse voice that could not belong to the woman. The creature scolded the arriving man with the last words; he had a bunch of keys on his belt. Based on these two signs, Chichikov decided that this was the housekeeper in front of him, and decided to take a closer look at her. The figure, in turn, looked very closely at the newcomer. It was clear that the arrival of a guest here was a novelty. The man examined Chichikov carefully, then his gaze turned to Petrushka and Selifan, and even the horse was not left without attention.
It turned out that this creature, either a woman or a man, was the local gentleman. Chichikov was dumbfounded. The face of Chichikov's interlocutor was similar to the faces of many old people, and only small eyes were constantly running around in the hope of finding something, but the outfit was out of the ordinary: the robe was completely greasy, cotton paper was coming out of it in shreds. The landowner had something between a stocking and a belly tied around his neck. If Pavel Ivanovich had met him somewhere near the church, he would certainly have given him alms. But it was not a beggar who stood before Chichikov, but a master who had a thousand souls, and it is unlikely that anyone else would have had such huge reserves of provisions, so many goods, dishes that had never been used, as Plyushkin had. All this would be enough for two estates, even such huge ones as this. All this seemed to Plyushkin not enough - every day he walked along the streets of his village, collecting various little things, from a nail to a feather, and putting them in a pile in his room.
But there was a time when the estate flourished! Plyushkin had a nice family: a wife, two daughters, a son. The son had a French teacher, and the daughters had a governess. The house was famous for its hospitality, and friends gladly came to the owner to dine, listen to smart speeches and learn knowledge. household. But the good housewife died, and part of the keys and, accordingly, the worries passed to the head of the family. He became more restless, more suspicious and stingier, like all widowers. He could not rely on his eldest daughter Alexandra Stepanovna, and for good reason: she soon secretly married the captain and ran away with him, knowing that her father did not like officers. Her father cursed her, but did not pursue her. Madame, who looked after her daughters, was fired because she turned out to be guilty of kidnapping the eldest, and the French teacher was also released. The son decided to serve in the regiment without receiving a penny from his father for uniforms. The youngest daughter died, and Plyushkin’s lonely life provided satisfying food for stinginess. Plyushkin became more and more intractable in his relations with the buyers, who bargained and bargained with him, and even abandoned this business. Hay and bread rotted in the barns, it was scary to touch matter - it turned into dust, flour in the basements had long ago become stone. But the quitrent remained the same! And everything brought in became “rot and a hole,” and Plyushkin himself gradually turned into a “hole in humanity.” Once the eldest daughter came with her grandchildren, hoping to get something, but he did not give her a penny. The son had lost money at cards a long time ago and asked his father for money, but he refused him too. More and more, Plyushkin turned to his jars, carnations and feathers, forgetting how much stuff he had in his pantries, but remembering that in his closet there was a decanter with unfinished liqueur, and he needed to make a mark on it so that no one would sneak the liqueur. drank.
For some time Chichikov did not know what reason to come up with for his arrival. Then he said that he had heard a lot about Plyushkin’s ability to manage the estate in strict economy, so he decided to visit him, get to know him better and pay his respects. The landowner reported in response to Pavel Ivanovich’s questions that he had one hundred and twenty dead souls. In response to Chichikov's offer to buy them, Plyushkin thought that the guest was obviously stupid, but he could not hide his joy and even ordered the samovar to be installed. Chichikov received a list of one hundred and twenty dead souls and agreed to complete the deed of sale. Plyushkin complained about the presence of seventy fugitives, which Chichikov also bought at thirty-two kopecks per head. He hid the money he received in one of the many drawers. Chichikov refused the liqueur, cleared of flies, and the gingerbread that Alexandra Stepanovna had once brought and hurried to the hotel. There he fell asleep like a happy man, knowing neither hemorrhoids nor fleas.
Chapter Seven
The next day Chichikov woke up in an excellent mood, prepared all the lists of peasants for completing the deed of sale and went to the ward, where Manilov and Sobakevich were already waiting for him. All the necessary documents were drawn up, and the chairman of the chamber signed a bill of sale for Plyushkin, whom he asked in a letter to be his charge d'affaires. When asked by the chairman and officials of the chamber what the newly-minted landowner was going to do next with the purchased peasants, Chichikov replied that they had been destined for withdrawal to the Kherson province. The purchase had to be noted and next room A decently laid table with wines and appetizers, of which a huge sturgeon stood out, was already waiting for the guests. Sobakevich immediately attached himself to this work of culinary art and left nothing of it. Toasts followed one after another, one of them was to the future wife of the newly minted Kherson landowner. This toast brought a pleasant smile from Pavel Ivanovich’s lips. For a long time, the guests complimented the man, who was pleasant in all respects, and persuaded him to stay in the city for at least two weeks. The result of the abundant feast was that Chichikov arrived at the hotel in a completely exhausted state, already in his thoughts a Kherson landowner. Everyone went to bed: Selifan and Petrushka, snoring with unprecedented intensity, and Chichikov, answering them from the room with a thin nasal whistle.
Chapter Eight
Chichikov's purchases became the number one topic of all conversations taking place in the city. Everyone argued that it was quite difficult to transport so many peasants overnight to the lands in Kherson, and gave their advice on preventing riots that might arise. To this Chichikov replied that the peasants he bought were of a calm disposition, and a convoy would not be needed to escort them to new lands. All these conversations, however, benefited Pavel Ivanovich, since the opinion was formed that he was a millionaire, and the residents of the city, who had fallen in love with Chichikov even before all these rumors, fell in love with him even more after the rumors about millions. The ladies were especially zealous. The merchants were surprised to discover that some of the fabrics they brought to the city and were not sold due to the high price were sold out like hot cakes. An anonymous letter with a declaration of love and amorous poems arrived at Chichikov’s hotel. But the most remarkable of all the mail that arrived in Pavel Ivanovich’s room these days was an invitation to a ball with the governor. The newly-minted landowner took a long time to get ready, spent a long time working on his toilet, and even did a ballet entrechat, causing the chest of drawers to tremble and a brush to fall from it.
Chichikov's appearance at the ball created an extraordinary sensation. Chichikov moved from embrace to embrace, carried on first one conversation, then another, constantly bowed, and in the end completely charmed everyone. He was surrounded by ladies, dressed and perfumed, and Chichikov tried to guess among them the writer of the letter. He became so dizzy that he forgot to fulfill the most important duty of politeness - to approach the hostess of the ball and pay his respects. A little later, in confusion, he approached the governor’s wife and was stunned. She was not standing alone, but with a young, pretty blonde who was riding in the same carriage that Chichikov’s crew had encountered on the road. The governor's wife introduced Pavel Ivanovich to her daughter, who had just graduated from the institute. Everything that was happening moved away somewhere and lost interest for Chichikov. He was even so discourteous towards the ladies' company that he withdrew from everyone and went to see where the governor's wife had gone with her daughter. The provincial ladies did not forgive this. One of them immediately touched the blonde with her dress, and used her scarf in such a way that he waved it right in her face. At the same time, a very caustic remark was made against Chichikov, and satirical poems, written by someone in mockery of provincial society, were even attributed to him. And then fate prepared a very unpleasant surprise for Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov: Nozdryov appeared at the ball. He walked arm in arm with the prosecutor, who did not know how to get rid of his companion.
"Ah! Kherson landowner! How many dead people have you traded in?" - Nozdryov shouted, walking towards Chichikov. And he told everyone how he traded with him, Nozdryov, dead souls. Chichikov did not know where to go. Everyone was confused, and Nozdryov continued his half-drunk speech, after which he crawled towards Chichikov with kisses. This trick didn’t work for him, he was so pushed away that he flew to the ground, everyone abandoned him and didn’t listen anymore, but the words about buying dead souls were pronounced loudly and accompanied by such loud laughter that they attracted everyone’s attention. This incident upset Pavel Ivanovich so much that during the course of the ball he no longer felt so confident, made a number of mistakes in the card game, and was unable to maintain a conversation where at other times he felt like a duck to water. Without waiting for the end of dinner, Chichikov returned to the hotel room. Meanwhile, at the other end of the city, an event was being prepared that threatened to aggravate the hero’s troubles. The collegiate secretary Korobochka arrived in the city in her car.
Chapter Nine
The next morning, two ladies - simply pleasant and pleasant in every way - were discussing the latest news. The lady, who was simply pleasant, told the news: Chichikov, armed from head to toe, came to the landowner Korobochka and ordered the souls that had already died to be sold to him. The hostess, a pleasant lady in all respects, said that her husband heard about this from Nozdryov. Therefore, there is something in this news. And both ladies began to speculate on what this purchase of dead souls could mean. As a result, they came to the conclusion that Chichikov wants to kidnap the governor’s daughter, and the accomplice in this is none other than Nozdryov. While both ladies were deciding on such a successful explanation of events, the prosecutor entered the living room and was immediately told everything. Leaving the prosecutor completely confused, both ladies went to riot the city, each in their own direction. For a short time the city was in turmoil. At another time, under other circumstances, perhaps no one would have paid attention to this story, but the city had not received fuel for gossip for a long time. And here it is!.. Two parties were formed - women's and men's. The women's party focused exclusively on the kidnapping of the governor's daughter, and the men's party dead souls. It got to the point that all the gossip was delivered to the governor’s own ears. She, as the first lady in the city and as a mother, interrogated the blonde with passion, and she sobbed and could not understand what she was accused of. The doorman was strictly ordered not to let Chichikov enter the door. And then, as luck would have it, several dark stories surfaced, into which Chichikov fit quite well. Who is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov? No one could answer this question for sure: neither city officials, nor the landowners with whom he traded souls, nor the servants Selifan and Petrushka. In order to talk about this subject, everyone decided to gather with the police chief.
Chapter Ten
Having gathered with the police chief, the officials discussed for a long time who Chichikov was, but they never came to a consensus. One said that he was a maker of counterfeit notes, and then he himself added, “or maybe not a maker.” The second assumed that Chichikov was most likely an official of the Governor General’s Office, and immediately added “but, the devil knows, you can’t read it on his forehead.” The suggestion that he was a robber in disguise was brushed aside. And suddenly it dawned on the postmaster: “This, gentlemen! is none other than Captain Kopeikin!” And, since no one knew who Captain Kopeikin was, the postmaster began to tell “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.”
“After the campaign of the twelfth year,” the postmaster began to tell, “a certain captain Kopeikin was sent with the wounded. Either near Krasny, or near Leipzig, his arm and leg were torn off, and he turned into a hopeless invalid. And then there were no orders about the wounded , and the disabled capital was established much later. Therefore, Kopeikin had to work somehow to feed himself, and, unfortunately, his remaining hand was his left one. Kopeikin decided to go to St. Petersburg to ask for the royal favor. Blood, they say , spilled, remained disabled... And here he is in St. Petersburg. Kopeikin tried to rent an apartment, but it turned out to be unusually expensive. In the end, he stayed in a tavern for a ruble a day. Kopeikin saw that there was nothing to live for. He asked where the commission was, which he should contact, and went to the reception. He waited for a long time, about four hours. At this time, people crowded into the reception room like beans on a plate. And more and more generals, officials of the fourth or fifth class.
Finally, the nobleman entered. It was Captain Kopeikin’s turn. The nobleman asks: “Why are you here? What is your business?” Kopeikin gathered his courage and answered: “So, yes, and so, Your Excellency, I shed blood, lost my arms and legs, I can’t work, I dare to ask for royal mercy.” The minister, seeing this situation, replies: “Okay, come see me one of these days.” Kopeikin left the audience in complete delight; he decided that in a few days everything would be decided and he would be granted a pension.
Three or four days later he appears to the minister again. He recognized him again, but now stated that Kopeikin’s fate was not decided, since he had to wait for the sovereign’s arrival in the capital. And the captain ran out of money a long time ago. He decided to take the minister's office by storm. This made the minister extremely angry. He called a courier, and Kopeikin was expelled from the capital at public expense. Where exactly the captain was taken, history is silent about this, but only two months later a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests, and their ataman was none other than..." The police chief, in response to this story, objected that Kopeikin had no legs, no arms, but Chichikov has everything in place. Others also rejected this version, but came to the conclusion that Chichikov is very similar to Napoleon.
After gossiping some more, the officials decided to invite Nozdryov. For some reason they thought that since Nozdryov was the first to announce this story with dead souls, he might know something for sure. Nozdryov, upon arriving, immediately listed Mr. Chichikov as a spy, maker of false papers and kidnappers of the governor’s daughter at the same time.
All these rumors and rumors had such an effect on the prosecutor that he died when he came home. Chichikov did not know any of this, sitting in his room with a cold and flu, and was very surprised why no one was coming to see him, because just a few days ago there were always someone’s droshky under the window of his room. Feeling better, he decided to pay visits to officials. Then it turned out that the governor had ordered him not to receive him, and other officials were avoiding meetings and conversations with him. Chichikov received an explanation for what was happening in the evening at the hotel, when Nozdryov showed up to visit him. It was then that Chichikov learned that he was a maker of counterfeit notes and a failed kidnapper of the governor’s daughter. And he is also the reason for the death of the prosecutor and the arrival of the new governor-general. Being very frightened, Chichikov quickly sent Nozdryov out, ordered Selifan and Petrushka to pack their things and prepare to leave at dawn tomorrow.
Chapter Eleven
It was not possible to leave quickly. Selifan came and said that the horses needed to be shoed. Finally everything was ready, the chaise left the city. On the way, they met a funeral procession, and Chichikov decided that this was fortunate.
And now a few words about Pavel Ivanovich himself. As a child, life looked at him sourly and unpleasantly. Chichikov's parents were nobles. Pavel Ivanovich's mother died early, his father was sick all the time. He forced little Pavlusha to study and often punished him. When the boy grew up, his father took him to the city, which amazed the boy with its splendor. Pavlusha was handed over to a relative in order to stay with her and attend classes at the city school. The father left on the second day, leaving his son an instruction instead of money: “Study, Pavlusha, don’t be stupid and don’t hang around, but please your teachers and bosses most of all. Don’t hang out with your comrades, and if you do hang out, then with those who are richer. Never.” "Don't treat anyone, but make sure that they treat you. And most of all, save a penny." And he added half a copper to his instructions.
Pavlusha remembered these tips well. Not only did he not take a penny from his father’s money, but, on the contrary, a year later he had already added half a penny to that. The boy showed no abilities or inclinations in his studies, he was distinguished most of all by his diligence and neatness and discovered a practical mind in himself. Not only did he never treat his comrades, but he made it so that he sold their treats to them. One day Pavlusha made a bullfinch from wax and then sold it very profitably. Then he trained a mouse for two months, which he later also sold at a profit. Teacher Pavlushi valued his students not for knowledge, but for exemplary behavior. Chichikov was an example of this. As a result, he graduated from college, receiving a certificate and, as a reward for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior, a book with golden letters.
When the school was completed, Chichikov's father died. Pavlusha inherited four frock coats, two sweatshirts and a small amount of money. Chichikov sold the dilapidated house for a thousand rubles, and transferred his only family of serfs to the city. At this time, the teacher, a lover of silence and good behavior, was kicked out of the gymnasium, he began to drink. All former students helped him in any way they could. Only Chichikov made the excuse of not having money, giving a nickel of silver, which was immediately thrown away by his comrades. The teacher cried for a long time when he learned about this.
After college, Chichikov eagerly took up the service, because he wanted to live richly, have beautiful house, crews. But even in the outback, patronage is needed, so he got a seedy place, with a salary of thirty or forty rubles a year. But Chichikov worked day and night, and against the background of the sloppy officials of the chamber he always looked impeccable. His boss was an elderly military commander, an unapproachable man, with a complete absence of any emotion on his face. Trying to get close to different sides, Chichikov finally discovered the weak point of his boss - he had a mature daughter with an ugly, pockmarked face. At first he stood opposite her in church, then he was invited to tea, and soon he was already considered a groom in the boss’s house. A vacant position as a police officer soon appeared in the ward, and Chichikov decided to fill it. As soon as this happened, Chichikov secretly sent the supposed father-in-law out of the house with his belongings, ran away himself and stopped calling the police officer daddy. At the same time, he did not stop smiling affectionately at his former boss when they met and inviting him to visit, but every time he just turned his head and said that he had been masterfully deceived.
This was the most difficult threshold for Pavel Ivanovich, which he successfully overcame. At the next grain market, he successfully launched a fight against bribes, but in fact he himself turned out to be a major bribe-taker. Chichikov's next job was to participate in the commission for the construction of some very government-owned capital structure, in which Pavel Ivanovich was one of the most active members. For six years, the construction of the building did not move beyond the foundation: either the soil interfered, or the climate. At this time, in other parts of the city, each member of the commission had a beautiful building of civil architecture - probably the soil there was better. Chichikov began to allow himself excesses in the form of material on his frock coat that no one had, thin Dutch shirts, and a pair of excellent trotters, not to mention other little things. Soon fate changed for Pavel Ivanovich. In place of the previous boss, a new one was sent, a military man, a terrible persecutor of all kinds of untruths and abuses. Chichikov's career in this city ended, and the houses of civil architecture were transferred to the treasury. Pavel Ivanovich moved to another city in order to start over. In a short time he was forced to change two or three low-level positions in an environment unacceptable to him. Having already begun to plump up, Chichikov even lost weight, but overcame all the troubles and decided to go to customs. His old dream came true, and he set about his new service with extraordinary zeal. As his superiors put it, he was a devil, not a man: he looked for contraband in places where no one would think of going, and where only customs officials are allowed to go. It was a storm and despair for everyone. His honesty and integrity were almost unnatural. Such service zeal could not go unnoticed by the authorities, and soon Chichikov was promoted, and then he presented the authorities with a project on how to catch all the smugglers. This project was adopted, and Pavel Ivanovich received unlimited power in this area. At that time, “a strong society of smugglers had formed,” which wanted to bribe Chichikov, but he answered those sent: “It’s not the time yet.”
As soon as Chichikov received unlimited power into his hands, he immediately let this society know: “It’s time.” And then, during Chichikov’s service at customs, a story happened about the witty journey of Spanish sheep across the border, when under their double sheepskin coats they carried millions of Brabant laces. They say that Chichikov's fortune, after three or four such campaigns, amounted to about five hundred thousand, and his accomplices - about four hundred thousand rubles. However, Chichikov, in a drunken conversation, quarreled with another official who also participated in these frauds. As a result of the quarrel, all secret relations with the smugglers became obvious. The officials were put on trial and their property was confiscated. As a result, out of five hundred thousand, Chichikov had only ten thousand left, which partly had to be spent in order to get out of the criminal court. Again he started life from the bottom of his career. Being a chargé d'affaires, having previously earned the full favor of the owners, he was somehow engaged in pledging several hundred peasants to the guardianship council. And then they told him that, despite the fact that half of the peasants had died out, according to the audit fairy tale, they were listed as alive!.. Therefore, he had nothing to worry about, and the money would be there, regardless of whether these peasants were alive or given to God soul. And then it dawned on Chichikov. This is where the field for action is! Yes, if he bought dead peasants, who, according to the audit tale, are still listed as living, if he acquired at least a thousand of them, and the guardianship council would give two hundred rubles for each - that’s two hundred thousand capital for you!.. True, you can’t buy them without land, so it should be announced that the peasants are being bought to leave, for example, in the Kherson province.
And so he began to carry out his plans. He looked into those places of the state that suffered most from accidents, crop failures and deaths, in a word, those in which it was possible to buy the people Chichikov needed.
“So, here is our hero in full... Who is he in terms of moral qualities? A scoundrel? Why a scoundrel? Now we don’t have scoundrels, we have well-intentioned, pleasant people... It’s most fair to call him: master, acquirer... And which of you, not publicly, but in silence, alone, will deepen this difficult question into your own soul: “Isn’t there some part of Chichikov in me too?” Yes, as if not so!
Meanwhile, Chichikov's chaise rushes on. “Eh, troika! bird troika, who invented you?.. Isn’t it you too, Rus', that you’re rushing along like a brisk, unovertaking troika?.. Rus', where are you rushing? Give an answer. Doesn’t give an answer. The bell rings with a wonderful ringing; it rattles and the air becomes torn into pieces by the wind; everything that is on the earth flies past and, looking askance, other peoples and states step aside and make way for it.”
As part of the project "Gogol. 200 years"RIA Newspresents a summary of the second volume of “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - a novel that Gogol himself called a poem. The plot of "Dead Souls" was suggested to Gogol by Pushkin. The white version of the text of the second volume of the poem was burned by Gogol. The text has been partially restored based on drafts.
The second volume of the poem opens with a description of the nature that makes up the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls “the smoker of the sky.” The story of the stupidity of his pastime is followed by the story of a life inspired by hopes at the very beginning, overshadowed by the pettiness of his service and troubles later; he retires, intending to improve the estate, reads books, takes care of the man, but without experience, sometimes just human, this does not give the expected results, the man is idle, Tentetnikov gives up. He breaks off acquaintances with his neighbors, offended by General Betrishchev’s address, and stops visiting him, although he cannot forget his daughter Ulinka. In a word, without someone who would tell him an invigorating “go ahead!”, he completely turns sour.
Chichikov comes to him, apologizing for a breakdown in the carriage, curiosity and a desire to pay respects. Having won the favor of the owner with his amazing talent to adapt to anyone, Chichikov, having lived with him for a while, goes to the general, to whom he weaves a story about a quarrelsome uncle and, as usual, begs for the dead.
The poem fails at the laughing general, and we find Chichikov heading to Colonel Koshkarev. Contrary to expectations, he ends up with Pyotr Petrovich Rooster, whom he finds at first completely naked, keen on hunting sturgeon. At Rooster's, not having anything to get hold of, for the estate is mortgaged, he only overeats terribly, meets the bored landowner Platonov and, having encouraged him to travel together across Rus', goes to Konstantin Fedorovich Kostanzhoglo, married to Platonov's sister. He talks about the methods of management with which he increased the income from the estate tenfold, and Chichikov is terribly inspired.
Very quickly he visits Colonel Koshkarev, who has divided his village into committees, expeditions and departments and has organized a perfect paper production in the mortgaged estate, as it turns out. Having returned, he listens to the curses of the bilious Kostanzhoglo against the factories and manufactories that corrupt the peasant, the peasant’s absurd desire to educate, and his neighbor Khlobuev, who has neglected a sizable estate and is now selling it for next to nothing.
Having experienced tenderness and even a craving for honest work, having listened to the story of the tax farmer Murazov, who made forty million in an impeccable way, Chichikov the next day, accompanied by Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, goes to Khlobuev, observes the unrest and dissipation of his household in the neighborhood of a governess for children, dressed in fashion wife and other traces of absurd luxury.
Having borrowed money from Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, he gives a deposit for the estate, intending to buy it, and goes to Platonov’s estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who efficiently manages the estate. Then he suddenly appears at their neighbor Lenitsyn, clearly a rogue, wins his sympathy with his ability to skillfully tickle a child and receives dead souls.
After many gaps in the manuscript, Chichikov is found already in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric that is so dear to him, the lingonberry color with a sparkle. He runs into Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he spoiled, either depriving him, or almost depriving him of his inheritance through some kind of forgery. Khlobuev, who let him go, is taken away by Murazov, who convinces Khlobuev of the need to work and orders him to collect funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations against Chichikov are discovered both about the forgery and about dead souls.
The tailor brings a new tailcoat. Suddenly a gendarme appears, dragging the smartly dressed Chichikov to the Governor-General, “angry as anger itself.” Here all his atrocities become clear, and he, kissing the general’s boot, is thrown into prison. In a dark closet, Murazov finds Chichikov, tearing his hair and tails of his coat, mourning the loss of a box of papers, with simple virtuous words awakens in him a desire to live honestly and sets off to soften the Governor-General.
At that time, officials who want to spoil their wise superiors and get a bribe from Chichikov, deliver a box to him, kidnap an important witness and write many denunciations in order to completely confuse the matter. Unrest breaks out in the province itself, greatly worrying the Governor-General. However, Murazov knows how to feel the sensitive strings of his soul and give him the right advice, which the Governor-General, having released Chichikov, is about to use, how... - at this point the manuscript breaks off.
Material provided by the internet portal briefly.ru, compiled by E. V. Kharitonova
Here is a brief summary of the famous work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - Dead Souls. This book is a must for school curriculum, so it is important to familiarize yourself with its contents, or, if you have forgotten some points, to remember the main plot points.
Volume one
The story took place immediately after the famous expulsion of the French. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, a collegiate adviser, (not very young and not old, pleasant and slightly rounded in appearance, neither thin nor fat) finds himself in the provincial town of NN and stays at a hotel. He asks the tavern servants about the owners and income of the establishment, important landowners, officials, and inquires about the state of the region and about rampant diseases, epidemic fevers and other misfortunes.
A visitor to the city visits all the residents and notices the courtesy of the people and their active activity. He hardly talks about himself, brushing it off, saying that he has seen a lot in life, that he had many enemies who wanted to kill him. Currently he is looking for a place to live. At the governor's party, he achieves everyone's favor and meets the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. Then he dines at the police chief's (where he meets the landowner Nozdryov), visits the vice-governor and the chairman, the prosecutor and the tax farmer - and goes to Manilov's estate.
Having covered 30 miles, Chichikov arrived in Manilovka to his kind owner. The landowner's don, which was located on the south, surrounded by flower beds and a gazebo, characterized the owner, not burdened by passions. After lunch with the landlady and the landowner's two sons, Alcides and Themistoclius, Chichikov talks about the purpose of his visit: he wants to buy dead peasants who were not declared in the audit certificate, but register them as living. The kind owner was initially frightened and perplexed, but then he was happy and made a deal. Then Chichikov goes to Sobakevich, and Manilov dreams of living next door to Chichikov across the river, building a bridge, a house with a gazebo allowing him to see Moscow, and being friends with him, for which the sovereign would make them generals. Chichikov's coachman Selifan, who was caressed by Manilov's servants while talking to the horses, misses the necessary turn and during a downpour drops the master into the slush. In the darkness, they manage to find accommodation for the night with Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, a slightly timid landowner from whom Chichikov buys dead souls in the morning. He said that he himself would pay taxes for them. He purchases souls from her for 15 rubles, takes the list and, after tasting pancakes, pie and pies, leaves, leaving the hostess worried about whether she has sold too cheap.
On the main road, Chichikov heads to the tavern for a meal. He meets with Nozdryov, who is riding in Mizhuev’s chaise, because he lost everything he had. Talking about the fair he visited, he praises the drinking qualities of the officers and, demonstrating the puppy, Nozdryov takes Chichikov with him, also taking his reluctant son-in-law Mizhuev. After describing Nozdryov, his house, dinner, the author switches to his son-in-law’s wife, and Chichikov starts a conversation about his interest, but the landowner does not agree. Nozdryov suggested an exchange, take him to the stallion or play cards, in the end they quarrel and say goodbye for the night. The persuasion continues again in the morning, and Chichikov agrees to play checkers, but sees Nozdryov cheating during the game. Chichikov, whom his master and servants are about to beat, runs away during a visit from the police captain, who announces that Nozdryov has been taken to trial. On the way, Chichikov's carriage encounters an unknown crew and while the tangled horses are being separated, Chichikov sees a 16-year-old young lady, talking about her and dreaming of a family. The visit to Sobakevich is accompanied by lunch, during which they discuss city officials, who, according to the owner, are all scammers; the conversation ends with a proposal for a deal. Sobakevich begins to bargain, characterizing good qualities serfs, gives Chichikov the list and forces him to make a deposit.
Chichikov's path to Plyushkin is interrupted by a conversation with the man who gave Plyushkin a petty nickname and the author's reflection on love and indifference. Seeing the landowner, Chichikov thought that he was the housekeeper or a wandering beggar. His most important feature is his amazing self-deprecation; he dragged all unnecessary things into his chambers. Having demonstrated the profitability of the offer, Chichikov refuses tea with crackers and leaves for good mood, taking with him a letter to the chairman of the chamber.
During Chichikov's sleep, the author sadly talks about the baseness of objects. After sleep, Chichikov begins to study the lists of purchased peasants, thinking about their fates, and goes to the ward to conclude the case. Manilov meets him near the hotel and goes with him. Then the official place, Chichikov’s troubles and the giving of a bribe are described. The chairman becomes Plyushkin's attorney, speeding up other transactions. People begin to discuss Chichikov’s purchases, what he intends to do: in what places, with land or for withdrawal he acquired peasants. Having learned that the peasants will be sent to the Kherson province, after discussing the qualities of the sold men, the transactions are completed with champagne, then they go to the police chief to drink to the new landowner. Excited after the strong drinks, they began to force Chichikov to stay and start a family.
Chichikov's acquisitions lead to a stir in the city, everyone says that he is a millionaire. The ladies line up. Trying to describe women, the author becomes timid and falls silent. Before the governor's ball, Chichikov receives a love note. Having spent a lot of time on the toilet and being satisfied, Chichikov goes to the ball, where he almost cannot escape from the embrace. The girls, among whom he is looking for the author of the letter, begin to quarrel. But when the governor’s wife approaches him, his behavior changes radically, because she is accompanied by her daughter, a 16-year-old blonde, whose crew he encountered on the road. He begins to lose the affection of women because he starts talking to an interesting blonde, pointedly not paying attention to the others. In addition, Nozdryov comes to the ball and loudly asks how many Chichikovs have bought up the dead. Despite Nozdryov's drunken state, society is embarrassed, Chichikov does not have dinner or whist, and he leaves the ball in upset feelings.
At this time, a carriage arrives in the town with the landowner Korobochka, who arrived to find out about the price of dead souls. In the morning, the news is learned by a certain pleasant woman at home, who hurries to notify others, as a result, the most interesting details appear in the story (armed Chichikov burst into Korobochka at night, demanding dead souls - everyone came running, screaming, crying children). Her friend says that the dead souls are only a cover for Chichikov’s cunning plan to steal the governor’s daughter. After discussing the details of the enterprise, Nozdryov’s accomplice, the women tell everything to the prosecutor and go to the city to rebel.
The town quickly begins to seethe, to this is added the news that a new governor-general has been appointed, and there is information about papers: about the appearance of false banknotes in the province, about a robber who escaped from legal prosecution. Trying to find out who Chichikov is, they begin to remember his vague certification and the conversation about the attempt on his life. The postmaster suggested that Chichikov is the captain of Kopeika, who took up arms against an unjust world and became a robber, but this is rejected because the captain is missing limbs, but Chichikov is intact. There is an assumption that this is Napoleon in disguise, with whom he has many similar features. Conversations with Sobakevich, Manilov and Korobochka did not yield results. And Nozdryov only increases the confusion, saying that Chichikov is a spy, making false notes and wanting to steal the governor’s daughter, in which he must help him. All the conversations had a strong effect on the prosecutor; he suffered a stroke from which he died.
Chichikov, with a slight cold, stays at the hotel and is surprised that not a single official comes to see him. However, when he decided to pay everyone a visit, he finds out that the governor does not want to see him, and the others step aside in fear. Nozdryov, coming to his hotel, tells him everything, announcing that he is ready to help in the kidnapping of the governor’s daughter. In the morning, Chichikov quickly leaves, but he is stopped by the funeral procession, he has to look at the officials who are walking behind the coffin of the prosecutor. The britzka leaves the city, and the opening spaces make the author think about sad and joyful things, about Russia, and then he becomes sad about the hero.
Having concluded that the hero needs to rest, the author tells the story about Pavel Ivanovich, reveals his childhood, studies, where he showed practical intelligence, what kind of relationships he had with teachers and peers, how he served in the government chamber, the commission for the construction of government buildings , where for the first time he showed his weaknesses, how he later went to other less profitable jobs, how he served at customs, where it is almost impossible to work honestly and incorruptibly, he received a lot of money by conspiring with smugglers, went bankrupt, but was able to avoid a criminal trial, although was forced to retire. Having become an attorney and taking care of the peasants' pledge, he came up with a plan: he began to travel around Rus', buying dead souls and pawning them in the treasury to receive money that would be used to purchase a village and provide for offspring.
Having again complained about the hero’s nature and justified him a little, calling him “the acquirer, the owner,” the author compared the flying troika with Russia, ending the story with the ringing of a bell.
Volume two
The estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls “the smoker of the sky,” is described. The author talks about his waste of time, tells the story of his life, which was inspired by hopes and overshadowed by official troubles and trifles. He retires, wanting to renew his estate, take care of the man, read books, but without any experience this does not provide the desired results, the man begins to idle, and Tentetnikov simply gives up. He avoids his neighbors, offended by the attitude of General Betrishchev, and does not visit him, although he often thinks about his daughter Ulinka. In general, he begins to sour.
Pavel Ivanovich goes to him, complaining about the breakdown in the carriage, trying to pay respects. Having won over the owner, Chichikov goes to the general, telling him about the grumpy guy and asks about the dead souls. The narration is interrupted by a laughing general, then we find Chichikov going to Colonel Koshkarev. He turns up to the Rooster, who appears naked before him, he is interested in catching sturgeon. The Rooster has almost nothing except the mortgaged estate, so he simply overeats, meets with the landowner Platonov and persuades him to take a ride around Rus'. After this, he goes to Konstantin Kostanzhoglo, the wife of Platonov’s sister. From him he learns about management methods that significantly increase the profit from the estate; Chichikov is greatly inspired by this.
He quickly comes to Koshkarev, who has divided his village into expeditions, departments, committees, organizing ideal paper production on the estate. After returning, Kostanzhoglo criticizes the manufactories and factories that have a bad influence on the peasant, the absurd desires of the peasant and neighbor Khlobuev, who abandoned his estate and is selling it for pennies. Chichikov is touched and even yearns for honest work, listening to the story of the tax farmer Murazov, who flawlessly earned 40 million, the next day, together with Platonov and Kostanzhoglo, he goes to Khlobuev, sees his obscene and disorderly household, along with a governess for children, a fashionable wife and other luxury . Having borrowed money from Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, he pays for the estate, wanting to purchase it, and goes to Platonov’s estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who skillfully manages the farm. Then he ends up with his neighbor Lenitsyn, winning his sympathy with his ability to tickle a child, thanks to which he receives dead souls.
After many omissions in the manuscript, Chichikov finds himself at the city fair, where he purchases lingonberry fabric with a spark. He meets Khlobuev, whose life he ruined. Khlobuev was led away by Murazov, who convinced him that he needed to work and raise funds for the church. Meanwhile, slander against Chichikov is recognized by dead souls and forgery. The tailor delivers the tailcoat. Suddenly a gendarme arrives and drags Chichikov to the Governor General. Then all his atrocities become known, and he ends up in prison. Chichikov ends up in the closet, where Murazov finds him. He tears his hair and clothes, mourning the loss of the box with papers. Murazov, with kind words, tries to awaken in him a desire for an honest life and goes to soften the governor-general. At the same moment, officials who want to annoy the authorities and take a bribe from Chichikov bring him a box, send denunciations to confuse the case and kidnap the witness. Unrest is unfolding in the province, which is of great concern to the Governor-General. But Murazov is able to feel the sensitive sides of his soul and provide good advice, which the Governor-General wants to take advantage of by releasing Chichikov. After this the manuscript breaks off...
