Dead souls, Chichikov's official activities. Service in the treasury chamber as a stage in Chichikov’s career
Above the poem “ Dead Souls"Gogol worked approximately seven years old In the center of the plot of the poem is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. Externally the same one the person is pleasant, but in reality he is a terrible, calculating money-grubber. His hypocrisy and cruelty that he shows when achieving his selfish goals are striking. He treated his teacher monstrously. His entire career is a chain of deceptions, bribes, bribes, ruined human destinies. In the bureaucratic world of lies and robbery, bribery and money-grubbing, he is one of his own, he was born into this world.
Chichikov set himself a certain assigned task in life and does everything to achieve it. He dreams of life with all the pleasures: carriages, a house, perfectly arranged, delicious lunches, balls.
“After leaving school, he did not even want to rest: his desire was so strong to get down to business and service, he got an insignificant place, a salary of thirty or forty rubles. But he decided to conquer and overcome everything.” Chichikov sucks up to his superiors as best he can. Having gained his trust, he receives a promotion in rank. After that, he no longer needed anyone who was friendly with him. He could now make his own way. Chichikov joined the commission for the creation of some kind of government-owned facility. And although nothing was built in six years, the commission members had “ beautiful home civil architecture".
Small-scale speculation gave way to large-scale fraud. Chichikov is engaged in such “cases”, “to which the world gives the name not only pure.” Almost all of his affairs end in failure. But here’s what’s paradoxical: Chichikov does not feel remorse and does not lose heart. Having hidden the traces of the crime and avoided punishment, he takes on a new unclean deed with redoubled force. “Hooked, dragged, broke, don’t ask” - this is his motto. New official position - customs officer. “He began his service with extraordinary zeal. It seemed that fate itself had destined him to be a customs official. Such efficiency, insight, and perspicacity have not only been seen, but also heard.” Having gained the trust of his superiors, he became known as an incorruptible and honest worker, and received a promotion. And Chichikov “presented a project to catch all the smugglers, asking for funds to test it himself, to which he received full consent.” Now he has complete freedom of action. Having entered into an alliance with his own kind, Chichikov takes huge bribes from smugglers. Having received on this matter approximately half a million, he goes into hiding again, but is not upset; Having covered up the traces of the crime, he takes on a new business - buying up dead souls.
The transformation of Pavlusha into the respectable, universally revered Pavel Ivanovich in the then RF impossible in any other way, so Chichikov’s career is typical and deeply natural. Chichikov himself is the personification of the exploitative system.
Composition
Subject: Biography, studies, service and career of Chichikov (Dead Souls)
Biography Chichikova By origin, Chichikov is a nobleman: “...The origins of our hero are dark and modest. His parents were nobles, but they were nobles or private - God knows...” His father is a sick and poor man. We know nothing about the mother: “... the father, a sick man [...] sighed incessantly, walking around the room, and spitting in the sandbox that stood in the corner...” The father and little Pavlusha live in a simple peasant hut: “. .. A small house with small windows that did not open either in winter or in summer..."
Chichikov's studies Chichikov goes with his father to the city to study at the city school. He settles with some old relative: “...He was supposed to stay here and go to classes at the city school every day...” His father leaves back to the village, and Chichikov never sees him again: “... his father broke up with son and dragged himself home again on his forty, and since then he has never seen him again...” At the school, Chichikov is a diligent and diligent student. He has no special talents. But on the other hand, he is a practical and patient child: “... He did not have any special abilities for any science; he distinguished himself more by diligence and neatness...” While still at school, Chichikov begins to earn money: “... he molded it out of wax bullfinch, painted it and sold it very profitably..." "... finally achieved the point that the mouse stood on its hind legs, lay down and stood up according to orders, and then sold it also very profitably...” Chichikov is in good standing at school. He behaves exemplary and diligently. He graduates from the school as an exemplary student: “During his entire stay at the school, he was in excellent standing and upon graduation received full honors in all sciences, a certificate and a book with golden letters for exemplary diligence and trustworthy behavior.” At this time, Chichikov's father dies. He sells the house and land. For them he receives 1000 rubles - his initial capital: "... At this time his father died [...] Chichikov immediately sold the dilapidated little yard with an insignificant piece of land for a thousand rubles..."
Chichikov's service and career: Chichikov is a real careerist, purposeful and persistent. Chichikov does not start a family and does not have children. First, Chichikov wants to provide his “offspring” with a decent future. Read also: “Chichikov’s Service” Chichikov’s career has always been easy and simple. He works hard and tries hard. Chichikov's service has its ups and downs. During his life, he manages to work in different places - and even in different cities. In general, Chichikov begins his service with a simple position in the treasury chamber: “...with great difficulty he decided to join the treasury chamber...” Then Chichikov gets a place in a more profitable place. Here he earns capital from bribes. But a new boss comes and reveals the thefts. So Chichikov loses everything that he had acquired dishonestly: “... everything was fluffed up, and Chichikov more than others...” After this, Chichikov serves in another city in some miserable positions. Finally, he gets a place at customs: “... finally moved to the customs service...” At customs, Chichikov receives a promotion, as well as the rank of collegiate adviser: “... He received a rank and promotion...” Having become a boss , Chichikov enters into a conspiracy with a criminal group of smugglers. Chichikov earns hundreds of thousands of rubles from this “unclean” business. But the case is revealed. Chichikov loses his place and his acquired money: “...The officials were put on trial, confiscated, everything they had was described...” So Chichikov is again left with nothing. He has about 10 thousand rubles left, a chaise and two serfs - Selifan and Petrushka. Chichikov again starts his career from scratch. He works as an attorney (self-taught lawyer) according to the most miscellaneous matters. Then it occurs to him to buy dead serfs for himself in order to get rich.
Today we are considering a criminal case against Pavel Chichikov from Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”. All quotes are taken from the literary source.
For this purpose, he committed abuse of trust (Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) of his immediate superior.
“And before the office had time to look back, things had worked out in such a way that Chichikov moved into his house, became necessary and necessary person, bought flour and sugar, treated his daughter like a bride, called the police officer daddy and kissed his hand; Everyone in the ward decided that there would be a wedding at the end of February, before Lent..
The stern police officer even began to lobby his superiors for him, and after a while Chichikov himself became a police officer in one of the vacant positions that had opened up.”
Then Chichikov broke the preliminary agreements and secretly took things from the benefactor’s house. In his new position, the defendant was engaged in discrediting the state anti-corruption campaign. He also abused his official position (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and extorted bribes (Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
At the end of his service as a police chief, Chichikov switched to corruption schemes that allowed him to steal on a large scale.
“It must be said that this service has long been the secret subject of his thoughts. He saw what dandy foreign things the customs officials had, what porcelains and cambrics they sent to gossips, aunts and sisters. More than once, long ago, he said with a sigh: “If only I could move somewhere: (...) what thin Dutch shirts you can get!” It should be added that at the same time he was also thinking about a special type of French soap, which imparted extraordinary whiteness to the skin and freshness to the cheeks...” The goal of these career aspirations of Chichikov was to cause the greatest damage to the state from abuse of his official position (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
3. Committed the famous scam called “Dead Souls”
The investigation insists on bringing to justice not only Chichikov, but also the accomplices of the fraud who knew about the criminal plan and received material benefits from it. It's about about Sobakevich, Korobochka, Plyushkin. The investigation accuses Nozdryov of bribing Chichikov, which resulted in his attempts to confuse the investigation.
No evidence of Manilov's guilt was found.
Prosecutor: “Chichikov’s goal is to cause the greatest damage to the state”
Lawyer Daniil Markhiev Today the consideration of the criminal case in which Pavel Chichikov is accused of a crime under Article 159 of the Criminal Code ends Russian Federation , namely that he is a professional repeat offender. In different cities, at different places of Chichikov’s service, various fraudulent schemes used by him were discovered. The investigation managed to collect information about how Chichikov honed his fraudulent schemes with school years
. As a prosecutor, I see my main task as substantiating the charge and proving that the crime was committed by the defendant. What is Chichikov accused of?
1. With the help of deceptive actions, Chichikov received the position of police officer. For this purpose, he abused the trust of his immediate superior, having received the position of chief of staff, Chichikov broke the preliminary agreements and secretly took things from the benefactor’s house.
At the end of his service as a police chief, Chichikov switched to corruption schemes that allowed him to steal on a large scale. In addition to damage to the state budget, Chichikov, by profaning construction orders, caused damage to the urban environment, society and workers who lost their jobs.
2. After this, Chichikov got a job at customs, where he again used all available resources to get the highest possible position. There is evidence that Chichikov deliberately sought employment in the customs service for the purpose of personal illegal enrichment.
The goal of these career aspirations of Chichikov was to cause the greatest damage to the state from abuse of his official position (Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In this position, Chichikov was involved in fraud using corruption schemes on an especially large scale, and also took part in the illegal activities of organized crime and forced his colleagues to enter into a criminal conspiracy (Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
After revealing the activities of the criminal community, Chichikov avoided judicial responsibility by bribing the investigation (Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
3. The scam called “Dead Souls” requires special consideration. The investigation insists on bringing to justice Chichikov’s accomplices in the fraud, who knew about the criminal plan and received material benefits from it. We are talking about Sobakevich, Korobochka, Plyushkin. The investigation accuses Nozdryov of bribing Chichikov, which resulted in his attempts to confuse the investigation. No evidence of Manilov's guilt was found.
To implement his fraudulent “Dead Souls” scam, Chichikov was forced to pay a bribe. Nozdryov’s probable assistance to Chichikov in evading punishment deserves special consideration.
Nozdryov knowingly gave false testimony to the investigation. Thus, he created difficulties and confused the preliminary investigation, presented the existing charges against Chichikov in an absurd light, mixing them with all the existing rumors, which ruined the case and gave Chichikov time to hide from trial.
I ask the respected court to find Pavel Chichikov guilty of committing a crime and impose a general sentence of real imprisonment for 9 years 6 months.
Defense: “The Chichikov case is not justice, but deliberate persecution”
Lawyer Vladislav Kocherin
Dear court, dear participants in the process!
I am glad that I have the opportunity to defend Pavel Chichikov, since the latter’s accusation of committing crimes under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is a blatant example of how they are trying to bring to justice an innocent person doing his own thing. professional matter. I responsibly declare that Pavel Chichikov is not a criminal, but only an enterprising person.
For example, Pavel Chichikov is accused of “abusing the trust (Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) of his immediate superior in order to obtain the position of a police officer. At the same time, Article 165 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation actually provides for liability for causing property damage to the owner or other possessor of property through deception or abuse of trust in the absence of signs of theft. However, Pavel Chichikov did not cause any property damage to his immediate superior, or to anyone else.
Having read the text of the indictment regarding the acquisition by P. Chichikov “ Dead souls", I was sincerely amazed - what is my client accused of? In fact, he is accused only of making transactions at a loss to himself, buying non-existent peasants and paying real money for it, paying taxes for them, doing all this from his own pocket. At the same time, Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for liability for the theft of someone else’s property through deception and abuse of trust, but P. Chichikov’s goal was only the acquisition of dead souls through paid civil transactions, which he directly declared to potential sellers of souls when they were committed. That is, when purchasing souls, P. Chichikov did not deceive anyone, except himself, since he suffered direct losses from this, paying a clearly inflated purchase price for the souls, as well as taxes and taxes. In addition, it should be noted that the “dead souls” were formally considered alive, which made it possible to carry out any civil transactions with them, which was in accordance with the legislation in force at that time. P. Chichikov did not receive any property benefits from such transactions, therefore his accusation under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not have any legal basis and must be rejected.
Thus, the actions of P. Chichikov represented the implementation of ordinary activities, as a result of which no material damage was caused to anyone except himself. You could say that he simply collected “dead souls,” which is not prohibited by law.
Thus, from all of the above, only one obvious conclusion can be drawn: my client Pavel Chichikov is innocent of all charges.
The accusation is based solely on assumptions and conjectures; there is no evidence of the circumstances presented by the prosecution; they are trying to impute to P. Chichikov not just crimes that he did not commit, but also those for which sentences have already been passed and the perpetrators have been identified.
All this may not indicate the implementation of justice, but only the deliberate persecution of Pavel Chichikov, who is a respectable citizen and has brought considerable benefit to society and the state, regardless of what this enterprising person does.
The position of accusing my client of committing economic crimes does not stand up to any criticism and is based only on personal hostility towards my client and the desire to see him behind bars, where he can no longer be useful to society and may become a participant in the criminal environment, while he has significant services to society both during the period of service in government agencies, and when ridding Russian landowners of material and bureaucratic burdens in the form of “dead souls”.
I ask that my client be acquitted of all charges against him.
The verdict in the case of Pavel Chichikov
The verdict is read out by an associate professor of the Department of Administrative Law of the Moscow State Law University named after O.E. Kutafina (MSAL)
Maxim Mikhailovich Polyakov.
Having considered the criminal case against Pavel Chichikov, having heard the prosecution and defense, as well as the evidence presented in the case under consideration, the court makes the following decision:
1. Convict of abuse of power Chichikov undoubtedly abused the trust of citizens who turned to him to prepare the necessary documents. The position of the defense in this regard cannot be considered justified, since the facts in the case indicate illegal schemes developed by P. Chichikov with the involvement of office employees, which allowed him to steal on a large scale. Citizen Chichikov acted solely for selfish reasons and contrary to the interests of. The court questioned office staff who confirmed the facts of his purchase of Dutch shirts and rare French soap, as well as other expensive items. Moreover, the house built by citizen Chichikov is worth ten times his income for several years.
2. Under the article “Causing property damage by deception or abuse of trust,” the defendant is acquitted
The arguments of the defense can be considered quite reasonable that no property damage was caused to P. Chichikov’s immediate superior, thanks to whom he received the position of chief of staff. The actions that he performed while in the boss’s house (courteous attitude, purchasing food for household needs, showing attention to his daughter) are not illegal and do not form a crime under the incriminated article.
3. Convicted of fraud in the purchase of “dead souls”
The court considers it proven at least three episodes of fraudulent activity by citizen Chichikov, purchasing so-called “dead souls” from citizens Sobakevich, Korobochka and Plyushkin. The court took into account, first of all, the fact that dead souls were bought under the guise of living ones, which is confirmed by the documents provided by the investigation on the facts of purchase and sale.
Proof of citizen Chichikov’s guilt is the petitions confiscated from him for a large plot of land and the resulting subsidies from the state in the amount of 200 rubles in gold. The court found that the main criterion for receiving such preferences is that a person has at least 500 souls.
During the consideration of the criminal case, the court especially took into account the personality of Pavel Chichikov, which can be described as extremely negative. During the court hearing, citizen Chichikov in every possible way interfered with the progress of the trial, changed his testimony, and made every effort to delay the court’s decision.
Based on the above, the court sentenced:
Find Pavel Chichikov guilty of committing crimes under Art. 159 and art. 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Based on Art. 69 part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, by partial addition of punishments, assign Pavel Chichikov a punishment of 4 years imprisonment, to be served in penal colony
general mode.
In the poem "Dead Souls" Gogol touches on Chichikov's career only at the end of the work. At the beginning, Chichikov appears before readers as a mysterious person, about whose origin nothing is known. Considering that Chichikov - main character poem, there is a danger that readers will begin to treat him as positive hero, despite the clearly fraudulent nature of its activities. Gogol himself felt this danger, and in the 11th chapter he begins to reduce the image of Chichikov: “It is very doubtful that the readers will like the hero we have chosen. The ladies will not like him, this can be said affirmatively, for the ladies demand that the hero be decisive perfection, and if there is any mental or physical blemish, then disaster!... But the virtuous person is still not taken as a hero... No, it’s time to finally hide the scoundrel too. So, let’s harness the scoundrel!” Further, the author writes about the origin of the hero and his career: “After leaving school, he did not even want to rest: his desire was so strong to get down to business and service. However, despite the commendable certificates, with great difficulty he decided to join the government ward." However, Chichikov could vegetate in this ward until the end of his life, because... “He got an insignificant place, a salary of thirty or forty rubles a year.” Some decisive step had to be taken.
“Finally, he sniffed out his (his boss’s - author’s note) home, family life, found out that he had a mature daughter, with a face that also looked like it was threshing peas at night. he came up with an idea to launch an attack. He found out which church she came to. Sundays, stood opposite her every time, cleanly dressed, his shirt front heavily starched - and the business was a success: the stern police officer staggered (in the old days - the official in charge of office work in court - author's note) and invited him to tea! And before the office had time to look back, things had worked out in such a way that Chichikov moved into his house, became a necessary and indispensable person, bought flour and sugar, treated his daughter like a bride, called the police officer papa and kissed his hand; Everyone in the ward decided that there would be a wedding at the end of February before Lent. The stern police officer even began to lobby his superiors for him, and after a while Chichikov himself became a police officer in one vacant position that had opened up. This seemed to be the point the main objective his connections with the old police officer, because he immediately sent his chest secretly home and the next day he found himself in another apartment. The police officer stopped calling him daddy and no longer kissed his hand, and the matter of the wedding was hushed up, as if nothing had happened at all. However, when meeting him, he always affectionately shook his hand and invited him to tea, so that the old police officer, despite his eternal immobility and callous indifference, shook his head every time and said under his breath: “You cheated, you cheated, you damn son !"
This was the most difficult threshold he crossed. From then on things went easier and more successfully. He became a remarkable person."
At one time I had the opportunity to witness a similar turn in the fate of one person. Let's call him Pyotr Olegovich. He was a graduate student at that time. The term of graduate school was approaching the end. This graduate student came from a small town. After graduating from graduate school, he was faced with a dilemma: to return to his homeland, which he apparently really did not want, or to do something to stay in Moscow. And staying in Moscow in those days (80s) was very, very difficult. The only legal way is to marry a Muscovite. Our graduate student chose this path. Events unfolded rapidly (there was little time left before defense). At some conference he met a girl. She was vertically challenged and completely inconspicuous. "But what can you do - love!" - the department staff said. Two weeks before the defense, a wedding was scheduled. Afterwards the young people went to Honeymoon. “What is Petya thinking?!” - his leader was indignant. Anyone familiar with the dissertation defense process knows that the last month before the defense is the most stressful. But Petya drove off with his young wife, and seemed to have forgotten about everything. But, thank God, everything worked out. Petya returned, the defense was successful. But what do we hear a month later? Petya is getting a divorce! In his way, he acted nobly. He did not apply for living space. He only needed Moscow registration. Subsequently, he exchanged his apartment in a provincial town for one in Moscow and moved with his mother to Moscow. He was a very gentle, loving, caring son. Only when his mother died did he get married, this time for real. What was he thinking when he got married for the first time? After all, for his first wife it was a tragedy: to find her love, and then lose it, to understand that she had been deceived, taken advantage of to achieve her goals. How did her life turn out next? Perhaps Petya was thinking: “Yes, I will do a bad thing, marry a girl I don’t love, in the name of my goals. But then throughout my life I will behave honestly and atone for my meanness.” Isn't it all very familiar? Raskolnikov adhered to the same philosophy, but as a result he failed. After all, this is a novel, some will say. In life, everything can be different. In life, scoundrels live to old age and die in their bed, surrounded by loved ones. Is it so? This story is not over yet, and we will probably still have to find out how it ends.
Let us, however, continue the theme of Chichikov’s career: “Everything turned out to be in him that is needed for this world: pleasantness in turns and actions, and agility in business affairs. With such means, he obtained in a short time what is called a grain place, and took advantage of them in a great way."
“Bread places” still exist today. Let me give you one more memory. There was one employee working in our laboratory. One day she announced that she was leaving and found a job in government (in the mayor’s office or in the council - I don’t remember now). Somehow she opened up and, without any hesitation, said that this was a grain-producing place, where you could take bribes. Moreover, she said this completely without embarrassment, honestly and openly. Apparently, she believed that this went without saying, and that others did not take bribes only because they were not given bribes.
Gogol further writes: “You need to know that at the same time the strictest persecution of all kinds of bribes began; he was not afraid of the persecution and immediately turned them to his advantage, thus showing directly Russian ingenuity, which appears only during squeezes.” It turns out that there have already been campaigns against bribes in Russia. How did they end? Maybe we overcame this disease a long time ago and have been living in an honest country for a long time? I'm afraid that the reader will say: stop being ironic. Of course that's enough. Everyone knows that we are currently conducting a similar campaign; hundreds of officials are being imprisoned. How many officials do we have in Russia? Maybe we shouldn’t plant hundreds, but half of them should be replanted?
Such memories were generated by reading “Dead Souls” (even re-reading, because we all studied this poem by Gogol at school). It will soon be 170 years since the creation of this masterpiece, but the problems, heroes, people that were there remain the same. Maybe they are immortal?
Corruption in our state is eternal and, it seems, ineradicable. So, in “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol there is wonderful description Chichikov’s career in customs (by the way, the first edition of the first volume of “Dead Souls” turns 180 this year). Read, maybe you will recognize our modern officials:
...but our hero endured everything, endured it strongly, endured it patiently, and finally transferred to the customs service.
It must be said that this service had long been a secret subject of his thoughts. He saw what dandy foreign things the customs officials had, what porcelains and cambrics they sent to gossips, aunts and sisters. More than once, long ago, he said with a sigh: “I wish I could move somewhere: the border is close, and enlightened people, and what thin Dutch shirts you can get!” It should be added that at the same time he was also thinking about a special type of French soap, which imparted extraordinary whiteness to the skin and freshness to the cheeks; God knows what it was called, but, according to his assumptions, it was certainly located on the border.
So, he would have long wanted to go to the customs office, but the current various benefits for the construction commission were withheld, and he reasoned correctly that the customs office, be that as it may, was still nothing more than a pie in the sky, and the commission was already a bird in its hands. Now he decided to get to customs at any cost, and he got there.
He began his service with extraordinary zeal. It seemed that fate itself had destined him to be a customs official. Such efficiency, insight and foresight was not only unseen, but even unheard of. In three or four weeks he had already become so skilled in customs affairs that he knew absolutely everything: he didn’t even weigh or measure, but by the texture he knew how many arshins of cloth or other material there were in a piece; taking the bundle in his hand, he could suddenly tell how many pounds it contained.
As for searches, here, as even his comrades themselves put it, he simply had a dog’s instinct: one could not help but be amazed to see how he had so much patience to feel every button, and all this was done with deadly composure, polite incredibly. And at a time when those being searched were furious, lost their temper and felt an evil urge to beat up his pleasant appearance with clicks, he, without changing either in his face or in his polite actions, said only: “Would you like to worry a little and get up?” Or: “Would you like, madam, to be welcomed into another room? there the wife of one of our officials will explain to you.” Or: “Let me, with a knife, I’ll rip open the lining of your overcoat a little,” and, saying this, he would pull out shawls and scarves from there, calmly, as if from his own chest.
Even the authorities explained that it was a devil, not a man: he was looking in wheels, drawbars, horse ears and who knows what places, where no author would ever think of going and where only customs officials are allowed to go. So the poor traveler, who had crossed the border, still could not come to his senses for several minutes and, wiping off the sweat that appeared in small rashes all over his body, only crossed himself and said: “Well, well!” His situation was very similar to that of a schoolboy who ran out of a secret room, where the boss had called him in order to give him some instruction, but instead he was flogged in a completely unexpected way.
For a short time there was no profit from him for the smugglers. This was the storm and despair of all Polish Judaism. His honesty and incorruptibility were irresistible, almost unnatural. He didn’t even make up a small capital for himself from various confiscated goods and selected little things that were not included in the treasury in order to avoid unnecessary correspondence.
Such zealous and selfless service could not help but become the subject of general surprise and finally come to the attention of the authorities. He received a rank and promotion, and after that he presented a project to catch all the smugglers, asking only for the means to carry it out himself. He was immediately given the command and the unlimited right to carry out all sorts of searches. That's all he wanted.
At that time, a strong society of smugglers was formed in a deliberate and correct manner; The daring enterprise promised benefits worth millions. He had already had information about him for a long time and even refused to bribe those sent, saying dryly: “It’s not the time yet.”
Having received everything at his disposal, he immediately let the public know, saying: “Now it’s time.” The calculation was too correct. Here, in one year, he could receive something that he would not have won in twenty years of the most zealous service. Previously, he did not want to enter into any relations with them, because he was nothing more than a simple pawn, therefore, he would not have received much; but now... now it’s a completely different matter: he could offer any conditions he wanted.
To make things go more smoothly, he persuaded another official, his comrade, who could not resist the temptation, despite the fact that he was gray. The terms were concluded, and the society began to act. The action began brilliantly: the reader, no doubt, has heard the so often repeated story of the ingenious journey of the Spanish rams, who, having crossed the border in double sheepskin coats, carried under their sheepskin coats a million worth of Brabant lace. This incident happened precisely when Chichikov was serving at customs. If he himself had not participated in this enterprise, no Jews in the world would have been able to carry out such a task.
After three or four sheep trips across the border, both officials ended up with four hundred thousand in capital. Chichikov, they say, even exceeded five hundred, because he was smarter. God knows to what enormous figure the blessed sums would have increased if some difficult beast had not run across everything...
