Gogol did not finish his poem " Dead Souls", because I realized that the situation in Russia could not be corrected for a long time, although in the first volume it still gives some hope for a brighter future.
Gogol wrote "Dead Souls" at a time when Russia still existed serfdom. Therefore, many landowners treated the peasants terribly: they beat them, humiliated them, sold them like pets. The landowners tried to get as many peasants as possible, this was considered wealth.
Gogol shone his poem on this, Chichikov is the prototype of all landowners in Russia. Chichikov begins his journey through the provinces to buy up "dead souls". There is also a narration of the lifestyle of the landlords, using the example of Korobochka, Sobakevich or other heroes. They are, of course, different from each other. The box values every penny, and the other main character spend the last. Manilov, he does not even know how many souls he has, is indifferent to everything that happens. But their common feature lies in the fact that all the landowners simply exist, do nothing, sit on the neck of the state.
Any landowner in Gogol's work is not particularly literate, they are all uneducated. Plyushkin is shown as a miser, he regrets even for himself, and Sobakevich steals and deceives. Manilov has been reading the same book for several years, which gathers dust on the fourteenth page.
Throughout the poem, Gogol represents rude, humiliating, illiterate, cruel landowners. But in the poem one can also see admiration for nature, this is an excerpt about the Russian road, descriptions of the situation. The troika is compared with Russia, so the author shows that there is a chance to change the Motherland, but this will be in the future, in another Russia.
In addition, Gogol also depicted the functions of the state, its impracticality, because at that time it was impossible to sell and buy showers, but many, for example, Chichikov, managed to do this. This means that there was no order in the country. No one followed human rights, people lived for money, "dead souls", an empty existence, none of the presented heroes brought benefits to society.
But there are two heroes who, according to Gogol, can change their lives. These are Chichikov and Plyushkin, so their biography is given in such detail. They differ slightly in behavior, they have bright thoughts that will then lead them to a normal life, as the author intended.
The very title of the play has two meanings: The first is the dead souls that the landowners bought and sold. And the second - the dead souls of the landowners themselves.
Thus, we can say that the meaning of Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" has several directions. The first is historical, to depict the real reality of that time. The second is social, to show the problems of society, first of all, this is serfdom and the lawlessness of the landowners. The third is surety, put on Right way fixes.
Gogol is famous for his works, he invested a huge philosophical meaning into a poem that has survived to this day.
Option 2
There is a lot of meaning in this poem. This is very deep work which, they say, opens up anew with each reading. You can always discover something interesting in the characters and details.
In general, the very controversial name and the fact that the purchase of souls took place in Russian empire, as if it was the demons who bought them, suggests the idea of something sinful. That is, it is not very good (and Gogol understood this) that we had a slave-owning system for so long. And in the poem we see those who distribute human souls. These are not the best, not the kindest and smart people. On the contrary, everyone has his own serious shortcoming: dreaminess, greed, stupidity, passion ... And all this hits the people (peasants) who depend on these landlords.
The poem, like the play The Inspector General, is satirical. Nikolai Vasilievich denounces and ridicules such landlords, and the system itself, too, probably. I heard that Gogol in his will spoke a lot about kindness and responsibility. The same landowner must understand the responsibility for the people who obey him ... This is even more serious than the general and his soldiers, than the boss and subordinates, since the landowner had global power over the serfs. He would have to take care of their well-being, their development ... But in reality it turned out that the landowners thought only of themselves.
That is, I think that main point accusatory ... The author also laughs at Chichikov himself, who, in essence, is simply an adventurer! And he managed to find with everyone mutual language. Although in the end, his scam did not lead to anything good.
The theme of Russia is also very important, which, they say, a trio of birds is rushing somewhere. Here we even learned a piece. Yes, these are beautiful lines that make you think about the fate of the country. And about all of us she carries. But love is felt in those lines. Love not only for the country, but also for its people.
They say people get what they deserve. This means that at that time the peasants deserved only such landowners. The peasants were intimidated, sometimes lazy. And in the end it poured out through long years into the revolution! Even after the abolition of serfdom, not much has essentially changed ... Even now, it seems to me, we still have its echoes.
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How to understand what Nikolai Gogol really wanted to say
Text: Natalia Lebedeva/RG
Collage: Year of Literature. RF /
Photo portrait of N. V. Gogol from the group daguerreotype of S. L. Levitsky. Author K. A. Fisher / en.wikipedia.org
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is rightfully considered one of the most mystery writers Russian literature. Many secrets of his life and work have not yet been revealed by researchers. One of these mysteries is the fate of the second volume of Dead Souls. Why did Gogol burn the second volume, and did he burn it at all? But literary critics were still able to reveal some secrets of Dead Souls. Why are “Russian peasants” so remarkable, why did playing whist become “a sensible occupation” and what role does the fly that flew into Chichikov’s nose play in the novel? About this and more literary historian, translator, candidate philological sciences Evgeniya Shraga told on Arzamas.
1. The secret of Russian men
In the first paragraph of Dead Souls, a cart with Chichikov enters the provincial town of NN:
“His entry made absolutely no noise in the city and was not accompanied by anything special; only two Russian peasants, standing at the door of the tavern opposite the hotel, made some remarks ... "
This is clearly an unnecessary detail: from the first words it is clear that the action takes place in Russia. Why the clarification that the men are Russian? Such a phrase would sound appropriate only in the mouth of a foreigner describing his foreign impressions. literary historian Semyon Vengerov in an article entitled “Gogol did not know real Russian life at all,” he explained it this way:
Gogol was really too late to learn about Russian (and not Ukrainian) life, not to mention the life of the Russian provinces,
Therefore, such an epithet was really significant for him. Vengerov was sure: “If Gogol had thought for at least one minute, he would certainly have crossed out this absurd epithet that says absolutely nothing to the Russian reader.”
But he did not cross out - and for good reason: in fact, this is the most characteristic technique for the poetics of Dead Souls, which the poet and philologist
called "a figure of fiction" - when something (and often a lot) is said, but nothing is actually said, definitions do not define, descriptions do not describe.
Another example of this poetics is the description of the protagonist. He "not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too thick nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young”, “a middle-aged man with a rank that is not too big and not too small”, “Mr., whose face we will never see, although he looks with pleasure in the mirror.
2. The secret of the rainbow scarf
This is how we first see Chichikov:
“The gentleman threw off his cap and unwound a woolen, rainbow-colored scarf from his neck, which the wife prepares with her own hands for the married, providing decent instructions on how to wrap up, and for the unmarried, I probably can’t say who does it, God knows them ... "
"... I never wore such scarves",- continues the narrator of Dead Souls. The description is built in a very characteristic Gogol way: the intonation of a know-it-all - “I know very well everything about such scarves”- sharply reversed - “I’m single, I didn’t wear anything like that, I don’t know anything.” Behind this habitual technique and in such a habitual abundance of details, a rainbow scarf is well hidden.
“He woke up the next day already quite late in the morning. The sun shone through the window straight into his eyes, and the flies that yesterday had slept peacefully on the walls and on the ceiling all turned to him: one landed on his lip, another on his ear, a third strove to land on his very eye, the same one that had the imprudence to sit close to the nasal nostril, he pulled sleepily into the very nose, which made him sneeze very hard - a circumstance which was the cause his awakening.
It is interesting that the narrative is full of detailed descriptions of the general dream, and only this awakening of Chichikov is an event that he talks about in detail.
Chichikov wakes up from a fly in his nose. His feelings are described almost in the same way as the shock of officials who heard about Chichikov's scam:
“The position of them [officials] in the first minute was similar to the position of a schoolboy, to whom sleepy comrades, who got up early, stuck a hussar in his nose, that is, a piece of paper filled with tobacco. Sleepily pulling all the tobacco towards him with all the zeal of a sleeping person, he wakes up, jumps up, looks like a fool, bulging his eyes in all directions, and cannot understand where he is, what he is, what happened to him ... "
Strange rumors aroused the city, and this excitement is described as the awakening of those who had previously indulged in “dead dreams on their side, on their backs and in all other positions, with snoring, nasal whistles and other paraphernalia”, the entire “hitherto dormant city ". Before us resurrection of the dead albeit a parody. But all this had such an effect on the city prosecutor that he completely died. His death is paradoxical, since in a sense it is a resurrection:
A. A. Agin. "Dead Souls". Chichikov and Korobochka. 1846/ www.nasledie-rus.ru
“... They sent for a doctor to draw blood, but they saw that the prosecutor was already one soulless body. Then only with condolences did they learn that the deceased had, for sure, a soul, although, due to his modesty, he never showed it.The opposition between sleep and awakening is connected with the key motifs of the novel - death and resurrection. The impetus for awakening can be the most insignificant trifle - a fly, tobacco, a strange rumor. The "Resurrectionist", in the role of which Chichikov acts, does not need to have any special virtues - it is enough for him to be in the role of a fly that got into his nose: to break the usual course of life.
5. How to do everything: the secret of Chichikov
Chichikov leaves Korobochka:
“Although the day was very good, the earth was so polluted that the wheels of the britzka, grabbing it, soon became covered with it, like felt, which greatly burdened the crew; besides, the soil was clayey and unusually tenacious. Both were the reason that they could not get out of the country roads before noon.
So, in the afternoon, the hero hardly gets out to the post. Before that, after lengthy squabbles, he bought 18 revisionist souls from Korobochka and ate an unleavened egg pie and pancakes. Meanwhile, he woke up at ten. How did Chichikov manage to do everything in just over two hours?
This is not the only example of Gogol's free treatment of time. Departing from the city of NN to Manilovka, Chichikov gets into a britzka in an "overcoat on big bears", and on the way he meets men in sheepskin coats - the weather is clearly not summer. Arriving at Manilov, he sees a house on the mountain, "dressed with trimmed turf", "bushes of lilacs and yellow acacias", birches with "small-leaved thin tops", "a pond covered with greenery", knee-deep women wander in the pond - already without any sheepskin coats. Waking up the next morning in Korobochka's house, Chichikov looks out of the window at "spacious vegetable gardens with cabbage, onions, potatoes, beets and other household vegetables" and at " fruit trees covered with nets to protect against magpies and sparrows" The season has changed again. Returning to the city, Chichikov will again put on his "bear covered with brown cloth." “In bears covered with brown cloth, and in a warm cap with ears,” Manilov will also come to the city. In general, as it is said in another Gogol text: “I don’t remember the numbers. There was no month either.
Cover of the first edition of the poem "Dead Souls", made according to the drawing by N. V. Gogol
In general, the world of "Dead Souls" is a world without time. The seasons do not follow each other in order, but accompany a place or character, becoming its additional characteristic. Time stops flowing as expected, freezing in an ugly eternity - "a state of lasting immobility", according to the philologist Michael Weiskopf.
6. The secret of the guy with the balalaika
Chichikov orders Selifan to leave at dawn, Selifan scratches his head in response, and the narrator discusses what this means:
“Is it annoyance that the meeting planned for the next day with his brother in an unsightly sheepskin coat, girded with a sash, somewhere in the Tsar’s tavern, somewhere in the Tsar’s tavern, has not succeeded, or what kind of hearty sweetheart has already begun in a new place and you have to leave the evening standing at the gate and political holding on to white hands at the hour when twilight is piling on the city, a fellow in a red shirt is strumming a balalaika in front of the yard servants and weaving quiet speeches by the raznochinny, exhausted people?<…>God knows, don't guess. Scratching in the back of the head means many different things among the Russian people.
Such passages are very characteristic of Gogol: to tell a lot of everything and come to the conclusion that nothing is incomprehensible, and indeed there is nothing to talk about. But in this next passage that explains nothing, the guy with the balalaika attracts attention. We've already seen it somewhere:
“As he drove up to the porch, he noticed two faces looking out of the window almost at the same time: a female in a cap, narrow, long, like a cucumber, and a male, round, wide, like Moldavian pumpkins, called gourds, from which balalaikas are made in Russia, two-stringed , light balalaikas, the beauty and fun of a quick-witted twenty-year-old guy, flashing and dandy, and winking and whistling at the white-breasted and white-necked girls who had gathered to listen to his quiet-stringed jingling.
You never know where Gogol's comparison will lead:
the comparison of Sobakevich's face with a Moldavian pumpkin suddenly turns into a scene with the participation of our balalaika player.
Such extended comparisons are one of the methods by which Gogol further expands art world novel, introduces into the text something that did not even fit into such a capacious plot as a journey, something that Chichikov did not have time or could not see, something that may not fit into big picture life of the provincial city and its environs.
But Gogol does not stop there, but takes the dandy with the balalaika who appeared in a detailed comparison - and again finds a place for him in the text, and now much closer to the plot reality. From a figure of speech, from a comparison grows real character, which wins its place in the novel and eventually fits into the plot.
7. Corrupt secret
Even before the events of "Dead Souls" Chichikov was a member of the commission “for the construction of some kind of state-owned very capital structure”:
A.A. Agin. "Dead Souls". Manilov with his wife. 1846/ www.nasledie-rus.ru
“For six years [the commission] fussed around the building; but the climate, or something, interfered, or the material was already like that, only the government building could not go higher than the foundation. Meanwhile, in other parts of the city, each of the members found himself beautiful house civil architecture: apparently, the soil of the earth was better there.
This reference to "civil architecture" as a whole fits into Gogol's redundant style, where definitions do not define anything, and in contrast, the second element may easily be missing. But initially it was: "civil architecture" was opposed to the church. In an early edition of Dead Souls, the commission, which included Chichikov, is designated as "the commission for the construction of the temple of God."
This episode of Chichikov's biography was based on Gogol's well-known history of the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The temple was founded October 12, 1817 year, in the early 1820s, a commission was established, and already in 1827th Abuses were discovered, the commission was abolished, and two of its members were put on trial. Sometimes these numbers serve as the basis for dating the events of Chichikov's biography, but, firstly, as we have already seen, Gogol did not really bind himself with an exact chronology; secondly, in the final version, the mention of the temple is removed, the action takes place in a provincial town, and this whole story is reduced to an element of style, to “civil architecture”, in Gogol's way, it is no longer opposed to anything.
WHAT'S THE POINT
GOGOL'S POEMS "DEAD SOULS".
Poem "The Dead"
soul" was written at a time when
Russia was dominated by serfdom.
The landlords controlled their peasants,
as things or livestock, could buy and
sell them. The wealth of the landowner
determined by the number of peasants who
belonged to him. Approximately 10
years the state produced a census of "souls".
According to the census lists, the landowners paid
peasant taxes. If between
two revisions the peasant was dying, the landowner
still paid for him as if he were alive, until
new census.
One day A.S.
Pushkin told Gogol about one rogue official,
who bought for nothing from the landowners
dead souls listed as alive.
After that, the official became very rich.
The plot greatly interested Gogol. He
conceived to paint a picture of a fortress
Russia, show what happened in it
the process of disintegration of the landlord economy.
Gogol decided to write his poem in three
volumes, in which it would be necessary to show the entire
Rus' is not "from one side", but comprehensively.
He sought to portray not only
negative feudal landlords, but
find positive ones among them. But since V
Russia at that time had no positive
landlords, the second volume of the poem was not published.
box -
housewife, but with a narrow mental
outlook. She sees nothing but
kopecks and two-kopeck pieces. ruined
landowner-squanderer Nozdrev, capable of "Lower"
the whole household in a few days.
Shown and
Sobakevich is a kulak landowner who is very
far from enlightenment, from advanced ideas
society. For the sake of profit, he is capable of
cheating, forgery, deceit. He even
manages to sell Chichikov instead of a man
woman.
The limit
moral fall is Plyushkin - "hole
on humanity." He regrets wasting his
good not only for others, but also for yourself. He
does not dine, dresses in torn clothes. TO
people he harbors distrust and hostility,
shows cruelty and injustice to
peasants. Paternal feelings died out in him,
things for him more expensive than people. "And before
such
insignificance, pettiness, vileness could
come down man," exclaims bitterly
Gogol about Plyushkin.
In "Dead"
souls" displayed a whole gallery of officials
that time. Their emptiness is shown
existence, lack of serious
interests, extreme ignorance, there are no
images of the people, but separate places,
works breathe love for him, faith in
him.
makes you admire the living and. brisk
Russian mind quickness,
endurance, strength and resourcefulness
Russian
peasant. And believing in these qualities of the people,
Gogol read happiness
Russia in its distant future, comparing Rus'
with a bird-toka, rushing into the distance, where they are waiting
her change for the better.
Gogol contributed
a huge contribution to the history of Russian society!
The writer died, but his works are not
lost their meaning and now
time. Disappeared people like those whom
portrayed by Gogol, but the individual features of these
heroes can be found in our time.
Gogol helps us see the negative
the meaning of these traits, teaches us to understand their harm and
fight them.
// "Dead Souls" in Gogol's poem "Dead Souls"
Gogol's immortal poem "" opens before us not only life and customs Russian society mid-19th century, but also shows human vices that belonged to him. The author gives the central place in his work to a man of a new type - businessman Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.
Nature endowed the protagonist with unbearable mental faculties. A brilliant scam was born and developed in his head. Finding inaccuracies in the then legislation, he decides to issue a bank loan, and leave the peasant souls as a pledge. Only in fact, these peasants were already dead for a long time, but on paper they were still alive and healthy. To implement his idea, Chichikov goes to the city of NN, where he buys dead peasant souls from local landowners for pennies.
The main character manages to win over all the officials and landowners of the city of NN. They begin to talk about Chichikov as a businesslike and decent person. Every official and landowner tries to invite Pavel Ivanovich to visit him, and he gladly agrees.
A whole galaxy of landlords opens up before us, who in themselves are strong and bright personalities but who have closed in their own world.
For example, the landowner was smart enough and an educated person. In society, he was known as an aesthete. But he could not realize himself. Manilov became a hostage of his dreams and castles in the air. He was not accustomed to physical labor, all his plans remained only plans, and he looked at the world "through rose-colored glasses."
In contrast to Manilov, Gogol shows us the landowner Sobakevich. He was a man physical labor. He achieved his goal with strength and ingenuity. Dreams were alien to Sobakevich. The only thing that interested him material wealth. even trying to bargain for the dead souls of his peasants the maximum price.
Next we meet the landowner Korobochka, whom Chichikov comes across by accident. symbolizes stagnation and limitation. This is confirmed by the clock in her house, which has long since stopped. The purpose of her life was the sale of hemp and fluff.
The landowner Nozdrev became the embodiment of a broad Russian soul. Excitement and adventurism became the main principles of Nozdrev's life. For him, there were no customs, no laws. He lived according to his heart.
The last landowner with whom Gogol introduces us was. The author speaks of him as "a hole in the body of mankind." Plyushkin reduced his life to mindless hoarding. Even with a huge fortune, he starved and starved his peasants.
It is characteristic that Chichikov managed to find an approach to all these "different" people and get what he wanted. With some he is soft and well-mannered, with others he is firm and rude, with others he is cunning and prudent. All these qualities, ingenuity and ingenuity, perseverance make us admire the main character of the poem "Dead Souls".
For understanding inner peace Chichikova, refers to the childhood of the protagonist and to the conditions in which little Pavlusha grew up. Chichikov's only childhood memory was his father's instructions on the need to "save a penny." And therefore, the main character devoted his whole life to fulfilling his father's covenant.
In "Dead Souls" we can see many human vices, which are reflected in the images of the heroes of the work. Gogol was anxious and worried about this state of affairs and hoped that someday the time would come and the "dead souls" of our society would be reborn.
the carriage enters. She is met by men chatting about nothing. They look at the wheel and try to figure out how far it can go. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov turns out to be a guest of the city. He came to the city on business about which there is no exact information - "according to his needs."
The young landowner has an interesting appearance:
- narrow short pantaloons of white canine fabric;
- tailcoat for fashion;
- pin in the form of a bronze pistol.
The next day the guest of the city shone visits. He managed to pick up for everyone good word, flattery penetrated the heart of officials. The city was talking about a nice person who visited them. Moreover, Chichikov managed to charm not only men, but also ladies. Pavel Ivanovich was invited by landowners who were in the city on business: Manilov and Sobakevich. At a dinner with the chief of police, he met Nozdryov. The hero of the poem managed to produce pleasant impression on everyone, even on those who rarely spoke positively about someone.
Chapter 2
Pavel Ivanovich had been in the city for more than a week. He attended parties, dinners and balls. Chichikov decided to visit the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. The reason for this decision was different. The master had two serfs: Petrushka and Selifan. The first silent reader. He read everything that came to hand, in any position. He liked unknown and incomprehensible words. His other passions are: sleeping in clothes, keeping his scent. The coachman Selifan was completely different. In the morning we went to Manilov. They searched for the estate for a long time, it turned out to be more than 15 miles away, about which the landowner spoke. The master's house stood open to all winds. The architecture tuned in to the English manner, but only remotely resembled it. Manilov broke into a smile as the guest approached. The nature of the owner is difficult to describe. The impression changes with how close a person converges with him. The landowner has an enticing smile, blond hair and Blue eyes. The first impression is a very pleasant man, then the opinion begins to change. They began to get tired of him, because they did not hear a single living word. The business went on by itself. Dreams were absurd and impossible: an underground passage, for example. He could read one page for several years in a row. There was not enough furniture. The relationship between wife and husband was like a voluptuous meal. They kissed, created surprises for each other. Everything else didn't bother them. The conversation begins with questions about the inhabitants of the city. All Manilov considers pleasant people, nice and amiable. The amplifying particle pre- is constantly added to the characteristics: most amiable, most esteemed and others. The conversation turned into an exchange of compliments. The owner had two sons, the names surprised Chichikov: Themistoclus and Alkid. Slowly, but Chichikov decides to ask the owner about the dead on his estate. Manilov did not know how many people died, he ordered the clerk to write down everyone by name. When the landowner heard about the desire to buy dead souls, he was simply dumbfounded. I could not imagine how to draw up a bill of sale for those who were no longer among the living. Manilov donates souls for nothing, even pays the costs of transferring them to Chichikov. The farewell was as sweet as the meeting. Manilov stood on the porch for a long time, watching the guest, then plunged into dreams, but the strange request of the guest did not fit in his head, he twisted it until dinner.Chapter 3
The hero in excellent spirits goes to Sobakevich. The weather turned bad. The rain made the road look like a field. Chichikov realized that they were lost. When it seemed that the situation was becoming unbearable, the barking of dogs was heard, and a village appeared. Pavel Ivanovich asked to come into the house. He dreamed only of a warm lodging for the night. The hostess did not know anyone whose names were mentioned by the guest. They straightened the sofa for him, and he woke up only the next day, already quite late. The clothes were cleaned and dried. Chichikov went out to the hostess, he communicated with her more freely than with the former landowners. The hostess introduced herself - the collegiate secretary Korobochka. Pavel Ivanovich finds out if her peasants died. The box says eighteen people. Chichikov asks them to sell. The woman does not understand, she imagines how the dead are dug out of the ground. The guest reassures, explains the benefits of the deal. The old woman doubts, she never sold the dead. All the arguments about the benefits were clear, but the very essence of the deal was surprising. Chichikov silently called Korobochka a clubhead, but continued to persuade. The old woman decided to wait, suddenly there will be more buyers and prices are higher. The conversation did not work out, Pavel Ivanovich began to swear. He was so dispersed that the sweat rolled off him in three streams. The box liked the guest's chest, paper. While the deal was being processed, pies and other homemade food appeared on the table. Chichikov ate pancakes, ordered the britzka to be loaded and a guide to be given to him. The box gave the girl, but asked not to take her away, otherwise the merchants had already taken one.Chapter 4
The hero goes to a tavern for lunch. The hostess, the old woman, pleases him with the fact that there is a pig with horseradish and sour cream. Chichikov asks the woman about business, income, family. The old woman tells about all the local landowners, who eats what. During dinner, two people arrived at the tavern: a blond one and a black one. The blond entered the room first. The hero had already almost begun acquaintance, as the second one appeared. It was Nozdryov. He gave out a lot of information in one minute. He argues with the blond that he can handle 17 bottles of wine. But he does not agree to the bet. Nozdryov calls Pavel Ivanovich to his place. The servant brought the puppy into the tavern. The owner examined whether there were fleas, and ordered them to be carried back. Chichikov hopes that the lost landowner will sell him the peasants cheaper. The author describes Nozdryov. The appearance of a broken little one, of which there are many in Rus'. They quickly make friends, switch to "you". Nozdryov could not stay at home, his wife quickly died, the children were looked after by a nanny. The master constantly got into trouble, but after a while he reappeared in the company of those who beat him. All three crews drove up to the estate. First, the owner showed the stable, half empty, then the wolf cub, the pond. The blond doubted everything Nozdryov said. They came to the kennel. Here the landowner was among his own. He knew each puppy's name. One of the dogs licked Chichikov and immediately spat out of disgust. Nozdryov composed at every step: in the field you can catch hares with your hands, he recently bought timber abroad. After examining the property, the men returned to the house. The dinner was not very successful: something burned, the other did not finish cooking. The owner leaned on the wine. The blond son-in-law began to ask to go home. Nozdryov did not want to let him go, but Chichikov supported the desire to leave. The men went into the room, Pavel Ivanovich saw the owner of the card in the hands. He started talking about dead souls asked to give them. Nozdryov demanded to explain why he needed them; the guest's arguments did not satisfy him. Nozdryov called Pavel a swindler, which offended him very much. Chichikov offered a deal, but Nozdryov offered a stallion, a mare and a gray horse. The guest didn't need any of that. Nozdryov haggles further: dogs, hurdy-gurdy. Begins to offer an exchange for a chaise. Trade turns into a dispute. The owner's rampage frightens the hero, he refuses to drink, to play. Nozdryov becomes more and more inflamed, he insults Chichikov, calls him names. Pavel Ivanovich stayed for the night, but scolded himself for his imprudence. He shouldn't have started a conversation with Nozdryov about the purpose of his visit. The morning starts again with a game. Nozdryov insists, Chichikov agrees to checkers. But during the game, the checkers seemed to move on their own. The argument almost turned into a fight. The guest turned pale as a sheet when he saw Nozdryov swinging his hand. It is not known how a visit to the estate would have ended if a stranger had not entered the house. It was the police captain who informed Nozdryov about the trial. He inflicted bodily harm on the landowner with rods. Chichikov did not wait for the end of the conversation, he slipped out of the room, jumped into the britzka and ordered Selifan to rush at full speed away from this house. Dead souls could not be bought.Chapter 5
The hero was very frightened, threw himself into the britzka and rushed quickly from the village of Nozdreva. His heart was beating so fast that nothing could calm him down. Chichikov was afraid to imagine what might have happened if the police officer had not appeared. Selifan was indignant that the horse was left unfed. Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by the collision with the six horses. The strange coachman scolded, Selifan tried to defend himself. There was confusion. The horses moved apart, then huddled together. While all this was going on, Chichikov examined the unfamiliar blonde. A pretty young girl caught his attention. He did not even notice how the chaises unhooked and parted in different sides. Beauty melted like a vision. Pavel began to dream of a girl, especially if he has a large dowry. A village appeared ahead. The hero looks at the village with interest. The houses are strong, but the order in which they were built was clumsy. The owner is Sobakevich. It looks like a bear. The clothes made the resemblance even more precise: a brown tailcoat, long sleeves, a clumsy gait. The barin constantly stepped on his feet. The owner invited the guest to the house. The design was interesting: full-length paintings of the generals of Greece, a Greek heroine with strong thick legs. The hostess was tall woman resembling a palm tree. All the decoration of the room, the furniture spoke about the owner, about the resemblance to him. The conversation didn't go well at first. Everyone whom Chichikov tried to praise caused criticism from Sobakevich. The guest tried to praise the table of the city officials, but even here the host interrupted him. All food was bad. Sobakevich ate with an appetite one could only dream of. He said that there was a landowner, Plyushkin, whose people were dying like flies. They ate for a very long time, Chichikov felt that he had gained a whole pound in weight after dinner.Chichikov began to talk about his business. Dead souls he called non-existent. Sobakevich, to the surprise of the guest, calmly called a spade a spade. He offered to sell them even before Chichikov said about it. Then the trading began. Moreover, Sobakevich raised the price for the fact that his men were strong, healthy peasants, not like others. He described each deceased. Chichikov was amazed and asked to return to the topic of the deal. But Sobakevich stood his ground: his dead dear. We bargained for a long time, agreed on the price of Chichikov. Sobakevich prepared a note with a list of sold peasants. It specified in detail the craft, age, Family status, in the margins additional notes on behavior and attitudes towards drunkenness. The owner asked for a deposit for the paper. The lines of transferring money in exchange for an inventory of the peasants cause a smile. The exchange passed with disbelief. Chichikov asked to leave the deal between them, not to disclose information about it. Chichikov leaves the estate. He wants to go to Plyushkin, whose men are dying like flies, but he does not want Sobakevich to know about it. And he stands at the door of the house to see where the guest will turn.
Chapter 6
Chichikov, thinking about the nicknames that the peasants gave to Plyushkin, drives up to his village. A large village met the guest with a log pavement. The logs rose like piano keys. A rare rider could drive without a bump or a bruise. All buildings were dilapidated and old. Chichikov examines the village with signs of poverty: leaky houses, old stacks of bread, roof ribs, windows stuffed with rags. The owner's house looked even stranger: the long castle looked like an invalid. The windows except two were closed or barred. The open windows did not look familiar. The strange appearance of the garden, located behind the master's castle, corrected. Chichikov drove up to the house and noticed a figure whose gender was difficult to determine. Pavel Ivanovich decided that it was the housekeeper. He asked if the master was at home. The answer was negative. The housekeeper offered to come into the house. The house was just as creepy as the outside. It was a dump of furniture, heaps of papers, broken objects, rags. Chichikov saw a toothpick that turned yellow as if it had lain there for centuries. Paintings hung on the walls, a chandelier in a bag hung from the ceiling. It looked like a big cocoon of dust with a worm inside. There was a pile in the corner of the room, it would hardly have been possible to understand what was collected in it. Chichikov realized that he was mistaken in determining the sex of a person. Rather, it was the key. The man had a strange beard, like an iron wire comb. The guest, after waiting a long time in silence, decided to ask where the gentleman was. The keymaster replied that it was him. Chichikov was taken aback. Plyushkin's appearance struck him, his clothes amazed him. He looked like a beggar standing at the door of a church. There was nothing to do with the landowner. Plushkin had more than a thousand souls, full pantries and barns of grain, flour. The house has a lot of wood products, utensils. Everything that was accumulated by Plyushkin would be enough for more than one village. But the landowner went out into the street and dragged into the house everything he found: an old sole, a rag, a nail, a broken piece of dishes. He put the found objects in a pile, which was located in the room. He took into his hands what the women left. True, if he was convicted of this, he did not argue, he returned it. He was just thrifty, but he became stingy. The character changed, first he cursed the daughter who had run away with the military, then the son who lost in cards. Income was replenished, but Plyushkin kept reducing expenses, depriving even himself of small pleasures. The landowner was visited by his daughter, but he held his grandchildren on his knees and gave them money.There are few such landowners in Rus'. The majority are more willing to live beautifully and widely, and only a few can shrink like Plyushkin.
Chichikov could not start a conversation for a long time, there were no words in his head to explain his visit. In the end, Chichikov started talking about the economy, which he wanted to see personally.
Plyushkin does not treat Pavel Ivanovich, explaining that he has a very bad kitchen. The conversation about souls begins. Plyushkin has more than a hundred dead souls. People are dying of hunger, of diseases, some simply run away. To the surprise of the stingy owner, Chichikov offers a deal. Plyushkin is indescribably happy, he considers the guest a stupid dragger after the actresses. The deal was done quickly. Plyushkin offered to wash the deal with liquor. But when he described that there were boogers and insects in the wine, the guest refused. Having copied the dead on a piece of paper, the landowner asked if anyone needed the fugitives. Chichikov was delighted and bought 78 runaway souls from him after a little trade. Satisfied with the acquisition of more than 200 souls, Pavel Ivanovich returned to the city.
Chapter 7
Chichikov got enough sleep and went to the chambers to register ownership of the purchased peasants. To do this, he began to rewrite the papers received from the landowners. The men of Korobochka had their own names. Plushkin's description was short. Sobakevich painted each peasant with detail and qualities. Each had a description of his father and mother. There were people behind the names and nicknames, Chichikov tried to present them. So Pavel Ivanovich was busy with papers until 12 o'clock. On the street he met Manilov. Friends froze in an embrace that lasted more than a quarter of an hour. The paper with the inventory of the peasants was folded into a tube, tied with a pink ribbon. The list was designed beautifully with an ornate border. Hand in hand, the men went to the ward. In the chambers, Chichikov searched for the table he needed for a long time, then carefully gave a bribe, went to the chairman for an order allowing him to complete the deal quickly. There he met Sobakevich. The chairman gave orders to gather all the people needed for the deal, gave the order to complete it quickly. The chairman asked why Chichikov needed peasants without land, but he himself answered the question. People gathered, the purchase ended quickly and successfully. The chairman suggested that the acquisition be noted. Everyone went to the police chief's house. The officials decided that they definitely need to marry Chichikov. During the evening he clinked glasses with everyone more than once, noticing that it was time for him, Pavel Ivanovich left for the hotel. Selifan and Petrushka, as soon as the master fell asleep, went to the cellar, where they stayed almost until morning, when they returned, they lay down so that it was impossible to move them.Chapter 8
Everyone in the city was talking about Chichikov's purchases. They tried to calculate his wealth, recognized that he was rich. Officials tried to calculate whether it was profitable to acquire peasants for resettlement, which peasants the landowner bought. The officials scolded the peasants, felt sorry for Chichikov, who had to transport such a lot of people. There were miscalculations about a possible riot. Some began to give Pavel Ivanovich advice, they offered to escort the procession, but Chichikov reassured him, saying that he had bought meek, calm men who were willing to leave. special treatment called Chichikov to the ladies of the city of N. As soon as they counted his millions, he became interesting to them. Pavel Ivanovich noticed a new extraordinary attention to himself. One day he found a letter from a lady on his desk. She called him to leave the city for the desert, out of desperation she completed the message with verses about the death of a bird. The letter was anonymous, Chichikov really wanted to unravel the author. The governor has a ball. The hero of the story appears on it. The eyes of all the guests are turned to him. Everyone had joy on their faces. Chichikov tried to figure out who the messenger of the letter to him was. The ladies showed interest in him, looked for in him attractive features. Pavel was so carried away by conversations with the ladies that he forgot about decency - to come up and introduce himself to the hostess of the ball. The governor herself approached him. Chichikov turned to her and was already preparing to utter some phrase, when he broke off. Two women stood in front of him. One of them is a blonde who charmed him on the road when he was returning from Nozdryov. Chichikov was embarrassed. The governor introduced her daughter to him. Pavel Ivanovich tried to get out, but he did not succeed very well. The ladies tried to distract him, but they did not succeed. Chichikov is trying to attract the attention of his daughter, but she is not interested in him. The women began to show that they were not happy with such behavior, but Chichikov could not help himself. He tried to charm the beautiful blonde. At that moment, Nozdryov appeared at the ball. He began shouting loudly and asking Chichikov about dead souls. Made a speech to the governor. His words left everyone confused. His speeches were like insane. The guests began to look at each other, Chichikov noticed the evil lights in the eyes of the ladies. The embarrassment passed, Nozdryov's words were taken by some for a lie, stupidity, slander. Pavel decided to complain about his health. He was reassured, saying that the brawler Nozdryov had already been taken out, but Chichikov did not become calmer.At this time, an event occurred in the city that further increased the troubles of the hero. A carriage that looked like a watermelon drove in. The woman who got out of their wagons is the landowner Korobochka. She suffered for a long time from the thought that she had made a mistake in the deal, she decided to go to the city, to find out at what price dead souls are sold here. The author does not convey her conversation, but what he led to is easy to learn from the next chapter.
The governor received two papers, which reported on a fugitive robber and a counterfeiter. Two messages were combined into one, the Rogue and the counterfeiter were hiding in the image of Chichikov. First, we decided to ask about him those who communicated with him. Manilov spoke flatteringly about the landowner and vouched for him. Sobakevich recognized in Pavel Ivanovich good man. Officials were seized with fear, they decided to get together and discuss the problem. The gathering place is at the police chief.
Chapter 10
The officials, having gathered together, first discussed the changes in their appearance. Events led to the fact that they lost weight. The discussion was pointless. Everyone talked about Chichikov. Some decided that he was a maker of state banknotes. Others suggested that he was an official from the office of the governor-general. They tried to prove to themselves that he could not be a robber. The appearance of the guest was very well-intentioned. The officials did not find the violent acts that are characteristic of the robbers. The postmaster interrupted their argument with a startling shout. Chichikov - Captain Kopeikin. Many did not know about the captain. The postmaster tells them The Tale of Captain Kopeikin. The captain's arm and leg were torn off in the war, and no laws were passed regarding the wounded. He went to his father, he refused him shelter. He himself did not have enough for bread. Kopeikin went to the sovereign. Came to the capital and was confused. He was given a commission. The captain got to her, waited more than 4 hours. The room was full of people like beans. The minister noticed Kopeikin and ordered him to come in a few days. Out of joy and hope, he went into a tavern and had a drink. The next day, Kopeikin received a refusal from the nobleman and an explanation that no orders had yet been issued regarding the disabled. The captain went to the minister several times, but they stopped accepting him. Kopeikin waited for the grandee to come out, asked for money, but he said that he could not help, there were many important things. He ordered the captain himself to look for means of subsistence. But Kopeikin began to demand a resolution. He was thrown into a cart and taken away by force from the city. And after a while, a gang of robbers appeared. Who was its leader? But the police chief did not have time to pronounce the name. He was interrupted. Chichikov had both an arm and a leg. How could he be Kopeikin. The officials decided that the chief of police had gone too far in his fantasies. They came to the decision to call Nozdryov to them for a conversation. His testimony was completely bewildering. Nozdryov composed a bunch of fables about Chichikov.The hero of their conversations and disputes at this time, suspecting nothing, was ill. He decided to lie down for three days. Chichikov gargled his throat, applied decoctions of herbs to the flux. As soon as he felt better, he went to the governor. The porter said that he was not ordered to receive. Continuing his walk, he went to the chairman of the chamber, who was very embarrassed. Pavel Ivanovich was surprised: they either did not receive him, or they met him very strangely. In the evening Nozdryov came to his hotel. He explained the incomprehensible behavior of city officials: false papers, the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. Chichikov realized that he needed to get out of the city as quickly as possible. He sent Nozdryov out, told him to pack his suitcase, and was getting ready to leave. Petrushka and Selifan were not very happy with this decision, but there was nothing to be done.
