Abstract: A britzka drives in at the gate of the hotel of the provincial city nn. A gentleman sits outside, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin.

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Chapter 1

At the gates of the hotel provincial city NN the cart drives in. In it sits "sir, 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 ”- Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Not suffering from a lack of appetite, Chichikov eats a plentiful o) 5 unit. Description follows provincial town. “There were signs almost washed away by 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 Most often, darkened double-headed state eagles were noticeable, which have now been replaced by a laconic inscription: "Drinking House".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 next day, Chichikov pays visits to city officials: the governor (“neither fat nor thin, he had Anna around his neck ... however, he was a big good man and sometimes even embroidered tulle himself”), the vice-governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the chamber, police chief and even the inspector of the medical board and the city architect. The visitor skillfully enters into the confidence of all officials, skillfully flatters each of them. Officials invite him to visit them, although very little is known about the traveler himself. There follows a description of the ball at the governor, ladies, fat (important) and thin (insignificant) men. At the ball, Chichikov meets the landowners Sobakevich and Manilov. He wins them over with pleasant treatment, finds out how many peasants they have and in what condition the estate is. Manilov, "not an elderly man, who had eyes as sweet as sugar," gains confidence in Chichikov and invites him to his estate. Sobakevich does the same. Visiting the chief of police, Chichikov meets the landowner Nozdrev, “a man of about thirty, a broken fellow, who, after three or four words, began to say “you” to him. In the city, everyone develops about Chichikov good opinion. He gives the impression of a man of the world, knows how to keep up a conversation on any topic, and at the same time speaks "neither loudly nor quietly, but exactly as it should."

Chapter 2

Description of Chichikov's servants: the coachman Selifan and the lackey Petrushka (Petrushka reads a lot and indiscriminately, he is not interested in reading, but in folding letters into words; Petrushka has a "special smell", since he rarely goes to the bath). Chichikov goes to the village to Manilov. Long looking for a homestead. “The manor’s house stood alone at a brisk pace ... open to all the winds that it takes its fancy to blow ... Two or three flower beds with bushes of lilacs and yellow acacias; five or six birches in small clusters raised their small-leaved thin tops. Under two of them one could see a pavilion with a flat green dome, blue wooden columns and an inscription: "The Temple of Solitary Reflection"... The day was neither clear nor gloomy, but somehow light gray". The host happily welcomes the guest. A description of Manilov's character follows: “Neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan ... His facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to be conveyed too much sugar ... In the first minute of a conversation with him, you cannot but say : "What a pleasant and a kind person!" The next minute you will say nothing, and the third you will say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and you will move away ... At home he spoke very little and for the most part thought and thought, but what he thought, too, unless God knew. It cannot be said that he was engaged in the economy ... the economy 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 would be on both sides of the shop, and so that merchants would sit in them and sell various small goods necessary for the peasants ... However, all these projects ended in only one word. In his study there always lay some kind of book, bookmarked on the fourteenth page, which he had been constantly reading for two years ... In the drawing 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 upholstered simply with matting; however, for several years the host warned his guest every time with the words: “Do not sit on these chairs, they are not yet ready ...” In the evening, a very smart candlestick made of dark bronze was placed on the table ... then just a copper invalid ... "

The wife is quite suitable for Manilov in character, she gives gifts for the holidays - "some kind of beaded case for a toothpick." There is no order in the house, since the owners do not follow anything: “all these things are low, and Manilova was brought up well. A good upbringing, as you know, is obtained in boarding schools. And in pensions, as you know, three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: French necessary for the happiness of family life; pianoforte, to deliver pleasant moments to the spouse, and, finally, the actual economic part: knitting purses and other surprises. Yielding to each other, Chichikov and Manilov show unnatural courtesy, which ends with both of them simultaneously squeezing through the door. An exchange of courtesies follows with Manilov's wife, the discussion of common acquaintances comes down to recognizing each as the "most esteemed" and "most amiable" person. The Manilovs invite the guest to dinner. Two sons of the Manilovs are present at dinner: Themistoclus and Alkid. Themistoclus has a runny nose, he bites his brother by the ear, he, overcoming tears, gobbles up a leg of lamb, smearing his cheeks with fat. After dinner, a business conversation takes place between Chichikov and Manilov in the owner's office. A description of the study follows: “The walls were painted with some kind of blue paint, like gray; ... a few scribbled papers, but most of all was tobacco. He was in different types: in caps, and in a tobacco box, and, finally, it was just poured in a heap on the table. On both windows were also placed mounds of ash knocked out of a pipe, arranged, not without diligence, in very beautiful rows. Chichikov asks Manilov for a detailed register of peasants who died after the last census (revision tales), wants to buy dead souls. The dumbfounded Manilov "as if he opened his mouth, and remained with his mouth open for several minutes." Chichikov convinces the owner that the law will be observed and that the treasury will receive the due taxes. Completely calmed down, Manilov gives away dead souls for free and remains convinced that he has rendered Chichikov an invaluable service. Chichikov leaves, and Manilov's thoughts "were transferred imperceptibly to other objects and finally drifted God knows where." Imagining a future friendship with Chichikov, Manilov comes to the point that in his dreams the tsar favors both of them with the rank of general for such a strong friendship.

Gogol: Dead Souls

Chapter 1

A chaise drives into the gates of the hotel in the provincial city of NN. In it sits “a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young ”- Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Not suffering from a lack of appetite, Chichikov eats a hearty meal. A description of the provincial town follows. “There were signs almost washed away by 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 next day, Chichikov pays visits to city officials: the governor (“neither fat nor thin, he had Anna around his neck ... however, he was a big good man and sometimes even embroidered tulle himself”), the vice-governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the chamber, police chief and even the inspector of the medical board and the city architect. The visitor skillfully enters into the confidence of all officials, skillfully flatters each of them. Officials invite him to visit them, although very little is known about the traveler himself. There follows a description of the ball at the governor, ladies, fat (important) and thin (insignificant) men. At the ball, Chichikov meets the landowners Sobakevich and Manilov. He wins them over with pleasant treatment, finds out how many peasants they have and in what condition the estate is. Manilov, "not an elderly man, who had eyes as sweet as sugar," gains confidence in Chichikov and invites him to his estate. Sobakevich does the same. Visiting the chief of police, Chichikov meets the landowner Nozdrev, “a man of about thirty, a broken fellow, who, after three or four words, began to say “you” to him. In the city, everyone has a good opinion about Chichikov. He gives the impression of a man of the world, knows how to keep up a conversation on any topic, and at the same time speaks "neither loudly nor quietly, but exactly as it should."

Chapter 2

Description of Chichikov's servants: the coachman Selifan and the lackey Petrushka (Petrushka reads a lot and indiscriminately, he is not interested in reading, but in folding letters into words; Petrushka has a "special smell", since he rarely goes to the bath). Chichikov goes to the village to Manilov. Long looking for a homestead. “The manor’s house stood alone at a brisk pace ... open to all the winds that it takes its fancy to blow ... Two or three flower beds with bushes of lilacs and yellow acacias; five or six birches in small clusters raised their small-leaved thin tops. Under two of them one could see a pavilion with a flat green dome, wooden blue columns and an inscription: “The Temple of Solitary Reflection”... The day was either clear or gloomy, but some kind of light gray color.” The host happily welcomes the guest. A description of Manilov’s character follows: “Neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan ... His facial features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to be conveyed too much sugar ... In the first minute of a conversation with him, you cannot but say : "What a nice and kind person!" The next minute you will say nothing, and the third you will say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and you will move away ... At home he spoke very little and for the most part reflected and thought, but what he was thinking about, too, God knew. It cannot be said that he was engaged in the economy ... the economy 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 where there would be shops on both sides, and so that merchants would sit in them and sell various small goods needed by the peasants ... However, all these projects ended with only one word. In his study there always lay some kind of book, bookmarked on the fourteenth page, which he had been constantly reading for two years ... In the drawing 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 upholstered simply with matting; however, for several years the host warned his guest every time with the words: “Do not sit on these chairs, they are not yet ready ...” In the evening, a very smart candlestick made of dark bronze was placed on the table ... then just a copper invalid ... "

The wife is quite suitable for Manilov in character, she gives gifts for the holidays - "some kind of beaded case for a toothpick." There is no order in the house, since the owners do not follow anything: “all these things are low, and Manilova was brought up well. A good upbringing, as you know, is obtained in boarding schools. And in boarding schools, as you know, three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: the French language, necessary for the happiness of family life; pianoforte, to deliver pleasant moments to the spouse, and, finally, the actual economic part: knitting purses and other surprises. Yielding to each other, Chichikov and Manilov show unnatural courtesy, which ends with both of them simultaneously squeezing through the door. An exchange of courtesies follows with Manilov's wife, the discussion of common acquaintances comes down to recognizing each as the "most esteemed" and "most amiable" person. The Manilovs invite the guest to dinner. Two sons of the Manilovs are present at dinner: Themistoclus and Alkid. Themistoclus has a runny nose, he bites his brother by the ear, he, overcoming tears, gobbles up a leg of lamb, smearing his cheeks with fat. After dinner, a business conversation takes place between Chichikov and Manilov in the owner's office. A description of the study follows: “The walls were painted with some kind of blue paint, like gray; ... a few scribbled papers, but most of all was tobacco. It was in different forms: in caps, and in a tobacco box, and, finally, it was just poured in a heap on the table. On both windows were also placed mounds of ash knocked out of a pipe, arranged, not without diligence, in very beautiful rows. Chichikov asks Manilov for a detailed register of peasants who died after the last census (revision tales), wants to buy dead souls. The dumbfounded Manilov "as if he opened his mouth, and remained with his mouth open for several minutes." Chichikov convinces the owner that the law will be observed and that the treasury will receive the due taxes. Completely calmed down, Manilov gives away dead souls for free and remains convinced that he has rendered Chichikov an invaluable service. Chichikov leaves, and Manilov's thoughts "were transferred imperceptibly to other objects and finally drifted God knows where." Imagining a future friendship with Chichikov, Manilov comes to the point that in his dreams the tsar favors both of them with the rank of general for such a strong friendship.

Chapter 3

On the way to Sobakevich's estate, Chichikov gets caught in heavy rain, the coachman goes astray, the chaise overturns and falls into the mud. Chichikov ends up in the nearby estate of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. The room into which Chichikov is led is “hung with old striped wallpaper; pictures with some birds; between the windows there were small antique mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves, behind every mirror there was either a letter or an old deck of cards, or a stocking. The wall clock hisses loudly, a portrait of Kutuzov hangs on the walls between the birds. The hostess enters: “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 ... although it looks like it’s in there is nothing in the chest of drawers but linen, and night blouses, and cotton hanks, and a ripped coat, which then turns into a dress, if the old one somehow burns out during the baking of holiday cakes or wears out by itself. But the dress will not burn and will not be worn out by itself; the old woman is thrifty, and the coat is destined to lie ripped open for a long time, and then go to the niece of the great sister along with all other rubbish according to the spiritual testament. The box leaves Chichikov to spend the night, and in the morning the guest proceeds to business negotiations on the purchase of dead souls. In response, Korobochka offers Chichikov to buy hemp or honey from her, cannot understand why he needs dead souls (“Well, the woman seems to be strong-browed”, “club-headed”), she is afraid to sell too cheap. Persuading her, Chichikov loses his patience and compares Korobochka to a dog in the hay. He manages to convince the hostess to make a bill of sale only after he tells a lie about himself (that he conducts government contracts) and promises to subsequently buy both honey and hemp from her. Korobochka believes him, even decides to appease and treat an important official. Chichikov takes out the necessary papers from his box, which has many compartments and even a secret drawer for money. Korobochka's men have strange surnames (for example, Disrespect-Trough). After a long trade, the deal is made. "Black-legged girl Pelageya" escorts Chichikov to the main road.

Chapter 4

Having an excellent appetite, Chichikov stops at a tavern. Nozdryov's chaise soon drives up to the entrance. “He was 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. Nozdryov joyfully informs Chichikov that he played at the fair, lost his money and the money of his son-in-law Mizhuev, who is present right there. Talking about the fair, Nozdryov shamelessly lies (assures that he alone drank seventeen bottles of champagne). Nozdryov persistently calls Chichikov to visit him, promises a tasty treat (balyk), although he drinks vodka at the expense of his son-in-law in the tavern. People like Nozdryov “are called broken fellows, they are known even in childhood and school for good comrades, and for all that, they are very painfully beaten ... They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, a prominent people. Nozdryov at thirty-five was exactly the same as he was at eighteen and twenty: a go-getter. A pretty nanny looked after the children, he could not sit at home for more than a day. .. He played cards ... he did not play quite sinlessly and cleanly ... And what was most strange, after a few time he already met again with those friends who had beaten him, and met as if nothing had happened, and he, as say nothing, and they say nothing. Nozdryov was in some respects historical man. Not a single meeting where he was could do without a story ... Either they will lead him out of the gendarmes hall by the arms, or they will be forced to push out their own friends ... Or he will be cut in the buffet in such a way that he only laughs, or he will lie the most cruel way, so that, finally, he himself will become ashamed. And he will lie completely without any need: he will suddenly tell that he had a horse of some blue or pink wool, so that the listeners finally all leave, saying: “Well, brother, it seems you have already begun to pour bullets.”

Even with his closest friends, Nozdryov had a habit of "beginning with smoothness and ending with reptile." He had a passion for exchanging things and losing not only money, but also property. On the estate, Nozdryov shows Chichikov an unsightly stallion, assuring him that it cost him ten thousand, a kennel where he keeps dogs of dubious origin, a pond in which fish of “incredible sizes” are found, and “real” Turkish daggers, which bear the mark of Master Savely Sibiryakov. Lunch poorly prepared (Madeira seasoned with rum). Despite the fact that Nozdryov swears and calls him a "fetyuk", son-in-law Mizhuev leaves home to his wife. Chichikov proceeds to business negotiations, sets out the essence of his request, explaining that he needs dead souls for a successful marriage (the bride's parents are interested in his property status, including the number of peasants). Nozdryov agrees to give Chichikov non-existent peasants, but at the same time he tries to sell him a stallion, a mare, a dog, a hurdy-gurdy, etc. When Chichikov resolutely refuses, he invites him to play cards. Already repenting that he contacted Nozdryov, Chichikov dismisses this proposal as well. In retaliation, Nozdryov orders the coachman to feed Chichikov's horse not with oats, but with hay, which offends the guest, but at the same time he does not feel uncomfortable. In the morning, as if nothing had happened, Nozdryov invites Chichikov to play checkers. He agrees. Nozdrev cheats during the game. Chichikov accuses him of cheating and stops the game. Nozdryov climbs in to fight, calls the servants and orders to beat the guest. At this moment, the police captain appears and arrests Nozdryov for inflicting "personal insult on drunkenness" on the landowner Maksimov. In his characteristic manner, Nozdryov renounces everything, swears that he does not know the landowner Maximov. Taking advantage of the situation, Chichikov "disappears".

Chapter 5

Through the fault of Selifan, Chichikov's chaise collides with someone else's chaise, in which two ladies are sitting - an elderly and a sixteen-year-old beauty. The peasants, gathered from the village, separate the horses and raise the carts. Chichikov is fascinated by the young stranger, and after the carts are leaving, he thinks for a long time about an accidental meeting. Chichikov drives up to the village of Mikhail Semenovich Sobakevich. " Wooden house with a mezzanine, a red roof and dark gray 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 ... wanted symmetry, the owner of convenience, and, apparently, as a result of this, he boarded up all the corresponding windows on one side and screwed in their place one small one, probably needed for a dark closet ... The courtyard was surrounded by a strong and excessively 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 cut down marvelously ... 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 ... was stubborn, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order. The owner himself seems to Chichikov “very similar to medium size bear. The tailcoat on him was completely bearish in color ... 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 copper nickel". A pleasant conversation does not add up: Sobakevich speaks straightforwardly about all officials (“the governor is the first robber in the world”, “the police chief is a swindler”, “there is only one decent person: the prosecutor, and even that, to tell the truth, is a pig”). The owner escorts Chichikov to a room in which "everything was solid, clumsy in the highest degree and had some strange resemblance to the owner of the house himself; in the corner of the living room stood a pot-bellied walnut office on absurd four legs: a perfect bear ... Every object, every chair seemed to say: "And I, too, Sobakevich!" or: “And I also look a lot like Sobakevich!”

A rich lunch is served. Sobakevich himself eats a lot (half a lamb side with porridge in one sitting, “cheesecakes, each of which was much larger than a plate, then a turkey the size of a calf, stuffed with all sorts of good things: eggs, rice, livers and who knows what ... When they got up from -at the table, Chichikov felt a weight more in himself). At dinner, Sobakevich talks about his neighbor Plyushkin, who owns eight hundred peasants, an extremely stingy man. Hearing that Chichikov wants to buy dead souls, Sobakevich is not at all surprised, but immediately starts bargaining. Sobakevich promises to sell the dead souls for 100 rubles apiece, arguing that his peasants are real craftsmen (cart maker Mikheev, carpenter Stepan Cork, shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov). The trade goes on for a long time. In his hearts, Chichikov silently calls Sobakevich a "fist", and says out loud that the qualities of the peasants are not important, since they are dead. Not agreeing with Chichikov on the price and knowing full well that the deal is not entirely legal, Sobakevich hints that “this kind of purchase, I say this between us, out of friendship, is not always permissible, and tell me - I or anyone else - such a person will not no power of attorney...” In the end, the parties agree on three rubles apiece, draw up a document, and each is afraid of cheating on the part of the other. Sobakevich offers Chichikov to buy the “female sex” at a cheap price, but the guest refuses (although later he discovers that Sobakevich nevertheless entered the woman Elizaveta Vorobey in the bill of sale). Chichikov leaves, asks a peasant in the village how to get to Plyushkin's estate (Plyushkin's nickname among the peasants is "patched"). 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 ... And no matter how cunning and ennoble your nickname, even if you force writing people to derive it for hire from the ancient princely family, nothing will help ... How innumerable many churches, monasteries with domes, domes, crosses are scattered in holy, pious Russia, so an innumerable multitude of tribes, generations, peoples crowd, dazzle and rush about the face of the earth ... The word of the British will respond with heart-study and 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, brisk, so burst out from under the very heart, so seething and vibrant, like the aptly spoken Russian word.

Chapter 6

The chapter opens with a digression about travel. “Formerly, a long time ago, in the summers of my youth, in the summers of my irretrievably past childhood, it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time ... A child’s curious look revealed a lot of curiosity in it ... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently I look at her vulgar appearance; my chilled gaze is uncomfortable, it’s not funny to me, and what in former 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. “This strange castle looked like some kind of decrepit invalid ... In places it was one floor, in places two ... 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 ... The garden, which overlooked the village and then disappeared into the field, overgrown and decayed, it seemed that alone refreshed this vast village and alone was quite picturesque in its picturesque desolation. In the courtyard, Chichikov meets a man about whom he cannot even say, “this is a man or a woman”, decides that in front of him is the housekeeper, dressed “in an indefinite dress”, a cap is on his head, a dressing gown is sewn from who knows what. Chichikov is unpleasantly surprised to learn that the owner of the house, the wealthy landowner Stepan Plyushkin, is in front of him. What follows is a description of Plyushkin's past, "how he came to such a life." Once he was a thrifty owner, experienced and wise man, his wife was famous for hospitality, Plyushkin had two daughters and a son. But soon Plyushkin became a widower, “part of the keys, and with them petty worries, passed to him. Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy. The eldest daughter ran away and married an officer of the cavalry regiment. Her father cursed her. The son, sent to the city to be determined for the service, was determined instead to the military. Youngest daughter died. “Lonely life has given nourishing food to stinginess... human feelings... grew shallow every minute, and every day something was lost in this worn-out ruin...” due to his incredible stinginess, Plyushkin cannot bargain with anyone. “Hay and bread rotted, stacks and haystacks turned into clean manure, flour in the cellars turned into stone, it was terrible to touch the cloth, canvas and household materials: they turned into dust ... and he himself finally turned into some kind of tear on humanity." Plyushkin collected his fortune on trifles, not disdaining to pick up other people's, accidentally forgotten things. Plyushkin does not use a huge quitrent from the serfs. He keeps the same boots for the whole household, and the peasants walk around the yard barefoot. Plyushkin's savings have been brought to the point of absurdity (for several months he keeps a cracker from an Easter cake that his daughter brought him as a gift; he always knows how much liquor is left in the decanter and makes marks with his own hand, writes neatly on paper, so that the lines run into each other). Upon learning of the purpose of Chichikov's visit, Plyushkin is filled with joy, as Chichikov offers him to pay for the dead souls. Plushkin agrees to sell Chichikov not only dead peasants, but also runaways, while being traded for every penny. Having received money that he will never use, he hides banknotes in a box, where they will be destined to lie until the death of the owner. Chichikov is in a hurry to leave, to great joy Plushkin, refusing tea and treats. Plyushkin orders the breadcrumbs to be removed from the Easter cake again to the pantry, while making sure that not a crumb is lost. Chichikov returns to the hotel.

Chapter 7

The chapter opens with a digression about two types of writers. “Happy is the writer who, past characters that are 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, has chosen only a few exceptions, who has never changed the sublime order of his lyre, has not descended from his peaks to his poor, insignificant brothers and, without touching the earth, he plunged into his images, far torn away from her and exalted ... He fumigated human eyes with an intoxicating smoke; he wonderfully flattered them, hiding the sad in life, showing them beautiful person. Everything, applauding, rushes after him and rushes after his solemn chariot ... But such is not the lot, and the other fate of the writer, who dared to bring out everything that is every minute before his eyes and that indifferent eyes do not see, all the terrible, amazing mire of trifles, entangled our lives, the whole depth of cold, fragmented, everyday characters ... He cannot collect popular applause, he cannot see grateful tears and the unanimous delight of souls excited by him ... Severely his field and bitterly he will feel his loneliness.

In accordance with the formalized merchant's fortresses, Chichikov is the owner of four hundred dead souls. Chichikov reflects on who these peasants were during their lifetime. Going out into the street, meets Manilov. Together they go to make a bill of sale (Manilov's list is elegantly designed: a border is drawn on the edge by his wife's hand). In the office, Chichikov gives a bribe to an official named Ivan Antonovich Kuvshinnoye Rylo to speed things up, but the bribe-giving goes on as if imperceptibly: Ivan Antonovich covers the “paper” with a book, and the banknote disappears. Sobakevich sits at the head. Chichikov agrees on the completion of the bill of sale within one day, explaining the rush by the fact that he urgently needs to leave. Chichikov gives the chairman a letter from Plyushkin, in which he asks him to be an attorney in his case, and the chairman willingly agrees. Witnesses come, documents are drawn up, Chichikov pays only half of the fee to the treasury (“the other half was attributed in some incomprehensible way to the account of another petitioner”). After the successful completion of the case, everyone goes to dinner at the police chief (according to rumors, the police chief just needs to blink, passing by the fish row, and he is provided with a sumptuous dinner and an abundance of fish delicacies). During lunch, Sobakevich eats a huge sturgeon alone. At the table, tipsy and cheered up, the guests ask Chichikov to stay longer, decide to marry him. Chichikov himself is tipsy, he assures the audience that he is buying peasants for withdrawal to the Kherson province, where he has already acquired an estate, and he himself believes in everything he says. Having delivered the drunken owner home, Petrushka and Selifan also go for a walk to the tavern.

Chapter 8

The inhabitants of the city are discussing Chichikov's purchases. Each in his own way offers him help for the safe delivery of the peasants to the place (escort, enlightenment of serfs, police captain to pacify a possible rebellion). A description of the inhabitants of the city follows. “To the postmaster, whose name was Ivan Andreyevich, they always added: “Sprechen zi Deutsch, Ivan Andreich?” Many were not without education: the chairman of the chamber knew Zhukovsky’s “Lyudmila” by heart and masterfully read many places, especially: “Bor fell asleep, the valley is sleeping,” and the word “Chu!” ... For greater resemblance, he even screwed up his eyes at that time. The postmaster was a wit, flowery in words ... And he equipped his speech with many different particles, such as “my sir, you are some kind, you know, you understand, you can imagine, relatively, so to speak, in some way” .. Others were also more or less enlightened people: some read Karamzin, some Moskovskie Vedomosti, some didn’t even read anything at all ... As for plausibility, it’s already known that they were all reliable people, there was no consumptive among them.

“The ladies of the city of NN were what they call presentable ... As for how to behave, keep the tone, maintain etiquette, a lot of the most subtle propriety, and especially observe fashion in the very last detail, in this they were ahead of even the ladies of St. Petersburg and even Moscow... Business card, even if it was written on a deuce of clubs or an ace of diamonds, but the thing was very sacred ... The ladies of the city of NN were distinguished ... by unusual 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”. In order to further ennoble the Russian language, 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. The ladies of the city are delighted with Chichikov. One of them even sends him a provincial sugary love letter. Chichikov receives an invitation to the governor's ball. For an hour he looks at himself in the mirror, taking various significant poses and facial expressions. At the ball, Chichikov finds himself in the center of attention, trying to determine which of the ladies wrote him a letter. The governor introduces Chichikov to her daughter, a sixteen-year-old beautiful blonde whom Chichikov met when their chaises collided. Chichikov almost falls in love, but when talking to a girl, she only gets bored (Chichikov is a respectable person, and his speech is very different from the speech of windy military men who can captivate any lady with secular conversation). The rest of the ladies are outraged that Chichikov pays attention only to the blonde. Nozdryov appears. With his characteristic frankness, he blathers in front of the governor that Chichikov tried to buy dead souls from him. The ladies pick up the news, as if not believing in it, since everyone knows the scandalous reputation of Nozdrev, but "no matter how stupid the words of a fool, sometimes they are enough to confuse an intelligent person." At night, Korobochka arrives in the city, who is interested in the prices of dead souls, fearing that she sold too cheap.

Chapter 9

The visit of a "pleasant lady" to a "lady pleasant in all respects." Since the first one is carrying the news she has just heard, she is impatient to tell her acquaintance as soon as possible, and the visit takes place before the hour when visits usually begin in the city of NN. The guest says that Chichikov, disguised as a robber, demanded that Korobochka sell him dead peasants. The interlocutor decides that the dead souls are just a cover, an excuse, but in fact Chichikov wants to take away the governor's daughter. The ladies discuss the behavior of the girl and do not find her attractive in anything: she is too pale, puts on makeup, behaves manneredly. The husband of “a lady pleasant in every respect” appears (prosecutor). The ladies vying with each other tell him about Chichikov's trade deals, about his intention to take away the governor's daughter, and completely confuse the prosecutor. Further, the ladies spread these gossip around the city. The male half of the city residents pays attention to buying dead shower, women's - for the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. The story is overgrown with new details (Chichikov is a "millionaire", he has a wife, the governor's daughter had a secret relationship with Chichikov, etc.). They decide that Chichikov must have an accomplice, and suspicion falls on Nozdryov. The story of Chichikov is being retold with new details throughout the city, including in houses where Chichikov has never been. Chichikov is credited with organizing a rebellion by the peasants of the village of Borovka, Zadiray l ovo-tozh, who killed the assessor Drobyazhkin because of the red tape for women and the oppression of serfs. To complete the general turmoil, the governor receives two notices about a counterfeiter and an escaped robber with an order to detain both. The public suspects that one of the wanted persons is Chichikov. “They decided at last to talk definitively about this subject, and to decide at least what and how they should do, and what measures to take, and what exactly he is: is he such a person who needs to be detained and seized as unintentional, or is he such a man who himself can seize and detain them all, as if they were not well-intentioned.”

Chapter 10

All city officials are concerned about the situation with Chichikov, many are even losing weight from grief. They are going to a meeting with the chief of police. Should lyrical digression about the peculiarities of holding meetings or charitable meetings. “The goal will be wonderful, but for all that nothing will come of it ... For example, having started some kind of charitable society for the poor and donated significant amounts, we immediately, in commemoration of such a commendable act, set a dinner for all the first dignitaries of the city, of course, for half of all donated amounts; for the rest, a magnificent apartment is rented immediately for the committee, with heating and watchmen, and then the whole amount for the poor remains five rubles and a half, and even here, in the distribution of this amount, not all members agree among themselves, and everyone puts in some godmother." The postmaster decides that Chichikov is Captain Kopeikin in disguise, a hero of the war of 1812, an invalid without an arm and leg. Returning from the front, Kopeikin's father refuses to help, and the captain goes to St. Petersburg to the sovereign to seek the truth. The tsar does not appear in the capital, and Captain Kopeikin goes to the nobleman, the head of the commission. Waiting a long time at the reception. The general promises to help, asks to come in one of these days. At the next audience, the nobleman assures that he can do nothing for the captain: he needs special permission from the king. Captain Kopeikin is running out of money. The doorman no longer allows him to see the general. Captain Kopeikin is starving, enduring many hardships. Breaks through to an appointment with the general, explains that he can’t wait any longer. The general rudely sends him out, and then sends him out of St. Petersburg at public expense. After some time, a gang of robbers appears in the Ryazan forests, led by Captain Kopeikin.

The rest of the officials nevertheless decide that the postmaster went too far and Chichikov is most likely not Captain Kopeikin, because his arm and leg are intact. There is an assumption that Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise, while the obvious difference in height between Chichikov and the French emperor does not bother the audience at all. They decide to ask Nozdryov again, despite the fact that he is a well-known liar. Nozdryov assures that he has sold Chichikov dead shower for several thousand rubles, that he studied with Chichikov at school and even then Chichikov was a spy and a counterfeiter, that Chichikov really was going to take away the governor's daughter, and Nozdryov helped him, while going into such details that he himself understands that he went too far far.

Having frightened himself with unsolvable problems, the prosecutor dies for no reason. Chichikov himself does not know anything about what is happening (sick, gumboil). Leaving the house three days later, Chichikov discovers that he is not received anywhere or is received in a strange way. Nozdrev comes to him and tells that in the city Chichikov is considered a counterfeiter who was going to kidnap the governor's daughter. Nozdrev informs Chichikov that the prosecutor died through his fault. After Nozdryov leaves, Chichikov orders to pack things.

Chapter 11

In the morning, Chichikov cannot leave the city (he overslept, did not lay, they lived in a britzka, the horses were not shod). He leaves only in the evening, on the way he meets a funeral procession (the funeral of the prosecutor), all the officials follow the coffin, and everyone thinks about the new governor-general and their future relationship with him. The carriage leaves the city. A lyrical digression about Russia follows.

"Rus! Rus! I see you, I see you from my wonderful beautiful far away: poor, scattered and uncomfortable in you; the daring divas of nature, crowned with the daring divas of art, will not amuse, will not frighten the eyes ... Everything in you is open, deserted and even; like dots, like badges, your low cities imperceptibly stick out among the plains, nothing will seduce and charm the eye. But what incomprehensible, secret force attracts you? 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 connection lurks between us?... What does this vast expanse prophesy? Is it not here, in you, that an infinite thought is born when you are Lama without end? Is it not possible for a hero to be here when there is a place where he can turn around and pass through? and menacingly embraces me mighty space, with terrible force reflected in my depth; my eyes lit up with an unnatural power: wow! what a sparkling, marvelous distance, familiar to the earth! Rus!.."

The author's reasoning follows about the hero of a literary work (this is not a virtuous person) and about the origin of Chichikov. Chichikov's parents were nobles, the son does not look like them, "life looked at him ... sourly and uncomfortably." Father took Pavlusha to the city to an old relative to enter the school. The parting words of his father boiled down to the fact that the boy should please the teachers and the authorities, hang out only with rich comrades, he himself would not share with anyone, but behave in such a way that he was treated, and most of all save a penny. Chichikov never had special abilities, but the boy had a “practical mind”, saved his own money, sold treats offered to him, showed a trained mouse for money, fawned over teachers and as a result received a certificate with gold letters. Toward the end of the school, Chichikov's father dies, the son sells the dilapidated house and enters the slackba. He betrays a teacher expelled from school, whom all his former comrades helped and who counted on the support of his beloved student Chichikov. Chichikov serves, pleasing his boss in everything, takes care of his ugly daughter, hints that he is not averse to getting married, seeks promotion and does not marry. He is on the commission for the construction of a state-owned building, for which a lot of money has been allocated, but the building is being built "no higher than the foundation" (strict economy and Chichikov's abstinence ended). The new boss, a military man, hated Chichikov at first sight, and the latter was forced to start his career from scratch. Chichikov enters the customs service, since from this place he can get a lot. Chichikov has a talent for searches and searches. Chichikov is promoted and presents a project to catch smugglers. At this time, he himself conspires with smugglers, receives a lot of money (400-500 thousand). Quarrels with a friend with whom he shared, and they are put on trial. The dodgy Chichikov manages to save some of the money and starts all over again as an attorney. There, the idea of ​​​​buying and reselling dead souls dawns on him (he is going to pawn them in the bank under the guise of living ones, and, having received a loan on security, hide).

Reflecting on how readers will react to his hero, the author gives a parable about Kif Mokievich and Mokii Kifovich, father and son. The existence of the father is turned into a speculative side (sample reflection: “the beast is not born from an egg”), and the son is rowdy. In response to requests to appease his son, Kifa Mokievich does not want to interfere in anything, “if he remains a dog, then let them not know 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, the horses are rushing at full speed. “And what Russian does not like to drive fast?”

"Oh, threesome! trio bird, 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 seems, road projectile, not captured by an iron screw, but hastily equipped and assembled alive with one ax and a chisel by a smart Yaroslavl peasant. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; and he got up and swung, and dragged on a 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 - there she rushed, rushed, rushed! something dusty and drills the air. Isn't it true that you too, Rus, that a brisk, unbeatable troika are rushing about? The road smokes under you, the bridges rumble, everything lags behind and (remains behind. The contemplator, 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 is contained in these horses driven by the wind? Eh, horses, horses, what kind of horses! Do whirlwinds sit in your manes? Is your sensitive ear burning in every kilk of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, harnessed their copper breasts together and at once, and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes!.. Russia, where are you rushing? and, squinting, step aside and give her way to other peoples and states.

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://ilib.ru/

1.1.2. How does the portrait presented in the fragment characterize the hero?

1.2.2. How do the world of nature and the world of man correlate in Pushkin's "Cloud"?

Read the fragment of the work below and complete tasks 1.1.1-1.1.2.

At the gates of the hotel in the provincial city of NN, a rather beautiful spring small britzka drove in, in which bachelors ride: retired lieutenant colonels, staff captains, landowners with about a hundred souls of peasants, - in a word, all those who are called gentlemen of the middle hand. In the britzka sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking either, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young. 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, which, however, referred more to the carriage than to the person sitting in it. “You see, - said one to the other, - what a wheel! what do you think, will that wheel reach Moscow, if it happens, or will it not reach Moscow? ” -“It will arrive,” - answered the other. “But I don’t think he’ll make it to Kazan?” - “He won’t make it to Kazan,” - answered another. This conversation ended. Moreover, when the britzka drove up to the hotel, a young man met in white kanifas trousers, very narrow and short, in a tailcoat with attempts on fashion, from under which was visible a shirt-front, fastened with a Tula pin with a bronze pistol. The young man turned back, looked at the carriage, held his cap, which was almost blown off by the wind, and went on his way.

When the carriage drove into the yard, the gentleman was greeted by a tavern servant, or floor servant, as they are called in Russian taverns, lively and fidgety to such an extent that it was even impossible to see what kind of face he had. He ran out quickly, with a napkin in his hand, all long and in a long de-cotton frock coat with a back almost at the very back of his head, shook out his hair and quickly led the gentleman up the entire wooden gallery to show the peace bestowed on him by God. The rest was of a certain kind, for the hotel was also of a certain kind, that is, just like hotels in provincial cities, where for two rubles a day travelers get a quiet room with cockroaches peeping out like prunes from all corners, and a door to the next door. a room, always cluttered with a chest of drawers, where a neighbor settles down, a silent and calm person, but extremely curious, interested in knowing all the details of the traveler. The outer facade of the hotel corresponded to its interior: it was very long, two stories high; the lower one was not plastered and remained in dark red bricks, darkened even more from dashing weather changes and already dirty in themselves; the upper one was painted with eternal yellow paint; below were benches with collars, ropes and bagels. In the coal of these shops, or, better, in the window, there was a sbitennik with a samovar made of red copper and a face as red as the samovar, so that from a distance one might think that there were two samovars in the window, if one samovar was not with jet-black beard.

While the visiting gentleman was inspecting his room, his belongings were brought in: first of all, a suitcase made of white leather, somewhat worn, showing that it was not the first time on the road. The suitcase was brought in by the coachman Selifan, a short man in a sheepskin coat, and the footman Petrushka, a fellow of about thirty, in a spacious second-hand frock coat, as can be seen from the master's shoulder, the fellow is a little stern in appearance, with very large lips and nose. Following the suitcase was brought in a small mahogany chest lined with Karelian birch, shoe lasts, and a fried chicken wrapped in blue paper. When all this was brought in, the coachman Selifan went to the stable to mess about with the horses, and the footman Petrushka began to settle down in a small front, very dark kennel, where he had already managed to drag his overcoat and, along with it, some kind of his own smell, which was communicated to the brought followed by a sack with various footmen's toilets. In this kennel he fixed a narrow three-legged bed against the wall, covering it with a small semblance of a mattress, dead and flat as a pancake, and perhaps as greasy as a pancake, which he managed to extort from the innkeeper.

N. V. Gogol "Dead Souls"

Read the work below and complete tasks 1.2.1-1.2.2.

A. S. Pushkin

Explanation.

1.1.2. “In the britzka sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young, ”Gogol characterizes his hero in this way already on the first pages of the poem. The portrait of Chichikov is too vague to form any first impression of him. We can only say with certainty that the person to whom it belongs is secretive, “on his own mind”, that he is driven by secret aspirations and motives.

1.2.2. The cloud in Pushkin's poem is an unwanted guest for the poet, the personification of something formidable and unpleasant, terrible, perhaps some kind of misfortune. He understands that her appearance is inevitable, but he is waiting for her to pass, and everything will work out again. For the hero of the poem, the natural state is peace, tranquility, harmony. That is why he rejoices that the storm has passed and that the sky has become azure again. More recently, she was in charge in the sky, because she was needed - the cloud watered the “greedy earth” with rain. But her time has passed: “The time has passed, the Earth has refreshed, and the storm has rushed…” And the wind drives this already unwanted guest from the brightened skies: “And the wind, caressing the leaves of the trees, drives you from the calmed skies.”

.
“A rather beautiful spring-loaded small britzka, in which bachelors ride: retired lieutenant colonels, staff captains, landowners with about a hundred souls of peasants, drove through the gates of the hotel in the provincial city of NN - in a word, all those who are called gentlemen of the middle hand. In the britzka was a gentleman , not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin, one cannot say that he was old, but not so much that he was too young. 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, which, however, referred more to the carriage than to the person sitting in it. What do you think, will that wheel, if it happens, reach Moscow or not?" - "It will," answered another. "But I think it won't reach Kazan?" answered the other. And with that the conversation ended. Moreover, when the britzka drove up to the hotel, a young man met in white canine trousers, very narrow and short, in a tailcoat with attempts on fashion, from under which was visible a shirt-front, fastened with a Tula pin with a bronze pistol. The young man turned back, looked at the carriage, held his cap, which had almost flown off from the wind, and went on his way. "

No, it is not Chichikov, the gentleman of the middle class, who enters the heavenly city of N. at all. namely, the chaise, as a unit of artistic measurement and as an independent protagonist of the novel. From the very first lines of the poem, the whole world of things surrounding the hero begins to move, and he himself seems to remain under a bushel. Actually, Chichikov himself is not a person, but a thing among other things, like all the figures in Gogol's prose: neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young. Hidden among everyday things. Like ignoble worn wood of a dusty road locker.

We still do not quite see, but we already feel that the whole living world of the novel seems to be initially conspired, is in a deep swoon of exorcism. Gogol's world is the world of things in the last stage of a dream, just before their awakening to life and the expulsion of the devil of death from them. The entire material world is involved here in the action of the resurrection of man. In Gogol, it is not people and animals that enliven objects, but objects that inspire people and animals. In comparison with things, Gogol's people occupy a secondary order and are lower than animals. Even the existence of Chichikov's box looks more meaningful than the existence of its owner. The overcoat is more alive than Akaky Akakievich, and the tortoiseshell claw on the tailor Petrovich's finger is more spiritual than the tailor himself. Gogol seems to be afraid of endowing a person with humanity and humanity. In the whole novel, there is almost only one living character, a peasant girl who does not know where the right is, where the left is, and a young girl who met Chichikov on the road, shining her face against the sun, like a fresh egg, and then again both merge at the end in some kind of unfeeling humanoid idea. Everything else is some kind of uranium ore, not enriched with meaning and humanity. Living matter for Gogol is dead, but inanimate matter is alive, and nourishes man and beast, therefore Gogol's prose is an adventure of Platonic ideas, and not people, inanimate plasma, and not a man - a fallen thing among fallen things. He seemed to have come here to wake them up. But still pondering whether it is necessary.

Gogol distracts essences from dead half-living creatures and transfers them to things - stone, grass, road. Twice transformed, these entities again return to the living and here they turn into an archetype, a symbol. Gogol multiplies the neurons of decay in himself and crystallizes them in wax figures of characters. With a flick of the pen, an indirect encroachment of style, Chichikov's cramped crew is stuffed with bachelors, retired lieutenant colonels, landowners, hundreds of serfs, and hundreds of peasant souls completely separate from them; and also, in addition to everything, metaphysically abstract middle-class gentlemen who shun natural lieutenant colonels and staff captains. Why in the britzka it becomes unbearably crowded and astringent, and it sags with springs to the ground. And all this rabble of Gogol's half-things-half-people tumbles like a gypsy camp into the city, without making, you won't believe, any noise

Whole art world Gogol indirect, exists in the imagination and in reality, as it were besides but beyond what, we'll never know. This heavy attraction of Gogol's something is constantly present in every word, but is found only occasionally, then in the form of a foamy crest of a river wave, silvering in moonlight like wolf hair, then in the shape of a horse’s head, sticking its head out of that world into this one to taste the delicious senets stuck on Akaky Akakiyevich’s uniform. Only at the edge of the shadow it will sometimes step in here in the fog and drizzle of immeasurable extent and immediately hide, trembling with its skin. While nature, according to Gogol himself, sleeping with open eyes.

And this provincial town of NN., meek and nameless in itself, immediately fills the reader's imagination like a corncob with grains and becomes fat in body before our eyes. Actually, it is all already impaled on the author's fantasy, as if on a skewer, and passed through by the reader. Everything that happens to the city and its inhabitants in the future does not matter. The cart drove into the city and immediately left it, traced by the smirk of the transcendental contemplator. This is the finale, an unforeseen farewell not only to the novel, but also to the very existence of this place - at the very beginning of the Book of Genesis. Before he has entered the life of the novel, the author is already saying goodbye to it, because the novel and life already preexist in the author, and this is deeply understandable to the reader. The reader, having barely touched the living water of the word being made, is already dead from its lightning-fast accomplishment. The power of Gogol's word is such that the poem simultaneously pre-exists in the reader, who has barely read the first lines of the poem, as if he is a co-author of the idea, and somewhere else, outside the book. The energy clot of the imaginary city will then unfold into the galaxy of Nozdryov, Sobakevich, Selifan, all the inhabitants of the novel, but even until then the reader has already been infected by the author’s craft and is living his last days in himself, in the natural shell of his hardiness. Although he doesn't know it yet.

Two Russian peasants stand with their backs to the open door of the Russian tavern and talk about the wheel, that is, they are immersed in the contemplation of perpetual motion. In this traditional peasant occupation, vodka is clearly contemptuous. Wine is present here only as a natural activator, expanding consciousness, an accomplice of national self-consciousness. It is precisely that "two Russians" and not "two Russians" peasants stand akimbo before the Universum and the Fatherland, and this one difference in the letter opens the whole novel and all of Rus' wide open. There is no need to plow and sow, reap bread, there is no need for women and marriage. Even the sovereign and the state are superfluous, the letter says. Only the wheel and the Heavenly Emperor are important - what else matters? Two entities compared to each other, God and Man, destroying each other in contemplation of the other world. From the very beginning, it is clear that these two Russian peasants do not see the whole chaise, they do not even see the other wheels of the chaise, but they see only one of its wheels, or, to be more precise, the wheel in general, as a concept, as an emblem of the movement to nowhere. It is not the personal “to be or not to be” that is decided here at this world peasant consultation, as Nabokov believes, not even to be or not to be arable land, the Fatherland and the state, but the higher and transpersonal - why in general in this nature is the Wheel, the Movement, the Sovereign of Heaven, and whether there is movement of anything anywhere at all. Most likely not, and this is the opposition of imaginary movement and apparent nothingness.

A dazzling character in white cannibal pantaloons at the very beginning " dead souls", looking after Chichikov's britzka and holding his cap from the otherworldly wind, came to us to confirm this. The author's double perspective lubricates the britzka and the viewer, and they instantly disappear in the reader's double imagination. The character's very narrow and short pantaloons, along with the existential wind and a pin with a bronze gun can torment the reader's imagination, so don't stare at it too closely or you won't be able to see it, because if you stare at it too long, it will disappear again, like on overexposed photographic paper, but it will get stuck in the psyche like that Ryazan lieutenant, trying on boots behind the wall of Chichikov's room, who is still unable to part with them, but still looks at the wonderfully worn heel, smiling at the stars.

I have no doubt that this is one and the same person, a Ryazan lieutenant in white cannibal pantaloons, who has already tried on four pairs of boots and is planning a fifth, embraced by the same universal longing with him, but managed to quietly change clothes behind the scenes of our and Gogol's consciousness. To understand this, the aperture of the reader's imagination must be slightly opened to a microscopic gap, just necessary for shooting, and with a homeopathically adjusted exposure of perception. Otherwise, the reader will be left with nothing and will take out of this magic, like all criticism wasted by mediocrity, only some kind of "satirical" or "social" "idea".