- What is the image of a literary hero? Chichikov is the hero of a great, classic work created by a genius, a hero who embodied the result of the author's observations and reflections on life, people, and their actions. An image that has absorbed typical features, and therefore has long gone beyond the framework of the work itself. His name has become a household name for people - crafty careerists, sycophants, money-grubbers, outwardly "pretty", "decent and worthy". Moreover, other readers' assessment of Chichikov is not so unambiguous. Comprehension […]
- The work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol fell on the dark era of Nicholas I. These were the 30s. XIX century, when in Russia, after the suppression of the uprising of the Decembrists, reaction reigned, all dissidents were persecuted, the best people were persecuted. Describing the reality of his day, N.V. Gogol creates the poem “Dead Souls”, brilliant in depth of reflection of life. The basis of "Dead Souls" is that the book is a reflection not of individual features of reality and characters, but of the reality of Russia as a whole. Myself […]
- French traveler, author of the famous book "Russia in 1839" Marquis de Questine wrote: “Russia is ruled by a class of officials who occupy administrative positions right from the school bench ... each of these gentlemen becomes a nobleman, having received a cross in his buttonhole ... Upstarts in the circle of those in power, they use their power, as befits upstarts. " The tsar himself admitted with bewilderment that it was not he, the autocrat of all Russia, who governed his empire, but the clerk appointed by him. The provincial city […]
- In his famous address to the "bird-troika", Gogol did not forget the master to whom the troika owes its existence: cheeky man." There is one more hero in the poem about swindlers, parasites, owners of living and dead souls. Gogol's unnamed hero is serf slaves. In "Dead Souls" Gogol composed such a dithyramb to the Russian serfs, with such direct […]
- N.V. Gogol conceived the first part of the poem "Dead Souls" as a work that reveals the social vices of society. In this regard, he was looking for a plot not a simple life fact, but one that would make it possible to expose the hidden phenomena of reality. In this sense, the plot proposed by A. S. Pushkin was the best fit for Gogol. The idea to “travel all over Rus' with the hero” gave the author the opportunity to show the life of the whole country. And since Gogol described it in such a way, “so that all the little things that elude […]
- In the autumn of 1835, Gogol set to work on Dead Souls, the plot of which, like the plot of The Inspector General, was suggested to him by Pushkin. “I want to show in this novel, although from one side, all of Rus',” he writes to Pushkin. Explaining the idea of "Dead Souls", Gogol wrote that the images of the poem are "not at all portraits of insignificant people, on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others." Explaining the choice of the hero, the author says: "Because it is time, finally, give rest to a poor virtuous man, because […]
- It should be noted that the episode of the collision of the crews is divided into two micro-themes. One of them is the appearance of a crowd of onlookers and "helpers" from a neighboring village, the other is Chichikov's thoughts caused by a meeting with a young stranger. Both of these themes have both an external, superficial layer, directly related to the characters of the poem, and a deep layer, bringing to the scale of the author's thoughts about Russia and its people. So, the collision occurs suddenly, when Chichikov silently sends curses to Nozdryov, thinking that […]
- Chichikov met Nozdryov earlier, at one of the receptions in the city of NN, but the meeting in the tavern is the first serious acquaintance with him for both Chichikov and the reader. We understand what type of people Nozdryov belongs to, first by seeing his behavior in the tavern, his story about the fair, and then by reading the author’s direct description of this “broken fellow”, “historical man”, who has “a passion to spoil his neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all ". We know Chichikov as a completely different person - […]
- Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is one of the greatest and at the same time mysterious works of the 19th century. The genre definition of "poem", which at that time unambiguously meant a lyric-epic work written in poetic form and predominantly romantic, was perceived by Gogol's contemporaries in different ways. Some found it mocking, while others saw hidden irony in this definition. Shevyrev wrote that “the meaning of the word ‘poem’ seems to us to be twofold… because of the word ‘poem’ a deep, significant […]
- In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" the way of life and customs of the feudal landowners is very correctly noticed and described. Drawing images of the landlords: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin, the author recreated a generalized picture of the life of serf Russia, where arbitrariness reigned, the economy was in decline, and the personality underwent moral degradation. After writing and publishing the poem, Gogol said: “Dead Souls made a lot of noise, a lot of grumbling, touched the nerves of many with mockery, and truth, and caricature, touched […]
- Plyushkin is an image of a moldy cracker left over from the Easter cake. Only he has a life story, Gogol depicts all the other landowners statically. These heroes, as it were, have no past that would at least somehow differ from their present and explain something in it. Plyushkin's character is much more complicated than the characters of other landowners represented in Dead Souls. Features of manic stinginess are combined in Plyushkin with painful suspicion and distrust of people. Saving the old sole, a clay shard, […]
- The poem "Dead Souls" reflects the social phenomena and conflicts that characterized Russian life in the 30s - early 40s. 19th century It very correctly noticed and described the way of life and customs of that time. Drawing images of the landowners: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin, the author recreated a generalized picture of the life of serf Russia, where arbitrariness reigned, the economy was in decline, and the personality underwent moral degradation, regardless of whether it was the personality of a slave owner or [... ]
- Compositionally, the poem "Dead Souls" consists of three externally closed, but internally interconnected circles. landowners, the city, Chichikov's biography, united by the image of the road, plot-related by the main character's scam. But the middle link - the life of the city - itself consists, as it were, of narrowing circles, gravitating towards the center; this is a graphic representation of the provincial hierarchy. Interestingly, in this hierarchical pyramid, the governor, embroidering on tulle, looks like a puppet figure. True life boils in civilian […]
- Landowner Appearance Manor Characteristics Attitude to Chichikov's request Manilov The man is not yet old, his eyes are as sweet as sugar. But this sugar was too much. In the first minute of a conversation with him you will say what a nice person, after a minute you will not say anything, and in the third minute you will think: "The devil knows what it is!" The master's house stands on a hill, open to all winds. The economy is in complete decline. The housekeeper steals, something is always missing in the house. The kitchen is preparing stupidly. Servants - […]
- At the lesson of literature, we got acquainted with the work of N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". This poem has become very popular. The work was repeatedly filmed both in the Soviet Union and in modern Russia. Also, the names of the main characters became symbolic: Plyushkin - a symbol of stinginess and storage of unnecessary things, Sobakevich - an uncouth person, Manilovism - immersion in dreams that have no connection with reality. Some phrases have become catchphrases. The main character of the poem is Chichikov. […]
- Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is one of the most brilliant authors of our vast Motherland. In his works, he always spoke about the sore, about what His Rus' lived in His time. And he does it so well! This man really loved Russia, seeing what our country really is - unhappy, deceitful, lost, but at the same time - dear. Nikolai Vasilievich in the poem "Dead Souls" gives a social profile of the then Rus'. Describes landlordism in all colors, reveals all the nuances, characters. Among […]
- Landowner Portrait Characteristic Manor Attitude towards housekeeping Lifestyle Outcome Manilov Handsome blond with blue eyes. At the same time, in his appearance "it seemed too sugar was transferred." Too ingratiating look and behavior Too enthusiastic and refined dreamer who does not feel any curiosity about his household or anything earthly (he does not even know if his peasants died after the last revision). At the same time, his daydreaming is absolutely […]
- Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol noted that the main theme of "Dead Souls" was contemporary Russia. The author believed that "it is impossible otherwise to direct society or even the whole generation towards the beautiful, until you show the full depth of its real abomination." That is why the poem presents a satire on the local nobility, bureaucracy and other social groups. The composition of the work is subordinated to this task of the author. The image of Chichikov, traveling around the country in search of the necessary connections and wealth, allows N. V. Gogol […]
- Gogol was always attracted by everything eternal and unshakable. By analogy with Dante's "Divine Comedy", he decides to create a work in three volumes, where it would be possible to show the past, present and future of Russia. Even the author designates the genre of the work in an unusual way - a poem, since different fragments of life are collected in one artistic whole. The composition of the poem, which is built on the principle of concentric circles, allows Gogol to trace the movement of Chichikov through the provincial town of N, the estates of landowners and all of Russia. Already with […]
- Chichikov, having met the landowners in the city, received an invitation from each of them to visit the estate. The gallery of the owners of "dead souls" is opened by Manilov. The author at the very beginning of the chapter gives a description of this character. His appearance initially made a very pleasant impression, then bewilderment, and in the third minute “... you say:“ The devil knows what it is! and move away…” Sweetness and sentimentality, highlighted in the portrait of Manilov, are the essence of his idle lifestyle. He is constantly talking about […]
Poem "Dead souls of Gogol in brief summary in 10 minutes.
Acquaintance with Chichikov
A middle-aged gentleman of rather pleasant appearance arrived at a hotel in a provincial town in a small britzka. He rented a room in the hotel, examined it and went to the common room to dine, leaving the servants to settle in a new place. It was a collegiate adviser, landowner Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.
After dinner, he went to inspect the city and found that it was no different from other provincial cities. The newcomer devoted the whole next day to visits. He visited the governor, the police chief, the vice-governor and other officials, each of whom he managed to win over by saying something pleasant about his department. For the evening he had already received an invitation to the governor.
Arriving at the governor's house, Chichikov, among other things, made the acquaintance of Manilov, a very courteous and courteous man, and the somewhat clumsy Sobakevich, and behaved so pleasantly with them that he completely charmed them, and both landowners invited the new friend to visit them. The next day, at a dinner at the police chief's, Pavel Ivanovich also made acquaintance with Nozdryov, a broken-down fellow of about thirty, with whom they immediately switched to you.
For more than a week the visitor lived in the city, traveling to parties and dinners, he proved to be a very pleasant conversationalist, able to talk on any topic. He knew how to behave well, had a degree. In general, everyone in the city came to the opinion that this is an exceptionally decent and well-meaning
Human.
Chichikov at Manilov
Finally, Chichikov decided to visit the landowners he knew and went out of town. First he went to Manilov. With some difficulty he found the village of Manilovka, which turned out to be not fifteen, but thirty versts from the city. Manilov met his new acquaintance very cordially, they kissed and entered the house, for a long time letting each other pass at the door. Manilov was, in general, a pleasant person, somehow sugary-sweet, had no special hobbies, except for fruitless dreams, and did not take care of the household.
His wife was brought up in a boarding school, where she was taught the three main subjects necessary for family happiness: French, piano and knitting purses. She was pretty and well dressed. Her husband introduced Pavel Ivanovich to her. They talked a little, and the hosts invited the guest to dinner. The seven-year-old sons of the Manilovs, Themistoclus, and six-year-old Alkid, were already waiting in the dining room, for whom the teacher had tied napkins. The guest was shown the erudition of the children, the teacher made a remark to the boys only once, when the elder bit the younger on the ear.
After dinner, Chichikov announced that he intended to talk to the owner about a very important matter, and both went to the study. The guest started a conversation about the peasants and offered the host to buy dead souls from him, that is, those peasants who have already died, but according to the revision are still considered alive. Manilov could not understand anything for a long time, then he doubted the legitimacy of such a bill of sale, but nevertheless agreed from
respect for the guest. When Pavel Ivanovich spoke about the price, the owner was offended and even took upon himself the drafting of the bill of sale.
Chichikov did not know how to thank Manilov. They said goodbye cordially, and Pavel Ivanovich drove off, promising to come again and bring gifts to the children.
Chichikov at Korobochka
Chichikov was about to make his next visit to Sobakevich, but it started to rain, and the carriage drove into some field. Selifan turned the wagon around so clumsily that the master fell out of it and was covered in mud. Luckily, dogs barked. They went to the village and asked to spend the night in a house. It turned out that this was the estate of a certain landowner Korobochka.
In the morning Pavel Ivanovich met the hostess, Nastasya Petrovna, a middle-aged woman, one of those who always complain about the lack of money, but little by little saves and collects a decent fortune. The village was quite large, the houses were strong, the peasants lived well. The hostess invited the unexpected guest to drink tea, the conversation turned to the household, and Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from her.
Korobochka was extremely frightened by such a proposal, not really understanding what they wanted from her. After much explanation and persuasion, she finally agreed and wrote Chichikov a power of attorney, trying to sell him a hemp as well.
After eating a cake and pancakes baked especially for him, the guest drove on, accompanied by a girl who was supposed to take the carriage to the main road. Seeing the tavern, which was already standing on a high road, they let the girl off, who, having received a copper penny as a reward, wandered home, and drove there.
Chichikov at Nozdrev
In a tavern, Chichikov ordered a pig with horseradish and sour cream, and, knowing it, asked the hostess about the surrounding landowners. At this time, two gentlemen drove up to the tavern, one of whom was Nozdrev, and the second was his son-in-law Mizhuev. Nozdryov, a well-built fellow, what is called blood and milk, with thick black hair and sideburns, ruddy cheeks and very white teeth,
recognized Chichikov and began to tell him how they walked at the fair, how much champagne they drank and how he lost at cards.
Mizhuev, a tall fair-haired man with a tanned face and a red mustache, was constantly accusing his friend of exaggerations. Nozdryov persuaded Chichikov to go to him, Mizhuev, reluctantly, also went with them.
It must be said that Nozdryov's wife died, leaving him two children, whom he did not care about, and he moved from one fair to another, from one party to another. Everywhere he played cards and roulette and usually lost, although he did not hesitate to cheat, for which he was sometimes beaten by partners. He was cheerful, considered a good comrade, but he always managed to spoil his friends: upset the wedding, disrupt the deal.
At the estate, having ordered dinner from the cook, Nozdryov took the guest to inspect the farm, which had nothing special, and drove around for two hours, telling stories that were incredible in lies, so that Chichikov was very tired. Lunch was served, some of which was burnt, some undercooked, and numerous wines of dubious quality.
The owner refilled the guests, but he hardly drank himself. After dinner, Mizhuev, who had become very intoxicated, was sent home to his wife, and Chichikov started a conversation with Nozdryov about dead souls. The landowner flatly refused to sell them, but offered to play cards with them, and when the guest refused, to exchange them for Chichikov's horses or a britzka. Pavel Ivanovich also rejected this offer and went to bed. The next day, the restless Nozdryov persuaded him to fight for souls in checkers. During the game, Chichikov noticed that the owner was playing dishonestly and told him about it.
The landowner was offended, began to scold the guest and ordered the servants to beat him. Chichikov was saved by the appearance of the police captain, who announced that Nozdrev was on trial and accused of inflicting personal insult on the landowner Maximov with rods while drunk. Pavel Ivanovich did not wait for the denouement, ran out of the house and left.
Chichikov at Sobakevich's
On the way to Sobakevich, an unpleasant incident happened. Selifan, lost in thought, did not give way to a carriage drawn by six horses that was overtaking them, and the harness of both carriages became so entangled that it took a long time to re-harness. In the carriage sat an old woman and a sixteen-year-old girl, whom Pavel Ivanovich liked very much ...
Soon they arrived at Sobakevich's estate. Everything was strong, solid, solid. The owner, stout, with a face as if hewn with an axe, very similar to a learned bear, met the guest and led him into the house. The furniture was to match the owner - heavy, durable. Paintings depicting ancient generals hung on the walls.
The conversation turned to city officials, each of whom the owner gave a negative description. The hostess entered, Sobakevich introduced her guest and invited him to dinner. Lunch was not very varied, but tasty and satisfying. During dinner the host mentioned the landowner Plyushkin, who lived five versts from him, where people were dying like flies, and Chichikov took note of this.
After a very hearty dinner, the men retired to the living room, and Pavel Ivanovich got down to business. Sobakevich listened to him without saying a word. Without asking any questions, he agreed to sell the dead souls to the guest, but raised the price for them, as for living people.
They bargained for a long time and agreed on two and a half rubles per head, and Sobakevich demanded a deposit. He compiled a list of peasants, gave each one a description of his business qualities and wrote a receipt for receiving a deposit, striking Chichikov with how sensibly everything was written. They parted, satisfied with each other, and Chichikov went to Plyushkin.
Chichikov at Plushkin's
He drove into a large village, striking in its poverty: the huts were almost without roofs, the windows in them were covered with bull bladders or plugged with rags. The master's house is large, with many outbuildings for household needs, but all of them are almost collapsed, only two windows are open, the rest are boarded up or closed with shutters. The house gave the impression of being uninhabited.
Chichikov noticed a figure so strangely dressed that it was impossible to immediately recognize whether it was a woman or a man. Paying attention to the bunch of keys on his belt, Pavel Ivanovich decided that this was the housekeeper, and turned to her, calling her "mother" and asking where the master was. The housekeeper told him to go into the house and disappeared. He entered and marveled at the disorder that reigned there. Everything is covered in dust, dried-up bits of wood lie on the table, a bunch of some incomprehensible things are piled in the corner. The housekeeper came in, and Chichikov asked the master again. She said that the master was in front of him.
I must say that Plyushkin was not always like that. Once he had a family and was just a thrifty, albeit somewhat stingy owner. His wife was distinguished by her hospitality, and there were often guests in the house. Then the wife died, the eldest daughter ran away with an officer, and her father cursed her, because he could not stand the military. The son went to the city to enter the civil service. but enlisted in the regiment. Plushkin cursed him too. When the youngest daughter died, the landowner was left alone in the house.
His stinginess assumed terrifying proportions, he dragged into the house all the rubbish found in the village, right down to the old sole. The quitrent was collected from the peasants in the same amount, but since Plyushkin asked for an exorbitant price for the goods, no one bought anything from him, and everything rotted in the manor's yard. Twice his daughter came to him, first with one child, then with two, brought him gifts and asked for help, but his father did not give a penny. His son lost his game and also asked for money, but he also received nothing. Plyushkin himself looked like if Chichikov had met him near the church, he would have given him a penny.
While Pavel Ivanovich was thinking about how to start talking about dead souls, the owner began to complain about the hard life: the peasants were dying, and the tax had to be paid for them. The guest offered to bear these expenses. Plyushkin gladly agreed, ordered the samovar to be put up and the remains of the Easter cake brought from the pantry, which his daughter had once brought and from which it was necessary to scrape off the mold first.
Then he suddenly began to doubt the honesty of Chichikov's intentions, and he offered to draw up a merchant's fortress for the dead peasants. Plyushkin decided to give Chichikov also runaway peasants, and after bargaining, Pavel Ivanovich took them thirty kopecks apiece. After that, he (much to the delight of the host) refused dinner and tea and left, being in a great mood.
Chichikov turns a scam with "dead souls"
On the way to the hotel, Chichikov even sang. The next day he woke up in a great mood and immediately sat down at the table to write merchant's fortresses. At twelve o'clock I got dressed and, with the papers under my arm, went to the civil ward. Leaving the hotel, Pavel Ivanovich ran into Manilov, who was walking towards him.
They kissed each other in such a way that both of them had toothaches all day long, and Manilov volunteered to accompany Chichikov. In the Civil Chamber, it was not without difficulty that they found an official who dealt with merchants, who, only after receiving a bribe, sent Pavel Ivanovich to the chairman, Ivan Grigorievich. Sobakevich was already sitting in the chairman's office. Ivan Grigoryevich gave instructions to the same
the official to draw up all the papers and collect witnesses.
When everything was properly arranged, the chairman proposed to spray the purchase. Chichikov wanted to supply them with champagne, but Ivan Grigoryevich said that they would go to the police chief, who would only wink at the merchants in the fish and meat rows, and a wonderful dinner would be ready.
And so it happened. The merchants considered the police chief to be their own person, who, although he robbed them, did not show any kindness and even willingly baptized merchant children. The dinner was magnificent, the guests drank and ate well, and Sobakevich alone ate a huge sturgeon and then did not eat anything, but only sat silently in an armchair. Everyone was amused and did not want to let Chichikov leave the city, but decided to marry him, to which he gladly agreed.
Feeling that he was already talking too much, Pavel Ivanovich asked for a carriage and arrived at the hotel completely drunk in the prosecutor's droshky. With difficulty, Petrushka undressed the master, cleaned his suit, and, making sure that the owner was fast asleep, went with Selifan to the nearest tavern, from where they left in an embrace and collapsed to sleep across on the same bed.
Chichikov's purchases caused a lot of talk in the city, everyone took an active part in his affairs, they discussed how difficult it would be for him to resettle such a number of serfs in the Kherson province. Of course, Chichikov did not spread that he was acquiring dead peasants, everyone believed that they were bought alive, and a rumor spread around the city that Pavel Ivanovich was a millionaire. He was immediately interested in the ladies, who in this city were very presentable, traveled only in carriages, dressed fashionably and spoke elegantly. Chichikov could not fail to notice such attention to himself. One day they brought him an anonymous love letter with poems, at the end of which it was written that his own heart would help him guess who wrote it.
Chichikov at the governor's ball
After some time, Pavel Ivanovich was invited to the governor's ball. His appearance at the ball caused great enthusiasm among all those present. The men greeted him with loud exclamations and strong hugs, the ladies surrounded him, forming a multi-colored garland. He tried to guess which one of them had written the letter, but he couldn't.
Chichikov was rescued from their entourage by the governor's wife, holding by the arm a pretty sixteen-year-old girl, whom Pavel Ivanovich recognized as a blonde from a carriage that ran into him on the way from Nozdryov. It turned out that the girl was the governor's daughter, just released from the institute. Chichikov turned all his attention to her and spoke only to her, although the girl got bored from his stories and began to yawn. the ladies did not like this behavior of their idol at all, because each had her own views on Pavel Ivanovich. They became indignant and condemned the poor college girl.
Unexpectedly, Nozdryov, accompanied by the prosecutor, appeared from the living room where the card game was going on and, seeing Chichikov, immediately shouted to the whole hall: What? Did you trade a lot for the dead? Pavel Ivanovich did not know where to go, and meanwhile the landowner, with great pleasure, began to tell everyone about Chichikov's scam. Everyone knew that Nozdryov was a liar, nevertheless, his words caused confusion and gossip. Frustrated, Chichikov, anticipating a scandal, did not wait until dinner was over and went to the hotel.
While he was sitting in his room cursing Nozdryov and all his relatives, a carriage with Korobochka drove into the city. This club-headed landowner, worrying whether Chichikov had deceived her in some cunning way, decided to personally find out how much dead souls are now. The next day, the ladies stirred up the whole city.
They could not understand the essence of the scam with dead souls and decided that the purchase was made to avert their eyes, but in fact Chichikov came to the city to kidnap the governor's daughter. The governor's wife, having heard about this, interrogated her unsuspecting daughter and ordered Pavel Ivanovich not to be received any more. Men also could not understand anything, but they did not really believe in abduction.
At this time, a new governor-general was appointed to the province, and officials even thought that Chichikov had come to their city on his behalf to check. Then they decided that Chichikov was a counterfeiter, then that he was a robber. Selifan and Petrushka were interrogated, but they could not say anything intelligible. They also had a chat with Nozdryov, who, without blinking an eye, confirmed all their guesses. The prosecutor was so worried that he had a stroke and died.
Chichikov knew nothing about all this. He caught a cold, sat in his room for three days and wondered why none of his new acquaintances visited him. Finally, he recovered, dressed warmer and went to the governor for a visit. Imagine Pavel Ivanovich's surprise when the footman said that he was not ordered to be received! Then he went to other officials, but everyone received him so strangely, they carried on such a forced and incomprehensible conversation that he doubted their health.
chichikov leaves the city
Chichikov wandered aimlessly around the city for a long time, and in the evening Nozdrev showed up to him, offering his help in kidnapping the governor's daughter for three thousand rubles. The reason for the scandal became clear to Pavel Ivanovich, and he immediately ordered Selifan to lay the horses, and he himself began to collect things. But it turned out that the horses needed to be shod, and they left only the next day. When we drove through the city, we had to skip the funeral procession: they were burying the prosecutor. Chichikov drew the curtains. Luckily no one paid any attention to him.
essence of the scam with dead souls
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov was born into a poor noble family. Sending his son to school, his father ordered him to live economically, behave well, please teachers, be friends only with the children of wealthy parents, and most of all in life value a penny. Pavlusha conscientiously fulfilled all this and succeeded very much in this. not disdaining to speculate on edibles. Not distinguished by his intelligence and knowledge, he earned a certificate and a certificate of merit after graduating from college by his behavior.
Most of all, he dreamed of a quiet, rich life, but for now he denied himself everything. He began to serve, but did not receive a promotion, no matter how he pleased his boss. Then, having passed. that the boss had an ugly and no longer young daughter, Chichikov began to look after her. It even got to the point that he settled in the boss's house, began to call him dad and kissed his hand. Soon Pavel Ivanovich received a new position and immediately moved to his apartment. and the matter of the wedding was hushed up. Time passed, Chichikov prospered. He himself did not take bribes, but received money from subordinates, who began to take three times more. After some time, a commission was organized in the city for the construction of some kind of capital structure, and Pavel Ivanovich attached himself there. The structure did not grow higher than the foundation, but the members of the commission set up beautiful large houses for themselves. Unfortunately, the chief was replaced, the new one demanded reports from the commission, and all the houses were confiscated to the treasury. Chichikov was fired, and he was forced to start his career anew.
He changed two or three positions, and then he was lucky: he got a job in customs, where he showed himself from the best side, was incorruptible, knew how to find contraband best of all and deserved a promotion. As soon as this happened, the incorruptible Pavel Ivanovich conspired with a large gang of smugglers, attracted another official to the case, and together they pulled off several scams, thanks to which they put four hundred thousand in the bank. But once the official quarreled with Chichikov and wrote a denunciation against him, the case was revealed, the money was confiscated from both, and they themselves were fired from customs. Fortunately, they managed to avoid a trial, Pavel Ivanovich had some money hidden, and he began to arrange life again. He had to act as an attorney, and it was this service that prompted him to think about dead souls. Once he applied for a pledge to the Board of Trustees of several hundred peasants of a ruined landowner. In the meantime, Chichikov explained to the secretary that half of the peasants had died out and he doubted the success of the case. The secretary said that if the souls are listed in the audit inventory, then nothing terrible can happen. It was then that Pavel Ivanovich decided to buy more dead souls and pledge them to the board of trustees, receiving money for them as for living ones. The city in which Chichikov and I met was the first on his path to the realization of his plans, and now Pavel Ivanovich rode on in his britzka drawn by three horses.
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^ Image of Chichikov
Chichikov is a dual nature. This is especially evident when meeting with a blonde on the road.
First, let's pay attention to the portrait of a stranger.
All the symbolism of its description, all colors have one easily distinguishable focus: comparison with a just laid testicle (testicle - the beginning of life), the predominance of one white color - the color of innocence, day, beginning, contact with the rays of the sun, the source and engine of life and, finally, complete transparency, transparency for rays, for light, for sight - so contrasting with the hardened bark of senile immobility and stiffness.
What was Chichikov's reaction to all this? Unusual, unexpected for such a prosaic, prudent person: he thought, forgot about everything around him.
Chichikov was destined to experience these sensations for the second time. And even sharper, in a new way.
Chapter VIII. Ball at the Governor's. Chichikov, elevated by public opinion to "millionaires", is immersed in the bliss of reverence and glory ... And suddenly a familiar blonde appears before Chichikov.
What is Chichikov's reaction this time?
“Chichikov was so confused that he could not utter a single sensible word ...” Fashionable phrase-mongers, dexterous dandies whom the romantic story loved to portray, did not get lost in such situations and knew how to speak with beauties gallantly and aphoristically. But was there much true feeling behind such words?
It turns out that Chichikov's muteness is higher than the flow of eloquence of these romantic heroes. At least there is a grain of true experience in it.
But the narrator warns: do not exaggerate the strength of Chichikov's feelings - "It is impossible to say for sure whether the feeling of love has awakened in our hero, it is even doubtful that gentlemen of this kind ... were capable of love." But, be that as it may, the narrator insists on the unusualness of this feeling, as if revealing something unexpected in this character: as if some kind of force snatched “for a few minutes Chichikov from everyday flickering, from the stream of vulgarity and prose with which he was fused with every cell of his being.
Most of the characters in the poem live and act almost instinctively, unconsciously. What they think about their actions, and whether they think anything at all, we are usually not told.
Chichikov is another matter. The next place is interesting. After one of his failures - dismissal from customs for smuggling - Chichikov reflects: “Why me? Why did I get in trouble? Who is yawning now in office? - everyone buys. I didn’t make anyone unhappy: I didn’t rob a widow, I didn’t let anyone into the world ... Why do others prosper and why should I disappear like a worm? .. And what will my children say then? “Here,” they will say, “father, the beast, did not leave us any fortune!”
All the reflections that accompany Chichikov's actions are a kind of attempt to understand them, to give oneself an account of them. You will not find anything like this in other characters of the poem. They tend to act like beings of a low spiritual organization, almost like animals.
And, finally, one more, completely unexpected difference. The “passion” of Chichikov, the vice that has taken possession of him, is in a certain sense narrower than that of other characters. Try to define in a nutshell what is the peculiarity of Nozdryov - you are unlikely to succeed. Nozdryov is boastful and tricky, a "broken fellow" and subtle rogue... It is by no means possible to designate this character with one definition, and Gogol does not give such a definition. His phrase that Nozdryov "was in some way a historical person" is not a definition: this phrase is largely ironic and descriptive.
But the author finds it possible to give a definition to Chichikov. “It is most fair to call him: the owner, the acquirer. Acquisition is the fault of everything; because of him things were done, to which the light gives the name of not very clean. Of course, Chichikov is very complex, much more complicated than Nozdryov and any other character in the poem. And his character cannot be exhausted by one definition. Chichikov is insinuating, flattering; when necessary, arrogant, stubborn, persistent ... but you never know what else can be said about this amazingly versatile and flexible person. But still, his main passion or, as Gogol said, "enthusiasm" can be denoted quite definitely - "acquirer".
Of all the other characters in the first volume of the poem, only one is built on the same foundations as Chichikov. This is Plush...
Maybe what we said makes Chichikov better than the rest of the characters in the poem? On the contrary, worse. After all, he could be another person, his actions are associated with a certain awareness, reflection, and he is far from being so primitive. And that means that the demand is different from him.
Now we will understand the remark of the young Chernyshevsky about Chichikov: "this character is the most difficult."
But it is precisely Chichikov's difficulty and complexity that predetermined not only his central place in the first volume of the poem, but also his alleged life path in subsequent volumes ... After all, having the past behind him, he could have the future. Developing over time, it is able to undergo changes. Yes, and Chichikov's concentration on one "idea", the certainty of passion would facilitate the correction. It is easier to free oneself from a certain "vice" (possessiveness, for example) than from vice in general.
Gogol, in the first volume of the poem, hinted at the future rebirth of Chichikov and at the instructive lesson that his "passion" - acquisitiveness - receives in connection with this. “And, perhaps, in this same Chichikov, the passion that attracts him is no longer from him, and in his cold existence lies something that will later plunge a person to dust and knees before the wisdom of heaven.”
LESSON 76
^
THE IMAGE OF CHICHIKOV. ANALYSIS OF CHAPTER XI
... He is still some strange scoundrel ...
I. Zolotussky
DURING THE CLASSES
I. Conversation on the questions:
1. What is the role of chapter XI in the composition of the poem? (Gogol put Chichikov’s biography in the last, XI chapter. Such a construction had a reason, because the hero’s past is not connected with the plot. Therefore, Gogol takes the biography out of the plot. And if we talk about the plot of the poem, then it ends in the X chapter with Chichikov’s decision to flee from the provincial cities. Biography of Chichikov is important for motivating his actions and character traits. Getting to know her, we understand the reasons for his actions and the essence of his views on life.)
2. Why did Chichikov buy dead souls?
3. Why does Gogol call him "the acquirer"? What is its difference from such "accumulators" as Sobakevich, Korobochka, Plyushkin? (This is a man of a new, bourgeois formation - an "acquirer", a predator, a master. He has such features that the landowners do not have - energy, will.
And he is formidable in that he develops with the unanimous approval of those around him and with secret envy of his strength. After all, the landlords are squanderers of human dignity, and they end up with "a hole in humanity." But Chichikov is not going to die.)
^ Teacher's Word 1
“Remember Chichikov's travel box - this is a poem! This is a poem about acquisitiveness, hoarding, squeezing sweat in the name of a million ... and what else is there! And a city billboard torn from a pedestal... and a funeral ticket (saying to his sober mind: hurry up, remember death)... The same pile of Plyushkin, only not disheveled... but brought into symmetry, where every object is to the point. .. Plyushkin's pile is a cemetery of things, Chichikov's casket is a business man's traveling suitcase.
4. What does Chichikov have in common with the landowners? What is the "core" of this image? (Chichikov is interesting in that he is a “collector” of the traits of all the characters of the landlords: in delicacy he will not yield to Manilov (remember the passage through the door), he saves as stubbornly as Korobochka (remember his famous box), in frugality he will not yield to Plyushkin, in collecting all sorts of rubbish, by the way, too, tight-fisted, like Sobakevich, trades every penny, and he himself, by definition of the author, is a “hero of a penny”, and he is capable of lying no worse than Nozdryov.
But Chichikov has a trait that makes him the first person - amazing flexibility, tenacity, survival in any conditions, at any time. The grain "of this hero is the ability to adapt, guess people and adapt to them.
With Manilov he is sugary-gracious, with Korobochka he is petty-persistent, with Nozdryov he is assertive and cowardly, he bargains with Sobakevich just as relentlessly as Sobakevich with him, Plyushkin conquers with his "generosity".
So, we get to know the hero enough before we read his biography. (Recall that this is the second hero who has a biography!)
5. Why does Gogol's hero burn out every now and then, why do his scams, which at first elevate him so upward, fail every time? Why did Chichikov fail in the bargain with Nozdryov?
Let's get acquainted with a fragment of the article by P. Weil and A. Genis “Russian God. Chichikov": "The rogue Chichikov turns out to be too simple-hearted to cheat Nozdryov, or Korobochka, or his partner-accomplice from customs. He didn't even bother to come up with a plausible legend to explain the purchase of dead souls.
A small man with small passions (by the way, this is what Leo Tolstoy said about Napoleon), Chichikov knows only one goal - money. But even here he is not consistent enough. He stays in the city after the registration of the bill of sale, falls in love with the governor's daughter.
All because Chichikov is actually not so much looking for capital, not so much waiting for the fulfillment of his insidious plans, as he hopes to enter human life - to find friends, love, warmth ... "
What do you agree with and what not?
6. What interested Gogol in Chichikovo, why did he make him a hero? (Recall that the time in which Gogol's work was created was the first third of the 19th century, when the tsarist government, having dealt with the Decembrists, intensively created a bureaucratic apparatus, when the assertive Chichikovs, capable of making money from anything, went uphill.
But the writer is not interested in a simple "scoundrel". He draws a person whose positive inclinations have acquired a negative direction. The writer reproduces in detail the "formation of the soul" of his hero: in the conditions in which he grew up, learned his father's philosophy, nothing else could happen. And it turned out not a soul, but a chest with papers, money and other good things.
Gogol is trying to understand the character of Chichikov: for this, he gives the only character a life story in all details. But how to do this, if even the appearance of the hero is difficult to grasp?
“Not handsome, but not bad-looking”, “not too fat, not too thin”, “one cannot say that he is old, but not so much that he is too young”, and so on. In everything, moderation, the middle, impersonality, that which excludes human passions, the movement of the soul, but leaves room for the "penny".)
7. What shaped the character of the hero? What stages of development did Chichikov go through?
8. Checking an individual task - a message on the topic “The image of Chichikov” (on card 54).
9. Did Gogol see the force that would bring salvation to Russia? (No, I didn’t see it, hence his anxious questions: “Rus, where are you rushing to? Give me an answer ... It doesn’t give an answer!” He embodied his anxious thoughts in the image of a troika bird, which rushes to no one knows where.)
^
II. Teacher's word.
I. Zolotussky writes about the finale: “The comic journey ends tragically, and tragedy permeates the final lines of Dead Souls about a trio flying into the unknown. For the time being, it seems to be flying crazy, no matter where it flies, and Gogol enjoys its very flight, a whirlwind of movement, but the question "why?" yet is not drowned out by this dust-raising whirlwind. And just in time she comes across a courier on the road ...
Gogol remembers who is riding in the chaise, and where he is going, and where the road lies. This is not the end, but the beginning of it, and the apotheosis of “fast driving” is not the answer to the question: “Where is the exit? Where is the road?
Before this ending, Chichikov falls asleep, reassured by his successful escape from the city, and as if in a dream he sees his own childhood - the author himself tells about it ...
It is this story about Chichikov's childhood that then gives a boost to his trio, picks them up as if on wings and carries them to the unknown 2nd volume.
In this passage, the contrast is especially felt - immense Rus' and the "state carriage" - a symbol of a soulless, terrible state power.
^
III. Homework.
1. Think about why Gogol called "Dead Souls" a poem.
2. Mark the most striking lyrical digressions in the text of the poem (chapters V (digression about the aptly spoken Russian word), VII (about two types of writers; about barge haulers), XI (about the trio bird, about the road, about Rus' and its heroes, about choosing a hero.) What artistic function do they perform?
3. Individual task - to prepare a message on the topic: "What does Gogol's image of the road mean?" (on card 55).
Card 55
What does Gogol's image of the road mean? 1
The image of the road arises from the first pages of the poem. The poem ends with the way of the road.
But what a huge difference between the first and last image of the road! At the beginning of the poem, this is the road of one person, a certain character - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. In the end, this is the road of the whole state, Russia, and even more - the road of all mankind, on which Russia overtakes "other peoples."
This is a metaphorical, allegorical image, personifying the gradual course of all human history.
These two values are like two extreme milestones. Between them are many other meanings - both direct and metaphorical, forming a complex and unified Gogol's image of the road.
The transition from one meaning to another - concrete to metaphorical - most often occurs imperceptibly. Here is Chichikov's father taking the boy to the city; a piebald horse, known among horse dealers under the name of Magpie, wanders through Russian villages for a day or two, enters a city street ... The father, having identified the boy in a city school, "the next day got out on the road" - home. Chichikov begins his independent life. “... For all that, his path was difficult,” the narrator notes. One meaning of the image - quite specific, "material" is imperceptibly replaced by another, metaphorical (the road as a way of life).
Chichikov leaves town N. “And again, on both sides of the high road, versts, stationmasters, wells, carts, gray villages with samovars, women and a lively bearded owner ... a pedestrian in worn bast shoes, trudging for 800 versts, towns lined up alive ... ", etc. Then follows the author's famous appeal to Russia: "Rus! Rus! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful far away I see you ... "
The transition from the specific to the general is still smooth, almost imperceptible. The road along which Chichikov travels, endlessly lengthening, gives rise to the idea of all of Rus'. Here you can’t even say that one specific image turns into another, metaphorical one. It’s just that the scale is increasing in front of us: the space that the Chichikov’s trio crosses, infinitely expanding, passes into the space of the whole country, and this gives rise to the author’s inspired monologue about Rus': “... And the mighty space menacingly embraces me...”
The well-known Russian scientist, literary theorist A. Potebnya found this place "brilliant". Potebnya was struck by "how the cold reality unexpectedly cuts off a carried thought"; I was struck by the harshness "with which the opposition of an inspired dream and a sobering reality is exposed."
And indeed: the sharpness of the transition is brought by Gogol to its highest point. There are no phrases that prepare the transition, there are no explanations of the narrator, say, of this kind: "But let's return to our hero ..." or "At this time, this and that happened to our hero." It’s just that one plan is “pushed” into another: the rough scolding of Chichikov and the courier he met breaks into the inspired speech of the poet - and we, as if falling from heaven to earth, see in front of us not the fabulously unfamiliar space of Russia, but a specific road, the one along which the Chichikov troika rides ...
But then, just as unexpectedly, this picture gives way to another: as if Chichikov, and his britzka, and the courier galloping towards him were just a fleeting vision.
And it is no longer Chichikov who admires the road, it is not he who wraps himself more tightly in his travel overcoat, nestles closer and more comfortably in the corner of the carriage. He is not dozing, pressing his neighbor to the corner (Chichikov, after all, we remember, was alone in the carriage: Petrushka and Selifan were sitting on the box.) It is not Chichikov who admires the coming night with inspiration. “A night! heavenly powers! what a night is made in the sky!”
Who is this character? It seems that the one who delivered a deeply inspirational speech about Rus', in a word, is none other than the author. But here's what's interesting: changing the characters, changing the tone of the story - prosaic, with vernacular remarks, to inspired, sublimely poetic - this time Gogol did not change the character of the central image - the image of the road. The image of the road has not become metaphorical - before us is one of the countless roads of the Russian expanses, similar to that particular road along which Chichikov's britzka rushes.
Gogol in "Dead Souls" develops the metaphorical image of the road as "human life" and at the same time finds his own original interpretation of the image.
At the beginning of Chapter VI, the narrator recalls how, in his younger years, he was worried about meeting with any unfamiliar place, with new people.
Now it's different. “Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance ...” Here we are talking about irretrievable losses on the “road of life”, where something very important, significant is lost.
“A rather beautiful spring chaise drove through the gates of the hotel in the provincial city of NN ... In the chaise sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young either. His entry made absolutely no noise in the city and was not accompanied by anything special. So our hero appears in the city - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Let us, following the author, get acquainted with the city. Everything tells us that this is a typical provincial city of Tsarist Russia during the time of Nicholas II, a city whose "twins" we met in many of Gogol's works. And the hotel here is “the kind of hotels in provincial cities”: long, with a yellow painted top floor, with cockroaches waiting for guests in their rooms. After examining his room, Chichikov goes to the common room of the hotel, where, not embarrassed by dirty walls, tasteless paintings on the walls, he sits at a table with a worn oilcloth and orders dinner, consisting of the usual dishes for a tavern: cabbage soup, “deliberately saved for travelers for several weeks”, brains with peas, sausages with cabbage and “eternal” sweet pie. Already at dinner, Chichikov begins to satisfy his immediate interests. He does not conduct an idle conversation with the tavern servant, but asks him who the governor and prosecutor are in the city, what other significant officials and landlords are, and how the latter are doing, how many peasants they have. Walking around the city, Chichikov was completely satisfied with it, considered it to be not inferior to other provincial cities with necessarily poor pavement, shops with faded signboards, "drinking houses" and a garden with stunted trees. Apparently, our hero has already stopped in such cities more than once and therefore felt completely at ease in it.
Chichikov devoted the next day to visits, visited all the least noticeable officials and, most importantly, found a common language with everyone. A feature of Chichikov's nature was the ability to flatter everyone, to tell everyone what was necessary and pleasant, to “accidentally” make a mistake and use an address meant for a higher rank in a conversation with an official. His efforts were crowned with success: he was invited to the governor himself for a “house party”, and to others for lunch, a cup of tea, a game of cards ... Chichikov spoke about himself in general phrases, book turns, creating an aura of some mystery, but undoubtedly producing favorable impression.
At the ball at the governor's, Chichikov looks at all the guests for some time, noting with pleasure the presence of beautiful and well-dressed ladies, men, specious and refined, like the gentlemen of St. Petersburg. We come across arguments about the difference between the life success of "thin" and "fat" men and the author's condescending indication that these arguments belong to Chichikov. Our hero, who does not for a moment leave the thought of the commercial business waiting for him, does not follow the example of the "thin" ladies, but goes to play whist with the "fat ones". Here he pays his attention directly to Manilov and Sobakevich, charms them with "curiosity and thoroughness", which are manifested in the fact that first Chichikov learns about the state of their estates, about the number of souls, and then inquires about the names of his landowners. Chichikov does not spend a single evening at home, he dine with the vice-governor, dine with the prosecutor, everywhere he shows himself to be a connoisseur of social life, an excellent conversationalist, a practical adviser, he talks about virtue and making hot wine with the same skill. He spoke and behaved exactly as he should, and was considered by all the "significant" inhabitants of the city to be a "respectable and amiable", "most courteous", "obvious" person. Well, such was Pavel Ivanovich's talent. And it is quite possible that the reader, who picked up the book for the first time, would fall under the spell of Mr. Chichikov just like the officials of the city of NN, especially since the author reserves the full right for us to form our own assessment.
Poem N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" is an attempt by the author to show the whole life of Russia, to comprehend the character of the Russian people, to determine the further ways of its development. Sam N.V. Gogol said that the plot of "Dead Souls" is good because "it gives complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and bring out a multitude of the most diverse characters." Therefore, the motif of the road, travel plays such an important role in the poem. For the same reason, each literary image, derived by the writer, is not an accidental, but a generalized, typical phenomenon. Chichikov's arrival in the city of NN is actually an exposition of the poem. It is here that Chichikov makes acquaintances with city officials, who then invite him to visit them. It also gives a brief description of the hero himself and a group portrait of the bureaucracy of the city of NN. The description of Chichikov's arrival in the city is conducted by the author deliberately slowly, slowly, with a lot of details. Men lazily discussing whether such a wheel will reach Moscow or Kazan, a young man who turns around to look at the carriage, an obliging innkeeper - all these images emphasize what a boring, sleepy, unhurried life in this city. The author characterizes Chichikov himself rather vaguely: “sir, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young. The author describes in much more detail the premises and furnishings of the hotel, the things of the visitor, the menu of his lunch. But the hero's behavior attracts attention: he asks in detail about everything, including city officials, "about all the significant landowners", about their farms. The desire to know in detail about the state of the region, whether there were any diseases there, shows, as the author notes, "more than one simple curiosity." The hero introduced himself as "a landowner, according to his needs." That is, the purpose of his arrival to the reader is still unknown and incomprehensible. N.V. Gogol describes the provincial town in detail, emphasizing its everydayness, typicality, for example, houses "with an eternal mezzanine, very beautiful, according to provincial architects." The author sneers at the signs of merchants and artisans (“Foreigner Vasily Fedorov”), notes that drinking houses are most often found. The stunted city garden was described in the newspapers as an adornment of the city, which caused "streams of tears in gratitude to the mayor." The abandonment of the city economy, the hypocritical words in the newspapers, full of servility - these features have already been met in the collective image of the county town in the comedy "The Government Inspector". Chichikov's next day in the city is devoted to visits. He visited everyone he could, and showed himself as a person who knows the intricacies of dealing with people. He "very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone," therefore he made up the best opinion about himself and received invitations from everyone. The hero prepares for a party at the governor's for a long time and carefully, since this party is very important for him: he must consolidate his success in a provincial society. Depicting the whole color of the province at this party, Gogol introduces the technique of typification - a generalized, collective characteristic of "thick and thin." This conditional division of all officials into two types has a deep meaning, justified both psychologically and philosophically. "Thin" officials "wander around the ladies", they follow the fashion, their appearance. Their goal in life is entertainment, success in society, and this requires money. Therefore, “a thin person in three years does not have a single soul that is not pawned in a pawnshop,” this is a type of spendthrift in its way of life and character. "Fat" people ignore their appearance, and for entertainment they prefer cards. But the main thing is that they have a different goal in life, they serve for the sake of a career and material gain. They gradually acquire either one house in the city (in the name of their wife, out of formal precautions), then another, then a village near the city, "then a village with all the land." Having retired, he becomes a hospitable landowner, a respected person. And the "thin" heirs-squanderers squander the accumulated father's wealth. Gogol draws such typical characters in subsequent chapters, showing a gallery of images of landlords as types of spenders (Manilov, Nozdrev) or acquirers (Korobochka, Sobakevich). Therefore, this author's digression by Gogol has a deep meaning for revealing the ideological content of the poem as a whole. Chichikov's communication with officials further reveals his ability to deal with people. He plays cards with them, and, as is customary, during the game, everyone makes noise and argues. The visiting guest “also argued, but somehow extremely skillfully” and pleasantly for those around him. He knows how to support any conversation, showing extensive knowledge, his remarks are very sensible. But he says almost nothing about himself, saying “in some general places, with noticeable modesty”: that he served and “suffered for the truth”, “had many enemies”, and now he is looking for a place for a quiet life. Everyone is fascinated by the new visitor, and everyone has the best opinion of him, even Sobakevich, who rarely spoke good things about anyone, invited him to visit. So, the first chapter of the poem - Chichikov's arrival in the city of NN - plays an important compositional role - this is the exposition of the poem. It gives us an idea about the city of NN itself, about its bureaucracy, briefly outlines the main character and prepares the reader for further developments: Chichikov's visits to the landlords of the province.
In his poem “Dead Ducks”, Nikolai Gogol made an attempt to show the life of the Russian state, to understand and realize what the character of the Russian person and the whole people is, reflects on what the path of development of Russian society could be. According to the author himself, he created such a poetic story, where the reader, along with the main character of the work, travel around Russia and get to know different people, although for the most part they are landowners, but all have completely different characters and destinies. Therefore, the motive of the road, wanderings and travels is the main one in Gogol's work.
That is why the author uses such a literary device as the creation of a generalized image, which will be a typical phenomenon or character for that time. The prehistory of the entire Gogol work is himself and his arrival in the city of N.
At this moment, the main character gets acquainted with the officials of the city, they all manage to invite him to visit them. The exposition of Gogol's poem gives a detailed description of the main character and a general portrait of all the city officials of this county town, which is typical for many cities in Russia.
The very arrival of Chichikov is described by the author slowly, slowly, as if in slow motion. Gogol gives many details so that the reader can feel and understand everything that happens in the poem more strongly. The details include men who have nothing to do with the main character. But they, sitting on a log lying along the road, carefully, but lazily and slowly, follow how Chichikov’s carriage moves along the rutted tracks, at that moment they are only interested in one topic - whether the wheel of the carriage in which the main character travels will reach poems to Moscow or Kazan.
There are other similar author's details in the poem: a young man passing along the pavement accidentally turned around at the carriage, which drove past him and looked carefully. Gogol recalls the innkeeper, whose helpfulness goes beyond all limits.
All these Gogol images emphasize that life in the city to which the main character has arrived is boring and sleepy. Life in it proceeds slowly and unhurriedly. The porter description of Chichikov is also interesting, about which the author says that he is not at all handsome, but at the same time, his appearance cannot be called bad.
Its thickness is neither thick nor thin. It cannot be attributed to young people, but it cannot be called old either. That is, it turned out that he did not have an exact description. On the other hand, the premises of the hotel are already specifically and in detail described, the furnishings of the room where Chichikov stayed. The things that Chichikov has in his travel suitcase are described in detail, and a detailed description of the traveler's lunch menu is also given.
But the behavior of Chichikov, who talks with all the officials of the city, attracts the reader's special attention. He gets acquainted with everyone who is present at the reception at the governor of the city and asks in detail about all the landowners who are in the district. He is interested in the state of their economy. By the way, on all questions he asks almost the same questions: were there any illnesses, what is the condition. And he explains all his strange questions with idle curiosity. The reader also does not know for what purpose this official came to the city and why he needs such information.
Gogol's description of the city emphasizes its typicality and routine. So, all the houses in the city with a beautiful, but the same mezzanine. The author ironically shows what signs the hero meets in the city. All of them are not related to the trade and craft activities that they conduct. But Gogol emphasizes that the city has a huge number of different drinking establishments.
The city garden looked poor and not well maintained, but in the newspapers it was described as the main decoration of this county town. Agriculture was destroyed, the roads had long since fallen into disrepair, but at the same time the governor of the city was only praised. And this description of Gogol's city could be suitable for any Russian city of that time.
The author shows us the whole path of the protagonist. The very next day, he begins to visit the "glorious" people of this city as an official. He managed to visit almost everyone, so they soon started talking about him as a person who knows how to treat people subtly. Chichikov's main skill was worked out - to flatter people, therefore, the opinion of those around him was the best. It is easy for him to receive an invitation to pay a return visit. And in order to put an end to this good and flattering opinion of the city society, he diligently prepares for the governor's ball.
But let's see how Gogol describes the provincial society. There are no specific faces in it, for the author they are all divided into two types: thick and thin. This generalized division of society is necessary for the author to show the psychological portrait of the people who are in power. So, in Gogol's description, subtle officials follow fashion, their appearance and are interested in ladies. They set themselves the main goal - this is money, success in society and entertainment. Therefore, such thin representatives of society are left without money, mortgaging their peasants and estates, lowering them to entertainment.
The complete opposite of them are fat officials. They differ not only in appearance, but also in lifestyle. Their main hobby and entertainment is cards. And their life goal is completely different: they are only interested in material gain and career advancement. Gradually, they have both a house and a village. And when such an official retires, he becomes a good landowner.
It is to this division that the rest of Gogol's description of the landowners is subordinated. All these images are typical and typical for the whole of Russia. Wasteful landlords are Manilov and Nozdrev. Landlords-acquirers: Korobochka and Sobakevich. Therefore, such Gogol's digressions about the division of landlords and officials of the county town help to reveal the ideological meaning of the entire poem.
Chichikov easily communicates with officials of a provincial town: he plays card games with them, argues with everyone, but in such a way that people around him really like it. The protagonist skillfully supports any conversations, and soon others notice that he is rather intelligent and knows a lot. But at the same time, Chichikov does not tell anyone about himself, trying to pass it off as modesty.
So, officials and landlords learn about him that he once served somewhere, but now it's over, since he was fired, as he himself put it, for the truth. And now he is looking for a place to quietly spend his future life. Chichikov easily charms those around him and everyone has a good impression of him.
A detailed acquaintance of the main character with the county town takes place in the first chapter, which is important for the entire composition of Gogol's poem and at the same time it is also an exposition. It gives a description of the main character, talks about the bureaucracy of the city.
Poem "Dead souls of Gogol in brief summary in 10 minutes.
Acquaintance with Chichikov
A middle-aged gentleman of rather pleasant appearance arrived at a hotel in a provincial town in a small britzka. He rented a room in the hotel, examined it and went to the common room to dine, leaving the servants to settle in a new place. It was a collegiate adviser, landowner Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.
After dinner, he went to inspect the city and found that it was no different from other provincial cities. The newcomer devoted the whole next day to visits. He visited the governor, the police chief, the vice-governor and other officials, each of whom he managed to win over by saying something pleasant about his department. For the evening he had already received an invitation to the governor.
Arriving at the governor's house, Chichikov, among other things, made the acquaintance of Manilov, a very courteous and courteous man, and the somewhat clumsy Sobakevich, and behaved so pleasantly with them that he completely charmed them, and both landowners invited the new friend to visit them. The next day, at a dinner at the police chief's, Pavel Ivanovich also made acquaintance with Nozdryov, a broken-down fellow of about thirty, with whom they immediately switched to you.
For more than a week the visitor lived in the city, traveling to parties and dinners, he proved to be a very pleasant conversationalist, able to talk on any topic. He knew how to behave well, had a degree. In general, everyone in the city came to the opinion that this is an exceptionally decent and well-meaning
Human.
Chichikov at Manilov
Finally, Chichikov decided to visit the landowners he knew and went out of town. First he went to Manilov. With some difficulty he found the village of Manilovka, which turned out to be not fifteen, but thirty versts from the city. Manilov met his new acquaintance very cordially, they kissed and entered the house, for a long time letting each other pass at the door. Manilov was, in general, a pleasant person, somehow sugary-sweet, had no special hobbies, except for fruitless dreams, and did not take care of the household.
His wife was brought up in a boarding school, where she was taught the three main subjects necessary for family happiness: French, piano and knitting purses. She was pretty and well dressed. Her husband introduced Pavel Ivanovich to her. They talked a little, and the hosts invited the guest to dinner. The seven-year-old sons of the Manilovs, Themistoclus, and six-year-old Alkid, were already waiting in the dining room, for whom the teacher had tied napkins. The guest was shown the erudition of the children, the teacher made a remark to the boys only once, when the elder bit the younger on the ear.
After dinner, Chichikov announced that he intended to talk to the owner about a very important matter, and both went to the study. The guest started a conversation about the peasants and offered the host to buy dead souls from him, that is, those peasants who have already died, but according to the revision are still considered alive. Manilov could not understand anything for a long time, then he doubted the legitimacy of such a bill of sale, but nevertheless agreed from
respect for the guest. When Pavel Ivanovich spoke about the price, the owner was offended and even took upon himself the drafting of the bill of sale.
Chichikov did not know how to thank Manilov. They said goodbye cordially, and Pavel Ivanovich drove off, promising to come again and bring gifts to the children.
Chichikov at Korobochka
Chichikov was about to make his next visit to Sobakevich, but it started to rain, and the carriage drove into some field. Selifan turned the wagon around so clumsily that the master fell out of it and was covered in mud. Luckily, dogs barked. They went to the village and asked to spend the night in a house. It turned out that this was the estate of a certain landowner Korobochka.
In the morning Pavel Ivanovich met the hostess, Nastasya Petrovna, a middle-aged woman, one of those who always complain about the lack of money, but little by little saves and collects a decent fortune. The village was quite large, the houses were strong, the peasants lived well. The hostess invited the unexpected guest to drink tea, the conversation turned to the household, and Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from her.
Korobochka was extremely frightened by such a proposal, not really understanding what they wanted from her. After much explanation and persuasion, she finally agreed and wrote Chichikov a power of attorney, trying to sell him a hemp as well.
After eating a cake and pancakes baked especially for him, the guest drove on, accompanied by a girl who was supposed to take the carriage to the main road. Seeing the tavern, which was already standing on a high road, they let the girl off, who, having received a copper penny as a reward, wandered home, and drove there.
Chichikov at Nozdrev
In a tavern, Chichikov ordered a pig with horseradish and sour cream, and, knowing it, asked the hostess about the surrounding landowners. At this time, two gentlemen drove up to the tavern, one of whom was Nozdrev, and the second was his son-in-law Mizhuev. Nozdryov, a well-built fellow, what is called blood and milk, with thick black hair and sideburns, ruddy cheeks and very white teeth,
recognized Chichikov and began to tell him how they walked at the fair, how much champagne they drank and how he lost at cards.
Mizhuev, a tall fair-haired man with a tanned face and a red mustache, was constantly accusing his friend of exaggerations. Nozdryov persuaded Chichikov to go to him, Mizhuev, reluctantly, also went with them.
It must be said that Nozdryov's wife died, leaving him two children, whom he did not care about, and he moved from one fair to another, from one party to another. Everywhere he played cards and roulette and usually lost, although he did not hesitate to cheat, for which he was sometimes beaten by partners. He was cheerful, considered a good comrade, but he always managed to spoil his friends: upset the wedding, disrupt the deal.
At the estate, having ordered dinner from the cook, Nozdryov took the guest to inspect the farm, which had nothing special, and drove around for two hours, telling stories that were incredible in lies, so that Chichikov was very tired. Lunch was served, some of which was burnt, some undercooked, and numerous wines of dubious quality.
The owner refilled the guests, but he hardly drank himself. After dinner, Mizhuev, who had become very intoxicated, was sent home to his wife, and Chichikov started a conversation with Nozdryov about dead souls. The landowner flatly refused to sell them, but offered to play cards with them, and when the guest refused, to exchange them for Chichikov's horses or a britzka. Pavel Ivanovich also rejected this offer and went to bed. The next day, the restless Nozdryov persuaded him to fight for souls in checkers. During the game, Chichikov noticed that the owner was playing dishonestly and told him about it.
The landowner was offended, began to scold the guest and ordered the servants to beat him. Chichikov was saved by the appearance of the police captain, who announced that Nozdrev was on trial and accused of inflicting personal insult on the landowner Maximov with rods while drunk. Pavel Ivanovich did not wait for the denouement, ran out of the house and left.
Chichikov at Sobakevich's
On the way to Sobakevich, an unpleasant incident happened. Selifan, lost in thought, did not give way to a carriage drawn by six horses that was overtaking them, and the harness of both carriages became so entangled that it took a long time to re-harness. In the carriage sat an old woman and a sixteen-year-old girl, whom Pavel Ivanovich liked very much ...
Soon they arrived at Sobakevich's estate. Everything was strong, solid, solid. The owner, stout, with a face as if hewn with an axe, very similar to a learned bear, met the guest and led him into the house. The furniture was to match the owner - heavy, durable. Paintings depicting ancient generals hung on the walls.
The conversation turned to city officials, each of whom the owner gave a negative description. The hostess entered, Sobakevich introduced her guest and invited him to dinner. Lunch was not very varied, but tasty and satisfying. During dinner the host mentioned the landowner Plyushkin, who lived five versts from him, where people were dying like flies, and Chichikov took note of this.
After a very hearty dinner, the men retired to the living room, and Pavel Ivanovich got down to business. Sobakevich listened to him without saying a word. Without asking any questions, he agreed to sell the dead souls to the guest, but raised the price for them, as for living people.
They bargained for a long time and agreed on two and a half rubles per head, and Sobakevich demanded a deposit. He compiled a list of peasants, gave each one a description of his business qualities and wrote a receipt for receiving a deposit, striking Chichikov with how sensibly everything was written. They parted, satisfied with each other, and Chichikov went to Plyushkin.
Chichikov at Plushkin's
He drove into a large village, striking in its poverty: the huts were almost without roofs, the windows in them were covered with bull bladders or plugged with rags. The master's house is large, with many outbuildings for household needs, but all of them are almost collapsed, only two windows are open, the rest are boarded up or closed with shutters. The house gave the impression of being uninhabited.
Chichikov noticed a figure so strangely dressed that it was impossible to immediately recognize whether it was a woman or a man. Paying attention to the bunch of keys on his belt, Pavel Ivanovich decided that this was the housekeeper, and turned to her, calling her "mother" and asking where the master was. The housekeeper told him to go into the house and disappeared. He entered and marveled at the disorder that reigned there. Everything is covered in dust, dried-up bits of wood lie on the table, a bunch of some incomprehensible things are piled in the corner. The housekeeper came in, and Chichikov asked the master again. She said that the master was in front of him.
I must say that Plyushkin was not always like that. Once he had a family and was just a thrifty, albeit somewhat stingy owner. His wife was distinguished by her hospitality, and there were often guests in the house. Then the wife died, the eldest daughter ran away with an officer, and her father cursed her, because he could not stand the military. The son went to the city to enter the civil service. but enlisted in the regiment. Plushkin cursed him too. When the youngest daughter died, the landowner was left alone in the house.
His stinginess assumed terrifying proportions, he dragged into the house all the rubbish found in the village, right down to the old sole. The quitrent was collected from the peasants in the same amount, but since Plyushkin asked for an exorbitant price for the goods, no one bought anything from him, and everything rotted in the manor's yard. Twice his daughter came to him, first with one child, then with two, brought him gifts and asked for help, but his father did not give a penny. His son lost his game and also asked for money, but he also received nothing. Plyushkin himself looked like if Chichikov had met him near the church, he would have given him a penny.
While Pavel Ivanovich was thinking about how to start talking about dead souls, the owner began to complain about the hard life: the peasants were dying, and the tax had to be paid for them. The guest offered to bear these expenses. Plyushkin gladly agreed, ordered the samovar to be put up and the remains of the Easter cake brought from the pantry, which his daughter had once brought and from which it was necessary to scrape off the mold first.
Then he suddenly began to doubt the honesty of Chichikov's intentions, and he offered to draw up a merchant's fortress for the dead peasants. Plyushkin decided to give Chichikov also runaway peasants, and after bargaining, Pavel Ivanovich took them thirty kopecks apiece. After that, he (much to the delight of the host) refused dinner and tea and left, being in a great mood.
Chichikov turns a scam with "dead souls"
On the way to the hotel, Chichikov even sang. The next day he woke up in a great mood and immediately sat down at the table to write merchant's fortresses. At twelve o'clock I got dressed and, with the papers under my arm, went to the civil ward. Leaving the hotel, Pavel Ivanovich ran into Manilov, who was walking towards him.
They kissed each other in such a way that both of them had toothaches all day long, and Manilov volunteered to accompany Chichikov. In the Civil Chamber, it was not without difficulty that they found an official who dealt with merchants, who, only after receiving a bribe, sent Pavel Ivanovich to the chairman, Ivan Grigorievich. Sobakevich was already sitting in the chairman's office. Ivan Grigoryevich gave instructions to the same
the official to draw up all the papers and collect witnesses.
When everything was properly arranged, the chairman proposed to spray the purchase. Chichikov wanted to supply them with champagne, but Ivan Grigoryevich said that they would go to the police chief, who would only wink at the merchants in the fish and meat rows, and a wonderful dinner would be ready.
And so it happened. The merchants considered the police chief to be their own person, who, although he robbed them, did not show any kindness and even willingly baptized merchant children. The dinner was magnificent, the guests drank and ate well, and Sobakevich alone ate a huge sturgeon and then did not eat anything, but only sat silently in an armchair. Everyone was amused and did not want to let Chichikov leave the city, but decided to marry him, to which he gladly agreed.
Feeling that he was already talking too much, Pavel Ivanovich asked for a carriage and arrived at the hotel completely drunk in the prosecutor's droshky. With difficulty, Petrushka undressed the master, cleaned his suit, and, making sure that the owner was fast asleep, went with Selifan to the nearest tavern, from where they left in an embrace and collapsed to sleep across on the same bed.
Chichikov's purchases caused a lot of talk in the city, everyone took an active part in his affairs, they discussed how difficult it would be for him to resettle such a number of serfs in the Kherson province. Of course, Chichikov did not spread that he was acquiring dead peasants, everyone believed that they were bought alive, and a rumor spread around the city that Pavel Ivanovich was a millionaire. He was immediately interested in the ladies, who in this city were very presentable, traveled only in carriages, dressed fashionably and spoke elegantly. Chichikov could not fail to notice such attention to himself. One day they brought him an anonymous love letter with poems, at the end of which it was written that his own heart would help him guess who wrote it.
Chichikov at the governor's ball
After some time, Pavel Ivanovich was invited to the governor's ball. His appearance at the ball caused great enthusiasm among all those present. The men greeted him with loud exclamations and strong hugs, the ladies surrounded him, forming a multi-colored garland. He tried to guess which one of them had written the letter, but he couldn't.
Chichikov was rescued from their entourage by the governor's wife, holding by the arm a pretty sixteen-year-old girl, whom Pavel Ivanovich recognized as a blonde from a carriage that ran into him on the way from Nozdryov. It turned out that the girl was the governor's daughter, just released from the institute. Chichikov turned all his attention to her and spoke only to her, although the girl got bored from his stories and began to yawn. the ladies did not like this behavior of their idol at all, because each had her own views on Pavel Ivanovich. They became indignant and condemned the poor college girl.
Unexpectedly, Nozdryov, accompanied by the prosecutor, appeared from the living room where the card game was going on and, seeing Chichikov, immediately shouted to the whole hall: What? Did you trade a lot for the dead? Pavel Ivanovich did not know where to go, and meanwhile the landowner, with great pleasure, began to tell everyone about Chichikov's scam. Everyone knew that Nozdryov was a liar, nevertheless, his words caused confusion and gossip. Frustrated, Chichikov, anticipating a scandal, did not wait until dinner was over and went to the hotel.
While he was sitting in his room cursing Nozdryov and all his relatives, a carriage with Korobochka drove into the city. This club-headed landowner, worrying whether Chichikov had deceived her in some cunning way, decided to personally find out how much dead souls are now. The next day, the ladies stirred up the whole city.
They could not understand the essence of the scam with dead souls and decided that the purchase was made to avert their eyes, but in fact Chichikov came to the city to kidnap the governor's daughter. The governor's wife, having heard about this, interrogated her unsuspecting daughter and ordered Pavel Ivanovich not to be received any more. Men also could not understand anything, but they did not really believe in abduction.
At this time, a new governor-general was appointed to the province, and the officials even thought that Chichikov had come to them in the city on his behalf to check. Then they decided that Chichikov was a counterfeiter, then that he was a robber. Selifan and Petrushka were interrogated, but they could not say anything intelligible. They also had a chat with Nozdryov, who, without blinking an eye, confirmed all their guesses. The prosecutor was so worried that he had a stroke and died.
Chichikov knew nothing about all this. He caught a cold, sat in his room for three days and wondered why none of his new acquaintances visited him. Finally, he recovered, dressed warmer and went to the governor for a visit. Imagine Pavel Ivanovich's surprise when the footman said that he was not ordered to be received! Then he went to other officials, but everyone received him so strangely, they carried on such a forced and incomprehensible conversation that he doubted their health.
chichikov leaves the city
Chichikov wandered aimlessly around the city for a long time, and in the evening Nozdrev showed up to him, offering his help in kidnapping the governor's daughter for three thousand rubles. The reason for the scandal became clear to Pavel Ivanovich, and he immediately ordered Selifan to lay the horses, and he himself began to collect things. But it turned out that the horses needed to be shod, and they left only the next day. When we drove through the city, we had to skip the funeral procession: they were burying the prosecutor. Chichikov drew the curtains. Luckily no one paid any attention to him.
essence of the scam with dead souls
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov was born into a poor noble family. Sending his son to school, his father ordered him to live economically, behave well, please teachers, be friends only with the children of wealthy parents, and most of all in life value a penny. Pavlusha conscientiously fulfilled all this and succeeded very much in this. not disdaining to speculate on edibles. Not distinguished by his intelligence and knowledge, he earned a certificate and a certificate of merit after graduating from college by his behavior.
Most of all, he dreamed of a quiet, rich life, but for now he denied himself everything. He began to serve, but did not receive a promotion, no matter how he pleased his boss. Then, having passed. that the boss had an ugly and no longer young daughter, Chichikov began to look after her. It even got to the point that he settled in the boss's house, began to call him dad and kissed his hand. Soon Pavel Ivanovich received a new position and immediately moved to his apartment. and the matter of the wedding was hushed up. Time passed, Chichikov prospered. He himself did not take bribes, but received money from subordinates, who began to take three times more. After some time, a commission was organized in the city for the construction of some kind of capital structure, and Pavel Ivanovich attached himself there. The structure did not grow higher than the foundation, but the members of the commission set up beautiful large houses for themselves. Unfortunately, the chief was replaced, the new one demanded reports from the commission, and all the houses were confiscated to the treasury. Chichikov was fired, and he was forced to start his career anew.
He changed two or three positions, and then he was lucky: he got a job in customs, where he showed himself from the best side, was incorruptible, knew how to find contraband best of all and deserved a promotion. As soon as this happened, the incorruptible Pavel Ivanovich conspired with a large gang of smugglers, attracted another official to the case, and together they pulled off several scams, thanks to which they put four hundred thousand in the bank. But once the official quarreled with Chichikov and wrote a denunciation against him, the case was revealed, the money was confiscated from both, and they themselves were fired from customs. Fortunately, they managed to avoid a trial, Pavel Ivanovich had some money hidden, and he began to arrange life again. He had to act as an attorney, and it was this service that prompted him to think about dead souls. Once he applied for a pledge to the Board of Trustees of several hundred peasants of a ruined landowner. In the meantime, Chichikov explained to the secretary that half of the peasants had died out and he doubted the success of the case. The secretary said that if the souls are listed in the audit inventory, then nothing terrible can happen. It was then that Pavel Ivanovich decided to buy more dead souls and pledge them to the board of trustees, receiving money for them as for living ones. The city in which Chichikov and I met was the first on his path to the realization of his plans, and now Pavel Ivanovich rode on in his britzka drawn by three horses.
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, a collegiate adviser, arrives in the city of N. in a small beautiful britzka with a crew consisting of the coachman Selifan and the footman Petrushka. The author describes Chichikov as a "mediocre" gentleman: neither handsome nor ugly, neither fat nor thin, neither old nor young. No one noticed his arrival, only two peasants - regulars of the tavern, located near the only hotel in the city, discussed the strength of the wheel of the britzka: will it reach Moscow or Kazan, or not?
The hotel itself is described further: it is usual for this kind of provincial city, where for 2 rubles a day guests get a room with a huge number of cockroaches, which look out from all corners “like prunes” and a curious neighbor behind the door lined with a chest of drawers. In the common hall there are walls slicked from below and darkened from above from smoke, a sooty ceiling with a chandelier. The front of the hotel is as unkempt as the interior: the long two-story building has only the second floor painted with the standard yellow paint, while the first floor has been bare red brickwork, darkened by age and dampness, for many years.
When the visitor's things were brought into the room, he deigned to dine. Then he began to question the hotel servant (sexual) about the owner of the hotel, the governor, the chairman of the chamber, the prosecutor, the landowners of the city, and with special participation - how many peasant souls each has. The provinciality and wretchedness of the town are described: monotonous yellow paint on stone houses and gray paint on wooden, one-, one-and-a-half and two-story buildings, various signboards, a billiard room, a tavern, a garden with trees “not taller than a reed”.
The next day, Chichikov began to pay visits to all the important people of the city: the governor, the architect, the inspector of the medical board, the chairman of the chamber, the police chief, the farmer. After paying respects to the first dignitaries, Chichikov began to prepare for the governor's party: he washed and shaved especially carefully, dressed in the best tailcoat of "lingonberry color". Chichikov got acquainted with the important persons of the city and the landowners, who, without delay, invited him to visit. Everyone left the most favorable impression of Chichikov - "an unpleasant person!"
Chapter Two
Chichikov decides to go to the landowner Manilov. At first, Chichikov confused the name of the village (by mistake he calls it Zamanilovka, but in fact it is Manilovka). Then Chichikov's chaise travels almost thirty versts instead of the fifteen promised by Manilov. The following describes a lonely house on a hill with liquid vegetation around and a gazebo. Manilov meets Chichikov with kisses. The author draws a portrait of Manilov: a man not without pleasantness, in which there was "too much ... sugar." Manilov’s life and economy went on “somehow by itself”, everything ended “with only one word”: both in relation to the underground passage not dug, and in relation to the stone bridge not built over the pond, and in relation to the book laid on the 14th page for two years, and in ignorance of the number of peasants who died during the year. The naming of his sons by specific Greek names - Themistoclus and Alkid - is Manilov's ridiculous attempt to show his alleged education while not being able to solve elementary everyday issues.Chichikov carefully expresses his desire to Manilov to buy peasant souls from him, who "for sure, have already died." Manilov was at a loss, hesitated, but after Chichikov's words that duty and law for him were "a sacred matter," he calmed down and agreed to give away the dead souls for nothing, taking the bill of sale upon himself.
Chapter Three
Satisfied with the deal, Chichikov is driving along the high road. Some time after his departure from Manilovka, a severe thunderstorm begins. The crew goes astray in pitch darkness, the road is washed away by a downpour, the chaise overturns in the mud. Chichikov scolds the coachman Selifan for taking him into the wilderness and promises to flog him. Suddenly the barking of dogs is heard and the house is visible. The landowner - the mistress of the house accepts Chichikov for the night. Waking up late in the morning, Chichikov assesses the situation at home and the landlord's yard: paintings with birds, between which there is a portrait of Kutuzov, a hissing clock, a window overlooking a chicken coop, a yard full of birds and all kinds of living creatures, "spacious gardens" with fruit trees scattered in them. Then Chichikov gets acquainted with the landowner herself (her last name is Korobochka, by position she is a collegiate secretary), and first of all inquires about the number of peasant souls: living and dead. At Chichikov’s offer to sell him the “dead” peasants, Korobochka does not understand for a long time and is perplexed about the dead peasants, asking his interlocutor stupid questions like “dig them out of the ground?” or “maybe in the household ... will be needed ...” and then, when he understands the benefits, he is afraid of “incurring a loss.” Chichikov gets angry and calls her "club-headed" and "strong-headed" to himself. Finally, he manages to persuade her. The landowner complains about the decrease in income from the farm and tries to impose on Chichikov to buy either lard, or bird feathers, or honey, and much more. Having promised the obsessive landowner to buy all this from her in the near future, Chichikov is going to go. As a guide, Korobochka gives him an eleven-year-old girl, Pelageya, who does not know where is right and where is left. The passion for hoarding, the panic fear of loss, and the limitless stupidity of the Box are clearly reflected in this chapter.Chapter Four
Having had a glorious lunch at a roadside tavern, Chichikov noticed a britzka and a "carriage" driving up to the establishment. Two men entered the tavern: a dark-haired man of medium height and a tall blond one. They were the landowner Nozdrev with his son-in-law Mizhuev. Nozdryov, who greeted Chichikov in a cheeky manner and quickly switched to "you", told how he "thumped" four trotters, a chain and a watch, and fifty rubles while playing cards. Then Nozdrev argues with Mizhuev that he can drink 17 bottles of champagne. Then Chichikov, after much persuasion, goes to the estate to Nozdryov.The author describes Nozdryov as a “broken fellow”, a talker, a scorcher, a lover of women, balls, fairs and drinking establishments, and also a “historical person” who always inevitably gets into some kind of story with gendarmes, friends, fights or drinking. “And he’ll tell lies ... without any need,” but in general - “a rubbish person.”
Nozdryov shows his household: a house, dogs, horses, a forge, a collection of daggers and pipes. Having sent the drunk son-in-law out, Nozdryov offers to play cards, and Chichikov starts talking about the dead peasants who have not been deleted from the audit. Nozdryov wonders for a long time why this is necessary. To Chichikov’s arguments about the prestige of having a large number of souls and the prospect of marrying a good girl, Nozdrev categorically replies: “Lies!” Further, for dead souls, Chichikov is offered to buy first mares at three dear, then - dogs and a hurdy-gurdy, and in the end - give up his own chaise. After Chichikov's refusal, Nozdryov does not order the servant Porfiry to give his horses oats, but only hay. This offended Chichikov.
After a sleepless night, Chichikov wants to go, but Nozdryov offers to play checkers with him. Nozdryov plays dishonestly, so Chichikov refuses. Things almost come to a fight, but Chichikov will be saved by the visit of the police captain regarding the trial with Nozdryov.
Chapter Five
Chichikov, with all his strength and speed, rides in his britzka from the village of Nozdryova, thinking to himself that if the police captain had not arrived in time, it would have been very difficult. Suddenly, on the road, due to an oversight of the coachman Selifan, the britzka collides with a carriage, the horses are mixed up with teams. For a long time the horses were taken away by peasants from a neighboring village. While this was going on, Chichikov looked at the young girl sitting in the carriage, thinking to himself that with a dowry of "two thousand" she would be a very tasty morsel.Further, a wooden house drew attention to itself, which was characterized by a complete lack of architectural graces and style, but it did not take much strength and bulkiness: thick and full-weight logs, one small window, three columns instead of four, “strong oak” even on the well.
Sobakevich went out into the hallway to meet the guest, only saying: “Please!”. The “bearish” image of Sobakevich is described: a “bear-colored” tailcoat, feet “at random”, coarse features, as if chopped with an ax, called “Mikhailo Semenovich”. The interior of the house was also cumbersome and “bearish”, similar to the owner: heavy furniture, a “pot-bellied” walnut-colored bureau, even a thrush in the picture - and he looked like Sobakevich.
Chichikov starts from afar - he starts talking about the high officials of the city, but, to his surprise, he receives a categorical answer from Sobakevich that all robbers, fools, swindlers, "Christ-sellers", and the prosecutor is a "pig". Then lunch begins: Sobakevich boasts of excellently prepared dishes - they are “not the ones ... that are made in the master's kitchens” and does not forget to use half a side of lamb in one sitting. After dinner, rest in armchairs followed. Chichikov carefully inquires about the presence of dead souls in Sobakevich. He was not at all surprised and immediately lowered the price of 100 rubles per soul. Chichikov was taken aback by such impudence. Then they bargained for a long time: Sobakevich painted in colors the merits of the dead people sold to Chichikov and stubbornly insists on a high cost. In the end, they agreed on 25 rubles.
After the deal, Chichikov went to Plyushkin, who, according to Sobakevich, "starved everyone ... to death" and, in the presence of eight hundred souls, "lives and dine ... worse than a shepherd" and whom the village peasants call "patched".
Chapter Six
Having entered the village of Plyushkin, Chichikov immediately felt that instead of a road there was a log pavement with logs going up and down. The village buildings and the situation in the village itself had “some special dilapidation”: the roofs “saw through like a sieve”, the logs were dark and old, the windows were without glass, rickety railings, stagnant fields of bread, the “stained and cracked” church. The landlord's house is like a long "decrepit invalid" with boarded up windows and cracks in the walls showing through the peeling plaster, an "overgrown and decayed" garden behind the house. In the yard near the arrived loaded wagon stood either a man or a woman with a bunch of keys on his belt. After the question "Where is the master?" The housekeeper told me to wait in the rooms.Entering the house, Chichikov was struck by the disorder, many years of dust and dirt. Nearby lay those things that in normal circumstances should never be together: an old leather-bound book and a utterly dried lemon, a cupboard with antique chinaware and a stopped pendulum clock in a web, a glass of liquid in which three dead flies were swimming, a chandelier in bag made of canvas, similar to a cocoon. In the corner is a pile of rubbish covered with a few centimeter layer of dust and grease.
The housekeeper returned, who, upon closer inspection, turned out to be the housekeeper, and after the first two phrases of communication, it turned out that this was the landowner Plyushkin. Dressed in dirty greasy something incomprehensible (a dress, a dressing gown or a hoodie), unshaven, he looked very much like a beggar. The owner had huge stocks of wood, utensils, full barns of cloth and various edibles, which were idle and rotted. But Plyushkin did not allow anyone to use them, and every day he picked up all sorts of things from the street and put them in the above-described common pile in the room.
Further, Plyushkin began to talk about how hard life is: the peasant is lazy, there is little land, they go to visit, but “there are omissions in the household”, horses have to be fed with hay, the kitchen is bad, tea is expensive, etc. Then it turns out that 120 peasant peasants have died in the last three years. Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from Plyushkin, to which Plyushkin was surprised at first, and then so delighted that he almost climbed into a hug. And when he found out that Chichikov was ready to pay the costs of the bill of sale, his mood rose even more. A miserable quarter of paper with the names of the dead peasants was written along, across and all around. The ink became moldy with flies on the bottom. The servants were always suspicious of Plyushkin, as if they wanted to rob him. The author selects key words that characterize the essence of Plyushkin - insignificance, pettiness, disgust.
Plyushkin, without delay, without shame, offers Chichikov to buy, in addition to the dead, also runaway souls, for each five hundred rubles. But the purchase ends at 24 rubles. 96 kop.
Chichikov returns to the hotel, has supper and falls asleep.
Chapter Seven
Chichikov wakes up and begins to read the lists of dead souls, which he managed to buy from the landowners. There were unusual surnames (Disrespect-Trough, Cork Stepan), nicknames, brief characteristics. It turned out that Sobakevich still sold him a woman - Elizaveta Sparrow. After looking through the lists, Chichikov goes out into the street, where he meets Manilov. They hug. Manilov hands Chichikov a neatly written list of dead souls with a border.Chichikov goes to the city chamber to make a bill of sale. For a long time he walked from one table to another, from one official to another.
Then the chairman, Chichikov, Sobakevich and Manilov gather in the presence hall. Further, the fortresses are recorded, marked, entered in a book in front of witnesses. Sobakevich boasts to the chairman of the chamber of what wonderful craftsmen he sold to Chichikov (one carriage maker, Mikheev, is worth something).
Next, they went to wash the bill of sale to the police chief, who, on this occasion, found good snacks. Everyone began to beg Pavel Ivanovich to stay in the city for at least two weeks, and also promised to marry him.
Chapter Eight
There was talk in the city about whether it was profitable for Chichikov to take the peasants for withdrawal and how difficult it would be to resettle the peasants to the southern fertile lands. The population of the city came to the conclusion that Chichikov was a millionaire. They began to discuss Chichikov and the ladies of the city N. Having received a love letter from some girl, he puts it in a box with a poster and an invitation card to a seven-year-old wedding. Next, Chichikov receives an invitation to the governor's ball.All the tall faces of the city at the ball were very courteous to Chichikov, even affectionate: he just went from one embrace to another. Chichikov tried, by the expression of his eyes and demeanor, to find the woman who had sent him a love letter in verse the day before, but he could not find it. He behaved with all the ladies very courteously, which aroused their absolute disposition and desire to please. Then the governor's wife approached him with her daughter, in whom Chichikov recognized the very girl that he had seen in a carriage during a collision of horses on the road from the village of Nozdryova. Here Chichikov lost his head, and then the whole ball went after the governor's daughter and her mother, trying to entertain with small talk. By this he aroused the indignation of the rest of the ladies, who were left without attention. Thus, the ladies of the city of N turned against him. And at the most inopportune moment, a drunken Nozdryov appears, who yells at the top of his lungs about the dead souls bought by Chichikov.
Frustrated, Chichikov comes to his hotel room and begins to think that the ball is “rubbish” and that everything is “from monkeying”. The situation was further aggravated by the arrival of the landowner Korobochka on unshod horses and in a carriage in the form of a watermelon with torn handles. After spending three sleepless nights, she came to the city to find out "how much ... dead souls" and whether she had sold too cheap.
Chapter Nine
One lady (the author calls her simply a pleasant lady) came in the morning to another lady (a dignified lady, "pleasant in every way"). First, a discussion of fashion trends begins: scallops, scarves, armholes, patterns, etc. They began to talk about what a bad and nasty person Chichikov was, about the fact that dead souls were not without reason, and then they came to the conclusion that Chichikov had decided to kidnap and take away the daughter of the governor.The news about Chichikov, dead souls and the governor's daughter excited the whole city of N. Officials began to question those from whom Chichikov bought dead souls. Korobochka said that he was a rogue, he gave only 15 rubles, and he promised to buy bird feathers and lard, but did not buy it. Manilov and Sobakevich spoke well of him.
Chapter Ten
All city officials gather at the police chief and begin to think and guess: who is Chichikov? The postmaster suggests that Chichikov is Captain Kopeikin.The Tale of Captain Kopeikin
In the war of 1812, Captain Kpeikin was wounded - his arm and leg were torn off. His father refused to help him, as a result of which the captain decided to go to St. Petersburg to ask for mercy and help from the sovereign. He arrived, somehow settled in a Reval tavern, where accommodation is one ruble per day. Then he was told that he needed to go to the Palace Embankment, to the palace for a reception. Kopeikin got there and waited for an appointment for four hours. Then a noble official came, asked everyone what they wanted, and it was Kopeikin's turn. He described the situation about the injury and the inability to work, to which the answer was received: “visit one of these days.” The captain drank a glass of vodka to celebrate in the tavern, then went to the theater. Three or four days later he comes back to the minister to hear the decision. But the minister replied that it was necessary to wait for the arrival of the sovereign, and without him this problem could not be solved. A few days later, Kopeikin comes - the sovereign does not receive, they say, come tomorrow. And the money is running out, you want to eat, but there is no way to earn money. In the reception every time they say: "Come tomorrow." Here Kopeikin could not stand it and decided to stand to the end. There is a dialogue like this. The nobleman says: “Expect a decision”, Kopeikin: “I don’t have a piece of bread.” - "Search for funds yourself." “I can’t, I don’t have an arm and a leg.” - "I can not support you at my own expense, arm yourself with patience." - "I can not wait". “I don’t have time, I have more important things to do than you.” “I won’t leave without your permission.” Then the courier took Kopeikin to some government place for temporary accommodation. Further, no one knows where Captain Kopeikin went, but only two months after this incident a band of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests, the chieftain of which, as is assumed, was the hero described above.
The police chief says that Chichikov cannot be Captain Kopeikin, because his arms and legs are intact. After other assumptions, they decided to ask Nozdryov about Chichikov. Nozdryov lied so much that it's scary to imagine: Chichikov turned out to be a counterfeiter, a spy, and a kidnapper.
The prosecutor from thoughts about such events in the city, conflicting opinions and rumors, suddenly dies.
Chichikov did not know anything about the gossip about his person; caught a cold and stayed in a hotel. After recovering, Chichikov decided to pay a visit to the governor and was very surprised when he heard from the porter that he was not ordered to receive him. Then neither the police chief, nor the postmaster, nor the lieutenant governor received him. Confused, Chichikov returns to the hotel. And then unexpectedly Nozdryov appears to him. He says that everyone in the city is against Chichikov, that the prosecutor died because of him, that he started a risky business regarding the governor's daughter and he would not lend 3,000. Chichikov, bulging his eyes, did not believe what was said.
Chichikov ordered Selifan to immediately prepare to leave the city.
Chapter Eleven
Chichikov woke up late. It turned out that the cart was not ready and the horses were not shod. The blacksmiths forged for five and a half hours, asking for six times the usual price for urgency. Finally, the chaise was ready. Chichikov went with two servants. On the way, he saw a funeral procession - they were burying the prosecutor. But the people who came to the funeral cared only about what the new governor-general would be like. Chichikov left the city.The biography of Chichikov is told. Born into a noble family. From childhood, his father instilled in him life skills: to please bosses and teachers, to hang out with those who are richer, to save the most reliable thing in the world - a penny. It tells about the theft of officials in the office where Chichikov worked, and about the widespread bureaucracy. Then Chichikov worked as a customs official. He just had a nose for smugglers, whom he decided to finally exterminate. The authorities for good work gave him a rank and a promotion. And then the theft began - several thousand were stolen through smuggling. Then Chichikov's accomplice "split" and both had to leave the service. Chichikov wondered why so many misfortunes in life fell on his head, because he took where "anyone would take."
Then it turns out why Chichikov still bought dead souls. Prior to the filing of the audit, the board of trustees gave two hundred rubles per capita - you can collect excellent capital.
Next come Gogol's lyrical digressions about Rus'. The author compares it with a “triple bird”, rushing into the bright distance. Applies to her enthusiastic epithets "inspired by God", "God's miracle." And the main question: where are you going? No answer. The question is rhetorical.
In his poem “Dead Ducks”, Nikolai Gogol made an attempt to show the life of the Russian state, to understand and realize what the character of the Russian person and the whole people is, reflects on what the path of development of Russian society could be. According to the author himself, he created such a poetic story, where the reader, along with the main character of the work, travel around Russia and get to know different people, although for the most part they are landowners, but all have completely different characters and destinies. Therefore, the motive of the road, wanderings and travels is the main one in Gogol's work.
That is why the author uses such a literary device as the creation of a generalized image, which will be a typical phenomenon or character for that time. The prehistory of the entire Gogol work is himself and his arrival in the city of N.
At this moment, the main character gets acquainted with the officials of the city, they all manage to invite him to visit them. The exposition of Gogol's poem gives a detailed description of the main character and a general portrait of all the city officials of this county town, which is typical for many cities in Russia.
The very arrival of Chichikov is described by the author slowly, slowly, as if in slow motion. Gogol gives many details so that the reader can feel and understand everything that happens in the poem more strongly. The details include men who have nothing to do with the main character. But they, sitting on a log lying along the road, carefully, but lazily and slowly, follow how Chichikov’s carriage moves along the rutted tracks, at that moment they are only interested in one topic - whether the wheel of the carriage in which the main character travels will reach poems to Moscow or Kazan.
There are other similar author's details in the poem: a young man passing along the pavement accidentally turned around at the carriage, which drove past him and looked carefully. Gogol recalls the innkeeper, whose helpfulness goes beyond all limits.
All these Gogol images emphasize that life in the city to which the main character has arrived is boring and sleepy. Life in it proceeds slowly and unhurriedly. The porter description of Chichikov is also interesting, about which the author says that he is not at all handsome, but at the same time, his appearance cannot be called bad.
Its thickness is neither thick nor thin. It cannot be attributed to young people, but it cannot be called old either. That is, it turned out that he did not have an exact description. On the other hand, the premises of the hotel are already specifically and in detail described, the furnishings of the room where Chichikov stayed. The things that Chichikov has in his travel suitcase are described in detail, and a detailed description of the traveler's lunch menu is also given.
But the behavior of Chichikov, who talks with all the officials of the city, attracts the reader's special attention. He gets acquainted with everyone who is present at the reception at the governor of the city and asks in detail about all the landowners who are in the district. He is interested in the state of their economy. By the way, on all questions he asks almost the same questions: were there any illnesses, what is the condition. And he explains all his strange questions with idle curiosity. The reader also does not know for what purpose this official came to the city and why he needs such information.
Gogol's description of the city emphasizes its typicality and routine. So, all the houses in the city with a beautiful, but the same mezzanine. The author ironically shows what signs the hero meets in the city. All of them are not related to the trade and craft activities that they conduct. But Gogol emphasizes that the city has a huge number of different drinking establishments.
The city garden looked poor and not well maintained, but in the newspapers it was described as the main decoration of this county town. Agriculture was destroyed, the roads had long since fallen into disrepair, but at the same time the governor of the city was only praised. And this description of Gogol's city could be suitable for any Russian city of that time.
The author shows us the whole path of the protagonist. The very next day, he begins to visit the "glorious" people of this city as an official. He managed to visit almost everyone, so they soon started talking about him as a person who knows how to treat people subtly. Chichikov's main skill was worked out - to flatter people, therefore, the opinion of those around him was the best. It is easy for him to receive an invitation to pay a return visit. And in order to put an end to this good and flattering opinion of the city society, he diligently prepares for the governor's ball.
But let's see how Gogol describes the provincial society. There are no specific faces in it, for the author they are all divided into two types: thick and thin. This generalized division of society is necessary for the author to show the psychological portrait of the people who are in power. So, in Gogol's description, subtle officials follow fashion, their appearance and are interested in ladies. They set themselves the main goal - this is money, success in society and entertainment. Therefore, such thin representatives of society are left without money, mortgaging their peasants and estates, lowering them to entertainment.
The complete opposite of them are fat officials. They differ not only in appearance, but also in lifestyle. Their main hobby and entertainment is cards. And their life goal is completely different: they are only interested in material gain and career advancement. Gradually, they have both a house and a village. And when such an official retires, he becomes a good landowner.
It is to this division that the rest of Gogol's description of the landowners is subordinated. All these images are typical and typical for the whole of Russia. Wasteful landlords are Manilov and Nozdrev. Landowners-acquirers: Korobochka and Sobakevich. Therefore, such Gogol's digressions about the division of landlords and officials of the county town help to reveal the ideological meaning of the entire poem.
Chichikov easily communicates with officials of a provincial town: he plays card games with them, argues with everyone, but in such a way that people around him really like it. The protagonist skillfully supports any conversations, and soon others notice that he is rather intelligent and knows a lot. But at the same time, Chichikov does not tell anyone about himself, trying to pass it off as modesty.
So, officials and landlords learn about him that he once served somewhere, but now it's over, since he was fired, as he himself put it, for the truth. And now he is looking for a place to quietly spend his future life. Chichikov easily charms those around him and everyone has a good impression of him.
A detailed acquaintance of the main character with the county town takes place in the first chapter, which is important for the entire composition of Gogol's poem and at the same time it is also an exposition. It gives a description of the main character, talks about the bureaucracy of the city.
Retelling plan
1. Chichikov arrives in the provincial town of NN.
2. Chichikov's visits to city officials.
3. Visit to Manilov.
4. Chichikov is at Korobochka.
5. Acquaintance with Nozdrev and a trip to his estate.
6. Chichikov at Sobakevich's.
7. Visit to Plushkin.
8. Registration of bills of sale for "dead souls" purchased from landowners.
9. The attention of the townspeople to Chichikov, the "millionaire".
10. Nozdrev reveals the secret of Chichikov.
11. The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.
12. Rumors about who Chichikov is.
13. Chichikov hastily leaves the city.
14. Story about the origin of Chichikov.
15. The author's reasoning about the essence of Chichikov.
retelling
Volume I
Chapter 1
A beautiful spring cart drove into the gates of the provincial city of NN. In it sat “a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, however, and not so that he is too young. His arrival made no noise in the city. The hotel in which he stayed “was of a certain kind, that is, exactly like hotels in provincial cities, where for two rubles a day travelers get a quiet room with cockroaches ...” The visitor, waiting for dinner, managed to ask who was in significant officials in the city, about all significant landowners, who has how many souls, etc.
After dinner, having rested in the room, for a message to the police he wrote on a piece of paper: "College adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, landowner, according to his needs," and he himself went to the city. “The city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities: the yellow paint on the stone houses was strong in the eyes and the gray on the wooden houses was modestly dark ... There were signs with pretzels and boots almost washed away by rain, where there was a shop with caps and the inscription: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov”, where a billiard was drawn ... with the inscription: "And here is the institution." Most often came across the inscription: "Drinking house."
The whole next day was devoted to visits to city officials: the governor, the vice-governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the chamber, the chief of police, and even the inspector of the medical board and the city architect. The governor, "like Chichikov, was neither fat nor thin, however, he was a great kind man and even sometimes embroidered tulle himself." Chichikov "very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone." He spoke little about himself and in some general phrases. In the evening, the governor had a "party", for which Chichikov carefully prepared. The men here, as elsewhere, were of two kinds: some were thin, curling around the ladies, and others were fat or the same as Chichikov, i.e. not so much too fat, but not thin either, they, on the contrary, backed away from the ladies. “Fat people know how to handle their affairs better in this world than thin ones. The thin ones serve more on special assignments or are only registered and wag hither and thither. Fat people never occupy indirect places, but all direct ones, and if they sit anywhere, they will sit securely and firmly. Chichikov thought for a moment and joined the fat ones. He met the landowners: the very courteous Manilov and the somewhat clumsy Sobakevich. Having completely charmed them with pleasant treatment, Chichikov immediately asked how many souls of peasants they had and in what condition their estates were.
Manilov, "still not at all an elderly man, who had eyes as sweet as sugar ... was oblivious of him," invited him to his estate. Chichikov also received an invitation from Sobakevich.
The next day, visiting the postmaster, Chichikov met the landowner Nozdrev, “a man of about thirty, a broken fellow, who, after three or four words, began to say“ you ”. He communicated with everyone in a friendly way, but when they sat down to play whist, the prosecutor and postmaster carefully looked at his bribes.
Chichikov spent the next few days in the city. Everyone had a very flattering opinion about him. He gave the impression of a man of the world, able to keep up a conversation on any topic and at the same time speak "neither loudly nor quietly, but exactly as it should."
Chapter 2
Chichikov went to the village to see Manilov. They searched for Manilov's house for a long time: “The village of Manilovka could lure a few with its location. The master's house stood alone at a brisk pace... open to all winds...' One could see a gazebo with a flat green dome, wooden blue columns and the inscription: 'Temple of Solitary Reflection'. An overgrown pond was visible below. Gray log huts darkened in the lowlands, which Chichikov immediately began to count and counted more than two hundred. In the distance was a pine forest. On the porch Chichikov was met by the owner himself.
Manilov was very glad to have a guest. “God alone could not say what the character of Manilov was. There is a kind of people known by the name: people are so-so, neither this nor that ... He was a prominent person; his features were not devoid of pleasantness... He smiled enticingly, was blond, with blue eyes. In the first minute of a conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and kind person!” In the next minute you will not say anything, and in the third you will say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and you will move away ... At home he spoke little and for the most part reflected and thought, but what he thought about, too, God knew. It cannot be said that he was engaged in housekeeping ... it went on somehow by itself ... Sometimes ... he said how good it would be if all of a sudden an underground passage was built from the house or a stone bridge was built across the pond, on which there would be shops on both sides, and so that merchants would sit in them and sell various small goods ... However, this ended with only one word.
In his study lay some kind of book, laid on one page, which he had been reading for two years. In the living room there was expensive, smart furniture: all the chairs were upholstered in red silk, but there were not enough for two, and for two years the owner had been telling everyone that they were not yet finished.
Manilov's wife ... "however, they were completely pleased with each other": after eight years of marriage, for her husband's birthday, she always prepared "some kind of beaded case for a toothpick." They cooked poorly in the house, the pantry was empty, the housekeeper stole, the servants were unclean and drunkards. But “all these subjects are low, and Manilova is well brought up,” in a boarding school where they teach three virtues: French, piano and knitting purses and other surprises.
Manilov and Chichikov showed unnatural courtesy: they tried to let each other through at the door without fail first. Finally, they both squeezed through the door at the same time. This was followed by an acquaintance with Manilov's wife and an empty conversation about mutual acquaintances. The opinion of all is the same: "a pleasant, most respectable, most amiable person." Then they all sat down to eat. Manilov introduced his sons to Chichikov: Themistoclus (seven years old) and Alkid (six years old). Themistoclus has a runny nose, he bites his brother on the ear, and he, having overcome tears and smeared with fat, eats dinner. After dinner, "the guest announced with a very significant air that he intended to talk about one very necessary matter."
The conversation took place in an office, the walls of which were painted with some kind of blue paint, even rather gray; on the table lay a few papers covered with writing, but most of all there was tobacco. Chichikov asked Manilov for a detailed register of peasants (revision tales), asking how many peasants had died since the last census of the register. Manilov did not remember exactly and asked why Chichikov needed to know this? He replied that he wanted to buy dead souls, which would be listed in the audit as living. Manilov was so taken aback that "as he opened his mouth, he remained with his mouth open for several minutes." Chichikov convinced Manilov that there would be no violation of the law, the treasury would even receive benefits in the form of legal duties. When Chichikov spoke about the price, Manilov decided to give away the dead souls free of charge and even took over the bill of sale, which aroused immoderate delight and gratitude from the guest. After seeing off Chichikov, Manilov again indulged in dreams, and now he imagined that the sovereign himself, having learned about his strong friendship with Chichikov, favored them with generals.
Chapter 3
Chichikov went to the village of Sobakevich. Suddenly it began to rain heavily, the driver lost his way. It turned out he was very drunk. Chichikov ended up in the estate of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. Chichikov was led into a room hung with old striped wallpaper, on the walls were paintings of some kind of birds, between the windows small antique mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves. The hostess entered; “one of those mothers, small landowners, who cry for crop failures, losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, and meanwhile they collect a little money in motley bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers ...”
Chichikov stayed overnight. In the morning, he first of all examined the peasant huts: “Yes, her village is not small.” At breakfast, the hostess finally introduced herself. Chichikov started talking about buying dead souls. The box could not understand why he was doing this, and offered to buy hemp or honey. She, apparently, was afraid to sell cheap, began to play up, and Chichikov, persuading her, lost patience: “Well, the woman seems to be strong-headed!” The box still could not decide to sell the dead: “Maybe the household will somehow need ...”
Only when Chichikov mentioned that he was holding government contracts did he manage to convince Korobochka. She wrote a power of attorney to make a bill of sale. After much bargaining, the deal was finally done. At parting, Korobochka generously treated the guest to pies, pancakes, cakes with various seasonings and other food. Chichikov asked Korobochka to tell her how to get out onto the main road, which puzzled her: “How can I do this? It’s tricky to tell, there are a lot of turns.” She gave a girl as an escort, otherwise it would not be easy for the crew to leave: "the roads spread in all directions, like caught crayfish when they are poured out of a bag." Chichikov finally got to the tavern, which stood on a high road.
Chapter 4
Dining in a tavern, Chichikov saw through the window a light britzka with two men driving up. In one of them Chichikov recognized Nozdryov. Nozdryov "was of medium height, a very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, and sideburns as black as pitch." This landowner, Chichikov recalled, whom he met at the prosecutor's office, after a few minutes began to say "you" to him, although Chichikov did not give a reason. Without stopping for a minute, Nozdryov began to speak, without waiting for the interlocutor's answers: “Where did you go? And I, brother, from the fair. Congratulate: blown out into the fluff! .. But how we had a spree in the first days! .. Do you believe that I alone drank seventeen bottles of champagne in the course of dinner! Nozdryov, not silent for a moment, spouted all sorts of nonsense. He drew from Chichikov that he was going to Sobakevich's, and persuaded him to stop by before that. Chichikov decided that he could “beg for something for nothing” from the lost Nozdryov, and agreed.
Author's description of Nozdrev. Such people “are called broken fellows, they are known even in childhood and at school for good comrades, and for all that they are very painfully beaten ... They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, prominent people ...” Nozdryov used to even with his closest friends "Start with smoothness, and end with reptile." At thirty-five, he was the same as he was at eighteen. The deceased wife left two children who he did not need at all. He did not spend more than two days at home, he was always wandering around the fairs, playing cards "not entirely sinless and clean." “Nozdryov was in some respects a historical person. Not a single meeting where he was could do without a story: either the gendarmes would take him out of the hall, or his own friends would be forced to push him out ... or he would cut himself in the buffet, or he would lie ... The closer someone got along with him, the more he rather, he pissed everyone off: he dissolved a fable, which is more stupid than which it is difficult to invent, upset a wedding, a deal, and did not at all consider himself your enemy. He had a passion "to change everything that is for everything you want." All this came from some kind of restless briskness and glibness of character.
On his estate, the owner immediately ordered the guests to inspect everything that he had, which took a little over two hours. Everything was abandoned, except for the kennel. In the owner's office, only sabers and two guns hung, as well as "real" Turkish daggers, on which "by mistake" was carved: "master Savely Sibiryakov." Over a poorly prepared dinner, Nozdryov tried to make Chichikov drunk, but he managed to pour out the contents of his glass. Nozdryov offered to play cards, but the guest flatly refused and finally started talking about business. Nozdryov, sensing that the matter was unclean, pestered Chichikov with questions: why does he need dead souls? After much squabbling, Nozdryov agreed, but on the condition that Chichikov would also buy a stallion, a mare, a dog, a hurdy-gurdy, etc.
Chichikov, having stayed the night, regretted that he had called on Nozdryov and started talking to him about the matter. In the morning it turned out that Nozdryov had not abandoned his intention to play for souls, and they finally settled on checkers. During the game, Chichikov noticed that his opponent was cheating and refused to continue the game. Nozdryov shouted to the servants: “Beat him!” and himself, "all in heat and sweat," began to break through to Chichikov. The soul of the guest went to the heels. At that moment, a cart with a police captain drove up to the house, who announced that Nozdryov was on trial for "inflicting personal insult on the landowner Maximov with rods while drunk." Chichikov, not listening to the bickering, quietly slipped out onto the porch, got into the britzka, and ordered Selifan to "drive the horses at full speed."
Chapter 5
Chichikov could not move away from fear. Suddenly, his britzka collided with a carriage in which two ladies were sitting: one was old, the other was young, of extraordinary charm. They parted with difficulty, but Chichikov thought for a long time about the unexpected meeting and the beautiful stranger.
The village of Sobakevich seemed to Chichikov “quite large... The yard was surrounded by a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. ... The village huts of the peasants were also cut down marvelously ... everything was fitted tightly and properly. ... In a word, everything ... was stubborn, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order. “When Chichikov glanced askance at Sobakevich, he seemed to him very much like a medium-sized bear.” “The tail coat on him was completely bear-colored ... He stepped with his feet at random and at random and stepped incessantly on other people's feet. The complexion was red-hot, hot, which happens on a copper penny. "Bear! The perfect bear! They even called him Mikhail Semyonovich, thought Chichikov.
Entering the drawing room, Chichikov noticed that everything in it was solid, clumsy, and had some strange resemblance to the owner himself. Every object, every chair seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” The guest tried to start a pleasant conversation, but it turned out that Sobakevich considered all mutual acquaintances - the governor, the postmaster, the chairman of the chamber - to be swindlers and fools. "Chichikov remembered that Sobakevich did not like to speak well of anyone."
Over a plentiful dinner, Sobakevich “tipped half a lamb side onto his plate, ate it all, gnawed it, sucked it to the last bone ... Cheesecakes followed the lamb side, each of which was much larger than a plate, then a turkey as tall as a calf ...” Sobakevich started talking about his neighbor Plyushkin, an extremely stingy man who owns eight hundred peasants, who "starved all the people to death." Chichikov became interested. After dinner, when he heard that Chichikov wanted to buy dead souls, Sobakevich was not at all surprised: "It seemed that there was no soul in this body at all." He started haggling and broke the exorbitant price. He spoke of dead souls as if they were alive: “I have everything for selection: not a workman, but some other healthy peasant”: Mikheev, a carriage worker, Stepan Cork, a carpenter, Milushkin, a bricklayer ... “After all, what a people!” Chichikov finally interrupted him: “But excuse me, why are you counting all their qualities? After all, these are all dead people. In the end, they agreed on three rubles a head and decided to be in the city the next day and deal with the bill of sale. Sobakevich demanded a deposit, Chichikov, in turn, insisted that Sobakevich give him a receipt and asked him not to tell anyone about the deal. "Fist, fist! thought Chichikov, "and a beast to boot!"
In order not to see Sobakevich, Chichikov went by a detour to Plyushkin. The peasant, whom Chichikov asks for directions to the estate, calls Plyushkin "patched". The chapter ends with a lyrical digression about the Russian language. “The Russian people express themselves strongly!.. Pronounced aptly, it’s the same as writing, it is not cut down with an ax ... the lively and lively Russian mind ... does not go into your pocket for a word, but slaps it right away, like a passport on an eternal sock ... no a word that would be so bold, brisk, so burst out from under the very heart, so seething and vibrant, like a well-spoken Russian word.
Chapter 6
The chapter opens with a lyrical digression about travel: “Long ago, in the summers of my youth, it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time, a childish curious look revealed a lot of curiosity in it ... Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance, ... and indifferent silence keep my motionless lips. O my youth! O my freshness!
Laughing at Plyushkin's nickname, Chichikov imperceptibly found himself in the middle of a vast village. “He noticed some special dilapidation on all the village buildings: many roofs pierced through like a sieve ... The windows in the huts were without glass ...” Then the manor’s house appeared: “This strange castle looked like some kind of decrepit invalid ... In some places it was one story, in some places two... The walls of the house slitted bare stucco bars in places and, apparently, suffered a lot from all kinds of bad weather... The garden overlooking the village... it seemed that alone refreshed this vast village, and one was quite picturesque...”
“Everything said that the economy once flowed here on a vast scale, and everything looked cloudy now ... At one of the buildings, Chichikov noticed some figure ... For a long time he could not recognize what gender the figure was: a woman or a peasant ... the dress is indefinite, there is a cap on the head, the dressing gown is sewn from no one knows what. Chichikov concluded that it must be the housekeeper. Entering the house, he “was struck by the disorder that appeared”: cobwebs all around, broken furniture, a pile of papers, “a glass with some kind of liquid and three flies ... a piece of rag”, dust, a pile of garbage in the middle of the room. The same housekeeper came in. Looking closer, Chichikov realized that it was more like a key keeper. Chichikov asked where the gentleman was. “What, father, are they blind, or what? - said the key. - And I'm the owner!
The author describes Plushkin's appearance and his history. “The chin protruded far forward, the small eyes had not yet gone out and were running from under high-growing eyebrows like mice”; the sleeves and upper skirts of the dressing gown were so “greasy and shiny that they looked like yuft, which goes on boots”, around the neck is not a stocking, not a garter, just not a tie. “But in front of him was not a beggar, in front of him was a landowner. This landowner had more than a thousand souls,” the pantries were full of grain, lots of linen, sheepskins, vegetables, crockery, and so on. But it seemed to Plyushkin that this was not enough. “Everything that came across to him: an old sole, a woman’s rag, an iron nail, a clay shard, he dragged everything to himself and put it in a pile.” “But there was a time when he was only a thrifty owner! He was married and a family man; mills moved, cloth factories, carpentry machines, spinning mills worked ... Intelligence was visible in the eyes ... But the good housewife died, Plyushkin became more restless, more suspicious and meaner. He cursed his eldest daughter, who ran away and married an officer of the cavalry regiment. The youngest daughter died, and the son, sent to the city to be determined for the service, went to the military - and the house was completely empty.
His “savings” reached the point of absurdity (he keeps a biscuit from Easter cake for several months, which his daughter brought him as a gift, always knows how much liquor is left in the decanter, writes neatly on paper, so that the lines run into each other). At first Chichikov did not know how to explain to him the reason for his visit. But, starting a conversation about Plyushkin's household, Chichikov found out that about one hundred and twenty serfs had died. Chichikov showed “a readiness to take upon himself the obligation to pay taxes for all the dead peasants. The proposal seemed to completely astonish Plyushkin. He couldn't speak for joy. Chichikov invited him to make a bill of sale and even undertook to bear all the costs. Plyushkin, out of an excess of feelings, does not know how to treat his dear guest: he orders to put on a samovar, get a spoiled cracker from the Easter cake, wants to treat him with a liquor, from which he pulled out "goat and all sorts of rubbish." Chichikov refused such a treat in disgust.
“And a person could descend to such insignificance, pettiness, disgust! Could change like that!” - exclaims the author.
It turned out that Plyushkin had a lot of fugitive peasants. And Chichikov also acquired them, while Plyushkin bargained for every penny. To the great joy of the owner, Chichikov soon left "in the most cheerful mood": he acquired "more than two hundred people" from Plyushkin.
Chapter 7
The chapter opens with a sad lyrical discussion of two types of writers.
In the morning Chichikov thought about who the peasants were during his lifetime, whom he now owns (now he has four hundred dead souls). In order not to pay clerks, he himself began to build fortresses. At two o'clock everything was ready, and he went to the civil chamber. On the street, he ran into Manilov, who began to kiss and hug him. Together they went to the ward, where they turned to the official Ivan Antonovich with a person “called a jug snout”, to whom, in order to speed up the case, Chichikov gave a bribe. Sobakevich also sat here. Chichikov agreed to complete the deal during the day. The documents have been completed. After such a successful completion of affairs, the chairman suggested that we go to dinner with the chief of police. During dinner, tipsy and cheered up, the guests persuaded Chichikov not to leave and, in general, to marry here. Zakhmelev, Chichikov chatted about his "Kherson estate" and already believed everything he said.
Chapter 8
The whole city was discussing Chichikov's purchases. Some even offered their help in resettling the peasants, some even began to think that Chichikov was a millionaire, so they "fell in love with him even more sincerely." The inhabitants of the city lived in harmony with each other, many were not without education: "some read Karamzin, some" Moskovskie Vedomosti", some even did not read anything at all."
Chichikov made a special impression on the ladies. "The ladies of the city of N were what is called presentable." How to behave, keep the tone, maintain etiquette, and especially keep fashion in the very last detail - in this they were ahead of the ladies of St. Petersburg and even Moscow. The ladies of the city of N were distinguished by “extraordinary caution and decency in words and expressions. They never said: “I blew my nose”, “I sweated”, “I spat”, but they said: “I relieved my nose”, “I managed with a handkerchief”. The word "millionaire" had a magical effect on the ladies, one of them even sent a sugary love letter to Chichikov.
Chichikov was invited to the governor's ball. Before the ball, Chichikov looked at himself in the mirror for an hour, assuming significant poses. At the ball, being in the spotlight, he tried to guess the author of the letter. The governor introduced Chichikov to her daughter, and he recognized the girl whom he once met on the road: “she was the only one who turned white and came out transparent and bright from a muddy and opaque crowd.” The charming young girl made such an impression on Chichikov that he "felt like a completely something like a young man, almost a hussar." The rest of the ladies felt offended by his impoliteness and inattention to them and began to "talk about him in different corners in the most unfavorable way."
Nozdryov appeared and ingenuously told everyone that Chichikov had tried to buy dead souls from him. The ladies, as if not believing in the news, picked it up. Chichikov "began to feel uncomfortable, not all right" and, without waiting for the end of dinner, left. In the meantime, Korobochka arrived in the city at night and began to find out the prices for dead souls, fearing that she had sold too cheap.
Chapter 9
Early in the morning, before the scheduled time for visits, "a lady pleasant in every way" went to visit the "simply pleasant lady." The guest told the news: at night, Chichikov, disguised as a robber, came to Korobochka with a demand to sell him dead souls. The hostess remembered that she had heard something from Nozdryov, but the guest had her own thoughts: dead souls are just a cover, in fact Chichikov wants to kidnap the governor's daughter, and Nozdryov is his accomplice. Then they discussed the appearance of the governor's daughter and did not find anything attractive in her.
Then the prosecutor appeared, they told him about their findings, which completely confused him. The ladies parted in different directions, and now the news went around the city. Men turned their attention to the purchase of dead souls, while women began to discuss the "abduction" of the governor's daughter. Rumors were retold in houses where Chichikov had never even been. He was suspected of a rebellion by the peasants of the village of Borovka and that he had been sent for some kind of check. To top it off, the governor received two notices about a counterfeiter and an escaped robber with an order to detain both ... They began to suspect that one of them was Chichikov. Then they remembered that they knew almost nothing about him ... They tried to find out, but they did not achieve clarity. We decided to meet with the chief of police.
Chapter 10
All officials were concerned about the situation with Chichikov. Gathered at the police chief, many noticed that they were emaciated from the latest news.
The author makes a lyrical digression about “the peculiarities of holding meetings or charity meetings”: “... In all our meetings ... there is a great deal of confusion ... Only those meetings that are made up in order to have a snack or dine succeed.” But here it turned out quite differently. Some were inclined to believe that Chichikov was a doer of banknotes, and then they themselves added: "Or maybe not a doer." Others believed that he was an official of the Governor-General's office and immediately: "But, by the way, the devil knows." And the postmaster said that Chichikov was Captain Kopeikin, and told the following story.
THE STORY ABOUT CAPTAIN KOPEIKIN
During the war of 1812, the captain's arm and leg were torn off. There were no orders for the wounded then, and he went home to his father. He refused him the house, saying that there was nothing to feed him, and Kopeikin went to seek the truth to the sovereign in St. Petersburg. Asked where to go. The sovereign was not in the capital, and Kopeikin went to the "high commission, to the general-in-chief." He waited for a long time in the waiting room, then they announced to him that he would come in three or four days. The next time the nobleman said that we had to wait for the king, without his special permission, he could not do anything.
Kopeikin was running out of money, he decided to go and explain that he could not wait any longer, he simply had nothing to eat. He was not allowed to see the nobleman, but he managed to slip with some visitor into the reception room. He explained that he was dying of hunger, but could not earn. The general rudely escorted him out and sent him at public expense to his place of residence. “Where Kopeikin went is unknown; but not even two months had passed when a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests, and the ataman of this gang was none other ... "
It occurred to the chief of police that Kopeikin had no arms and legs, while Chichikov had everything in place. They began to make other assumptions, even this one: “Isn’t Chichikov Napoleon in disguise?” We decided to ask Nozdryov again, although he is a well-known liar. He was just engaged in the manufacture of fake cards, but he came. He said that he had sold dead souls to Chichikov for several thousand, that he knew him from the school where they studied together, and Chichikov had been a spy and a counterfeiter since the time that Chichikov really was going to take away the governor's daughter and Nozdryov helped him. As a result, officials never found out who Chichikov was. Frightened by insoluble problems, the prosecutor died, he had a stroke.
“Chichikov knew absolutely nothing about all this, he caught a cold and decided to stay at home.” He couldn't understand why no one was visiting him. Three days later, he went out into the street and first of all went to the governor, but he was not received there, just like in many other houses. Nozdryov came and incidentally told Chichikov: “...everyone in the city is against you; they think that you are making fake papers... they have dressed you up as robbers and spies.” Chichikov did not believe his ears: "... there is nothing more to delay, you need to get out of here as soon as possible."
He sent Nozdryov out and ordered Selifan to prepare for his departure.
Chapter 11
The next morning everything went upside down. At first Chichikov overslept, then it turned out that the chaise was out of order and the horses needed to be shod. But now everything was settled, and Chichikov, with a sigh of relief, sat down in the britzka. On the way, he met a funeral procession (the prosecutor was buried). Chichikov hid behind a curtain, afraid that he would be recognized. Finally Chichikov left the city.
The author tells the story of Chichikov: “The origin of our hero is dark and modest ... At the beginning, life looked at him somehow sourly and uncomfortably: no friend, no comrade in childhood!” His father, a poor nobleman, was constantly ill. One day, his father took Pavlusha to the city, to determine the city school: “The city streets flashed in front of the boy with unexpected splendor.” When parting, the father “was given a clever instruction: “Learn, do not be a fool and do not hang out, but most of all please teachers and bosses. Don’t hang out with comrades, or hang out with the rich, so that they can be useful to you on occasion ... most of all, take care and save a penny: this thing is more reliable than anything in the world ... You will do everything and break everything in the world with a penny.
“He didn’t have any special abilities for any science,” but he turned out to have a practical mind. He did so that his comrades treated him, and he not only never treated them. And sometimes even, having hidden treats, then he sold them to them. “From the fifty dollars given by my father, I didn’t spend a penny, on the contrary, I made increments to it: I made a bullfinch out of wax and sold it very profitably”; accidentally teased hungry comrades with gingerbread and rolls, and then sold them to them, trained a mouse for two months and then sold it very profitably. “In relation to the authorities, he behaved even smarter”: he fawned over the teachers, catered to them, therefore he was in excellent standing and as a result “received a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.”
His father left him a small inheritance. “At the same time, the poor teacher was expelled from the school,” out of grief, he began to drink, drank everything and disappeared sick in some closet. All his former students collected money for him, but Chichikov dissuaded himself by lack of money and gave him some nickel of silver. “Everything that did not respond with wealth and contentment made an impression on him, incomprehensible to himself. He decided to get busy in the service, conquer and overcome everything ... From early morning until late at night he wrote, mired in stationery, did not go home, slept in the office rooms on tables ... He fell under the command of an elderly assistant, who was an image of what something of stone insensitivity and unshakability. Chichikov began to please him in everything, “sniffed out his home life”, found out that he had an ugly daughter, began to come to church and stand in front of this girl. “And the case was a success: the stern clerk staggered and called him for tea!” He behaved like a fiancé, he called the intern “daddy” already, and through his future father-in-law he won the position of innkeeper. After that, "about the wedding, the matter was hushed up."
“Since then, everything has gone easier and more successfully. He became a conspicuous person ... in a short time he got a bread place ”and learned to deftly take bribes. Then he joined some kind of construction commission, but construction is not going “above the foundation”, but Chichikov managed to steal, like other members of the commission, significant funds. But suddenly a new boss was sent, an enemy of bribe-takers, and the officials of the commission were removed from their posts. Chichikov moved to another city and started from scratch. “He decided to get to the customs at all costs, and got there. He took up the service with unusual zeal. He became famous for his incorruptibility and honesty (“his honesty and incorruptibility were irresistible, almost unnatural”), he achieved a promotion. Having waited for the right moment, Chichikov received funds to carry out his project to catch all the smugglers. "Here in one year he could get what he would not have won in twenty years of the most zealous service." Having agreed with one official, he took up smuggling. Everything went smoothly, the accomplices grew rich, but suddenly they quarreled and both were put on trial. The property was confiscated, but Chichikov managed to save ten thousand, a cart and two serfs. And so he started again. As an attorney, he had to mortgage one estate, and then it dawned on him that you can mortgage dead souls in a bank, take a loan against them and hide. And he went to buy them in the city of N.
“So, our hero is all there ... Who is he in relation to moral qualities? Scoundrel? Why a scoundrel? Now we don’t have scoundrels, there are well-meaning, pleasant people ... It’s most fair to call him: the owner, the acquirer ... And which of you is not publicly, but in silence, alone, deepens this heavy request into his own soul: “But no Is there some part of Chichikov in me too?” Yes, no matter how!”
Meanwhile, Chichikov woke up, and the britzka rushed faster, “And what kind of Russian person does not like to drive fast? .. Isn’t it true that you, Rus, are rushing about in a brisk, unbeaten troika? Rus', where are you going? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking sideways, step aside and give it way to other peoples and states.
“A rather beautiful spring chaise drove through the gates of the hotel in the provincial city of NN ... In the chaise sat a gentleman, not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young either. His entry made absolutely no noise in the city and was not accompanied by anything special. So our hero appears in the city - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Let us, following the author, get acquainted with the city. Everything tells us that this is a typical provincial city of Tsarist Russia during the time of Nicholas II, a city whose "twins" we met in many of Gogol's works. And the hotel here is “the kind of hotels in provincial cities”: long, with a yellow painted top floor, with cockroaches waiting for guests in their rooms. After examining his room, Chichikov goes to the common room of the hotel, where, not embarrassed by dirty walls, tasteless paintings on the walls, he sits at a table with a worn oilcloth and orders dinner, consisting of the usual dishes for a tavern: cabbage soup, “deliberately saved for travelers for several weeks”, brains with peas, sausages with cabbage and “eternal” sweet pie. Already at dinner, Chichikov begins to satisfy his immediate interests. He does not conduct an idle conversation with the tavern servant, but asks him who the governor and prosecutor are in the city, what other significant officials and landlords are, and how the latter are doing, how many peasants they have. Walking around the city, Chichikov was completely satisfied with it, considered it to be not inferior to other provincial cities with necessarily poor pavement, shops with faded signboards, "drinking houses" and a garden with stunted trees. Apparently, our hero has already stopped in such cities more than once and therefore felt completely at ease in it.
Chichikov devoted the next day to visits, visited all the least noticeable officials and, most importantly, found a common language with everyone. A feature of Chichikov's nature was the ability to flatter everyone, to tell everyone what was necessary and pleasant, to “accidentally” make a mistake and use an address meant for a higher rank in a conversation with an official. His efforts were crowned with success: he was invited to the governor himself for a “house party”, and to others for lunch, a cup of tea, a game of cards ... Chichikov spoke about himself in general phrases, book turns, creating an aura of some mystery, but undoubtedly producing favorable impression.
At the ball at the governor's, Chichikov looks at all the guests for some time, noting with pleasure the presence of beautiful and well-dressed ladies, men, specious and refined, like the gentlemen of St. Petersburg. We come across arguments about the difference between the life success of "thin" and "fat" men and the author's condescending indication that these arguments belong to Chichikov. Our hero, who does not for a moment leave the thought of the commercial business waiting for him, does not follow the example of the "thin" ladies, but goes to play whist with the "fat ones". Here he pays his attention directly to Manilov and Sobakevich, charms them with "curiosity and thoroughness", which are manifested in the fact that first Chichikov learns about the state of their estates, about the number of souls, and then inquires about the names of his landowners. Chichikov does not spend a single evening at home, he dine with the vice-governor, dine with the prosecutor, everywhere he shows himself to be a connoisseur of social life, an excellent conversationalist, a practical adviser, he talks about virtue and making hot wine with the same skill. He spoke and behaved exactly as he should, and was considered by all the "significant" inhabitants of the city to be a "respectable and amiable", "most courteous", "obvious" person. Well, such was Pavel Ivanovich's talent. And it is quite possible that the reader, who picked up the book for the first time, would fall under the spell of Mr. Chichikov just like the officials of the city of NN, especially since the author reserves the full right for us to form our own assessment.
- What is the image of a literary hero? Chichikov is the hero of a great, classic work created by a genius, a hero who embodied the result of the author's observations and reflections on life, people, and their actions. An image that has absorbed typical features, and therefore has long gone beyond the framework of the work itself. His name has become a household name for people - crafty careerists, sycophants, money-grubbers, outwardly "pretty", "decent and worthy". Moreover, other readers' assessment of Chichikov is not so unambiguous. Comprehension […]
- The work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol fell on the dark era of Nicholas I. These were the 30s. XIX century, when in Russia, after the suppression of the uprising of the Decembrists, reaction reigned, all dissidents were persecuted, the best people were persecuted. Describing the reality of his day, N.V. Gogol creates the poem “Dead Souls”, brilliant in depth of reflection of life. The basis of "Dead Souls" is that the book is a reflection not of individual features of reality and characters, but of the reality of Russia as a whole. Myself […]
- French traveler, author of the famous book "Russia in 1839" Marquis de Questine wrote: “Russia is ruled by a class of officials who occupy administrative positions right from the school bench ... each of these gentlemen becomes a nobleman, having received a cross in his buttonhole ... Upstarts in the circle of those in power, they use their power, as befits upstarts. " The tsar himself admitted with bewilderment that it was not he, the autocrat of all Russia, who governed his empire, but the clerk appointed by him. The provincial city […]
- In his famous address to the "bird-troika", Gogol did not forget the master to whom the troika owes its existence: cheeky man." There is one more hero in the poem about swindlers, parasites, owners of living and dead souls. Gogol's unnamed hero is serf slaves. In "Dead Souls" Gogol composed such a dithyramb to the Russian serfs, with such direct […]
- N.V. Gogol conceived the first part of the poem "Dead Souls" as a work that reveals the social vices of society. In this regard, he was looking for a plot not a simple life fact, but one that would make it possible to expose the hidden phenomena of reality. In this sense, the plot proposed by A. S. Pushkin was the best fit for Gogol. The idea to “travel all over Rus' with the hero” gave the author the opportunity to show the life of the whole country. And since Gogol described it in such a way, “so that all the little things that elude […]
- In the autumn of 1835, Gogol set to work on Dead Souls, the plot of which, like the plot of The Inspector General, was suggested to him by Pushkin. “I want to show in this novel, although from one side, all of Rus',” he writes to Pushkin. Explaining the idea of "Dead Souls", Gogol wrote that the images of the poem are "not at all portraits of insignificant people, on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others." Explaining the choice of the hero, the author says: "Because it is time, finally, give rest to a poor virtuous man, because […]
- It should be noted that the episode of the collision of the crews is divided into two micro-themes. One of them is the appearance of a crowd of onlookers and "helpers" from a neighboring village, the other is Chichikov's thoughts caused by a meeting with a young stranger. Both of these themes have both an external, superficial layer, directly related to the characters of the poem, and a deep layer, bringing to the scale of the author's thoughts about Russia and its people. So, the collision occurs suddenly, when Chichikov silently sends curses to Nozdryov, thinking that […]
- Chichikov met Nozdryov earlier, at one of the receptions in the city of NN, but the meeting in the tavern is the first serious acquaintance with him for both Chichikov and the reader. We understand what type of people Nozdryov belongs to, first by seeing his behavior in the tavern, his story about the fair, and then by reading the author’s direct description of this “broken fellow”, “historical man”, who has “a passion to spoil his neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all ". We know Chichikov as a completely different person - […]
- Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" is one of the greatest and at the same time mysterious works of the 19th century. The genre definition of "poem", which at that time unambiguously meant a lyric-epic work written in poetic form and predominantly romantic, was perceived by Gogol's contemporaries in different ways. Some found it mocking, while others saw hidden irony in this definition. Shevyrev wrote that “the meaning of the word ‘poem’ seems to us to be twofold… because of the word ‘poem’ a deep, significant […]
- In Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" the way of life and customs of the feudal landowners is very correctly noticed and described. Drawing images of the landlords: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin, the author recreated a generalized picture of the life of serf Russia, where arbitrariness reigned, the economy was in decline, and the personality underwent moral degradation. After writing and publishing the poem, Gogol said: “Dead Souls made a lot of noise, a lot of grumbling, touched the nerves of many with mockery, and truth, and caricature, touched […]
- Plyushkin is an image of a moldy cracker left over from the Easter cake. Only he has a life story, Gogol depicts all the other landowners statically. These heroes, as it were, have no past that would at least somehow differ from their present and explain something in it. Plyushkin's character is much more complicated than the characters of other landowners represented in Dead Souls. Features of manic stinginess are combined in Plyushkin with painful suspicion and distrust of people. Saving the old sole, a clay shard, […]
- The poem "Dead Souls" reflects the social phenomena and conflicts that characterized Russian life in the 30s - early 40s. 19th century It very correctly noticed and described the way of life and customs of that time. Drawing images of the landowners: Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich and Plyushkin, the author recreated a generalized picture of the life of serf Russia, where arbitrariness reigned, the economy was in decline, and the personality underwent moral degradation, regardless of whether it was the personality of a slave owner or [... ]
- Compositionally, the poem "Dead Souls" consists of three externally closed, but internally interconnected circles. landowners, the city, Chichikov's biography, united by the image of the road, plot-related by the main character's scam. But the middle link - the life of the city - itself consists, as it were, of narrowing circles, gravitating towards the center; this is a graphic representation of the provincial hierarchy. Interestingly, in this hierarchical pyramid, the governor, embroidering on tulle, looks like a puppet figure. True life boils in civilian […]
- Landowner Appearance Manor Characteristics Attitude to Chichikov's request Manilov The man is not yet old, his eyes are as sweet as sugar. But this sugar was too much. In the first minute of a conversation with him you will say what a nice person, after a minute you will not say anything, and in the third minute you will think: "The devil knows what it is!" The master's house stands on a hill, open to all winds. The economy is in complete decline. The housekeeper steals, something is always missing in the house. The kitchen is preparing stupidly. Servants - […]
- At the lesson of literature, we got acquainted with the work of N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls". This poem has become very popular. The work was repeatedly filmed both in the Soviet Union and in modern Russia. Also, the names of the main characters became symbolic: Plyushkin - a symbol of stinginess and storage of unnecessary things, Sobakevich - an uncouth person, Manilovism - immersion in dreams that have no connection with reality. Some phrases have become catchphrases. The main character of the poem is Chichikov. […]
- Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is one of the most brilliant authors of our vast Motherland. In his works, he always spoke about the sore, about what His Rus' lived in His time. And he does it so well! This man really loved Russia, seeing what our country really is - unhappy, deceitful, lost, but at the same time - dear. Nikolai Vasilievich in the poem "Dead Souls" gives a social profile of the then Rus'. Describes landlordism in all colors, reveals all the nuances, characters. Among […]
- Landowner Portrait Characteristic Manor Attitude towards housekeeping Lifestyle Outcome Manilov Handsome blond with blue eyes. At the same time, in his appearance "it seemed too sugar was transferred." Too ingratiating look and behavior Too enthusiastic and refined dreamer who does not feel any curiosity about his household or anything earthly (he does not even know if his peasants died after the last revision). At the same time, his daydreaming is absolutely […]
- Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol noted that the main theme of "Dead Souls" was contemporary Russia. The author believed that "it is impossible otherwise to direct society or even the whole generation towards the beautiful, until you show the full depth of its real abomination." That is why the poem presents a satire on the local nobility, bureaucracy and other social groups. The composition of the work is subordinated to this task of the author. The image of Chichikov, traveling around the country in search of the necessary connections and wealth, allows N. V. Gogol […]
- Gogol was always attracted by everything eternal and unshakable. By analogy with Dante's "Divine Comedy", he decides to create a work in three volumes, where it would be possible to show the past, present and future of Russia. Even the author designates the genre of the work in an unusual way - a poem, since different fragments of life are collected in one artistic whole. The composition of the poem, which is built on the principle of concentric circles, allows Gogol to trace the movement of Chichikov through the provincial town of N, the estates of landowners and all of Russia. Already with […]
- Chichikov, having met the landowners in the city, received an invitation from each of them to visit the estate. The gallery of the owners of "dead souls" is opened by Manilov. The author at the very beginning of the chapter gives a description of this character. His appearance initially made a very pleasant impression, then bewilderment, and in the third minute “... you say:“ The devil knows what it is! and move away…” Sweetness and sentimentality, highlighted in the portrait of Manilov, are the essence of his idle lifestyle. He is constantly talking about […]
Poem "Dead souls of Gogol in brief summary in 10 minutes.
Acquaintance with Chichikov
A middle-aged gentleman of rather pleasant appearance arrived at a hotel in a provincial town in a small britzka. He rented a room in the hotel, examined it and went to the common room to dine, leaving the servants to settle in a new place. It was a collegiate adviser, landowner Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.
After dinner, he went to inspect the city and found that it was no different from other provincial cities. The newcomer devoted the whole next day to visits. He visited the governor, the police chief, the vice-governor and other officials, each of whom he managed to win over by saying something pleasant about his department. For the evening he had already received an invitation to the governor.
Arriving at the governor's house, Chichikov, among other things, made the acquaintance of Manilov, a very courteous and courteous man, and the somewhat clumsy Sobakevich, and behaved so pleasantly with them that he completely charmed them, and both landowners invited the new friend to visit them. The next day, at a dinner at the police chief's, Pavel Ivanovich also made acquaintance with Nozdryov, a broken-down fellow of about thirty, with whom they immediately switched to you.
For more than a week the visitor lived in the city, traveling to parties and dinners, he proved to be a very pleasant conversationalist, able to talk on any topic. He knew how to behave well, had a degree. In general, everyone in the city came to the opinion that this is an exceptionally decent and well-meaning
Human.
Chichikov at Manilov
Finally, Chichikov decided to visit the landowners he knew and went out of town. First he went to Manilov. With some difficulty he found the village of Manilovka, which turned out to be not fifteen, but thirty versts from the city. Manilov met his new acquaintance very cordially, they kissed and entered the house, for a long time letting each other pass at the door. Manilov was, in general, a pleasant person, somehow sugary-sweet, had no special hobbies, except for fruitless dreams, and did not take care of the household.
His wife was brought up in a boarding school, where she was taught the three main subjects necessary for family happiness: French, piano and knitting purses. She was pretty and well dressed. Her husband introduced Pavel Ivanovich to her. They talked a little, and the hosts invited the guest to dinner. The seven-year-old sons of the Manilovs, Themistoclus, and six-year-old Alkid, were already waiting in the dining room, for whom the teacher had tied napkins. The guest was shown the erudition of the children, the teacher made a remark to the boys only once, when the elder bit the younger on the ear.
After dinner, Chichikov announced that he intended to talk to the owner about a very important matter, and both went to the study. The guest started a conversation about the peasants and offered the host to buy dead souls from him, that is, those peasants who have already died, but according to the revision are still considered alive. Manilov could not understand anything for a long time, then he doubted the legitimacy of such a bill of sale, but nevertheless agreed from
respect for the guest. When Pavel Ivanovich spoke about the price, the owner was offended and even took upon himself the drafting of the bill of sale.
Chichikov did not know how to thank Manilov. They said goodbye cordially, and Pavel Ivanovich drove off, promising to come again and bring gifts to the children.
Chichikov at Korobochka
Chichikov was about to make his next visit to Sobakevich, but it started to rain, and the carriage drove into some field. Selifan turned the wagon around so clumsily that the master fell out of it and was covered in mud. Luckily, dogs barked. They went to the village and asked to spend the night in a house. It turned out that this was the estate of a certain landowner Korobochka.
In the morning Pavel Ivanovich met the hostess, Nastasya Petrovna, a middle-aged woman, one of those who always complain about the lack of money, but little by little saves and collects a decent fortune. The village was quite large, the houses were strong, the peasants lived well. The hostess invited the unexpected guest to drink tea, the conversation turned to the household, and Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from her.
Korobochka was extremely frightened by such a proposal, not really understanding what they wanted from her. After much explanation and persuasion, she finally agreed and wrote Chichikov a power of attorney, trying to sell him a hemp as well.
After eating a cake and pancakes baked especially for him, the guest drove on, accompanied by a girl who was supposed to take the carriage to the main road. Seeing the tavern, which was already standing on a high road, they let the girl off, who, having received a copper penny as a reward, wandered home, and drove there.
Chichikov at Nozdrev
In a tavern, Chichikov ordered a pig with horseradish and sour cream, and, knowing it, asked the hostess about the surrounding landowners. At this time, two gentlemen drove up to the tavern, one of whom was Nozdrev, and the second was his son-in-law Mizhuev. Nozdryov, a well-built fellow, what is called blood and milk, with thick black hair and sideburns, ruddy cheeks and very white teeth,
recognized Chichikov and began to tell him how they walked at the fair, how much champagne they drank and how he lost at cards.
Mizhuev, a tall fair-haired man with a tanned face and a red mustache, was constantly accusing his friend of exaggerations. Nozdryov persuaded Chichikov to go to him, Mizhuev, reluctantly, also went with them.
It must be said that Nozdryov's wife died, leaving him two children, whom he did not care about, and he moved from one fair to another, from one party to another. Everywhere he played cards and roulette and usually lost, although he did not hesitate to cheat, for which he was sometimes beaten by partners. He was cheerful, considered a good comrade, but he always managed to spoil his friends: upset the wedding, disrupt the deal.
At the estate, having ordered dinner from the cook, Nozdryov took the guest to inspect the farm, which had nothing special, and drove around for two hours, telling stories that were incredible in lies, so that Chichikov was very tired. Lunch was served, some of which was burnt, some undercooked, and numerous wines of dubious quality.
The owner refilled the guests, but he hardly drank himself. After dinner, Mizhuev, who had become very intoxicated, was sent home to his wife, and Chichikov started a conversation with Nozdryov about dead souls. The landowner flatly refused to sell them, but offered to play cards with them, and when the guest refused, to exchange them for Chichikov's horses or a britzka. Pavel Ivanovich also rejected this offer and went to bed. The next day, the restless Nozdryov persuaded him to fight for souls in checkers. During the game, Chichikov noticed that the owner was playing dishonestly and told him about it.
The landowner was offended, began to scold the guest and ordered the servants to beat him. Chichikov was saved by the appearance of the police captain, who announced that Nozdrev was on trial and accused of inflicting personal insult on the landowner Maximov with rods while drunk. Pavel Ivanovich did not wait for the denouement, ran out of the house and left.
Chichikov at Sobakevich's
On the way to Sobakevich, an unpleasant incident happened. Selifan, lost in thought, did not give way to a carriage drawn by six horses that was overtaking them, and the harness of both carriages became so entangled that it took a long time to re-harness. In the carriage sat an old woman and a sixteen-year-old girl, whom Pavel Ivanovich liked very much ...
Soon they arrived at Sobakevich's estate. Everything was strong, solid, solid. The owner, stout, with a face as if hewn with an axe, very similar to a learned bear, met the guest and led him into the house. The furniture was to match the owner - heavy, durable. Paintings depicting ancient generals hung on the walls.
The conversation turned to city officials, each of whom the owner gave a negative description. The hostess entered, Sobakevich introduced her guest and invited him to dinner. Lunch was not very varied, but tasty and satisfying. During dinner the host mentioned the landowner Plyushkin, who lived five versts from him, where people were dying like flies, and Chichikov took note of this.
After a very hearty dinner, the men retired to the living room, and Pavel Ivanovich got down to business. Sobakevich listened to him without saying a word. Without asking any questions, he agreed to sell the dead souls to the guest, but raised the price for them, as for living people.
They bargained for a long time and agreed on two and a half rubles per head, and Sobakevich demanded a deposit. He compiled a list of peasants, gave each one a description of his business qualities and wrote a receipt for receiving a deposit, striking Chichikov with how sensibly everything was written. They parted, satisfied with each other, and Chichikov went to Plyushkin.
Chichikov at Plushkin's
He drove into a large village, striking in its poverty: the huts were almost without roofs, the windows in them were covered with bull bladders or plugged with rags. The master's house is large, with many outbuildings for household needs, but all of them are almost collapsed, only two windows are open, the rest are boarded up or closed with shutters. The house gave the impression of being uninhabited.
Chichikov noticed a figure so strangely dressed that it was impossible to immediately recognize whether it was a woman or a man. Paying attention to the bunch of keys on his belt, Pavel Ivanovich decided that this was the housekeeper, and turned to her, calling her "mother" and asking where the master was. The housekeeper told him to go into the house and disappeared. He entered and marveled at the disorder that reigned there. Everything is covered in dust, dried-up bits of wood lie on the table, a bunch of some incomprehensible things are piled in the corner. The housekeeper came in, and Chichikov asked the master again. She said that the master was in front of him.
I must say that Plyushkin was not always like that. Once he had a family and was just a thrifty, albeit somewhat stingy owner. His wife was distinguished by her hospitality, and there were often guests in the house. Then the wife died, the eldest daughter ran away with an officer, and her father cursed her, because he could not stand the military. The son went to the city to enter the civil service. but enlisted in the regiment. Plushkin cursed him too. When the youngest daughter died, the landowner was left alone in the house.
His stinginess assumed terrifying proportions, he dragged into the house all the rubbish found in the village, right down to the old sole. The quitrent was collected from the peasants in the same amount, but since Plyushkin asked for an exorbitant price for the goods, no one bought anything from him, and everything rotted in the manor's yard. Twice his daughter came to him, first with one child, then with two, brought him gifts and asked for help, but his father did not give a penny. His son lost his game and also asked for money, but he also received nothing. Plyushkin himself looked like if Chichikov had met him near the church, he would have given him a penny.
While Pavel Ivanovich was thinking about how to start talking about dead souls, the owner began to complain about the hard life: the peasants were dying, and the tax had to be paid for them. The guest offered to bear these expenses. Plyushkin gladly agreed, ordered the samovar to be put up and the remains of the Easter cake brought from the pantry, which his daughter had once brought and from which it was necessary to scrape off the mold first.
Then he suddenly began to doubt the honesty of Chichikov's intentions, and he offered to draw up a merchant's fortress for the dead peasants. Plyushkin decided to give Chichikov also runaway peasants, and after bargaining, Pavel Ivanovich took them thirty kopecks apiece. After that, he (much to the delight of the host) refused dinner and tea and left, being in a great mood.
Chichikov turns a scam with "dead souls"
On the way to the hotel, Chichikov even sang. The next day he woke up in a great mood and immediately sat down at the table to write merchant's fortresses. At twelve o'clock I got dressed and, with the papers under my arm, went to the civil ward. Leaving the hotel, Pavel Ivanovich ran into Manilov, who was walking towards him.
They kissed each other in such a way that both of them had toothaches all day long, and Manilov volunteered to accompany Chichikov. In the Civil Chamber, it was not without difficulty that they found an official who dealt with merchants, who, only after receiving a bribe, sent Pavel Ivanovich to the chairman, Ivan Grigorievich. Sobakevich was already sitting in the chairman's office. Ivan Grigoryevich gave instructions to the same
the official to draw up all the papers and collect witnesses.
When everything was properly arranged, the chairman proposed to spray the purchase. Chichikov wanted to supply them with champagne, but Ivan Grigoryevich said that they would go to the police chief, who would only wink at the merchants in the fish and meat rows, and a wonderful dinner would be ready.
And so it happened. The merchants considered the police chief to be their own person, who, although he robbed them, did not show any kindness and even willingly baptized merchant children. The dinner was magnificent, the guests drank and ate well, and Sobakevich alone ate a huge sturgeon and then did not eat anything, but only sat silently in an armchair. Everyone was amused and did not want to let Chichikov leave the city, but decided to marry him, to which he gladly agreed.
Feeling that he was already talking too much, Pavel Ivanovich asked for a carriage and arrived at the hotel completely drunk in the prosecutor's droshky. With difficulty, Petrushka undressed the master, cleaned his suit, and, making sure that the owner was fast asleep, went with Selifan to the nearest tavern, from where they left in an embrace and collapsed to sleep across on the same bed.
Chichikov's purchases caused a lot of talk in the city, everyone took an active part in his affairs, they discussed how difficult it would be for him to resettle such a number of serfs in the Kherson province. Of course, Chichikov did not spread that he was acquiring dead peasants, everyone believed that they were bought alive, and a rumor spread around the city that Pavel Ivanovich was a millionaire. He was immediately interested in the ladies, who in this city were very presentable, traveled only in carriages, dressed fashionably and spoke elegantly. Chichikov could not fail to notice such attention to himself. One day they brought him an anonymous love letter with poems, at the end of which it was written that his own heart would help him guess who wrote it.
Chichikov at the governor's ball
After some time, Pavel Ivanovich was invited to the governor's ball. His appearance at the ball caused great enthusiasm among all those present. The men greeted him with loud exclamations and strong hugs, the ladies surrounded him, forming a multi-colored garland. He tried to guess which one of them had written the letter, but he couldn't.
Chichikov was rescued from their entourage by the governor's wife, holding by the arm a pretty sixteen-year-old girl, whom Pavel Ivanovich recognized as a blonde from a carriage that ran into him on the way from Nozdryov. It turned out that the girl was the governor's daughter, just released from the institute. Chichikov turned all his attention to her and spoke only to her, although the girl got bored from his stories and began to yawn. the ladies did not like this behavior of their idol at all, because each had her own views on Pavel Ivanovich. They became indignant and condemned the poor college girl.
Unexpectedly, Nozdryov, accompanied by the prosecutor, appeared from the living room where the card game was going on and, seeing Chichikov, immediately shouted to the whole hall: What? Did you trade a lot for the dead? Pavel Ivanovich did not know where to go, and meanwhile the landowner, with great pleasure, began to tell everyone about Chichikov's scam. Everyone knew that Nozdryov was a liar, nevertheless, his words caused confusion and gossip. Frustrated, Chichikov, anticipating a scandal, did not wait until dinner was over and went to the hotel.
While he was sitting in his room cursing Nozdryov and all his relatives, a carriage with Korobochka drove into the city. This club-headed landowner, worrying whether Chichikov had deceived her in some cunning way, decided to personally find out how much dead souls are now. The next day, the ladies stirred up the whole city.
They could not understand the essence of the scam with dead souls and decided that the purchase was made to avert their eyes, but in fact Chichikov came to the city to kidnap the governor's daughter. The governor's wife, having heard about this, interrogated her unsuspecting daughter and ordered Pavel Ivanovich not to be received any more. Men also could not understand anything, but they did not really believe in abduction.
At this time, a new governor-general was appointed to the province, and officials even thought that Chichikov had come to their city on his behalf to check. Then they decided that Chichikov was a counterfeiter, then that he was a robber. Selifan and Petrushka were interrogated, but they could not say anything intelligible. They also had a chat with Nozdryov, who, without blinking an eye, confirmed all their guesses. The prosecutor was so worried that he had a stroke and died.
Chichikov knew nothing about all this. He caught a cold, sat in his room for three days and wondered why none of his new acquaintances visited him. Finally, he recovered, dressed warmer and went to the governor for a visit. Imagine Pavel Ivanovich's surprise when the footman said that he was not ordered to be received! Then he went to other officials, but everyone received him so strangely, they carried on such a forced and incomprehensible conversation that he doubted their health.
chichikov leaves the city
Chichikov wandered aimlessly around the city for a long time, and in the evening Nozdrev showed up to him, offering his help in kidnapping the governor's daughter for three thousand rubles. The reason for the scandal became clear to Pavel Ivanovich, and he immediately ordered Selifan to lay the horses, and he himself began to collect things. But it turned out that the horses needed to be shod, and they left only the next day. When we drove through the city, we had to skip the funeral procession: they were burying the prosecutor. Chichikov drew the curtains. Luckily no one paid any attention to him.
essence of the scam with dead souls
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov was born into a poor noble family. Sending his son to school, his father ordered him to live economically, behave well, please teachers, be friends only with the children of wealthy parents, and most of all in life value a penny. Pavlusha conscientiously fulfilled all this and succeeded very much in this. not disdaining to speculate on edibles. Not distinguished by his intelligence and knowledge, he earned a certificate and a certificate of merit after graduating from college by his behavior.
Most of all, he dreamed of a quiet, rich life, but for now he denied himself everything. He began to serve, but did not receive a promotion, no matter how he pleased his boss. Then, having passed. that the boss had an ugly and no longer young daughter, Chichikov began to look after her. It even got to the point that he settled in the boss's house, began to call him dad and kissed his hand. Soon Pavel Ivanovich received a new position and immediately moved to his apartment. and the matter of the wedding was hushed up. Time passed, Chichikov prospered. He himself did not take bribes, but received money from subordinates, who began to take three times more. After some time, a commission was organized in the city for the construction of some kind of capital structure, and Pavel Ivanovich attached himself there. The structure did not grow higher than the foundation, but the members of the commission set up beautiful large houses for themselves. Unfortunately, the chief was replaced, the new one demanded reports from the commission, and all the houses were confiscated to the treasury. Chichikov was fired, and he was forced to start his career anew.
He changed two or three positions, and then he was lucky: he got a job in customs, where he showed himself from the best side, was incorruptible, knew how to find contraband best of all and deserved a promotion. As soon as this happened, the incorruptible Pavel Ivanovich conspired with a large gang of smugglers, attracted another official to the case, and together they pulled off several scams, thanks to which they put four hundred thousand in the bank. But once the official quarreled with Chichikov and wrote a denunciation against him, the case was revealed, the money was confiscated from both, and they themselves were fired from customs. Fortunately, they managed to avoid a trial, Pavel Ivanovich had some money hidden, and he began to arrange life again. He had to act as an attorney, and it was this service that prompted him to think about dead souls. Once he applied for a pledge to the Board of Trustees of several hundred peasants of a ruined landowner. In the meantime, Chichikov explained to the secretary that half of the peasants had died out and he doubted the success of the case. The secretary said that if the souls are listed in the audit inventory, then nothing terrible can happen. It was then that Pavel Ivanovich decided to buy more dead souls and pledge them to the board of trustees, receiving money for them as for living ones. The city in which Chichikov and I met was the first on his path to the realization of his plans, and now Pavel Ivanovich rode on in his britzka drawn by three horses.
08.04.2019
Poem "Dead Souls" occupies a special place in the work of Gogol. The writer considered this work the main work of his life, Pushkin's spiritual covenant, which prompted him the basis of the plot. In the poem, the author reflected the way of life and mores of different strata of society - peasants, landowners, officials. The images in the poem, according to the author, "are not at all portraits of insignificant people, on the contrary, they contain the features of those who consider themselves better than others." Close-ups are shown in the poem of landlords, owners of serf souls, "masters" of life. Gogol consistently, from hero to hero, reveals their characters and shows the insignificance of their existence. Starting with Manilov and ending with Plyushkin, the author intensifies his satire and exposes the underworld of landowner-bureaucratic Russia.
The protagonist of the work - Chichikov- up to the last chapter of the first volume remains a mystery to everyone: both for officials of the city of N, and for readers. The author reveals the inner world of Pavel Ivanovich in the scenes of his meetings with the landowners. Gogol draws attention to the fact that Chichikov is constantly changing and almost copies the behavior of his interlocutors. Talking about Chichikov's meeting with Korobochka, Gogol says that in Russia a person speaks differently with the owners of two hundred, three hundred, five hundred souls: "... even rise up to a million, there are all shades."
Chichikov perfectly studied people, in any situation he knows how to find a benefit, he always says what they would like to hear from him. So, with Manilov, Chichikov is pompous, amiable and flattering. He talks to Korobochka already without any special ceremonies, and his vocabulary is consonant with the style of the hostess. Communication with the arrogant liar Nozdrev is not easy, since Pavel Ivanovich does not tolerate familiar treatment, "... except if the person is of too high rank." However, hoping for a lucrative deal, he does not leave Nozdryov's estate until the last and tries to become like him: he turns to "you", adopts a boorish tone, and behaves familiarly. The image of Sobakevich, personifying the solidity of the landowner's life, immediately prompts Pavel Ivanovich to lead as thorough a conversation as possible about dead souls. Chichikov manages to win over "a hole in the human body" - Plyushkin, who has long lost touch with the outside world and has forgotten the norms of politeness. To do this, it was enough for him to play the role of a “motishka”, ready at a loss to save a casual acquaintance from having to pay taxes for the dead peasants.
It is not difficult for Chichikov to change his appearance, because he has all the qualities that form the basis of the characters of the depicted landowners. This is confirmed by episodes in the poem, where Chichikov is left alone with himself and he does not need to adapt to others. Looking around the city of N, Pavel Ivanovich “teared off the poster nailed to the post so that when he came home he could read it thoroughly,” and after reading it, “teared it neatly and put it in his chest, where he used to put everything that came across.” This is reminiscent of the habits of Plyushkin, who collected and kept various kinds of rags and toothpicks. The colorlessness and uncertainty that accompany Chichikov until the last pages of the first volume of the poem make him related to Manilov. That is why the officials of the provincial city make ridiculous guesses, trying to establish the true identity of the hero. Chichikov's love to neatly and meticulously lay out everything in his chest brings him closer to Korobochka. Nozdryov notices that Chichikov looks like Sobakevich. All this suggests that the character of the protagonist, as in a mirror, reflected the features of all the landowners: Manilov's love for meaningless conversations and "noble" gestures, and Korobochka's pettiness, and Nozdrev's narcissism, and Sobakevich's rudeness, and Plyushkin's hoarding.
And at the same time, Chichikov differs sharply from the landowners shown in the first chapters of the poem. He has a different psychology than that of Manilov, Sobakevich, Nozdryov and other landowners. He is characterized by extraordinary energy, business acumen, determination, although morally he does not rise above the owners of serf souls. Many years of bureaucratic activity left a noticeable imprint on his manner of behavior and speech. Evidence of this is the cordial welcome given to him in the provincial "high society". Among officials and landowners, he is a new person, an acquirer who will replace the Manilovs, Nozdrevs, Sobeviches and Plyushkins.
The soul of Chichikov, just like the souls of the landowners and officials, became dead. The “shining joy of life” is inaccessible to him, he is almost completely devoid of human feelings. In order to achieve his practical goals, he pacified his blood, which "played strong."
Gogol sought to understand the psychological nature of Chichikov as a new phenomenon, and for this, in the last chapter of the poem, he talks about his life. Chichikov's biography explains the formation of the character revealed in the poem. The hero's childhood was dull and joyless, without friends and maternal affection, with constant reproaches from his sick father, and could not but affect his future fate. His father left him a legacy of half a copper and a covenant to study diligently, please teachers and bosses, and, most importantly, save a penny. Pavlusha learned his father's instructions well and directed all his energy towards achieving his cherished goal - wealth. He quickly realized that all high concepts only hinder the achievement of his goal, and began to make his own way. At first, he acted in a childishly straightforward way - in every way he pleased the teacher and thanks to this he became his favorite. Growing up, he realized that each person can find a special approach, and began to achieve more significant success. Having promised to marry the daughter of his boss, he got a job as an assistant. While serving at customs, he managed to convince his superiors of his incorruptibility, and later to establish contact with smugglers and amass a huge fortune. All the brilliant victories of Chichikov ended in failure, but no setbacks could break his thirst for profit.
However, the author notes that in Chichikov, in contrast to Plyushkin, “there was no attachment to money for the sake of money proper, he was not possessed by stinginess and stinginess. No, they didn’t move him - he imagined life ahead in all its pleasures, so that finally later, over time, he would certainly taste all this, that’s what the penny was saved for. Gogol notes that the protagonist of the poem is the only character capable of manifesting the movements of the soul. “It is clear that the Chichikovs turn into poets for a few minutes,” says the author, when his hero stops “as if stunned by a blow” in front of the young daughter of the governor. And it was this “human” movement of the soul that led to the failure of his promising undertaking. According to the author, sincerity, sincerity and selflessness are the most dangerous qualities in a world where cynicism, lies and profit reign. The fact that Gogol transferred his hero to the second volume of the poem suggests that he believed in his spiritual rebirth. In the second volume of the poem, the writer planned to spiritually "purify" Chichikov and put him on the path of spiritual resurrection. The resurrection of the "hero of time", according to him, was to be the beginning of the resurrection of the whole society. But, unfortunately, the second volume of "Dead Souls" was burned, and the third was not written, so we can only guess how Chichikov's moral revival took place.
All topics of the book “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol. Summary. features of the poem. Compositions":
Summary of the poem "Dead Souls":
LESSON 75
PROVINCE CITY IN THE POEM "DEAD SOULS".
ANALYSIS OF CHAPTERS I, VII, VIII, IX, X
Gogol raised one side of the curtain and
showed us Russian bureaucracy in everything
ugly him...
A.I. Herzen
DURING THE CLASSES
I. Teacher's lecture with elements of a conversation, which is accompanied by a commentary reading of the text of the poem.
Throughout the poem, the theme of serfdom is inextricably intertwined with the theme of bureaucracy and police. Landowners and officials are inseparable from each other in the overall picture of Dead Souls.
The Inspector General was also devoted to the image of bureaucracy, but there the county town appeared before the reader - a small amount of Russian reality. In "Dead Souls" the author has increased the scale of the image of the bureaucratic world.
1. Let us recall how the provincial city appeared in Chapter I. Let's answer the question: how do N Chichikov and the author relate to the city? (Having taken a room in a hotel, having dinner and resting, Chichikov went to see the city. He was satisfied with the results of the inspection, “I found that the city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities” - an important remark that allows us to talk about the typicality of the depicted.
So, Chichikov is pleased with the tour of the city, his attitude to everything is condescendingly friendly. The author treats everything ironically.)
2. What is irony? (The irony is based on the discrepancy between the subject itself and what is said about it. Let's give examples: “a dead room with cockroaches”, comparing them with prunes (what kind of peace is there?); A smoked chandelier with a lot of glass; A tray on which cups "sit" like birds on the seashore (the romantic comparison causes laughter.) The sublimity of the description enhances the irony of the author.
In Chapter I, a general picture is drawn, but some of its details are very expressive: these are strange signboards (the inscription "Foreigner Vasily Fedorov"), these are inferior pavements, and a watery city garden, which was written about in the newspapers. And all these descriptions are permeated with Gogol's irony.
And one more important detail: the first person Chichikov met was not called Gogol by name, he did not utter a word, he only looked at the britzka of our hero and wandered his way. But his character, emptiness and vulgarity are before us. It is a kind of visiting card of the city.)
After five chapters about the landlords, we, together with the hero, again return to the city.
Chichikov is pleased - there are lists of acquired souls in the box, it remains to make bills of sale and sneak out of the city.
3. How do officials appear in the image of Gogol in the text of Chapter VII? What is the meaning of the comparisons: "the chairman... like the ancient Zeus of Homer...", the officials are likened to the "priests of Themis", the collegiate registrar "served... as once Virgil served Dante..."? (The first comic comparison emphasizes the power of the chairman in his institution. The comic of the comparison is strengthened by the unexpected introduction of the archaic word "scold" into it, which was used in the meaning of battle, battle, and then acquired a new meaning - abuse.
The name of corrupt, dishonest bribe-taking officials by the priests of Themis (Themis - in Greek mythology, the goddess of justice, justice and help to the oppressed, was depicted as a woman with a sword in one and scales in the other hand and blindfolded as a symbol of impartiality), that is, servants of justice, was a clear mockery of the court and other institutions of the time.
The meaning of the third comparison with the heroes of Dante's Divine Comedy is not in comparing the Roman poet Virgil with the officials of the civil chamber. The meaning is that the official led "our friends" into the presence room, the center of the institution. Virgil led Dante through the terrible circles of mythical hell, and the "collegiate registrar" through the circles of bureaucratic hell. The Civil Chamber, thus, turns into a real hell, where Russian people, subjects of the police state, are tormented.
Let us pay attention to one more detail: in the hall of the presence, where court cases were heard, even according to the decree of Peter the Great, there should have been a three-sided mirror (mirror) with an eagle and three decrees on the procedure for legal proceedings. The mirror is a symbol of the reflection of truth. Sobakevich is sitting here by the mirror, lying to the chairman that he was selling Chichikov not dead, but living peasants.)
4. What techniques for creating a comic effect do we find in the description of the world of officials? (Reading from the words: “Our heroes saw ... even some kind of light gray jacket, which ... smartly wrote out ... some kind of protocol ...”
Here we observe a technique often used by Gogol - likening the living to the inanimate.)
5. How do officials feel about the service? (First of all, we see that officials lead an idle and careless lifestyle. When witnesses were needed to draw up a bill of sale, Sobakevich advised sending for a prosecutor ("he is an idle man") and an inspector of the medical board ("he is also an idle man"). About other officials it is said that “they all burden the earth for nothing.” Their occupations are called - playing cards, bribery.
The character of the characters is drawn with strokes, but very convincing. (A bribe to Ivan Antonovich-Kuvshinnoye snout, for example: “Chichikov, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket, put it in front of Ivan Antonovich, which he did not notice at all and immediately covered it with a book. Chichikov wanted to point it out to him, but Ivan Antonovich let him know with a movement of his head, that should not be shown.)
Further, a monstrous picture of government robbery is revealed: “the chairman gave the order to take only half of the duty money from him (Chichikov), and the other was attributed in some unknown way to the account of some other petitioner.”
It is said about the police chief (police master, or mayor - the chief of police, an official in charge of the city police department) that he is a “miracle worker”, because “as soon as he blinks, passing by a fish row or a cellar ... so we, you know, how let's have a bite.)
6. Reading the text from the words: “The guests finally got in a crowd to the house of the police chief ...”
Aleksey Ivanovich (Gogol did not give a last name to his mayor) “acted smartly, charmed the merchants with an allegedly friendly treatment, using their various “enthusiasts”: love for trotters, for playing uphill. “He comprehended his position to perfection,” Gogol ironically praises him. He "managed to acquire a perfect nationality" among the merchants who did not protest against his extortions.
7. What does the analysis of Chapter VIII add to characterize the world of officials? (Reading the text from the words: “Many were not without education ...”)
(All the books and journals mentioned in this chapter are distinguished by a special character: there is not a single work of advanced content among them. In this way, Gogol makes the reader feel the reactionary views of officials.)
Particular attention is given in chapter VIII to the description of ladies' society.
Speaking of outfits (“their taste was an abyss in outfits ...”), Gogol uses hyperbole for expressiveness. “No, this is not a province, this is the capital, this is Paris itself!” - he exclaims, and immediately adds: “Only in some places some kind of cap that the earth has not seen, or even some kind of almost peacock feather, contrary to all fashions, to his own taste, suddenly protruded” - and the irony of the author becomes clear.
8. What role does the ladies' society of the city play in further events? (The ladies' society plays an important role in further events; it spreads gossip that Chichikov wants to take away the governor's daughter.
The ladies did not accept that Chichikov preferred the “blonde” to them. “Indignation, in all respects just, was depicted in many faces ...”)
The gossip around him finally awakened the dormant society: “it turned out that the city is crowded and great ...” - a commentary reading of this fragment to the words: “All of a sudden they found in themselves such sins that they didn’t even exist” (Chapter IX).
"Fear is more sticky than the plague and is communicated in an instant." The officials who have established a dishonorable and predatory order in the city are afraid of falling into the clutches of other officials themselves. They are afraid because their arbitrariness will be revealed: the inspector of the medical board did not take measures against the epidemic fever, which caused the patients to die in significant numbers, merchants were killed in a fight, and the murderers were released for bribes "four state each", that is, 4000 rubles, peasants killed assessor Drobyazhkin and paid off the trial and investigation.
Officials cannot understand about Chichikov, “what exactly is he: is he the kind of person who needs to be detained and seized as unintentional, or is he the kind of person who himself can seize and detain them all as unintentional.”
In this society, a person lives without thought and can die from the thought, which happened to the prosecutor, who for some reason was more alarmed, came home and suddenly gave his soul to God - and only now it turned out that he had a soul, “although he never showed her."
The story of the prosecutor has a tragicomic character: a man dies, but even during his lifetime there was no movement in him, there was no real live action behind him, so he was “dead” during his lifetime.
9. Why did the prosecutor die? What did Gogol want to show by this death? (There is only one explanation: in this way Gogol showed the senselessness of the administrative system based on arbitrariness and fear. His death is as absurd as his life was absurd. The prosecutor is only one of the officials, no different from all the others.
The officials were seized with fear, but this is not the fear of people who feel guilty, it is the fear of the arbitrariness of the new boss, and not the requirement of the law. This fear is powerless to change an insensitive life, it can only make a commotion in a stagnant swamp.)
10. As you know, Gogol painted not only the provincial city. In The Tale of Captain Kopeikin, Petersburg appeared before the reader. What is the role of this inserted novella? (The role of this false novella for the writer was enormous. It was impossible to publish a poem without it. Therefore, Gogol rewrote the story twice, “so that no censorship can find fault with it.” Gogol wrote to Pletnev: “I’d rather decide to remake it than lose it altogether, I threw it away all the generals, the character of Kopeikin meant more strongly, so now it is clear that he is the cause of everything himself and that he was treated well.
But most importantly, as Gogol explained to the censor Nikitenko, the story is needed "in order to distract the reader, to replace one impression with another." But in fact, Gogol led the reader to enormous generalizations, capturing not only the provinces, but also world history.)
II. Checking individual tasks - messages on the topics: “What does the story of Captain Kopeikin have to do with the action of the poem?” and “What suggested to Gogol the story about Captain Kopeikin?” (on cards 52, 53).
III. Homework.
2. Orally answer the questions:
a) What does Chichikov have in common with other heroes?
b) How does he differ from landlords?
c) What is your assessment of the hero?
3. Individual task - to prepare a message on the topic "The image of Chichikov" (on card 54).
Card 54
The image of Chichikov
Chichikov is a dual nature. This is especially evident when meeting with a blonde on the road.
First, let's pay attention to the portrait of a stranger.
All the symbolism of its description, all colors have one easily distinguishable focus: comparison with a just laid testicle (testicle - the beginning of life), the predominance of one white color - the color of innocence, day, beginning, contact with the rays of the sun, the source and engine of life and, finally, complete transparency, transparency for rays, for light, for sight - so contrasting with the hardened bark of senile immobility and stiffness.
What was Chichikov's reaction to all this? Unusual, unexpected for such a prosaic, prudent person: he thought, forgot about everything around him.
Chichikov was destined to experience these sensations for the second time. And even sharper, in a new way.
Chapter VIII. Ball at the Governor's. Chichikov, elevated by public opinion to "millionaires", is immersed in the bliss of reverence and glory ... And suddenly a familiar blonde appears before Chichikov.
What is Chichikov's reaction this time?
“Chichikov was so confused that he could not utter a single sensible word ...” Fashionable phrase-mongers, dexterous dandies whom the romantic story loved to portray, did not get lost in such situations and knew how to speak with beauties gallantly and aphoristically. But was there much true feeling behind such words?
It turns out that Chichikov's muteness is higher than the flow of eloquence of these romantic heroes. At least there is a grain of true experience in it.
But the narrator warns: do not exaggerate the strength of Chichikov's feelings - "It is impossible to say for sure whether the feeling of love has awakened in our hero, it is even doubtful that gentlemen of this kind ... were capable of love." But, be that as it may, the narrator insists on the unusualness of this feeling, as if revealing something unexpected in this character: as if some kind of force snatched “for a few minutes Chichikov from everyday flickering, from the stream of vulgarity and prose with which he was fused with every cell of his being.
Most of the characters in the poem live and act almost instinctively, unconsciously. What they think about their actions, and whether they think anything at all, we are usually not told.
Chichikov is another matter. The next place is interesting. After one of his failures - dismissal from customs for smuggling - Chichikov reflects: “Why me? Why did I get in trouble? Who is yawning now in office? - everyone buys. I didn’t make anyone unhappy: I didn’t rob a widow, I didn’t let anyone into the world ... Why do others prosper and why should I disappear like a worm? .. And what will my children say then? “Here,” they will say, “father, the beast, did not leave us any fortune!”
All the reflections that accompany Chichikov's actions are a kind of attempt to understand them, to give oneself an account of them. You will not find anything like this in other characters of the poem. They tend to act like beings of a low spiritual organization, almost like animals.
And, finally, one more, completely unexpected difference. The “passion” of Chichikov, the vice that has taken possession of him, is in a certain sense narrower than that of other characters. Try to define in a nutshell what is the peculiarity of Nozdryov - you are unlikely to succeed. Nozdryov is boastful and tricky, a "broken fellow" and subtle rogue... It is by no means possible to designate this character with one definition, and Gogol does not give such a definition. His phrase that Nozdryov "was in some way a historical person" is not a definition: this phrase is largely ironic and descriptive.
But the author finds it possible to give a definition to Chichikov. “It is most fair to call him: the owner, the acquirer. Acquisition is the fault of everything; because of him things were done, to which the light gives the name of not very clean. Of course, Chichikov is very complex, much more complicated than Nozdryov and any other character in the poem. And his character cannot be exhausted by one definition. Chichikov is insinuating, flattering; when necessary, arrogant, stubborn, persistent ... but you never know what else can be said about this amazingly versatile and flexible person. But still, his main passion or, as Gogol said, "enthusiasm" can be denoted quite definitely - "acquirer".
Of all the other characters in the first volume of the poem, only one is built on the same foundations as Chichikov. This is Plush...
Maybe what we said makes Chichikov better than the rest of the characters in the poem? On the contrary, worse. After all, he could be another person, his actions are associated with a certain awareness, reflection, and he is far from being so primitive. And that means that the demand is different from him.
Now we will understand the remark of the young Chernyshevsky about Chichikov: "this character is the most difficult."
But it is precisely Chichikov's difficulty and complexity that predetermined not only his central place in the first volume of the poem, but also his alleged life path in subsequent volumes ... After all, having the past behind him, he could have the future. Developing over time, it is able to undergo changes. Yes, and Chichikov's concentration on one "idea", the certainty of passion would facilitate the correction. It is easier to free oneself from a certain "vice" (possessiveness, for example) than from vice in general.
Gogol, in the first volume of the poem, hinted at the future rebirth of Chichikov and at the instructive lesson that his "passion" - acquisitiveness - receives in connection with this. “And, perhaps, in this same Chichikov, the passion that attracts him is no longer from him, and in his cold existence lies something that will later plunge a person to dust and knees before the wisdom of heaven.”
LESSON 76
THE IMAGE OF CHICHIKOV. ANALYSIS OF CHAPTER XI
... He is still some strange scoundrel ...
I. Zolotussky
DURING THE CLASSES
I. Conversation on the questions:
1. What is the role of chapter XI in the composition of the poem? (Gogol put Chichikov’s biography in the last, XI chapter. Such a construction had a reason, because the hero’s past is not connected with the plot. Therefore, Gogol takes the biography out of the plot. And if we talk about the plot of the poem, then it ends in the X chapter with Chichikov’s decision to flee from the provincial cities. Biography of Chichikov is important for motivating his actions and character traits. Getting to know her, we understand the reasons for his actions and the essence of his views on life.)
2. Why did Chichikov buy dead souls?
3. Why does Gogol call him "the acquirer"? What is its difference from such "accumulators" as Sobakevich, Korobochka, Plyushkin? (This is a man of a new, bourgeois formation - an "acquirer", a predator, a master. He has such features that the landowners do not have - energy, will.
And he is formidable in that he develops with the unanimous approval of those around him and with secret envy of his strength. After all, the landlords are squanderers of human dignity, and they end up with "a hole in humanity." But Chichikov is not going to die.)
teacher's word 1
“Remember Chichikov's travel box - this is a poem! This is a poem about acquisitiveness, hoarding, squeezing sweat in the name of a million ... and what else is there! And a city billboard torn from a pedestal... and a funeral ticket (saying to his sober mind: hurry up, remember death)... The same pile of Plyushkin, only not disheveled... but brought into symmetry, where every object is to the point. .. Plyushkin's pile is a cemetery of things, Chichikov's casket is a business man's traveling suitcase.
4. What does Chichikov have in common with the landowners? What is the "core" of this image? (Chichikov is interesting in that he is a “collector” of the traits of all the characters of the landlords: in delicacy he will not yield to Manilov (remember the passage through the door), he saves as stubbornly as Korobochka (remember his famous box), in frugality he will not yield to Plyushkin, in collecting all sorts of rubbish, by the way, too, tight-fisted, like Sobakevich, trades every penny, and he himself, by definition of the author, is a “hero of a penny”, and he is capable of lying no worse than Nozdryov.
But Chichikov has a trait that makes him the first person - amazing flexibility, tenacity, survival in any conditions, at any time. The grain "of this hero is the ability to adapt, guess people and adapt to them.
With Manilov he is sugary-gracious, with Korobochka he is petty-persistent, with Nozdryov he is assertive and cowardly, he bargains with Sobakevich just as relentlessly as Sobakevich with him, Plyushkin conquers with his "generosity".
So, we get to know the hero enough before we read his biography. (Recall that this is the second hero who has a biography!)
5. Why does Gogol's hero burn out every now and then, why do his scams, which at first elevate him so upward, fail every time? Why did Chichikov fail in the bargain with Nozdryov?
Let's get acquainted with a fragment of the article by P. Weil and A. Genis “Russian God. Chichikov": "The rogue Chichikov turns out to be too simple-hearted to cheat Nozdryov, or Korobochka, or his partner-accomplice from customs. He didn't even bother to come up with a plausible legend to explain the purchase of dead souls.
A small man with small passions (by the way, this is what Leo Tolstoy said about Napoleon), Chichikov knows only one goal - money. But even here he is not consistent enough. He stays in the city after the registration of the bill of sale, falls in love with the governor's daughter.
All because Chichikov is actually not so much looking for capital, not so much waiting for the fulfillment of his insidious plans, as he hopes to enter human life - to find friends, love, warmth ... "
What do you agree with and what not?
6. What interested Gogol in Chichikovo, why did he make him a hero? (Recall that the time in which Gogol's work was created was the first third of the 19th century, when the tsarist government, having dealt with the Decembrists, intensively created a bureaucratic apparatus, when the assertive Chichikovs, capable of making money from anything, went uphill.
But the writer is not interested in a simple "scoundrel". He draws a person whose positive inclinations have acquired a negative direction. The writer reproduces in detail the "formation of the soul" of his hero: in the conditions in which he grew up, learned his father's philosophy, nothing else could happen. And it turned out not a soul, but a chest with papers, money and other good things.
Gogol is trying to understand the character of Chichikov: for this, he gives the only character a life story in all details. But how to do this, if even the appearance of the hero is difficult to grasp?
“Not handsome, but not bad-looking”, “not too fat, not too thin”, “one cannot say that he is old, but not so much that he is too young”, and so on. In everything, moderation, the middle, impersonality, that which excludes human passions, the movement of the soul, but leaves room for the "penny".)
7. What shaped the character of the hero? What stages of development did Chichikov go through?
8. Checking an individual task - a message on the topic “The image of Chichikov” (on card 54).
9. Did Gogol see the force that would bring salvation to Russia? (No, I didn’t see it, hence his anxious questions: “Rus, where are you rushing to? Give me an answer ... It doesn’t give an answer!” He embodied his anxious thoughts in the image of a troika bird, which rushes to no one knows where.)
II. Teacher's word.
I. Zolotussky writes about the finale: “The comic journey ends tragically, and tragedy permeates the final lines of Dead Souls about a trio flying into the unknown. For the time being, it seems to be flying crazy, no matter where it flies, and Gogol enjoys its very flight, a whirlwind of movement, but the question "why?" yet is not drowned out by this dust-raising whirlwind. And just in time she comes across a courier on the road ...
Gogol remembers who is riding in the chaise, and where he is going, and where the road lies. This is not the end, but the beginning of it, and the apotheosis of “fast driving” is not the answer to the question: “Where is the exit? Where is the road?
Before this ending, Chichikov falls asleep, reassured by his successful escape from the city, and as if in a dream he sees his own childhood - the author himself tells about it ...
It is this story about Chichikov's childhood that then gives a boost to his trio, picks them up as if on wings and carries them to the unknown 2nd volume.
In this passage, the contrast is especially felt - immense Rus' and the "state carriage" - a symbol of a soulless, terrible state power.
III. Homework.
1. Think about why Gogol called "Dead Souls" a poem.
2. Mark the most striking lyrical digressions in the text of the poem (chapters V (digression about the aptly spoken Russian word), VII (about two types of writers; about barge haulers), XI (about the trio bird, about the road, about Rus' and its heroes, about choosing a hero.) What artistic function do they perform?
3. Individual task - to prepare a message on the topic: "What does Gogol's image of the road mean?" (on card 55).
Card 55
What does Gogol's image of the road mean? 1
The image of the road arises from the first pages of the poem. The poem ends with the way of the road.
But what a huge difference between the first and last image of the road! At the beginning of the poem, this is the road of one person, a certain character - Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. In the end, this is the road of the whole state, Russia, and even more - the road of all mankind, on which Russia overtakes "other peoples."
This is a metaphorical, allegorical image, personifying the gradual course of all human history.
These two values are like two extreme milestones. Between them are many other meanings - both direct and metaphorical, forming a complex and unified Gogol's image of the road.
The transition from one meaning to another - concrete to metaphorical - most often occurs imperceptibly. Here is Chichikov's father taking the boy to the city; a piebald horse, known among horse dealers under the name of Magpie, wanders through Russian villages for a day or two, enters a city street ... The father, having identified the boy in a city school, "the next day got out on the road" - home. Chichikov begins his independent life. “... For all that, his path was difficult,” the narrator notes. One meaning of the image - quite specific, "material" is imperceptibly replaced by another, metaphorical (the road as a way of life).
Chichikov leaves town N. “And again, on both sides of the high road, versts, stationmasters, wells, carts, gray villages with samovars, women and a lively bearded owner ... a pedestrian in worn bast shoes, trudging for 800 versts, towns lined up alive ... ", etc. Then follows the author's famous appeal to Russia: "Rus! Rus! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful far away I see you ... "
The transition from the specific to the general is still smooth, almost imperceptible. The road along which Chichikov travels, endlessly lengthening, gives rise to the idea of all of Rus'. Here you can’t even say that one specific image turns into another, metaphorical one. It’s just that the scale is increasing in front of us: the space that the Chichikov’s trio crosses, infinitely expanding, passes into the space of the whole country, and this gives rise to the author’s inspired monologue about Rus': “... And the mighty space menacingly embraces me...”
The well-known Russian scientist, literary theorist A. Potebnya found this place "brilliant". Potebnya was struck by "how the cold reality unexpectedly cuts off a carried thought"; I was struck by the harshness "with which the opposition of an inspired dream and a sobering reality is exposed."
And indeed: the sharpness of the transition is brought by Gogol to its highest point. There are no phrases that prepare the transition, there are no explanations of the narrator, say, of this kind: "But let's return to our hero ..." or "At this time, this and that happened to our hero." It’s just that one plan is “pushed” into another: the rough scolding of Chichikov and the courier he met breaks into the inspired speech of the poet - and we, as if falling from heaven to earth, see in front of us not the fabulously unfamiliar space of Russia, but a specific road, the one along which the Chichikov troika rides ...
But then, just as unexpectedly, this picture gives way to another: as if Chichikov, and his britzka, and the courier galloping towards him were just a fleeting vision.
And it is no longer Chichikov who admires the road, it is not he who wraps himself more tightly in his travel overcoat, nestles closer and more comfortably in the corner of the carriage. He is not dozing, pressing his neighbor to the corner (Chichikov, after all, we remember, was alone in the carriage: Petrushka and Selifan were sitting on the box.) It is not Chichikov who admires the coming night with inspiration. “A night! heavenly powers! what a night is made in the sky!”
Who is this character? It seems that the one who delivered a deeply inspirational speech about Rus', in a word, is none other than the author. But here's what's interesting: changing the characters, changing the tone of the story - prosaic, with vernacular remarks, to inspired, sublimely poetic - this time Gogol did not change the character of the central image - the image of the road. The image of the road has not become metaphorical - before us is one of the countless roads of the Russian expanses, similar to that particular road along which Chichikov's britzka rushes.
Gogol in "Dead Souls" develops the metaphorical image of the road as "human life" and at the same time finds his own original interpretation of the image.
At the beginning of Chapter VI, the narrator recalls how, in his younger years, he was worried about meeting with any unfamiliar place, with new people.
Now it's different. “Now I indifferently drive up to any unfamiliar village and indifferently look at its vulgar appearance ...” Here we are talking about irretrievable losses on the “road of life”, where something very important, significant is lost.
LESSON 77
LIVING SOULS IN GOGOL'S POEM.
(IMAGE OF THE PEOPLE.)
THE UNITY OF THE EPIC AND
LYRICAL IN A POEM.
MOTIVE OF THE ROAD
Rus! Rus! I see you from my miracle
I see you far, beautiful, far away ...
N. Gogol
DURING THE CLASSES
I. Teacher's lecture with elements of a conversation, which is accompanied by a commentary reading of the pages of the poem.
The object of the image of "Dead Souls" is the whole of Rus' as a whole. Gogol tried to explain his stay away from his homeland, the image of Rus' from a “beautiful far away” with the goal of a single gaze coverage of all Rus', as if from a bird’s eye view: “That is why I can write about Russia only in Rome. Only there it appears to me all, in all its bulk. (Letter to Pletnev dated March 17, 1842)
For Gogol, Rus' is Chichikov, and Sobakevich, and Plyushkin, and the governor, and the Russian poet, author of the poem, and Abakum Fyrov, the former serf of Sobakevich, and many nameless people from the people who fanned the poem with the spirit of folk wisdom.
The reader passes through a society of all strata, all major groups of the population, however, the image of the nobles and landowners, the masters of the country in the city and in the countryside, significantly prevails in this single and colorful picture. Landowners and officials are brought to the fore by Gogol because his book is an indictment, and the accusation falls precisely on them, the owners of the country, those who are responsible for its condition.
We have seen that all of them, without exception, are vulgar and useless. There is not a shadow of goodness, not a single bright thought, not a single human feeling in them. This is the world of evil.
But in "Dead Souls" there are not only gentlemen, but also subjects of these gentlemen, the working Russian people.
And if the gentlemen are evaluated unambiguously, then the generalized image of the people is given in two contrasting evaluation plans. On the one hand, we see Gogol's humor in paintings depicting clumsy peasants. On the other hand, peasant Rus' is illuminated by the light of Gogol's sympathy.
1. I chapter. Reading the scene with "two Russian peasants" discussing the strength of the Chichikov wheel.
What feelings do these characters evoke in the reader? (On the one hand - comic, on the other - from their words it breathes "the idiocy of rural savagery.")
In the future, this theme of the "idiocy" of slavery, a downtrodden, disenfranchised, hopeless existence will surface more than once in the poem.
2. Give examples of "idiocy" to which lack of rights leads. (This is Petrushka with his strange way of reading books; this is partly Selifan and his conversations with horses (whom should he talk to if not with horses!). True, Chichikov’s servants are also characterized by that secrecy of the peasants, which manifests itself then when the gentlemen try to get something out of them, then they only pretend to be fools.)
Try to explain why Chichikov's servants are called Selifan and Petrushka. (The characterization of Manilov uses the name Selifan - “neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan,” and therefore the following explanation is possible: Chichikov’s Selifan’s reasoning about friendship with a “subtle friend” resembles Manilov’s verbiage.
Andrei Bely considered Petrushka to be Chichikov's double. Parsley is a farce doll, unable to think, so this hero does not figure out the meaning of what he read, but is interested in the process of reading.)
“The idiocy of village life” emanates from the explanation of the peasant, “who was smarter”, about Manilovka and Zamanilovka, and from the magnificent scene at the beginning of Chapter X, when a whole crowd of peasants cannot budge the carriages of Chichikov and the governor’s daughter - reading the scene with uncle We also miss Uncle Mitya.
4. What is the role of the scene with Uncle Minyay and Uncle Mityai? (This scene reinforces the image of the inertia of the peasants in the poem, their stupidity and fussiness are given by Gogol in contrast to the "dead" souls - the people from Sobakevich's story.)
But the squalor of peasant life for Gogol is an accusation not to the people, but to the masters and the way of society, which brought the people to "idiocy".
Landowners and officials are portrayed by Gogol satirically, peasants - with good-natured and sad humor.
Often Gogol's story about the life of the people is accompanied by landscape sketches. Russian nature, as it were, lives, creates and suffers together with the people, and the landlords have little to do with it.
5. Let's find confirmation of this idea. (Chapter II. After the bustle of the city, a sad, but sweet soul of the poet, dear, tearing heart, longing for a different fate for her, rural Rus' appears (reading from the words: “The city had barely gone back, as we already went to write nonsense and game according to our custom ...")
Further, in the same sad tone, the village of Manilov is drawn ... “There were villages stretched out along the string ... Several peasants, as usual, yawned, sitting on benches in front of the gate in their sheepskin coats ... In a word, the views are famous ...” Here he, the real people's world.
But does Chichikov see him? Why does he need to see this world when he thinks about the dead, about quick profit?)
6. The themes of the people and Russian nature are permeated with the highest lyrical pathos, for example, in Chapter XI. (Reading from the words: "Rus! Rus! I see you...")
About the simple Russian people, Gogol speaks with love and pain: let us remember the girl Pelageya, showing Chichikov the way from Korobochka; the child does not distinguish where the right and left sides are. But with what sincerity Gogol narrates about it! “Chichikov gave her a copper penny, and she wandered off, already contented that she had sat on the goats.”
7. Gogol's love for the people is also manifested in the ending of Chapter V, which speaks of Russian folk speech - reading from the words: "The Russian people express themselves strongly ..."
The ideological axis of the entire poem is Chichikov's reflection on the dead souls he bought. “Of course,” G. Gukovsky writes, “these are Gogol’s thoughts (not the only time in the book).”
It is also important that this reflection immediately follows the famous introduction to Chapter VII, in which Gogol speaks of his vocation to be a poet of harsh truth, that is, he sets out the central idea of his creative program.
In the imagination of Chichikov, Gogol and readers, skimming through the list of purchased "souls", a whole gallery of images of peasant Rus' arises. Gogol notes that his hero was seized by "some strange, incomprehensible feeling to himself."
But this is not Chichikov! This is again the voice of the author! There are lines in the drafts for Chapter VII: “But it does not hurt to notify the reader that it was not Chichikov who was dreaming. The author himself got himself somewhat mixed up here and, as very often happens, not at all inopportunely. Chichikov, on the contrary, thought this: "And yet, this remark is not in the final text!
Chichikov is incapable of dreaming at all. He can dream, but only in business terms. By the way, before the hero had time to mark himself, he saw Elizaveta Sparrow in the list of Sobakevich's peasants and crossed her out (“Fu-you abyss: a woman! How did she get in here? Scoundrel, Sobakevich, and cheated here!”) - here Chichikov is real.
Then the name of Abakum Fyrov came across. "You, brother, what? Where, in what places do you wander? Did you get carried away to the Volga and fell in love with the free life, having attached yourself to barge haulers? .. ”- Here Chichikov stopped and thought a little. What was he thinking about? Did he think about the fate of Abakum Fyrov, or did he think in such a way, by himself, as every Russian thinks ... when he thinks about the revelry of a wide life?
In contrast to the vulgar and vile people of the "dead" world of masters, we have living, simple people, albeit ruined by their dashing lot.
8. Reading a fragment of Chapter VII from the words: “Looking at their names for a long time, he was touched by the spirit and, sighing, said ...” to the words: “There you will work hard, barge haulers! ..”
What feelings are colored by this meditation? (The writer's voice sounds epic in this scene. In the fact that the reflection ends with a picture of the mighty fun of labor, "the revelry of a wide life", one senses hope for a better lot for the people.)
However, the general idea did not allow the writer to develop the theme of the people. Only reduced images could be included in the system of persons participating in the plot. The reproaches against Gogol that he laughed at the people are unfair.
By the end of the poem, more and more often there is a conversation about rebellion on its pages, for example, in the arguments of city officials about how Chichikov will resettle his peasants in the Kherson province and there would be no rebellion. The comic of this episode is that there is no one to pacify, as well as to relocate.
There is an episode in the poem about a riot of living peasants who killed the assessor Drobyazhkin. But the theme of rebellion has the strongest sound in The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.
It was restless in the feudal state, and Gogol showed this in a poem. He expressed his dream about the hero in a wonderful lyrical reflection “Rus, Rus! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful far away I see you ... "
Gogol wrote: "Pushkin found that the plot of "Dead Souls" is good for me because it gives me complete freedom to travel all over Russia with the hero and bring out a lot of the most diverse characters."
This means that there are two travelers and two roads in the poem: for Chichikov rushes along Russian roads with the thought of buying dead souls; the author has his own, lofty thoughts about Russia.
II. Checking the individual task - a message on the topic: "What does Gogol's image of the road mean?" (on card 55).
In the course of the message, students can write out the main meanings of the image of the road in the poem.
III. Homework.
Prepare an expressive reading of the most liked passage of the poem "Dead Souls" with comments.
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"Gogol's poem Dead Souls" - Gogol conceived a great work similar to Dante's "Divine Comedy". The beginning of work on the poem - 1835. N.V. Gogol. What kind of Russia appears before us? 1) What are the opinions of officials and landlords about Chichikov and why? Paris - Germany - Rome - Jerusalem - Russia. Lesson objectives: F. Moller. Work in groups: 1) Follow the route of P.I. Chichikov around the city.
"Characteristics of the poem" Dead Souls "" - Gogol's greatest work. The history of the idea of the poem and its implementation. Maria Ivanovna Kosyarovskaya. Glory. Dead Souls. Manilov. Chichikov. Box. Departure from Paris. The characters of the poem. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. First literary experience. Chichikov's arrival in the provincial town. Gymnasium in Nezhino. Gogol's letter.
"Plyushkin in "Dead Souls"" - The features of manic stinginess are combined in Plyushkin with painful suspicion and distrust of people. Plyushkin is an image of a moldy cracker left over from the Easter cake. Among the "dead inhabitants, terrible with the motionless cold of their souls and the emptiness of their hearts." The image of Plyushkin completes the gallery of provincial landowners.
"The history of the creation of" Dead Souls "" - An image of the life of Russian landowners. Gogol intended to make the poem three volumes. Not everything is dead in this realm yet. Plushkin. Dead Souls is Gogol's greatest work. Image of the Motherland N.V. Gogol portrayed realistically. On March 9, 1842, the book was allowed by the censor. Box. Gallery of landlords in the poem.
"Poem Dead Souls" - Nozdrev. Scam propensity. Trickiness (petty stinginess). tight-fistedness. Gogol's letter to V.A. Zhukovsky. Adventurism. Clubhead. Plushkin. The story of the life fate of the hero of the poem - Chichikov. Sobakevich. Destroyer and destroyer of the economy. The scam had strong legal and economic grounds.
"The work" Dead Souls "" - A quiz based on the works of N. V. Gogol. Entering the artistic world of "Dead Souls", you will see all of Rus'. Base scheme. Periods of life at the time of work on "Dead Souls". Memories of N.V. Gogol. The construction of the poem "Dead Souls". How terrible is our Russia. What is N.V. Gogol, known to you. “Blessed is the gentle poet…” N. Nekrasov.
Chapter 1
At the gates of the hotel in the provincial city of NN, a small spring-loaded chaise, in which bachelors ride, drove in. 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 it is not so that he is too young. His entry made no noise in the city; only two peasants, standing at the door of the tavern, argued whether the wheel of the britzka could reach Moscow or not.
The gentleman rented a room in a hotel "with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners." Along with the gentleman came the footman Petrushka, "a fellow about thirty," and the coachman Selifan, "a short man in a sheepskin coat." While the servants were unpacking things, the newcomer went to the common room, ordered dinner and began to ask the sex officer about the officials of the city, but he was even more interested in the significant landowners of the region.
The visiting gentleman was collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. He spent the next day visiting city dignitaries, from the governor to the city architect.
Chichikov knew how to flatter everyone: he told the governor that the roads in the city were velvet, and so on. The consequence of this was that the governor invited Chichikov to his house party, and other officials to tea with him. The visitor spoke very little about himself and in general terms; said that he was looking for a place to live, and when he arrived in this city, he decided to pay respect to city officials.
In the evening Chichikov came to the governor's ball. “Black tailcoats flickered and were worn apart and in heaps, like flies on a white shining refined sugar during the hot July summer.”
Men at the ball, as elsewhere, were divided into two types: thin and thick; Chichikov also belonged to the latter. “Alas! Fat people know how to handle their affairs better in this world than thin ones. The thin ones serve more on special assignments or are only registered and wag hither and thither; their existence is somehow too easy, airy and not at all reliable. Fat people never occupy indirect places, but all direct ones, and if they sit anywhere, they will sit securely and firmly.
At the ball, Chichikov met the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich - and first of all he asked how many souls of peasants they had. The landowners invited him to visit their Villages. For the next few days, Chichikov went to visit city officials and established himself as a decent person.
Chapter 2
After a week in the city, Chichikov decided to visit the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. Further, the author speaks about the servants of Chichikov. The footman Petrushka was of a taciturn nature, he loved reading as such - it was all the same to him what to read - the adventures of a hero in love or a prayer book. In addition, Petrushka had two more distinguishing features: to sleep without undressing and always carry with him some special smell of his own, reeking of a somewhat residential peace.
Chichikov was the first to visit the Manilov estate. Manilov's house stood alone on a hill, open to all winds, next to it was a gazebo with the inscription "Temple of Solitary Reflection." Manilov, seeing the guest, kissed him and led him into the house.
"God alone could tell what kind of character Manilov was." They say about such people: neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan nor in the village of Selifan. “His features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness, it seemed, was too much transferred to sugar; in his manners and turns there was something ingratiating himself with location and acquaintance. Manilov was thinking all the time and thinking about something incomprehensibly, but he was not at all involved in housekeeping. Sometimes he said that it would be nice to build an underground passage from the house, but his searchlights remained searchlights. In his office for two years lay a book, pawned on the fourteenth page. With his wife, they lived happily: they put delicacies in each other's mouths and kissed languidly and for a long time. The sons of Manilov had wonderful names: Themistokmos and Alkid.
Finally, Chichikov tells the owner the purpose of his visit. Chichikov asks Manilov for a detailed register of peasants who died after the last census (revision tales) and asks him to sell dead souls to him. According to the documents, these peasants are listed as living, since since then there have been no more censuses, and the landowner must pay taxes for them. Bewildered, Manilov sits with his mouth open for several minutes. Chichikov reassures him that a deed of sale will be issued for dead souls, that is, it will turn out that living peasants were bought, as it is written in the revision tale.
Manilov refuses money, gives the guest dead souls 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 rewards both of them with the rank of general for such a strong friendship.
Chapter 3
Chichikov left Manilov in a very good mood. Selifan, talking to the dappled horse, got distracted from the road and turned completely the wrong way. Moreover, the cart completely left the road and drove across a plowed field, to top it all off, it turned over, and Chichikov fell out into the mud.
Already at night, the britzka arrives in some village, this is the estate of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka. She was “an elderly woman, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry for crop failures, losses, and meanwhile gain a little money in colorful bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers.” I must say that Korobochka is very thrifty.
The landowner gave Chichikov a separate room for the night and ordered the feather bed to be fluffed up to the ceiling. The next morning, the guest woke up quite late, his cleaned dress was already lying next to him. Going to the window, Chichikov saw that the whole yard was filled with poultry and cattle. Peasant huts showed the contentment of the inhabitants: the worn-out fence on the roofs was replaced with a new one, the gates did not squint anywhere.
Then Chichikov entered the mistress's room. In his treatment of her, unlike his treatment of Manilov, he did not stand on ceremony. Chichikov immediately turns the conversation to Korobochka's estate, asks how many peasants have died, and asks to sell them to him. Korobochka can’t understand Chichikov’s words in any way, doesn’t understand how you can buy dead people, and, moreover, is afraid to sell cheap: “she saw that the deal was exactly, as if profitable, but only too new and unprecedented, and therefore she began to be very afraid that this buyer would somehow cheat on her. In the end, Chichikov completely loses his patience with the stupidity of the landowner and in his hearts calls her "strong-headed", "cudgel-headed", "damned old woman." To top it off, Korobochka declares: “I’d better wait a little, maybe merchants will come in large numbers, but I’ll apply to prices.” Chichikov manages to convince the hostess to make a bill of sale fortress only after promising to buy honey and hemp from her later. The box, in joy, treats Chichikov well, and then he leaves.
Chapter 4
On the way, Chichikov enters a tavern to refresh himself. It turns out that the hostess of the tavern knows both Manilov and Sobakevich. According to her, “Manilov is more delicate than Sobakevich: he orders the chicken to be cooked immediately, he also asks for veal; if there is lamb's liver, then he will ask for lamb's liver, and he will just try everything, and Sobakevich will ask one thing, but he will eat everything, and even demand a surcharge for the same price.
The landowner Nozdryov, whom Chichikov met at a dinner with the prosecutor, enters the tavern with his son-in-law. Nozdryov “was of medium height, a very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, and sideburns as black as pitch. He was fresh as blood and milk; health seemed to spurt from his face. Nozdryov joyfully informs Chichikov that he was with his son-in-law at the fair, where he lost all his money, things, he "lost" his four trotters.
Nozdryov immediately addresses Chichikov as “you”, calls him “svintus”, “cattle breeder” because he did not visit his estate. Nozdryov does not even want to listen to Chichikov's objections and takes him to his village, but he calls Sobakevich a "Zhidomor".
People like Nozdryov are called "broken fellows." From childhood, they are known as good comrades and, for all that, they are very painfully beaten. Something open, direct, daring is always visible in their faces. Friendship will lead, it seems, forever; but it almost always happens that a friend will fight them that same evening at a friendly feast. They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, prominent people. Nozdryov at thirty-five was just as perfect as he had been at eighteen or twenty: a go-getter. His marriage did not change him at all, especially since his wife soon departed for the next world, leaving two children, who he definitely did not need. He could not sit at home for more than a day. His sensitive nose could hear him for several tens of miles, where there was a fair with all sorts of congresses and balls. With cards, for which he had a passion, he did not play quite sinlessly and cleanly, and therefore the game very often ended in another game; either they beat him with boots, or they overexposed his thick and very good sideburns, so that he sometimes returned home with only one sideburn, and then rather thin ... And what is the strangest thing that can happen only in Russia alone, he time already met again with those friends who beat him, and met as if nothing had happened.
Nozdryov was a master of lying completely unnecessarily: “suddenly he will tell that he had a horse of some blue or pink color, and similar nonsense, so that everyone listening finally leaves, saying:“ Well, brother, it seems you have already started bullets pour."
Nozdryov also had another peculiarity: “the closer someone got along with him, he was more likely to piss everyone off: spread a fable, more stupid than which it is difficult to invent, upset the wedding; on the contrary, if chance brought him to meet with you again, he treated you again in a friendly way.
“Nozdryov was in many respects a versatile person, that is, a man of all trades. At that very moment, he offered you to go anywhere, even to the ends of the world, to enter into any enterprise you want, to change everything that is for everything you want. A gun, a dog, a horse - everything was the subject of an exchange, but not at all in order to win: it happened simply from some kind of restless briskness and glibness of character.
In Nozdryov's house there was no preparation for receiving guests: in the middle of the dining room, peasants stood on goats and whitewashed the walls. Nozdryov immediately dragged Chichikov to inspect his stables, mill, and kennel. Nozdryov had dogs of all colors and colors, “there were all nicknames, ijce imperative moods: shoot, scold, flutter, bake, bake. Nozdryov was among them just like a father among a family.
Finally, Nozdryov dragged Chichikov across the field to inspect the border of his estate: the border consisted of a wooden post and a narrow ditch. For about five o'clock the host had seated the guests at the table. “Dinner, apparently, was not the main thing in Nozdryov’s life; dishes did not play a big role: something burned, something
didn't fit at all." Chichikov proceeds to business negotiations and asks to sell him dead souls. Nozdryov agrees to give Chichikov non-existent peasants, but at the same time he tries to sell him a stallion, a dog, and a hurdy-gurdy as a load. Chichikov does not agree, then Nozdryov orders the servants not to give the guest's horses oats.
The next morning, Nozdryov invites Chichikov to play checkers for dead souls. Chichikov plays checkers well, and therefore agrees. Nozdryov cheats during the game. Chichikov accuses him of cheating and stops the game. Nozdryov is offended, calls the servants and orders to beat the guest. Chichikov's soul hid in the very heels, but he is saved by the fact that a cart drives into the yard. It was the police captain who came to inform Nozdryov that he was on trial for whipping the landowner Maksimov with rods in a drunken state. Chichikov, taking advantage of the moment, slipped out onto the porch, got into the britzka, and ordered Selifan to drive the horses at full speed.
Chapter 5
Through the fault of Selifan, Chichikov's britzka collides with a carriage drawn by six horses. The two teams are completely mixed up; peasants from a neighboring village gathered to watch this event, only interfering with the coachmen with useless advice. In the carriage sat an old woman and a sixteen-year-old girl, "with golden hair, very deftly and nicely smoothed on a small head." Chichikov was completely fascinated by the stranger, he tried to talk to her, but somehow unsuccessfully. Finally, the horses were separated, and the ladies left.
The village of Sobakevich was quite large. The master's yard was surrounded by "a strong and excessively thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be fussing a lot about strength. For stables, sheds and kitchens, full-weight and thick logs were used, determined to stand for centuries. In a word, everything Chichikov looked at was stubbornly, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order.
Sobakevich looked like a "medium-sized bear." “To complete the resemblance, the tailcoat on him was completely bearish in color, the sleeves were long, the pantaloons were long, he stepped with his feet and at random and stepped on other people's legs incessantly. The complexion was red-hot, hot, which happens on a copper penny. Sobakevich did not turn his neck at all and, due to such a lack of turn, rarely looked at the one with whom he spoke, but always either at the corner of the stove or at the door. Chichikov glanced sideways at him once more as they passed through the dining room: a bear! The perfect bear! Such a strange rapprochement is needed: he was even called Mikhail Semyonovich. The paintings in the living room were of Greek generals. “All these heroes were with such thick thighs and unheard-of mustaches that a shiver passed through the body. The owner, being a healthy and strong man himself, seemed to want strong and healthy people to decorate his room too.
Every object in the room bore a strange resemblance to the owner of the house; in the corner of the living room stood a pot-bellied walnut office on absurd four legs, a perfect bear. The table, armchairs, chairs—everything was of the most heaviest and restless quality—in a word, every object, every chair seemed to say: “And I, too, Sobakevich!” or: “And I also look a lot like Sobakevich!”
For five whole minutes Chichikov and Sobakevich and their wife sat in silence. Finally, Chichikov, in order to talk about something, began to praise the officials of the city. Sobakevich, on the other hand, completely puzzled him with a statement: “These are all scammers, the whole city is like that: a swindler sits on a swindler and drives a swindler. All Christ sellers. There is only one decent person there: the prosecutor; and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig.” Lunch at Sobakevich's was even too satisfying. The owner adheres to the following rule: “When I have pork - put the whole pig on the table, lamb - bring the whole ram! I'd rather eat two dishes, but eat in moderation, as my soul requires. Sobakevich confirmed this with a deed: he tipped half a lamb side onto his plate, ate it all, gnawed it, and sucked it down to the last bone.
Left alone with Sobakevich, Chichikov told him the purpose of his visit. Sobakevich immediately expressed a desire to sell the dead peasants for a hundred rubles apiece. Chichikov opened his mouth in surprise. Sobakevich justified such a high price by the fact that his peasants "have everything for selection", and not some kind of rubbish. The carriage maker Mikheev, the carpenter Stepan Cork, the brick maker Milushkin, the shoemaker Maxim Telyatnikov were once famous throughout the district. Chichikov, on the other hand, says that this is of no use, because these peasants have died. After a lengthy auction, Sobakevich sells dead souls for two and a half rubles apiece.
Chichikov left, very dissatisfied with Sobakevich's behavior, and thought to himself: "I tore two and a half for a dead soul, damn fist!" From Sobakevich, Chichikov learns that the rich landowner Plyushkin lives nearby, and goes to him.
Chapter 6
The huts in the village of Plyushkin were very dilapidated: the logs in the huts were dark and old, the roofs blew through like a sieve, the windows were without glass. Behind the huts stood huge stacks of master's bread, they were laid a very long time ago, all sorts of rubbish grew on their top. The master's house was unreasonably long and looked like a "decrepit invalid." Almost all the windows in it were boarded up, the plaster grating was exposed on the walls. Behind the house stretched an overgrown and decayed garden. Everything indicated that once there was a vast farm here, but now there was nothing to enliven the picture - “no doors opening, no people coming out from somewhere, no lively troubles and worries at home!” Chichikov noticed "some figure" in the yard, quarreling with a peasant. It was impossible to understand whether it was a woman or a man. “The dress on her was completely indefinite, very similar to a woman’s hood, on her head was a cap, which village yard women wear, only one voice seemed to him somewhat hoarse for a woman.” Keys hung on the figure’s belt, and therefore Chichikov decided that this was a woman, and turned to her with the words: “Listen, mother, what is the master? He said that he had business with the master, and the housekeeper told him to go into the house.
Cold air blew from the dark passage, as from a cellar, but the room was in complete disarray. It seemed that all the furniture of the house had been piled up here, while the bureau was littered with all sorts of things: there were written papers, a glass of liquid in which flies swam. In the corner of the room there was a heap of things that were coarser and unworthy to lie on the tables. It was impossible to understand what was in the heap, as it was covered with a thick layer of dust; “More noticeably than anything else, a piece of a wooden shovel and an old boot sole protruded from there.”
The housekeeper entered the room, and, as it turned out, it was the master. Chichikov was struck by this news. Plyushkin's face was the same as that of many thin old men, only his chin protruded far forward, so that Plyushkin had to cover it with a handkerchief each time so as not to spit; the little eyes had not yet gone out and were running from under high-growing eyebrows like mice.
Plyushkin's outfit was much more remarkable: “no effort could have been used to get to the bottom of what his dressing gown was concocted from: the sleeves and upper floors were so greasy and shiny that they looked like yuft, which is used for boots; behind, instead of two, four canopies dangled, from which cotton paper climbed in flakes. Around his neck, he was also tied with something that could not be made out: whether it was a stocking, a garter, or an underbelly, but not a tie. If Chichikov had met this man at the church doors, he would have given him a copper penny. But he was not a beggar, but a rich landowner! He had more than a thousand peasants, all the barns and pantries were littered with canvases, grain, dried fish, household utensils. But even this was not enough for Plyushkin: every day he walked around the village and collected everything in a row: old soles, women's rags, nails, shards - then all this fell into a pile that Chichikov saw.
But once Plyushkin was a good owner, had a family, saw his neighbors. The economy worked well under his watchful eye, Plyushkin's speech was imbued with experience and knowledge of the world. But Plyushkin's wife died, and some of the petty worries passed to him.
Plyushkin became more restless, more suspicious and stingier. The eldest daughter ran away with the staff captain, and they got married in the village church. The father sent a curse after his daughter. The house became even emptier, stinginess became more noticeable in the owner. The son, without asking his father, decided to join the regiment, but Plyushkin did not give him money for uniforms. Plyushkin's youngest daughter died, and he was left all alone in the house. “Lonely life has given nourishing food to stinginess, which, as you know, has a wolfish hunger - and the more it devours, the more insatiable it becomes; human feelings, which were already not deep in him, grew shallow every minute, and every day something was lost in this worn-out ruin.
Plyushkin's son lost at cards, and Plyushkin sent him his father's curse and was never interested in him again. Buyers stopped coming to the estate, as the owner was too stingy. Plyushkin's bread and hay turned into manure, flour into stone, canvases into dust. Income was collected on the farm as before, the dues assigned to the peasants did not decrease. “All this fell into the pantries, and everything became rotten and a hole, and he himself finally turned into some kind of hole in humanity.” The eldest daughter once came to Plyushkin with her son, but did not receive money from her father.
Plyushkin began to complain to Chichikov about his poverty, constant chores, and he said that he was ready to alleviate his situation - to buy dead souls from him and pay taxes for them. Plyushkin, to celebrate, even gave the guest tea with moldy crackers. Chichikov returned to the hotel room in the most cheerful mood, as he had acquired more than one hundred and twenty souls from Plyushkin.
Chapter 7
The author says that he portrays life not as beautiful, but as it really is. He shows "all the terrible, amazing mire of trifles that have entangled our lives, the whole depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters that our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring road is teeming with." And for a long time he still has to go hand in hand “with his strange heroes, look around at the whole tremendously rushing life, look at it through laughter visible to the world and invisible, unknown to him tears!”
On the morning of the next day, Chichikov began to look through the lists of the purchased peasants. It turned out that he now had four hundred souls! Reading the names of the peasants - Pyotr Savelyev Disrespect-Koryto, Maxim Telyatnikov and others - he thought about their difficult fate. Imagine Chichikov's surprise when he saw a woman's name in the list of Sobakevich's peasants: Elizaveta Sparrow. "Scoundrel Sobakevich, and here he cheated!"
Chichikov went to the chamber of judges to see the chairman in order to make a bill of sale, where he met Manilov and Sobakevich. Chichikov went from one official to another for a very long time, until he gave a bribe. After making the fortress, the landowners went to the chairman’s house to “splash the purchase”, Chichikov said that he was buying peasants for export to the Kherson province, he even believed it himself. The evening passed very cheerfully, they drank to Chichikov, to the bride they wanted to find him in the city.
Chapter 8
Chichikov's purchases became the subject of conversation in the city, he was considered a millionaire. All the residents “heartily loved” Chichikov, literally carried him in their arms. And he made a wonderful impression on the ladies.
Chichikov received an invitation to the governor's ball. There he was in the center of everyone's attention, spreading joy and fun to those around him; he constantly felt in someone's arms. The ladies immediately surrounded Chichikov and occupied him with their conversations, “sprinkling a bunch of the most intricate and subtle allegories that everyone had to unravel, which even made sweat on his forehead.” And suddenly Chichikov seemed to be stunned by a blow; next to the governor, he saw the same blonde whom he had met on the road, driving from Nozdryov. She turned out to be the governor's daughter, just "released from the institute." Chichikov immediately switched his attention to the blonde, began to engage her in conversations, she yawned during his stories. Chichikov no longer approached the other ladies, not noticing obvious signs of attention on their part. The ladies could not forgive anyone for this - and Chichikov acquired an enemy in their face.
At this time, a most unpleasant surprise happened: Nozdryov entered the hall and announced that Chichikov was buying up dead souls. No one paid much attention to Nozdryov's words, since he always lied, while Chichikov spent the evening in the most unpleasant state of mind.
At this time, at the other end of the city, "an event was taking place that was preparing to increase the hero's unpleasantness." The landowner Korobochka drove into the city in a britzka that looked like a “thick-cheeked convex watermelon put on wheels”. After Chichikov's departure, she did not sleep for three nights, worrying that she had sold cheap with dead souls. Finally, she decided to go to the city to find out their true value.
Chapter 9
The next morning, a lady from the city of NN came to her friend with the latest news: the landowner Korobochka announced that Chichikov had bought dead souls from her.
It is not clear why, but the ladies decided that this case was invented by Chichikov only as a cover, his plan was to kidnap the governor's daughter. Both ladies became so entrenched in this idea that they spread it throughout the city. This news revolted the whole city. “Everyone, like a ram, stopped with bulging eyes. Dead souls, the governor's daughter and Chichikov got mixed up and mixed up in the minds of the inhabitants in an unusually strange way. The porridge was brewed, and the reason was that the city of NN had not received any news for a long time. There was news that Chichikov had left his wife and met with the governor's daughter in the moonlight; The story gets better every day. All officials were frightened by the news of the purchase of dead souls, they thought God knows what. “All of a sudden they found in themselves such sins that they didn’t even exist.”
At this time, a paper came to the governor with the news of a robber who had fled from persecution. This completely baffled the officials. To understand all this information, the officials decided to meet with the chief of police.
Chapter 10
All officials lost weight from the fears they experienced, only the postmaster retained his presence of mind. At the meeting, the postmaster announced that Chichikov was Captain Kopeikin, and told the audience the following story:
The Tale of Captain Kopeikin
After the campaign of the twelfth year, along with the wounded, Captain Kopeikin was also sent, whose arm and leg were torn off. At that time, no statements were made about the wounded, and the captain found himself in a hopeless situation: he could not work and there was nothing to eat. And the captain came to Petersburg to ask the sovereign for royal mercy. Kopeikin stayed in the cheapest room, and then went to the nobleman's house. There was a crowd of petitioners in the waiting room, and Kopeikin, together with everyone else, waited for four hours for the nobleman to come out. Kopeikin was lucky: the nobleman listened to him, asked him to come in the other day. The captain walked out of the waiting room in complete delight. But when Kopeikin came the next day, the nobleman said that we should expect the sovereign to make an order for the wounded. The captain found himself in the most uncertain position: you can wait a long time, but he has absolutely nothing to eat. To top it off, the nobleman forbade the captain. Having reached a disastrous state, Kopeikin nevertheless entered the nobleman's house and rudely declared that he would not leave the place until a decision was made on his case. It is clear that the nobleman did not like this treatment, and he sends Kopeikin from St. Petersburg to the state account. The further fate of the captain is not known. Only two months after this event, a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests, apparently led by a captain.
But other officials say that Chichikov cannot be Captain Kopeikin in any way, since his arms and legs are intact. There was also an assumption that Chichikov was Napoleon in disguise. To resolve all issues, officials turn to Nozdryov, although they know that he is a liar. Nozdryov confirms that Chichikov is a spy, counterfeiter and kidnapper of girls. All these rumors had such an effect on the prosecutor that, having come home, he died for no reason. Only after this incident did everyone learn that "the deceased had a soul, although he modestly never showed it."
Chichikov did not know anything about what was happening in the city, as he caught a cold and did not leave his room for three days. Finally, he recovered and in a cheerful mood decided to visit the officials of the city; what was his bewilderment when he was not received in any of the houses! In the evening, Nozdryov comes to Chichikov and reports what kind of porridge was brewed in the city through his fault. Chichikov realized that he needed to get out of the city as soon as possible and ordered Selifan to have the britzka ready at dawn.
Chapter 11
But it did not turn out the way Chichikov wanted. Firstly, he himself woke up late, and, secondly, Selifan did not prepare the chaise (the horses are not shod, the wheel needs to be tightened, the front of the chaise swayed). All these things were done in five hours, and, finally, Chichikov's britzka drove out of the gates of the hotel. But one of the streets is blocked by a funeral procession (the prosecutor is being buried), and Chichikov is forced to hide in the britzka so as not to be recognized. And so Chichikov left the city, and again the road was in front of him.
The author says that Rus' has a secret power over him. "Rus! What do you want from me? What incomprehensible bond lurks between us? What does this vast expanse prophesy? Is it not possible for a hero to be here when there is a place where he can turn around and walk around?... My eyes lit up with an unnatural power: wow! what a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth! Rus!" Further, the author says that he has departed from the tradition of taking a virtuous person as a hero; he took the scoundrel.
The origin of Chichikov is "dark and modest." His parents were nobles. “Life at the beginning looked at him somehow sourly - uncomfortably, through some kind of muddy, snow-covered window: no friend, no comrade in childhood!” A small stove with small windows that did not open either in winter or in summer, the eternal prescription before my eyes, the punishments of my father. Then the father took his son to the city to a relative, and Chichikov began to go to school classes. At parting, his father gave him instructions: "Most of all, please teachers and bosses." Don't hang out with your comrades, they won't teach you good things; and if it comes to that, then hang out with those who are richer, so that they can be useful on occasion. Do not treat anyone, but behave better so that you are treated, and most of all, take care and save a penny; this thing is the safest thing in the world.” These words of the father sunk into the soul of Pavlusha.
Pavlusha did not have special abilities for science, but he was distinguished by diligence and neatness. He had a great mind on the practical side. Of the fifty dollars given by his father, he did not spend a penny, and a year later he had already made increments to it. He sold gingerbread and rolls to rich comrades, when they were hungry, he molded a bullfinch from wax and sold it profitably. In the lessons, Pavlusha behaved very quietly, therefore he was in good standing with the teachers. Upon graduation, he received a certificate and a book with gold letters "for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior." After some time, one of the teachers was expelled from the school and, out of grief, began to drink. All former students raised money for him, even selling some of their things, only Chichikov was greedy. The teacher, learning about this, said: “Oh, Pavlusha! That's how a person changes! After all, what a well-behaved, nothing violent, silk! He cheated, he cheated a lot ... ”Chichikov did not save money out of greed, he saved in order to live in contentment in the future, have a wife, a house, crews, Chichikov serves in a very low position in the state chamber, pleases the boss in everything, looks after for his ugly daughter, hinting that he would not mind marrying her. Finally, with the help of the boss, Chichikov took a vacant place, but he completely stopped talking about the wedding. The boss, when meeting with Chichikov, repeated to himself: “He cheated, cheated, damn son!”
Chichikov joined the commission for the construction of some government building. For six years it was never built, but each of the commission members got their own house, cooks, horses. But then, unexpectedly, the old chief was replaced by a new, guardian of the truth. He removed all officials from office, all their property was transferred to the treasury.
During all these hardships, Chichikov lost weight and turned green, because it was necessary to start everything again from the beginning. Chichikov enters the customs service, since one can get a lot from this place. He showed an extraordinary talent for searches and searches, smugglers had no life from him. Chichikov is promoted and presents his project to capture all the smugglers. He himself enters into an agreement with them and receives huge money. Chichikov quarrels with his partner, and he writes a denunciation against him. The deal with the smugglers became clear, the trial began. Chichikov managed to evade the criminal court, but he lost all his money. But Chichikov does not give up. The idea of buying 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). For this purpose, the hero comes to the city of NN. The author defines the essence of Chichikov as follows: owner, acquirer. Of course, readers may not like him, because they are used to noble heroes. To this the author replies: let him look into his soul and ask himself: “But is there any part of Chichikov in me?”
At the end of the poem, a cart, drawn by a troika, rushes along the road at full speed. “Chichikov only smiled, slightly flying up on his leather pillow, for he loved fast driving.”
“And what Russian does not like to drive fast? Is it his soul, seeking to spin, take a walk, sometimes say: “Damn it all!” - Does his soul not love her? Is it not to love her when something enthusiastic and wonderful is heard in her? It seems that an unknown force has taken you on a wing to itself, and you yourself are flying, and everything is flying: miles are flying, flying, flying towards merchants on the irradiation of their wagons, a forest is flying on both sides with dark formations of firs and pines, with a clumsy knock, a crow's cry , the whole road flies God knows where, into the disappearing distance, and something terrible is contained in this quick flickering, where the disappearing object does not have time to signify - only the sky above the head, and light clouds, and the wading moon alone seem to be motionless. Eh, trio! Bird troika, who invented you? To know that you could only be born among a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out half the world with equal smoothness, and go and count the miles until it fills your eyes. And not a cunning, it would seem, road projectile, not captured by an iron screw, but hastily, alive, with one ax and a chisel, a smart Yaroslavl peasant equipped and assembled you. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; but he got up, and swung, and dragged out the song - the horses whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed into one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the stopped pedestrian screamed in fright - and there she rushed, rushed, rushed! And you can already see in the distance how something is dusting and drilling through 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 is left behind. The contemplator, struck by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown from the sky? What does this terrifying movement mean? And what kind of unknown force lies in these fields unknown to light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are whirlwinds sitting in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes! .. Rus', where are you rushing to? Give an answer, don't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; everything that is on earth flies past, and, looking askance, step aside and give it the way other peoples and states.
Reading the first chapter of the poem, let's consider how Chichikov relates to the city and how the author of the poem is.
Chichikov was “satisfied” with the inspection of the city, for he found that the city was in no way inferior to other provincial cities. Acquaintance with the "powerful of this world" further strengthened the location to the city. He found here everything he was looking for: officials, from the governor to the chief of police, did not suffer from crime and suspicion of persons new to the city and surrendered without fail to flattery. Chichikov also met with the landowners - the owners of peasant souls, received from many of them a kind invitation to visit their estates.
The author treats the city ironically. But this irony is difficult to discern. Gogol directly as if does not denounce anything. On the contrary, in many phenomena and persons he even speaks solemnly, as if singing and elevating them, but they are so insignificant that an exalted style gives rise only to laughter.
Here Gogol describes a hotel, “where, for two rubles a day, travelers get a quiet room with cockroaches peeking out like prunes from all corners, and a door to the next room, always lined with a chest of drawers, where a neighbor settles down, a silent and calm person, but extremely curious interested in knowing the details of the passer-by.
And so Gogol describes the common room of the hotel, where there is a merry "smoked chandelier with many hanging glasses that jumped and tinkled every time the floorman ran over the shabby oilcloths, waving smartly under his nose, on which sat the same abyss of tea cups, like birds on the seashore." shore." A romantic comparison applied to an everyday object, to the miserable furnishings of a provincial hotel, evokes merry laughter.
Thus, the sublimity of the description enhances the author's irony, reveals the true contour of things.
This merciless - ironic author's look constantly coexists with Chichikov's condescending - friendly attitude towards the city. Chichikov's affection is not disinterested - it comes from the desire to say something pleasant to the "town governors." Walking around the city, Chichikov collects material for compliments, from which officials should melt. However, the author does not allow us to be deceived by Chichikov's enthusiasm. “He looked into the city garden, which consisted of thin trees, badly received, with props below, in the form of triangles, very beautifully painted with green oil paint.” Of course, only Chichikov is able to find "very beautifully painted" props for trees. The author is ironic over the hero, for whom green paint replaces the green of trees. But Gogol's irony is not limited to these. Further, he mockingly compares the "bad accepted, thin" trees with a luxurious description in the newspapers. So at once Gogol laughed at the taste of Chichikov, and at the lies of the newspapers, and at the servility of sentimental townsfolk.
