Conversation between two ladies. Analysis of the ninth chapter of N. Gogol's poem "dead souls" - Gogol - the writer's personal corner - file catalog - literature teacher Why does Chichikov need dead souls

1 Compositional structure.

2. Storyline.

3 *Dead* soul of Plyushkin.

4. Analysis of the episode.

5 Symbolic image of “dead” souls.

The plot composition of N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls” is structured in such a way that here one can consider three ideological lines or directions, logically connected and intertwined parts. The first reveals the life of landowners, the second - city officials, and the third - Chichikov himself. Each of the directions, manifesting itself, contributes to a deeper manifestation of the other two lines.

Chichikov's conversation with Plyushkin. The action of the poem begins with the arrival of a new person in the provincial town of NN. The plot begins. Immediately in the first chapter, Chichikov meets almost all the characters in the poem. In the second chapter, the movement of the plot appears, which occurs with the main character, who goes on a trip to the surrounding villages for his own needs. Chichikov finds himself visiting first one or another landowner, and an interesting feature is visible. It’s as if the author deliberately arranges his characters so that each new character is even more “vulgar” than the other. Plyushkin is the last one with whom Chichikov has to communicate in this series, which means that we can assume that it is he who has the most anti-human essence. Chichikov returns to the city, and a colorful picture of the life of city officials unfolds before the reader. These people have long forgotten the meaning of words such as “honesty”, “justice”, “decency”. The positions they hold fully allow them to lead a prosperous and idle life, in which there is no room for awareness of public duty or compassion for their neighbors. Gogol does not try to specifically sharpen attention to the very social elite of the city’s residents, however, fleeting sketches, quick conversations - and the reader already knows everything about these people. Here, for example, is a general who, at first glance, seems like a good person, but “... was sketched out in him in some kind of picture disorder... self-sacrifice, generosity in decisive moments, courage, intelligence - and to all this - a fair admixture of selfishness, ambition , pride and petty personal sensitivity.”

The dominant role in the plot of the work is given to Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. And it is he, his character traits, his life that come under the author’s close attention. Gogol is interested in this new variety of people that appeared in what was then Russia. Capital is their only aspiration, and for the sake of it they are ready to deceive, demean, and flatter. That is, “Dead Souls” is nothing more than a way to examine and understand as deeply as possible the pressing problems of social life in Russia at that time. Of course, the plot is structured in such a way that the main place in the poem is occupied by the image of landowners and officials, but Gogol is not limited to only describing reality, he seeks to make the reader think about how tragic and hopeless the life of the common people is. Plyushkin turns out to be the last in the gallery of landowners passing before the reader's eyes. Chichikov accidentally learned about this landowner from Sobakevich, who gave a rather unfavorable recommendation to his neighbor on the estate. In the past, Plyushkin was an experienced, hardworking and enterprising person. He was not lacking in intelligence and worldly ingenuity: “Everything flowed briskly and happened at a measured pace: mills, fulling mills moved, cloth factories, carpentry machines, spinning mills worked; everywhere the keen eye of the owner entered into everything and, like a hardworking spider, ran busily, but efficiently, along all ends of his economic web.” However, everything soon went wrong. The wife died. Plyushkin, who became a widower, became more suspicious and stingy. Then the eldest daughter ran away with the captain, the son chose military service instead of civil service, and was excommunicated from home. The youngest daughter died. The family fell apart. Plyushkin turned out to be the only custodian of all wealth. The absence of family and friends led to an even greater aggravation of this man's suspicion and stinginess. Gradually he sinks lower and lower until he turns into “some kind of hole in humanity.” Even a thriving economy is gradually falling apart: “... he became more unyielding to the buyers who came to take away his economic products; the buyers haggled and haggled and finally abandoned him altogether, saying that he was a demon, not a person; hay and bread rotted, luggage and haystacks turned into pure manure, even if you planted cabbage in them, flour in the cellars turned into stone... it was scary to touch cloth, linens and household materials: they turned to dust.” He placed a curse on all the surviving children, which further aggravated his loneliness.

It was in such a disastrous state that Chichikov saw him. In the first moments of meeting, the main character for a long time could not understand who was in front of him: a woman or a man. A sexless creature in an old dirty robe was mistaken by Chichikov for the housekeeper. However, afterwards the main character was very surprised and shocked to learn that the owner of the house was standing in front of him. The author, describing Plyushkin’s wealth, immediately talks about how a previously thrifty man starves his peasants, and even himself, wears all sorts of rags instead of clothes, while food disappears in his pantries and basements, bread and cloth spoil. Moreover, the stinginess of the landowner leads to the fact that the entire master's house is littered with all sorts of rubbish, since while walking along the street, Plyushkin collects any objects and things forgotten or left unattended by the serfs, brings them into the house and dumps them in a heap.

In a conversation with Chichikov, the owner complains about his life, complaining about the serfs who rob him. It is they who are responsible for such a plight of the landowner. Plyushkin, owning a thousand souls, cellars and barns full of all kinds of food, tries to treat Chichikov to a dried, moldy Easter cake left over from his daughter’s arrival, and to give him a suspicious liquid to drink, which was once a tincture. In Plyushkin’s descriptions, Gogol tries to prove to the reader that such a landowner’s life story is not an accident, but that the course of events is predetermined. Moreover, what is in the foreground here is not so much the personal tragedy of the protagonist as the prevailing conditions of social existence. Plyushkin happily agrees to a deal with the visiting gentleman, especially since he bears all the expenses for paperwork. The landowner does not even think about why the guest needs “dead” souls. Greed takes over the owner so much that he has no time to think. The owner's main concern is how to save the paper that is required for a letter to the chairman. Even the spaces between the lines and words make him regret: “... he began to write, placing letters like musical notes, constantly holding his agility hand, which was scattered all over the paper, sparingly molding line after line and not without regret thinking that everything There will still be a lot of blank space left.” During the conversation, the main character learns that Plyushkin also has runaway serfs, who also lead him into ruin, since he has to pay for them in the audit.

Chichikov offers the owner to make another deal. A vigorous trade is taking place. Plyushkin’s hands are shaking with excitement. The owner does not want to give up two kopecks, only in order to receive the money and quickly hide it in one of the bureau drawers. After completing the transaction, Plyushkin carefully counts the banknotes several times and carefully puts them away so that he will never take them out again. The painful desire for hoarding takes over the landowner so much that he is no longer able to part with the treasures that have fallen into his hands, even if his life or the well-being of his loved ones depends on it. However, human feelings have not yet completely abandoned the landowner. At some point, he even contemplates whether to give Chichikov a watch for his generosity, but the noble impulse quickly passes. Plyushkin again plunges into the abyss of stinginess and loneliness. After the departure of a random gentleman, the old man slowly walks around his storerooms, checking the watchmen, “who stood on all corners, pounding the empty barrel with wooden spatulas.” Plyushkin’s day ended as usual: “... looked into the kitchen... ate a fair amount of cabbage soup and porridge and, having scolded everyone to the last for theft and bad behavior, returned to his room.”

The image of Plyushkin, brilliantly created by Gogol, most clearly shows readers the callousness and deadness of his soul, of everything that is human in a person. Here all the vulgarity and baseness of the serf landowner is manifested as clearly as possible. The question inevitably arises: who does the writer call “dead” souls: poor dead peasants or officials and landowners who control life in Russian districts.

Chapter 1

A certain gentleman arrives in the provincial town of NN, staying at a hotel and “with extreme subtlety” began asking the servants about the local officials and landowners. The curious gentleman turns out to be collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. The next day he visited many city officials, starting with the governor. In conversations with them, Chichikov was exceptionally kind and was modest (or rather, secretive) every time when it was necessary to say something about himself. Soon the gentleman, as if by chance, found himself at the governor's party, where he met several landowners, including Manilov and Sobakevich. The next day, Chichikov attended a party with the police chief, where he struck up an acquaintance with the landowner Nozdryov. All officials spoke of the guest as a “nice person.”

Chapter 2

Chichikov is invited to visit the landowner Manilov. Most of their conversation is spent on compliments and pleasantries, since this is in Manilov’s character. During their lunch together, Chichikov gets to know Manilov's family better. After dinner, the guest informed the landowner that he had to discuss an important matter with him, and both locked themselves in the office. Here Chichikov negotiates with Manilov to buy dead serfs “for a good purpose.” Manilov, in order to please the guest, agrees to draw up a bill of sale at his own expense and give away the dead souls for free.

Chapter 3

From Manilov, Chichikov quickly goes to Sobakevich. On the way, it began to rain heavily, and the coachman Selifan, who was treated to vodka by the servant Manilov, managed to overturn the chaise, so that Chichikov fell into the mud. Luckily, a dog barking was heard nearby, which indicated the proximity of the village. The driver started barking, and soon the chaise stopped at the house of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, to whom Chichikov asked to spend the night. From the conversation with her, Pavel Ivanovich realized that he had gone far. In the morning he talked with Korobochka and also offered her a deal with the peasants. The landowner turned out to be “club-headed” and haggled for a long time so as not to sell herself short, which completely infuriated Chichikov.

Chapter 4

From Korobochka Chichikov goes to the nearest tavern to give the horses a break and to refresh himself. Here he finds out from the hostess how to get to Sobakevich’s estate. At this time, Nozdryov and a friend show up at the tavern. They argue about the last card game, in which Nozdryov “lost his head.” Nozdryov brags about his puppy to Chichikov, and at the same time dissuades Pavel Ivanovich from going to Sobakevich, offering to have fun at his place. In the end, Chichikov agrees to go to Nozdryov with the idea of ​​profiting from something. The landowner shows the guest the kennel and his possessions, then treats him to wine. Chichikov begins to negotiate with Noz-drevy about the purchase of dead souls, but he certainly wants to know what they are for the guest. The landowner considers all of Chichikov’s explanations to be a lie, since he sees the guest as a big scoundrel. Then Nozdryov begins to impose, in addition to the dead serfs, either a horse or a purebred dog. Chichikov does not agree, and the friends quarrel, although the guest stays overnight with the landowner. In the morning, Nozdryov persuaded Chichikov to play checkers for the souls. As usual, the landowner began to cheat, and when the guest who noticed this refused to play, he decided to beat him. Luckily, the police captain appeared at the door to take Noz-drevo to trial on some matter. Without waiting for the end of the conversation between the landowner and the police officer, Chichikov slipped out the door and got into his chaise.

Chapter 5

In a bad mood from his meeting with Nozdrev, Chichikov takes a chaise to the village of Mikhail Semyonovich Sobakevich, in which everything was “in some kind of strong and clumsy order.” After a short conversation, during which Sobakevich cursed all city officials, Chichikov learns about the stingy landowner Plyushkin, whom he also intends to visit. Then the conversation turns to buying dead souls. Sobakevich turns out to be dexterous in trading matters; he strives to sell souls at a high price, without going into why the guest needed them. After tiring bargaining, Chichikov acquired a large number of souls and, pleased with himself, said goodbye to Sobakevich.

Chapter 6

From Sobakevich, Chichikov goes to Plyushkin and soon finds himself at his dilapidated house, overgrown with mold and ivy. The guest is greeted by the owner himself, whom Chichikov at first takes for the housekeeper because of his incomprehensible outfit - an old, patched robe. Plyushkin earnestly complains about life, and Chichikov, supposedly out of pity and compassion, expresses his readiness to buy dead souls. Without much bargaining, Plyushkin sells him all the dead serfs. Satisfied, Chichikov returns to the city, to his hotel, where, after dinner, he goes to bed.

Chapter 7

about the lives of these peasants, showing a rare knowledge of people from the lower classes. Then, after some delay reading the papers, he hurried to the civil chamber to conclude the deed. Before reaching the ward a little, he met Manilov, who decided to go with a friend. In the ward, the friends had a not very pleasant conversation with the official Ivan Antonovich “jug snout”. However, Chichikov “realized what the problem was” in time and slipped the official a bribe, which he very cleverly took, as if without noticing. Then Chichikov meets Sobakevich in the ward and draws up a bill of sale for his peasants. The officials, having double-checked everything with excessive suspicion, filled out the necessary papers. After these matters, the landowners, together with Chichikov, went to the police chief to mark the deal.

Chapter 8

Soon the whole city was talking about Chichikov's purchases. Everyone decided that he was a millionaire, which is why they “loved him even more deeply.” The author again gives a general picture of city bureaucracy, this time touching on the intellectual pursuits of the “powers of this world.” Soon Chichikov receives an anonymous invitation from a certain lady to the governor’s ball and, intrigued, decides to go there. Here the ladies keep the guest busy with conversations, so Chichikov at first forgets to express his respect to the hostess. But the governor’s wife herself finds Chichikov and introduces him to her daughter, whose appearance somewhat unsettled the guest, making him timid and absent-minded. This made all the other ladies quite angry. Suddenly, a drunken Nozdryov appeared at the ball and began to pester Chichikov with questions, simultaneously telling everyone that the guest of the city NN tried to buy dead souls from him, the landowner. Fortunately, Nozdryov was soon taken out of the hall, and Chichikov hoped that these words would be attributed to the usual deceit of the absurd landowner. Completely upset, Chichikov curses the balls to himself.

Chapter 9

The author introduces the reader to “a lady pleasant in all respects” (Anna Grigorievna), whose name at first he prefers not to give in order to avoid misunderstandings. This lady discusses with another, “just a pleasant lady” (Sofia Grigorievna) the complaints of Korobochka, who was still afraid that Chichikov paid her less than she was supposed to. In the end, the ladies agree that the mysterious guest came to take away the governor’s daughter, and invented the story of buying dead souls as a diversion. Of course, after some time the whole city was talking only about dead souls and the governor’s daughter. Since the city was waiting for the appointment of a new governor-general, the officials were seriously scared: something would happen when rumors about the purchase of dead serfs reached them? In Chichikov they are ready to see both a robber and an auditor.

Chapter 10Material from the site

The completely bewildered officials realized that they could not guess who Chichikov really was. Therefore, they decided to discuss this issue together, enlisting the help of the police chief. During the discussion, the postmaster makes an amazing “discovery.” He begins to claim that Chichikov is none other than Captain Kopeikin. Next, the author, as if from the words of the postmaster, sets out the story of Captain Kopeikin, a hero of the War of 1812. Returning from the war as an invalid, Kopeikin settled in St. Petersburg, but soon realized that he could not afford life here. Then he went to the official whom he was advised to negotiate to receive government benefits. However, the matter with the resolution for benefits dragged on to the point that the hungry officer caused a scandal in the official’s reception room, for which he was arrested. According to rumors, the captain later led a band of robbers. After listening to the postmaster, the officials, however, doubted that Chichikov was Kopeikin. Meanwhile, rumors about Chichikov’s personality multiplied more and more. Chichikov, who did not suspect anything, learned about this gossip from Nozdryov, who praised him for his resourcefulness and ingenuity. Chichikov realized that the time had come to leave the city.

Chapter 11

Chichikov is unable to leave the city quickly, since the chaise, as it turns out, needs repairs. Finally, the chaise is ready, and the collegiate adviser sets off. What follows is a lyrical digression by the author, who, following the description of the road, talks about the greatness and fate of Rus'. Then the author undertakes to tell the biography of his hero. Despite Chichikov’s noble origins, life initially stared him in the face “sourly and unpleasantly.” Everything changed after my father gave “valuable advice” to please the authorities and save a penny. Having received his first position at the cost of servility, Pavel Ivanovich overcame the first, most difficult threshold, and then began to advance more successfully. His career, however, was more than once ruined either by envious people or by anti-bribery fighters. Chichikov always made plans to get rich again and find himself a decent job. His last plan was to buy dead souls, and this plan, apparently, was a success. The author ends the first volume with a lyrical description of Rus' in the image of the “irresistible troika.”

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The chapter is small, and the author's arguments in it are far from lyrical pathos. The author pretends to accept the lifestyle and habits of a provincial town, where it is dangerous to inadvertently offend someone, where caution and even delicacy are required. What do you call two lady friends who are discussing Korobochka’s arrival? The author imitates the timidity of a writer who finds it difficult to choose names for his characters: if you name a fictitious surname, use a random name, there will be “in some corner of our state... someone wearing it, and he will certainly be angry not to death, but to death,” you call “according to rank” - “and even more dangerous” (VI, 179).

The author balances on a certain precarious edge: he recreates, imitates the thinking of the city’s inhabitants and at the same time studies, looks at it from the outside, ironically conveys all the smallest features of speech, immerses the reader in a meaningless, but dynamic, almost aggressive stream of words that pours out of the lips of the ladies “ simply pleasant” and “pleasant in all respects.” Two nameless heroines, whose difference is indicated and immediately leveled by the repetition of the same word nice, immersed in the flesh of everyday life, masquerading as something sublime and subtle, but in fact only unwittingly parodying the spiritual content of life.

Having come to inform her friend about Korobochka’s arrival in the city, “just a nice lady” forgets for a long time about the purpose of her visit, no matter how important it may seem to her. ““What a cheerful chintz!” exclaimed a pleasant lady in all respects, looking at the dress of a simply pleasant lady” (VI, 180). First of all, this very chintz becomes the subject of conversation, i.e. matter in the literal sense of the word. It turns out that it can become an inexhaustible topic of conversation and argument. The ladies’ phrases addressed to each other are simultaneously addressed to the reader: “...imagine: narrow, narrow stripes that only the human imagination can imagine, the background is blue and through the stripe all the eyes and paws, eyes and paws, eyes and paws...” ( there). Let us remember the “scallops” mentioned further by the ladies: “a cape made of scallops, scallops on the sleeves, epaulettes made of scallops, scallops below, scallops everywhere” (VI, 181). The author's irony emerges through the lady's enthusiastic exclamation; “Everywhere there are scallops and only scallops!” - he could have exclaimed, summing up the conversation. But it turns out it’s too early to draw a conclusion. Ladies should talk about “skirts”, “bras”, “fams” and much more, but all about the same thing. We find in the text countless repetitions of words, whether we are talking about fashion or about Chichikov (“he is a worthless person, worthless, worthless, worthless” - VI, 182). The ladies' vocabulary is not very diverse. He feeds on everyday concerns and popular literature. It is according to the laws of the latter that Korobochka’s story about Chichikov’s arrival to her is built, or rather, conveyed: “A perfect romance: suddenly, in the dead of midnight, when everyone was already asleep in the house, there is a knock at the gate, the most terrible one you can imagine; they shout: “Open, open, otherwise the gates will be broken down...” (VI, 183). The aesthetics of the unusual, even the fantastic, draws into its orbit ladies who are tired of everyday life, including, perhaps, from “festoons”; and now they themselves become the authors of a fascinating story about Chichikov’s attempt to secretly take away the governor’s daughter.

Reality and fiction mix and grow into each other. Chichikov did not think about the kidnapping, but the contemplation of the lovely face of the sixteen-year-old college girl awakened in him previously unknown desires. He did not have a wife at all, who, as the ladies suggested, destroyed the hero’s insidious plans, however, Chichikov’s thoughts repeatedly rushed to family comfort, to a caring wife. Without knowing it themselves, the ladies materialize his subconscious desire, and at the same time Nozdryov’s. Assuming that he was an accomplice, they guess his search for the extraordinary, dynamic in life. Later, in response to a question from officials, “whether Chichikov really had the intention of taking away the governor’s daughter and whether it was true that he himself had undertaken to help and participate in this matter, Nozdryov replied that he helped and that if it weren’t for him, nothing would have happened” ( VI, 208–209).

Researchers wrote about the growing mythologization of reality in the narrative. In fact, the words used in the text are not limited to the immediate contextual comic meaning. Having discussed Chichikov’s situation among themselves, the ladies “each set off in their own direction to riot the city” - as a result, “the city was decisively revolted” (VI, 189). But the last phrase includes a more complex and deeper meaning, especially since it is supported by subsequent phrases: “everything came into fermentation,” “like a whirlwind, the hitherto dormant city was swept up” (VI, 190), “everyone suddenly found in themselves such sins as never even happened” (VI, 193).

The need to explain what is happening, to find its reasons, gives rise to a fairly wide range of interpretations: from refusal to explain in any way an incomprehensible incident (“What is the reason for dead souls? There is not even a reason. It turns out it’s simple: Androns are riding, nonsense, rubbish, boots soft-boiled! It’s just, damn it!..” (VI, 190. Here it can be explained that “androns” are special carts for transporting sheaves, hay with poles, the ends of which drag along the ground and rattle. The expression used by Gogol could mean “nonsense, nonsense, nonsense”) to the guess that in everything lies some kind of parable-like, therefore quite serious, meaning (“What kind of parable, really, what kind of parable are these dead souls?” - VI, 189).

It turned out that “the city is crowded, and large, and properly populated” (VI, 190), and the city began to move. “Talkas” brought out unknown persons and strange objects from its hidden depths. “Some Sysoy Pafnutievich and McDonald Karlovich appeared, whom we had never heard of before; Sticking around in the living rooms was a tall man with a bullet through his arm, so tall the likes of which had never even been seen. Covered droshky, unknown rulers, rattlers, wheel whistles appeared on the streets - and a mess started brewing” (ibid.). The Wheel Whistle is not at all a fantastic unit, as it may seem to a modern reader; it is a cart that makes a whistle when its rusty wheels rotate, but mentioned in general with other “unknown” carts, it makes a rather exotic impression.

The city of the last chapters is strikingly different from the one described in the first chapter. True, we can remember that some strangeness was already noticeable in him, but it was not striking, did not threaten anything, did not suggest that everything in the city would go “into ferment” and “like a whirlwind” the whole city would rise up. However, he took off...

The ladies who went to “revolt the city” managed to do this “in a little over half an hour” (VI, 184), “rumors finally penetrated into the most remote alleys” (VI, 187). A second, as we would now say, virtual reality is being created. The rebellious consciousness of the city residents gives rise to plots that were previously incapable of and which cannot be comprehended. “You won’t have time to turn around, and then they’ll release the story and at least there would be some meaning...”, “the plot became more interesting every minute...” (VI, 190-191).

What is fraught with this strange, unstable state of the city? What could it turn out to be? Another victory for “matter,” the flesh of life? After all, no matter how alarmed the officials and their wives may be, they remain the same: the “female” and “male” parties are arguing, and with all the differences in each there is “confusion, confusion, untidiness in thoughts” (VI, 192). Will “fermentation” lead to moral transformation? After all, the officials found “sins in themselves that never even existed.” For the author this is an open question.

The specific names that appear later in the text seem to return the narrative to the real mainstream. The feast of Solvychegodsk and Ust-Sysolsk merchants ended in a fight. Solvychegodsk is a district town in the Vologda province, founded in the 19th century, one of the largest centers of the Russian North; Ust-Sysolsk is also a district town of the same province, known since the 16th century, and in the 19th century it was a trade center of the region. The governor-general, whose strict judgment officials fear, is the head of one or several provinces, who had the highest military-administrative power. In “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” in the chapter “To Occupy an Important Place,” Gogol will express some interesting judgments about what a governor-general could do in his post, showing “Christian wisdom” (VIII, 350). The “state-owned peasants” mentioned in the chapter are not serfs, but personally free peasants who lived on state-owned lands and bore duties in favor of the state; administrative power over them was exercised by officials.

However, the shade of unreality not only does not disappear, but intensifies. This is primarily facilitated by repeated reminders of the incessant gossip and rumors. But unreality also appears in other ways: for example, in the names of villages and surnames (Lousy-arrogance, Zadirailovo; “the zemstvo police in the person of an assessor, some Drobyazhkin”), in indications of new versions (about the “maker of counterfeit notes” and about the “robber ").

Trying to restore the former stability of life (and to do this, find out exactly who Chichikov is), officials inquire from the landowners about the transactions they have concluded, but do not hear anything new. Manilov was ready to “vouch” for Pavel Ivanovich “as for himself,” “Sobakevich answered... that he sold the peasants to him to choose from and the people were alive in all respects; but that he does not vouch for what will happen in the future... and there are examples of entire villages dying out” (VI, 195–196). The speeches ring true, but the truth about the hero escapes. The description of events lives separately from the events themselves. Rumors and rumors replace reality, mythologize it, and give rise to more and more phantasmagoric variants of it. Almost nothing remains of the real provincial city, although its visible, everyday features are the same as they were before.

The poem “Dead Souls of Gogol in a summary in 10 minutes.

Meeting Chichikov

A middle-aged gentleman of rather pleasant appearance arrived at a hotel in a provincial town in a small chaise. He rented a room in the hotel, looked around it and went to the common room for dinner, leaving the servants to settle in their new place. This was the collegiate adviser, landowner Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.

After lunch, he went to explore the city and found that it was no different from other provincial cities. The visitor devoted the entire 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. He had already received an invitation to the governor for the evening.

Arriving at the governor's house, Chichikov, among other things, met Manilov, a very courteous and polite man, and the somewhat clumsy Sobakevich, and behaved so pleasantly with them that he completely charmed them, and both landowners invited their new friend to visit them. The next day, at dinner with the police chief, Pavel Ivanovich made the acquaintance of Nozdryov, a broken-hearted fellow of about thirty, with whom they immediately became friendly.

The newcomer lived in the city for more than a week, traveling around to parties and dinners; he showed himself to be a very pleasant conversationalist, able to talk on any topic. He knew how to behave well and had a degree of sedateness. In general, everyone in the city came to the opinion that he was an exceptionally decent and well-intentioned
Human.

Chichikov at Manilov's

Finally, Chichikov decided to visit his landowner acquaintances 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 miles from the city. Manilov greeted his new acquaintance very cordially, they kissed and entered the house, passing each other at the door for a long time. Manilov was, in general, a pleasant person, somehow cloyingly sweet, had no special hobbies other than fruitless dreams, and did not do housework.

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 dressed well. Her husband introduced Pavel Ivanovich to her. They talked a little, and the owners invited the guest to dinner. Already waiting in the dining room were the Manilovs’ sons, Themistoclus, seven years old, and six-year-old Alcides, for whom the teacher had tied napkins. The guest was shown the children's learning; the teacher only reprimanded the boys once, when the older one bit the younger one on the ear.

After dinner, Chichikov announced that he intended to talk with the owner about a very important matter, and both went to the office. The guest started a conversation about peasants and invited the owner to buy dead souls from him, that is, those peasants who had already died, but according to the audit were still listed as alive. Manilov could not understand anything for a long time, then he doubted the legality of such a bill of sale, but still agreed because
respect for the guest. When Pavel Ivanovich started talking about the price, the owner was offended and even took it upon himself to draw up the bill of sale.

Chichikov did not know how to thank Manilov. They said a hearty goodbye, and Pavel Ivanovich drove off, promising to come again and bring gifts for the children.

Chichikov at Korobochka

Chichikov was going to pay his next visit to Sobakevich, but it started to rain, and the crew drove into some field. Selifan unwrapped the wagon so clumsily that the master fell out of it and became covered in mud. Luckily, dogs were heard barking. They went to the village and asked to spend the night in some house. It turned out that this was the estate of a certain landowner Korobochka.

In the morning, Pavel Ivanovich met the owner, Nastasya Petrovna, a middle-aged woman, one of those who always complains 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 housekeeping, and Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from her.

Korobochka was extremely frightened by this 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 hemp as well.

After eating pie and pancakes baked especially for him, the guest drove on, accompanied by a girl who was supposed to lead the carriage onto the high road. Seeing a tavern already standing on the main road, they dropped off the girl, who, having received a copper penny as a reward, wandered home, and went there.

Chichikov at Nozdryov's

At the tavern, Chichikov ordered a pig with horseradish and sour cream and, eating it, asked the hostess about the surrounding landowners. At this time, two gentlemen drove up to the tavern, one of whom was Nozdryov, 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, rosy 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, constantly accused his friend of exaggeration. Nozdryov persuaded Chichikov to go to him, Mizhuev, reluctantly, also went with them.

It must be said that Nozdryov’s wife died, leaving him with two children, about whom he had nothing to do, and he moved from one fair to another, from one party to another. Everywhere he played cards and roulette and usually lost, although he was not shy about cheating, for which he was sometimes beaten by his partners. He was cheerful, considered a good friend, but he always managed to spoil his friends: upset a wedding, ruin a deal.

At the estate, having ordered lunch from the cook, Nozdryov took the guest to inspect the farm, which was nothing special, and drove for two hours, telling tales incredible in lies, so that Chichikov was very tired. Lunch was served, some of which was burnt, some was undercooked, and numerous wines of dubious quality.

The owner poured food for the guests, but hardly drank himself. The heavily intoxicated Mizhuev was sent home to his wife after dinner, 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, exchange them for Chichikov’s horses or chaise. Pavel Ivanovich also rejected this proposal 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 Nozdryov was on trial and accused of inflicting a personal insult on the landowner Maximov with rods while drunk. Pavel Ivanovich did not wait for the outcome, jumped out of the house and drove away.

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 mixed up 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 really liked...

Soon we arrived at Sobakevich's estate. Everything there was strong, solid, durable. The owner, fat, with a face as if carved with an axe, very much like a learned bear, met the guest and led him into the house. The furniture matched the owner - heavy, durable. On the walls hung paintings depicting ancient commanders.

The conversation turned to city officials, each of whom the owner gave a negative description. The hostess entered, Sobakevich introduced the guest to her and invited him to dinner. Lunch was not very varied, but tasty and filling. During dinner, the owner mentioned the landowner Plyushkin, who lived five miles away from him, whose people were dying like flies, and Chichikov took note of this.

Having had a very hearty lunch, 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 charged a high 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 a description of his business qualities and wrote a receipt for receiving the deposit, striking Chichikov with how intelligently everything was written. They parted satisfied with each other, and Chichikov went to Plyushkin.

Chichikov at Plyushkin's

He entered a large village, striking in its poverty: the huts were almost without roofs, their windows were covered with bull's bladders or covered with rags. The master's house is large, with many outbuildings for household needs, but they are all 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 dressed so strangely 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 it 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 was amazed at the chaos that reigned there. Everything is covered in dust, there are dried bits of wood on the table, and a bunch of strange things are piled in the corner. The housekeeper entered, and Chichikov again asked for the master. She said that the master was in front of him.

It must be said that Plyushkin was not always like this. Once he had a family and was simply 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 civil service. but he signed up for the regiment. Plyushkin cursed him too. When the youngest daughter died, the landowner was left alone in the house.

His stinginess assumed terrifying proportions; he carried into the house all the rubbish found around the village, even an old sole. The quitrent was collected from the peasants in the same amount, but since Plyushkin asked an exorbitant price for the goods, no one bought anything from him, and everything rotted in the master’s yard. His daughter came to him twice, first with one child, then with two, bringing him gifts and asking for help, but the father did not give a penny. His son lost the game and also asked for money, but 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 taxes had to be paid for them. The guest offered to bear these expenses. Plyushkin happily agreed, ordered the samovar to be put on and the remains of the Easter cake brought from the pantry, which his daughter had once brought and from which the mold had to be scraped off first.

Then he suddenly doubted the honesty of Chichikov’s intentions, and he offered to draw up a deed of sale for the dead peasants. Plyushkin decided to sell Chichikov some runaway peasants as well, and after bargaining, Pavel Ivanovich took them for thirty kopecks. After this, he (to the great satisfaction of the owner) refused lunch and tea and left in excellent spirits.

Chichikov is running 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 deeds of sale. At twelve o'clock I got dressed and, with papers under my arm, went to the civil ward. Coming out of the hotel, Pavel Ivanovich ran into Manilov, who was walking towards him.

They kissed so hard 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 the official in charge of deeds of sale, who, having received the bribe, sent Pavel Ivanovich to the chairman, Ivan Grigorievich. Sobakevich was already sitting in the chairman’s office. Ivan Grigorievich gave instructions to the same
official to fill out all the papers and collect witnesses.

When everything was properly completed, the chairman proposed to inject the purchase. Chichikov wanted to supply them with champagne, but Ivan Grigorievich said that they would go to the police chief, who would only blink an eye at the merchants in the fish and meat aisles, and a wonderful dinner would be prepared.

And so it happened. The merchants considered the police chief to be their man, who, although he robbed them, did not behave 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 just sat silently in a chair. Everyone was happy and did not want to let Chichikov leave the city, but decided to marry him, to which he gladly agreed.

Feeling that he had already begun to say too much, Pavel Ivanovich asked for a carriage and arrived at the hotel completely drunk in the prosecutor's droshky. Petrushka with difficulty 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 came out in an embrace and fell asleep crosswise 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 so many serfs in the Kherson province. Of course, Chichikov did not spread that he had acquired dead peasants; everyone believed that they had bought living ones, and a rumor spread throughout the city that Pavel Ivanovich was a millionaire. He was immediately interested in the ladies, who were very presentable in this city, traveled only in carriages, dressed fashionably and spoke elegantly. Chichikov could not help but notice such attention to himself. One day they brought him an anonymous love letter with poetry, at the end of which it was written that his own heart would help him guess the writer.

Chichikov at the governor's ball

After some time, Pavel Ivanovich was invited to a ball with the governor. His appearance at the ball caused great enthusiasm among all those present. The men greeted him with loud cheers and tight hugs, and the ladies surrounded him, forming a multi-colored garland. He tried to guess which of them wrote the letter, but he couldn’t.

Chichikov was rescued from their entourage by the governor's wife, holding on the arm a pretty sixteen-year-old girl, in whom Pavel Ivanovich recognized the blonde from the carriage that encountered him on the way from Nozdryov. It turned out that the girl was the governor’s daughter, who had just graduated 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 were indignant and condemned the poor schoolgirl.

Unexpectedly, Nozdryov appeared from the living room, where the card game was going on, accompanied by the prosecutor, and, seeing Chichikov, immediately shouted to the whole room: What? Did you sell a lot of dead people? 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 controversy. Upset Chichikov, anticipating a scandal, did not wait until dinner was over and went to the hotel.

While he, sitting in his room, was cursing Nozdryov and all his relatives, a car with Korobochka drove into the city. This club-headed landowner, worried whether Chichikov had deceived her in some cunning way, decided to personally find out how much dead souls are worth these days. 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 as a distraction, and 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 no longer to be received. The men also couldn’t understand anything, but they didn’t really believe in the kidnapping.

At this time, a new general was appointed to the province - the governor and officials even thought that Chichikov had come to their city on his instructions to check. Then they decided that Chichikov was a counterfeiter, then that he was a robber. They interrogated Selifan and Petrushka, but they could not say anything intelligible. They also talked 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 warmly and went to visit the governor. Imagine Pavel Ivanovich’s surprise when the footman said that he was not ordered to receive him! Then he went to see other officials, but everyone received him so strangely, they conducted such a forced and incomprehensible conversation that he doubted their health.

Chichikov leaves town

Chichikov wandered around the city aimlessly for a long time, and in the evening Nozdryov 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 pawn the horses, and he himself began to pack his things. But it turned out that the horses needed to be shod, and we left only the next day. When we were driving through the city, we had to miss the funeral procession: they were burying the prosecutor. Chichikov drew the curtains. Fortunately, no one paid attention to him.

the essence of the dead souls scam

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov was born into a poor noble family. By sending his son to school, his father ordered him to live frugally, behave well, please teachers, be friends only with the children of rich parents, and most of all in life value a penny. Pavlusha did all this conscientiously and was very successful in it. not disdaining to speculate on edibles. Not distinguished by intelligence and knowledge, his behavior earned him a certificate and a letter of commendation upon graduating from college.

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 much he pleased his boss. Then, having checked. 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, started calling him daddy and kissed his hand. Soon Pavel Ivanovich received a new position and immediately moved to his apartment. but the matter of the wedding was hushed up. Time passed, Chichikov succeeded. He himself did not take bribes, but received money from his subordinates, who began to take three times more. After some time, a commission was organized in the city to build some kind of capital structure, and Pavel Ivanovich settled there. The structure did not grow above the foundation, but the members of the commission built beautiful large houses for themselves. Unfortunately, the boss was changed, 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 again.

He changed two or three positions, and then got lucky: he got a job at the customs office, where he showed his best side, was incorruptible, was the best at finding contraband and earned 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 one day an 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, we managed to avoid trial, Pavel Ivanovich had some money hidden, and he began to arrange his life again. He had to become an attorney, and it was this service that gave him the idea of ​​dead souls. Once he was trying to get several hundred peasants from a bankrupt landowner to pledge to the board of guardians. In between, Chichikov explained to the secretary that half of the peasants had died out and he doubted the success of the business. 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 up more dead souls and put them in the guardianship council, receiving money for them as if they were alive. The city in which we met Chichikov was the first on his way to realizing his plan, and now Pavel Ivanovich in his chaise drawn by three horses rode further.