DEAD SOULS

Volume 1

CHAPTER 1

At the gate of the hotel in the provincial town of NN, a britzka drove in, in which the gentleman “is not handsome, but not bad-looking, not too fat, not too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young. This gentleman is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. At the hotel, he eats a hearty meal. The author describes the provincial town: “The houses were one, two and one and a half stories high, with an eternal mezzanine, very beautiful, according to provincial architects.

In places, these houses seemed lost among the wide, field-like streets and endless wooden fences; in some places they crowded together, and here there was noticeably more movement of the people and liveliness. There were signs almost washed away by the rain with pretzels and boots, in some places with painted blue trousers and the signature of some Arshavian tailor; where is the store with caps, caps and the inscription: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov” ... Most often, darkened double-headed state eagles were noticeable, which have now been replaced by a laconic inscription: “Drinking House”. The pavement was bad everywhere.”

Chichikov pays visits to city officials - the governor, vice-governor, chairman of the chamber * prosecutor, police chief, as well as the inspector of the medical board, the city architect. Chichikov builds excellent relations everywhere and with everyone with the help of flattery, gains confidence in each of those whom he visited. Each of the officials invites Pavel Ivanovich to visit him, although little is known about him.

Chichikov attended a ball at the governor's, where “he somehow knew how to find himself in everything and showed in himself an experienced secular person. Whatever the conversation was about, he always knew how to support it: if it was about a horse farm, he talked about a horse farm; whether they talked about good dogs, and here he reported very sensible remarks; whether they interpreted it with regard to the investigation carried out by the Treasury, he showed that he was not unfamiliar with judicial tricks; whether there was a discussion about the billiard game - and in the billiard game he did not miss; whether they talked about virtue, and he talked about virtue very well, even with tears in his eyes; about making hot wine, and in hot wine he knew Zrok; about customs overseers and officials, and he judged them as if he himself were both an official and an overseer. But it is remarkable that he knew how to clothe all this with some degree, knew how to behave well. He spoke neither loudly nor softly, but exactly as he should. At the ball, he met the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich, whom he also managed to win over. Chichikov finds out the condition of their estates and how many peasants they have. Manilov and Sobakevich invite Chichikov to their estate. While visiting the chief of police, Chichikov met the landowner Nozdrev, "a man of about thirty, a broken fellow."

CHAPTER 2

Chichikov has two servants - the coachman Selifan and the footman Petrushka. The latter reads a lot and everything in a row, while he is not interested in what he has read, but in folding letters into words. In addition, Parsley has a "special smell" because he very rarely goes to the bathhouse.

Chichikov goes to the Manilov estate. For a long time he cannot find his estate. “The village of Manilovka could lure a few with its location. The master's house stood alone in the south, that is, on a hill, open to all the winds that only take it into their head to blow; the slope of the mountain on which he stood was dressed in trimmed turf. Two or three flowerbeds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes were scattered on it in the English style; here and there five or six birches in small clusters raised their small-leaved thin tops. Beneath two of them was a gazebo with a flat green dome, blue wooden columns and the inscription: "Temple of Solitary Reflection"; lower down is a pond covered with greenery, which, however, is not a wonder in the English gardens of Russian landowners. At the foot of this elevation, and partly along the slope itself, gray log huts darkened up and down ... ”Manilov is glad to have a guest. The author describes the landowner and his household: “He was a prominent person; his features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have been conveyed too much sugar; in his manners and turns there was something ingratiating himself with favors and acquaintances. He smiled enticingly, was blond, with blue eyes. In the first minute of a conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and kind person!” In the next minute you will not say anything, and in the third you will say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and move away if you don’t move away, you will feel mortal boredom. You won’t expect any lively or even arrogant word from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch on a subject that provokes him ... You can’t say that he was engaged in farming, he never even went to the fields, farming somehow went on by itself. .. Sometimes, looking from the porch at the yard and at the pond, he would talk about how nice it would be if all of a sudden to lead an underground passage from the house or build a stone bridge across the pond, on which there would be shops on both sides, and so that in merchants sat there and sold various small goods needed by the peasants ... All these projects ended with only one word. In his study there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on the fourteenth page, which he had been constantly reading for two years. Something was always missing in his house: in the living room there was beautiful furniture, upholstered in smart silk fabric, which, no doubt, was very expensive; but it was not enough for two armchairs, and the armchairs were simply upholstered with matting ... In the evening, a very smart candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces, with a mother-of-pearl smart shield, was placed on the table, and next to it was placed some kind of simple copper invalid, lame, curled up on the side and covered in fat, although neither the owner, nor the hostess, nor the servants noticed this.

Manilov's wife is very suitable for him in character. There is no order in the house, because she does not follow anything. She is well brought up, she received her upbringing in a boarding school, “and in boarding houses, as you know, three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: the French language, which is necessary for the happiness of family life, the piano, for composing pleasant moments for a spouse, and, finally, the economic part itself: knitting purses and other surprises.

Manilov and Chichikov show an exaggerated courtesy towards each other, which brings them to the point that they both squeeze through the same door at the same time. The Manilovs invite Chichikov to dinner, which is attended by both of Manilov's sons: Themistoclus and Alkid. The first has a runny nose and bites his brother's ear. Alkid, swallowing tears, all smeared with fat, eats a leg of lamb.

At the end of dinner, Manilov and Chichikov go to the owner's office, where they have a business conversation. Chichikov asks Manilov for revision tales - a detailed register of peasants who died after the last census. He wants to buy dead souls. Manilov is amazed. Chichikov convinces him that everything will happen in accordance with the law, that the tax will be paid. Manilov finally calms down and gives away the dead souls for free, believing that he has rendered Chichikov a great service. Chichikov leaves, and Manilov indulges in dreams, in which it comes to the point that for their strong friendship with Chichikov, the tsar will grant both of them the rank of general.

CHAPTER 3

Chichikov is poisoned at Sobakevich's estate, but gets caught in heavy rain and loses his way. His cart flips over and falls into the mud. Nearby is the estate of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, where Chichikov comes. He goes into the room, which “was hung with old striped wallpaper; pictures with some birds; between the windows there are small antique mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves; behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old pack of cards, or a stocking; a wall clock with painted flowers on the dial ... it was impossible to notice anything else ... A minute later the hostess entered, an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners, who cry for crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they collect a little money in colorful bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers ... "

Korobochka leaves Chichikov to spend the night in his house. In the morning, Chichikov starts a conversation with her about selling dead souls. The box cannot understand why he needs them, he offers to buy honey or hemp from her. She is constantly afraid to sell cheap. Chichikov manages to convince her to agree to the deal only after he tells a lie about himself - that he conducts government contracts, promises to buy both honey and hemp from her in the future. The box believes it. Bidding has been going on for a long time, after which the deal did take place. Chichikov keeps his papers in a box, consisting of many compartments and having a secret drawer for money.

CHAPTER 4

Chichikov stops at a tavern, to which Nozdryov's chaise soon drives up. Nozdryov is “of medium height, a very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, and sideburns as black as pitch. He was fresh as blood and milk; health seemed to spurt from his face. He said with a very pleased look that he lost, and lost not only his money,

I but also the money of his son-in-law Mizhuev, who is present right there. Nozdryov invites Chichikov to his place, promising a tasty treat. He himself drinks in a tavern at the expense of his son-in-law. The author characterizes Nozdryov as a “broken fellow”, from that breed of people who “even in childhood and at school are known as good comrades and, for all that, are heavily beaten painfully ... They soon get to know each other, and before you have time to look back, as they already say you "you". Friendship will start, it seems, forever: but it almost always happens that the one who makes friends will fight with them that same evening at a friendly feast. They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, prominent people. Nozdryov at thirty-five was exactly the same as he had been at eighteen and twenty: a go-getter. His marriage did not change him at all, especially since his wife soon departed for the next world, leaving behind two children who he absolutely did not need ... At home, he could not sit for more than a day. His sensitive nose could hear him for several tens of miles, where there was a fair with all sorts of congresses and balls; he was already there in the twinkling of an eye, arguing and causing confusion at the green table, for, like all such, he had a passion for cards ... Nozdryov was in a certain sense a historical person. Not a single meeting he attended was without a story. Some kind of story was bound to happen: either they would lead him out of the gendarme hall by the arms, or they would be forced to push him out of his own buddies ... And he would lie completely without any need: he would suddenly tell that he had a horse of some blue or pink wool, and such nonsense, so that the listeners finally all move away, saying: “Well, brother, it seems you have already begun to pour bullets.”

Nozdrev refers to those people who have "a passion to spoil their neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all." His favorite pastime was to exchange things and lose money and property. Arriving at Nozdryov's estate, Chichikov sees an unsightly stallion, about which Nozdryov says that he paid ten thousand for him. He shows a kennel where a dubious breed of dog is kept. Nozdrev is a master of lies. He talks about the fact that in his pond there is a fish of unusual size, that on his Turkish daggers there is a brand of a famous master. The dinner to which this landowner invited Chichikov was bad.

Chichikov begins business negotiations, while saying that he needs dead souls for a profitable marriage, so that the bride's parents believe that he is a wealthy person. Nozdryov is going to donate dead souls and, in addition, he is trying to sell a stallion, a mare, a hurdy-gurdy, and so on. Chichikov flatly refuses. Nozdryov invites him to play cards, which Chichikov also refuses. For this refusal, Nozdryov orders to feed Chichikov's horse not with oats, but with hay, which the guest is offended by. Nozdryov does not feel awkward, and in the morning, as if nothing had happened, he invites Chichikov to play checkers. He recklessly agrees. The landlord starts cheating. Chichikov accuses him of this, Nozdryov climbs in to fight, calls the servants and orders to beat the guest. Suddenly, a police captain appears, who arrests Nozdryov for insulting the landowner Maksimov while drunk. Nozdryov refuses everything, says that he does not know any Maksimov. Chichikov quickly leaves.

CHAPTER 5

Through the fault of Selifan, Chichikov's chaise collides with another chaise, in which two ladies are traveling - an elderly and sixteen-year-old very beautiful girl. The men gathered from the village separate the horses. Chichikov is shocked by the beauty of the young girl, and after the carts have parted, he thinks about her for a long time. The traveler drives up to the village of Mikhail Semenovich Sobakevich. “A wooden house with a mezzanine, a red roof and dark or, better, wild walls - a house like those we build for military settlements and German colonists. It was noticeable that during the construction of its architect, he constantly fought with the taste of the owner. The architect was a pedant and wanted symmetry, the owner - convenience and, apparently, as a result of this he boarded up all the corresponding windows on one side and turned 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 to be thrown out from the side, and therefore there were not four columns, as it was appointed, but only three. The yard was surrounded by a strong and unreasonably thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be fussing a lot about strength. For the stables, sheds 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, and other frills, but everything was fitted tightly and properly. Even the well was lined with such strong oak, which is used only for mills and ships. In a word, everything he looked at was stubbornly, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order.

The owner himself seems to Chichikov like a bear. “To complete the resemblance, the tailcoat on him was completely bearish in color, the sleeves were long, the pantaloons were long, he stepped with his feet and at random and stepped incessantly on other people's legs. The complexion was red-hot, hot, which happens on a copper penny ... "

Sobakevich had a habit of expressing himself straightforwardly about everything. About the governor, he says that he is "the first robber in the world," and the police chief is a "swindler." Sobakevich eats a lot at dinner. He tells the guest about his neighbor Plyushkin, a very stingy man who owns eight hundred peasants.

Chichikov says that he wants to buy dead souls, to which Sobakevich is not surprised, but immediately starts bidding. He promises to sell 100 rudders for each dead soul, while saying that the dead were real masters. Trade for a long time. In the end, they agree on three rubles apiece, and at the same time draw up a document, since each fears dishonesty on the part of the other. Sobakevich offers to buy female dead souls cheaper, but Chichikov refuses, although it later turns out that the landowner nevertheless entered one woman in the bill of sale. Chichikov leaves. On the way, he asks the peasant how to get to Plyushkina. The chapter ends with a lyrical digression about the Russian language. “The Russian people are expressing themselves strongly! and if he rewards someone with a word, then it will go to his family and offspring, he will drag him with him to service, and retirement, and to St. . And where is everything that came out of the depths of Russia, where there are neither German, nor Chukhonian, nor any other tribes, and everything is itself a nugget, a lively and lively Russian mind that does not climb into a pocket for a word, does not hatch it out? , like a hen chickens, but immediately slaps 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 in one line from head to toe! Just as a myriad of churches, monasteries with domes, domes, and crosses are scattered over holy, pious Rus', so a myriad of tribes, generations, and peoples throng, dazzle, and rush about on the face of the earth. And every people, bearing in itself a guarantee of strength, full of the creative abilities of the soul, its bright features and other gifts of the foot, each in a peculiar way distinguished itself by its own word, which, expressing any object, reflects in the expression of it a part of its own character. The word of the Briton will echo with the knowledge of the heart and the wise knowledge of life; The short-lived word of a Frenchman will flash and scatter like a light dandy; the German will intricately invent his own, not accessible to everyone, cleverly thin word; but there is no word that would be so bold, so smartly burst out from under the very heart, so seething and quivering like a well-spoken Russian word.

CHAPTER 6

The chapter begins with a lyrical digression about travel. “Before, a long time ago, in the summers of my youth, in the summers of my irretrievably flashed childhood, it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time: it doesn’t matter whether it was a village, a poor county town, a village, a suburb, - I discovered a lot of curious things in him a childlike curious look. Every building, everything that bore only on itself the imprint of some noticeable feature, everything stopped and amazed me ... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance; my chilled gaze is uncomfortable, it’s not funny to me, and what in previous years would have awakened a lively movement in the face, laughter and incessant speeches, now slips by, and my motionless lips keep an indifferent silence. O my youth! O my freshness!

Chichikov goes to Plyushkin's estate, for a long time he cannot find the master's house. Finally finds a "strange castle" that looks like a "decrepit invalid". “In places it was one floor, in places two; on the dark roof, which did not reliably protect his old age everywhere, two belvederes stuck out, one opposite the other, both already tottering, deprived of the paint that once covered them. The walls of the house slitted bare stucco lattice in places and, apparently, suffered a lot from all sorts of bad weather, rains, whirlwinds and autumn changes. Of the windows, only two were open; the rest were shuttered or even boarded up. These two windows, for their part, were also half-sighted; one of them had a dark pasted triangle of blue sugar paper. Chichikov meets a man of indeterminate sex (he cannot understand whether this is a man or a woman). He decides that this is the housekeeper, but then it turns out that this is the rich landowner Stepan Plyushkin. The author tells how Plyushkin came to such a life. In the past, he was a thrifty landowner, he had a wife who was famous for hospitality, and three children. But after the death of his wife, "Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy." He cursed his daughter, as she ran away and married an officer of the cavalry regiment. The youngest daughter died, and the son, instead of studying, decided to join the military. Every year Plyushkin became more stingy. Very soon the merchants stopped taking goods from him, because they could not bargain with the landowner. All his goods - hay, wheat, flour, canvas - everything rotted. Plyushkin, on the other hand, saved up everything, and at the same time picked up other people's things that he didn’t need at all. His stinginess knew no bounds: for all Plyushkin's household there were only boots, he kept rusk for several months, he knew exactly how much liquor he had in his decanter, because he made marks. When Chichikov tells him what he came for, Plyushkin is very happy. He offers the guest to buy not only dead souls, but also runaway peasants. Traded. The received money hides in a box. It is clear that this money, like others, he will never use. Chichikov leaves, to the great joy of the owner, refusing the treat. Returns to the hotel.

CHAPTER 7

The narrative begins with a lyrical digression about two types of writers. “Happy is the writer who, past the characters of boring, nasty, striking in their sad reality, approaches characters that show the high dignity of a person who, from the great pool of daily revolving images, chose only a few exceptions, who never changed the sublime order of his lyre, did not descend from his peak to his poor, insignificant brethren, and, without touching the earth, all plunged into his images far torn away from her and exalted ... indifferent eyes do not see - all the terrible, amazing ^ lanu of trifles that have entangled our life, the whole depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters that our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring road is teeming with, and with the strong force of the inexorable chisel that dares to expose them convexly and brightly on public eyes! He cannot gather popular applause, he cannot see grateful tears and the unanimous delight of the souls excited by him ... Without division, without answer, without participation, like a familyless traveler, he will remain alone in the middle of the road. Severe is his field, and he will bitterly feel his loneliness.

After all the registered merchants, Chichikov becomes the owner of four hundred dead souls. He reflects on who these people were in life. Leaving the hotel on the street, Chichikov meets Manilov. Together they go to make a bill of sale. In the office, Chichikov gives a bribe to the official Ivan Antonovich Kuvshinnoye Rylo to speed up the process. However, the giving of a bribe goes unnoticed - the official covers the banknote with a book, and it seems to disappear. Sobakevich sits at the head. Chichikov arranges for the bill of sale to be completed within a day, since he supposedly needs to leave urgently. He gives the chairman a letter from Plyushkin, in which he asks him to be an attorney in his case, to which the chairman gladly agrees.

Documents are drawn up in the presence of witnesses, Chichikov pays only half of the fee to the treasury, while the other half "was attributed in some incomprehensible way to the account of another petitioner." After a successful deal, everyone goes to dinner at the police chief, during which Sobakevich eats a huge sturgeon alone. The tipsy guests ask Chichikov to stay and decide to marry him. Chichikov informs the audience that he is buying peasants for withdrawal to the Kherson province, where he has already acquired an estate. He himself believes in what he says. Parsley and Se-lifan, after sending the drunken owner to the hotel, go for a walk in a tavern.

CHAPTER 8

Residents of the city are discussing what Chichikov bought. Everyone tries to offer him help in delivering the peasants to the place. Among the proposed - a convoy, a police captain to pacify a possible rebellion, enlightenment of serfs. A description of the city dwellers follows: “they were all kind people, living in harmony with each other, treated in a completely friendly way, and their conversations bore the stamp of some special simplicity and brevity: “Dear friend Ilya Ilyich”, “Listen, brother, Antipator Zakharyevich!”... To the postmaster, whose name was Ivan Andreyevich, they always added: “Sprechen zadeich, Ivan Andreich?” - in a word, everything was very family. Many were not without education: the chairman of the chamber knew by heart Zhukovsky’s “Lyudmila”, which was still news that had not caught a cold ... The postmaster went more into philosophy and read very diligently, even at night, Jung’s “Nights” and “The Key to the Mysteries of Nature ” Eckartshausen, from which he made very long extracts ... he was witty, flowery in words and loved, as he himself put it, to equip speech. Others were also more or less enlightened people: some read Karamzin, some Moskovskiye Vedomosti, some even read nothing at all... It is already known about plausibility, they were all reliable consumptive people, there was no one among them. All were of the kind to which the wives, in tender conversations taking place in solitude, gave names: egg-pods, plump, pot-bellied, nigella, kiki, buzz, and so on. But in general they were kind people, full of hospitality, and a person who ate bread with them or spent an evening playing whist was already becoming something close ... "

The ladies of the city were "what they call presentable, and in this respect they could be safely set as an example to everyone else ... They dressed with great taste, drove around the city in carriages, as the latest fashion prescribed, a lackey swayed behind, and a livery in gold braids ... In morals, the ladies of the city of N. were strict, full of noble indignation against everything vicious and all sorts of temptations, they executed all weaknesses without any mercy ... It must also be said that the ladies of the city of N. were distinguished, like many ladies from St. Petersburg, by unusual caution and propriety in words and expressions. They never said: “I blew my nose”, “I sweated”, “I spat”, but they said: “I relieved my nose”, “I managed with a handkerchief”. In no case was it possible to say: "this glass or this plate stinks." And you couldn't even say anything that would give a hint of this, but instead they said: "this glass is not behaving well" or something like that. In order to ennoble the Russian language even more, almost half of the words were completely thrown out of the conversation, and therefore it was very often necessary to resort to the French language, but there, in French, it’s another matter: such words were allowed there that were much harder than those mentioned.

All the ladies of the city are delighted with Chichikov, one of them even sent him a love letter. Chichikov is invited to the governor's ball. Before the ball, he spins for a long time in front of the mirror. At the ball, he is in the spotlight, trying to figure out who the author of the letter is. The governor introduces Chichikov to her daughter - the very girl he saw in the britzka. He almost falls in love with her, but she misses his company. Other ladies are outraged that all of Chichikov's attention goes to the governor's daughter. Suddenly, Nozdryov appears, who tells the governor about how Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from him. The news quickly spreads, while the ladies pass it on as if they do not believe in it, since everyone knows the reputation of Nozdryov. Korobochka comes to the city at night, who is interested in the prices of dead souls - she is afraid that she has sold too cheap.

CHAPTER 9

The chapter describes the visit of a "pleasant lady" to a "lady pleasant in every way". Her visit falls an hour earlier than the usual time for visits in the city - she is in such a hurry to tell the news she has heard. The lady tells her friend that Chichikov is a robber in disguise, who demanded that Korobochka sell him dead peasants. The ladies decide that the dead souls are just a pretext, in fact Chichikov is going to take the governor's daughter away. They discuss the behavior of the girl, herself, recognize her as unattractive, mannered. The husband of the mistress of the house appears - the prosecutor, to whom the ladies tell the news, which confuses him.

The men of the city are discussing the purchase of Chichikov, the women are discussing the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. The story is replenished with details, it is decided that Chichikov has an accomplice, and this accomplice is probably Nozdrev. Chichikov is credited with organizing a peasant riot in Borovki, Zadi-railovo-tozh, during which the assessor Drobyazhkin was killed. In addition, the governor receives news that a robber has escaped and a counterfeiter has appeared in the province. There is a suspicion that one of these persons is Chichikov. The public can't decide what to do.

CHAPTER 10

Officials are so concerned about the current situation that many even lose weight from grief. They collect a meeting from the chief of police. The police chief decides that Chichikov is Captain Kopeikin in disguise, an invalid without an arm and a leg, a hero of the war of 1812. Kopeikin, after returning from the front, received nothing from his father. He goes to Petersburg to seek the truth from the sovereign. But the king is not in the capital. Kopeikin goes to the nobleman, the head of the commission, whose audience he has been waiting for a long time in the waiting room. The general promises help, offers to come in one of these days. But the next time he says that he cannot do anything without the special permission of the king. Captain Kopeikin is running out of money, and the porter won't let him see the general anymore. He endures many hardships, eventually breaks through to an appointment with the general, says that he can no longer wait. The general escorts him very rudely, sends him out of St. Petersburg at public expense. After some time, a gang of robbers appears in the Ryazan forests, led by Kopeikin.

Other officials nevertheless decide that Chichikov is not Kopeikin, since both his arms and legs are intact. It is suggested that Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise. Everyone decides that it is necessary to interrogate Nozdryov, despite the fact that he is a known liar. Nozdryov says that he sold dead souls to Chichikov for several thousand and that already at the time when he studied with Chichikov at school, he was already a counterfeiter and a spy, that he was going to kidnap the daughter of the governor and Nozdryov himself helped him. Nozdryov realizes that he has gone too far in his stories, and possible problems frighten him. But the unexpected happens - the prosecutor dies. Chichikov does not know anything about what is happening because he is ill. Three days later, having left the house, he discovers that he is either not received anywhere, or is received in a strange way. Nozdryov informs him that the city considers him a counterfeiter, that he was going to kidnap the daughter of the governor, that the prosecutor died through his fault. Chichikov orders to pack things.

CHAPTER 11

In the morning Chichikov could not leave the city for a long time - he overslept, the chaise was not laid, the horses were not shod. Leave only in the evening. On the way, Chichikov meets a funeral procession - the prosecutor is being buried. Behind the coffin are all the officials, each of whom thinks about the new governor-general and their relationship with him. Chichikov leaves the city. Next - a lyrical digression about Russia. "Rus! Rus! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful far away I see you: poor, scattered and uncomfortable in you; daring divas of nature, crowned with daring divas of art, will not amuse, will not frighten the eyes, cities with many-windowed high palaces, grown into cliffs, picture trees and ivy, grown into houses, in noise and in the eternal dust of waterfalls; the head will not tip back to look at the stone blocks piled up endlessly above it and in the heights; they will not flash through the dark arches thrown one on top of the other, entangled in vine branches, ivy and countless millions of wild roses; Why is your melancholy song, rushing along your entire length and width, from sea to sea, heard and heard incessantly in your ears? What's in it, in this song? What calls, and sobs, and grabs by the heart? What sounds painfully kiss, and strive to the soul, and curl around my heart? Rus! what do you want from me? what incomprehensible bond lurks between us? Why do you look like that, and why does everything that is in you turn eyes full of expectation on me? .. And a mighty space menacingly embraces me, reflecting with terrible force in my depths; my eyes lit up with an unnatural power: wow! what a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth! Rus!.."

The author discusses the hero of the work and the origin of Chichikov. His parents are nobles, but he doesn't look like them. Chichikov's father sent his son to the city to an old relative so that he could enter the school. The father gave his son parting words, which he strictly followed in life - to please the authorities, to hang out only with the rich, not to share with anyone, to save money. He did not have any special talents, but he had a "practical mind." Chichikov knew how to make money as a boy - he sold treats, showed a trained mouse for money. He pleased the teachers, the authorities, and therefore graduated from school with a gold certificate. His father dies, and Chichikov, having sold his father's house, enters the service. He betrays a teacher expelled from school, who was counting on a fake of his beloved student. Chichikov serves, striving to please his superiors in everything, even caring for his ugly daughter, hinting at a wedding. Gets a promotion and doesn't get married. Soon Chichikov is included in the commission for the construction of a government building, but the building, for which a lot of money has been allocated, is being built only on paper. Chichikov's new boss hated his subordinate, and he had to start all over again. He enters the service at the customs, where his ability to search is revealed. He is promoted, and Chichikov presents a project to catch smugglers, with whom at the same time he manages to collude and get a lot of money from them. But Chichikov quarrels with a friend with whom he shared, and both are put on trial. Chichikov manages to save some of the money, starts everything from scratch as an attorney. He comes up with the idea of ​​​​buying dead souls, which in the future can be pledged to the bank under the guise of living ones, and, having received a loan, hide.

The author reflects on how readers can relate to Chichikov, recalls the parable of Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich, son and father. The existence of the father is turned into a speculative side, while the son is rowdy. Kifa Mokievich is asked to appease his son, but he does not want to interfere in anything: “If he remains a dog, then let them not find out about it from me, let it not be me who betrayed him.”

At the end of the poem, the britzka is moving quickly along the road. “And what Russian does not like to drive fast?” "Oh, threesome! bird troika, who invented you? To know that you could only be born among a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out half the world as evenly as possible, and go and count the miles until it fills your eyes. And not a cunning, it would seem, road projectile, not captured by an iron screw, but hastily, alive with one ax and a hammer, a smart Yaroslavl peasant equipped and assembled you. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; but he got up, and swung, and dragged on the song - the horses whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed into one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the pedestrian who stopped screamed in fright - and there she rushed, rushed, rushed! .. And you can already see in the distance, as something dusts and drills the air.

Isn't that how you, Rus', that brisk, unbeatable troika, are rushing about? The road smokes under you, the bridges rumble, everything lags behind and is left behind. The contemplative, amazed by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown from the sky? what does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power lies in these horses unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are whirlwinds sitting in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes! .. Rus', where are you rushing to? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; flies past everything that is on earth,
and, squinting, step aside and give her way to other peoples and states.

In a letter to Zhukovsky, Gogol writes that he sees his main task in the poem to portray "all of Rus'." The poem is written in the form of a journey, and separate fragments of the life of Russia are combined into a common whole. One of Gogol's main tasks in "Dead Souls" is to show typical characters in typical circumstances, that is, to reliably depict modernity - the period of the crisis of serfdom in Russia. The key orientation in the image of landowners is a satirical description, social typification, and a critical orientation. The life of the ruling class and peasants is given by Gogol without idealization, realistically.

February 24, 1852 Nikolay Gogol burned the almost finished second volume of Dead Souls, on which he had been working for more than 10 years. The story itself was originally conceived by Gogol as a trilogy. In the first volume, the adventurer Chichikov, traveling around Russia, encountered only human vices, in the second part, fate brought the protagonist together with some positive characters. In the third volume, which was never written, Chichikov had to go through exile in Siberia and finally embark on the path of moral purification.

AiF.ru tells why Gogol burned the second volume of "Dead Souls" and what adventures in the continuation of the story were to happen to Chichikov.

Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?

Most likely, Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls by accident. In the last years of his life, the writer felt constant weakness in his body, but instead of being treated, he continued to exhaust his body with strict observance of religious fasts and exhausting work. In one of the letters to poet Nikolai Yazykov Gogol wrote: “My health has become rather poor ... Nervous anxious anxiety and various signs of complete unsticking all over my body frighten me myself.” It is possible that this “sticking up” prompted the writer on the night of February 24 to throw the manuscripts into the fireplace and then set them on fire with his own hands. The servant witnessed this scene Semyon, who persuaded the master to spare the papers. But he only rudely replied: “None of your business! Pray!

On the morning of the next day, Gogol, struck by his act, lamented his friend Count Alexander Tolstoy: "That's what I did! I wanted to burn some things that had long been prepared for that, but I burned everything. How strong the evil one is - that's what he moved me to! And I was there a lot of practical clarified and outlined ... I thought to send to friends as a keepsake from a notebook: let them do what they wanted. Now everything is gone."

Gogol claimed that he wanted to burn only drafts and unnecessary papers, and the second volume of Dead Souls was sent to the fireplace due to his oversight. Nine days after this fatal mistake, the writer died.

What is the second volume of Dead Souls about?

Gogol's letters and the remaining drafts allow us to restore the approximate content of some parts of the burnt manuscript. The second volume of "Dead Souls" begins with a description of the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls "the smoker of the sky." An educated and fair person, due to laziness and lack of willpower, drags out a meaningless existence in the village. Tentetnikov's fiancee, Ulinka, is the daughter of a neighboring general, Betrishchev. It is she who becomes the “beam of light in the dark realm” of the story: “If a transparent picture suddenly flared up in a dark room, lit from behind by a lamp, it would not have struck like this figurine shining with life, which appeared exactly to illuminate the room ... It was hard to tell what country she was from. Such a pure, noble outline of the face could not be found anywhere, except perhaps only on some ancient cameos, ”Gogol describes it this way. Tentetnikov, according to Gogol's plan, was to be convicted for participation in an anti-government organization, and his lover would follow him to hard labor. Then, in the third volume of the trilogy, these heroes had to go through exile in Siberia along with Chichikov.

Further, according to the plot of the second volume, Chichikov meets the bored landowner Platonov and, having incited him to travel together in Russia, goes to the master Kostanzhoglo, who is married to Platonov's sister. He talks about the ways of managing, by which he increased the income from the estate tenfold, which Chichikov is terribly inspired by. Shortly thereafter, Chichikov, having borrowed money from Platonov and Kostanjoglo, is trying to buy the estate from the ruined landowner Khlobuev.

On the "border line" between good and evil in the second volume of the story, the financier Afanasy Murazov suddenly appears. He wants to spend 40 million rubles earned by him not in the most honest way on “saving Russia”, but his ideas are more reminiscent of sectarian ones.

In the surviving drafts of the end of the manuscript, Chichikov is found in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric of a lingonberry color so dear to him with a spark. He runs into Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he “gave up”, either by depriving, or almost depriving him of his estate by forgery. Murazov saves Chichikov from continuing an unpleasant conversation, who convinces the ruined landowner of the need to work and determines him to raise funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations are being found against Chichikov both about forgery and about dead souls. However, the help of the corrupt official Samosvistov and the intercession of Murazov allow the hero to avoid prison.

Cameo - a piece of jewelry or decoration made in the technique of bas-relief on precious or semi-precious stones.

Chapter first

"A rather beautiful spring small britzka, in which bachelors ride, drove through the gates of the hotel in the provincial city of NN." In the britzka sat a gentleman of pleasant appearance, not too fat, but not too thin, not handsome, but not bad-looking, one cannot say that he was old, but he was not too young either. The carriage drove up to the hotel. It was a very long two-story building, with the bottom floor unplastered and the top one painted in eternal yellow. Downstairs there were benches, in one of the windows there was a sbitennik with a samovar made of red copper. The guest was greeted and led to show him "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 fellow about thirty, with somewhat large lips and nose.

During dinner, the guest asks the tavern servant various questions, starting with who previously owned this tavern, and whether the new owner is a big swindler, ending with details of a different kind. 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 person of any importance, and was also interested in the local landowners. The attention of the visitor did not escape the questions concerning the state of affairs in the region: were there any diseases, epidemics and other disasters. After dinner, at the request of the tavern servant, the gentleman 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 county 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, which were still poorly accepted, but about which the local newspaper wrote that "our city was adorned with a garden of branchy trees." Chichikov asked the guard in detail about the best way to get to the cathedral, to the offices, to the governor. Then he returned to his hotel room and, after having supper, 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 paid a visit even to the inspector of the medical board and the city architect. I thought for a long time who else would pay my respects, but there were no more significant persons in the city. And everywhere Chichikov behaved very skillfully, he was able to flatter everyone very subtly, which resulted in an invitation from each official to 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 peasants, women with fat faces, and so on.

Manilov, inviting Chichikov to his place, informed him that his village was fifteen versts from the city, but that a sixteenth verst had already passed, and there was no village. Pavel Ivanovich was a quick-witted man, and he remembered that if you are invited to a house fifteen miles away, it means that you will have to travel all thirty.

But here is the village of Manilovka. Few guests could she lure to her. The master's house stood to the south, open to all winds; the hill on which he stood was covered with turf. Two or three flowerbeds with acacia, five or six thin birches, a wooden arbor and a pond completed this picture. Chichikov began to count and counted more than two hundred peasant huts. On the porch of the manor house, its owner had long been standing and, putting his hand to his eyes, tried to make out the man driving up in the carriage. As the chaise approached, Manilov's face changed: his eyes became more cheerful, and his smile became wider. He was very glad to see Chichikov and took him to him.

What kind of person was Manilov? It is difficult to characterize it. He was, as they say, neither one nor the other - neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan. Manilov was a pleasant man, but too much sugar was added to this pleasantness. When the conversation with him was just beginning, at first 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, he also did not take care of the household, he never even went to the fields. For the most part, he thought, pondered. About what? - no one knows. When the clerk came to him with proposals for housekeeping, saying that it would be necessary to do this and that, Manilov usually answered: "Yes, not bad." If a peasant came to the master and asked to leave in order to earn quitrent, then Manilov immediately let him go. It never even occurred to him that the peasant was going to drink. Sometimes he came up with different projects, for example, he dreamed of building a stone bridge across the pond, on which there would be shops, merchants would sit in the shops and sell various goods. He had beautiful furniture in the house, but two armchairs were not upholstered in silk, and the owner had been telling guests for two years that they were not finished. There was no furniture in one room at all. On the table next to the dandy one stood a lame and greasy candlestick, but no one noticed this. Manilov was very pleased with his wife, because she was "to match" him. In the course of a fairly long life together, the spouses both did nothing but imprint long kisses on each other. Many questions could arise from a sane guest: why is the pantry empty and so much and stupidly cooked in the kitchen? Why does the housekeeper steal and the servants are always drunk and unclean? Why is the mourner sleeping or frankly lounging? But these are all questions of a low quality, and the mistress of the house is well brought up and will never stoop to them. At dinner, Manilov and the guest spoke compliments to each other, as well as various pleasant things about city officials. Manilov's children, Alkid and Themistoclus, demonstrated their knowledge of geography.

After dinner, a conversation took place directly about the case. Pavel Ivanovich informs Manilov that he wants to buy souls from him, which, according to the latest revision tale, are listed as alive, but in fact have long since died. Manilov is at a loss, but Chichikov manages to persuade him into a deal. Since the owner is a person who tries to be pleasant, he takes upon himself the execution of the purchase fortress. To register the bill of sale, Chichikov and Manilov agree to meet in the city, and Pavel Ivanovich finally leaves this house. Manilov sits down in an armchair and, smoking his pipe, ponders the events of today, rejoices that fate has brought him together with such a pleasant person. But Chichikov's strange request to sell him dead souls interrupted his former dreams. Thoughts about this request did not boil in his head, and therefore he sat on the porch for a long time and smoked a pipe until dinner.

Chapter Three

Chichikov, meanwhile, was driving along the high road, hoping that Selifan would soon bring him to Sobakevich's estate. Selifan was drunk and, therefore, did not follow the road. The first drops dripped from the sky, and soon a real long torrential rain charged. Chichikov's chaise had completely lost its way, it was getting dark, and it was no longer clear what to do, when a dog barking was heard. Soon Selifan was already knocking on the gate of the house of a certain landowner, who let them spend the night.

From the inside, the rooms of the landowner's house were pasted over with old wallpaper, pictures with some birds and huge mirrors hung on the walls. For each such mirror, either an old deck of cards, or a stocking, or a letter was stuffed. The hostess turned out to be an elderly woman, one of those mother landowners who all the time cry over crop failures and lack of money, while they themselves gradually put aside money in bundles and bags.

Chichikov stays overnight. Waking up, he looks out the window at the landowner's household and the village in which he found himself. The window overlooks the chicken coop and the fence. Behind the fence are spacious beds with vegetables. All plantings in the garden are thought out, in some places several apple trees grow to protect against birds, stuffed animals with outstretched arms are poked from them, on one of these scarecrows was the cap of the hostess herself. The appearance of peasant houses showed "the contentment of their inhabitants." The boarding on the roofs was new everywhere, nowhere was the rickety gate to be seen, and here and there Chichikov saw a new spare cart parked.

Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka (that was the name of the landowner) invited him to have breakfast. With her, Chichikov behaved much more freely in conversation. He stated his request regarding the purchase of dead souls, but he soon regretted it, since his request aroused the bewilderment of the hostess. Then Korobochka began to offer, in addition to dead souls, hemp, flax, and so on, down to bird feathers. Finally, an agreement was reached, but the old woman was always afraid that she had sold too cheap. For her, dead souls turned out to be the same commodity as everything produced on the farm. Then Chichikov was fed with pies, donuts and shanezhki, and a promise was taken from him to buy pork fat 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 out onto the high road. Having released the girl, Chichikov decided to stop by a tavern that stood in the way.

Chapter Four

Just like the hotel, it was an ordinary tavern for all county roads. The traveler was served a 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 a conversation with the hostess, the sound of the wheels of the approaching carriage was heard. Two men came out of it: blond, tall, and, shorter than him, dark-haired. At first, a fair-haired man appeared in the tavern, followed by him, taking off his cap, his companion. He was a fellow of medium height, very not badly built, with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, whiskers as black as pitch, and all fresh as blood and milk. Chichikov recognized in him his new acquaintance Nozdryov.

The type of this person is probably known to everyone. People of this kind are known at school as good comrades, but at the same time they are often beaten. Their face is clean, open, you will not have time to get to know each other, after a while they say “you” to you. Friendship will be made, it would seem, forever, but it happens that after a while they fight with a new friend at a feast. They are always talkers, revelers, scorchers and, for all that, desperate liars.

By the age of thirty, life had not changed Nozdryov at all, he remained the same as he was at eighteen and at twenty. Marriage did not affect him in any way, especially since the wife soon went to the other world, leaving her husband two children who he did not need at all. Nozdryov had a passion for the card game, but, being dishonest and dishonest in the game, he often brought his partners to assault, leaving two sideburns with one, liquid. However, after a while he met with people who beat him, as if nothing had happened. And his friends, oddly enough, also behaved as if nothing had happened. Nozdryov was a historical man; he was everywhere and always got into history. It was impossible for anything to get along with him on a short footing, and even more so to open his soul - he would shit into it, and compose such a fable about a person who trusted him that it would be difficult to prove the opposite. After some time, he took the same person at a friendly meeting by the buttonhole and said: "After all, you are such a scoundrel, you will never come to me." Another passion of Nozdryov was the exchange - anything became its subject, from a horse to the smallest things. Nozdryov invites Chichikov to his village, and he agrees. While waiting for dinner, Nozdryov, accompanied by his son-in-law, arranges a tour of the village for his guest, while boasting to everyone right and left. His extraordinary stallion, for which he allegedly paid ten thousand, is not worth even a thousand, the field that completes his possessions turns out to be a swamp, and for some reason the inscription "Master Savely Sibiryakov" is on the Turkish dagger, which the guests are looking at while waiting for dinner. Lunch leaves much to be desired - something was not cooked, but something was burnt. The cook, apparently, was guided by inspiration and put the first thing that came to hand. There was nothing to say about wine - from the mountain ash it smelled of fuselage, and Madeira turned out to be diluted with rum.

After dinner, Chichikov nevertheless decided to present to Nozdryov a request for the purchase of dead souls. It ended with Chichikov and Nozdryov completely quarreling, after which the guest went to bed. He slept horribly, waking up and meeting the owner the next morning was just as unpleasant. Chichikov was already scolding himself for having trusted Nozdryov. Now Pavel Ivanovich was offered to play checkers for dead souls: in case of winning, Chichikov would have got the souls for free. The game of checkers was accompanied by Nozdrev's cheating and almost ended in a fight. Fate saved Chichikov from such a turn of events - a police captain came to Nozdrev to inform the brawler that he was on trial until the end of the investigation, because he insulted the landowner Maksimov 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 carriage jolted him a little - in it sat a lovely young girl with an elderly woman accompanying her. After they parted, Chichikov thought for a long time about the stranger he met. At last the village of Sobakevich appeared. The traveler's thoughts turned to their constant subject.

The village was quite large, it was surrounded by two forests: pine and birch. In the middle one could see the master'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 struggling with the taste of the owner. The architect wanted beauty and symmetry, and the owner wanted convenience. On one side, the windows were boarded up, and instead of them, one window was checked, apparently needed for a closet. The pediment did not fall in the middle of the house, since the owner ordered to remove one column, of which there were not four, but three. In everything one could feel the efforts of the owner about the strength of his buildings. Very strong logs were used for stables, sheds and kitchens, peasant huts were also cut down firmly, firmly and very carefully. Even the well was lined with very strong oak. Driving up to the porch, Chichikov noticed faces looking out the window. The footman went out to meet him.

When looking at Sobakevich, it immediately suggested: a bear! perfect bear! And indeed, his appearance was similar to that of a bear. A big, strong man, he always stepped at random, because of which he constantly stepped on someone's feet. Even his tailcoat was bear-colored. To top it off, the owner's name was Mikhail Semenovich. He almost did not turn his neck, he held his head down rather than up, and rarely looked at his interlocutor, and if he managed to do this, then his eyes fell on the corner of the stove or at the door. Since Sobakevich himself was a healthy and strong man, he wanted to be surrounded by the same strong objects. His furniture was heavy and pot-bellied, and portraits of strong, healthy men hung on the walls. Even the thrush in the cage looked very much like Sobakevich. In a word, it seemed that every object in the house said: "And I also look like Sobakevich."

Before dinner, Chichikov tried to strike up a conversation by talking flatteringly about the local officials. Sobakevich answered that "these are all swindlers. The whole city is like that: a swindler sits on a swindler and drives a 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 dinner, Sobakevich and Chichikov rest. Chichikov decides to state his request for the purchase of dead souls. Sobakevich is not surprised at anything and attentively listens to his guest, who began the conversation from afar, gradually leading 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 virtues of the dead peasants as if the peasants were alive. Chichikov is at a loss: how can there be a conversation 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 make a 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 badly (it was impossible to ask otherwise, because the peasant did not know the name of the neighboring master). "Ah, patched, patched!" cried the peasant, and pointed the way.

Chapter six

Chichikov grinned all the way, remembering Plyushkin's characterization, and soon he himself did not notice how he drove into a vast village, with many huts and streets. The push made by the log pavement brought him back to reality. These logs looked like piano keys - they either went up or went down. A rider who did not protect himself or, like Chichikov, did not pay attention to this feature of the pavement, risked 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 special dilapidation: the logs were old, many roofs pierced through like a sieve, while others generally remained only with a ridge at the top and logs that looked like ribs. The windows were either without glass at all, or plugged up with a rag or zipun; in other huts, if there were balconies under the roofs, they had long since turned black. Huge stacks of bread stretched between the huts, neglected, the color of old brick, in places overgrown with shrubs and other rubbish. Behind these treasures and huts, two churches were visible, also neglected and dilapidated. In one place the huts ended, and some wasteland fenced with a dilapidated fence began. On it, the manor house looked like a decrepit invalid. This house was long, in places two stories, in places one; peeling, having seen a lot of bad weather. All the windows were either shuttered tightly or completely boarded up, and only two of them were open. But they, too, were weak-sighted: a blue triangle made from sugar paper was glued to one of the windows. This picture was enlivened only by a wild and magnificent garden in its desolation. When Chichikov drove up to the master's house, he saw that the picture was even sadder up close. The wooden gates and the fence were already covered with green mold. By the nature of the buildings, it was clear that once the economy was carried out here extensively and thoughtfully, but now everything around was empty, and nothing revived the picture of general desolation. The whole movement consisted of a peasant who arrived on a cart. Pavel Ivanovich noticed some figure in a completely incomprehensible attire, which immediately began to argue with the peasant. 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, on the head - a cap worn by yard women. Chichikov was embarrassed only by the hoarse voice, which could not belong to a woman. The creature scolded the peasant who had arrived with his last words; He had a bunch of keys on his belt. By these two signs, Chichikov decided that the housekeeper was in front of him, and decided to examine her more closely. The figure, in turn, very closely examined the visitor. It was evident that the arrival of a guest here is a curiosity. The man examined Chichikov attentively, then his gaze shifted to Petrushka and Selifan, and even the horse was not left unattended.

It turned out that this creature, either a woman or a man, is the local gentleman. Chichikov was dumbfounded. The face of Chichikov's interlocutor was similar to the faces of many old men, and only small eyes were constantly running in the hope of finding something, but the outfit was out of the ordinary: the dressing gown was completely greasy, cotton paper crawled out of it in tatters. Around the neck of the landowner was tied something between a stocking and an underbelly. If Pavel Ivanovich met him somewhere near the church, he would certainly give him alms. But after all, it was not a beggar standing in front of Chichikov, but a gentleman who had a thousand souls, and hardly anyone else would have had such huge stocks of provisions, so much goodness, utensils that had never been used, as Plyushkin had. All this would be enough for two estates, even such huge ones as this. All this seemed to Plyushkin not enough - every day he walked 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, the daughters had a governess. The house was famous for its hospitality, and friends came to the owner with pleasure to dine, listen to clever speeches and learn how to manage the household. But the good mistress died, and part of the keys, respectively, and worries passed to the head of the family. He became more restless, more suspicious and meaner, like all widowers. He could not rely on his eldest daughter Alexandra Stepanovna, and for good reason: she soon married secretly with the staff 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 went after her daughters, was fired because she was not sinless in the abduction of the eldest, the French teacher was also released. The son was determined to serve in the regiment, not having received a penny from his father for uniforms. The youngest daughter died, and Plyushkin's lonely life gave nourishment to stinginess. Plyushkin became more and more intractable in relations with the bidders who bargained and bargained with him, and even abandoned this business. Hay and bread rotted in barns, it was scary to touch the matter - it turned into dust, flour in the cellars had long ago become stone. But the tribute remained the same! And everything brought in became "rotten 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 already lost at cards for a long time, he asked his father for money, but he also refused him. More and more Plyushkin turned to his jars, carnations and feathers, forgetting how much good he had in the pantries, but remembering that he had a decanter with unfinished liquor in his closet, and he had to make a mark on it so that no one would secretly pour the liquor. 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 austerity, so he decided to call on him, get to know him better and pay his respects. The landowner said in response to questions from Pavel Ivanovich 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 put on. Chichikov received a list of one hundred and twenty dead souls and agreed to make a bill of sale. Plyushkin complained about the presence of seventy runaways, which Chichikov also bought at thirty-two kopecks a head. He hid the money he received in one of the many drawers. From the fly-free liqueur and the gingerbread that Alexandra Stepanovna once brought, Chichikov refused and hurried to the hotel. There he fell asleep with the sleep of a happy man who knew neither hemorrhoids nor fleas.

Chapter Seven

The next day Chichikov woke up in an excellent mood, prepared all the lists of peasants for making a bill of sale, and went to the chamber, where Manilov and Sobakevich were already waiting for him. All the necessary documents were drawn up, and the chairman of the chamber signed the bill of sale for Plyushkin, whom he asked in a letter to be his chargé d'affaires. To the questions of the chairman and officials of the chamber, what next the newly-minted landowner was going to do with the purchased peasants, Chichikov replied that they were determined to be sent to the Kherson province. The purchase had to be noted, and in the next room, the guests were already waiting for a decently laid table with wines and snacks, from which a huge sturgeon stood out. Sobakevich immediately joined this work of culinary art and left nothing of it. Toasts followed one after another, one of them was for the future wife of the newly-minted Kherson landowner. This toast tore a pleasant smile from Pavel Ivanovich's lips. For a long time the guests paid compliments to the pleasant person in all respects and persuaded him to stay in the city for at least two weeks. The result of a plentiful feast was that Chichikov arrived at the hotel in a completely exhausted state, being in his thoughts already a Kherson landowner. Everyone went to bed: both Selifan and Petrushka, raising their snores of unprecedented density, and Chichikov, who answered them from the room with a thin nasal whistle.

Chapter Eight

Chichikov's purchases became the number one subject of all conversations taking place in the city. Everyone talked about the fact that it was rather difficult to take such a number of peasants overnight to the lands in Kherson, and gave their advice on preventing possible riots. To this, Chichikov replied that the peasants he had bought were of a calm disposition, and an escort would not be needed to escort them to new lands. All these conversations, however, benefited Pavel Ivanovich, since it was believed that he was a millionaire, and the inhabitants of the city, who had fallen in love with Chichikov even before all these rumors, after rumors of millions, fell in love with him even more. The ladies were especially zealous. Merchants were surprised to find that some of the fabrics they brought to the city and were not sold due to the high price were sold like hot cakes. An anonymous letter with a declaration of love and amorous poems arrived at the hotel to Chichikov. But the most remarkable of all the mail that came these days to Pavel Ivanovich's room was an invitation to the governor's ball. For a long time the newly-minted landowner got ready, took a long time to attend to his toilet, and even made a ballet entrecha, which made the chest of drawers tremble, and a brush fell from it.

The appearance of Chichikov at the ball made an extraordinary sensation. Chichikov went from hug to hug, kept up one conversation after another, constantly bowed and in the end completely charmed everyone. He was surrounded by ladies dressed up and perfumed, and Chichikov tried to guess among them the writer of the letter. He was so swirling that he forgot to fulfill the most important duty of courtesy - 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 standing not alone, but with a young, pretty blonde, who was riding in the same carriage that Chichikov's carriage had collided with on the road. The governor introduced Pavel Ivanovich to her daughter, who had just graduated from the institute. Everything that was happening somewhere moved away and lost interest for Chichikov. He was even so disrespectful towards the ladies' society that he retired 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 disposed of the scarf in such a way that he waved it right in the face. At the same time, a very caustic remark was heard against Chichikov, and satirical poems written by someone in mockery of the provincial society were even attributed to him. And then fate prepared an unpleasant surprise for Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov: Nozdrev appeared at the ball. He went hand in hand with the prosecutor, who did not know how to get rid of his companion.

"Ah! Kherson landowner! How many dead did he sell?" shouted Nozdryov, going 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 up to Chichikov with kisses. This number did not work for him, he was so pushed away that he flew to the ground, everyone retreated from him and did not listen anymore, but the words about buying dead souls were uttered 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 a card game, and was unable to maintain a conversation where at other times he felt like a fish in 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. Collegiate secretary Korobochka arrived in the city in her carriage.

Chapter Nine

The next morning, two ladies - just 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 lady pleasant in all respects, said that her husband had heard about this from Nozdryov. So there is something in this news. And both ladies began to speculate 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 of this is none other than Nozdrev. While both ladies were working out such a successful explanation of events, the prosecutor entered the drawing room, to whom everything was immediately told. Leaving the prosecutor completely bewildered, the two ladies set out to riot the city, each in their own direction. For a short time, the city was in a state of turmoil. At another time, under other circumstances, this story might not have been noticed by anyone, but the city had not been fueled for gossip for a long time. And here it is! .. Two parties were formed - women's and men's. The women's party was engaged exclusively in the kidnapping of the governor's daughter, and the men's - dead souls. Things 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 being accused of. The porter was strictly ordered not to let Chichikov on the threshold. And then, as a sin, several dark stories surfaced, in which Chichikov fit in perfectly. What is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov? No one could answer this question for sure: neither the 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 meet with the police chief.

Chapter Ten

Having gathered at the police chief, the officials discussed for a long time who Chichikov was, but did not come to a consensus. One said that he was a maker of counterfeit banknotes, and then he himself added "or maybe not a maker." The second suggested that Chichikov was most likely an official of the Governor-General's office, and immediately added "but, by the way, the devil knows, you can't read it on your forehead." The suggestion that he was a robber in disguise was swept 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 still no orders about the wounded ", and disabled capital was brought in much later. Therefore, Kopeikin had to work somehow in order to feed himself, and, unfortunately, his left hand was left. Kopeikin decided to go to St. Petersburg, to ask for royal mercy. Blood, they say ", spilled, remained disabled ... And here he is in St. Petersburg. Kopeikin tried to rent an apartment, but it turned out to be unusually expensive. In the end, he stopped at a tavern for a ruble a day. Kopeikin sees that there is nothing to live on. He asked where the commission was, where he should apply, and went to the reception. He waited a long time, four hours. At this time, the people in the waiting room were packed like beans on a plate. And more and more generals, officials of the fourth or fifth class.

Finally, the nobleman entered. The turn came to Captain Kopeikin. The nobleman asks: "Why are you here? What is your business?" Kopeikin plucked up his courage and replied: “So, they say, and so, your excellency, shed blood, lost his arms and legs, I can’t work, I dare to ask for royal mercy.” The minister, seeing such a situation, replies: "Well, visit 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 assigned a pension.

Three or four days later, he again comes to the minister. He again recognized him, but now stated that the fate of Kopeikin had not been resolved, since it was necessary to wait for the arrival of the sovereign in the capital. And the captain's money had already run out a long time ago. He decided to take the minister's office by storm. This made the minister extremely angry. He called the courier, and Kopeikin was expelled from the capital at public expense. Where exactly they brought the captain, the story is silent about this, but only about 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 not 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 some more gossip, the officials decided to invite Nozdryov. For some reason, they thought that since Nozdryov was the first to announce this story with dead souls, they might know something for sure. Nozdryov, upon arriving, immediately wrote down Mr. Chichikov as spies, fake paper makers and kidnappers of the governor's daughter at the same time.

All these rumors and rumors had such an effect on the prosecutor that he died when he got home. Chichikov did not know any of this, sitting in the room with a cold and flux, and was very surprised why no one was going to see him, because 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 he was ordered not to receive him at the governor's, and the rest of the officials avoided meetings and conversations with him. Chichikov received an explanation of what was happening in the evening at the hotel, when Nozdryov came to visit him. Here Chichikov found out that he was a counterfeit banknote maker and a failed kidnapper of the governor's daughter. And also he is the cause of the death of the prosecutor and the arrival of a new governor-general. Being very frightened, Chichikov sent Nozdryov out as soon as possible, ordered Selifan and Petrushka to pack their things and get ready to leave at dawn tomorrow.

Chapter Eleven

It was not possible to leave quickly. Selifan came and said that the horses had to be shod. Finally, everything was ready, the britzka left the city. On the way they met a funeral procession, and Chichikov decided that it 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, and his father was ill 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 struck the boy with its magnificence. Pavlusha was handed over to a relative in order to stay with her and go to the classes of the city school. On the second day, the father left, leaving his son with an instruction instead of money: “Learn, Pavlusha, don’t be a fool and don’t hang out, but most of all please your teachers and bosses. do not treat anyone, but make sure that they treat you. And most of all, take care of a penny. And he added to his instructions half a ruble of copper.

Pavlusha remembered these tips well. From his father's money, he not only did not take a penny, but, on the contrary, a year later he already made an increment to this half. The boy showed no abilities and inclinations in his studies, he was distinguished most of all by diligence and neatness, and discovered in himself a practical mind. Not only did he never treat his comrades, but he made it so that he sold their treat to them. Once Pavlusha made a bullfinch out of wax and then sold it very profitably. Then he trained a mouse for two months, which he also sold at a profit. Teacher Pavlusha valued his students not for knowledge, but for exemplary behavior. Chichikov was a model of such. As a result, he graduated from college, having received a certificate and a book with golden letters as a reward for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.

When the school was finished, Chichikov's father died. Pavlusha inherited four frock coats, two jerseys and a small amount of money. Chichikov sold the dilapidated house for a thousand rubles, transferred the only family of serfs to the city. At this time, the teacher, a lover of silence and good behavior, was expelled from the gymnasium, he began to drink. All former students helped him in any way they could. Only Chichikov excused himself by lack of money, giving him a nickel of silver, which his comrades immediately threw away. The teacher wept for a long time when he heard about it.

After school, Chichikov enthusiastically took up the service, because he wanted to live richly, have a beautiful house, carriages. But even in the outback, protection is needed, so he got a run-down place, with a salary of thirty or forty rubles a year. But Chichikov worked day and night, and at the same time, against the backdrop of the sloppy officials of the chamber, he always looked impeccable. His boss was an elderly clerk, an impregnable man, with a complete absence of any emotion on his face. Trying to get close 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 called for tea, and soon he was already considered a groom in the boss's house. A vacant position soon appeared in the ward, and Chichikov decided to fill it. As soon as this happened, Chichikov secretly sent the chest with his belongings from the house of the alleged father-in-law, ran away himself and stopped calling the former father-in-law. At the same time, he did not stop smiling affectionately at the former boss at the meeting and inviting him to visit, and each time he only turned his head and said that he was masterfully cheated.

It was the most difficult threshold for Pavel Ivanovich, which he successfully overcame. At the next grain place, he successfully launched a fight against bribes, while in fact he himself turned out to be a big bribe-taker. The next thing Chichikov did was to participate 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 that time, in other parts of the city, each member of the commission got a beautiful building of civil architecture - probably, the soil was better there. Chichikov began to allow himself excesses in the form of matter on a frock coat, which no one had, thin Dutch shirts, and a pair of excellent trotters, not to mention other trifles. Soon fate changed for Pavel Ivanovich. In place of the former chief, a new one was sent, a military man, a terrible persecutor of all kinds of untruth and abuse. 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 all over again. In a short time he was forced to change two or three low positions in an environment unacceptable to him. Having already begun to round off at some time, Chichikov even lost weight, but overcame all the troubles and decided on customs. His old dream came true, and he took up his new service with extraordinary zeal. According to the words of his superiors, he was a devil, not a man: he looked for contraband in those places where no one would have thought to climb into, and where only customs officials are allowed to climb. It was a thunderstorm and despair for everyone. His honesty and incorruptibility were almost unnatural. Such official zeal could not go unnoticed by the authorities, and soon Chichikov was promoted, and then he presented the authorities with a project on how to catch all the smugglers. This project was accepted, and Pavel Ivanovich received unlimited power in this area. At that time, "a strong society of smugglers was formed," which wanted to bribe Chichikov, but he replied to those sent: "It's not time yet."

As soon as Chichikov received unlimited power in his hands, he immediately let this society know: "It's time." And at the time of Chichikov's service at customs, a story happened about the witty journey of Spanish rams across the border, when, under double sheepskin coats, they carried millions of Brabant lace. 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 clear. Officials were taken to court, property was confiscated. As a result, out of five hundred thousand, Chichikov was left with a thousand tens, which he partially had to spend in order to get out of the criminal court. Again, he began life from the bottom of the 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 council of trustees. And then he was told that, despite the fact that half of the peasants died out, according to the revision tale, they are listed as alive! .. Therefore, he has nothing to worry about, and the money will be, regardless of whether these peasants are alive or given to God soul. And then it dawned on Chichikov. That's where the field for action! Yes, if he buys dead peasants, who, according to the revision tale, are still considered alive, if he buys at least a thousand of them, and the board of trustees will give two hundred rubles for each - here you have two hundred thousand capital! .. True, you cannot buy them without land, therefore it should be announced that the peasants are bought for withdrawal, for example, to the Kherson province.

And so he began to fulfill his plan. 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, our hero is all there ... Who is he in terms of moral qualities? A scoundrel? Why is a scoundrel? Now we don’t have scoundrels, there are well-meaning, pleasant people ... It’s most fair to call him: the owner, the acquirer ... And which of you, not publicly, but in silence, alone, will deepen this heavy inquiry into your own soul: “Isn’t there some part of Chichikov in me too?” Yes, no matter how it is!

Meanwhile, Chichikov's chaise rushes on. "Eh, troika! bird troika, who invented you? .. Isn't it you, Rus, that a lively, non-overtaking troika is rushing? .. Rus, where are you rushing to? Give an answer. Does not give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; and the air torn to pieces by the wind becomes; everything that is on the earth flies past and, squinting, step aside and give it way other peoples and states.

Retelling plan

1. Chichikov arrives in the provincial town of NN.
2. Chichikov's visits to city officials.
3. Visit to Manilov.
4. Chichikov is at Korobochka.
5. Acquaintance with Nozdrev and a trip to his estate.
6. Chichikov at Sobakevich's.
7. Visit to Plushkin.
8. Registration of bills of sale for "dead souls" purchased from landowners.
9. The attention of the townspeople to Chichikov, the "millionaire".
10. Nozdrev reveals the secret of Chichikov.
11. The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.
12. Rumors about who Chichikov is.
13. Chichikov hastily leaves the city.
14. Story about the origin of Chichikov.
15. The author's reasoning about the essence of Chichikov.

retelling

Volume I
Chapter 1

A beautiful spring cart drove into the gates of the provincial city of NN. In it sat “a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, however, and not so that he is too young. His arrival made no noise in the city. The hotel in which he stayed “was of a certain kind, that is, exactly like hotels in provincial cities, where for two rubles a day travelers get a quiet room with cockroaches ...” The visitor, waiting for dinner, managed to ask who was in significant officials in the city, about all significant landowners, who has how many souls, etc.

After dinner, having rested in the room, for a message to the police he wrote on a piece of paper: "College adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, landowner, according to his needs," and he himself went to the city. “The city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities: the yellow paint on the stone houses was strong in the eyes and the gray on the wooden houses was modestly dark ... There were signs with pretzels and boots almost washed away by rain, where there was a shop with caps and the inscription: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov”, where a billiard was drawn ... with the inscription: "And here is the institution." Most often came across the inscription: "Drinking house."

The whole next day was devoted to visits to city officials: the governor, the vice-governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the chamber, the chief of police, and even the inspector of the medical board and the city architect. The governor, "like Chichikov, was neither fat nor thin, however, he was a great kind man and even sometimes embroidered tulle himself." Chichikov "very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone." He spoke little about himself and in some general phrases. In the evening, the governor had a "party", for which Chichikov carefully prepared. The men here, as elsewhere, were of two kinds: some were thin, curling around the ladies, and others were fat or the same as Chichikov, i.e. not so much too fat, but not thin either, they, on the contrary, backed away from the ladies. “Fat people know how to handle their affairs better in this world than thin ones. The thin ones serve more on special assignments or are only registered and wag hither and thither. Fat people never occupy indirect places, but all direct ones, and if they sit anywhere, they will sit securely and firmly. Chichikov thought for a moment and joined the fat ones. He met the landowners: the very courteous Manilov and the somewhat clumsy Sobakevich. Having completely charmed them with pleasant treatment, Chichikov immediately asked how many souls of peasants they had and in what condition their estates were.

Manilov, "still not at all an elderly man, who had eyes as sweet as sugar ... was oblivious of him," invited him to his estate. Chichikov also received an invitation from Sobakevich.

The next day, visiting the postmaster, Chichikov met the landowner Nozdrev, “a man of about thirty, a broken fellow, who, after three or four words, began to say“ you ”. He communicated with everyone in a friendly way, but when they sat down to play whist, the prosecutor and postmaster carefully looked at his bribes.

Chichikov spent the next few days in the city. Everyone had a very flattering opinion about him. He gave the impression of a man of the world, able to keep up a conversation on any topic and at the same time speak "neither loudly nor quietly, but exactly as it should."

Chapter 2

Chichikov went to the village to see Manilov. They searched for Manilov's house for a long time: “The village of Manilovka could lure a few with its location. The master's house stood alone at a brisk pace... open to all winds...' One could see a gazebo with a flat green dome, blue wooden columns and the inscription: 'Temple of Solitary Reflection'. An overgrown pond was visible below. Gray log huts darkened in the lowlands, which Chichikov immediately began to count and counted more than two hundred. In the distance was a pine forest. On the porch Chichikov was met by the owner himself.

Manilov was very glad to have a guest. “God alone could not say what the character of Manilov was. There is a kind of people known by the name: people are so-so, neither this nor that ... He was a prominent person; his features were not devoid of pleasantness... He smiled enticingly, was blond, with blue eyes. In the first minute of a conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and kind person!” In the next minute you will not say anything, and in the third you will say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and you will move away ... At home he spoke little and for the most part reflected and thought, but what he thought about, too, God knew. It cannot be said that he was engaged in housekeeping ... it went on somehow by itself ... Sometimes ... he said how good it would be if all of a sudden an underground passage was built from the house or a stone bridge was built across the pond, on which there would be shops on both sides, and so that merchants would sit in them and sell various small goods ... However, this ended with only one word.

In his study lay some kind of book, laid on one page, which he had been reading for two years. In the living room there was expensive, smart furniture: all the chairs were upholstered in red silk, but there were not enough for two, and for two years the owner had been telling everyone that they were not yet finished.

Manilov's wife ... "however, they were completely pleased with each other": after eight years of marriage, for her husband's birthday, she always prepared "some kind of beaded case for a toothpick." They cooked poorly in the house, the pantry was empty, the housekeeper stole, the servants were unclean and drunkards. But “all these subjects are low, and Manilova is well brought up,” in a boarding school where they teach three virtues: French, piano and knitting purses and other surprises.

Manilov and Chichikov showed unnatural courtesy: they tried to let each other through at the door without fail first. Finally, they both squeezed through the door at the same time. This was followed by an acquaintance with Manilov's wife and an empty conversation about mutual acquaintances. The opinion of all is the same: "a pleasant, most respectable, most amiable person." Then they all sat down to eat. Manilov introduced his sons to Chichikov: Themistoclus (seven years old) and Alkid (six years old). Themistoclus has a runny nose, he bites his brother on the ear, and he, having overcome tears and smeared with fat, eats dinner. After dinner, "the guest announced with a very significant air that he intended to talk about one very necessary matter."

The conversation took place in an office, the walls of which were painted with some kind of blue paint, even rather gray; on the table lay a few papers covered with writing, but most of all there was tobacco. Chichikov asked Manilov for a detailed register of peasants (revision tales), asking how many peasants had died since the last census of the register. Manilov did not remember exactly and asked why Chichikov needed to know this? He replied that he wanted to buy dead souls, which would be listed in the audit as living. Manilov was so taken aback that "as he opened his mouth, he remained with his mouth open for several minutes." Chichikov convinced Manilov that there would be no violation of the law, the treasury would even receive benefits in the form of legal duties. When Chichikov spoke about the price, Manilov decided to give away the dead souls free of charge and even took over the bill of sale, which aroused immoderate delight and gratitude from the guest. After seeing off Chichikov, Manilov again indulged in dreams, and now he imagined that the sovereign himself, having learned about his strong friendship with Chichikov, favored them with generals.

Chapter 3

Chichikov went to the village of Sobakevich. Suddenly it began to rain heavily, the driver lost his way. It turned out he was very drunk. Chichikov ended up in the estate of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. Chichikov was led into a room hung with old striped wallpaper, on the walls were paintings of some kind of birds, between the windows small antique mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves. The hostess entered; “one of those mothers, small landowners, who cry for crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they collect a little money in motley bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers ...”

Chichikov stayed overnight. In the morning, he first of all examined the peasant huts: “Yes, her village is not small.” At breakfast, the hostess finally introduced herself. Chichikov started talking about buying dead souls. The box could not understand why he was doing this, and offered to buy hemp or honey. She, apparently, was afraid to sell cheap, began to play up, and Chichikov, persuading her, lost patience: “Well, the woman seems to be strong-headed!” The box still could not decide to sell the dead: “Maybe the household will somehow need ...”

Only when Chichikov mentioned that he was holding government contracts did he manage to convince Korobochka. She wrote a power of attorney to make a bill of sale. After much bargaining, the deal was finally done. At parting, Korobochka generously treated the guest to pies, pancakes, cakes with various seasonings and other food. Chichikov asked Korobochka to tell her how to get out onto the main road, which puzzled her: “How can I do this? It’s tricky to tell, there are a lot of turns.” She gave a girl as an escort, otherwise it would not be easy for the crew to leave: “the roads spread out in all directions, like caught crayfish when they are poured out of a bag.” Chichikov finally got to the tavern, which stood on a high road.

Chapter 4

Dining in a tavern, Chichikov saw through the window a light britzka with two men driving up. In one of them Chichikov recognized Nozdryov. Nozdryov "was of medium height, a very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, and sideburns as black as pitch." This landowner, Chichikov recalled, whom he met at the prosecutor's office, after a few minutes began to say "you" to him, although Chichikov did not give a reason. Without stopping for a minute, Nozdryov began to speak, without waiting for the interlocutor's answers: “Where did you go? And I, brother, from the fair. Congratulate: blown out into the fluff! .. But how we had a spree in the first days! .. Do you believe that I alone drank seventeen bottles of champagne in the course of dinner! Nozdryov, not silent for a moment, spouted all sorts of nonsense. He drew from Chichikov that he was going to Sobakevich's, and persuaded him to stop by before that. Chichikov decided that he could “beg for something for nothing” from the lost Nozdryov, and agreed.

Author's description of Nozdrev. Such people “are called broken fellows, they are known even in childhood and at school for good comrades, and for all that they are very painfully beaten ... They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, prominent people ...” Nozdryov used to even with his closest friends "Start with smoothness, and end with reptile." At thirty-five, he was the same as he was at eighteen. The deceased wife left two children who he did not need at all. He did not spend more than two days at home, he was always wandering around the fairs, playing cards "not entirely sinless and clean." “Nozdryov was in some respects a historical person. Not a single meeting where he was could do without a story: either the gendarmes would take him out of the hall, or his own friends would be forced to push him out ... or he would cut himself in the buffet, or he would lie ... The closer someone got along with him, the more he rather, he pissed everyone off: he dissolved a fable, which is more stupid than which it is difficult to invent, upset a wedding, a deal, and did not at all consider himself your enemy. He had a passion "to change everything that is for everything you want." All this came from some kind of restless briskness and glibness of character.

On his estate, the owner immediately ordered the guests to inspect everything he had, which took a little over two hours. Everything was abandoned, except for the kennel. In the owner's office, only sabers and two guns hung, as well as "real" Turkish daggers, on which "by mistake" was carved: "master Savely Sibiryakov." Over a poorly prepared dinner, Nozdryov tried to make Chichikov drunk, but he managed to pour out the contents of his glass. Nozdryov offered to play cards, but the guest flatly refused and finally started talking about business. Nozdryov, sensing that the matter was unclean, pestered Chichikov with questions: why does he need dead souls? After much squabbling, Nozdryov agreed, but on the condition that Chichikov would also buy a stallion, a mare, a dog, a hurdy-gurdy, etc.

Chichikov, having stayed the night, regretted that he had called on Nozdryov and started talking to him about the matter. In the morning it turned out that Nozdryov had not abandoned his intention to play for souls, and they finally settled on checkers. During the game, Chichikov noticed that his opponent was cheating and refused to continue the game. Nozdryov shouted to the servants: “Beat him!” and himself, "all in heat and sweat," began to break through to Chichikov. The soul of the guest went to the heels. At that moment, a cart with a police captain drove up to the house, who announced that Nozdryov was on trial for "inflicting personal insult on the landowner Maximov with rods while drunk." Chichikov, not listening to the bickering, quietly slipped out onto the porch, got into the britzka, and ordered Selifan to "drive the horses at full speed."

Chapter 5

Chichikov could not move away from fear. Suddenly, his britzka collided with a carriage in which two ladies were sitting: one was old, the other was young, of extraordinary charm. They parted with difficulty, but Chichikov thought for a long time about the unexpected meeting and the beautiful stranger.

The village of Sobakevich seemed to Chichikov “quite large... The yard was surrounded by a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. ... The village huts of the peasants were also cut down marvelously ... everything was fitted tightly and properly. ... In a word, everything ... was stubborn, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order. “When Chichikov glanced askance at Sobakevich, he seemed to him very much like a medium-sized bear.” “The tail coat on him was completely bear-colored ... He stepped with his feet at random and at random and stepped incessantly on other people's feet. The complexion was red-hot, hot, which happens on a copper penny. "Bear! The perfect bear! They even called him Mikhail Semyonovich, thought Chichikov.

Entering the drawing room, Chichikov noticed that everything in it was solid, clumsy, and had some strange resemblance to the owner himself. Every object, every chair seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” The guest tried to start a pleasant conversation, but it turned out that Sobakevich considered all mutual acquaintances - the governor, the postmaster, the chairman of the chamber - to be swindlers and fools. "Chichikov remembered that Sobakevich did not like to speak well of anyone."

Over a plentiful dinner, Sobakevich “tipped half a lamb side onto his plate, ate it all, gnawed it, sucked it to the last bone ... Cheesecakes followed the lamb side, each of which was much larger than a plate, then a turkey as tall as a calf ...” Sobakevich started talking about his neighbor Plyushkin, an extremely stingy man who owns eight hundred peasants, who "starved all the people to death." Chichikov became interested. After dinner, when he heard that Chichikov wanted to buy dead souls, Sobakevich was not at all surprised: "It seemed that there was no soul in this body at all." He started haggling and broke the exorbitant price. He spoke of dead souls as if they were alive: “I have everything for selection: not a workman, but some other healthy peasant”: Mikheev, a carriage worker, Stepan Cork, a carpenter, Milushkin, a bricklayer ... “After all, what a people!” Chichikov finally interrupted him: “But excuse me, why are you counting all their qualities? After all, these are all dead people. In the end, they agreed on three rubles a head and decided to be in the city the next day and deal with the bill of sale. Sobakevich demanded a deposit, Chichikov, in turn, insisted that Sobakevich give him a receipt and asked him not to tell anyone about the deal. "Fist, fist! thought Chichikov, "and a beast to boot!"

In order not to see Sobakevich, Chichikov went by a detour to Plyushkin. The peasant, whom Chichikov asks for directions to the estate, calls Plyushkin "patched". The chapter ends with a lyrical digression about the Russian language. “The Russian people express themselves strongly!.. Pronounced aptly, it’s the same as writing, it is not cut down with an ax ... the lively and lively Russian mind ... does not go into your pocket for a word, but slaps it right away, like a passport on an eternal sock ... no a word that would be so bold, brisk, so burst out from under the very heart, so seething and vibrant, like a well-spoken Russian word.

Chapter 6

The chapter opens with a lyrical digression about travel: “Long ago, in the summers of my youth, it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time, a childish curious look revealed a lot of curiosity in it ... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance, ... and indifferent silence keep my motionless lips. O my youth! O my freshness!

Laughing at Plyushkin's nickname, Chichikov imperceptibly found himself in the middle of a vast village. “He noticed some special dilapidation on all the village buildings: many roofs pierced through like a sieve ... The windows in the huts were without glass ...” Then the manor’s house appeared: “This strange castle looked like some kind of decrepit invalid ... In some places it was one story, in some places two... The walls of the house slitted bare stucco bars in places and, apparently, suffered a lot from all kinds of bad weather... The garden overlooking the village... it seemed that alone refreshed this vast village, and one was quite picturesque...”

“Everything said that the economy once flowed here on a vast scale, and everything looked cloudy now ... At one of the buildings, Chichikov noticed some figure ... For a long time he could not recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a peasant ... the dress is indefinite, there is a cap on the head, the dressing gown is sewn from no one knows what. Chichikov concluded that it must be the housekeeper. Entering the house, he “was struck by the disorder that appeared”: cobwebs all around, broken furniture, a pile of papers, “a glass with some kind of liquid and three flies ... a piece of rag”, dust, a pile of garbage in the middle of the room. The same housekeeper came in. Looking closer, Chichikov realized that it was more like a key keeper. Chichikov asked where the gentleman was. “What, father, are they blind, or what? - said the key. - And I'm the owner!

The author describes Plushkin's appearance and his history. “The chin protruded far forward, the small eyes had not yet gone out and were running from under high-growing eyebrows like mice”; the sleeves and upper skirts of the dressing gown were so “greasy and shiny that they looked like yuft, which goes on boots”, around the neck is not a stocking, not a garter, just not a tie. “But in front of him was not a beggar, in front of him was a landowner. This landowner had more than a thousand souls,” the pantries were full of grain, lots of linen, sheepskins, vegetables, crockery, and so on. But it seemed to Plyushkin that this was not enough. “Everything that came across to him: an old sole, a woman’s rag, an iron nail, a clay shard, he dragged everything to himself and put it in a pile.” “But there was a time when he was only a thrifty owner! He was married and a family man; mills moved, cloth factories, carpentry machines, spinning mills worked ... Intelligence was visible in the eyes ... But the good housewife died, Plyushkin became more restless, more suspicious and meaner. He cursed his eldest daughter, who ran away and married an officer of the cavalry regiment. The youngest daughter died, and the son, sent to the city to be determined for the service, went to the military - and the house was completely empty.

His “savings” reached the point of absurdity (he keeps a biscuit from Easter cake for several months, which his daughter brought him as a gift, always knows how much liquor is left in the decanter, writes neatly on paper, so that the lines run into each other). At first Chichikov did not know how to explain to him the reason for his visit. But, starting a conversation about Plyushkin's household, Chichikov found out that about one hundred and twenty serfs had died. Chichikov showed “a readiness to take upon himself the obligation to pay taxes for all the dead peasants. The proposal seemed to completely astonish Plyushkin. He couldn't speak for joy. Chichikov invited him to make a bill of sale and even undertook to bear all the costs. Plyushkin, out of an excess of feelings, does not know how to treat his dear guest: he orders to put on a samovar, get a spoiled cracker from the Easter cake, wants to treat him with a liquor, from which he pulled out "goat and all sorts of rubbish." Chichikov refused such a treat in disgust.

“And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, disgust! Could change like that!” - exclaims the author.

It turned out that Plyushkin had a lot of fugitive peasants. And Chichikov also acquired them, while Plyushkin bargained for every penny. To the great joy of the owner, Chichikov soon left "in the most cheerful mood": he acquired "more than two hundred people" from Plyushkin.

Chapter 7

The chapter opens with a sad lyrical discussion of two types of writers.

In the morning Chichikov thought about who the peasants were during his lifetime, whom he now owns (now he has four hundred dead souls). In order not to pay clerks, he himself began to build fortresses. At two o'clock everything was ready, and he went to the civil chamber. On the street, he ran into Manilov, who began to kiss and hug him. Together they went to the ward, where they turned to the official Ivan Antonovich with a person “called a jug snout”, to whom, in order to speed up the case, Chichikov gave a bribe. Sobakevich also sat here. Chichikov agreed to complete the deal during the day. The documents have been completed. After such a successful completion of affairs, the chairman suggested that we go to dinner with the chief of police. During dinner, tipsy and cheered up, the guests persuaded Chichikov not to leave and, in general, to marry here. Zakhmelev, Chichikov chatted about his "Kherson estate" and already believed everything he said.

Chapter 8

The whole city was discussing Chichikov's purchases. Some even offered their help in resettling the peasants, some even began to think that Chichikov was a millionaire, so they "fell in love with him even more sincerely." The inhabitants of the city lived in harmony with each other, many were not without education: "some read Karamzin, some "Moskovskie Vedomosti", some even did not read anything at all."

Chichikov made a special impression on the ladies. "The ladies of the city of N were what is called presentable." How to behave, keep the tone, maintain etiquette, and especially keep fashion in the very last detail - in this they were ahead of the ladies of St. Petersburg and even Moscow. The ladies of the city of N were distinguished by “extraordinary caution and decency in words and expressions. They never said: “I blew my nose”, “I sweated”, “I spat”, but they said: “I relieved my nose”, “I managed with a handkerchief”. The word "millionaire" had a magical effect on the ladies, one of them even sent a sugary love letter to Chichikov.

Chichikov was invited to the governor's ball. Before the ball, Chichikov looked at himself in the mirror for an hour, assuming significant poses. At the ball, being in the spotlight, he tried to guess the author of the letter. The governor introduced Chichikov to her daughter, and he recognized the girl whom he once met on the road: “she was the only one who turned white and came out transparent and bright from a muddy and opaque crowd.” The charming young girl made such an impression on Chichikov that he "felt like a completely something like a young man, almost a hussar." The rest of the ladies felt insulted by his impoliteness and inattention to them and began to "talk about him in different corners in the most unfavorable way."

Nozdryov appeared and ingenuously told everyone that Chichikov had tried to buy dead souls from him. The ladies, as if not believing in the news, picked it up. Chichikov "began to feel uncomfortable, not all right" and, without waiting for the end of dinner, left. In the meantime, Korobochka arrived in the city at night and began to find out the prices for dead souls, fearing that she had sold too cheap.

Chapter 9

Early in the morning, before the scheduled time for visits, "a lady pleasant in every way" went to visit the "simply pleasant lady." The guest told the news: at night, Chichikov, disguised as a robber, came to Korobochka with a demand to sell him dead souls. The hostess remembered that she had heard something from Nozdryov, but the guest had her own thoughts: dead souls are just a cover, in fact Chichikov wants to kidnap the governor's daughter, and Nozdryov is his accomplice. Then they discussed the appearance of the governor's daughter and did not find anything attractive in her.

Then the prosecutor appeared, they told him about their findings, which completely confused him. The ladies parted in different directions, and now the news went around the city. Men turned their attention to the purchase of dead souls, while women began to discuss the "abduction" of the governor's daughter. Rumors were retold in houses where Chichikov had never even been. He was suspected of a rebellion by the peasants of the village of Borovka and that he had been sent for some kind of check. To top it off, the governor received two notices about a counterfeiter and an escaped robber with an order to detain both ... They began to suspect that one of them was Chichikov. Then they remembered that they knew almost nothing about him ... They tried to find out, but they did not achieve clarity. We decided to meet with the chief of police.

Chapter 10

All officials were concerned about the situation with Chichikov. Gathered at the police chief, many noticed that they were emaciated from the latest news.

The author makes a lyrical digression about “the peculiarities of holding meetings or charity meetings”: “... In all our meetings ... there is a great deal of confusion ... Only those meetings that are made up in order to have a snack or dine succeed.” But here it turned out quite differently. Some were inclined to believe that Chichikov was a doer of banknotes, and then they themselves added: "Or maybe not a doer." Others believed that he was an official of the Governor-General's Office and immediately: "But, by the way, the devil knows." And the postmaster said that Chichikov was Captain Kopeikin, and told the following story.

THE STORY ABOUT CAPTAIN KOPEIKIN

During the war of 1812, the captain's arm and leg were torn off. There were no orders for the wounded then, and he went home to his father. He refused him the house, saying that there was nothing to feed him, and Kopeikin went to seek the truth to the sovereign in St. Petersburg. Asked where to go. The sovereign was not in the capital, and Kopeikin went to the "high commission, to the general-in-chief." He waited for a long time in the waiting room, then they announced to him that he would come in three or four days. The next time the nobleman said that we had to wait for the king, without his special permission, he could not do anything.

Kopeikin was running out of money, he decided to go and explain that he could not wait any longer, he simply had nothing to eat. He was not allowed to see the nobleman, but he managed to slip with some visitor into the reception room. He explained that he was dying of hunger, but could not earn. The general rudely escorted him out and sent him at public expense to his place of residence. “Where Kopeikin went is unknown; but not even two months had passed when a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests, and the ataman of this gang was none other ... "

It occurred to the chief of police that Kopeikin had no arms and legs, while Chichikov had everything in place. They began to make other assumptions, even this one: “Isn’t Chichikov Napoleon in disguise?” We decided to ask Nozdryov again, although he is a well-known liar. He was just engaged in the manufacture of fake cards, but he came. He said that he had sold dead souls to Chichikov for several thousand, that he knew him from the school where they studied together, and Chichikov had been a spy and a counterfeiter since the time that Chichikov really was going to take away the governor's daughter and Nozdryov helped him. As a result, officials never found out who Chichikov was. Frightened by insoluble problems, the prosecutor died, he had a stroke.

“Chichikov knew absolutely nothing about all this, he caught a cold and decided to stay at home.” He couldn't understand why no one was visiting him. Three days later, he went out into the street and first of all went to the governor, but he was not received there, just like in many other houses. Nozdryov came and incidentally told Chichikov: “...everyone in the city is against you; they think that you are making fake papers... they have dressed you up as robbers and spies.” Chichikov did not believe his ears: "... there is nothing more to delay, you need to get out of here as soon as possible."
He sent Nozdryov out and ordered Selifan to prepare for his departure.

Chapter 11

The next morning everything went upside down. At first Chichikov overslept, then it turned out that the chaise was out of order and the horses needed to be shod. But now everything was settled, and Chichikov, with a sigh of relief, sat down in the britzka. On the way, he met a funeral procession (the prosecutor was buried). Chichikov hid behind a curtain, afraid that he would be recognized. Finally Chichikov left the city.

The author tells the story of Chichikov: “The origin of our hero is dark and modest ... At the beginning, life looked at him somehow sourly and uncomfortably: no friend, no comrade in childhood!” His father, a poor nobleman, was constantly ill. One day, his father took Pavlusha to the city, to determine the city school: “The city streets flashed in front of the boy with unexpected splendor.” When parting, the father “was given a clever instruction: “Learn, do not be a fool and do not hang out, but most of all please teachers and bosses. Don’t hang out with comrades, or hang out with the rich, so that they can be useful to you on occasion ... most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is more reliable than anything in the world ... You will do everything and break everything in the world with a penny.

“He didn’t have any special abilities for any science,” but he turned out to have a practical mind. He did so that his comrades treated him, and he not only never treated them. And sometimes even, having hidden treats, then he sold them to them. “From the fifty dollars given by my father, I didn’t spend a penny, on the contrary, I made increments to it: I made a bullfinch out of wax and sold it very profitably”; accidentally teased hungry comrades with gingerbread and rolls, and then sold them to them, trained a mouse for two months and then sold it very profitably. “In relation to the authorities, he behaved even smarter”: he fawned over the teachers, catered to them, therefore he was in excellent standing and as a result “received a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.”

His father left him a small inheritance. “At the same time, the poor teacher was expelled from the school,” out of grief, he began to drink, drank everything and disappeared sick in some closet. All his former students collected money for him, but Chichikov dissuaded himself by lack of money and gave him some nickel of silver. “Everything that did not respond with wealth and contentment made an impression on him, incomprehensible to himself. He decided to get busy in the service, conquer and overcome everything ... From early morning until late at night he wrote, mired in stationery, did not go home, slept in the office rooms on tables ... He fell under the command of an elderly assistant, who was an image of what something of stone insensitivity and unshakability. Chichikov began to please him in everything, "sniffed out his home life", found out that he had an ugly daughter, began to come to church and stand in front of this girl. “And the case was a success: the stern clerk staggered and called him for tea!” He behaved like a fiancé, he called the intern “daddy” already, and through his future father-in-law he won the position of innkeeper. After that, "about the wedding, the matter was hushed up."

“Since then, everything has gone easier and more successfully. He became a conspicuous person ... in a short time he got a bread place ”and learned to deftly take bribes. Then he joined some kind of construction commission, but construction is not going “above the foundation”, but Chichikov managed to steal, like other members of the commission, significant funds. But suddenly a new boss was sent, an enemy of bribe-takers, and the officials of the commission were removed from their posts. Chichikov moved to another city and started from scratch. “He decided to get to the customs at all costs, and got there. He took up the service with unusual zeal. He became famous for his incorruptibility and honesty (“his honesty and incorruptibility were irresistible, almost unnatural”), he achieved a promotion. Having waited for the right moment, Chichikov received funds to carry out his project to catch all the smugglers. "Here in one year he could get what he would not have won in twenty years of the most zealous service." Having agreed with one official, he took up smuggling. Everything went smoothly, the accomplices grew rich, but suddenly they quarreled and both were put on trial. The property was confiscated, but Chichikov managed to save ten thousand, a cart and two serfs. And so he started again. As an attorney, he had to mortgage one estate, and then it dawned on him that you can mortgage dead souls in a bank, take a loan against them and hide. And he went to buy them in the city of N.

“So, our hero is all there ... Who is he in relation to moral qualities? Scoundrel? Why a scoundrel? Now we don’t have scoundrels, there are well-meaning, pleasant people ... It’s most fair to call him: the owner, the acquirer ... And which of you is not publicly, but in silence, alone, deepens this heavy request into his own soul: “But no Is there some part of Chichikov in me too?” Yes, no matter how!”

Meanwhile, Chichikov woke up, and the britzka rushed faster, “And what kind of Russian person does not like to drive fast? .. Isn’t it true that you, Rus, are rushing about in a brisk, unbeaten troika? Rus', where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking sideways, step aside and give it way to other peoples and states.

We give a summary of the famous work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol - Dead Souls. This book is required in the school curriculum, so it is important to familiarize yourself with its content, or, if you forgot some points, remember the main plot points.

Volume One

The story took place immediately after the famous expulsion of the French. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, a collegiate adviser, (not very young and not old, pleasant and slightly rounded in appearance, neither thin nor fat) finds himself in a provincial town of NN and stays at a hotel. He asks the tavern servants about the owners and income of the institution, significant landowners, officials, is interested in the state of the region and about rampant diseases, epidemic fevers and other misfortunes.

The guest of the city visits all the inhabitants and notices the courtesy of the people and vigorous activity. He almost does not talk about himself, brushing aside, saying that he had seen a lot in his life, that he had many enemies who wanted to kill him. He is currently looking for a place to live. At the governor's party, he achieves universal favor and meets the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. Then he dines with the chief of police (where he meets the landowner Nozdryov), visits the vice-governor and the chairman, the prosecutor and the farmer - and goes to the Manilov estate.

Having overcome 30 miles, Chichikov arrived in Manilovka to the kindest host. Don of the landowner, who was located in the Jura surrounded by flower beds and gazebos, characterized the owner, not weighed down by passions. After dinner with the hostess and the two sons of the landowner, Alkid and Themistoclus, Chichikov talks about the purpose of his visit: he wants to buy dead peasants who are not declared in the audit certificate, but to register them as living. The kind owner was initially frightened and perplexed, but then he was delighted and made a deal. Then Chichikov goes to Sobakevich, and Manilov dreams of living next door to Chichikov across the river, building a bridge, a house with a gazebo that allows him to see Moscow, and making friends with him, for which the sovereign would make them generals. Chichikov's coachman Selifan, who was treated kindly by Manilov's yard people, while talking to the horses, misses the necessary turn and, during a downpour, drops the master into the slush. In the darkness, they manage to find lodging for the night at Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, a somewhat timid landowner, from whom Chichikov buys dead souls in the morning. He said that he himself would pay taxes for them. He buys souls from her for 15 rubles, takes the list and, after tasting pancakes, pie and pies, leaves, leaving the hostess worried about whether she sold too cheap.

On the high road, Chichikov heads to the tavern for a meal. He meets with Nozdrev, who is riding in Mizhuev's britzka, because he lost everything he had. Talking about the fair he visited, he praises the drinking qualities of the officers and, demonstrating the puppy, Nozdrev takes Chichikov with him, taking also the stubborn son-in-law Mizhuev. After describing Nozdryov, his house, dinner, the author switches to his son-in-law's wife, and Chichikov starts a conversation about his interest, but the landowner does not agree. Nozdryov suggested an exchange, take it to a stallion or put it in cards, as a result they swear and say goodbye for the night. Persuasion continues in the morning again, and Chichikov agrees to play checkers, but sees Nozdryov's cheating during the game. Chichikov, whom the owner and servants are about to beat, runs away during the visit of the police captain, who announced that Nozdryov had been taken to court. On the way, Chichikov's cart collides with an unknown crew, and while the confused horses are being bred, Chichikov sees a 16-year-old young lady, talking about her and dreaming of a family. A visit to Sobakevich is followed by a lunch during which they discuss city officials, who, according to the owner, are all swindlers, the conversation ends with a proposal for a deal. Sobakevich begins to bargain, characterizing the good qualities of the serfs, gives Chichikov the list and forces him to make a deposit.

Chichikov's path to Plyushkin is interrupted by a conversation with a peasant who gave Plyushkin a petty nickname and the author's reflection on love and indifference. Seeing the landowner, Chichikov thought that he was a housekeeper or a wandering beggar. His most important feature lies in his amazing tinkering, he dragged all unnecessary things into his chambers. Having demonstrated the advantage of the offer, Chichikov refuses tea with crackers and leaves in a good mood, taking with him a letter to the chairman of the chamber.

During Chichikov's sleep, the author sadly talks about the meanness of objects. After a dream, Chichikov begins to study the lists of the purchased peasants, thinking about their fate, and goes to the ward to conclude the case. Manilov meets him near the hotel and goes with him. Then the official place is described, Chichikov's troubles and giving a bribe. The chairman becomes Plushkin's attorney, speeding up other deals. The people begin to discuss Chichikov's purchases, what he intends to do: in what places, with land or for withdrawal, did he acquire peasants. Having learned that the peasants will be sent to the Kherson province, after discussing the qualities of the sold peasants, the deals are completed with champagne, then they go to the police chief to drink for the new landowner. Excited after strong drinks, they began to force Chichikov to stay and start a family.

Chichikov's acquisitions lead to a stir in the city, everyone says that he is a millionaire. Ladies line up. Trying to describe women, the author becomes shy and falls silent. Before the governor's ball, Chichikov receives a love note. Having spent a lot of time on the toilet and being satisfied, Chichikov goes to the ball, where he can hardly escape from the embrace. The girls, among whom he is looking for the author of the letter, begin to quarrel. But when the governor's wife approaches him, his behavior changes dramatically, because she is accompanied by her daughter, a 16-year-old blonde, whose carriage he encountered on the road. He begins to lose the favor of women, because he begins to talk with an interesting blonde, defiantly ignoring the others. In addition, Nozdryov comes to the ball and loudly asks if Chichikov bought up a lot of dead people. Despite Nozdryov's drunken state, society is embarrassed, Chichikov is not given either dinner or whist, and he leaves the ball in upset feelings.

At this time, a tarantass arrives in the town with the landowner Korobochka, who has arrived in order to find out about the price of dead souls. In the morning, some pleasant house finds out the news, which is in a hurry to notify others, as a result, interesting details appear in the story (an armed Chichikov burst into Korobochka at night, demanding dead souls - everyone came running, screaming, crying children). Her friend says that the dead souls are just a cover for Chichikov's cunning intent to steal the governor's daughter. After discussing the details of the enterprise, Nozdrev's accomplice, the women tell everything to the prosecutor and go to rebel in the city.

The town quickly begins to seethe, to this is added the news that a new governor-general has been appointed, and there is information about papers: about the appearance of false banknotes in the province, about a robber who fled from legal persecution. Trying to find out who Chichikov is, they begin to recall his vague certification and the conversation about the attempt on his life. The postmaster suggested that Chichikov is the captain of Kopeika, who took up arms against an unjust world and became a robber, but this is rejected because the captain has no limbs, and Chichikov is whole. There is an assumption that this is Napoleon in disguise, with whom he has many similarities. Conversations with Sobakevich, Manilov and Korobochka yielded no results. And Nozdryov only intensifies the confusion, saying that Chichikov is a spy who makes fake banknotes and wants to steal the governor's daughter, in which he should help him. All the conversations had a strong effect on the prosecutor, he has a stroke, from which he dies.

Chichikov, with a slight cold, stays at the hotel and is surprised that not a single official comes to him. However, when he decided to pay everyone visits, he learns that the governor does not want to see him, and the rest step aside in fear. Nozdryov, having come to his hotel, tells him everything, declaring that he is ready to help in the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. In the morning, Chichikov quickly leaves, but he is stopped by a funeral procession, he has to look at the officials who are walking behind the coffin of the prosecutor. The brichka leaves the city, and the open spaces make the author think about sad and gratifying things, about Russia, and then grieve about the hero.

Having concluded that the hero needs to rest, the author tells the story of Pavel Ivanovich, reveals his childhood, studies, where he showed a practical mind, what kind of relationship he had with teachers and peers, how he served in the Treasury, the commission for the construction of a government building , where for the first time he showed his weaknesses, how later he went to other not so profitable places, as he served at customs, where it is almost impossible to work honestly and incorruptibly, he received a lot of money by conspiring with smugglers, went bankrupt, but was able to avoid a criminal court, although forced to retire. Becoming an attorney and busying himself with the pledge of the peasants, he came up with a plan: he began to travel around Rus', buying dead souls and pledging them to the treasury to receive money that would be used to purchase the village and provide for offspring.

Having again murmured at the nature of the hero and justified him a little, calling him "the acquirer, the owner", the author compared the flying troika with Russia, ending the story with the ringing of a bell.

Volume two

The estate of Andrey Ivanovich Tentetnikov is described, whom the author calls "the smoker of the sky". The author tells about his empty pastime, tells the story of his life, which was inspired by hopes and overshadowed by official troubles and trifles. He retires, wanting to renovate the estate, take care of the peasant, read books, but without any experience this does not provide the desired results, the peasant begins to mess around, and Tentetnikov simply gives up. He avoids neighbors, offended by the attitude of General Betrishchev, does not visit him, although he often thinks about his daughter Ulinka. In general, he begins to turn sour.

Pavel Ivanovich goes to him, complaining about the breakdown in the carriage, trying to pay respect. Having arranged the owner to himself, Chichikov goes to the general, telling him about the grumpy uncle and asking about the dead souls. The narrative is interrupted by a laughing general, then we find Chichikov walking towards Colonel Koshkarev. He turns to the Rooster, who appears before him naked, he is interested in catching sturgeon. Petukh has almost nothing, except for the mortgaged estate, so he simply overeats, meets with the landowner Platonov and persuades him to drive around Rus'. After that, he goes to Konstantin Kostanzhoglo, the wife of Platonov's sister. From him, he learns about management methods that significantly increase the profit from the estate, Chichikov is greatly inspired by this.

He quickly comes to Koshkarev, who divided his village into expeditions, departments, committees, organizing an ideal paper production on the estate. After returning, Costanjoglo curses manufactories and factories that have a bad effect on the peasant, the absurd desires of the peasant and Khlobuev's neighbor, who abandoned his estate and gives for a penny. Chichikov is touched and even drawn to honest work, listening to the story of the farmer Murazov, who earned 40 million flawlessly, the next day, together with Platonov and Kostanzhoglo, he goes to Khlobuev, sees his obscene and careless household, along with a governess for children, a fashionable wife and other luxury . Having borrowed money from Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, he pays for the estate, wishing to acquire it, and goes to the Platonov estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who is skillfully engaged in farming. Then he ends up with his neighbor Lenitsyn, winning his sympathy with the ability to tickle a child, thanks to which he receives dead souls.

After many omissions in the manuscript, Chichikov finds himself at a city fair, where he acquires lingonberry fabric with a spark. He meets Khlobuev, whom he ruined his life. Khlobuev was taken away by Murazov, who convinced him that he needed to work and raise funds for the church. Meanwhile, slanders against Chichikov are recognized by dead souls and forgery. The tailor delivers the tailcoat. Suddenly, a gendarme arrives and drags Chichikov to the governor-general. Here all his atrocities become known, and he finds himself in prison. Chichikov finds himself in a closet, where Murazov finds him. He tears his hair and clothes, mourning the loss of the box of papers. Murazov, with kind words, tries to awaken in him a desire for an honest life and goes to soften the governor general. At the same moment, officials who want to annoy the authorities and take a bribe from Chichikov bring him a box, send denunciations to confuse the case and steal the witness. Riots are unfolding in the province, which are of great concern to the Governor General. But Murazov is able to grope for the sensitive sides of his soul and provide the right advice that the Governor-General wants to use when releasing Chichikov. After that, the manuscript ends...