Read chapter 5 of dead souls summary. A brief retelling of "dead souls" chapter by chapter

Our hero died, however, in order. Although the chaise was racing at full speed and Nozdryov’s village had long since disappeared from view, being covered by fields, slopes and hillocks, he still looked back with fear, as if expecting that the pursuit was about to come. His breathing came with difficulty, and when he tried to put his hand to his heart, he felt that it was beating like a quail in a cage. “What a bathhouse! look what you are like!” Here Nozdryov was promised many difficult and strong desires; There were even some bad words. What to do? Russian people, and in their hearts too. Besides, it was a completely serious matter. “Whatever you say,” he said to himself, “if the police captain had not arrived, I might not have been able to look at the light of day again! He would have disappeared like a blister on the water, without any trace, leaving no descendants, without providing future children with either a fortune or an honest name! Our hero cared very much about his descendants.

“What a nasty master! – Selifan thought to himself. “I have never seen such a gentleman before.” That is, I should spit on him for that! You better not let the man eat, but you must feed the horse, because the horse loves oats. This is his food: what, for example, is kosht for us, is oats for him, it is his food.”

The horses also seemed to be thinking unfavorably about Nozdryov: not only the bay and the Assessor, but also the brown-haired man himself was out of sorts. Although he always got worse oats for his share, and Selifan poured it into his trough in no other way than having said before: “Oh, you scoundrel!” - but, however, it was still oats, and not simple hay, he chewed it with pleasure and often stuck his long muzzle into the troughs of his comrades to taste what kind of food they had, especially when Selifan was not in the stable, but now it’s just hay... not good; everyone was unhappy.

But soon all the dissatisfied were interrupted in the midst of their outpourings in a sudden and completely unexpected way. Everyone, not excluding the coachman himself, came to their senses and woke up only when a carriage with six horses galloped towards them and almost over their heads there was a cry from the ladies sitting in the carriage, abuse and threats from someone else’s coachman: “Oh, you are such a swindler; After all, I shouted to you loudly: turn right, crow! Are you drunk, or what?” Selifan felt his mistake, but since a Russian person does not like to admit to others that he is to blame, he immediately said, with a dignified manner: “Why are you jumping around like that? did he put his eyes in a tavern, or what?” Following this, he began to push the chaise back in order to free himself in this way from someone else’s harness, but that was not the case, everything was confused. Chubary sniffed curiously at his new friends, who found themselves on both sides of him. Meanwhile, the ladies sitting in the carriage looked at all this with an expression of fear on their faces. One was an old woman, the other was young, sixteen years old, with golden hair, very deftly and sweetly smoothed on her small head. The pretty oval of her face was round, like a fresh egg, and, like it, turned white with some kind of transparent whiteness, when fresh, just laid, it is held against the light in the dark hands of the housekeeper testing it and lets in the rays of the shining sun; her thin ears also showed through, glowing with the warm light that penetrated them. At the same time, the fear in her open, frozen lips, the tears in her eyes - all this was so sweet about her that our hero looked at her for several minutes, not paying any attention to the confusion that had occurred between the horses and coachmen. “Sit down, you Nizhny Novgorod crow!” - shouted someone else's coachman. Selifan pulled the reins back, the other coachman did the same, the horses backed away a little and then collided again, stepping over the lines. Under this circumstance, the brown-haired horse liked the new acquaintance so much that he did not want to get out of the rut into which he had fallen due to unforeseen fates, and, placing his muzzle on the neck of his new friend, seemed to be whispering something in his very ear, probably nonsense scary, because the visitor was constantly shaking his ears.

However, the men from the village, which, fortunately, was nearby, managed to gather for such a commotion. Since such a sight is a real blessing for a peasant, just like a newspaper or a club for a German, soon an abyss of them accumulated around the carriage, and only old women and small children remained in the village. The lines were untied; a few pokes to the brown horse’s face made him back away; in a word, they were separated and separated. But whether it was the annoyance that the visiting horses felt for being separated from their friends, or just stupidity, no matter how much their coachman whipped, they did not move and stood rooted to the spot. The participation of men increased to an incredible degree. Each of them vying with each other with advice: “Go, Andryushka, show the one on the right side, and let Uncle Mityai sit astride the native one!” Sit down, Uncle Mityai! Lean and long Uncle Mityai with a red beard climbed onto a root horse and looked like a village bell tower, or, better, like a hook used to get water from wells. The coachman hit the horses, but no such luck, Uncle Mityai did nothing. “Stop, stop! - the men shouted. “Sit down, Uncle Mityai, on the side one, and let Uncle Minyai sit on the main one!” Uncle Minyai, a broad-shouldered man with a coal-black beard and a belly similar to that gigantic samovar in which sbeaten is cooked for the entire vegetated market, willingly sat down on the indigenous man, who almost bent down to the ground under him. “Now things will go! - the men shouted. - Heat it up, heat it up! Spankor with a whip that nightingale over there, he’s squirming like a coramora!” But, seeing that things were not going well and no amount of heat helped, Uncle Mityai and Uncle Minyai both sat on the main one, and put Andryushka on the side one. Finally, the coachman, losing patience, drove away both Uncle Mitya and Uncle Minya, and it was a good thing, because such steam came from the horses, as if they had grabbed the station without taking a breath. He gave them a minute to rest, after which they went on their own. During the entire continuation of this trick, Chichikov looked very carefully at the young stranger. He tried to talk to her several times, but somehow he didn’t have to. Meanwhile, the ladies left, the pretty head with delicate features and a thin figure disappeared, like something similar to a vision, and again what was left was the road, the chaise, the three horses familiar to the reader, Selifan, Chichikov, the smooth surface and emptiness of the surrounding fields. Wherever in life, whether among the callous, rough, poor and unkempt and moldy low-lying ranks of it or among the monotonously cold and boringly neat upper classes, everywhere at least once a person will encounter a phenomenon that is not similar to everything that what had happened to him before that would at least once awaken in him a feeling different from those that he was destined to feel all his life. Everywhere, across whatever sorrows from which our lives are weaved, shining joy will rush merrily, as sometimes a brilliant carriage with golden harness, picturesque horses and the sparkling shine of glass will suddenly suddenly rush past some stalled poor village, which has seen nothing but the countryside. carts, and the men stood for a long time, yawning, with their mouths open, without putting on their hats, although the marvelous carriage had long since sped away and disappeared from sight. So the blonde, too, suddenly appeared in our story in a completely unexpected way and disappeared in the same way. If at that time you had come across some twenty-year-old young man instead of Chichikov, whether he was a hussar, a student, or simply someone who had just begun his career in life - and God! whatever would wake up, move, speak within him! For a long time he would stand senseless in one place, mindlessly gazing into the distance, forgetting the road, and all the reprimands awaiting ahead, and scoldings for delay, forgetting himself, and the service, and the world, and everything that is in the world.

But our hero was already middle-aged and of a cautiously cool character. He also became thoughtful and thought, but his thoughts were more positive, less unaccountable, and even partly very grounded. “Nice grandma! - he said, opening the snuff box and sniffing the tobacco. - But what, most importantly, is good about it? The good thing is that she has just now, apparently, been released from some boarding school or institute, that, as they say, there is nothing feminine about her yet, that is, exactly what they have that is most unpleasant. She is now like a child, everything about her is simple, she will say whatever she wants, laugh wherever she wants to laugh. You can make anything out of it, it can be a miracle, or it can turn out to be rubbish, and it can turn out to be rubbish! Just let the mothers and aunties take care of her now. One year she will be so filled with all sorts of womanly things that her own father himself will not recognize it. Where does the pout and stiffness come from, he will begin to toss and turn according to the established instructions, he will begin to rack his brains and figure out with whom and how, and how much to speak, how to look at whom, he will be afraid every minute, so as not to say more than necessary, he will finally get confused himself , and will end up lying all his life, and it will just come out like hell!” Here he was silent for a while and then added: “Wouldn’t it be interesting to know whose it is? what, how is her father? Is he a rich landowner of respectable character or simply a well-meaning person with capital acquired in the service? After all, if, let’s say, this girl was given a dowry of two thousand thousand, she could make a very, very tasty morsel. This could constitute, so to speak, the happiness of a decent person.” Two hundred thousand rubles began to appear so attractively in his head that he inwardly began to be annoyed with himself, why, while continuing to fuss around the carriages, he did not find out from the postilion or coachman who the travelers were. Soon, however, the appearance of Sobakevich's village dispelled his thoughts and forced them to turn to their constant subject.

The village seemed quite large to him; two forests, birch and pine, like two wings, one darker, the other lighter, were on her right and left; in the middle one could see a wooden house with a mezzanine, a red roof and dark gray or, better, wild walls - a house like the ones we build for military settlements and German colonists. It was noticeable that during its construction the architect constantly struggled with the taste of the owner. The architect was a pedant and wanted symmetry, the owner wanted convenience and, apparently, as a result, he boarded up all the corresponding windows on one side and screwed in their place one small one, probably needed for a dark closet. The pediment also did not fit in the middle of the house, no matter how hard the architect struggled, because the owner ordered one column on the side to be thrown out, and therefore there were not four columns, as was intended, but only three. The yard was surrounded by a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be concerned a lot about strength. For stables, barns and kitchens, full-weight and thick logs were used, determined to stand for centuries. The village huts of the peasants were also built marvelously: there were no brick walls, carved patterns or other tricks, but everything was fitted tightly and properly. Even the well was lined with the kind of strong oak that is used only for mills and ships. In a word, everything he looked at was stubborn, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order. Approaching the porch, he noticed two faces looking out of the window almost at the same time: a female, in a cap, narrow, long, like a cucumber, and a male, round, wide, like the Moldavian pumpkins, called gourds, from which balalaikas, two-stringed, are made in Rus' light balalaikas, the beauty and fun of an agile twenty-year-old guy, flashing and dandy, winking and whistling at the white-breasted and white-necked girls who had gathered to listen to his quiet strumming. Having looked out, both faces immediately hid. A footman in a gray jacket with a blue stand-up collar came out onto the porch and led Chichikov into the hallway, where the owner himself came out. Seeing the guest, he said abruptly: “Please!” - and led him into the inner dwellings.

When Chichikov looked sideways at Sobakevich, this time he seemed to him very similar to a medium-sized bear. To complete the similarity, the tailcoat he was wearing was completely bear-colored, his sleeves were long, his trousers were long, he walked with his feet this way and that, constantly stepping on other people’s feet. His complexion was red-hot, the kind you get on a copper coin. It is known that there are many such persons in the world, over the finishing of which nature did not spend much time, did not use any small tools, such as files, gimlets and other things, but simply chopped from her shoulder: she took the ax once and her nose came out, she took it another time. - her lips came out, she picked her eyes with a large drill and, without scraping them, released them into the light, saying: “He lives!” Sobakevich had the same strong and amazingly well-made image: he held it more downward than up, did not move his neck at all, and due to such non-rotation, he rarely looked at the person he was talking to, but always either at the corner of the stove or at the door . Chichikov glanced sideways at him again as they passed the dining room: bear! perfect bear! We need such a strange rapprochement: he was even called Mikhail Semenovich. Knowing his habit of stepping on his feet, he moved his own very carefully and gave him the way forward. The owner seemed to feel this sin behind him and immediately asked: “Did I bother you?” But Chichikov thanked him, saying that no disturbance had yet occurred.

The hero of “Dead Souls” Sobakevich. Artist Boklevsky

Entering the living room, Sobakevich pointed to the armchairs, saying again: “Please!” Sitting down, Chichikov looked at the walls and the paintings hanging on them. The paintings were all great guys, all Greek commanders, engraved to their full height: Mavrocordato in red trousers and uniform, with glasses on his nose, Miaouli, Canari. All these heroes had such thick thighs and incredible mustaches that a shiver ran through their bodies. Between the strong Greeks, no one knows how or why, Bagration, skinny, skinny, with small banners and cannons below and in the narrowest frames, was placed. Then again followed the Greek heroine Bobelina, to whom one leg seemed larger than the entire body of those dandies who fill today's living rooms. The owner, being a healthy and strong man himself, seemed to want his room to be decorated by strong and healthy people too. Near Bobelina, right next to the window, hung a cage, from which looked out a blackbird of a dark color with white specks, also very similar to Sobakevich. The guest and the owner did not have time to remain silent for two minutes when the door in the living room opened and the hostess entered, a very tall lady, wearing a cap with ribbons repainted with house paint. She entered sedately, holding her head straight like a palm tree.

- This is my Feoduliya Ivanovna! - said Sobakevich.

Chichikov walked up to Feodulia Ivanovna’s hand, which she almost pushed into his lips, and he had occasion to notice that his hands had been washed with cucumber pickle.

Feodulia Ivanovna asked to sit down, also saying: “Please!” - and made a movement with his head, like actresses representing queens. Then she sat down on the sofa, covered herself with her merino scarf and no longer moved an eye or an eyebrow.

Chichikov again looked up and again saw Canary with thick thighs and an endless mustache, Bobelina and a blackbird in a cage.

For almost a full five minutes everyone remained silent; All that could be heard was the knock made by the blackbird’s nose on the wood of the wooden cage, at the bottom of which he was fishing for grains of bread. Chichikov looked around the room again, and everything that was in it was solid, clumsy to the highest degree and bore some strange resemblance to the owner of the house himself; in the corner of the living room stood a pot-bellied walnut bureau on the most absurd four legs, a perfect bear. The table, armchairs, chairs - everything was of the heaviest and most restless quality - in a word, every object, every chair seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” or: “And I also look very much like Sobakevich!”

“We talked about you at the chairman of the chamber, Ivan Grigorievich,” Chichikov finally said, seeing that no one was in the mood to start a conversation, “last Thursday.” We had a very pleasant time there.

“Yes, I wasn’t with the chairman then,” Sobakevich answered.

- What a wonderful person!

- Who is this? - said Sobakevich, looking at the corner of the stove.

- Chairman.

- Well, maybe it seemed like that to you: he’s just a Freemason, but such a fool as the world has never produced.

Chichikov was a little puzzled by this somewhat harsh definition, but then, having recovered, he continued:

- Of course, every person is not without weaknesses, but what an excellent person the governor is!

– Is the governor an excellent person?

- Yes, isn't it?

- The first robber in the world!

- What, the governor is a robber? - said Chichikov and absolutely could not understand how the governor could end up among the robbers. “I admit, I would never have thought of this,” he continued. - But let me note, however, that his actions are not at all like that; on the contrary, there is rather a lot of gentleness in him. - Here he even brought as evidence the wallets embroidered with his own hands, and spoke with praise of the affectionate expression on his face.

- And the face of a robber! - said Sobakevich. - Just give him a knife and let him out onto the main road - he’ll kill you, he’ll kill you for a penny! He and also the vice-governor are Goga and Magog!

“No, he’s not on good terms with them,” Chichikov thought to himself. “But I’ll talk to him about the police chief: he seems to be his friend.”

“However, as for me,” he said, “I confess that I like the police chief more than anyone else.” Some sort of direct, open character; There is something simple-hearted in his face.

- Scammer! - Sobakevich said very calmly, - he will sell, deceive, and even have lunch with you! I know them all: they are all scammers, the whole city there is like this: the scammer sits on the scammer and drives the scammer. All sellers of Christ. There is only one decent person there: the prosecutor; and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig.

After such commendable, although several brief, biographies, Chichikov saw that there was nothing to mention about other officials, and remembered that Sobakevich did not like to speak well of anyone.

“Well, darling, let’s go to dinner,” his wife said to Sobakevich.

- Please! - said Sobakevich.

Then, going up to the table where there was a snack, the guest and the owner drank a glass of vodka, ate, as the whole of vast Russia snacks in cities and villages, that is, with all sorts of pickles and other stimulating blessings, and they all flowed into the dining room; ahead of them, like a smooth goose, the hostess rushed. The small table was set with four cutlery. In the fourth place she appeared very quickly, it is difficult to say for sure who she was, a lady or a maiden, a relative, a housekeeper, or simply someone living in the house: something without a cap, about thirty years old, wearing a colorful scarf. There are faces that exist in the world not as an object, but as extraneous specks or specks on an object. They sit in the same place, hold their heads in the same way, you are almost ready to mistake them for furniture and you think that in your life a word has never come out of such lips; and somewhere in the girl's room or in the pantry it will be simply: wow!

- Cabbage soup, my soul, is very good today! - said Sobakevich, taking a sip of cabbage soup and taking a huge piece of nanny from his dish, a famous dish that is served with cabbage soup and consists of a lamb stomach stuffed with buckwheat porridge, brain and legs. “Such a nanny,” he continued, turning to Chichikov, “you won’t eat in the city, God knows what they’ll serve you there!”

“The governor, however, has a pretty good table,” said Chichikov.

– Do you know what it’s all made from? you won't eat when you find out.

– I don’t know how it’s prepared, I can’t judge that, but the pork cutlets and boiled fish were excellent.

- It seemed so to you. After all, I know what they buy at the market. That rascal cook over there who learned from the Frenchman will buy a cat, skin it, and serve it on the table instead of a hare.

- Ugh! “What a nuisance you are talking about,” said Sobakevich’s wife.

“Well, darling, that’s how they do it, it’s not my fault, that’s how they all do it.” Whatever is unnecessary that Akulka throws, so to speak, into the trash can, they throw it into the soup! yes to the soup! there it is!

“You always say things like that at the table!” – Sobakevich’s wife objected again.

“Well, my soul,” said Sobakevich, “if I did it myself, but I’ll tell you straight to your face that I won’t eat nasty things.” Even if you put sugar on a frog, I won’t put it in my mouth, and I won’t take an oyster either: I know what an oyster looks like. Take a lamb,” he continued, turning to Chichikov, “this is a side of lamb with porridge!” These are not the fricassees that are made in noble kitchens from lamb, which has been lying around on the market for four days! The German and French doctors invented all this, I would hang them for this! They came up with a diet, treat with hunger! Because they have a German liquid nature, they imagine that they can cope with the Russian stomach! No, this is all wrong, this is all fiction, this is all... - Here Sobakevich even shook his head angrily. - They interpret: enlightenment, enlightenment, and this enlightenment is a bummer! I would have said another word, but it was just indecent at the table. Not so for me. When I have pork, bring the whole pig to the table, lamb, bring the whole lamb, goose, bring the whole goose! I’d rather eat two dishes, but eat in moderation, as my soul requires. – Sobakevich confirmed this with action: he dumped half a side of lamb onto his plate, ate it all, gnawed it, sucked it to the last bone.

“Yes,” thought Chichikov, “this one’s got a good lip.”

“It’s not like that with me,” said Sobakevich, wiping his hands with a napkin, “it’s not like that with some Plyushkin: he has eight hundred souls, but lives and dines worse than my shepherd!”

-Who is this Plyushkin? - Chichikov asked.

“A fraudster,” answered Sobakevich. - Such a miser that it’s hard to imagine. The convicts live better in prison than he does: he starved all the people to death.

- Really! – Chichikov picked up with participation. - And you say that he definitely has people dying in large numbers?

-Like flies die.

- Really like flies! Let me ask, how far does he live from you?

- Five miles away.

- Five miles away! – Chichikov exclaimed and even felt a slight heartbeat. – But if I leave your gate, will it be to the right or to the left?

“I don’t even advise you to know the way to this dog!” - said Sobakevich. “It’s more excusable to go to some obscene place than to go to him.”

“No, I didn’t ask for any reasons, but only because I’m interested in knowing all kinds of places,” Chichikov answered.

The side of lamb was followed by cheesecakes, each of which was much larger than a plate, then a turkey the size of a calf, stuffed with all sorts of goodness: eggs, rice, livers and God knows what, that everything lay in a lump in the stomach. That was the end of the dinner; but when they got up from the table, Chichikov felt a whole pound more heavy in himself. We went into the living room, where there was already jam on a plate - neither a pear, nor a plum, nor any other berry, which, however, was not touched by either the guest or the owner. The hostess came out to put it on other saucers. Taking advantage of her absence, Chichikov turned to Sobakevich, who, lying in an armchair, was only groaning after such a hearty dinner and making some indistinct sounds with his mouth, crossing himself and constantly covering it with his hand. Chichikov addressed him with these words:

“I wanted to talk to you about a business.”

“Here’s some more jam,” said the hostess, returning with a saucer, “radish boiled in honey!”

- And here we are after it! - said Sobakevich. - Now go to your room, Pavel Ivanovich and I will take off our tailcoats and rest a little!

The hostess had already expressed her readiness to send for down jackets and pillows, but the owner said: “Nothing, we’ll rest in the chairs,” and the hostess left.

Sobakevich bent his head slightly, preparing to hear what the deal was.

Chichikov began somehow very distantly, touched upon the entire Russian state in general and spoke with great praise about its space, said that even the most ancient Roman monarchy was not so great, and foreigners are rightly surprised... Sobakevich listened to everything, bowing his head. And that, according to the existing provisions of this state, the glory of which has no equal, audit souls, having completed their careers in life, are, however, until the submission of a new audit tale, on an equal basis with the living, so as not to burden government offices with a multitude of petty and useless certificates and not to increase the complexity of an already very complex state mechanism... Sobakevich listened to everything with his head bowed - and that, however, with all the justice of this measure, it can be partly burdensome for many owners, obliging them to pay taxes as if for a living object, and that he, feeling personal respect for him, would be ready to even partially take on this really difficult responsibility. As for the main subject, Chichikov expressed himself very carefully: he did not call souls dead, but only non-existent.

Sobakevich listened to everything as before, with his head bent, and at least something similar to an expression appeared on his face. It seemed that this body had no soul at all, or it had one, but not at all where it should be, but, like the immortal Koshchei, somewhere behind the mountains and covered with such a thick shell that everything that moved at the bottom it did not produce absolutely any shock on the surface.

“So?..” said Chichikov, expecting an answer, not without some excitement.

– Do you need dead souls? – Sobakevich asked very simply, without the slightest surprise, as if he were talking about bread.

“Yes,” Chichikov answered and again softened his expression, adding: “non-existent.”

“There will be reasons why not…” said Sobakevich.

– And if they are found, then you, no doubt... will be pleased to get rid of them?

“If you please, I’m ready to sell,” said Sobakevich, having already raised his head somewhat and realized that the buyer must probably have some benefit here.

“Damn it,” Chichikov thought to himself, “this one’s already selling before I even stuttered!” - and said out loud:

- And, for example, what about the price? although, however, this is such an item... that the price is even strange...

- Yes, so as not to ask too much from you, one hundred rubles apiece! - said Sobakevich.

- One hundred percent! - Chichikov cried, opening his mouth and looking him straight in the eyes, not knowing whether he himself had misheard, or whether Sobakevich’s tongue, due to its heavy nature, turned the wrong way, blurted out another word instead of one.

- Well, is it really worth it to you? - said Sobakevich and then added: - But what would your price be?

- My price! We must have somehow made a mistake or do not understand each other, we have forgotten what the subject is. I believe for my part, hand on heart: at eight hryvnia per soul, this is the best price!

- What a waste - eight hryvnias!

“Well, in my judgment, I think it’s no longer possible.”

– After all, I’m not selling bast shoes.

- However, you must agree: after all, these are not people either.

“So you think you can find such a fool who would sell you a revision’s soul for two kopecks?”

- But excuse me: why do you call them revisions, after all, the souls have already died a long time ago, only one sound, intangible to the senses, remains. However, in order not to enter into further discussions on this part, I’ll give you one and a half rubles, if you please, but I can’t take any more.

– It’s a shame for you to say such a sum! you bargain, tell the real price!

“I can’t, Mikhail Semyonovich, believe my conscience, I can’t: what can’t be done, that can’t be done,” Chichikov said, but he added another fifty kopecks.

- Why are you being stingy? - said Sobakevich. - Really, it’s inexpensive! Another scammer will deceive you, sell you rubbish, not souls; But I have a tough nut, everything is for selection: not a craftsman, but some other healthy guy. Just look at it: for example, the carriage maker Mikheev! After all, he never made any other carriages other than spring ones. And it’s not like the Moscow work, which is for one hour - it’s so durable, it will cut it and cover it with varnish!

Chichikov opened his mouth in order to notice that Mikheev, however, had been gone for a long time; but Sobakevich entered, as they say, into the very power of speech, where the trot and the gift of speech came from:

- And Cork Stepan, the carpenter? I'll lay my head if you can find such a guy anywhere. After all, what kind of power was that! If he had served in the guard, God knows what they would have given him, three arshins and an inch tall!

Chichikov again wanted to point out that Cork was no longer in the world; but Sobakevich, apparently, was carried away: such streams of speeches poured out that it was only necessary to listen:

- Milushkin, brickmaker! could put a stove in any house. Maxim Telyatnikov, shoemaker: whatever pricks with an awl, then the boots, whatever the boots, then thank you, and even if it’s a drunken mouth. And Eremey Sorokoplekhin! Yes, this guy alone will stand for everyone, he traded in Moscow, brought one rent for five hundred rubles. After all, this is what people are like! This is not something that some Plyushkin will sell you.

“But excuse me,” Chichikov finally said, amazed at such an abundant flood of speeches, which seemed to have no end, “why are you counting all their qualities, because now there is no sense in them, because these are all dead people.” At least prop up a fence with a dead body, says the proverb.

“Yes, of course, dead,” said Sobakevich, as if coming to his senses and remembering that they were, in fact, already dead, and then added: “However, that’s another thing to say: what of these people who are now listed as living?” What kind of people are these? Flies, not people.

– Yes, they still exist, and this is a dream.

- Well, no, not a dream! I’ll tell you what Mikheev was like, you won’t find people like him: the machine is such that it won’t fit into this room; no, this is not a dream! And he had such strength in his shoulders that a horse does not have; I would like to know where else you would find such a dream!

He already said the last words, turning to the portraits of Bagration and Kolokotroni hanging on the wall, as usually happens with those talking when one of them suddenly, for some unknown reason, turns not to the person to whom the words refer, but to some third person who accidentally came , even to a complete stranger, from whom he knows that he will not hear any answer, opinion, or confirmation, but on whom, however, he fixes his gaze as if calling him to be an intermediary; and the stranger, somewhat confused at first, does not know whether to respond to this matter about which he has heard nothing, or to stand there, observing proper decency, and then walk away.

“No, I can’t give more than two rubles,” said Chichikov.

- Please, so that they don’t lay claim to me, that I’m asking dearly and I don’t want to do you any favor, if you please - seventy-five rubles per head, only in banknotes, really, only for acquaintance!

“Does he really think to himself,” Chichikov thought, “does he take me for a fool?” - and then added out loud:

“It’s strange to me, really: it seems like some kind of theatrical performance or comedy is happening between us, otherwise I can’t explain it to myself... You seem to be a pretty smart person, you have information about education.” After all, the subject is just fu-fu. What is he worth? who needs it?

- Yes, you’re buying, so it’s needed.

Here Chichikov bit his lip and couldn’t find what to answer. He began to talk about some family and family circumstances, but Sobakevich answered simply:

– I don’t need to know what your relationship is; I don’t interfere in family affairs, that’s your business. You needed souls, I’m selling them to you, and you will regret that you didn’t buy them.

“Two rubles,” said Chichikov.

- Ek, really, Jacob’s forty confirmed one thing about everyone, as the proverb says; Once you set up two, you don’t want to move out of them. Give us the real price!

“Well, damn him,” Chichikov thought to himself, “I’ll give him half a dime, for the dog’s nuts!”

- If you please, I’ll add half a ruble.

- Well, if you please, I’ll also tell you my last word: fifty rubles! Really, it’s a loss to yourself, you can’t buy such good people cheaper anywhere!

“What a fist!” - Chichikov said to himself and then continued out loud with some annoyance:

- Yes, really... it seems like it’s definitely a serious matter; Yes, I’ll take it somewhere else for no reason. Everyone will also willingly sell them to me, just to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Would a fool keep them with him and pay taxes for them!

“But do you know that this kind of purchase, I say this between us, out of friendship, is not always permissible, and whether I or someone else tells you, such a person will not have any power of attorney regarding contracts or entering into any profitable obligations.

“Look where he’s aiming, the scoundrel!” – thought Chichikov and immediately said with the most cool-blooded look:

- As you wish, I do not buy for any need, as you think, but according to the inclination of my own thoughts. If you don’t want two and a half, goodbye!

“You can’t knock him down, he’s stubborn!” – thought Sobakevich.

- Well, God bless you, give us thirty and take them for yourself!

- No, I see you don’t want to sell, goodbye!

- Allow me, let me! - said Sobakevich, not letting go of his hand and stepping on his foot, because our hero forgot to take care, for which he had to hiss and jump on one leg as punishment.

- I beg your pardon! I seem to have disturbed you. Please sit down here! Please! - Here he seated him in a chair with some dexterity, like a bear that has already been in the hands, knows how to roll over and do different things when asked: “Show me, Misha, how women steam” or: “And how, Misha “Are the little guys stealing peas?”

“Really, I’m wasting my time, I need to hurry.”

– Sit for a minute, I’ll tell you one pleasant word for you. - Then Sobakevich sat closer and said quietly in his ear, as if it were a secret: - Do you want a corner?

- That is, twenty-five rubles? Neither, nor, nor, I won’t even give a quarter of an angle, I won’t add a penny.

Sobakevich fell silent. Chichikov also fell silent. Silence lasted for two minutes. Bagration with an aquiline nose looked from the wall extremely carefully at this purchase.

– What will be your last price? - Sobakevich finally said.

- Two and a half.

- Really, your human soul is like a steamed turnip. Give me at least three rubles!

- I can’t.

- Well, there’s nothing to do with you, if you please! It’s a loss, and such a dog’s temper: I can’t help but please my neighbor. After all, I’m a tea, you need to complete the bill of sale so that everything is in order.

- Of course.

- Well, that’s it, you’ll need to go to the city.

This is how it happened. Both decided to be in the city tomorrow and deal with the deed of sale. Chichikov asked for a list of peasants. Sobakevich agreed willingly and immediately, going up to the bureau, with his own hand began to write out everyone not only by name, but even with the designation of commendable qualities.

And Chichikov, having nothing better to do, began to look at his entire spacious salary from behind. As he looked at his back, wide, like the squat Vyatka horses, and at his legs, which resembled cast-iron pedestals that are placed on sidewalks, he could not help but exclaim inwardly: “What God has rewarded you with!” It’s certainly, as they say, not well-cut, but tightly sewn!.. Were you really born a bear, or did you become a bear from the provincial life, the grain crops, the fuss with the peasants, and through them you became what is called a man-fist? But no: I think you would still be the same, even if they had brought you up according to fashion, let you go and live in St. Petersburg, and not in the outback. The whole difference is that now you will eat half a side of lamb with porridge, having a cheesecake on your plate, and then you would be eating some cutlets with truffles. Yes, now you have men under your power: you are in harmony with them and, of course, you will not offend them, because they are yours, but it will be worse for you; and then you would have officials whom you would slap hard, realizing that they are not your serfs, or you would rob the treasury! No! whoever has a fist cannot straighten into a palm! But straighten your fist with one or two fingers, and it will come out even worse. If he tasted the top of some science, he would let all those who had actually learned some science know later, having taken a more prominent place. Moreover, he will probably say later: “Let me show myself!” Yes, such a wise resolution will come up with that many will have to go solo... Oh, if only they were all fists!..”

“The note is ready,” Sobakevich said, turning around.

- Are you ready? Bring her here! “He ran his eyes over it and marveled at the neatness and accuracy: not only was the craft, title, years and family fortune written down in detail, but even in the margins there were special notes about behavior, sobriety - in a word, it was pleasant to look at.

- Now please give me a deposit! - said Sobakevich.

- Why do you need a deposit? You will receive all the money in the city at one time.

“That’s all, you know, that’s how it is,” Sobakevich objected.

“I don’t know how to give it to you, I didn’t take any money with me.” Yes, here are ten rubles.

- Well, ten! Give me at least fifty!

Chichikov began to make excuses that no; but Sobakevich said so affirmatively that he had money, that he took out another piece of paper, saying:

“Perhaps, here’s another fifteen for you, for a total of twenty-five.” Just give me a receipt.

- What do you need a receipt for?

– That’s it, you know, it’s better to have a receipt. It's not even an hour, anything can happen.

- Okay, give me the money here!

- What's the money for? I have them in my hand! As soon as you write a receipt, you will take them that very minute.

- Excuse me, how can I write a receipt? first you need to see the money.

Chichikov released the pieces of paper from his hands to Sobakevich, who, approaching the table and covering them with the fingers of his left hand, wrote on a piece of paper with the other that he had received the deposit of twenty-five rubles in government notes for the sold souls in full. Having written the note, he looked at the notes again.

- The piece of paper is old! - he said, examining one of them in the world, - it’s a little torn, well, there’s nothing to look at between friends.

“Fist, fist! - Chichikov thought to himself, “and a beast to boot!”

– Don’t you want a female?

- No, thank you.

- I would take it inexpensively. For dating, a ruble apiece.

- No, I don’t need the female gender.

- Well, when you don’t need it, there’s nothing to say. There is no law on tastes: who loves the priest, and who loves the priest, says the proverb.

“I also wanted to ask you to keep this deal between us,” Chichikov said, saying goodbye.

- Yes, it goes without saying. There is nothing to interfere with the third; What happens in sincerity between short friends must remain in their mutual friendship. Farewell! Thank you for visiting; Please don’t forget in the future: if you have a free hour, come and have lunch and spend some time. Maybe it will happen again to serve each other in some way.

“Yes, no matter how it is! - Chichikov thought to himself, getting into the chaise. “He tore two and a half rubles for a dead soul, damn fist!”

He was dissatisfied with Sobakevich's behavior. Still, be that as it may, the person is familiar, both the governor and the police chief met, but he acted as if he were a complete stranger, he took money for rubbish! When the chaise left the yard, he looked back and saw that Sobakevich was still standing on the porch and, it seemed, was looking closely, wanting to know where the guest would go.

- You scoundrel, he’s still standing! - he said through clenched teeth and ordered Selifan, turning towards the peasant huts, to drive away in such a way that the carriage could not be seen from the side of the master’s yard. He wanted to visit Plyushkin, who, according to Sobakevich, had people dying like flies, but he didn’t want Sobakevich to know about it. When the chaise was already at the end of the village, he called the first man to him, who, having found a very thick log somewhere on the road, dragged it on his shoulder, like a tireless ant, to his hut.

- Hey, beard! But how can we get from here to Plyushkin without passing the manor’s house?

The man seemed to be at a loss with this question.

- Well, you don’t know?

- No, master, I don’t know.

- Oh, you! And even a hint of gray hair! Don’t you know the miser Plyushkin, the one who feeds people poorly?

- A! patched, patched! – the man screamed.

He also added a noun to the word “patched”, which is very successful, but not common in social conversation, and therefore we will skip it. However, one can guess that it was expressed very aptly, because Chichikov, although the man had long since disappeared from sight and had traveled a lot ahead, was still grinning while sitting in the chaise. The Russian people express themselves strongly! and if he rewards someone with a word, then it will go to his family and posterity, he will drag it with him into service, and into retirement, and to Petersburg, and to the ends of the world. And no matter how cunning or ennobled your nickname is then, even if you force the writing people to derive it for a hire from the ancient princely family, nothing will help: the nickname will caw for itself at the top of its crow’s throat and say clearly where the bird flew from. What is accurately spoken is the same as what is written; it cannot be cut down with an axe. And how accurate is everything that came out of the depths of Rus', where there are no Germans, no Chukhons, or any other tribes, and everything is a nugget itself, a lively and lively Russian mind that does not reach into its pocket for a word, does not hatch it , like a mother hen chicks, but it sticks right away, like a passport on an eternal sock, and there is nothing to add later, what kind of nose or lips you have - you are outlined with one line from head to toe!

Just as a countless number of churches, monasteries with domes, domes, crosses are scattered throughout holy, pious Rus', so a countless number of tribes, generations, peoples crowd, variegate and rush about the face of the earth. And every people, bearing within itself a guarantee of strength, full of the creative abilities of the soul, its bright peculiarity and other gifts of God, each in its own way distinguished itself with its own word, with which, expressing any object, it reflects part of its own character in its expression. The word of a Briton will echo 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 a well-spoken Russian word.

Coramora– a large, long, sluggish mosquito; sometimes it flies into the room and sticks out somewhere alone on the wall. You can calmly approach him and grab his leg, in response to which he just sticks out or squirms, as people say. (Note by N.V. Gogol.)

Brick hut- “hewn, when logs are hewn into a smooth wall.” (From N.V. Gogol’s notebook.)

Chichikov could not recover from Nozdrev’s visit for a long time. Selifan was also dissatisfied with the landowner because the horses were not given oats. The britzka flew at full speed until it collided with a carriage with six horses and the screams of the ladies and the swearing of the coachman were heard almost overhead. Although Selifan felt his mistake, he began to argue with the stranger’s coachman.

At this time, the ladies sitting in the chaise - an old woman and a young fair-haired girl - watched everything that was happening with fear. Chichikov stared at the sixteen-year-old beauty.

Finally they began to disperse, but the horses stood rooted to the spot against each other and did not want to disperse. The men who came running from a nearby village took care of them. While the horses were being pulled in different directions, Pavel Ivanovich looked at the young stranger and even wanted to talk to her, however, while he was getting ready, the carriage drove away, taking the beauty with it.

Since Chichikov had long since passed the age when one instantly falls in love and then stands for a long time, following his beloved with a pained gaze, he ordered to move on. However, he thought about the stranger, deciding that she was good because she had just come from the boarding school. It will pass

very little time, and finding herself in the care of various mothers and aunties, she will learn to lie and “will finally begin to lie all her life.”

Soon Sobakevich’s village appeared, and Chichikov’s thoughts returned to the usual subject. The estate was large, with two forests stretching to the right and left - birch and pine. The house with a mezzanine resembled a military settlement of German colonists. The courtyard was surrounded by a thick wooden lattice. The landowner was more concerned about strength than beauty. Even village houses were solid and solid, without any patterned decorations.

The owner himself looked like an average bear. Nature didn’t think long here: “she grabbed it with an ax once and her nose came out, she grabbed it again and her lips came out, she picked out her eyes with a large drill and, without scraping them, released her into the light, saying: “he lives!”

Seeing the guest, Sobakevich briefly said: “Please!” - and led him into the inner chambers.

The owner's living room was hung with life-size paintings of Greek commanders. Chichikov met Sobakevich’s wife, Feodulia Ivanovna, a tall lady, straight as a palm tree.

There was silence for about five minutes, after which the guest was the first to start talking about the chairman of the chamber, to which he heard in response that the chairman was “such a fool as the world has never made.”

Listing city officials, Sobakevich scolded each one and gave each one an unflattering definition. At dinner, the owner praised the dishes served and scolded the cuisine of other landowners and city officials.

Sobakevich tells Chichikov about Plyushkin, who has eight hundred souls, but lives and dines worse than some shepherd. Pavel Ivanovich learns that Sobakevich’s neighbor is a rare miser, he starved all his peasants to death, and others ran away on their own.

Carefully, the guest found out in which direction and where Plyushkin’s estate was located.

After a hearty dinner, the host and guest retired to the living room, where Chichikov began talking about his business. Sobakevich quickly realized that buying dead souls would bring some benefit to the guest, so he immediately charged a hundred rubles per soul. When Pavel Ivanovich became indignant, the owner began to list the merits of each deceased peasant. In the process of tough bargaining, they agreed on two rubles and a half for each soul. The guest asked for a list of the peasants he had bought, and Sobakevich began to copy down the dead souls in his own hand, by name, indicating the commendable qualities. When the note was ready, the owner also demanded a deposit of fifty rubles from Chichikov. The new friends began to bargain again and agreed on twenty-five rubles. Having received the money, Sobakevich looked at the banknotes for a long time and complained that one of them was old.

Leaving Sobakevich, Pavel Ivanovich was dissatisfied that he had to give so much money for the dead peasants. He ordered Selifan to go to Plyushkin’s estate.

Glossary:

dead souls chapter 5 summary
summary of dead souls chapter 5
summary of chapter 5 dead souls

Summary of Gogol Dead Souls by chapters

Chapter 1

The beginning takes place in the provincial town of NN, a luxurious bachelor's carriage drove up to the hotel. No one paid much attention to the chaise, except for two men who argued about whether the cart wheel could reach Moscow or not. Chichikov was sitting in it, the first thoughts about him were ambiguous. The hotel house looked like an old building with two floors, the first floor was not plastered, the second was painted with yellow copper paint. The decorations are typical, that is, shabby. The main character introduced himself as collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. After the guest was received, his footman Petrusha and servant Selifan (aka coachman) arrived.

It’s lunch time, a curious guest asks the tavern employee questions about local authorities, significant persons, landowners, and the state of the region (diseases and epidemics). He leaves the task to the interlocutor to notify the police about his arrival, supporting a paper with the text: “Collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.” The hero of the novel goes to inspect the territory and is satisfied. He drew attention to the incorrect information posted in the newspaper about the state of the park and its current situation. Afterwards the gentleman returned to his room, had dinner and fell asleep.

The next day was devoted to visits to people in society. Pavel quickly realized to whom and how to present flattering speeches, but tactfully kept silent about himself. At a party with the governor, he made acquaintance with Sobakevich Mikhail Semenovich and Manilov, simultaneously asking them questions about possessions and serfs, and specifically, he wanted to know who had what number of souls. Chichikov received many invitations and attended each one, finding connections. Many began to speak well of him, until one passage led everyone to bewilderment.

Chapter 2

Lackey Petrusha is silent, he loved to read books of different genres. He also had a peculiarity: sleeping in clothes. Now back to the well-known main character, he finally decided to go with Manilov. The village, as the owner initially said, is 15 versts (16,002 km), but this turned out not to be the case. The estate stood on a hill, blown by the winds, a pitiful sight. The owner happily greeted the traveler. The head of the family did not take care of the estate, but indulged in thoughts and dreams. He considered his wife a wonderful match.

Both are slackers: the pantries are empty, the kitchen masters are disorganized, the housekeeper steals, the servants are always drunk and unclean. The couple was capable of long kisses. At dinner, compliments were exchanged, and the manager's children showed off their knowledge of geography. The time has come to resolve matters. The hero was able to convince the owner to make a deal in which dead people were listed as alive on the audit paper. Manilov decided to give Chichikov dead souls. When Pavel left, he sat on his porch for a long time and thoughtfully smoked his pipe. He thought that they would now become good friends, even dreamed that for their friendship they would receive a reward from the king himself.

Chapter 3

Pavel Ivanovich was in a great mood. Maybe that’s why he didn’t notice that Selifan wasn’t watching the road because he was drunk. It began to rain. Their chaise overturned, and the main character fell into the mud. Somehow, as darkness fell, Selifan and Pavel came across the estate and were allowed to spend the night. The inside of the rooms indicated that the housewives were the type who lamented about the lack of money and harvest, while they themselves put money aside in secluded places. The hostess gave the impression that she was very thrifty.

Waking up in the morning, the vigilant worker studies the yard in detail: there are a lot of poultry and livestock, the peasants’ houses are in good condition. Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka (the lady) invites him to the table. Chichikov invited her to conclude an agreement regarding deceased souls, the landowner was confused. Then she began to introduce hemp, flax and even bird feathers to everything. Agreement has been reached. Everything turned out to be goods. The traveler hurried to leave, because he could no longer tolerate the landowner. A girl accompanied them, she showed them how to get onto the main road and returned. A tavern appeared on the pavement.

Chapter 4

It was a simple tavern, with a standard menu. The staff were asked Peter’s natural questions: how long has the establishment been operating, what is the business of the landowners. Fortunately for Pavel, the owner of the inn knew a lot and gladly shared everything with him. Nozdryov arrived in the dining room. He shares his events: he was with his son-in-law at the fair and lost all the money, things and four horses. Nothing upsets him. There is a bad opinion about him: flaws in his upbringing, a tendency to lie.

The marriage did not affect him; unfortunately, his wife died, leaving two children who were not cared for. A gambling person, dishonest in the game, he was often subjected to assault. A visionary, disgusting in everything. The impudent man invited Chichikov to his place for lunch and he gave a positive answer. The tour of the estate, as well as the lunch itself, caused outrage. The main character set the goal of the deal. It all ended in a quarrel. He slept badly at a party. In the morning the swindler invited the hero to play checkers for a deal. It would have come to a fight if the police captain had not come with the news that Nozdryov was under investigation until the circumstances were clarified. The guest ran away and ordered the servant to drive the horses quickly.

Chapter 5

On the way to Sobakevich, Pavel Chichikov collided with a carriage drawn by 6 horses. The teams were very confused. Everyone who was close was in no hurry to help. In the stroller sat an elderly woman and a young girl with blond hair. Chichikov was fascinated by the beautiful stranger. When they parted, he thought about her for a long time, until the estate that interested him appeared. An estate surrounded by forest, with strong buildings of ambiguous architecture.

The owner looked like a bear, as he was strongly built. His house had massive furniture and paintings depicting strong commanders. It was not easy to start a conversation even at lunch hour: Chichikov began to carry on his flattering conversations, and Mikhail started talking about how everyone was a swindler and mentioned a certain man named Plyushkin, whose peasants were dying. After the meal, the auction of dead souls opened, and the main character had to compromise. The city decided to carry out the deal. He, of course, was dissatisfied that the owner asked too much for one soul. When Pavel left, he managed to find out where the cruel holder of souls lived.

Chapter 6

The hero entered a vast village from a log road. This road was unsafe: old wood, ready to fall apart under the weight. Everything was in a state of disrepair: boarded-up windows of the houses, crumbling plaster, an overgrown and dried-out garden, and poverty was felt everywhere. The landowner outwardly resembled the housekeeper, he had neglected himself so outwardly. The owner can be described as follows: small shifty eyes, greasy torn clothes, a strange bandage around his neck. It's like a man begging for alms. Cold and hunger wafted from everywhere. It was impossible to be in the house: complete chaos, a lot of unnecessary furniture, flies floating in containers, a huge collection of dust in all corners. But in fact, he has more reserves of provisions, dishes and other goods that were lost due to the greed of his owner.

Once everything flourished, he had a wife, two daughters, a son, a French teacher, and a governess. But his wife died, the landowner began to harbor anxiety and greed. The eldest daughter secretly married an officer and ran away, the receiver went into service without receiving anything from his father, the youngest daughter died. Bread and hay were rotting in the merchant's barns, but he did not agree to sell. The heiress came to him with her grandchildren and left with nothing. Also, having lost at cards, the son asked for money and was refused.

Plyushkin's stinginess knew no bounds; he complained to Chichikov about his poverty. As a result, Plyushkin sold our master 120 dead souls and seventy runaway peasants at 32 kopecks per one. Both felt happy.

Chapter 7

The present day was declared by the main character to be a notary. He saw that he already had 400 souls, and he also noticed a woman’s name on Sobakevich’s list, thinking that he was unimaginably dishonest. The character went to the ward, completed all the documents and began to bear the title of Kherson landowner. This was celebrated with a festive table with wines and snacks.

Everyone said toasts and someone hinted at marriage, which, due to the naturalness of the situation, the new merchant was happy about. They didn’t let him go for a long time and asked him to stay in the city as long as possible. The feast ended like this: the satisfied owner returned to his chambers, and the residents went to bed.

Chapter 8

The conversations of local residents were only about the purchase of Chichikov. Everyone admired him. The townspeople were even worried about the outbreak of a riot in the new estate, but the master reassured them that the peasants were calm. There were rumors about Chichikov's million-dollar fortune. The ladies especially paid attention to this. Suddenly, merchants began to trade in expensive fabrics well. The newly-minted hero was glad to receive a letter with love confessions and poems. He was delighted when he was invited to an evening reception with the governor.

At a party, he caused a storm of emotions among the ladies: they surrounded him on all sides so much that he forgot to greet the hostess of the event. The character wanted to find the writer of the letter, but in vain. When he realized that he was acting indecently, he hurried to the governor’s wife and was confused when he saw with her the beautiful blonde whom he had met on the road. It was the owners' daughter, recently graduated from college. Our hero fell out of his rut and lost interest in other ladies, which caused their discontent and aggression towards the young lady.

Everything was spoiled by the appearance of Nozdryov, he began to speak loudly about Pavel’s dishonorable deeds. This spoiled the mood and caused the hero’s quick departure. The appearance of a college secretary, a lady with the last name Korobochka, in the city had a bad effect; she wanted to find out the real price of dead souls, because she was afraid that she had sold too cheap.

Chapter 9

The next morning, the college secretary said that Pavel Ivanovich had bought the souls of deceased peasants from her.
Two women were discussing the latest news. One of them shared the news that Chichikov came to a landowner named Korobochka and demanded that she sell the souls of those who had already died. Another lady reported that her husband heard similar information from Mr. Nozdryov.

They began to reason about why the newly minted landowner needed such deals. Their thoughts ended with the following: the master truly pursues the goal of kidnapping the governor’s daughter, and the irresponsible Nozdryov will assist him, and the matter with the departed souls of the peasants is fiction. During their arguments, the prosecutor appeared, the ladies told him their assumptions. Leaving the prosecutor alone with his thoughts, the two persons headed into the city, spreading gossip and hypotheses behind them. Soon the whole city was stunned. Due to the long absence of interesting events, everyone paid attention to the news. There was even a rumor that Chichikov left his wife and walked at night with the governor’s daughter.

Two sides emerged: women and men. The women talked only about the impending theft of the governor's daughter, and the men about the incredible deal. As a result, the governor’s wife interrogated her daughter, but she cried and did not understand what she was accused of. At the same time, some strange stories came to light, in which Chichikov began to be suspected. Then the governor received a document that spoke of a fugitive criminal. Everyone wanted to know who this gentleman really was and decided to look for the answer from the police chief.

Chapter 10 summary Gogol Dead Souls

When all the officials, exhausted by fears, gathered at the appointed place, many began to voice assumptions about who our hero was. One said that the character is none other than a distributor of counterfeit money. And later he stipulated that this might be a lie. Another suggested that he was an official, the Governor-General of the Chancellery. And the next comment refuted the previous one on its own. Nobody liked the idea that he was a common criminal. Then it dawned on one postmaster, he shouted that it was Mr. Kopeikin and began to tell a story about him. The Tale of Captain Kopeikin said this:

“After the war with Napoleon, a wounded captain named Kopeikin was sent. No one knew exactly, under such circumstances he lost his limbs: an arm and a leg, and after which he became a hopeless invalid. The captain was left with his left hand, and it was unclear how he could earn a living. He went to the reception at the commission. When he finally got into the office, he was asked a question about what brought him here, he replied that while shedding blood for his homeland, he lost an arm and a leg, and could not earn a living, and from the commission he wanted to ask the king’s favor. The activist said that the captain would come in 2 days.

When he returned after 3-4 days, the captain was told the following: he needed to wait until the sovereign arrived in St. Petersburg. Kopeikin had no money left, and, in despair, the captain decided to take a rude step; he burst into the office and began to scream. The minister got angry, called the appropriate people, and the captain was taken out of the capital. No one knows what his fate would be like next. It is only known that a gang was organized in those parts, the leader of which is supposedly Kopeikin.” Everyone rejected this strange version, because our hero’s limbs were intact.

Officials, to clarify the situation, decided to invite Nozdryov, knowing that he constantly lies. He contributed to the story and said that Chichikov was a spy, a distributor of counterfeit banknotes and the kidnapper of the governor's daughter. All this news affected the prosecutor so much that upon arriving home he died.

Our main character knew nothing about this. He was in his room, cold and suffering from flux. He was surprised that everyone ignored him. As soon as the main character feels better, he comes to the conclusion that it is time to pay visits to officials. But everyone refused to accept him and talk to him, without explaining the reasons. In the evening, Nozdryov comes to the landowner and talks about his involvement in counterfeit money and the failed kidnapping of a young lady. And also, according to the public, it is his fault that the prosecutor dies and a new governor-general comes to their city. Peter got scared and sent the narrator out. And he himself ordered Selifan and Petrushka to urgently pack their things and hit the road as soon as dawn broke.

Chapter 11

Everything went against Pavel Chichikov’s plans: he overslept, and the chaise was not ready because it was in a deplorable state. He yelled at his servants, but this did not help the situation. Our character was extremely angry. At the forge they charged him a large fee because they realized that the order was urgent. And the waiting did not bring pleasure. When they finally set off, they met a funeral procession, our character concluded that this was fortunate.

Chichikov's childhood was not the most joyful and carefree. His mother and father belonged to the nobility. Our hero lost his mother at an early age, she died, and his father was sick very often. He used violence against little Pavel and forced him to study. When Pavlusha became older, his dad gave him to a relative living in the city so that he could go to classes at the city school. Instead of money, his father left him an instruction in which he instructed his son to learn to please other people. He still left 50 kopecks with the instructions.

Our little hero took his father’s words into account with complete seriousness. The educational institution did not arouse interest, but he willingly learned to increase capital. He sold what his comrades treated him to. Once I trained a mouse for two months and also sold it. There was a case when he made a bullfinch from wax and sold it just as successfully. Pavel's teacher valued the good behavior of his students, and therefore our hero, having graduated from the educational institution and received a certificate, received a reward in the form of a book with golden letters. At this time, Chichikov's father dies. After his death, he left Pavel 4 frock coats, 2 sweatshirts and a small sum of money. Our hero sold their old house for 1 thousand rubles, and redirected their family to serfs. Finally, Pavel Ivanovich learns the story of his teacher: he was expelled from an educational institution and, out of grief, the teacher begins to abuse alcohol. Those with whom he taught helped him, but our character cited a lack of money; he allocated only five kopecks.

Fellow students at the educational institution immediately threw away this disrespectful help. When the teacher learned about these events, he cried for a long time. This is where our hero’s military service begins. After all, he wants to live expensively, have a big house and a personal carriage. But everywhere you need acquaintances in high social circles. He got a position with a small annual salary of 30 or 40 rubles. He always tried to look good, he did it perfectly, especially considering the fact that his colleagues had an unkempt appearance. Chichikov tried in every possible way to attract the attention of the boss, but he was indifferent to our hero. Until the main character found the weak point of the authorities, and his weakness is that his already mature and unattractive daughter is still alone. Pavel began to show her signs of attention:

stood next to her whenever possible. Then he was invited to visit for tea, and after a short time he was received into the house as a groom. After a while, the place of the head of office work in the order became vacant in the ward, Chichikov took this position. As soon as he moved up the career ladder, a chest with the things of the prospective groom disappeared from the bride's house, he ran away and stopped calling his boss daddy. Despite all this, he smiled affectionately at his failed father-in-law and invited him to visit him when he met him. The boss remained with the honest understanding that he had been vilely and skillfully deceived.

According to Chichikov, he did the most difficult thing. In a new place, the main character began to fight against those officials who accept material assets from anyone, while he himself turned out to be the one who accepts bribes on a large scale. A project to build a building for the state began, Chichikov took part in this project. For 6 long years, only the foundation of the building was built, while the members of the commission added to their property an elegant building of high architectural value.

Pavel Petrovich began to pamper himself with expensive things: thin Dutch shirts, thoroughbred horses and many other little things. Finally, the old boss was replaced by a new one: a military-trained man, honest, decent, a fighter against corruption. This marked the end of Chichikov’s activity; he was forced to flee to another city and start all over again. In a short time, he changed several low positions in a new place, being in a circle of people who did not correspond to his status, so our hero thought. During his troubles, Pavel was a little drained, but the hero dealt with the troubles and got to a new position, he began working at customs. Chichikov’s dream came true; he was full of energy and put all his strength into his new position. Everyone thought that he was an excellent worker, quick-witted and attentive, he often managed to identify smugglers.

Chichikov was a fierce punisher, honest and incorruptible to such an extent that it did not look entirely natural. He was soon noticed by his superiors, the main character was promoted, after which he provided his superiors with a plan to catch all the smugglers. His elaborate plan was approved. Pavel was given full freedom of action in this area. The criminals felt fear, they even formed a criminal group and planned to bribe Pavel Ivanovich, to which he gave them a secret answer, it said that they needed to wait.

The culmination of Chichikov's machinations had come: when, under the guise of Spanish sheep, smugglers smuggled expensive products. Chichikov earned about 500 thousand from a specific fraud, and the criminals earned at least 400 thousand rubles. Being drunk, our main character came into conflict with a man who also took part in the lace fraud. Because of the event, all of Chichikov’s secret affairs with smugglers were revealed. Our indomitable hero was put on trial, everything that belonged to him was confiscated. He lost almost all his money, but he resolved the issue of criminal prosecution in his favor. Again we had to start from the bottom. He was initiated into all matters, and again managed to gain trust. It was in this place that he learned how to make money from dead peasants. He really liked this possible way of earning money.

He figured out how to earn a lot of capital, but realized that he needed land where souls would be located. And this place is Kherson province. And so he chose a convenient place, explored all the intricacies of the matter, found the right people, and gained their trust. Human passions are of different natures. From birth, our hero lived the life that he preferred for himself in the future. His growing up environment was not favorable. Of course, we ourselves have the right to choose what qualities to develop in ourselves. Someone chooses nobility, honor, dignity, someone sets the main goal of building capital, having a foundation under their feet, in the form of material wealth. But, unfortunately, the most important factor in our choice is that a lot depends on those who have been with the person from the beginning of his life’s journey.

Do not succumb to the weaknesses that drag us down spiritually - this is probably how you can even cope with the pressure of others. Each of us has our own natural essence, and this essence is influenced by culture and worldview. A person has a desire to be human, this is important. Who is Pavel Chichikov for you? Draw your own conclusions. The author showed all the qualities that were in our hero, but imagine that Nikolai Vasilyevich would present the work from a different angle and then you would change your opinion about our hero. Everyone has forgotten that there is no need to be afraid of an honest, direct, open look, there is no need to be afraid to show such a look. After all, it is always easier not to pay attention to this or that action, to forgive someone everything, and to insult someone completely. You should always start your work with yourself, think about how honest you are, whether you have responsibility, whether you laugh at other people’s failures, whether you support a person close to you in moments of despair, whether you have any positive qualities at all.

Well, our hero safely disappeared into a chaise carried by three horses.

Conclusion

The work “Dead Souls” was published in 1842. The author planned to release three volumes. For some unknown reason, the writer destroyed the second volume, but several chapters were preserved in drafts. The third volume remains at the planning stage, very little is known about it. Work on the poem was carried out in various parts of the world. The plot of the novel was suggested to the author by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.

Throughout the entire work, there are comments from the author about how he admires the beautiful views of his homeland and people. The work is considered epic because it touches on everything at once. The novel shows well the human capacity for degradation. Many human shades of character are shown: uncertainty, lack of inner core, stupidity, whim, laziness, greed. Although not all characters were originally like this.

A young, pretty girl marries a rich man who is old enough to be her father. Her social situation is very difficult.

Summary of the Three Brothers of the Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Three Brothers” tells how an old man resolved the issue of inheritance.

Summary Bondarev Choice

While still a young man, the main character Ilya decided to become a strong fighter. He does everything for this, but then the war begins, he ends up at the front. We have to endure the retreat, the stupidity of the commander... Their battery is surrounded by the Germans, Ilya shoots the commander who killed them

/ "Dead Souls"

Chapter I

The action of the poem takes place in one small town, to which Gogol gave the name “NN”. So, one day an interesting chaise pulled up to the city hotel. As the author says, only bachelors travel in such a chaise. In this bachelor’s transport sat a man “not handsome, but not of bad appearance, neither too fat nor too thin; I can’t say that I’m old, but I can’t say that I’m too young.” No one noticed the arrival of this gentleman, except for two peasants who stood at the entrance to the tavern opposite the city hotel. Seeing the chaise approaching, they began to argue whether it would reach Moscow or Kazan.

The visiting gentleman settled in one of the hotel rooms with huge cockroaches that ran from corner to corner. A footman named Petrushka and Selifan also came with him, he was a coachman. While the footman and coachman were sorting out the visiting gentleman's things, he went down to the common room and ordered lunch. During the meal, this gentleman started a conversation with the policeman about the landowners with a large number of peasant souls and the officials of the local city.

The visiting gentleman's name was Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. The next day, Pavel Ivanovich paid a visit to all city authorities and minor officials, including the governor. Chichikov was distinguished by his courtesy and ability to quickly gain the trust of his interlocutor. For example, in front of the governor, he could not get enough of the city roads. For this, the latter invited Pavel Ivanovich to his home to celebrate some event. Other seduced officials invited Chichikov to their home to have tea.

The main character didn't say much about himself. Only that he wants to settle in this city, and therefore wants to get to know all the city officials.

In the evening, Pavel Ivanovich went to visit the governor. There were a lot of people there: men in black tailcoats with white shirts, women in evening dresses. All the men present could be divided into two types: fat and thin. Gogol further tells the reader that thin people are only suitable for small, insignificant matters, while fat people are more judicious and achieve significant results in their activities. The author refers Chichikov specifically to fat people.

In the governor's house, Chichikov and two landowners meet - Manilov and Sobakevich. The landowners invite Pavel Ivanovich to visit their villages.

For a few more days, Chichikov is visited by a city official. In the city of NN, rumors spread about him as a businesslike and decent gentleman.

Chapter II

Pavel Ivanovich lived in the city of NN for about a week, visiting various officials, and then decided to visit his new acquaintances, the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. Next, Gogol describes to us the footman Petrushka. The latter's favorite pastime was reading books. It should be noted that Petrushka read everything in a row, without giving preference. He was silent by nature. Two things stood out about Parsley: he slept and what he wore; there was always the same smell wafting from him.

First of all, Chichikov decided to visit the landowner Manilov. His estate stood on the outskirts, blown by the winds. Near the landowner’s house there was a gazebo on which the inscription “Temple of Solitary Reflection” could be seen. Manilov was very happy about the arrival of his dear guest and immediately invited him to come into the house.

Looking at Manilov, it was very difficult to understand what kind of character he had. Gogol said about Manilov that he was neither this nor that. His facial features were pleasant and seemed like sugar. His manner of speech was inviting and seeking friendship. One can say about Manilov that he was a dreamy person, he hardly looked after the household, but was constantly thinking about something. Once he even wanted to dig an underground tunnel from his house, but this idea remained an idea. In the landowner’s office, a book on one page had been gathering dust for two years. Manilov lived amicably and happily with his wife. And they had two sons - Themistokmos and Alcides.

Chichikov decides to start a business conversation. He asked Manilov for a register of peasants who died after the last census. After this, Pavel Ivanovich makes an amazing offer to the landowner to buy the dead souls of these peasants. According to all the documents, the eyes look as if they were alive and Manilov was obliged to pay tax for them. This proposal plunged the landowner into a daze, but Chichikov assured that everything would be formalized in the proper form. According to the documents, the dead peasants will pass through as if they were alive.

Manilov refuses the money and gives the dead souls of the peasants to Chichikov. After this, Pavel Ivanovich leaves the landowner's estate, and Manilov plunges into his next dreams, seeing how the tsar presents him and Chichikov with general shoulder straps for their strong friendship.

Chapter III

Chichikov leaves Manilov's estate in a very good mood, he is happy about the successful deal. The coachman Selifan, talking to the horse, became completely distracted and drove off the road. Chichikov's chaise drove along the plowed ground and eventually overturned, and Pavel Ivanovich landed in the mud.

Only in the evening the travelers arrived at some village. These were the possessions of Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. Nastasya Petrovna was an elderly and very melancholic woman. She grieved when the harvest failed or the farm suffered losses, but at the same time she gradually saved money and hid it in drawers in chests of drawers. By nature, landowner Korobochka was a very thrifty person.

A separate room was prepared for Chichikov to spend the night with a feather bed fluffed up to the ceiling. The next day Pavel Ivanovich woke up late. His clean clothes were already in the room. Looking out the window, Chichikov saw a large farm, the peasants lived in prosperity, order and cleanliness reigned on the estate.

After this, Pavel Ivanovich went to the room of the owner of the estate and without hesitation immediately started a conversation about selling the dead souls of the peasants. Nastasya Petrovna could not understand what her guest was talking about, but she felt that the business was profitable. Unable to bear it, Chichikov called Korobochka “a strong-willed man,” “a damned old woman.” The landowner refused to sell the dead souls; she wanted to first study the demand so as not to sell them too cheap. Still, Chichikov manages to persuade Nastasya Petrovna to sell him the dead souls of the peasants. For this he bought honey and hemp from the landowner. Korobochka was happy with this deal, she treated Pavel Ivanovich, after which he left the landowner’s estate.

Chapter IV

Deciding to have a snack, Chichikov stops at a tavern. There he strikes up a conversation with the owner of this establishment. She says that she knows the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich well. From her words one can understand that Manilov is a delicate person. He liked to order a lot of dishes, but he didn’t eat everything, he only tried it. Sobakevich, on the contrary, ordered one dish, which he ate completely, then asked for additional food, for which he necessarily paid extra.

At this time, Chichikov’s acquaintance Nozdryov appeared at the tavern. Nozdryov was a landowner. He was distinguished by average height, strong physique, snow-white teeth and tar sideburns. He was a man who radiated health. Nozdryov began the conversation with Chichikov by visiting a fair, where he spent all his money and things. He addresses Pavel Ivanovich as if he were an old friend, scolding him for the fact that he has not yet come to visit him. Later, Nozdryov brings Chichikov to his estate.

Next, Gogol introduces us to the personality of the landowner Nozdryov. The author says about the landowner that he was a reveler, that he was one of those who often makes friends and one who often finds himself beaten by new friends. Next we learn that his wife had already died, leaving two children with whom the landowner did not care at all. Nozdryov never sat at home, but constantly traveled to fairs and balls. Loved to play cards. Since he did not play honestly, he often returned home beaten and shabby. And what’s most amazing is that he could be friends with his offenders the very next day.

Nozdryov was a liar by nature. He often started stories about a pink or blue horse. The landowner loved to annoy his close people and friends by spreading rumors and telling tall tales. He was restless. At any moment he could take off and drive wherever his eyes lead. He offered ridiculous exchanges of everything for everything. And he did this not for profit, but for the sake of action and his curious character.

Nozdryov's estate was as reckless as its owner. There was a construction goat in the dining room of the house. On it, men whitewashed the walls. Nozdryov immediately took Chichikov to inspect his estate. The landowner had many dogs of all stripes. Their nicknames were very original: shoot, scold, bake.

At about five o'clock in the evening, Nozdryov invited Chichikov to dinner. Food, like everything else in the landowner's house, was not the main thing. Some dishes were burnt, others were damp. During the meal, Pavel Ivanovich starts a conversation about selling dead souls. The landowner agrees to the deal with one condition: Chichikov had to buy another horse with a dog and a barrel organ. Pavel Ivanovich does not agree to this.

The next day, Nozdryov invites Chichikov to play checkers for dead souls. The latter agrees. During the game, Chichikov notices that the landowner is not playing fairly and stops the game. When Nozdryov orders the servants to beat Pavel Ivanovich. At this moment, a police captain enters Nozdryov’s estate and reminds Nozdryov that he is on trial for beating the landowner Maksimov. Chichikov, taking advantage of the moment, leaves Nozdrev’s estate.

Chapter V

On the way to the village of Sobakevich, the coachman Selifan, unable to control the chaise, collides with another chaise harnessed to six horses. The reins got tangled and both vehicles got stuck on the road. This event attracted the attention of local men who gave ridiculous advice to the coachmen, thereby preventing the problem from being quickly resolved. In the chaise, Chichikov noticed an old woman and a girl with golden hair. She looked to be about sixteen years old. Chichikov liked the young lady, and he tried to start a conversation, but it didn’t work out. At this time, the reins were unraveled and the travelers dispersed.

Sobakevich's estate was significant in size. Everything about it was made to last. It was noticeable that the owner was busy with the housework, because order reigned everywhere.

Gogol compared Sobakevich to a “medium-sized bear.” This image was emphasized by a bear-colored tailcoat, long sleeves and trousers, and a clubbed gait. His face was red-hot. The landowner did not turn his neck at all. Because of this, I almost never looked at my interlocutor. In addition, Sobakevich’s name was Mikhail Semenovich.

Sobakevich invited Chichikov to go into the living room for dinner. In the living room hung huge paintings depicting Greek commanders. They were all depicted with “thick thighs and incredible mustaches.”

All household utensils seemed to resemble their owner and complement him. For example, in the corner of the living room there was a “pot-bellied walnut bureau on the most absurd four legs,” which resembled a bear.

For about five minutes Chichikov, Sobakevich and his wife sat in silence. To start the conversation, Pavel Ivanovich decided to talk about city officials. Sobakevich immediately spoke unflatteringly about them, calling them swindlers and hypocrites.

The lunch dishes were very nutritious. The landowner lived by the rule: if pork is served for dinner, then you need to eat the whole pig. Lamb and beef were treated the same way. To confirm this rule, Sobakevich ate most of the side of lamb on his own, even gnawing the bones.

Later, when Sobakevich’s wife left the living room, Chichikov started talking about buying dead peasant souls. Sobakevich immediately wanted to sell them at a price of one hundred rubles per head. He explained the price by saying that all the peasants were masters of their craft and were famous throughout the area. Pavel Ivanovich was embarrassed by this price and after long negotiations the parties agreed on a price of 2.5 rubles per head.

Later, Chichikov leaves Sobakevich’s village very dissatisfied. He believes that Sobakevich simply robbed him. Pavel Ivanovich goes to the estate of the landowner Plyushkin.

Chapter VI

The village of Plyushkin was a mirror image of the village of Sobakevich. The houses here were very dilapidated, their roofs were full of holes, and there was no glass in the windows at all. Behind the village huts one could see huge stacks of the owner's bread, only they had been lying there for a long time and were overgrown with grass.

Gogol compares Plyushkin’s house to a “decrepit disabled person.” Almost all the windows were boarded up, and the plaster on the walls was crumbling. An old, withered garden grew around the house. Everything around said that once there was a vibrant life here, but now everything is dead and in oblivion.

In the center of the yard, Chichikov noticed “some figure” who was quarreling with a man. It was impossible to understand who it was: a man or a woman. She was wearing women's clothes and had a bunch of keys hanging from her belt. Deciding that it was a woman, Chichikov called out to her and said that the master was waiting for him. She told him to go into the house.

The house felt cold and damp from the basement. The situation inside the house was even worse than outside. It seemed as if all the furniture had been demolished into one room. The table was littered with some papers, glasses with liquid in which men were floating. The whole thing was covered with a thick layer of dust. What was not needed was simply piled in the corner of the room.

A little later, the figure of a woman from the yard, already familiar to Chichikov, appears in the room. As it turned out, it was Plyushkin. He was a man with a huge chin, small eyes and thick eyebrows. His clothes were so worn and greasy that it was impossible to tell what he was wearing. In appearance, Plyushkin looked like the most ordinary beggar who begs for alms from the church.

In fact, Plyushkin was one of the richest landowners in this region. He had more than a thousand serfs. Its storerooms and barns were filled with goods. But this was not enough for the landowner. Every day he collected all sorts of things from around the village and dragged everything into the house, dumping it in the corners.

Gogol further tells us that Plyushkin was not always like this. He used to be an exemplary owner. His farm worked like clockwork, bringing huge profits to its owner. But after the death of his wife, Plyushkin changed, he began to get greedy every day. After his eldest daughter ran away from home to the headquarters captain, Plyushkin cursed her, the estate became even more empty. The son of a landowner, without his father's permission, decided to enlist in military service. After he lost at cards, Plyushkin cursed him too, and was never interested in his fate again. When his youngest daughter died, Plyushkin was left alone with everything. This loneliness gave rise to an irresistible feeling of greed and stinginess in him every day.

Soon traders stopped visiting Plyushkin’s estate. All the landowner's goods turned into decay, and the estate fell into disrepair.

Plyushkin began his conversation with Chichikov by saying that he was very poor. Pavel Ivanovich offered him help in the form of purchasing dead souls. Plyushkin was very happy about this and even treated Chichikov to tea with mossy crackers.

Chichikov bought more than one hundred and twenty dead souls from Plyushkin. After that, he returned in excellent spirits to his city hotel room.

Chapter VII

Waking up in the morning, Chichikov began to study the lists of acquired peasant souls. During the time that Pavel Ivanovich was in the city of “NN” he managed to buy four hundred dead souls. Getting acquainted with their names, he thought about the hard life of a simple serf. In one of the lists of peasants whom Chichikov bought from Sobakevich, he discovered a woman’s name: Sparrow Elizaveta. After this, Pavel Ivanovich said: “Sobakevich is a scoundrel, and he cheated here too!”

A little later, Chichikov went to the chairman of the chamber of judges to formalize the deed of sale. There he met Manilov and Sobakevich. Pavel Ivanovich wandered around the offices of officials for a long time until he gave in to his paw. After completing the deal, he went to the chairman to wash the purchase. Chichikov told everyone that he was buying peasants to export to the Kherson province. At one moment he himself believed what was said. All evening everyone drank to Pavel Ivanovich and to his future bride, whom they wanted to find in the city.

Chapter VIII

After high-profile purchases, Chichikov found himself in the center of attention of all residents of the city “NN”. He began to be revered as a very rich and noble man. Everyone around him treated him with love and care. Also at this time, Pavel Ivanovich began to be in demand among the female population of the city.

One day Chichikov was invited to another ball, which took place in the governor’s house. There Pavel Ivanovich was person number one. There wasn't a minute when someone didn't hug Chichikov or shake his hand. The women surrounded the main character in a tight ring and kept him busy with their conversations. In an instant, Chichikov noticed the golden-haired girl whom he had tried to meet earlier, on the way to Sobakevich’s village. It turns out that she was the daughter of the governor. Pavel Ivanovich immediately turned his attention to her. The girl, as if not noticing his signs of attention, yawned periodically. The surrounding ladies were angry with Chichikov’s behavior.

A little later, the landowner Nozdryov appears at the ball, who loudly declares that Chichikov is not buying up peasants, but their dead souls. None of those present paid any attention to Nozdryov’s words, because the landowner was known as a notorious liar. Pavel Ivanovich spent the rest of the evening with a negative feeling in his soul.

At the height of the ball at the governor's house, a chaise resembling a fat watermelon drove into the city. The landowner Korobochka was sitting in it, who came to find out the true price of the dead souls that she sold to Chichikov.

Chapter IX

The next day, one resident of the city “NN” came to her friend and told her the news: Chichikov was buying the dead souls of peasants. The landowner Korobochka, who personally sold them to him, said this.

Without thinking twice, the ladies decided that all this was just a cover. The true target is the governor's daughter, whom Chichikov planned to kidnap. This news spread throughout the city at the speed of light. The townspeople simply rebelled. Everything was confused in their heads, and no one could understand what was the matter. The news grew with new details every day. Perhaps Pavel Ivanovich abandoned his wife for the sake of the governor’s daughter, whom he secretly met in the moonlight. City officials were also alarmed when they heard the news about the purchase of dead souls. Everyone began to look for sins in themselves that did not exist.

Just at the climax of the news about Chichikov, the governor receives a message about an escaped criminal. This completely confused everyone. And to find the truth, city officials went to the police chief.

Chapter X

All city officials were excited by the events taking place. Only the postmaster was calm and balanced. He told those gathered that Pavel Ivanovich was Captain Kopeikin and told the story of captain Kopeikin.

Captain Kopeikin lost an arm and a leg during the military campaign of '12. Together with the wounded soldiers he was taken to St. Petersburg. As it turned out, there were no orders regarding the wounded, and the captain found himself in a hopeless state. To clarify the situation, he decides to go to the sovereign. In St. Petersburg, Captain Kopeikin rents the cheapest room, after which he goes to the nobleman to ask for the sovereign's favor.

After standing in line for about four hours, Kopeikin managed to talk with the nobleman. The latter asked him to come back in a few days. The next day Kopeikin again came to the nobleman. He stated that it was necessary to wait for the king’s order regarding the wounded. The captain couldn't wait. He enters the nobleman's house and declares that he will not budge until his problem is solved. For such behavior, Kopeikin was expelled from St. Petersburg. No one heard from the captain again. A few months later, rumors spread that a gang of robbers led by Captain Kopeikin was operating in the forests near Ryazan.

This story did not make much of an impression on those present. Chichikov had both arms and legs intact, so he could not be Captain Kopeikin. Then the idea appeared that Pavel Ivanovich was Napoleon. To confirm this idea, officials turn to the landowner Nozdryov. He confirms that Chichikov is a sent Cossack. These rumors most likely caused the prosecutor to have a heart attack and die upon arriving home.

Due to illness, Chichikov lay in his room for three days and knew nothing about the events taking place in the city. After his recovery, he decides to visit city officials, but no one will let him in anymore. Towards evening, Nozdryov comes to Pavel Ivanovich, who tells him about what happened. Chichikov decides to leave the city as quickly as possible and tells Selifan to prepare the chaise for the trip.

Chapter XI

The next day, Chichikov failed to quickly leave the city of NN. Selifan did not prepare the chaise (the horses needed to be shoed and the wheel re-strung), and Pavel Ivanovich himself woke up late. All this preparation took about five more hours. After that, Chichikov got into the chaise and they set off.

One of the city streets was blocked by a funeral procession. Pavel Ivanovich hid in the chaise because he did not want to be seen. After a while, the chaise finally left the city.

Chichikov was born into a noble family. Pavlusha grew up without friends in a small room. Later, his father moved him to the city, where the main character began to attend school. Father Chichikov's last instructions were the words: “Most of all, please teachers and bosses.” They became the main principle of the life of the main character.

Chichikov did not have any special skills for education. He was always a modest and quiet student. Pavel Ivanovich was a man with a practical mindset. He did not spend the fifty dollars that his father left him, but managed to increase it by selling baked goods to his comrades. All his life Chichikov saved money not out of greed. He wanted a beautiful and well-fed life.

Later he entered the service of the treasury chamber, where he occupied the lowest position. There he pleases the boss as best he can, shows signs of attention to his daughter, and even promises to take her as his wife. Later, having received a higher position, Chichikov forgets about marriage.

After a while, he became a member of the commission for the construction of a state-owned house. Construction continued for six years, but the state house was never built. But each member of the commission got his own brand new house. Later the boss was changed, and all property was confiscated.

Chichikov was again left penniless. He gets a job at customs. There he shows his abilities in searching smugglers, for which he receives a promotion. After this, Pavel Ivanovich enters into an agreement with the smugglers, receiving huge profits from this. Over time, this connection became obvious, and Chichikov was put on trial. Somehow the main character escapes criminal punishment. He again loses his fortune.

After this, he comes up with the idea of buying dead souls, because with them he can get a bank loan and escape with the money. It is for this purpose that Chichikov comes to the city of “NN”.

Gogol treats his hero as an acquirer of the owner. Many people may not like him. To which the author recommends that everyone look into their soul and answer the question: “Isn’t there some part of Chichikov in me too?”

The poem ends with Chichikov’s chaise rushing along the road, and the main character himself smiles, as he loves driving fast.

Chapter One

“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 for a shorter acquaintance at home. 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 birch trees, a wooden gazebo and a 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 the first moment the interlocutor thought: “What a pleasant and 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 his dues, 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 sitting in the shops and selling various goods. He had beautiful furniture in his house, but two armchairs were not upholstered in silk, and the owner had 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 it. Manilov was very pleased with his wife, 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 sane guest might have many questions: why is the pantry empty and why is there so much and senseless 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 against birds, and from them there are scarecrows with outstretched arms; one of these scarecrows was wearing the cap of the hostess herself. The appearance of 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, crumpets and shanezhki, and a promise was made from him to also buy lard and bird feathers in the fall. 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 elderly woman accompanying her. 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 the tailcoat he was wearing 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 neglected grain, 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 unattended.

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 not enough to Plyushkin - 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 how to run a 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 goodness 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 celebrated, and in the next room the guests were already waiting for a decently laid table with wines and snacks, of which a huge sturgeon stood out. 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, took a long time to attend to 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 climbed 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 was exclusively concerned with the kidnapping of the governor's daughter, and the men's party with 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 at the chief of police, 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, he had only his left hand. Kopeikin decided to go to St. Petersburg to ask for the royal favor. , he spilled, he remained disabled... And so he tried to rent an apartment in St. Petersburg, but it turned out to be unusually expensive. In the end, he stayed in a tavern for a ruble a day. He 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, fourth or fifth class officials.

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, a maker of false papers and a kidnapper 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 flux, 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 came 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 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 a beautiful house, and carriages. 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 officer, an unapproachable man, with a complete absence of any emotion on his face. Trying to approach from 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 chief 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, while in fact he himself turned out to be a major bribe-taker. Chichikov's next business was participation in the commission for the construction of some state-owned, very capital building, 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 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 began 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 his superiors, and soon Chichikov was promoted, and then he presented his superiors 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 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?”

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 move aside and give way to it.”