Dead Souls ............................................................................................................................................................1

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol.......................................................................................................................1

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, born at Sorochintsky, Russia, on 31st March 1809. Obtained government post at

St. Petersburg and later an appointment at the university. Lived in Rome from 1836 to 1848. Died on 21st

Dead Souls, first published in 1842, is the great prose classic of Russia. That amazing institution, "the

Russian novel," not only began its career with this unfinished masterpiece by Nikolai Vasil'evich Gogol, but

practically all the Russian masterpieces that have come since have grown out of it, like the limbs of a single

tree. Dostoieffsky goes so far as to bestow this tribute upon an earlier work by the same author, a short story

entitled The Cloak; this idea has been wittily expressed by another compatriot, who says: "We have all issued

Dead Souls, which bears the word "Poem" upon the title page of the original, has been generally compared to

Don Quixote and to the Pickwick Papers, while E. M. Vogue places its author somewhere between Cervantes

and Le Sage. However considerable the influences of Cervantes and Dickens may have beenthe first in the

matter of structure, the other in background, humour, and detail of characterisationthe predominating and

distinguishing quality of the work is undeniably something foreign to both and quite peculiar to itself;

something which, for want of a better term, might be called the quality of the Russian soul. The English

reader familiar with the works of Dostoieffsky, Turgenev, and Tolstoi, need hardly be told what this implies;

it might be defined in the words of the French critic just named as "a tendency to pity." One might indeed go

further and say that it implies a certain tolerance of one's characters even though they be, in the conventional

sense, knaves, products, as the case might be, of conditions or circumstance, which after all is the thing to be

criticised and not the man. But pity and tolerance are rare in satire, even in clash with it, producing in the

result a deep sense of tragic humour. It is this that makes of Dead Souls a unique work, peculiarly Gogolian,

Still more profound are the contradictions to be seen in the author's personal character; and unfortunately they

prevented him from completing his work. The trouble is that he made his art out of life, and when in his final

years he carried his struggle, as Tolstoi did later, back into life, he repented of all he had written, and in the

frenzy of a wakeful night burned all his manuscripts, including the second part of Dead Souls, only fragments

of which were saved. There was yet a third part to be written. Indeed, the second part had been written and

burned twice. Accounts differ as to why he had burned it finally. Religious remorse, fury at adverse criticism,

and despair at not reaching ideal perfection are among the reasons given. Again it is said that he had

The poet Pushkin, who said of Gogol that "behind his laughter you feel the unseen tears," was his chief friend

and inspirer. It was he who suggested the plot of Dead Souls as well as the plot of the earlier work The

Revisor, which is almost the only comedy in Russian. The importance of both is their introduction of the

social element in Russian literature, as Prince Kropotkin points out. Both hold up the mirror to Russian

officialdom and the effects it has produced on the national character. The plot of Dead Souls is simple

It was the day of serfdom in Russia, and a man's standing was often judged by the numbers of "souls" he

possessed. There was a periodical census of serfs, say once every ten or twenty years. This being the case, an

owner had to pay a tax on every "soul" registered at the last census, though some of the serfs might have died

in the meantime. Nevertheless, the system had its material advantages, inasmuch as an owner might borrow

money from a bank on the "dead souls" no less than on the living ones. The plan of Chichikov, Gogol's

herovillain, was therefore to make a journey through Russia and buy up the "dead souls," at reduced rates of

course, saving their owners the government tax, and acquiring for himself a list of fictitious serfs, which he

meant to mortgage to a bank for a considerable sum. With this money he would buy an estate and some real

Obviously, this plot, which is really no plot at all but merely a ruse to enable Chichikov to go across Russia

in a troika, with Selifan the coachman as a sort of Russian Sancho Panza, gives Gogol a magnificent

opportunity to reveal his genius as a painter of Russian panorama, peopled with characteristic native types

commonplace enough but drawn in comic relief. "The comic," explained the author yet at the beginning of

his career, "is hidden everywhere, only living in the midst of it we are not conscious of it; but if the artist

brings it into his art, on the stage say, we shall roll about with laughter and only wonder we did not notice it

before." But the comic in Dead Souls is merely external. Let us see how Pushkin, who loved to laugh,

regarded the work. As Gogol read it aloud to him from the manuscript the poet grew more and more gloomy

and at last cried out: "God! What a sad country Russia is!" And later he said of it: "Gogol invents nothing; it

The work on one hand was received as nothing less than an exposure of all Russiawhat would foreigners

think of it? The liberal elements, however, the critical Belinsky among them, welcomed it as a revelation, as

an omen of a freer future. Gogol, who had meant to do a service to Russia and not to heap ridicule upon her,

took the criticisms of the Slavophiles to heart; and he palliated his critics by promising to bring about in the

succeeding parts of his novel the redemption of Chichikov and the other "knaves and blockheads." But the

"Westerner" Belinsky and others of the liberal camp were mistrustful. It was about this time (1847) that

Gogol published his Correspondence with Friends, and aroused a literary controversy that is alive to this day.

Opinions as to the actual significance of Gogol's masterpiece differ. Some consider the author a realist who

has drawn with meticulous detail a picture of Russia; others, Merejkovsky among them, see in him a great

symbolist; the very title Dead Souls is taken to describe the living of Russia as well as its dead. Chichikov

himself is now generally regarded as a universal character. We find an American professor, William Lyon

Phelps[1], of Yale, holding the opinion that "no one can travel far in America without meeting scores of

Chichikovs; indeed, he is an accurate portrait of the American promoter, of the successful commercial

traveller whose success depends entirely not on the real value and usefulness of his stockintrade, but on his

knowledge of human nature and of the persuasive power of his tongue." This is also the opinion held by

Prince Kropotkin[2], who says: "Chichikov may buy dead souls, or railway shares, or he may collect funds

for some charitable institution, or look for a position in a bank, but he is an immortal international type; we

meet him everywhere; he is of all lands and of all times; he but takes different forms to suit the requirements

Again, the work bears an interesting relation to Gogol himself. A romantic, writing of realities, he was

appalled at the commonplaces of life, at finding no outlet for his love of colour derived from his Cossack

ancestry. He realised that he had drawn a host of "heroes," "one more commonplace than another, that there

was not a single palliating circumstance, that there was not a single place where the reader might find pause

to rest and to console himself, and that when he had finished the book it was as though he had walked out of

an oppressive cellar into the open air." He felt perhaps inward need to redeem Chichikov; in Merejkovsky's

opinion he really wanted to save his own soul, but had succeeded only in losing it. His last years were spent

morbidly; he suffered torments and ran from place to place like one hunted; but really always running from

himself. Rome was his favourite refuge, and he returned to it again and again. In 1848, he made a pilgrimage

to the Holy Land, but he could find no peace for his soul. Something of this mood had reflected itself even

much earlier in the Memoirs of a Madman: "Oh, little mother, save your poor son! Look how they are

tormenting him. . . . There's no place for him on earth! He's being driven! . . . Oh, little mother, take pity on

All the contradictions of Gogol's character are not to be disposed of in a brief essay. Such a strange

combination of the tragic and the comic was truly seldom seen in one man. He, for one, realised that "it is

dangerous to jest with laughter." "Everything that I laughed at became sad." "And terrible," adds

Merejkovsky. But earlier his humour was lighter, less tinged with the tragic; in those days Pushkin never

failed to be amused by what Gogol had brought to read to him. Even Revizor (1835), with its tragic

undercurrent, was a trifle compared to Dead Souls, so that one is not astonished to hear that not only did the

Tsar, Nicholas I, give permission to have it acted, in spite of its being a criticism of official rottenness, but

laughed uproariously, and led the applause. Moreover, he gave Gogol a grant of money, and asked that its

source should not be revealed to the author lest "he might feel obliged to write from the official point of

Gogol was born at Sorotchinetz, Little Russia, in March 1809. He left college at nineteen and went to St.

Petersburg, where he secured a position as copying clerk in a government department. He did not keep his

position long, yet long enough to store away in his mind a number of bureaucratic types which proved useful

later. He quite suddenly started for America with money given to him by his mother for another purpose, but

when he got as far as Lubeck he turned back. He then wanted to become an actor, but his voice proved not

strong enough. Later he wrote a poem which was unkindly received. As the copies remained unsold, he

His next effort, Evenings at the Farm of Dikanka (1831) was more successful. It was a series of gay and

colourful pictures of Ukraine, the land he knew and loved, and if he is occasionally a little over romantic here

and there, he also achieves some beautifully lyrical passages. Then came another even finer series called

Mirgorod, which won the admiration of Pushkin. Next he planned a "History of Little Russia" and a "History

of the Middle Ages," this last work to be in eight or nine volumes. The result of all this study was a beautiful

and short Homeric epic in prose, called Taras Bulba. His appointment to a professorship in history was a

ridiculous episode in his life. After a brilliant first lecture, in which he had evidently said all he had to say, he

settled to a life of boredom for himself and his pupils. When he resigned he said joyously: "I am once more a

free Cossack." Between 1834 and 1835 he produced a new series of stories, including his famous Cloak,

Gogol knew little about women, who played an equally minor role in his life and in his books. This may be

partly because his personal appearance was not prepossessing. He is described by a contemporary as "a little

man with legs too short for his body. He walked crookedly; he was clumsy, illdressed, and rather

ridiculouslooking, with his long lock of hair flapping on his forehead, and his large prominent nose."

From 1835 Gogol spent almost his entire time abroad; some strange unrestpossibly his Cossack

bloodpossessed him like a demon, and he never stopped anywhere very long. After his pilgrimage in 1848

to Jerusalem, he returned to Moscow, his entire possessions in a little bag; these consisted of pamphlets,

critiques, and newspaper articles mostly inimical to himself. He wandered about with these from house to

house. Everything he had of value he gave away to the poor. He ceased work entirely. According to all

accounts he spent his last days in praying and fasting. Visions came to him. His death, which came in 1852,

was extremely fantastic. His last words, uttered in a loud frenzy, were: "A ladder! Quick, a ladder!" This call

for a ladder"a spiritual ladder," in the words of Merejkovskyhad been made on an earlier occasion by a

certain Russian saint, who used almost the same language. "I shall laugh my bitter laugh"[3] was the

[3] This is generally referred to in the Russian criticisms of Gogol as a quotation from Jeremiah. It appears

upon investigation, however, that it actually occurs only in the Slavonic version from the Greek, and not in

Evenings on the Farm near the Dikanka, 182931; Mirgorod, 183133; Taras Bulba, 1834; Arabesques

(includes tales, The Portrait and A Madman's Diary), 183135; The Cloak, 1835; The Revizor (The

ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS: Cossack Tales (The Night of Christmas Eve, Tarass Boolba), trans. by G.

Tolstoy, 1860; St. John's Eve and Other Stories, trans. by Isabel F. Hapgood, New York, Crowell, 1886;

Taras Bulba: Also St. John's Eve and Other Stories, London, Vizetelly, 1887; Taras Bulba, trans. by B. C.

Baskerville, London, Scott, 1907; The Inspector: a Comedy, Calcutta, 1890; The InspectorGeneral, trans. by

A. A. Sykes, London, Scott, 1892; Revizor, trans. for the Yale Dramatic Association by Max S. Mandell,

New Haven, Conn., 1908; Home Life in Russia (adaptation of Dead Souls), London, Hurst, 1854;

Tchitchikoff's Journey's; or Dead Souls, trans. by Isabel F. Hapgood, New York, Crowell, 1886; Dead Souls,

London, Vizetelly, 1887; Dead Souls, London, Maxwell 1887; Meditations on the Divine Liturgy, trans. by

LIVES, etc.: (Russian) Kotlyarevsky (N. A.), 1903; Shenrok (V. I.), Materials for a Biography, 1892;

Reader, whosoever or wheresoever you be, and whatsoever be your stationwhether that of a member of the

higher ranks of society or that of a member of the plainer walks of lifeI beg of you, if God shall have given

you any skill in letters, and my book shall fall into your hands, to extend to me your assistance.

For in the book which lies before you, and which, probably, you have read in its first edition, there is

portrayed a man who is a type taken from our Russian Empire. This man travels about the Russian land and

meets with folk of every conditionfrom the noblyborn to the humble toiler. Him I have taken as a type to

show forth the vices and the failings, rather than the merits and the virtues, of the commonplace Russian

individual; and the characters which revolve around him have also been selected for the purpose of

demonstrating our national weaknesses and shortcomings. As for men and women of the better sort, I propose

to portray them in subsequent volumes. Probably much of what I have described is improbable and does not

happen as things customarily happen in Russia; and the reason for that is that for me to learn all that I have

wished to do has been impossible, in that human life is not sufficiently long to become acquainted with even

a hundredth part of what takes place within the borders of the Russian Empire. Also, carelessness,

inexperience, and lack of time have led to my perpetrating numerous errors and inaccuracies of detail; with

the result that in every line of the book there is something which calls for correction. For these reasons I beg

of you, my reader, to act also as my corrector. Do not despise the task, for, however superior be your

education, and however lofty your station, and however insignificant, in your eyes, my book, and however

trifling the apparent labour of correcting and commenting upon that book, I implore you to do as I have said.

And you too, O reader of lowly education and simple status, I beseech you not to look upon yourself as too

ignorant to be able in some fashion, however small, to help me. Every man who has lived in the world and

mixed with his fellow men will have remarked something which has remained hidden from the eyes of

others; and therefore I beg of you not to deprive me of your comments, seeing that it cannot be that, should

you read my book with attention, you will have NOTHING to say at some point therein.

For example, how excellent it would be if some reader who is sufficiently rich in experience and the

knowledge of life to be acquainted with the sort of characters which I have described herein would annotate

in detail the book, without missing a single page, and undertake to read it precisely as though, laying pen and

paper before him, he were first to peruse a few pages of the work, and then to recall his own life, and the lives

of folk with whom he has come in contact, and everything which he has seen with his own eyes or has heard

of from others, and to proceed to annotate, in so far as may tally with his own experience or otherwise, what

is set forth in the book, and to jot down the whole exactly as it stands pictured to his memory, and, lastly, to

send me the jottings as they may issue from his pen, and to continue doing so until he has covered the entire

work! Yes, he would indeed do me a vital service! Of style or beauty of expression he would need to take no

account, for the value of a book lies in its truth and its actuality rather than in its wording. Nor would he need

to consider my feelings if at any point he should feel minded to blame or to upbraid me, or to demonstrate the

harm rather than the good which has been done through any lack of thought or verisimilitude of which I have

been guilty. In short, for anything and for everything in the way of criticism I should be thankful.

Also, it would be an excellent thing if some reader in the higher walks of life, some person who stands

remote, both by life and by education, from the circle of folk which I have pictured in my book, but who

knows the life of the circle in which he himself revolves, would undertake to read my work in similar fashion,

and methodically to recall to his mind any members of superior social classes whom he has met, and carefully

to observe whether there exists any resemblance between one such class and another, and whether, at times,

there may not be repeated in a higher sphere what is done in a lower, and likewise to note any additional fact

in the same connection which may occur to him (that is to say, any fact pertaining to the higher ranks of

society which would seem to confirm or to disprove his conclusions), and, lastly, to record that fact as it may

have occurred within his own experience, while giving full details of persons (of individual manners,

tendencies, and customs) and also of inanimate surroundings (of dress, furniture, fittings of houses, and so

forth). For I need knowledge of the classes in question, which are the flower of our people. In fact, this very

reasonthe reason that I do not yet know Russian life in all its aspects, and in the degree to which it is

necessary for me to know it in order to become a successful authoris what has, until now, prevented me

Again, it would be an excellent thing if some one who is endowed with the faculty of imagining and vividly

picturing to himself the various situations wherein a character may be placed, and of mentally following up a

character's career in one field and anotherby this I mean some one who possesses the power of entering

into and developing the ideas of the author whose work he may be readingwould scan each character

herein portrayed, and tell me how each character ought to have acted at a given juncture, and what, to judge

from the beginnings of each character, ought to have become of that character later, and what new

circumstances might be devised in connection therewith, and what new details might advantageously be

added to those already described. Honestly can I say that to consider these points against the time when a new

edition of my book may be published in a different and a better form would give me the greatest possible

One thing in particular would I ask of any reader who may be willing to give me the benefit of his advice.

That is to say, I would beg of him to suppose, while recording his remarks, that it is for the benefit of a man

in no way his equal in education, or similar to him in tastes and ideas, or capable of apprehending criticisms

without full explanation appended, that he is doing so. Rather would I ask such a reader to suppose that

before him there stands a man of incomparably inferior enlightenment and schoolinga rude country

bumpkin whose life, throughout, has been passed in retirementa bumpkin to whom it is necessary to

explain each circumstance in detail, while never forgetting to be as simple of speech as though he were a

child, and at every step there were a danger of employing terms beyond his understanding. Should these

precautions be kept constantly in view by any reader undertaking to annotate my book, that reader's remarks

will exceed in weight and interest even his own expectations, and will bring me very real advantage.

Thus, provided that my earnest request be heeded by my readers, and that among them there be found a few

kind spirits to do as I desire, the following is the manner in which I would request them to transmit their notes

for my consideration. Inscribing the package with my name, let them then enclose that package in a second

one addressed either to the Rector of the University of St. Petersburg or to Professor Shevirev of the

University of Moscow, according as the one or the other of those two cities may be the nearer to the sender.

Lastly, while thanking all journalists and litterateurs for their previously published criticisms of my

bookcriticisms which, in spite of a spice of that intemperance and prejudice which is common to all

humanity, have proved of the greatest use both to my head and to my heartI beg of such writers again to

favour me with their reviews. For in all sincerity I can assure them that whatsoever they may be pleased to

say for my improvement and my instruction will be received by me with naught but gratitude.

To the door of an inn in the provincial town of N. there drew up a smart britchkaa light springcarriage of

the sort affected by bachelors, retired lieutenantcolonels, staffcaptains, landowners possessed of about a

hundred souls, and, in short, all persons who rank as gentlemen of the intermediate category. In the britchka

was seated such a gentlemana man who, though not handsome, was not illfavoured, not overfat, and not

overthin. Also, though not overelderly, he was not overyoung. His arrival produced no stir in the town,

and was accompanied by no particular incident, beyond that a couple of peasants who happened to be

standing at the door of a dramshop exchanged a few comments with reference to the equipage rather than to

the individual who was seated in it. "Look at that carriage," one of them said to the other. "Think you it will

be going as far as Moscow?" "I think it will," replied his companion. "But not as far as Kazan, eh?" "No, not

as far as Kazan." With that the conversation ended. Presently, as the britchka was approaching the inn, it was

met by a young man in a pair of very short, very tight breeches of white dimity, a quasifashionable

frockcoat, and a dickey fastened with a pistolshaped bronze tiepin. The young man turned his head as he

passed the britchka and eyed it attentively; after which he clapped his hand to his cap (which was in danger of

being removed by the wind) and resumed his way. On the vehicle reaching the inn door, its occupant found

standing there to welcome him the polevoi, or waiter, of the establishmentan individual of such nimble and

brisk movement that even to distinguish the character of his face was impossible. Running out with a napkin

in one hand and his lanky form clad in a tailcoat, reaching almost to the nape of his neck, he tossed back his

locks, and escorted the gentleman upstairs, along a wooden gallery, and so to the bedchamber which God had

prepared for the gentleman's reception. The said bedchamber was of quite ordinary appearance, since the inn

belonged to the species to be found in all provincial townsthe species wherein, for two roubles a day,

travellers may obtain a room swarming with blackbeetles, and communicating by a doorway with the

apartment adjoining. True, the doorway may be blocked up with a wardrobe; yet behind it, in all probability,

there will be standing a silent, motionless neighbour whose ears are burning to learn every possible detail

concerning the latest arrival. The inn's exterior corresponded with its interior. Long, and consisting only of

two storeys, the building had its lower half destitute of stucco; with the result that the darkred bricks,

originally more or less dingy, had grown yet dingier under the influence of atmospheric changes. As for the

upper half of the building, it was, of course, painted the usual tint of unfading yellow. Within, on the ground

floor, there stood a number of benches heaped with horsecollars, rope, and sheepskins; while the

windowseat accommodated a sbitentshik[1], cheek by jowl with a samovar[2]the latter so closely

resembling the former in appearance that, but for the fact of the samovar possessing a pitchblack lip, the

During the traveller's inspection of his room his luggage was brought into the apartment. First came a

portmanteau of white leather whose raggedness indicated that the receptacle had made several previous

journeys. The bearers of the same were the gentleman's coachman, Selifan (a little man in a large overcoat),

and the gentleman's valet, Petrushkathe latter a fellow of about thirty, clad in a worn, overample jacket

which formerly had graced his master's shoulders, and possessed of a nose and a pair of lips whose

coarseness communicated to his face rather a sullen expression. Behind the portmanteau came a small

dispatchbox of redwood, lined with birch bark, a bootcase, and (wrapped in blue paper) a roast fowl; all of

which having been deposited, the coachman departed to look after his horses, and the valet to establish

himself in the little dark anteroom or kennel where already he had stored a cloak, a bagful of livery, and his

own peculiar smell. Pressing the narrow bedstead back against the wall, he covered it with the tiny remnant

of mattressa remnant as thin and flat (perhaps also as greasy) as a pancakewhich he had managed to beg

While the attendants had been thus setting things straight the gentleman had repaired to the common parlour.

The appearance of common parlours of the kind is known to every one who travels. Always they have

varnished walls which, grown black in their upper portions with tobacco smoke, are, in their lower, grown

shiny with the friction of customers' backsmore especially with that of the backs of such local tradesmen

as, on marketdays, make it their regular practice to resort to the local hostelry for a glass of tea. Also,

parlours of this kind invariably contain smutty ceilings, an equally smutty chandelier, a number of pendent

shades which jump and rattle whenever the waiter scurries across the shabby oilcloth with a trayful of glasses

(the glasses looking like a flock of birds roosting by the seashore), and a selection of oil paintings. In short,

there are certain objects which one sees in every inn. In the present case the only outstanding feature of the

room was the fact that in one of the paintings a nymph was portrayed as possessing breasts of a size such as

the reader can never in his life have beheld. A similar caricaturing of nature is to be noted in the historical

pictures (of unknown origin, period, and creation) which reach ussometimes through the instrumentality of

Russian magnates who profess to be connoisseurs of artfrom Italy; owing to the said magnates having

made such purchases solely on the advice of the couriers who have escorted them.

To resume, howeverour traveller removed his cap, and divested his neck of a particoloured woollen scarf

of the kind which a wife makes for her husband with her own hands, while accompanying the gift with

interminable injunctions as to how best such a garment ought to be folded. True, bachelors also wear similar

gauds, but, in their case, God alone knows who may have manufactured the articles! For my part, I cannot

endure them. Having unfolded the scarf, the gentleman ordered dinner, and whilst the various dishes were

being got readycabbage soup, a pie several weeks old, a dish of marrow and peas, a dish of sausages and

cabbage, a roast fowl, some salted cucumber, and the sweet tart which stands perpetually ready for use in

such establishments; whilst, I say, these things were either being warmed up or brought in cold, the

gentleman induced the waiter to retail certain fragments of tittletattle concerning the late landlord of the

hostelry, the amount of income which the hostelry produced, and the character of its present proprietor. To

the lastmentioned inquiry the waiter returned the answer invariably given in such casesnamely, "My

master is a terribly hard man, sir." Curious that in enlightened Russia so many people cannot even take a

meal at an inn without chattering to the attendant and making free with him! Nevertheless not ALL the

questions which the gentleman asked were aimless ones, for he inquired who was Governor of the town, who

President of the Local Council, and who Public Prosecutor. In short, he omitted no single official of note,

while asking also (though with an air of detachment) the most exact particulars concerning the landowners of

the neighbourhood. Which of them, he inquired, possessed serfs, and how many of them? How far from the

town did those landowners reside? What was the character of each landowner, and was he in the habit of

paying frequent visits to the town? The gentleman also made searching inquiries concerning the hygienic

condition of the countryside. Was there, he asked, much sickness aboutwhether sporadic fever, fatal forms

of ague, smallpox, or what not? Yet, though his solicitude concerning these matters showed more than

ordinary curiosity, his bearing retained its gravity unimpaired, and from time to time he blew his nose with

portentous fervour. Indeed, the manner in which he accomplished this latter feat was marvellous in the

extreme, for, though that member emitted sounds equal to those of a trumpet in intensity, he could yet, with

his accompanying air of guileless dignity, evoke the waiter's undivided respectso much so that, whenever

the sounds of the nose reached that menial's ears, he would shake back his locks, straighten himself into a

posture of marked solicitude, and inquire afresh, with head slightly inclined, whether the gentleman happened

to require anything further. After dinner the guest consumed a cup of coffee, and then, seating himself upon

the sofa, with, behind him, one of those woolcovered cushions which, in Russian taverns, resemble nothing

so much as a cobblestone or a brick, fell to snoring; whereafter, returning with a start to consciousness, he

ordered himself to be conducted to his room, flung himself at full length upon the bed, and once more slept

soundly for a couple of hours. Aroused, eventually, by the waiter, he, at the latter's request, inscribed a

fragment of paper with his name, his surname, and his rank (for communication, in accordance with the law,

to the police): and on that paper the waiter, leaning forward from the corridor, read, syllable by syllable:

"Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov, Collegiate CouncillorLandownerTravelling on Private Affairs." The waiter

had just time to accomplish this feat before Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov set forth to inspect the town.

Apparently the place succeeded in satisfying him, and, to tell the truth, it was at least up to the usual standard

of our provincial capitals. Where the staring yellow of stone edifices did not greet his eye he found himself

confronted with the more modest grey of wooden ones; which, consisting, for the most part, of one or two

storeys (added to the range of attics which provincial architects love so well), looked almost lost amid the

expanses of street and intervening medleys of broken or halffinished partitionwalls. At other points

evidence of more life and movement was to be seen, and here the houses stood crowded together and

displayed dilapidated, rainblurred signboards whereon boots of cakes or pairs of blue breeches inscribed

"Arshavski, Tailor," and so forth, were depicted. Over a shop containing hats and caps was written "Vassili

Thedorov, Foreigner"; while, at another spot, a signboard portrayed a billiard table and two playersthe

latter clad in frockcoats of the kind usually affected by actors whose part it is to enter the stage during the

closing act of a piece, even though, with arms sharply crooked and legs slightly bent, the said billiard players

were taking the most careful aim, but succeeding only in making abortive strokes in the air. Each emporium

of the sort had written over it: "This is the best establishment of its kind in the town." Also, al fresco in the

streets there stood tables heaped with nuts, soap, and gingerbread (the latter but little distinguishable from the

soap), and at an eatinghouse there was displayed the sign of a plump fish transfixed with a gaff. But the sign

most frequently to be discerned was the insignia of the State, the doubleheaded eagle (now replaced, in this

connection, with the laconic inscription "Dramshop"). As for the paving of the town, it was uniformly bad.

The gentleman peered also into the municipal gardens, which contained only a few sorry trees that were

poorly selected, requiring to be propped with oilpainted, triangular green supports, and able to boast of a

height no greater than that of an ordinary walkingstick. Yet recently the local paper had said (apropos of a

gala) that, "Thanks to the efforts of our Civil Governor, the town has become enriched with a pleasaunce full

of umbrageous, spaciouslybranching trees. Even on the most sultry day they afford agreeable shade, and

indeed gratifying was it to see the hearts of our citizens panting with an impulse of gratitude as their eyes

Next, after inquiring of a gendarme as to the best ways and means of finding the local council, the local

lawcourts, and the local Governor, should he (Chichikov) have need of them, the gentleman went on to

inspect the river which ran through the town. En route he tore off a notice affixed to a post, in order that he

might the more conveniently read it after his return to the inn. Also, he bestowed upon a lady of pleasant

exterior who, escorted by a footman laden with a bundle, happened to be passing along a wooden sidewalk a

prolonged stare. Lastly, he threw around him a comprehensive glance (as though to fix in his mind the

general topography of the place) and betook himself home. There, gently aided by the waiter, he ascended the

stairs to his bedroom, drank a glass of tea, and, seating himself at the table, called for a candle; which having

been brought him, he produced from his pocket the notice, held it close to the flame, and conned its

tenourslightly contracting his right eye as he did so. Yet there was little in the notice to call for remark. All

that it said was that shortly one of Kotzebue's[3] plays would be given, and that one of the parts in the play

was to be taken by a certain Monsieur Poplevin, and another by a certain Mademoiselle Ziablova, while the

remaining parts were to be filled by a number of less important personages. Nevertheless the gentleman

perused the notice with careful attention, and even jotted down the prices to be asked for seats for the

performance. Also, he remarked that the bill had been printed in the press of the Provincial Government.

Next, he turned over the paper, in order to see if anything further was to be read on the reverse side; but,

finding nothing there, he refolded the document, placed it in the box which served him as a receptacle for

odds and ends, and brought the day to a close with a portion of cold veal, a bottle of pickles, and a sound

[3] A German dramatist (17611819) who also filled sundry posts in the service of the Russian Government.

The following day he devoted to paying calls upon the various municipal officialsa first, and a very

respectful, visit being paid to the Governor. This personage turned out to resemble Chichikov himself in that

he was neither fat nor thin. Also, he wore the riband of the order of Saint Anna about his neck, and was

reported to have been recommended also for the star. For the rest, he was large and goodnatured, and had a

habit of amusing himself with occasional spells of knitting. Next, Chichikov repaired to the ViceGovernor's,

and thence to the house of the Public Prosecutor, to that of the President of the Local Council, to that of the

Chief of Police, to that of the Commissioner of Taxes, and to that of the local Director of State Factories.

True, the task of remembering every bigwig in this world of ours is not a very easy one; but at least our

visitor displayed the greatest activity in his work of paying calls, seeing that he went so far as to pay his

respects also to the Inspector of the Municipal Department of Medicine and to the City Architect. Thereafter

he sat thoughtfully in his britchkaplunged in meditation on the subject of whom else it might be well to

visit. However, not a single magnate had been neglected, and in conversation with his hosts he had contrived

to flatter each separate one. For instance to the Governor he had hinted that a stranger, on arriving in his, the

Governor's province, would conceive that he had reached Paradise, so velvety were the roads. "Governors

who appoint capable subordinates," had said Chichikov, "are deserving of the most ample meed of praise."

Again, to the Chief of Police our hero had passed a most gratifying remark on the subject of the local

gendarmery; while in his conversation with the ViceGovernor and the President of the Local Council

(neither of whom had, as yet, risen above the rank of State Councillor) he had twice been guilty of the

gaucherie of addressing his interlocutors with the title of "Your Excellency"a blunder which had not failed

to delight them. In the result the Governor had invited him to a reception the same evening, and certain other

officials had followed suit by inviting him, one of them to dinner, a second to a teaparty, and so forth, and

Of himself, however, the traveller had spoken little; or, if he had spoken at any length, he had done so in a

general sort of way and with marked modesty. Indeed, at moments of the kind his discourse had assumed

something of a literary vein, in that invariably he had stated that, being a worm of no account in the world, he

was deserving of no consideration at the hands of his fellows; that in his time he had undergone many strange

experiences; that subsequently he had suffered much in the cause of Truth; that he had many enemies seeking

his life; and that, being desirous of rest, he was now engaged in searching for a spot wherein to

dwellwherefore, having stumbled upon the town in which he now found himself, he had considered it his

bounden duty to evince his respect for the chief authorities of the place. This, and no more, was all that, for

the moment, the town succeeded in learning about the new arrival. Naturally he lost no time in presenting

himself at the Governor's evening party. First, however, his preparations for that function occupied a space of

over two hours, and necessitated an attention to his toilet of a kind not commonly seen. That is to say, after a

brief postgrandial nap he called for soap and water, and spent a considerable period in the task of scrubbing

his cheeks (which, for the purpose, he supported from within with his tongue) and then of drying his full,

round face, from the ears downwards, with a towel which he took from the waiter's shoulder. Twice he

snorted into the waiter's countenance as he did this, and then he posted himself in front of the mirror, donned

a false shirtfront, plucked out a couple of hairs which were protruding from his nose, and appeared vested in

a frockcoat of bilberrycoloured check. Thereafter driving through broad streets sparsely lighted with

lanterns, he arrived at the Governor's residence to find it illuminated as for a ball. Barouches with gleaming

lamps, a couple of gendarmes posted before the doors, a babel of postillions' criesnothing of a kind likely

to be impressive was wanting; and, on reaching the salon, the visitor actually found himself obliged to close

his eyes for a moment, so strong was the mingled sheen of lamps, candles, and feminine apparel. Everything

seemed suffused with light, and everywhere, flitting and flashing, were to be seen black coatseven as on a

hot summer's day flies revolve around a sugar loaf while the old housekeeper is cutting it into cubes before

the open window, and the children of the house crowd around her to watch the movements of her rugged

hands as those members ply the smoking pestle; and airy squadrons of flies, borne on the breeze, enter boldly,

as though free of the house, and, taking advantage of the fact that the glare of the sunshine is troubling the old

lady's sight, disperse themselves over broken and unbroken fragments alike, even though the lethargy induced

by the opulence of summer and the rich shower of dainties to be encountered at every step has induced them

to enter less for the purpose of eating than for that of showing themselves in public, of parading up and down

the sugar loaf, of rubbing both their hindquarters and their fore against one another, of cleaning their bodies

under the wings, of extending their forelegs over their heads and grooming themselves, and of flying out of

the window again to return with other predatory squadrons. Indeed, so dazed was Chichikov that scarcely did

he realise that the Governor was taking him by the arm and presenting him to his (the Governor's) lady. Yet

the newlyarrived guest kept his head sufficiently to contrive to murmur some such compliment as might

fittingly come from a middleaged individual of a rank neither excessively high nor excessively low. Next,

when couples had been formed for dancing and the remainder of the company found itself pressed back

against the walls, Chichikov folded his arms, and carefully scrutinised the dancers. Some of the ladies were

dressed well and in the fashion, while the remainder were clad in such garments as God usually bestows upon

a provincial town. Also here, as elsewhere, the men belonged to two separate and distinct categories; one of

which comprised slender individuals who, flitting around the ladies, were scarcely to be distinguished from

denizens of the metropolis, so carefully, so artistically, groomed were their whiskers, so presentable their

oval, cleanshaven faces, so easy the manner of their dancing attendance upon their womenfolk, so glib their

French conversation as they quizzed their female companions. As for the other category, it comprised

individuals who, stout, or of the same build as Chichikov (that is to say, neither very portly nor very lean),

backed and sidled away from the ladies, and kept peering hither and thither to see whether the Governor's

footmen had set out green tables for whist. Their features were full and plump, some of them had beards, and

in no case was their hair curled or waved or arranged in what the French call "the devilmaycare" style. On

the contrary, their heads were either closecropped or brushed very smooth, and their faces were round and

firm. This category represented the more respectable officials of the town. In passing, I may say that in

business matters fat men always prove superior to their leaner brethren; which is probably the reason why the

latter are mostly to be found in the Political Police, or acting as mere ciphers whose existence is a purely

hopeless, airy, trivial one. Again, stout individuals never take a back seat, but always a front one, and,

wheresoever it be, they sit firmly, and with confidence, and decline to budge even though the seat crack and

bend with their weight. For comeliness of exterior they care not a rap, and therefore a dress coat sits less

easily on their figures than is the case with figures of leaner individuals. Yet invariably fat men amass the

greater wealth. In three years' time a thin man will not have a single serf whom he has left unpledged;

whereaswell, pray look at a fat man's fortunes, and what will you see? First of all a suburban villa, and

then a larger suburban villa, and then a villa close to a town, and lastly a country estate which comprises

every amenity! That is to say, having served both God and the State, the stout individual has won universal

respect, and will end by retiring from business, reordering his mode of life, and becoming a Russian

landownerin other words, a fine gentleman who dispenses hospitality, lives in comfort and luxury, and is

destined to leave his property to heirs who are purposing to squander the same on foreign travel.

That the foregoing represents pretty much the gist of Chichikov's reflections as he stood watching the

company I will not attempt to deny. And of those reflections the upshot was that he decided to join himself to

the stouter section of the guests, among whom he had already recognised several familiar facesnamely,

those of the Public Prosecutor (a man with beetling brows over eyes which seemed to be saying with a wink,

"Come into the next room, my friend, for I have something to say to you"though, in the main, their owner

was a man of grave and taciturn habit), of the Postmaster (an insignificantlooking individual, yet a

wouldbe wit and a philosopher), and of the President of the Local Council (a man of much amiability and

good sense). These three personages greeted Chichikov as an old acquaintance, and to their salutations he

responded with a sidelong, yet a sufficiently civil, bow. Also, he became acquainted with an extremely

unctuous and approachable landowner named Manilov, and with a landowner of more uncouth exterior

named Sobakevitchthe latter of whom began the acquaintance by treading heavily upon Chichikov's toes,

and then begging his pardon. Next, Chichikov received an offer of a "cut in" at whist, and accepted the same

with his usual courteous inclination of the head. Seating themselves at a green table, the party did not rise

therefrom till supper time; and during that period all conversation between the players became hushed, as is

the custom when men have given themselves up to a really serious pursuit. Even the Postmastera talkative

man by naturehad no sooner taken the cards into his hands than he assumed an expression of profound

thought, pursed his lips, and retained this attitude unchanged throughout the game. Only when playing a court

card was it his custom to strike the table with his fist, and to exclaim (if the card happened to be a queen),

"Now, old popadia[4]!" and (if the card happened to be a king), "Now, peasant of Tambov!" To which

ejaculations invariably the President of the Local Council retorted, "Ah, I have him by the ears, I have him by

the ears!" And from the neighbourhood of the table other strong ejaculations relative to the play would arise,

interposed with one or another of those nicknames which participants in a game are apt to apply to members

of the various suits. I need hardly add that, the game over, the players fell to quarrelling, and that in the

dispute our friend joined, though so artfully as to let every one see that, in spite of the fact that he was

wrangling, he was doing so only in the most amicable fashion possible. Never did he say outright, "You

played the wrong card at such and such a point." No, he always employed some such phrase as, "You

permitted yourself to make a slip, and thus afforded me the honour of covering your deuce." Indeed, the

better to keep in accord with his antagonists, he kept offering them his silverenamelled snuffbox (at the

bottom of which lay a couple of violets, placed there for the sake of their scent). In particular did the

newcomer pay attention to landowners Manilov and Sobakevitch; so much so that his haste to arrive on good

terms with them led to his leaving the President and the Postmaster rather in the shade. At the same time,

certain questions which he put to those two landowners evinced not only curiosity, but also a certain amount

of sound intelligence; for he began by asking how many peasant souls each of them possessed, and how their

affairs happened at present to be situated, and then proceeded to enlighten himself also as their standing and

their families. Indeed, it was not long before he had succeeded in fairly enchanting his new friends. In

particular did Manilova man still in his prime, and possessed of a pair of eyes which, sweet as sugar,

blinked whenever he laughedfind himself unable to make enough of his enchanter. Clasping Chichikov

long and fervently by the hand, he besought him to do him, Manilov, the honour of visiting his country house

(which he declared to lie at a distance of not more than fifteen versts from the boundaries of the town); and in

return Chichikov averred (with an exceedingly affable bow and a most sincere handshake) that he was

prepared not only to fulfil his friend's behest, but also to look upon the fulfilling of it as a sacred duty. In the

same way Sobakevitch said to him laconically: "And do you pay ME a visit," and then proceeded to shuffle a

pair of boots of such dimensions that to find a pair to correspond with them would have been indeed

difficultmore especially at the present day, when the race of epic heroes is beginning to die out in Russia.

Next day Chichikov dined and spent the evening at the house of the Chief of Policea residence where,

three hours after dinner, every one sat down to whist, and remained so seated until two o'clock in the

morning. On this occasion Chichikov made the acquaintance of, among others, a landowner named

Nozdreva dissipated little fellow of thirty who had no sooner exchanged three or four words with his new

acquaintance than he began to address him in the second person singular. Yet although he did the same to the

Chief of Police and the Public Prosecutor, the company had no sooner seated themselves at the cardtable

than both the one and the other of these functionaries started to keep a careful eye upon Nozdrev's tricks, and

to watch practically every card which he played. The following evening Chichikov spent with the President

of the Local Council, who received his guestseven though the latter included two ladiesin a greasy

dressinggown. Upon that followed an evening at the ViceGovernor's, a large dinner party at the house of

the Commissioner of Taxes, a smaller dinnerparty at the house of the Public Prosecutor (a very wealthy

man), and a subsequent reception given by the Mayor. In short, not an hour of the day did Chichikov find

himself forced to spend at home, and his return to the inn became necessary only for the purposes of sleeping.

Somehow or other he had landed on his feet, and everywhere he figured as an experienced man of the world.

No matter what the conversation chanced to be about, he always contrived to maintain his part in the same.

Did the discourse turn upon horsebreeding, upon horsebreeding he happened to be peculiarly

wellqualified to speak. Did the company fall to discussing wellbred dogs, at once he had remarks of the

most pertinent kind possible to offer. Did the company touch upon a prosecution which had recently been

carried out by the Excise Department, instantly he showed that he too was not wholly unacquainted with legal

affairs. Did an opinion chance to be expressed concerning billiards, on that subject too he was at least able to

avoid committing a blunder. Did a reference occur to virtue, concerning virtue he hastened to deliver himself

in a way which brought tears to every eye. Did the subject in hand happen to be the distilling of

brandywell, that was a matter concerning which he had the soundest of knowledge. Did any one happen to

mention Customs officials and inspectors, from that moment he expatiated as though he too had been both a

minor functionary and a major. Yet a remarkable fact was the circumstance that he always contrived to

temper his omniscience with a certain readiness to give way, a certain ability so to keep a rein upon himself

that never did his utterances become too loud or too soft, or transcend what was perfectly befitting. In a word,

he was always a gentleman of excellent manners, and every official in the place felt pleased when he saw him

enter the door. Thus the Governor gave it as his opinion that Chichikov was a man of excellent intentions; the

Public Prosecutor, that he was a good man of business; the Chief of Gendarmery, that he was a man of

education; the President of the Local Council, that he was a man of breeding and refinement; and the wife of

the Chief of Gendarmery, that his politeness of behaviour was equalled only by his affability of bearing. Nay,

even Sobakevitchwho as a rule never spoke well of ANY ONEsaid to his lanky wife when, on returning

late from the town, he undressed and betook himself to bed by her side: "My dear, this evening, after dining

with the Chief of Police, I went on to the Governor's, and met there, among others, a certain Paul Ivanovitch

Chichikov, who is a Collegiate Councillor and a very pleasant fellow." To this his spouse replied "Hm!" and

Such were the flattering opinions earned by the newcomer to the town; and these opinions he retained until

the time when a certain speciality of his, a certain scheme of his (the reader will learn presently what it was),

For more than two weeks the visitor lived amid a round of evening parties and dinners; wherefore he spent

(as the saying goes) a very pleasant time. Finally he decided to extend his visits beyond the urban boundaries

by going and calling upon landowners Manilov and Sobakevitch, seeing that he had promised on his honour

to do so. Yet what really incited him to this may have been a more essential cause, a matter of greater gravity,

a purpose which stood nearer to his heart, than the motive which I have just given; and of that purpose the

reader will learn if only he will have the patience to read this prefatory narrative (which, lengthy though it be,

may yet develop and expand in proportion as we approach the denouement with which the present work is

One evening, therefore, Selifan the coachman received orders to have the horses harnessed in good time next

morning; while Petrushka received orders to remain behind, for the purpose of looking after the portmanteau

and the room. In passing, the reader may care to become more fully acquainted with the two servingmen of

whom I have spoken. Naturally, they were not persons of much note, but merely what folk call characters of

secondary, or even of tertiary, importance. Yet, despite the fact that the springs and the thread of this romance

will not DEPEND upon them, but only touch upon them, and occasionally include them, the author has a

passion for circumstantiality, and, like the average Russian, such a desire for accuracy as even a German

could not rival. To what the reader already knows concerning the personages in hand it is therefore necessary

to add that Petrushka usually wore a castoff brown jacket of a size too large for him, as also that he had

(according to the custom of individuals of his calling) a pair of thick lips and a very prominent nose. In

temperament he was taciturn rather than loquacious, and he cherished a yearning for selfeducation. That is

to say, he loved to read books, even though their contents came alike to him whether they were books of

heroic adventure or mere grammars or liturgical compendia. As I say, he perused every book with an equal

amount of attention, and, had he been offered a work on chemistry, would have accepted that also. Not the

words which he read, but the mere solace derived from the act of reading, was what especially pleased his

mind; even though at any moment there might launch itself from the page some devilsent word whereof he

could make neither head nor tail. For the most part, his task of reading was performed in a recumbent position

in the anteroom; which circumstance ended by causing his mattress to become as ragged and as thin as a

wafer. In addition to his love of poring over books, he could boast of two habits which constituted two other

essential features of his characternamely, a habit of retiring to rest in his clothes (that is to say, in the

brown jacket abovementioned) and a habit of everywhere bearing with him his own peculiar atmosphere,

his own peculiar smella smell which filled any lodging with such subtlety that he needed but to make up

his bed anywhere, even in a room hitherto untenanted, and to drag thither his greatcoat and other

impedimenta, for that room at once to assume an air of having been lived in during the past ten years.

Nevertheless, though a fastidious, and even an irritable, man, Chichikov would merely frown when his nose

caught this smell amid the freshness of the morning, and exclaim with a toss of his head: "The devil only

knows what is up with you! Surely you sweat a good deal, do you not? The best thing you can do is to go and

take a bath." To this Petrushka would make no reply, but, approaching, brush in hand, the spot where his

master's coat would be pendent, or starting to arrange one and another article in order, would strive to seem

wholly immersed in his work. Yet of what was he thinking as he remained thus silent? Perhaps he was saying

to himself: "My master is a good fellow, but for him to keep on saying the same thing forty times over is a

little wearisome." Only God knows and sees all things; wherefore for a mere human being to know what is in

the mind of a servant while his master is scolding him is wholly impossible. However, no more need be said

But here let me remark that I do not like engaging the reader's attention in connection with persons of a lower

class than himself; for experience has taught me that we do not willingly familiarise ourselves with the lower

ordersthat it is the custom of the average Russian to yearn exclusively for information concerning persons

on the higher rungs of the social ladder. In fact, even a bowing acquaintance with a prince or a lord counts, in

his eyes, for more than do the most intimate of relations with ordinary folk. For the same reason the author

feels apprehensive on his hero's account, seeing that he has made that hero a mere Collegiate Councillora

mere person with whom Aulic Councillors might consort, but upon whom persons of the grade of full

General[1] would probably bestow one of those glances proper to a man who is cringing at their august feet.

Worse still, such persons of the grade of General are likely to treat Chichikov with studied negligenceand

[1] In this case the term General refers to a civil grade equivalent to the military rank of the same title.

However, in spite of the distressfulness of the foregoing possibilities, it is time that I returned to my hero.

After issuing, overnight, the necessary orders, he awoke early, washed himself, rubbed himself from head to

foot with a wet sponge (a performance executed only on Sundaysand the day in question happened to be a

Sunday), shaved his face with such care that his cheeks issued of absolutely satinlike smoothness and

polish, donned first his bilberrycoloured, spotted frockcoat, and then his bearskin overcoat, descended the

staircase (attended, throughout, by the waiter) and entered his britchka. With a loud rattle the vehicle left the

innyard, and issued into the street. A passing priest doffed his cap, and a few urchins in grimy shirts

shouted, "Gentleman, please give a poor orphan a trifle!" Presently the driver noticed that a sturdy young

rascal was on the point of climbing onto the splashboard; wherefore he cracked his whip and the britchka

leapt forward with increased speed over the cobblestones. At last, with a feeling of relief, the travellers

caught sight of macadam ahead, which promised an end both to the cobblestones and to sundry other

annoyances. And, sure enough, after his head had been bumped a few more times against the boot of the

conveyance, Chichikov found himself bowling over softer ground. On the town receding into the distance,

the sides of the road began to be varied with the usual hillocks, fir trees, clumps of young pine, trees with old,

scarred trunks, bushes of wild juniper, and so forth, Presently there came into view also strings of country

villas which, with their carved supports and grey roofs (the latter looking like pendent, embroidered

tablecloths), resembled, rather, bundles of old faggots. Likewise the customary peasants, dressed in sheepskin

jackets, could be seen yawning on benches before their huts, while their womenfolk, fat of feature and

swathed of bosom, gazed out of upper windows, and the windows below displayed, here a peering calf, and

there the unsightly jaws of a pig. In short, the view was one of the familiar type. After passing the fifteenth

verststone Chichikov suddenly recollected that, according to Manilov, fifteen versts was the exact distance

between his country house and the town; but the sixteenth verst stone flew by, and the said country house was

still nowhere to be seen. In fact, but for the circumstance that the travellers happened to encounter a couple of

peasants, they would have come on their errand in vain. To a query as to whether the country house known as

Zamanilovka was anywhere in the neighbourhood the peasants replied by doffing their caps; after which one

of them who seemed to boast of a little more intelligence than his companion, and who wore a wedgeshaped

"Manilovka, eh? Well, you must continue for another verst, and then you will see it straight before you, on

"Yes, on the right," affirmed the peasant. "You are on the proper road for Manilovka, but

ZAmanilovkawell, there is no such place. The house you mean is called Manilovka because Manilovka is

its name; but no house at all is called ZAmanilovka. The house you mean stands there, on that hill, and is a

stone house in which a gentleman lives, and its name is Manilovka; but ZAmanilovka does not stand

So the travellers proceeded in search of Manilovka, and, after driving an additional two versts, arrived at a

spot whence there branched off a byroad. Yet two, three, or four versts of the byroad had been covered

before they saw the least sign of a twostoried stone mansion. Then it was that Chichikov suddenly

recollected that, when a friend has invited one to visit his country house, and has said that the distance thereto

Not many people would have admired the situation of Manilov's abode, for it stood on an isolated rise and

was open to every wind that blew. On the slope of the rise lay closelymown turf, while, disposed here and

there, after the English fashion, were flowerbeds containing clumps of lilac and yellow acacia. Also, there

were a few insignificant groups of slenderleaved, pointedtipped birch trees, with, under two of the latter,

an arbour having a shabby green cupola, some bluepainted wooden supports, and the inscription "This is the

Temple of Solitary Thought." Lower down the slope lay a greencoated pondgreencoated ponds

constitute a frequent spectacle in the gardens of Russian landowners; and, lastly, from the foot of the declivity

there stretched a line of mouldy, logbuilt huts which, for some obscure reason or another, our hero set

himself to count. Up to two hundred or more did he count, but nowhere could he perceive a single leaf of

vegetation or a single stick of timber. The only thing to greet the eye was the logs of which the huts were

constructed. Nevertheless the scene was to a certain extent enlivened by the spectacle of two peasant women

who, with clothes picturesquely tucked up, were wading kneedeep in the pond and dragging behind them,

with wooden handles, a ragged fishingnet, in the meshes of which two crawfish and a roach with glistening

scales were entangled. The women appeared to have cause of dispute between themselvesto be rating one

another about something. In the background, and to one side of the house, showed a faint, dusky blur of

pinewood, and even the weather was in keeping with the surroundings, since the day was neither clear nor

dull, but of the grey tint which may be noted in uniforms of garrison soldiers which have seen long service.

To complete the picture, a cock, the recognised harbinger of atmospheric mutations, was present; and, in spite

of the fact that a certain connection with affairs of gallantry had led to his having had his head pecked bare by

other cocks, he flapped a pair of wingsappendages as bare as two pieces of bastand crowed loudly.

As Chichikov approached the courtyard of the mansion he caught sight of his host (clad in a green frock coat)

standing on the verandah and pressing one hand to his eyes to shield them from the sun and so get a better

view of the approaching carriage. In proportion as the britchka drew nearer and nearer to the verandah, the

host's eyes assumed a more and more delighted expression, and his smile a broader and broader sweep.

"Paul Ivanovitch!" he exclaimed when at length Chichikov leapt from the vehicle. "Never should I have

The two friends exchanged hearty embraces, and Manilov then conducted his guest to the drawingroom.

During the brief time that they are traversing the hall, the anteroom, and the diningroom, let me try to say

something concerning the master of the house. But such an undertaking bristles with difficultiesit promises

to be a far less easy task than the depicting of some outstanding personality which calls but for a wholesale

dashing of colours upon the canvasthe colours of a pair of dark, burning eyes, a pair of dark, beetling

brows, a forehead seamed with wrinkles, a black, or a fieryred, cloak thrown backwards over the shoulder,

and so forth, and so forth. Yet, so numerous are Russian serf owners that, though careful scrutiny reveals to

one's sight a quantity of outre peculiarities, they are, as a class, exceedingly difficult to portray, and one needs

to strain one's faculties to the utmost before it becomes possible to pick out their variously subtle, their almost

invisible, features. In short, one needs, before doing this, to carry out a prolonged probing with the aid of an

Only God can say what Manilov's real character was. A class of men exists whom the proverb has described

as "men unto themselves, neither this nor thatneither Bogdan of the city nor Selifan of the village." And to

that class we had better assign also Manilov. Outwardly he was presentable enough, for his features were not

wanting in amiability, but that amiability was a quality into which there entered too much of the sugary

element, so that his every gesture, his every attitude, seemed to connote an excess of eagerness to curry

favour and cultivate a closer acquaintance. On first speaking to the man, his ingratiating smile, his flaxen

hair, and his blue eyes would lead one to say, "What a pleasant, goodtempered fellow he seems!" yet during

the next moment or two one would feel inclined to say nothing at all, and, during the third moment, only to

say, "The devil alone knows what he is!" And should, thereafter, one not hasten to depart, one would

inevitably become overpowered with the deadly sense of ennui which comes of the intuition that nothing in

the least interesting is to be looked for, but only a series of wearisome utterances of the kind which are apt to

fall from the lips of a man whose hobby has once been touched upon. For every man HAS his hobby. One

man's may be sporting dogs; another man's may be that of believing himself to be a lover of music, and able

to sound the art to its inmost depths; another's may be that of posing as a connoisseur of recherche cookery;

another's may be that of aspiring to play roles of a kind higher than nature has assigned him; another's

(though this is a more limited ambition) may be that of getting drunk, and of dreaming that he is edifying

both his friends, his acquaintances, and people with whom he has no connection at all by walking

arminarm with an Imperial aidedecamp; another's may be that of possessing a hand able to chip corners

off aces and deuces of diamonds; another's may be that of yearning to set things straightin other words, to

approximate his personality to that of a stationmaster or a director of posts. In short, almost every man has his

hobby or his leaning; yet Manilov had none such, for at home he spoke little, and spent the greater part of his

time in meditationthough God only knows what that meditation comprised! Nor can it be said that he took

much interest in the management of his estate, for he never rode into the country, and the estate practically

managed itself. Whenever the bailiff said to him, "It might be well to have suchandsuch a thing done," he

would reply, "Yes, that is not a bad idea," and then go on smoking his pipea habit which he had acquired

during his service in the army, where he had been looked upon as an officer of modesty, delicacy, and

refinement. "Yes, it is NOT a bad idea," he would repeat. Again, whenever a peasant approached him and,

rubbing the back of his neck, said "Barin, may I have leave to go and work for myself, in order that I may

earn my obrok[2]?" he would snap out, with pipe in mouth as usual, "Yes, go!" and never trouble his head as

to whether the peasant's real object might not be to go and get drunk. True, at intervals he would say, while

gazing from the verandah to the courtyard, and from the courtyard to the pond, that it would be indeed

splendid if a carriage drive could suddenly materialise, and the pond as suddenly become spanned with a

stone bridge, and little shops as suddenly arise whence pedlars could dispense the petty merchandise of the

kind which peasantry most need. And at such moments his eyes would grow winning, and his features

assume an expression of intense satisfaction. Yet never did these projects pass beyond the stage of debate.

Likewise there lay in his study a book with the fourteenth page permanently turned down. It was a book

which he had been reading for the past two years! In general, something seemed to be wanting in the

establishment. For instance, although the drawingroom was filled with beautiful furniture, and upholstered

in some fine silken material which clearly had cost no inconsiderable sum, two of the chairs lacked any

covering but bast, and for some years past the master had been accustomed to warn his guests with the words,

"Do not sit upon these chairs; they are not yet ready for use." Another room contained no furniture at all,

although, a few days after the marriage, it had been said: "My dear, tomorrow let us set about procuring at

least some TEMPORARY furniture for this room." Also, every evening would see placed upon the

drawingroom table a fine bronze candelabrum, a statuette representative of the Three Graces, a tray inlaid

with motherofpearl, and a rickety, lopsided copper invalide. Yet of the fact that all four articles were

thickly coated with grease neither the master of the house nor the mistress nor the servants seemed to

entertain the least suspicion. At the same time, Manilov and his wife were quite satisfied with each other.

More than eight years had elapsed since their marriage, yet one of them was for ever offering his or her

partner a piece of apple or a bonbon or a nut, while murmuring some tender something which voiced a

wholehearted affection. "Open your mouth, dearest"thus ran the formula"and let me pop into it this

titbit." You may be sure that on such occasions the "dearest mouth" parted its lips most graciously! For their

mutual birthdays the pair always contrived some "surprise present" in the shape of a glass receptacle for

toothpowder, or what not; and as they sat together on the sofa he would suddenly, and for some unknown

reason, lay aside his pipe, and she her work (if at the moment she happened to be holding it in her hands) and

husband and wife would imprint upon one another's cheeks such a prolonged and languishing kiss that during

its continuance you could have smoked a small cigar. In short, they were what is known as "a very happy

couple." Yet it may be remarked that a household requires other pursuits to be engaged in than lengthy

embracings and the preparing of cunning "surprises." Yes, many a function calls for fulfilment. For instance,

why should it be thought foolish or low to superintend the kitchen? Why should care not be taken that the

storeroom never lacks supplies? Why should a housekeeper be allowed to thieve? Why should slovenly and

drunken servants exist? Why should a domestic staff be suffered in indulge in bouts of unconscionable

debauchery during its leisure time? Yet none of these things were thought worthy of consideration by

Manilov's wife, for she had been gently brought up, and gentle nurture, as we all know, is to be acquired only

in boarding schools, and boarding schools, as we know, hold the three principal subjects which constitute the

basis of human virtue to be the French language (a thing indispensable to the happiness of married life),

pianoplaying (a thing wherewith to beguile a husband's leisure moments), and that particular department of

housewifery which is comprised in the knitting of purses and other "surprises." Nevertheless changes and

improvements have begun to take place, since things now are governed more by the personal inclinations and

idiosyncracies of the keepers of such establishments. For instance, in some seminaries the regimen places

pianoplaying first, and the French language second, and then the above department of housewifery; while in

other seminaries the knitting of "surprises" heads the list, and then the French language, and then the playing

of pianosso diverse are the systems in force! None the less, I may remark that Madame Manilov

[2] An annual tax upon peasants, payment of which secured to the payer the right of removal.

But let me confess that I always shrink from saying too much about ladies. Moreover, it is time that we

returned to our heroes, who, during the past few minutes, have been standing in front of the drawingroom

"Pray be so good as not to inconvenience yourself on my account," said Chichikov. "_I_ will follow YOU."

"No, Paul Ivanovitchno! You are my guest." And Manilov pointed towards the doorway.

"Make no difficulty about it, I pray," urged Chichikov. "I beg of you to make no difficulty about it, but to

"Pardon me, I will not. Never could I allow so distinguished and so welcome a guest as yourself to take

"For the reason which I have stated." And Manilov smiled his very pleasantest smile.

Finally the pair entered simultaneously and sideways; with the result that they jostled one another not a little

"Allow me to present to you my wife," continued Manilov. "My dearPaul Ivanovitch."

Upon that Chichikov caught sight of a lady whom hitherto he had overlooked, but who, with Manilov, was

now bowing to him in the doorway. Not wholly of unpleasing exterior, she was dressed in a wellfitting,

highnecked morning dress of palecoloured silk; and as the visitor entered the room her small white hands

threw something upon the table and clutched her embroidered skirt before rising from the sofa where she had

been seated. Not without a sense of pleasure did Chichikov take her hand as, lisping a little, she declared that

she and her husband were equally gratified by his coming, and that, of late, not a day had passed without her

"Yes," affirmed Manilov; "and every day SHE has said to ME: 'Why does not your friend put in an

appearance?' 'Wait a little dearest,' I have always replied. ''Twill not be long now before he comes.' And you

HAVE come, you HAVE honoured us with a visit, you HAVE bestowed upon us a treata treat destined to

The intimation that matters had reached the point of the occasion being destined to constitute a "true birthday

of the heart" caused Chichikov to become a little confused; wherefore he made modest reply that, as a matter

"Ah, you ARE so," interrupted Manilov with his fixed and engaging smile. "You are all that, and more."

"How like you our town?" queried Madame. "Have you spent an agreeable time in it?"

"Very," replied Chichikov. "The town is an exceedingly nice one, and I have greatly enjoyed its hospitable

"He is all that," assented Chichikov. "Indeed, he is a man worthy of the greatest respect. And how thoroughly

"And the tactfulness with which he greets every one!" added Manilov, smiling, and halfclosing his eyes, like

"Quite so," assented Chichikov. "He is a man of the most eminent civility and approachableness. And what

an artist! Never should I have thought he could have worked the marvellous household samplers which he has

done! Some specimens of his needlework which he showed me could not well have been surpassed by any

"And the ViceGovernor, toohe is a nice man, is he not?" inquired Manilov with renewed blinkings of the

"And what of the Chief of Police? Is it not a fact that he too is in the highest degree agreeable?"

"Very agreeable indeed. And what a clever, wellread individual! With him and the Public Prosecutor and

the President of the Local Council I played whist until the cocks uttered their last morning crow. He is a most

"And what of his wife?" queried Madame Manilov. "Is she not a most gracious personality?"

Nor were the President of the Local Council and the Postmaster overlooked; until the company had run

through the whole list of urban officials. And in every case those officials appeared to be persons of the

"Do you devote your time entirely to your estate?" asked Chichikov, in his turn.

"Well, most of it," replied Manilov; "though also we pay occasional visits to the town, in order that we may

mingle with a little wellbred society. One grows a trifle rusty if one lives for ever in retirement."

"Yes, quite so," capped Manilov. "At the same time, it would be a different matter if the neighbourhood were

a GOOD oneif, for example, one had a friend with whom one could discuss manners and polite

deportment, or engage in some branch of science, and so stimulate one's wits. For that sort of thing gives

one's intellect an airing. It, it" At a loss for further words, he ended by remarking that his feelings were apt

to carry him away; after which he continued with a gesture: "What I mean is that, were that sort of thing

possible, I, for one, could find the country and an isolated life possessed of great attractions. But, as matters

stand, such a thing is NOT possible. All that I can manage to do is, occasionally, to read a little of A Son of

With these sentiments Chichikov expressed entire agreement: adding that nothing could be more delightful

than to lead a solitary life in which there should be comprised only the sweet contemplation of nature and the

"Nay, but even THAT were worth nothing had not one a friend with whom to share one's life," remarked

"True, true," agreed Chichikov. "Without a friend, what are all the treasures in the world? 'Possess not

money,' a wise man has said, 'but rather good friends to whom to turn in case of need.'"

"Yes, Paul Ivanovitch," said Manilov with a glance not merely sweet, but positively lusciousa glance akin

to the mixture which even clever physicians have to render palatable before they can induce a hesitant patient

to take it. "Consequently you may imagine what happinesswhat PERFECT happiness, so to speakthe

present occasion has brought me, seeing that I am permitted to converse with you and to enjoy your

"But WHAT of my conversation?" replied Chichikov. "I am an insignificant individual, and, beyond that,

"Oh, Paul Ivanovitch!" cried the other. "Permit me to be frank, and to say that I would give half my property

The lengths to which this mutual outpouring of soul would have proceeded had not a servant entered to

"I humbly invite you to join us at table," said Manilov. "Also, you will pardon us for the fact that we cannot

provide a banquet such as is to be obtained in our metropolitan cities? We partake of simple fare, according

to Russian customwe confine ourselves to shtchi[3], but we do so with a single heart. Come, I humbly beg

After another contest for the honour of yielding precedence, Chichikov succeeded in making his way (in

zigzag fashion) to the diningroom, where they found awaiting them a couple of youngsters. These were

Manilov's sons, and boys of the age which admits of their presence at table, but necessitates the continued use

of high chairs. Beside them was their tutor, who bowed politely and smiled; after which the hostess took her

seat before her soup plate, and the guest of honour found himself esconsed between her and the master of the

"What charming children!" said Chichikov as he gazed at the pair. "And how old are they?"

"The eldest is eight," replied Manilov, "and the younger one attained the age of six yesterday."

"Themistocleus," went on the father, turning to his firstborn, who was engaged in striving to free his chin

from the bib with which the footman had encircled it. On hearing this distinctly Greek name (to which, for

some unknown reason, Manilov always appended the termination "eus"), Chichikov raised his eyebrows a

little, but hastened, the next moment, to restore his face to a more befitting expression.

"Themistocleus," repeated the father, "tell me which is the finest city in France."

Upon this the tutor concentrated his attention upon Themistocleus, and appeared to be trying hard to catch his

eye. Only when Themistocleus had muttered "Paris" did the preceptor grow calmer, and nod his head.

"Clever little dear!" burst out Chichikov, turning with an air of surprise to the father. "Indeed, I feel bound to

"You do not know him fully," replied the delighted Manilov. "The amount of sharpness which he possesses is

extraordinary. Our younger one, Alkid, is not so quick; whereas his brotherwell, no matter what he may

happen upon (whether upon a cowbug or upon a waterbeetle or upon anything else), his little eyes begin

jumping out of his head, and he runs to catch the thing, and to inspect it. For HIM I am reserving a diplomatic

post. Themistocleus," added the father, again turning to his son, "do you wish to become an ambassador?"

"Yes, I do," replied Themistocleus, chewing a piece of bread and wagging his head from side to side.

At this moment the lacquey who had been standing behind the future ambassador wiped the latter's nose; and

well it was that he did so, since otherwise an inelegant and superfluous drop would have been added to the

soup. After that the conversation turned upon the joys of a quiet lifethough occasionally it was interrupted

by remarks from the hostess on the subject of acting and actors. Meanwhile the tutor kept his eyes fixed upon

the speakers' faces; and whenever he noticed that they were on the point of laughing he at once opened his

mouth, and laughed with enthusiasm. Probably he was a man of grateful heart who wished to repay his

employers for the good treatment which he had received. Once, however, his features assumed a look of

grimness as, fixing his eyes upon his visavis, the boys, he tapped sternly upon the table. This happened at a

juncture when Themistocleus had bitten Alkid on the ear, and the said Alkid, with frowning eyes and open

mouth, was preparing himself to sob in piteous fashion; until, recognising that for such a proceeding he might

possibly be deprived of his plate, he hastened to restore his mouth to its original expression, and fell tearfully

Every now and again the hostess would turn to Chichikov with the words, "You are eating nothingyou

have indeed taken little;" but invariably her guest replied: "Thank you, I have had more than enough. A

At length the company rose from table. Manilov was in high spirits, and, laying his hand upon his guest's

shoulder, was on the point of conducting him to the drawingroom, when suddenly Chichikov intimated to

him, with a meaning look, that he wished to speak to him on a very important matter.

"That being so," said Manilov, "allow me to invite you into my study." And he led the way to a small room

"What a pleasant apartment!" remarked Chichikov as he eyed it carefully. And, indeed, the room did not lack

a certain attractiveness. The walls were painted a sort of blueishgrey colour, and the furniture consisted of

four chairs, a settee, and a tablethe latter of which bore a few sheets of writingpaper and the book of

which I have before had occasion to speak. But the most prominent feature of the room was tobacco, which

appeared in many different guisesin packets, in a tobacco jar, and in a loose heap strewn about the table.

Likewise, both window sills were studded with little heaps of ash, arranged, not without artifice, in rows of

more or less tidiness. Clearly smoking afforded the master of the house a frequent means of passing the time.

"Permit me to offer you a seat on this settee," said Manilov. "Here you will be quieter than you would be in

"I cannot allow that," objected the smiling Manilov. "The settee is specially reserved for my guests. Whether

"No, I never smoke," answered Chichikov civilly, and with an assumed air of regret.

"And why?" inquired Manilovequally civilly, but with a regret that was wholly genuine.

"Because I fear that I have never quite formed the habit, owing to my having heard that a pipe exercises a

"Then allow me to tell you that that is mere prejudice. Nay, I would even go so far as to say that to smoke a

pipe is a healthier practice than to take snuff. Among its members our regiment numbered a lieutenanta

most excellent, welleducated fellowwho was simply INCAPABLE of removing his pipe from his mouth,

whether at table or (pardon me) in other places. He is now forty, yet no man could enjoy better health than he

Chichikov replied that such cases were common, since nature comprised many things which even the finest

"But allow me to put to you a question," he went on in a tone in which there was a strangeor, at all events,

RATHER a strangenote. For some unknown reason, also, he glanced over his shoulder. For some equally

"How long is it," inquired the guest, "since you last rendered a census return?"

"I do not know. To ascertain that I should need to ask my bailiff. Footman, go and call the bailiff. I think he

Before long the bailiff made his appearance. He was a man of under forty, cleanshaven, clad in a smock,

and evidently used to a quiet life, seeing that his face was of that puffy fullness, and the skin encircling his

slitlike eyes was of that sallow tint, which shows that the owner of those features is well acquainted with a

feather bed. In a trice it could be seen that he had played his part in life as all such bailiffs dothat,

originally a young serf of elementary education, he had married some Agashka of a housekeeper or a

mistress's favourite, and then himself become housekeeper, and, subsequently, bailiff; after which he had

proceeded according to the rules of his tribethat is to say, he had consorted with and stood in with the more

welltodo serfs on the estate, and added the poorer ones to the list of forced payers of obrok, while himself

leaving his bed at nine o'clock in the morning, and, when the samovar had been brought, drinking his tea at

"Look here, my good man," said Manilov. "How many of our serfs have died since the last census revision?"

"How many of them have died? Why, a great many." The bailiff hiccoughed, and slapped his mouth lightly

"Yes, I imagined that to be the case," corroborated Manilov. "In fact, a VERY great many serfs have died."

"HOW many?" reechoed the bailiff. "Well, no one knows the exact number, for no one has kept any

"Quite so," remarked Manilov. "I supposed the deathrate to have been high, but was ignorant of its precise

"Then would you be so good as to have it computed for me?" said Chichikov. "And also to have a detailed

The question seemed to embarrass the guest, for in Chichikov's face there dawned a sort of tense expression,

and it reddened as though its owner were striving to express something not easy to put into words. True

enough, Manilov was now destined to hear such strange and unexpected things as never before had greeted

"You ask me," said Chichikov, "for what purpose I want the list. Well, my purpose in wanting it is thisthat

"But may I ask HOW you desire to purchase those peasants?" asked Manilov. "With land, or merely as souls

"I want the peasants themselves only," replied Chichikov. "And I want dead ones at that."

"What?Excuse me, but I am a trifle deaf. Really, your words sound most strange!"

"All that I am proposing to do," replied Chichikov, "is to purchase the dead peasants who, at the last census,

Manilov dropped his pipe on the floor, and sat gaping. Yes, the two friends who had just been discussing the

joys of camaraderie sat staring at one another like the portraits which, of old, used to hang on opposite sides

of a mirror. At length Manilov picked up his pipe, and, while doing so, glanced covertly at Chichikov to see

whether there was any trace of a smile to be detected on his lipswhether, in short, he was joking. But

nothing of the sort could be discerned. On the contrary, Chichikov's face looked graver than usual. Next,

Manilov wondered whether, for some unknown reason, his guest had lost his wits; wherefore he spent some

time in gazing at him with anxious intentness. But the guest's eyes seemed clearthey contained no spark of

the wild, restless fire which is apt to wander in the eyes of madmen. All was as it should be. Consequently, in

spite of Manilov's cogitations, he could think of nothing better to do than to sit letting a stream of tobacco

"So," continued Chichikov, "what I desire to know is whether you are willing to hand over to meto

resignthese actually nonliving, but legally living, peasants; or whether you have any better proposal to

Manilov felt too confused and confounded to do aught but continue staring at his interlocutor.

"I think that you are disturbing yourself unnecessarily," was Chichikov's next remark.

"I? Oh no! Not at all!" stammered Manilov. "Onlypardon meI do not quite comprehend you. You see,

never has it fallen to my lot to acquire the brilliant polish which is, so to speak, manifest in your every

movement. Nor have I ever been able to attain the art of expressing myself well. Consequently, although

there is a possibility that in theerutterances which have just fallen from your lips there may lie

something else concealed, it may equally be thateryou have been pleased so to express yourself for the

"Oh, no," asserted Chichikov. "I mean what I say and no more. My reference to such of your pleasant souls as

Manilov still felt at a lossthough he was conscious that he MUST do something, he MUST propound some

question. But what question? The devil alone knew! In the end he merely expelled some more tobacco

"So," went on Chichikov, "if no obstacle stands in the way, we might as well proceed to the completion of the

"Of the 'dead' souls? Oh dear no! Let us write them down as LIVING ones, seeing that that is how they figure

in the census returns. Never do I permit myself to step outside the civil law, great though has been the harm

which that rule has wrought me in my career. In my eyes an obligation is a sacred thing. In the presence of

These last words reassured Manilov not a little: yet still the meaning of the affair remained to him a mystery.

By way of answer, he fell to sucking at his pipe with such vehemence that at length the pipe began to gurgle

like a bassoon. It was as though he had been seeking of it inspiration in the present unheardof juncture. But

"Not at all," replied Manilov. "But you will, I know, excuse me if I say (and I say it out of no spirit of

prejudice, nor yet as criticising yourself in any way)you will, I know, excuse me if I say that possibly

thiserthis, er, SCHEME of yours, thiserTRANSACTION of yours, may fail altogether to accord

And Manilov, with a slight gesture of the head, looked meaningly into Chichikov's face, while displaying in

his every feature, including his closelycompressed lips, such an expression of profundity as never before

was seen on any human countenanceunless on that of some particularly sapient Minister of State who is

Nevertheless Chichikov rejoined that the kind of scheme or transaction which he had adumbrated in no way

clashed with the Civil Statutes and Provisions of Russia; to which he added that the Treasury would even

BENEFIT by the enterprise, seeing it would draw therefrom the usual legal percentage.

"Then, that being so, it is another matter, and I have nothing to urge against it," said Manilov, apparently

"As to the price?" began Manilov, and then stopped. Presently he went on: "Surely you cannot suppose me

capable of taking money for souls which, in one sense at least, have completed their existence? Seeing that

this fantastic whim of yours (if I may so call it?) has seized upon you to the extent that it has, I, on my side,

shall be ready to surrender to you those souls UNCONDITIONALLY, and to charge myself with the whole

I should be greatly to blame if I were to omit that, as soon as Manilov had pronounced these words, the face

of his guest became replete with satisfaction. Indeed, grave and prudent a man though Chichikov was, he had

much ado to refrain from executing a leap that would have done credit to a goat (an animal which, as we all

know, finds itself moved to such exertions only during moments of the most ecstatic joy). Nevertheless the

guest did at least execute such a convulsive shuffle that the material with which the cushions of the chair

were covered came apart, and Manilov gazed at him with some misgiving. Finally Chichikov's gratitude led

him to plunge into a stream of acknowledgement of a vehemence which caused his host to grow confused, to

blush, to shake his head in deprecation, and to end by declaring that the concession was nothing, and that, his

one desire being to manifest the dictates of his heart and the psychic magnetism which his friend exercised,

"Not at all," replied Chichikov, pressing his hand; after which he heaved a profound sigh. Indeed, he seemed

in the right mood for outpourings of the heart, for he continuednot without a ring of emotion in his tone:

"If you but knew the service which you have rendered to an apparently insignificant individual who is devoid

both of family and kindred! For what have I not suffered in my timeI, a drifting barque amid the

tempestuous billows of life? What harryings, what persecutions, have I not known? Of what grief have I not

tasted? And why? Simply because I have ever kept the truth in view, because ever I have preserved inviolate

an unsullied conscience, because ever I have stretched out a helping hand to the defenceless widow and the

hapless orphan!" After which outpouring Chichikov pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped away a brimming

Manilov's heart was moved to the core. Again and again did the two friends press one another's hands in

silence as they gazed into one another's tearfilled eyes. Indeed, Manilov COULD not let go our hero's hand,

but clasped it with such warmth that the hero in question began to feel himself at a loss how best to wrench it

free: until, quietly withdrawing it, he observed that to have the purchase completed as speedily as possible

would not be a bad thing; wherefore he himself would at once return to the town to arrange matters. Taking

"What? Are you departing already?" said Manilov, suddenly recovering himself, and experiencing a sense of

"Is Paul Ivanovitch leaving us so soon, dearest Lizanka?" she said with an air of regret.

"By no means," asserted Chichikov, pressing his hand to his heart. "In this breast, madam, will abide for ever

the pleasant memory of the time which I have spent with you. Believe me, I could conceive of no greater

blessing than to reside, if not under the same roof as yourselves, at all events in your immediate

"Indeed?" exclaimed Manilov, greatly pleased with the idea. "How splendid it would be if you DID come to

reside under our roof, so that we could recline under an elm tree together, and talk philosophy, and delve to

"Yes, it WOULD be a paradisaical existence!" agreed Chichikov with a sigh. Nevertheless he shook hands

with Madame. "Farewell, sudarina," he said. "And farewell to YOU, my esteemed host. Do not forget what I

"Rest assured that I will not," responded Manilov. "Only for a couple of days will you and I be parted from

"Farewell, dearest children," Chichikov went on as he caught sight of Alkid and Themistocleus, who were

playing with a wooden hussar which lacked both a nose and one arm. "Farewell, dearest pets. Pardon me for

having brought you no presents, but, to tell you the truth, I was not, until my visit, aware of your existence.

However, now that I shall be coming again, I will not fail to bring you gifts. Themistocleus, to you I will

"And to you, Alkid, I will bring a drum. That would suit you, would it not?" And he bowed in Alkid's

"Good! Then a drum it shall beSUCH a beautiful drum! What a turrrruing and a tratatataing

you will be able to kick up! Farewell, my darling." And, kissing the boy's head, he turned to Manilov and

Madame with the slight smile which one assumes before assuring parents of the guileless merits of their

"But you had better stay, Paul Ivanovitch," said the father as the trio stepped out on to the verandah. "See

"If you like I will tell your coachman." And in very civil fashion Manilov did so, even going so far as to

address the man in the second person plural. On hearing that he was to pass two turnings, and then to take a

third, Selifan remarked, "We shall get there all right, sir," and Chichikov departed amid a profound salvo of

salutations and wavings of handkerchiefs on the part of his host and hostess, who raised themselves on tiptoe

For a long while Manilov stood following the departing britchka with his eyes. In fact, he continued to smoke

his pipe and gaze after the vehicle even when it had become lost to view. Then he reentered the

drawingroom, seated himself upon a chair, and surrendered his mind to the thought that he had shown his

guest most excellent entertainment. Next, his mind passed imperceptibly to other matters, until at last it lost

itself God only knows where. He thought of the amenities of a life, of friendship, and of how nice it would be

to live with a comrade on, say, the bank of some river, and to span the river with a bridge of his own, and to

build an enormous mansion with a facade lofty enough even to afford a view to Moscow. On that facade he

and his wife and friend would drink afternoon tea in the open air, and discuss interesting subjects; after

which, in a fine carriage, they would drive to some reunion or other, where with their pleasant manners they

would so charm the company that the Imperial Government, on learning of their merits, would raise the pair

to the grade of General or God knows whatthat is to say, to heights whereof even Manilov himself could

form no idea. Then suddenly Chichikov's extraordinary request interrupted the dreamer's reflections, and he

found his brain powerless to digest it, seeing that, turn and turn the matter about as he might, he could not

properly explain its bearing. Smoking his pipe, he sat where he was until supper time.

Meanwhile, Chichikov, seated in his britchka and bowling along the turnpike, was feeling greatly pleased

with himself. From the preceding chapter the reader will have gathered the principal subject of his bent and

inclinations: wherefore it is no matter for wonder that his body and his soul had ended by becoming wholly

immersed therein. To all appearances the thoughts, the calculations, and the projects which were now

reflected in his face partook of a pleasant nature, since momentarily they kept leaving behind them a satisfied

smile. Indeed, so engrossed was he that he never noticed that his coachman, elated with the hospitality of

Manilov's domestics, was making remarks of a didactic nature to the off horse of the troika[1], a skewbald.

This skewbald was a knowing animal, and made only a show of pulling; whereas its comrades, the middle

horse (a bay, and known as the Assessor, owing to his having been acquired from a gentleman of that rank)

and the near horse (a roan), would do their work gallantly, and even evince in their eyes the pleasure which

"Ah, you rascal, you rascal! I'll get the better of you!" ejaculated Selifan as he sat up and gave the lazy one a

cut with his whip. "YOU know your business all right, you German pantaloon! The bay is a good fellow, and

does his duty, and I will give him a bit over his feed, for he is a horse to be respected; and the Assessor too is

a good horse. But what are YOU shaking your ears for? You are a fool, so just mind when you're spoken to.

'Tis good advice I'm giving you, you blockhead. Ah! You CAN travel when you like." And he gave the

animal another cut, and then shouted to the trio, "Gee up, my beauties!" and drew his whip gently across the

backs of the skewbald's comradesnot as a punishment, but as a sign of his approval. That done, he

"Do you think," he cried, "that I don't see what you are doing? You can behave quite decently when you like,

"They were NICE folk, those folk at the gentleman's yonder," he mused. "I DO love a chat with a man when

he is a good sort. With a man of that kind I am always hailfellowwellmet, and glad to drink a glass of tea

with him, or to eat a biscuit. One CAN'T help respecting a decent fellow. For instance, this gentleman of

minewhy, every one looks up to him, for he has been in the Government's service, and is a Collegiate

Thus soliloquising, he passed to more remote abstractions; until, had Chichikov been listening, he would

have learnt a number of interesting details concerning himself. However, his thoughts were wholly occupied

with his own subject, so much so that not until a loud clap of thunder awoke him from his reverie did he

glance around him. The sky was completely covered with clouds, and the dusty turnpike beginning to be

sprinkled with drops of rain. At length a second and a nearer and a louder peal resounded, and the rain

descended as from a bucket. Falling slantwise, it beat upon one side of the basketwork of the tilt until the

splashings began to spurt into his face, and he found himself forced to draw the curtains (fitted with circular

openings through which to obtain a glimpse of the wayside view), and to shout to Selifan to quicken his pace.

Upon that the coachman, interrupted in the middle of his harangue, bethought him that no time was to be lost;

wherefore, extracting from under the boxseat a piece of old blanket, he covered over his sleeves, resumed

the reins, and cheered on his threefold team (which, it may be said, had so completely succumbed to the

influence of the pleasant lassitude induced by Selifan's discourse that it had taken to scarcely placing one leg

before the other). Unfortunately, Selifan could not clearly remember whether two turnings had been passed or

three. Indeed, on collecting his faculties, and dimly recalling the lie of the road, he became filled with a

shrewd suspicion that A VERY LARGE NUMBER of turnings had been passed. But since, at moments

which call for a hasty decision, a Russian is quick to discover what may conceivably be the best course to

take, our coachman put away from him all ulterior reasoning, and, turning to the right at the next crossroad,

shouted, "Hi, my beauties!" and set off at a gallop. Never for a moment did he stop to think whither the road

It was long before the clouds had discharged their burden, and, meanwhile, the dust on the road became

kneaded into mire, and the horses' task of pulling the britchka heavier and heavier. Also, Chichikov had taken

alarm at his continued failure to catch sight of Sobakevitch's country house. According to his calculations, it

ought to have been reached long ago. He gazed about him on every side, but the darkness was too dense for

"No, barin." After which, with a flourish of the whip, the man broke into a sort of endless, drawling song. In

that song everything had a place. By "everything" I mean both the various encouraging and stimulating cries

with which Russian folk urge on their horses, and a random, unpremeditated selection of adjectives.

Meanwhile Chichikov began to notice that the britchka was swaying violently, and dealing him occasional

bumps. Consequently he suspected that it had left the road and was being dragged over a ploughed field.

Upon Selifan's mind there appeared to have dawned a similar inkling, for he had ceased to hold forth.

"I don't know," retorted the coachman. "What can a man do at a time of night when the darkness won't let

him even see his whip?" And as Selifan spoke the vehicle tilted to an angle which left Chichikov no choice

but to hang on with hands and teeth. At length he realised the fact that Selifan was drunk.

"No, no, barin," replied Selifan. "HOW could I upset you? To upset people is wrong. I know that very well,

Here he started to turn the vehicle round a littleand kept on doing so until the britchka capsized on to its

side, and Chichikov landed in the mud on his hands and knees. Fortunately Selifan succeeded in stopping the

horses, although they would have stopped of themselves, seeing that they were utterly worn out. This

unforeseen catastrophe evidently astonished their driver. Slipping from the box, he stood resting his hands

against the side of the britchka, while Chichikov tumbled and floundered about in the mud, in a vain

"Ah, you!" said Selifan meditatively to the britchka. "To think of upsetting us like this!"

"No, no, barin. Drunk, indeed? Why, I know my manners too well. A word or two with a friendthat is all

that I have taken. Any one may talk with a decent man when he meets him. There is nothing wrong in that.

Also, we had a snack together. There is nothing wrong in a snackespecially a snack with a decent man."

"What did I say to you when last you got drunk?" asked Chichikov. "Have you forgotten what I said then?"

"No, no, barin. HOW could I forget it? I know what is what, and know that it is not right to get drunk. All

that I have been having is a word or two with a decent man, for the reason that"

"Well, if I lay the whip about you, you'll know then how to talk to a decent fellow, I'll warrant!"

"As you please, barin," replied the complacent Selifan. "Should you whip me, you will whip me, and I shall

have nothing to complain of. Why should you not whip me if I deserve it? 'Tis for you to do as you like.

Whippings are necessary sometimes, for a peasant often plays the fool, and discipline ought to be maintained.

This reasoning seemed, at the moment, irrefutable, and Chichikov said nothing more. Fortunately fate had

decided to take pity on the pair, for from afar their ears caught the barking of a dog. Plucking up courage,

Chichikov gave orders for the britchka to be righted, and the horses to be urged forward; and since a Russian

driver has at least this merit, that, owing to a keen sense of smell being able to take the place of eyesight, he

can, if necessary, drive at random and yet reach a destination of some sort, Selifan succeeded, though

powerless to discern a single object, in directing his steeds to a country house near by, and that with such a

certainty of instinct that it was not until the shafts had collided with a garden wall, and thereby made it clear

that to proceed another pace was impossible, that he stopped. All that Chichikov could discern through the

thick veil of pouring rain was something which resembled a verandah. So he dispatched Selifan to search for

the entrance gates, and that process would have lasted indefinitely had it not been shortened by the

circumstance that, in Russia, the place of a Swiss footman is frequently taken by watchdogs; of which

animals a number now proclaimed the travellers' presence so loudly that Chichikov found himself forced to

stop his ears. Next, a light gleamed in one of the windows, and filtered in a thin stream to the garden

wallthus revealing the whereabouts of the entrance gates; whereupon Selifan fell to knocking at the gates

until the bolts of the house door were withdrawn and there issued therefrom a figure clad in a rough cloak.

"Who is that knocking? What have you come for?" shouted the hoarse voice of an elderly woman.

"We are travellers, good mother," said Chichikov. "Pray allow us to spend the night here."

"Out upon you for a pair of gadabouts!" retorted the old woman. "A fine time of night to be arriving! We

"But what are we to do, mother? We have lost our way, and cannot spend the night out of doors in such

Two minutes later she returned with a lantern in her hand, the gates were opened, and a light glimmered in a

second window. Entering the courtyard, the britchka halted before a moderatesized mansion. The darkness

did not permit of very accurate observation being made, but, apparently, the windows only of onehalf of the

building were illuminated, while a quagmire in front of the door reflected the beams from the same.

Meanwhile the rain continued to beat sonorously down upon the wooden roof, and could be heard trickling

into a water butt; nor for a single moment did the dogs cease to bark with all the strength of their lungs. One

of them, throwing up its head, kept venting a howl of such energy and duration that the animal seemed to be

howling for a handsome wager; while another, cutting in between the yelpings of the first animal, kept

restlessly reiterating, like a postman's bell, the notes of a very young puppy. Finally, an old hound which

appeared to be gifted with a peculiarly robust temperament kept supplying the part of contrabasso, so that his

growls resembled the rumbling of a bass singer when a chorus is in full cry, and the tenors are rising on tiptoe

in their efforts to compass a particularly high note, and the whole body of choristers are wagging their heads

before approaching a climax, and this contrabasso alone is tucking his bearded chin into his collar, and

sinking almost to a squatting posture on the floor, in order to produce a note which shall cause the windows

to shiver and their panes to crack. Naturally, from a canine chorus of such executants it might reasonably be

inferred that the establishment was one of the utmost respectability. To that, however, our damp, cold hero

gave not a thought, for all his mind was fixed upon bed. Indeed, the britchka had hardly come to a standstill

before he leapt out upon the doorstep, missed his footing, and came within an ace of falling. To meet him

there issued a female younger than the first, but very closely resembling her; and on his being conducted to

the parlour, a couple of glances showed him that the room was hung with old striped curtains, and

ornamented with pictures of birds and small, antique mirrorsthe latter set in dark frames which were

carved to resemble scrolls of foliage. Behind each mirror was stuck either a letter or an old pack of cards or a

stocking, while on the wall hung a clock with a flowered dial. More, however, Chichikov could not discern,

for his eyelids were as heavy as though smeared with treacle. Presently the lady of the house herself

enteredan elderly woman in a sort of nightcap (hastily put on) and a flannel neck wrap. She belonged to

that class of lady landowners who are for ever lamenting failures of the harvest and their losses thereby; to

the class who, drooping their heads despondently, are all the while stuffing money into striped purses, which

they keep hoarded in the drawers of cupboards. Into one purse they will stuff rouble pieces, into another half

roubles, and into a third tchetvertachki[3], although from their mien you would suppose that the cupboard

contained only linen and nightshirts and skeins of wool and the piece of shabby material which is

destinedshould the old gown become scorched during the baking of holiday cakes and other dainties, or

should it fall into pieces of itselfto become converted into a new dress. But the gown never does get burnt

or wear out, for the reason that the lady is too careful; wherefore the piece of shabby material reposes in its

unmadeup condition until the priest advises that it be given to the niece of some widowed sister, together

Chichikov apologised for having disturbed the household with his unexpected arrival.

"Not at all, not at all," replied the lady. "But in what dreadful weather God has brought you hither! What

wind and what rain! You could not help losing your way. Pray excuse us for being unable to make better

Suddenly there broke in upon the hostess' words the sound of a strange hissing, a sound so loud that the guest

started in alarm, and the more so seeing that it increased until the room seemed filled with adders. On

glancing upwards, however, he recovered his composure, for he perceived the sound to be emanating from

the clock, which appeared to be in a mind to strike. To the hissing sound there succeeded a wheezing one,

until, putting forth its best efforts, the thing struck two with as much clatter as though some one had been

hitting an iron pot with a cudgel. That done, the pendulum returned to its rightleft, rightleft oscillation.

Chichikov thanked his hostess kindly, and said that he needed nothing, and she must not put herself about:

only for rest was he longingthough also he should like to know whither he had arrived, and whether the

distance to the country house of landowner Sobakevitch was anything very great. To this the lady replied

that she had never so much as heard the name, since no gentleman of the name resided in the locality.

"No, none of them. One of them may own twenty souls, and another thirty, but of gentry who own a hundred

"About sixty versts. How sorry I am that I have nothing for you to eat! Should you care to drink some tea?"

"Well, after such a journey you must indeed be needing rest, so you shall lie upon this sofa. Fetinia, bring a

quilt and some pillows and sheets. What weather God has sent us! And what dreadful thunder! Ever since

sunset I have had a candle burning before the ikon in my bedroom. My God! Why, your back and sides are as

"That I am nothing worse than muddy is indeed fortunate, since, but for the Almighty, I should have had my

"Dear, dear! To think of all that you must have been through. Had I not better wipe your back?"

"I thank you, I thank you, but you need not trouble. Merely be so good as to tell your maid to dry my

"Do you hear that, Fetinia?" said the hostess, turning to a woman who was engaged in dragging in a feather

bed and deluging the room with feathers. "Take this coat and this vest, and, after drying them before the

firejust as we used to do for your late mastergive them a good rub, and fold them up neatly."

"Very well, mistress," said Fetinia, spreading some sheets over the bed, and arranging the pillows.

"Now your bed is ready for you," said the hostess to Chichikov. "Goodnight, dear sir. I wish you

goodnight. Is there anything else that you require? Perhaps you would like to have your heels tickled before

retiring to rest? Never could my late husband get to sleep without that having been done."

But the guest declined the proffered heeltickling, and, on his hostess taking her departure, hastened to divest

himself of his clothing, both upper and under, and to hand the garments to Fetinia. She wished him

goodnight, and removed the wet trappings; after which he found himself alone. Not without satisfaction did

he eye his bed, which reached almost to the ceiling. Clearly Fetinia was a past mistress in the art of beating

up such a couch, and, as the result, he had no sooner mounted it with the aid of a chair than it sank wellnigh

to the floor, and the feathers, squeezed out of their proper confines, flew hither and thither into every corner

of the apartment. Nevertheless he extinguished the candle, covered himself over with the chintz quilt,

snuggled down beneath it, and instantly fell asleep. Next day it was late in the morning before he awoke.

Through the window the sun was shining into his eyes, and the flies which, overnight, had been roosting

quietly on the walls and ceiling now turned their attention to the visitor. One settled on his lip, another on his

ear, a third hovered as though intending to lodge in his very eye, and a fourth had the temerity to alight just

under his nostrils. In his drowsy condition he inhaled the latter insect, sneezed violently, and so returned to

consciousness. He glanced around the room, and perceived that not all the pictures were representative of

birds, since among them hung also a portrait of Kutuzov[4] and an oil painting of an old man in a uniform

with red facings such as were worn in the days of the Emperor Paul[5]. At this moment the clock uttered its

usual hissing sound, and struck ten, while a woman's face peered in at the door, but at once withdrew, for the

reason that, with the object of sleeping as well as possible, Chichikov had removed every stitch of his

clothing. Somehow the face seemed to him familiar, and he set himself to recall whose it could be. At length

he recollected that it was the face of his hostess. His clothes he found lying, clean and dry, beside him; so he

dressed and approached the mirror, meanwhile sneezing again with such vehemence that a cock which

happened at the moment to be near the window (which was situated at no great distance from the ground)

chuckled a short, sharp phrase. Probably it meant, in the bird's alien tongue, "Good morning to you!"

Chichikov retorted by calling the bird a fool, and then himself approached the window to look at the view. It

appeared to comprise a poulterer's premises. At all events, the narrow yard in front of the window was full of

poultry and other domestic creaturesof game fowls and barn door fowls, with, among them, a cock which

strutted with measured gait, and kept shaking its comb, and tilting its head as though it were trying to listen to

something. Also, a sow and her family were helping to grace the scene. First, she rooted among a heap of

litter; then, in passing, she ate up a young pullet; lastly, she proceeded carelessly to munch some pieces of

melon rind. To this small yard or poultryrun a length of planking served as a fence, while beyond it lay a

kitchen garden containing cabbages, onions, potatoes, beetroots, and other household vegetables. Also, the

garden contained a few stray fruit trees that were covered with netting to protect them from the magpies and

sparrows; flocks of which were even then wheeling and darting from one spot to another. For the same reason

a number of scarecrows with outstretched arms stood reared on long poles, with, surmounting one of the

figures, a castoff cap of the hostess's. Beyond the garden again there stood a number of peasants' huts.

Though scattered, instead of being arranged in regular rows, these appeared to Chichikov's eye to comprise

welltodo inhabitants, since all rotten planks in their roofing had been replaced with new ones, and none of

their doors were askew, and such of their tiltsheds as faced him evinced evidence of a presence of a spare

[4] A Russian general who, in 1812, stoutly opposed Napoleon at the battle of Borodino.

"This lady owns by no means a poor village," said Chichikov to himself; wherefore he decided then and there

to have a talk with his hostess, and to cultivate her closer acquaintance. Accordingly he peeped through the

chink of the door whence her head had recently protruded, and, on seeing her seated at a tea table, entered

"Good morning, dear sir," she responded as she rose. "How have you slept?" She was dressed in better style

than she had been on the previous evening. That is to say, she was now wearing a gown of some dark colour,

"I have slept exceedingly well," replied Chichikov, seating himself upon a chair. "And how are YOU, good

"Because I cannot sleep. A pain has taken me in my middle, and my legs, from the ankles upwards, are

"God grant that it MAY pass. However, I have been rubbing myself with lard and turpentine. What sort of tea

Probably the reader will have noticed that, for all his expressions of solicitude, Chichikov's tone towards his

hostess partook of a freer, a more unceremonious, nature than that which he had adopted towards Madam

Manilov. And here I should like to assert that, howsoever much, in certain respects, we Russians may be

surpassed by foreigners, at least we surpass them in adroitness of manner. In fact the various shades and

subtleties of our social intercourse defy enumeration. A Frenchman or a German would be incapable of

envisaging and understanding all its peculiarities and differences, for his tone in speaking to a millionaire

differs but little from that which he employs towards a small tobacconistand that in spite of the

circumstance that he is accustomed to cringe before the former. With us, however, things are different. In

Russian society there exist clever folk who can speak in one manner to a landowner possessed of two

hundred peasant souls, and in another to a landowner possessed of three hundred, and in another to a

landowner possessed of five hundred. In short, up to the number of a million souls the Russian will have

ready for each landowner a suitable mode of address. For example, suppose that somewhere there exists a

government office, and that in that office there exists a director. I would beg of you to contemplate him as he

sits among his myrmidons. Sheer nervousness will prevent you from uttering a word in his presence, so great

are the pride and superiority depicted on his countenance. Also, were you to sketch him, you would be

sketching a veritable Prometheus, for his glance is as that of an eagle, and he walks with measured, stately

stride. Yet no sooner will the eagle have left the room to seek the study of his superior officer than he will go

scurrying along (papers held close to his nose) like any partridge. But in society, and at the evening party

(should the rest of those present be of lesser rank than himself) the Prometheus will once more become

Prometheus, and the man who stands a step below him will treat him in a way never dreamt of by Ovid,

seeing that each fly is of lesser account than its superior fly, and becomes, in the presence of the latter, even

as a grain of sand. "Surely that is not Ivan Petrovitch?" you will say of such and such a man as you regard

him. "Ivan Petrovitch is tall, whereas this man is small and spare. Ivan Petrovitch has a loud, deep voice, and

never smiles, whereas this man (whoever he may be) is twittering like a sparrow, and smiling all the time."

Yet approach and take a good look at the fellow and you will see that is IS Ivan Petrovitch. "Alack, alack!"

Let us return to our characters in real life. We have seen that, on this occasion, Chichikov decided to dispense

"A little less than eighty, dear sir. But the times are hard, and I have lost a great deal through last year's

"But your peasants look fine, strong fellows. May I enquire your name? Through arriving so late at night I

"Nastasia Petrovna! Those are excellent names. I have a maternal aunt named like yourself."

"And YOUR name?" queried the lady. "May I take it that you are a Government Assessor?"

"No, madam," replied Chichikov with a smile. "I am not an Assessor, but a traveller on private business."

"Then you must be a buyer of produce? How I regret that I have sold my honey so cheaply to other buyers!

"Then WHAT do you buy, pray? Hemp? I have a little of that by me, but not more than half a pood[6] or so."

"No, madam. It is in other wares that I deal. Tell me, have you, of late years, lost many of your peasants by

"Yes; no fewer than eighteen," responded the old lady with a sigh. "Such a fine lot, tooall good workers!

True, others have since grown up, but of what use are THEY? Mere striplings. When the Assessor last called

upon me I could have wept; for, though those workmen of mine are dead, I have to keep on paying for them

as though they were still alive! And only last week my blacksmith got burnt to death! Such a clever hand at

"No, no, God preserve us all! It was not so bad as that. You must understand that the blacksmith SET

HIMSELF on firehe got set on fire in his bowels through overdrinking. Yes, all of a sudden there burst

from him a blue flame, and he smouldered and smouldered until he had turned as black as a piece of

charcoal! Yet what a clever blacksmith he was! And now I have no horses to drive out with, for there is no

"In everything the will of God, madam," said Chichikov with a sigh. "Against the divine wisdom it is not for

"But how am I to sell them to you? I scarcely understand what you mean. Am I to dig them up again from the

Chichikov perceived that the old lady was altogether at sea, and that he must explain the matter; wherefore in

a few words he informed her that the transfer or purchase of the souls in question would take place merely on

"And what good would they be to you?" asked his hostess, staring at him with her eyes distended.

"Who said they were not? The mere fact of their being dead entails upon you a loss as dead as the souls, for

you have to continue paying tax upon them, whereas MY plan is to relieve you both of the tax and of the

resultant trouble. NOW do you understand? And I will not only do as I say, but also hand you over fifteen

"Yesbut I do not know," said his hostess diffidently. "You see, never before have I sold dead souls."

"Quite so. It would be a surprising thing if you had. But surely you do not think that these dead souls are in

"Oh, no, indeed! Why should they be worth keeping? I am sure they are not so. The only thing which troubles

"She seems a truly obstinate old woman!" was Chichikov's inward comment. "Look here, madam," he added

aloud. "You reason well, but you are simply ruining yourself by continuing to pay the tax upon dead souls as

"Oh, good sir, do not speak of it!" the lady exclaimed. "Three weeks ago I took a hundred and fifty roubles to

"Then you see how it is, do you not? Remember that, according to my plan, you will never again have to

butter up the Assessor, seeing that it will be I who will be paying for those peasants_I_, not YOU, for I

shall have taken over the dues upon them, and have transferred them to myself as so many bona fide serfs. Do

However, the old lady still communed with herself. She could see that the transaction would be to her

advantage, yet it was one of such a novel and unprecedented nature that she was beginning to fear lest this

purchaser of souls intended to cheat her. Certainly he had come from God only knew where, and at the dead

"But, sir, I have never in my life sold dead folkonly living ones. Three years ago I transferred two wenches

to Protopopov for a hundred roubles apiece, and he thanked me kindly, for they turned out splendid

"Yes, but with the living we have nothing to do, damn it! I am asking you only about DEAD folk."

"Yes, yes, of course. But at first sight I felt afraid lest I should be incurring a losslest you should be

wishing to outwit me, good sir. You see, the dead souls are worth rather more than you have offered for

"See here, madam. (What a woman it is!) HOW could they be worth more? Think for yourself. They are so

much loss to youso much loss, do you understand? Take any worthless, rubbishy article you likea piece

of old rag, for example. That rag will yet fetch its price, for it can be bought for papermaking. But these

dead souls are good for NOTHING AT ALL. Can you name anything that they ARE good for?"

"True, truethey ARE good for nothing. But what troubles me is the fact that they are dead."

"What a blockhead of a creature!" said Chichikov to himself, for he was beginning to lose patience. "Bless

her heart, I may as well be going. She has thrown me into a perfect sweat, the cursed old shrew!"

He took a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped the perspiration from his brow. Yet he need not have

flown into such a passion. More than one respected statesman reveals himself, when confronted with a

business matter, to be just such another as Madam Korobotchka, in that, once he has got an idea into his head,

there is no getting it out of himyou may ply him with daylightclear arguments, yet they will rebound

from his brain as an indiarubber ball rebounds from a flagstone. Nevertheless, wiping away the perspiration,

Chichikov resolved to try whether he could not bring her back to the road by another path.

"Madam," he said, "either you are declining to understand what I say or you are talking for the mere sake of

talking. If I hand you over some moneyfifteen roubles for each soul, do you understand?it is MONEY,

not something which can be picked up haphazard on the street. For instance, tell me how much you sold your

"Ah! Then by those words, madam, you have laid a trifling sin upon your soul; for you did NOT sell the

"Well, well! Never mind. Honey is only honey. Now, you had collected that stuff, it may be, for a year, and

with infinite care and labour. You had fussed after it, you had trotted to and fro, you had duly frozen out the

bees, and you had fed them in the cellar throughout the winter. But these dead souls of which I speak are

quite another matter, for in this case you have put forth no exertionsit was merely God's will that they

should leave the world, and thus decrease the personnel of your establishment. In the former case you

received (so you allege) twelve roubles per pood for your labour; but in this case you will receive money for

having done nothing at all. Nor will you receive twelve roubles per item, but FIFTEENand roubles not in

That these powerful inducements would certainly cause the old woman to yield Chichikov had not a doubt.

"True," his hostess replied. "But how strangely business comes to me as a widow! Perhaps I had better wait a

little longer, seeing that other buyers might come along, and I might be able to compare prices."

"For shame, madam! For shame! Think what you are saying. Who else, I would ask, would care to buy those

"If that is so, they might come in useful to ME," mused the old woman aloud; after which she sat staring at

Chichikov with her mouth open and a face of nervous expectancy as to his possible rejoinder.

"Dead folk useful in a household!" he exclaimed. "Why, what could you do with them? Set them up on poles

"Well, WHAT could you do with them? By this time they are so much bones and earth. That is all there is left

of them. Their transfer to myself would be ON PAPER only. Come, come! At least give me an answer."

"I am thinking that I scarcely know what to do. Perhaps I had better sell you some hemp?"

"What do I want with hemp? Pardon me, but just when I have made to you a different proposal altogether you

begin fussing about hemp! Hemp is hemp, and though I may want some when I NEXT visit you, I should like

Upon this Chichikov lost all patience, upset his chair, and bid her go to the devil; of which personage even

"Do not speak of him, I beg of you!" she cried, turning pale. "May God, rather, bless him! Last night was the

third night that he has appeared to me in a dream. You see, after saying my prayers, I bethought me of telling

my fortune by the cards; and God must have sent him as a punishment. He looked so horrible, and had horns

"I wonder you don't see SCORES of devils in your dreams! Merely out of Christian charity he had come to

you to say, 'I perceive a poor widow going to rack and ruin, and likely soon to stand in danger of want.' Well,

"I should think so!" continued Chichikov. "Indeed, I cannot find words to describe you. To say no more about

it, you are like a dog in a manger. You don't want to eat the hay yourself, yet you won't let anyone else touch

it. All that I am seeking to do is to purchase certain domestic products of yours, for the reason that I have

certain Government contracts to fulfil." This last he added in passing, and without any ulterior motive, save

that it came to him as a happy thought. Nevertheless the mention of Government contracts exercised a

powerful influence upon Nastasia Petrovna, and she hastened to say in a tone that was almost supplicatory:

"Why should you be so angry with me? Had I known that you were going to lose your temper in this way, I

"No wonder that I lose my temper! An egg too many is no great matter, yet it may prove exceedingly

"Well, well, I will let you have the souls for fifteen roubles each. Also, with regard to those contracts, do not

forget me if at any time you should find yourself in need of ryemeal or buckwheat or groats or dead meat."

"No, I shall NEVER forget you, madam!" he said, wiping his forehead, where three separate streams of

perspiration were trickling down his face. Then he asked her whether in the town she had any acquaintance or

agent whom she could empower to complete the transference of the serfs, and to carry out whatsoever else

"Certainly," replied Madame Korobotchka. "The son of our archpriest, Father Cyril, himself is a lawyer."

Upon that Chichikov begged her to accord the gentleman in question a power of attorney, while, to save extra

"It would be a fine thing if he were to buy up all my meal and stock for the Government," thought Madame to

herself. "I must encourage him a little. There has been some dough standing ready since last night, so I will

go and tell Fetinia to try a few pancakes. Also, it might be well to try him with an egg pie. We make then

So she departed to translate her thoughts into action, as well as to supplement the pie with other products of

the domestic cuisine; while, for his part, Chichikov returned to the drawingroom where he had spent the

night, in order to procure from his dispatchbox the necessary writingpaper. The room had now been set in

order, the sumptuous feather bed removed, and a table set before the sofa. Depositing his dispatchbox upon

the table, he heaved a gentle sigh on becoming aware that he was so soaked with perspiration that he might

almost have been dipped in a river. Everything, from his shirt to his socks, was dripping. "May she starve to

death, the cursed old harridan!" he ejaculated after a moment's rest. Then he opened his dispatchbox. In

passing, I may say that I feel certain that at least SOME of my readers will be curious to know the contents

and the internal arrangements of that receptacle. Why should I not gratify their curiosity? To begin with, the

centre of the box contained a soapdish, with, disposed around it, six or seven compartments for razors. Next

came square partitions for a sandbox[7] and an inkstand, as well as (scooped out in their midst) a hollow of

pens, sealingwax, and anything else that required more room. Lastly there were all sorts of little divisions,

both with and without lids, for articles of a smaller nature, such as visiting cards, memorial cards, theatre

tickets, and things which Chichikov had laid by as souvenirs. This portion of the box could be taken out, and

below it were both a space for manuscripts and a secret moneyboxthe latter made to draw out from the

Chichikov set to work to clean a pen, and then to write. Presently his hostess entered the room.

"What a beautiful box you have got, my dear sir!" she exclaimed as she took a seat beside him. "Probably you

"I thought so. One CAN get good things there. Three years ago my sister brought me a few pairs of warm

shoes for my sons, and they were such excellent articles! To this day my boys wear them. And what nice

stamped paper you have!" (she had peered into the dispatchbox, where, sure enough, there lay a further store

of the paper in question). "Would you mind letting me have a sheet of it? I am without any at all, although I

shall soon have to be presenting a plea to the land court, and possess not a morsel of paper to write it on."

Upon this Chichikov explained that the paper was not the sort proper for the purposethat it was meant for

serfindenturing, and not for the framing of pleas. Nevertheless, to quiet her, he gave her a sheet stamped to

the value of a rouble. Next, he handed her the letter to sign, and requested, in return, a list of her peasants.

Unfortunately, such a list had never been compiled, let alone any copies of it, and the only way in which she

knew the peasants' names was by heart. However, he told her to dictate them. Some of the names greatly

astonished our hero, so, still more, did the surnames. Indeed, frequently, on hearing the latter, he had to pause

before writing them down. Especially did he halt before a certain "Peter Saveliev Neuvazhai Korito." "What a

string of titles!" involuntarily he ejaculated. To the Christian name of another serf was appended "Korovi

Kirpitch," and to that of a third "Koleso Ivan." However, at length the list was compiled, and he caught a

deep breath; which latter proceeding caused him to catch also the attractive odour of something fried in fat.

"I beseech you to have a morsel," murmured his hostess. Chichikov looked up, and saw that the table was

Chichikov did so, and having eaten more than half of what she offered him, praised the pie highly. Indeed, it

was a toothsome dish, and, after his difficulties and exertions with his hostess, it tasted even better than it

For answer Chichikov folded three together, and, having dipped them in melted butter, consigned the lot to

his mouth, and then wiped his mouth with a napkin. Twice more was the process repeated, and then he

requested his hostess to order the britchka to be got ready. In dispatching Fetinia with the necessary

"Your pancakes are indeed splendid," said Chichikov, applying himself to the second consignment of fried

"Yes, we make them well here," replied Madame. "Yet how unfortunate it is that the harvest should have

proved so poor as to have prevented me from earning anything on my But why should you be in such a

hurry to depart, good sir?" She broke off on seeing Chichikov reach for his cap. "The britchka is not yet

"Then it is being got so, madam, it is being got so, and I shall need a moment or two to pack my things."

"As you please, dear sir; but do not forget me in connection with those Government contracts."

"No, I have said that NEVER shall I forget you," replied Chichikov as he hurried into the hall.

"And perhaps you will be wanting also some feathers? I shall be having some for sale about St. Philip's Day."

"There you see!" she remarked as they stepped out on to the verandah. "The britchka is NOT yet ready."

"How am I to do that?" said Madame. "'Twould puzzle a wise man to do so, for in these parts there are so

many turnings. However, I will send a girl to guide you. You could find room for her on the boxseat, could

"Then I will send her. She knows the way thoroughly. Only do not carry her off for good. Already some

Chichikov reassured his hostess on the point, and Madame plucked up courage enough to scan, first of all, the

housekeeper, who happened to be issuing from the storehouse with a bowl of honey, and, next, a young

peasant who happened to be standing at the gates; and, while thus engaged, she became wholly absorbed in

her domestic pursuits. But why pay her so much attention? The Widow Korobotchka, Madame Manilov,

domestic life, nondomestic lifeaway with them all! How strangely are things compounded! In a trice may

joy turn to sorrow, should one halt long enough over it: in a trice only God can say what ideas may strike one.

You may fall even to thinking: "After all, did Madame Korobotchka stand so very low in the scale of human

perfection? Was there really such a very great gulf between her and Madame Manilovbetween her and the

Madame Manilov whom we have seen entrenched behind the walls of a genteel mansion in which there were

a fine staircase of wrought metal and a number of rich carpets; the Madame Manilov who spent most of her

time in yawning behind halfread books, and in hoping for a visit from some socially distinguished person in

order that she might display her wit and carefully rehearsed thoughtsthoughts which had been de rigeur in

town for a week past, yet which referred, not to what was going on in her household or on her estateboth

of which properties were at odds and ends, owing to her ignorance of the art of managing thembut to the

coming political revolution in France and the direction in which fashionable Catholicism was supposed to be

moving? But away with such things! Why need we speak of them? Yet how comes it that suddenly into the

midst of our careless, frivolous, unthinking moments there may enter another, and a very different,

tendency?that the smile may not have left a human face before its owner will have radically changed his or

her nature (though not his or her environment) with the result that the face will suddenly become lit with a

"Here is the britchka, here is the britchka!" exclaimed Chichikov on perceiving that vehicle slowly

advancing. "Ah, you blockhead!" he went on to Selifan. "Why have you been loitering about? I suppose last

"Goodbye, madam," added the speaker. "But where is the girl whom you promised me?"

"Here, Pelagea!" called the hostess to a wench of about eleven who was dressed in homedyed garments and

could boast of a pair of bare feet which, from a distance, might almost have been mistaken for boots, so

encrusted were they with fresh mire. "Here, Pelagea! Come and show this gentleman the way."

Selifan helped the girl to ascend to the boxseat. Placing one foot upon the step by which the gentry

mounted, she covered the said step with mud, and then, ascending higher, attained the desired position beside

the coachman. Chichikov followed in her wake (causing the britchka to heel over with his weight as he did

so), and then settled himself back into his place with an "All right! Goodbye, madam!" as the horses moved

Selifan looked gloomy as he drove, but also very attentive to his business. This was invariably his custom

when he had committed the fault of getting drunk. Also, the horses looked unusually wellgroomed. In

particular, the collar on one of them had been neatly mended, although hitherto its state of dilapidation had

been such as perennially to allow the stuffing to protrude through the leather. The silence preserved was

wellnigh complete. Merely flourishing his whip, Selifan spoke to the team no word of instruction, although

the skewbald was as ready as usual to listen to conversation of a didactic nature, seeing that at such times the

reins hung loosely in the hands of the loquacious driver, and the whip wandered merely as a matter of form

over the backs of the troika. This time, however, there could be heard issuing from Selifan's sullen lips only

the uniformly unpleasant exclamation, "Now then, you brutes! Get on with you, get on with you!" The bay

and the Assessor too felt put out at not hearing themselves called "my pets" or "good lads"; while, in addition,

the skewbald came in for some nasty cuts across his sleek and ample quarters. "What has put master out like

this?" thought the animal as it shook its head. "Heaven knows where he does not keep beating meacross

the back, and even where I am tenderer still. Yes, he keeps catching the whip in my ears, and lashing me

"To the right, eh?" snapped Selifan to the girl beside him as he pointed to a rainsoaked road which trended

"Get along with you!" retorted the coachman. "That DOES go to the right. You don't know your right hand

The weather was fine, but the ground so excessively sodden that the wheels of the britchka collected mire

until they had become caked as with a layer of felt, a circumstance which greatly increased the weight of the

vehicle, and prevented it from clearing the neighbouring parishes before the afternoon was arrived. Also,

without the girl's help the finding of the way would have been impossible, since roads wiggled away in every

direction, like crabs released from a net, and, but for the assistance mentioned, Selifan would have found

himself left to his own devices. Presently she pointed to a building ahead, with the words, "THERE is the

"Then we can get along by ourselves," he observed. "Do you get down, and be off home."

With that he stopped, and helped her to alightmuttering as he did so: "Ah, you blackfooted creature!"

Chichikov added a copper groat, and she departed well pleased with her ride in the gentleman's carriage.

On reaching the tavern, Chichikov called a halt. His reasons for this were twofoldnamely, that he wanted

to rest the horses, and that he himself desired some refreshment. In this connection the author feels bound to

confess that the appetite and the capacity of such men are greatly to be envied. Of those welltodo folk of

St. Petersburg and Moscow who spend their time in considering what they shall eat on the morrow, and in

composing a dinner for the day following, and who never sit down to a meal without first of all injecting a

pill and then swallowing oysters and crabs and a quantity of other monsters, while eternally departing for

Karlsbad or the Caucasus, the author has but a small opinion. Yes, THEY are not the persons to inspire envy.

Rather, it is the folk of the middle classesfolk who at one posthouse call for bacon, and at another for a

sucking pig, and at a third for a steak of sturgeon or a baked pudding with onions, and who can sit down to

table at any hour, as though they had never had a meal in their lives, and can devour fish of all sorts, and

guzzle and chew it with a view to provoking further appetitethese, I say, are the folk who enjoy heaven's

most favoured gift. To attain such a celestial condition the great folk of whom I have spoken would sacrifice

half their serfs and half their mortgaged and nonmortgaged property, with the foreign and domestic

improvements thereon, if thereby they could compass such a stomach as is possessed by the folk of the

middle class. But, unfortunately, neither money nor real estate, whether improved or nonimproved, can

The little wooden tavern, with its narrow, but hospitable, curtain suspended from a pair of roughhewn

doorposts like old church candlesticks, seemed to invite Chichikov to enter. True, the establishment was only

a Russian hut of the ordinary type, but it was a hut of larger dimensions than usual, and had around its

windows and gables carved and patterned cornices of brightcoloured wood which threw into relief the

darker hue of the walls, and consorted well with the flowered pitchers painted on the shutters.

Ascending the narrow wooden staircase to the upper floor, and arriving upon a broad landing, Chichikov

found himself confronted with a creaking door and a stout old woman in a striped print gown. "This way, if

you please," she said. Within the apartment designated Chichikov encountered the old friends which one

invariably finds in such roadside hostelriesto wit, a heavy samovar, four smooth, bescratched walls of

white pine, a threecornered press with cups and teapots, eggcups of gilded china standing in front of ikons

suspended by blue and red ribands, a cat lately delivered of a family, a mirror which gives one four eyes

instead of two and a pancake for a face, and, beside the ikons, some bunches of herbs and carnations of such

faded dustiness that, should one attempt to smell them, one is bound to burst out sneezing.

"Have you a suckingpig?" Chichikov inquired of the landlady as she stood expectantly before him.

The landlady departed for the purpose, and returned with a plate, a napkin (the latter starched to the

consistency of dried bark), a knife with a bone handle beginning to turn yellow, a twopronged fork as thin

Following the accepted custom, our hero entered into conversation with the woman, and inquired whether she

herself or a landlord kept the tavern; how much income the tavern brought in; whether her sons lived with

her; whether the oldest was a bachelor or married; whom the eldest had taken to wife; whether the dowry had

been large; whether the fatherinlaw had been satisfied, and whether the said fatherinlaw had not

complained of receiving too small a present at the wedding. In short, Chichikov touched on every

conceivable point. Likewise (of course) he displayed some curiosity as to the landowners of the

neighbourhood. Their names, he ascertained, were Blochin, Potchitaev, Minoi, Cheprakov, and Sobakevitch.

"Then you are acquainted with Sobakevitch?" he said; whereupon the old woman informed him that she

knew not only Sobakevitch, but also Manilov, and that the latter was the more delicate eater of the two, since,

whereas Manilov always ordered a roast fowl and some veal and mutton, and then tasted merely a morsel of

each, Sobakevitch would order one dish only, but consume the whole of it, and then demand more at the

Whilst Chichikov was thus conversing and partaking of the sucking pig until only a fragment of it seemed

likely to remain, the sound of an approaching vehicle made itself heard. Peering through the window, he saw

draw up to the tavern door a light britchka drawn by three fine horses. From it there descended two

menone flaxenhaired and tall, and the other darkhaired and of slighter build. While the flaxenhaired

man was clad in a darkblue coat, the other one was wrapped in a coat of striped pattern. Behind the britchka

stood a second, but an empty, turnout, drawn by four longcoated steeds in ragged collars and rope

harnesses. The flaxenhaired man lost no time in ascending the staircase, while his darker friend remained

below to fumble at something in the britchka, talking, as he did so, to the driver of the vehicle which stood

hitched behind. Somehow, the darkhaired man's voice struck Chichikov as familiar; and as he was taking

another look at him the flaxenhaired gentleman entered the room. The newcomer was a man of lofty stature,

with a small red moustache and a lean, hardbitten face whose redness made it evident that its acquaintance,

if not with the smoke of gunpowder, at all events with that of tobacco, was intimate and extensive.

Nevertheless he greeted Chichikov civilly, and the latter returned his bow. Indeed, the pair would have

entered into conversation, and have made one another's acquaintance (since a beginning was made with their

simultaneously expressing satisfaction at the circumstance that the previous night's rain had laid the dust on

the roads, and thereby made driving cool and pleasant) when the gentleman's darkerfavoured friend also

entered the room, and, throwing his cap upon the table, pushed back a mass of dishevelled black locks from

his brow. The latest arrival was a man of medium height, but well put together, and possessed of a pair of full

red cheeks, a set of teeth as white as snow, and coalblack whiskers. Indeed, so fresh was his complexion

that it seemed to have been compounded of blood and milk, while health danced in his every feature.

"Ha, ha, ha!" he cried with a gesture of astonishment at the sight of Chichikov. "What chance brings YOU

Upon that Chichikov recognised Nozdrevthe man whom he had met at dinner at the Public Prosecutor's,

and who, within a minute or two of the introduction, had become so intimate with his fellow guest as to

address him in the second person singular, in spite of the fact that Chichikov had given him no opportunity

"Where have you been today?" Nozdrev inquired, and, without waiting for an answer, went on: "For myself,

I am just from the fair, and completely cleaned out. Actually, I have had to do the journey back with stage

horses! Look out of the window, and see them for yourself." And he turned Chichikov's head so sharply in

the desired direction that he came very near to bumping it against the window frame. "Did you ever see such

a bag of tricks? The cursed things have only just managed to get here. In fact, on the way I had to transfer

myself to this fellow's britchka." He indicated his companion with a finger. "By the way, don't you know one

another? He is Mizhuev, my brotherinlaw. He and I were talking of you only this morning. 'Just you see,'

said I to him, 'if we do not fall in with Chichikov before we have done.' Heavens, how completely cleaned out

I am! Not only have I lost four good horses, but also my watch and chain." Chichikov perceived that in very

truth his interlocutor was minus the articles named, as well as that one of Nozdrev's whiskers was less bushy

in appearance than the other one. "Had I had another twenty roubles in my pocket," went on Nozdrev, "I

should have won back all that I have lost, as well as have pouched a further thirty thousand. Yes, I give you

"But you were saying the same thing when last I met you," put in the flaxenhaired man. "Yet, even though I

"But I should not have lost them THIS time. Don't try to make me out a fool. I should NOT have lost them, I

"No. That was because I did not play my cards right. But what about your precious major's play? Is THAT

"Splendid of him! Nevertheless I will get my own back. Let him play me at doubles, and we shall soon see

what sort of a player he is! Friend Chichikov, at first we had a glorious time, for the fair was a tremendous

success. Indeed, the tradesmen said that never yet had there been such a gathering. I myself managed to sell

everything from my estate at a good price. In fact, we had a magnificent time. I can't help thinking of it, devil

take me! But what a pity YOU were not there! Three versts from the town there is quartered a regiment of

dragoons, and you would scarcely believe what a lot of officers it has. Forty at least there are, and they do a

fine lot of knocking about the town and drinking. In particular, StaffCaptain Potsieluev is a SPLENDID

fellow! You should just see his moustache! Why, he calls good claret 'trash'! 'Bring me some of the usual

trash,' is his way of ordering it. And Lieutenant Kuvshinnikov, too! He is as delightful as the other man. In

fact, I may say that every one of the lot is a rake. I spent my whole time with them, and you can imagine that

Ponomarev, the wine merchant, did a fine trade indeed! All the same, he is a rascal, you know, and ought not

to be dealt with, for he puts all sorts of rubbish into his liquorIndian wood and burnt cork and elderberry

juice, the villain! Nevertheless, get him to produce a bottle from what he calls his 'special cellar,' and you will

fancy yourself in the seventh heaven of delight. And what quantities of champagne we drank! Compared with

it, provincial stuff is kvass[1]. Try to imagine not merely Clicquot, but a sort of blend of Clicquot and

MatraduraClicquot of double strength. Also Ponomarev produced a bottle of French stuff which he calls

'Bonbon.' Had it a bouquet, ask you? Why, it had the bouquet of a rose garden, of anything else you like.

What times we had, to be sure! Just after we had left Pnomarev's place, some prince or another arrived in the

town, and sent out for some champagne; but not a bottle was there left, for the officers had drunk every one!

"Come, come! You CAN'T have got through seventeen," remarked the flaxenhaired man.

"It is as well for you that you don't, since, otherwise, you would have found yourself minus both gun and cap.

However, friend Chichikov, it is a pity you were not there. Had you been there, I feel sure you would have

found yourself unable to part with Lieutenant Kuvshinnikov. You and he would have hit it off splendidly.

You know, he is quite a different sort from the Public Prosecutor and our other provincial skinflintsfellows

who shiver in their shoes before they will spend a single kopeck. HE will play faro, or anything else, and at

any time. Why did you not come with us, instead of wasting your time on cattle breeding or something of the

sort? But never mind. Embrace me. I like you immensely. Mizhuev, see how curiously things have turned

out. Chichikov has nothing to do with me, or I with him, yet here is he come from God knows where, and

landed in the very spot where I happen to be living! I may tell you that, no matter how many carriages I

possessed, I should gamble the lot away. Recently I went in for a turn at billiards, and lost two jars of

pomade, a china teapot, and a guitar. Then I staked some more things, and, like a fool, lost them all, and six

roubles in addition. What a dog is that Kuvshinnikov! He and I attended nearly every ball in the place. In

particular, there was a womandecolletee, and such a swell! I merely thought to myself, 'The devil take her!'

but Kuvshinnikov is such a wag that he sat down beside her, and began paying her strings of compliments in

French. However, I did not neglect the damsels altogetheralthough HE calls that sort of thing 'going in for

strawberries.' By the way, I have a splendid piece of fish and some caviare with me. 'Tis all I HAVE brought

back! In fact it is a lucky chance that I happened to buy the stuff before my money was gone. Where are you

Instantly Nozdrev burst into a laugh compassable only by a healthy man in whose head every tooth still

remains as white as sugar. By this I mean the laugh of quivering cheeks, the laugh which causes a neighbour

who is sleeping behind double doors three rooms away to leap from his bed and exclaim with distended eyes,

"What is there to laugh at?" asked Chichikov, a trifle nettled; but Nozdrev laughed more unrestrainedly than

ever, ejaculating: "Oh, spare us all! The thing is so amusing that I shall die of it!"

"I say that there is nothing to laugh at," repeated Chichikov. "It is in fulfilment of a promise that I am on my

"Then you will scarcely be glad to be alive when you've got there, for he is the veriest miser in the

countryside. Oh, _I_ know you. However, if you think to find there either faro or a bottle of 'Bonbon' you are

mistaken. Look here, my good friend. Let Sobakevitch go to the devil, and come to MY place, where at least

I shall have a piece of sturgeon to offer you for dinner. Ponomarev said to me on parting: 'This piece is just

the thing for you. Even if you were to search the whole market, you would never find a better one.' But of

course he is a terrible rogue. I said to him outright: 'You and the Collector of Taxes are the two greatest

skinflints in the town.' But he only stroked his beard and smiled. Every day I used to breakfast with

Kuvshinnikov in his restaurant. Well, what I was nearly forgetting is this: that, though I am aware that you

can't forgo your engagement, I am not going to give you upno, not for ten thousand roubles of money. I

Here he broke off to run to the window and shout to his servant (who was holding a knife in one hand and a

crust of bread and a piece of sturgeon in the otherhe had contrived to filch the latter while fumbling in the

"Hi, Porphyri! Bring here that puppy, you rascal! What a puppy it is! Unfortunately that thief of a landlord

has given it nothing to eat, even though I have promised him the roan filly which, as you may remember, I

swopped from Khvostirev." As a matter of act, Chichikov had never in his life seen either Khvostirev or the

"No, nothing at all. Ah, friend Chichikov, what times we had! Yes, give me a glass of vodka, old woman.

"At the theatre," went on Nozdrev, "there was an actress who sang like a canary. Kuvshinnikov, who

happened to be sitting with me, said: 'My boy, you had better go and gather that strawberry.' As for the

booths at the fair, they numbered, I should say, fifty." At this point he broke off to take the glass of vodka

from the landlady, who bowed low in acknowledgement of his doing so. At the same moment Porphyria

fellow dressed like his master (that is to say, in a greasy, wadded overcoat)entered with the puppy.

Porphyri deposited the animal upon the floor; whereupon it proceeded to act after the manner of dogs.

"THERE'S a puppy for you!" cried Nozdrev, catching hold of it by the back, and lifting it up. The puppy

"I can see that you haven't done what I told you to do," he continued to Porphyri after an inspection of the

"You liar! As a matter of fact, you have forgotten to brush him. Nevertheless, look at these ears, Chichikov.

To humour the fellow Chichikov did as he had requested, remarking: "Yes, he seems likely to turn out well."

Not wishing to offend his interlocutor, Chichikov felt the puppy's nose, saying: "Some day he will have an

"Yes, will he not? 'Tis the right sort of muzzle for that. I must say that I have long been wanting such a

"Look here, Chichikov," resumed Nozdrev. "You MUST come to my place. It lies only five versts away, and

"Shall I, or shall I not, go to Nozdrev's?" reflected Chichikov. "Is he likely to prove any more useful than the

rest? Well, at least he is as promising, even though he has lost so much at play. But he has a head on his

shoulders, and therefore I must go carefully if I am to tackle him concerning my scheme."

With that he added aloud: "Very well, I WILL come with you, but do not let us be long, for my time is very

"That's right, that's right!" cried Nozdrev. "Splendid, splendid! Let me embrace you!" And he fell upon

"No, no," put in the flaxenhaired man. "You must excuse me, for I must be off home."

"But my wife will be furious with me. You and Monsieur Chichikov must change into the other britchka."

The flaxenhaired man was one of those people in whose character, at first sight, there seems to lurk a certain

grain of stubbornnessso much so that, almost before one has begun to speak, they are ready to dispute

one's words, and to disagree with anything that may be opposed to their peculiar form of opinion. For

instance, they will decline to have folly called wisdom, or any tune danced to but their own. Always,

however, will there become manifest in their character a soft spot, and in the end they will accept what

hitherto they have denied, and call what is foolish sensible, and even danceyes, better than any one else

will doto a tune set by some one else. In short, they generally begin well, but always end badly.

"Rubbish!" said Nozdrev in answer to a further objection on his brotherinlaw's part. And, sure enough, no

sooner had Nozdrev clapped his cap upon his head than the flaxenhaired man started to follow him and his

"All right, all right, good mother. Look here, brotherinlaw. Pay her, will you, for I have not a kopeck left."

"No, it will NOT, barin," protested the old woman. However, she took the money gratefully, and even ran to

the door to open it for the gentlemen. As a matter of fact, she had lost nothing by the transaction, since she

The travellers then took their seats, and since Chichikov's britchka kept alongside the britchka wherein

Nozdrev and his brotherinlaw were seated, it was possible for all three men to converse together as they

proceeded. Behind them came Nozdrev's smaller buggy, with its team of lean stage horses and Porphyri and

the puppy. But inasmuch as the conversation which the travellers maintained was not of a kind likely to

interest the reader, I might do worse than say something concerning Nozdrev himself, seeing that he is

Nozdrev's face will be familiar to the reader, seeing that every one must have encountered many such.

Fellows of the kind are known as "gay young sparks," and, even in their boyhood and school days, earn a

reputation for being bons camarades (though with it all they come in for some hard knocks) for the reason

that their faces evince an element of frankness, directness, and enterprise which enables them soon to make

friends, and, almost before you have had time to look around, to start addressing you in the second person

singular. Yet, while cementing such friendships for all eternity, almost always they begin quarrelling the

same evening, since, throughout, they are a loquacious, dissipated, highspirited, overshowy tribe. Indeed,

at thirtyfive Nozdrev was just what he had been an eighteen and twentyhe was just such a lover of fast

living. Nor had his marriage in any way changed him, and the less so since his wife had soon departed to

another world, and left behind her two children, whom he did not want, and who were therefore placed in the

charge of a goodlooking nursemaid. Never at any time could he remain at home for more than a single day,

for his keen scent could range over scores and scores of versts, and detect any fair which promised balls and

crowds. Consequently in a trice he would be therequarrelling, and creating disturbances over the

gamingtable (like all men of his type, he had a perfect passion for cards) yet playing neither a faultless nor

an overclean game, since he was both a blunderer and able to indulge in a large number of illicit cuts and

other devices. The result was that the game often ended in another kind of sport altogether. That is to say,

either he received a good kicking, or he had his thick and very handsome whiskers pulled; with the result that

on certain occasions he returned home with one of those appendages looking decidedly ragged. Yet his

plump, healthylooking cheeks were so robustly constituted, and contained such an abundance of recreative

vigour, that a new whisker soon sprouted in place of the old one, and even surpassed its predecessor. Again

(and the following is a phenomenon peculiar to Russia) a very short time would have elapsed before once

more he would be consorting with the very cronies who had recently cuffed himand consorting with them

as though nothing whatsoever had happenedno reference to the subject being made by him, and they too

In short, Nozdrev was, as it were, a man of incident. Never was he present at any gathering without some sort

of a fracas occurring thereat. Either he would require to be expelled from the room by gendarmes, or his

friends would have to kick him out into the street. At all events, should neither of those occurrences take

place, at least he did something of a nature which would not otherwise have been witnessed. That is to say,

should he not play the fool in a buffet to such an extent as to make very one smile, you may be sure that he

was engaged in lying to a degree which at times abashed even himself. Moreover, the man lied without

reason. For instance, he would begin telling a story to the effect that he possessed a bluecoated or a

redcoated horse; until, in the end, his listeners would be forced to leave him with the remark, "You are

giving us some fine stuff, old fellow!" Also, men like Nozdrev have a passion for insulting their neighbours

without the least excuse afforded. (For that matter, even a man of good standing and of respectable

exteriora man with a star on his breastmay unexpectedly press your hand one day, and begin talking to

you on subjects of a nature to give food for serious thought. Yet just as unexpectedly may that man start

abusing you to your faceand do so in a manner worthy of a collegiate registrar rather than of a man who

wears a star on his breast and aspires to converse on subjects which merit reflection. All that one can do in

such a case is to stand shrugging one's shoulders in amazement.) Well, Nozdrev had just such a weakness.

The more he became friendly with a man, the sooner would he insult him, and be ready to spread calumnies

as to his reputation. Yet all the while he would consider himself the insulted one's friend, and, should he meet

him again, would greet him in the most amicable style possible, and say, "You rascal, why have you given up

coming to see me." Thus, taken all round, Nozdrev was a person of many aspects and numerous

potentialities. In one and the same breath would he propose to go with you whithersoever you might choose

(even to the very ends of the world should you so require) or to enter upon any sort of an enterprise with you,

or to exchange any commodity for any other commodity which you might care to name. Guns, horses, dogs,

all were subjects for barterthough not for profit so far as YOU were concerned. Such traits are mostly the

outcome of a boisterous temperament, as is additionally exemplified by the fact that if at a fair he chanced to

fall in with a simpleton and to fleece him, he would then proceed to buy a quantity of the very first articles

which came to handhorsecollars, cigarlighters, dresses for his nursemaid, foals, raisins, silver ewers,

lengths of holland, wheatmeal, tobacco, revolvers, dried herrings, pictures, whetstones, crockery, boots, and

so forth, until every atom of his money was exhausted. Yet seldom were these articles conveyed home, since,

as a rule, the same day saw them lost to some more skilful gambler, in addition to his pipe, his

tobaccopouch, his mouthpiece, his fourhorsed turnout, and his coachman: with the result that, stripped to

Such was Nozdrev. Some may say that characters of his type have become extinct, that Nozdrevs no longer

exist. Alas! such as say this will be wrong; for many a day must pass before the Nozdrevs will have

disappeared from our ken. Everywhere they are to be seen in our midstthe only difference between the new

and the old being a difference of garments. Persons of superficial observation are apt to consider that a man

To continue. The three vehicles bowled up to the steps of Nozdrev's house, and their occupants alighted. But

no preparations whatsoever had been made for the guest's reception, for on some wooden trestles in the centre

of the diningroom a couple of peasants were engaged in whitewashing the ceiling and drawling out an

endless song as they splashed their stuff about the floor. Hastily bidding peasants and trestles to be gone,

Nozdrev departed to another room with further instructions. Indeed, so audible was the sound of his voice as

he ordered dinner that Chichikovwho was beginning to feel hungry once morewas enabled to gather that

it would be at least five o'clock before a meal of any kind would be available. On his return, Nozdrev invited

his companions to inspect his establishmenteven though as early as two o'clock he had to announce that

The tour began with a view of the stables, where the party saw two mares (the one a grey, and the other a

roan) and a colt; which latter animal, though far from showy, Nozdrev declared to have cost him ten thousand

"You NEVER paid ten thousand roubles for the brute!" exclaimed the brotherinlaw. "He isn't worth even a

"Will you bet that I did not?" asked Nozdrev, but the brotherinlaw declined the offer.

Next, Nozdrev showed his guests some empty stalls where a number of equally fine animals (so he alleged)

had lately stood. Also there was on view the goat which an old belief still considers to be an indispensable

adjunct to such places, even though its apparent use is to pace up and down beneath the noses of the horses as

though the place belonged to it. Thereafter the host took his guests to look at a young wolf which he had got

tied to a chain. "He is fed on nothing but raw meat," he explained, "for I want him to grow up as fierce as

possible." Then the party inspected a pond in which there were "fish of such a size that it would take two men

This piece of information was received with renewed incredulity on the part of the brotherinlaw.

"Now, Chichikov," went on Nozdrev, "let me show you a truly magnificent brace of dogs. The hardness of

So saying, he led the way to a small, but neatlybuilt, shed surrounded on every side with a fencedin run.

Entering this run, the visitors beheld a number of dogs of all sorts and sizes and colours. In their midst

Nozdrev looked like a father lording it over his family circle. Erecting their tailstheir "stems," as dog

fanciers call those membersthe animals came bounding to greet the party, and fully a score of them laid

their paws upon Chichikov's shoulders. Indeed, one dog was moved with such friendliness that, standing on

its hind legs, it licked him on the lips, and so forced him to spit. That done, the visitors duly inspected the

couple already mentioned, and expressed astonishment at their muscles. True enough, they were fine animals.

Next, the party looked at a Crimean bitch which, though blind and fast nearing her end, had, two years ago,

been a truly magnificent dog. At all events, so said Nozdrev. Next came another bitchalso blind; then an

inspection of the watermill, which lacked the spindlesocket wherein the upper stone ought to have been

revolving"fluttering," to use the Russian peasant's quaint expression. "But never mind," said Nozdrev. "Let

us proceed to the blacksmith's shop." So to the blacksmith's shop the party proceeded, and when the said shop

"In this field I have seen such numbers of hares as to render the ground quite invisible. Indeed, on one

"You never caught a hare by the hind legs with your hands!" remarked the brotherinlaw.

"But I DID" reiterated Nozdrev. "However, let me show you the boundary where my lands come to an end."

So saying, he started to conduct his guests across a field which consisted mostly of moleheaps, and in which

the party had to pick their way between strips of ploughed land and of harrowed. Soon Chichikov began to

feel weary, for the terrain was so lowlying that in many spots water could be heard squelching underfoot,

and though for a while the visitors watched their feet, and stepped carefully, they soon perceived that such a

course availed them nothing, and took to following their noses, without either selecting or avoiding the spots

where the mire happened to be deeper or the reverse. At length, when a considerable distance had been

"That is the boundary," said Nozdrev. "Everything that you see on this side of the post is mine, as well as the

"WHEN did that forest become yours?" asked the brotherinlaw. "It cannot be long since you purchased it,

"How long? Why, I purchased it three days ago, and gave a pretty sum for it, as the devil knows!"

"Wiseacre! Cannot one be at a fair and buy land at the same time? Yes, I WAS at the fair, and my steward

"Oh, your STEWARD bought it." The brotherinlaw seemed doubtful, and shook his head.

The guests returned by the same route as that by which they had come; whereafter, on reaching the house,

Nozdrev conducted them to his study, which contained not a trace of the things usually to be found in such

apartmentssuch things as books and papers. On the contrary, the only articles to be seen were a sword and

a brace of gunsthe one "of them worth three hundred roubles," and the other "about eight hundred." The

brotherinlaw inspected the articles in question, and then shook his head as before. Next, the visitors were

shown some "real Turkish" daggers, of which one bore the inadvertent inscription, "Saveli Sibiriakov[2],

Master Cutler." Then came a barrelorgan, on which Nozdrev started to play some tune or another. For a

while the sounds were not wholly unpleasing, but suddenly something seemed to go wrong, for a mazurka

started, to be followed by "Marlborough has gone to the war," and to this, again, there succeeded an

antiquated waltz. Also, long after Nozdrev had ceased to turn the handle, one particularly shrillpitched pipe

which had, throughout, refused to harmonise with the rest kept up a protracted whistling on its own account.

Then followed an exhibition of tobacco pipespipes of clay, of wood, of meerschaum, pipes smoked and

nonsmoked; pipes wrapped in chamois leather and not so wrapped; an ambermounted hookah (a stake won

at cards) and a tobacco pouch (worked, it was alleged, by some countess who had fallen in love with Nozdrev

at a posthouse, and whose handiwork Nozdrev averred to constitute the "sublimity of superfluity"a term

which, in the Nozdrevian vocabulary, purported to signify the acme of perfection).

Finally, after some horsd'oeuvres of sturgeon's back, they sat down to tablethe time being then nearly five

o'clock. But the meal did not constitute by any means the best of which Chichikov had ever partaken, seeing

that some of the dishes were overcooked, and others were scarcely cooked at all. Evidently their compounder

had trusted chiefly to inspirationshe had laid hold of the first thing which had happened to come to hand.

For instance, had pepper represented the nearest article within reach, she had added pepper wholesale. Had a

cabbage chanced to be so encountered, she had pressed it also into the service. And the same with milk,

bacon, and peas. In short, her rule seemed to have been "Make a hot dish of some sort, and some sort of taste

will result." For the rest, Nozdrev drew heavily upon the wine. Even before the soup had been served, he had

poured out for each guest a bumper of port and another of "haut" sauterne. (Never in provincial towns is

ordinary, vulgar sauterne even procurable.) Next, he called for a bottle of madeira"as fine a tipple as ever a

fieldmarshall drank"; but the madeira only burnt the mouth, since the dealers, familiar with the taste of our

landed gentry (who love "good" madeira) invariably doctor the stuff with copious dashes of rum and Imperial

vodka, in the hope that Russian stomachs will thus be enabled to carry off the lot. After this bottle Nozdrev

called for another and "a very special" branda brand which he declared to consist of a blend of burgundy

and champagne, and of which he poured generous measures into the glasses of Chichikov and the

brotherinlaw as they sat to right and left of him. But since Chichikov noticed that, after doing so, he added

only a scanty modicum of the mixture to his own tumbler, our hero determined to be cautious, and therefore

took advantage of a moment when Nozdrev had again plunged into conversation and was yet a third time

engaged in refilling his brotherinlaw's glass, to contrive to upset his (Chichikov's) glass over his plate. In

time there came also to table a tart of mountainashberriesberries which the host declared to equal, in

taste, ripe plums, but which, curiously enough, smacked more of corn brandy. Next, the company consumed a

sort of pasty of which the precise name has escaped me, but which the host rendered differently even on the

second occasion of its being mentioned. The meal over, and the whole tale of wines tried, the guests still

retained their seatsa circumstance which embarrassed Chichikov, seeing that he had no mind to propound

his pet scheme in the presence of Nozdrev's brotherinlaw, who was a complete stranger to him. No, that

subject called for amicable and PRIVATE conversation. Nevertheless, the brotherinlaw appeared to bode

little danger, seeing that he had taken on board a full cargo, and was now engaged in doing nothing of a more

menacing nature than picking his nose. At length he himself noticed that he was not altogether in a

responsible condition; wherefore he rose and began to make excuses for departing homewards, though in a

tone so drowsy and lethargic that, to quote the Russian proverb, he might almost have been "pulling a collar

"But I MUST go," replied the brotherinlaw. "Don't dry to hinder me. You are annoying me greatly."

"No, no. You must play it without me, my friend. My wife is expecting me at home, and I must go and tell

her all about the fair. Yes, I MUST go if I am to please her. Do not try to detain me."

"No, no, my friend. The real reason is that she is a good and trustful woman, and that she does a great deal for

me. The tears spring to my eyes as I think of it. Do not detain me. As an honourable man I say that I must go.

"Oh, let him go," put in Chichikov under his breath. "What use will he be here?"

"Very well," said Nozdrev, "though, damn it, I do not like fellows who lose their heads." Then he added to

his brotherinlaw: "All right, Thetuk[3]. Off you go to your wife and your woman's talk and may the devil

[3] A jeering appellation which owes its origin to the fact that certain Russians cherish a prejudice against the

"Do not insult me with the term Thetuk," retorted the brotherinlaw. "To her I owe my life, and she is a

dear, good woman, and has shown me much affection. At the very thought of it I could weep. You see, she

will be asking me what I have seen at the fair, and tell her about it I must, for she is such a dear, good

"No, good friend, you are not to speak of her like that. By so doing you offend me greatlyI say that she is a

"Yes, I am just going. Excuse me for having been unable to stay. Gladly would I have stayed, but really I

The brotherinlaw repeated his excuses again and again without noticing that he had entered the britchka,

that it had passed through the gates, and that he was now in the open country. Permissibly we may suppose

"What a fool!" said Nozdrev as, standing by the window, he watched the departing vehicle. "Yet his

offhorse is not such a bad one. For a long time past I have been wanting to get hold of it. A man like that is

With that they repaired to the parlour, where, on Porphyri bringing candles, Chichikov perceived that his host

"I tell you what," said Nozdrev, pressing the sides of the pack together, and then slightly bending them, so

that the pack cracked and a card flew out. "How would it be if, to pass the time, I were to make a bank of

Chichikov pretended not to have heard him, but remarked with an air of having just recollected a forgotten

"This, then, is my request. I presume that you have a large number of dead serfs whose names have not yet

"You seem to have hatched a very fine scheme. Out with it, now! What is in the wind?"

"How could I have hatched such a scheme as you say? One could not very well hatch a scheme out of such a

"Oh, the curiosity of the man! He wants to poke his fingers into and smell over every detail!"

"Why do you decline to say what is in your mind? At all events, until you DO say I shall not move in the

"But how would it benefit you to know what my plans are? A whim has seized me. That is all. Nor are you

playing fair. You have given me your word of honour, yet now you are trying to back out of it."

"No matter what you desire me to do, I decline to do it until you have told me your purpose."

"What am I to say to the fellow?" thought Chichikov. He reflected for a moment, and then explained that he

wanted the dead souls in order to acquire a better standing in society, since at present he possessed little

"You are lying," said Nozdrev without even letting him finish. "Yes, you are lying my good friend."

Chichikov himself perceived that his device had been a clumsy one, and his pretext weak. "I must tell him

"Should I tell you the truth," he added aloud, "I must beg of you not to repeat it. The truth is that I am

thinking of getting married. But, unfortunately, my betrothed's father and mother are very ambitious people,

and do not want me to marry her, since they desire the bridegroom to own not less than three hundred souls,

"Then look here; I have been lying only to this extent." And Chichikov marked off upon his little finger a

"Because I know you, and know that you are a regular skinflint. I say that in all friendship. If I possessed any

This remark hurt Chichikov, for at any time he disliked expressions gross or offensive to decency, and never

allowed any oneno, not even persons of the highest rankto behave towards him with an undue measure

of familiarity. Consequently his sense of umbrage on the present occasion was unbounded.

"By God, I WOULD hang you!" repeated Nozdrev. "I say this frankly, and not for the purpose of offending

"To everything there are limits," retorted Chichikov stiffly. "If you want to indulge in speeches of that sort

"SELL them? _I_ know you, you rascal! You wouldn't give me very much for them, WOULD you?"

"Pardon me, but I could wish that you were a member of the Jewish persuasion. You would give them to me

"On the contrary, to show you that I am not a usurer, I will decline to ask of you a single kopeck for the serfs.

All that you need do is to buy that colt of mine, and then I will throw in the serfs in addition."

"But what should _I_ want with your colt?" said Chichikov, genuinely astonished at the proposal.

"What should YOU want with him? Why, I have bought him for ten thousand roubles, and am ready to let

"I ask you again: of what use could the colt possibly be to me? I am not the keeper of a breeding

"Ah! I see that you fail to understand me. Let me suggest that you pay down at once three thousand roubles of

"Then you shall have both the mare and the grey horse which you have seen in my stables for two thousand

"But you would be able to sell them again. You would be able to get thrice their purchase price at the very

"Then sell them at that fair yourself, seeing that you are so certain of making a triple profit."

"Oh, I should make it fast enough, only I want YOU to benefit by the transaction."

Chichikov duly thanked his interlocutor, but continued to decline either the grey horse or the roan mare.

"Then buy a few dogs," said Nozdrev. "I can sell you a couple of hides aquiver, ears well pricked, coats like

quills, ribs barrelshaped, and paws so tucked up as scarcely to graze the ground when they run."

"But I WANT you to have the dogs. Listen. If you won't have the dogs, then buy my barrelorgan. 'Tis a

splendid instrument. As a man of honour I can tell you that, when new, it cost me fifteen hundred roubles.

"Come, come! What should I want with a barrelorgan? I am not a German, to go hauling it about the roads

"But this is quite a different kind of organ from the one which Germans take about with them. You see, it is a

REAL organ. Look at it for yourself. It is made of the best wood. I will take you to have another view of it."

And seizing Chichikov by the hand, Nozdrev drew him towards the other room, where, in spite of the fact

that Chichikov, with his feet planted firmly on the floor, assured his host, again and again, that he knew

exactly what the organ was like, he was forced once more to hear how Marlborough went to the war.

"Then, since you don't care to give me any money for it," persisted Nozdrev, "listen to the following

proposal. I will give you the barrelorgan and all the dead souls which I possess, and in return you shall give

"Oh, I would stand you another britchka. Come to the coachhouse, and I will show you the one I mean. It

"The ramping, incorrigible devil!" thought Chichikov to himself as at all hazards he resolved to escape from

britchkas, organs, and every species of dog, however marvellously barrelribbed and tucked up of paw.

"And in exchange, you shall have the britchka, the barrelorgan, and the dead souls," repeated Nozdrev.

"I can see that you don't know how things should be done between good friends and comrades. Plainly you

"What do you mean, you fool? Think for yourself. Why should I acquire articles which I don't want?"

"Say no more about it, if you please. I have quite taken your measure. But see here. Should you care to play a

game of banker? I am ready to stake both the dead souls and the barrelorgan at cards."

"No; to leave an issue to cards means to submit oneself to the unknown," said Chichikov, covertly glancing at

the pack which Nozdrev had got in his hands. Somehow the way in which his companion had cut that pack

"Why 'to the unknown'?" asked Nozdrev. "There is no such thing as 'the unknown.' Should luck be on your

side, you may win the devil knows what a haul. Oh, luck, luck!" he went on, beginning to deal, in the hope of

raising a quarrel. "Here is the cursed nine upon which, the other night, I lost everything. All along I knew that

I should lose my money. Said I to myself: 'The devil take you, you false, accursed card!'"

Just as Nozdrev uttered the words Porphyri entered with a fresh bottle of liquor; but Chichikov declined

"Because I feel indisposed to do so. Moreover, I must confess that I am no great hand at cards."

"The truth is that you are a Thetuk, and nothing else. Once upon a time I believed you to be a good fellow,

but now I see that you don't understand civility. One cannot speak to you as one would to an intimate, for

there is no frankness or sincerity about you. You are a regular Sobakevitchjust such another as he."

"For what reason are you abusing me? Am I in any way at fault for declining to play cards? Sell me those

"The foul fiend take you! I was about to have given them to you for nothing, but now you shan't have them at

allnot if you offer me three kingdoms in exchange. Henceforth I will have nothing to do with you, you

cobbler, you dirty blacksmith! Porphyri, go and tell the ostler to give the gentleman's horses no oats, but only

Yet in spite of this, host and guest took supper togethereven though on this occasion the table was adorned

with no wines of fictitious nomenclature, but only with a bottle which reared its solitary head beside a jug of

what is usually known as vin ordinaire. When supper was over Nozdrev said to Chichikov as he conducted

Left to himself on Nozdrev's departure, Chichikov felt in a most unenviable frame of mind. Full of inward

vexation, he blamed himself bitterly for having come to see this man and so wasted valuable time; but even

more did he blame himself for having told him of his schemefor having acted as carelessly as a child or a

madman. Of a surety the scheme was not one which ought to have been confided to a man like Nozdrev, for

he was a worthless fellow who might lie about it, and append additions to it, and spread such stories as would

give rise to God knows what scandals. "This is indeed bad!" Chichikov said to himself. "I have been an

absolute fool." Consequently he spent an uneasy nightthis uneasiness being increased by the fact that a

number of small, but vigorous, insects so feasted upon him that he could do nothing but scratch the spots and

exclaim, "The devil take you and Nozdrev alike!" Only when morning was approaching did he fall asleep. On

rising, he made it his first business (after donning dressinggown and slippers) to cross the courtyard to the

stable, for the purpose of ordering Selifan to harness the britchka. Just as he was returning from his errand he

encountered Nozdrev, clad in a dressinggown, and holding a pipe between his teeth.

Host and guest greeted one another in friendly fashion, and Nozdrev inquired how Chichikov had slept.

"The same with myself," said Nozdrev. "The truth is that such a lot of nasty brutes kept crawling over me that

even to speak of it gives me the shudders. Likewise, as the effect of last night's doings, a whole squadron of

soldiers seemed to be camping on my chest, and giving me a flogging. Ugh! And whom also do you think I

saw in a dream? You would never guess. Why, it was StaffCaptain Potsieluev and Lieutenant

"Yes," though Chichikov to himself, "and I wish that they too would give you a public thrashing!"

"I felt so ill!" went on Nozdrev. "And just after I had fallen asleep something DID come and sting me.

Probably it was a party of hag fleas. Now, dress yourself, and I will be with you presently. First of all I must

Chichikov departed to his own room to wash and dress; which process completed, he entered the

diningroom to find the table laid with teathings and a bottle of rum. Clearly no broom had yet touched the

place, for there remained traces of the previous night's dinner and supper in the shape of crumbs thrown over

the floor and tobacco ash on the tablecloth. The host himself, when he entered, was still clad in a

dressinggown exposing a hairy chest; and as he sat holding his pipe in his hand, and drinking tea from a

cup, he would have made a model for the sort of painter who prefers to portray gentlemen of the less curled

"What think you?" he asked of Chichikov after a short silence. "Are you willing NOW to play me for those

"I have told you that I never play cards. If the souls are for sale, I will buy them."

"I decline to sell them. Such would not be the course proper between friends. But a game of banker would be

"Then look here. Suppose we play a game of chess. If you win, the souls shall be yours. There are lot which I

should like to see crossed off the revision list. Hi, Porphyri! Bring me the chessboard."

"But chess is different from playing with a bank. In chess there can be neither luck nor cheating, for

everything depends upon skill. In fact, I warn you that I cannot possibly play with you unless you allow me a

"The same with me," thought Chichikov. "Shall I, or shall I not, play this fellow? I used not to be a bad

chessplayer, and it is a sport in which he would find it more difficult to be up to his tricks."

"No. What would be the use of fifty? Nevertheless, for the hundred roubles I will throw in a moderately old

"In fact, it is a long time since last I had a chessman in my hand," replied Chichikov, also moving a piece.

"Ah! _I_ know you and your poor play," repeated Nozdrev, moving a second chessman.

"I say again that it is a long time since last I had a chessman in my hand." And Chichikov, in his turn, moved.

"Ah! _I_ know you and your poor play," repeated Nozdrev, for the third time as he made a third move. At the

same moment the cuff of one of his sleeves happened to dislodge another chessman from its position.

"Again, I say," said Chichikov, "that 'tis a long time since lastBut hi! look here! Put that piece back in its

"This one." And almost as Chichikov spoke he saw a third chessman coming into view between the queens.

"No, no!" shouted Chichikov as he rose from the table. "It is impossible to play with a man like you. People

"How 'three pieces'? All that I have done is to make a mistaketo move one of my pieces by accident. If you

"No, no, my friend. I have counted every move, and can remember each one. That piece has only just become

"Its place? Which IS its place?" But Nozdrev had reddened a good deal. "I perceive you to be a strategist at

"No, no, good friend. YOU are the strategistthough an unsuccessful one, as it happens."

"I am not supposing you capable of anything. All that I say is that I will not play with you any more."

"But you can't refuse to," said Nozdrev, growing heated. "You see, the game has begun."

"Nevertheless, I have a right not to continue it, seeing that you are not playing as an honest man should do."

"But I have NOT cheated. Consequently you cannot refuse to play, but must continue the game to a finish."

"You cannot force me to play," retorted Chichikov coldly as, turning to the chessboard, he swept the pieces

Nozdrev approached Chichikov with a manner so threatening that the other fell back a couple of paces.

"I WILL force you to play," said Nozdrev. "It is no use you making a mess of the chessboard, for I can

"That cock won't fight. Say at once that you refuse to play with me." And Nozdrev approached a step nearer.

"Very well; I DO say that," replied Chichikov, and at the same moment raised his hands towards his face, for

the dispute was growing heated. Nor was the act of caution altogether unwarranted, for Nozdrev also raised

his fist, and it may be that one of her hero's plump, pleasantlooking cheeks would have sustained an

indelible insult had not he (Chichikov) parried the blow and, seizing Nozdrev by his whirling arms, held them

On hearing the words, Chichikov, both because he wished to avoid rendering the servants witnesses of the

unedifying scene and because he felt that it would be of no avail to hold Nozdrev any longer, let go of the

latter's arms; but at the same moment Porphyri and Pavlushka entered the rooma pair of stout rascals with

"Do you, or do you not, intend to finish the game?" said Nozdrev. "Give me a direct answer."

"No; it will not be possible to finish the game," replied Chichikov, glancing out of the window. He could see

his britchka standing ready for him, and Selifan evidently awaiting orders to draw up to the entrance steps.

But from the room there was no escape, since in the doorway was posted the couple of wellbuilt

"Then it is as I say? You refuse to finish the game?" repeated Nozdrev, his face as red as fire.

"I would have finished it had you played like a man of honour. But, as it is, I cannot."

"You cannot, eh, you villain? You find that you cannot as soon as you find that you are not winning? Thrash

him, you fellows!" And as he spoke Nozdrev grasped the cherrywood shank of his pipe. Chichikov turned as

white as a sheet. He tried to say something, but his quivering lips emitted no sound. "Thrash him!" again

shouted Nozdrev as he rushed forward in a state of heat and perspiration more proper to a warrior who is

attacking an impregnable fortress. "Thrash him!" again he shouted in a voice like that of some halfdemented

lieutenant whose desperate bravery has acquired such a reputation that orders have had to be issued that his

hands shall be held lest he attempt deeds of overpresumptuous daring. Seized with the military spirit,

however, the lieutenant's head begins to whirl, and before his eye there flits the image of Suvorov[4]. He

advances to the great encounter, and impulsively cries, "Forward, my sons!"cries it without reflecting that

he may be spoiling the plan of the general attack, that millions of rifles may be protruding their muzzles

through the embrasures of the impregnable, towering walls of the fortress, that his own impotent assault may

be destined to be dissipated like dust before the wind, and that already there may have been launched on its

whistling career the bullet which is to close for ever his vociferous throat. However, if Nozdrev resembled the

headstrong, desperate lieutenant whom we have just pictured as advancing upon a fortress, at least the

fortress itself in no way resembled the impregnable stronghold which I have described. As a matter of fact,

the fortress became seized with a panic which drove its spirit into its boots. First of all, the chair with which

Chichikov (the fortress in question) sought to defend himself was wrested from his grasp by the serfs, and

thenblinking and neither alive nor deadhe turned to parry the Circassian pipestem of his host. In fact,

God only knows what would have happened had not the fates been pleased by a miracle to deliver

Chichikov's elegant back and shoulders from the onslaught. Suddenly, and as unexpectedly as though the

sound had come from the clouds, there made itself heard the tinkling notes of a collarbell, and then the

rumble of wheels approaching the entrance steps, and, lastly, the snorting and hard breathing of a team of

horses as a vehicle came to a standstill. Involuntarily all present glanced through the window, and saw a man

clad in a semimilitary greatcoat leap from a buggy. After making an inquiry or two in the hall, he entered

the diningroom just at the juncture when Chichikov, almost swooning with terror, had found himself placed

[4] The great Russian general who, after winning fame in the Seven Years' War, met with disaster when

"Kindly tell me which of you is Monsieur Nozdrev?" said the unknown with a glance of perplexity both at the

person named (who was still standing with pipeshank upraised) and at Chichikov (who was just beginning

"Kindly tell ME whom I have the honour of addressing?" retorted Nozdrev as he approached the official.

"I have come to fulfil a commission imposed upon me. That is to say, I have come to place you under arrest

"The case in which you involved yourself when, in a drunken condition, and through the instrumentality of a

"You lie! To your face I tell you that never in my life have I set eyes upon Landowner Maksimov."

"Good sir, allow me to represent to you that I am a Government officer. Speeches like that you may address

At this point Chichikov, without waiting for Nozdrev's reply, seized his cap, slipped behind the

Superintendent's back, rushed out on to the verandah, sprang into his britchka, and ordered Selifan to drive

Certainly Chichikov was a thorough coward, for, although the britchka pursued its headlong course until

Nozdrev's establishment had disappeared behind hillocks and hedgerows, our hero continued to glance

nervously behind him, as though every moment expecting to see a stern chase begin. His breath came with

difficulty, and when he tried his heart with his hands he could feel it fluttering like a quail caught in a net.

"What a sweat the fellow has thrown me into!" he thought to himself, while many a dire and forceful

aspiration passed through his mind. Indeed, the expressions to which he gave vent were most inelegant in

their nature. But what was to be done next? He was a Russian and thoroughly aroused. The affair had been no

joke. "But for the Superintendent," he reflected, "I might never again have looked upon God's daylightI

might have vanished like a bubble on a pool, and left neither trace nor posterity nor property nor an

honourable name for my future offspring to inherit!" (it seemed that our hero was particularly anxious with

"What a scurvy barin!" mused Selifan as he drove along. "Never have I seen such a barin. I should like to spit

in his face. 'Tis better to allow a man nothing to eat than to refuse to feed a horse properly. A horse needs his

oatsthey are his proper fare. Even if you make a man procure a meal at his own expense, don't deny a

An equally poor opinion of Nozdrev seemed to be cherished also by the steeds, for not only were the bay and

the Assessor clearly out of spirits, but even the skewbald was wearing a dejected air. True, at home the

skewbald got none but the poorer sorts of oats to eat, and Selifan never filled his trough without having first

called him a villain; but at least they WERE oats, and not haythey were stuff which could be chewed with

a certain amount of relish. Also, there was the fact that at intervals he could intrude his long nose into his

companions' troughs (especially when Selifan happened to be absent from the stable) and ascertain what

THEIR provender was like. But at Nozdrev's there had been nothing but hay! That was not right. All three

But presently the malcontents had their reflections cut short in a very rude and unexpected manner. That is to

say, they were brought back to practicalities by coming into violent collision with a sixhorsed vehicle, while

upon their heads descended both a babel of cries from the ladies inside and a storm of curses and abuse from

the coachman. "Ah, you damned fool!" he vociferated. "I shouted to you loud enough! Draw out, you old

raven, and keep to the right! Are you drunk?" Selifan himself felt conscious that he had been careless, but

since a Russian does not care to admit a fault in the presence of strangers, he retorted with dignity: "Why

have you run into US? Did you leave your eyes behind you at the last tavern that you stopped at?" With that

he started to back the britchka, in the hope that it might get clear of the other's harness; but this would not do,

for the pair were too hopelessly intertwined. Meanwhile the skewbald snuffed curiously at his new

acquaintances as they stood planted on either side of him; while the ladies in the vehicle regarded the scene

with an expression of terror. One of them was an old woman, and the other a damsel of about sixteen. A mass

of golden hair fell daintily from a small head, and the oval of her comely face was as shapely as an egg, and

white with the transparent whiteness seen when the hands of a housewife hold a newlaid egg to the light to

let the sun's rays filter through its shell. The same tint marked the maiden's ears where they glowed in the

sunshine, and, in short, what with the tears in her wideopen, arresting eyes, she presented so attractive a

picture that our hero bestowed upon it more than a passing glance before he turned his attention to the hubbub

"Back out, you rook of Nizhni Novgorod!" the strangers' coachman shouted. Selifan tightened his reins, and

the other driver did the same. The horses stepped back a little, and then came together againthis time

getting a leg or two over the traces. In fact, so pleased did the skewbald seem with his new friends that he

refused to stir from the melee into which an unforeseen chance had plunged him. Laying his muzzle lovingly

upon the neck of one of his recentlyacquired acquaintances, he seemed to be whispering something in that

acquaintance's earand whispering pretty nonsense, too, to judge from the way in which that confidant kept

At length peasants from a village which happened to be near the scene of the accident tackled the mess; and

since a spectacle of that kind is to the Russian muzhik what a newspaper or a clubmeeting is to the German,

the vehicles soon became the centre of a crowd, and the village denuded even of its old women and children.

The traces were disentangled, and a few slaps on the nose forced the skewbald to draw back a little; after

which the teams were straightened out and separated. Nevertheless, either sheer obstinacy or vexation at

being parted from their new friends caused the strange team absolutely to refuse to move a leg. Their driver

laid the whip about them, but still they stood as though rooted to the spot. At length the participatory efforts

of the peasants rose to an unprecedented degree of enthusiasm, and they shouted in an intermittent chorus the

advice, "Do you, Andrusha, take the head of the trace horse on the right, while Uncle Mitai mounts the shaft

horse. Get up, Uncle Mitai." Upon that the lean, long, and redbearded Uncle Mitai mounted the shaft horse;

in which position he looked like a village steeple or the winder which is used to raise water from wells. The

coachman whipped up his steeds afresh, but nothing came of it, and Uncle Mitai had proved useless. "Hold

on, hold on!" shouted the peasants again. "Do you, Uncle Mitai, mount the trace horse, while Uncle Minai

mounts the shaft horse." Whereupon Uncle Minaia peasant with a pair of broad shoulders, a beard as black

as charcoal, and a belly like the huge samovar in which sbiten is brewed for all attending a local

markethastened to seat himself upon the shaft horse, which almost sank to the ground beneath his weight.

"NOW they will go all right!" the muzhiks exclaimed. "Lay it on hot, lay it on hot! Give that sorrel horse the

whip, and make him squirm like a koramora[1]." Nevertheless, the affair in no way progressed; wherefore,

seeing that flogging was of no use, Uncles Mitai and Minai BOTH mounted the sorrel, while Andrusha seated

himself upon the trace horse. Then the coachman himself lost patience, and sent the two Uncles about their

businessand not before it was time, seeing that the horses were steaming in a way that made it clear that,

unless they were first winded, they would never reach the next posthouse. So they were given a moment's

Throughout, Chichikov had been gazing at the young unknown with great attention, and had even made one

or two attempts to enter into conversation with her: but without success. Indeed, when the ladies departed, it

was as in a dream that he saw the girl's comely presence, the delicate features of her face, and the slender

outline of her form vanish from his sight; it was as in a dream that once more he saw only the road, the

britchka, the three horses, Selifan, and the bare, empty fields. Everywhere in lifeyes, even in the plainest,

the dingiest ranks of society, as much as in those which are uniformly bright and presentablea man may

happen upon some phenomenon which is so entirely different from those which have hitherto fallen to his lot.

Everywhere through the web of sorrow of which our lives are woven there may suddenly break a clear,

radiant thread of joy; even as suddenly along the street of some poor, povertystricken village which,

ordinarily, sees nought but a farm waggon there may came bowling a gorgeous coach with plated harness,

picturesque horses, and a glitter of glass, so that the peasants stand gaping, and do not resume their caps until

long after the strange equipage has become lost to sight. Thus the goldenhaired maiden makes a sudden,

unexpected appearance in our story, and as suddenly, as unexpectedly, disappears. Indeed, had it not been

that the person concerned was Chichikov, and not some youth of twenty summersa hussar or a student or,

in general, a man standing on the threshold of lifewhat thoughts would not have sprung to birth, and stirred

and spoken, within him; for what a length of time would he not have stood entranced as he stared into the

distance and forgot alike his journey, the business still to be done, the possibility of incurring loss through

lingeringhimself, his vocation, the world, and everything else that the world contains!

But in the present case the hero was a man of middleage, and of cautious and frigid temperament. True, he

pondered over the incident, but in more deliberate fashion than a younger man would have done. That is to

say, his reflections were not so irresponsible and unsteady. "She was a comely damsel," he said to himself as

he opened his snuffbox and took a pinch. "But the important point is: Is she also a NICE DAMSEL? One

thing she has in her favourand that is that she appears only just to have left school, and not to have had

time to become womanly in the worser sense. At present, therefore, she is like a child. Everything in her is

simple, and she says just what she thinks, and laughs merely when she feels inclined. Such a damsel might be

made into anythingor she might be turned into worthless rubbish. The latter, I surmise, for trudging after

her she will have a fond mother and a bevy of aunts, and so forthpersons who, within a year, will have

filled her with womanishness to the point where her own father wouldn't know her. And to that there will be

added pride and affectation, and she will begin to observe established rules, and to rack her brains as to how,

and how much, she ought to talk, and to whom, and where, and so forth. Every moment will see her growing

timorous and confused lest she be saying too much. Finally, she will develop into a confirmed prevaricator,

and end by marrying the devil knows whom!" Chichikov paused awhile. Then he went on: "Yet I should like

to know who she is, and who her father is, and whether he is a rich landowner of good standing, or merely a

respectable man who has acquired a fortune in the service of the Government. Should he allow her, on

marriage, a dowry of, say, two hundred thousand roubles, she will be a very nice catch indeed. She might

Indeed, so attractively did the idea of the two hundred thousand roubles begin to dance before his imagination

that he felt a twinge of selfreproach because, during the hubbub, he had not inquired of the postillion or the

coachman who the travellers might be. But soon the sight of Sobakevitch's country house dissipated his

Sobakevitch's country house and estate were of very fair size, and on each side of the mansion were expanses

of birch and pine forest in two shades of green. The wooden edifice itself had darkgrey walls and a

redgabled roof, for it was a mansion of the kind which Russia builds for her military settlers and for German

colonists. A noticeable circumstance was the fact that the taste of the architect had differed from that of the

proprietorthe former having manifestly been a pedant and desirous of symmetry, and the latter having

wished only for comfort. Consequently he (the proprietor) had dispensed with all windows on one side of the

mansion, and had caused to be inserted, in their place, only a small aperture which, doubtless, was intended to

light an otherwise dark lumberroom. Likewise, the architect's best efforts had failed to cause the pediment to

stand in the centre of the building, since the proprietor had had one of its four original columns removed.

Evidently durability had been considered throughout, for the courtyard was enclosed by a strong and very

high wooden fence, and both the stables, the coachhouse, and the culinary premises were partially

constructed of beams warranted to last for centuries. Nay, even the wooden huts of the peasantry were

wonderful in the solidity of their construction, and not a clay wall or a carved pattern or other device was to

be seen. Everything fitted exactly into its right place, and even the drawwell of the mansion was fashioned

of the oakwood usually thought suitable only for mills or ships. In short, wherever Chichikov's eye turned he

saw nothing that was not free from shoddy make and well and skilfully arranged. As he approached the

entrance steps he caught sight of two faces peering from a window. One of them was that of a woman in a

mobcap with features as long and as narrow as a cucumber, and the other that of a man with features as broad

and as short as the Moldavian pumpkins (known as gorlianki) whereof balallaikithe species of light,

twostringed instrument which constitutes the pride and the joy of the gay young fellow of twenty as he sits

winking and smiling at the whitenecked, whitebosomed maidens who have gathered to listen to his

lowpitched tinklingare fashioned. This scrutiny made, both faces withdrew, and there came out on to the

entrance steps a lacquey clad in a grey jacket and a stiff blue collar. This functionary conducted Chichikov

into the hall, where he was met by the master of the house himself, who requested his guest to enter, and then

A covert glance at Sobakevitch showed our hero that his host exactly resembled a moderatesized bear. To

complete the resemblance, Sobakevitch's long frockcoat and baggy trousers were of the precise colour of a

bear's hide, while, when shuffling across the floor, he made a crisscross motion of the legs, and had, in

addition, a constant habit of treading upon his companion's toes. As for his face, it was of the warm, ardent

tint of a piatok[2]. Persons of this kindpersons to whose designing nature has devoted not much thought,

and in the fashioning of whose frames she has used no instruments so delicate as a file or a gimlet and so

forthare not uncommon. Such persons she merely roughhews. One cut with a hatchet, and there results a

nose; another such cut with a hatchet, and there materialises a pair of lips; two thrusts with a drill, and there

issues a pair of eyes. Lastly, scorning to plane down the roughness, she sends out that person into the world,

saying: "There is another live creature." Sobakevitch was just such a ragged, curiously put together

figurethough the above model would seem to have been followed more in his upper portion than in his

lower. One result was that he seldom turned his head to look at the person with whom he was speaking, but,

rather, directed his eyes towards, say, the stove corner or the doorway. As host and guest crossed the

diningroom Chichikov directed a second glance at his companion. "He is a bear, and nothing but a bear," he

thought to himself. And, indeed, the strange comparison was inevitable. Incidentally, Sobakevitch's Christian

name and patronymic were Michael Semenovitch. Of his habit of treading upon other people's toes Chichikov

had become fully aware; wherefore he stepped cautiously, and, throughout, allowed his host to take the lead.

As a matter of fact, Sobakevitch himself seemed conscious of his failing, for at intervals he would inquire: "I

hope I have not hurt you?" and Chichikov, with a word of thanks, would reply that as yet he had sustained no

At length they reached the drawingroom, where Sobakevitch pointed to an armchair, and invited his guest to

be seated. Chichikov gazed with interest at the walls and the pictures. In every such picture there were

portrayed either young men or Greek generals of the type of Movrogordato (clad in a red uniform and

breaches), Kanaris, and others; and all these heroes were depicted with a solidity of thigh and a wealth of

moustache which made the beholder simply shudder with awe. Among them there were placed also,

according to some unknown system, and for some unknown reason, firstly, Bagration[3]tall and thin, and

with a cluster of small flags and cannon beneath him, and the whole set in the narrowest of framesand,

secondly, the Greek heroine, Bobelina, whose legs looked larger than do the whole bodies of the

drawingroom dandies of the present day. Apparently the master of the house was himself a man of health

and strength, and therefore liked to have his apartments adorned with none but folk of equal vigour and

robustness. Lastly, in the window, and suspected cheek by jowl with Bobelina, there hung a cage whence at

intervals there peered forth a whitespotted blackbird. Like everything else in the apartment, it bore a strong

resemblance to Sobakevitch. When host and guest had been conversing for two minutes or so the door

opened, and there entered the hostessa tall lady in a cap adorned with ribands of domestic colouring and

[3] A Russian general who fought against Napoleon, and was mortally wounded at Borodino.

Chichikov approached and took her hand. The fact that she raised it nearly to the level of his lips apprised

"My dear, allow me to introduce Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov," added Sobakevitch. "He has the honour of

Upon this Theodulia Ivanovna requested her guest to be seated, and accompanied the invitation with the kind

of bow usually employed only by actresses who are playing the role of queens. Next, she took a seat upon the

sofa, drew around her her merino gown, and sat thereafter without moving an eyelid or an eyebrow. As for

Chichikov, he glanced upwards, and once more caught sight of Kanaris with his fat thighs and interminable

moustache, and of Bobelina and the blackbird. For fully five minutes all present preserved a complete

silencethe only sound audible being that of the blackbird's beak against the wooden floor of the cage as the

creature fished for grains of corn. Meanwhile Chichikov again surveyed the room, and saw that everything in

it was massive and clumsy in the highest degree; as also that everything was curiously in keeping with the

master of the house. For example, in one corner of the apartment there stood a hazelwood bureau with a

bulging body on four grotesque legsthe perfect image of a bear. Also, the tables and the chairs were of the

same ponderous, unrestful order, and every single article in the room appeared to be saying either, "I, too, am

"I heard speak of you one day when I was visiting the President of the Council," said Chichikov, on

perceiving that no one else had a mind to begin a conversation. "That was on Thursday last. We had a very

"Did he seem so to you? True, he is a mason, but he is also the greatest fool that the world ever saw."

Chichikov started a little at this mordant criticism, but soon pulled himself together again, and continued:

"Of course, every man has his weakness. Yet the President seems to be an excellent fellow."

"What? The Governor a rogue?" ejaculated Chichikov, at a loss to understand how the official in question

could come to be numbered with thieves. "Let me say that I should never have guessed it. Permit me also to

remark that his conduct would hardly seem to bear out your opinionhe seems so gentle a man." And in

proof of this Chichikov cited the purses which the Governor knitted, and also expatiated on the mildness of

"He has the face of a robber," said Sobakevitch. "Were you to give him a knife, and to turn him loose on a

turnpike, he would cut your throat for two kopecks. And the same with the ViceGovernor. The pair are just

"Evidently he is not on good terms with them," thought Chichikov to himself. "I had better pass to the Chief

of Police, which whom he DOES seem to be friendly." Accordingly he added aloud: "For my own part, I

should give the preference to the Head of the Gendarmery. What a frank, outspoken nature he has! And what

"He is mean to the core," remarked Sobakevitch coldly. "He will sell you and cheat you, and then dine at your

table. Yes, I know them all, and every one of them is a swindler, and the town a nest of rascals engaged in

robbing one another. Not a man of the lot is there but would sell Christ. Yet stay: ONE decent fellow there

isthe Public Prosecutor; though even HE, if the truth be told, is little better than a pig."

After these eulogia Chichikov saw that it would be useless to continue running through the list of

officialsmore especially since suddenly he had remembered that Sobakevitch was not at any time given to

"Yes; pray come to table," said Sobakevitch to his guest; whereupon they consumed the customary glass of

vodka (accompanied by sundry snacks of salted cucumber and other dainties) with which Russians, both in

town and country, preface a meal. Then they filed into the diningroom in the wake of the hostess, who

sailed on ahead like a goose swimming across a pond. The small diningtable was found to be laid for four

personsthe fourth place being occupied by a lady or a young girl (it would have been difficult to say which

exactly) who might have been either a relative, the housekeeper, or a casual visitor. Certain persons in the

world exist, not as personalities in themselves, but as spots or specks on the personalities of others. Always

they are to be seen sitting in the same place, and holding their heads at exactly the same angle, so that one

comes within an ace of mistaking them for furniture, and thinks to oneself that never since the day of their

"My dear," said Sobakevitch, "the cabbage soup is excellent." With that he finished his portion, and helped

himself to a generous measure of niania[4]the dish which follows shtchi and consists of a sheep's stomach

stuffed with black porridge, brains, and other things. "What niania this is!" he added to Chichikov. "Never

"Yes, but do you know what all the stuff is MADE OF?" retorted Sobakevitch. "If you DID know you would

"Of course I am not in a position to say how it is prepared, but at least the pork cutlets and the boiled fish

"Ah, it might have been thought so; yet I know the way in which such things are bought in the marketplace.

They are bought by some rascal of a cook whom a Frenchman has taught how to skin a tomcat and then serve

"Well, my dear, that is how things are done, and it is no fault of mine that it is so. Moreover, everything that

is left overeverything that WE (pardon me for mentioning it) cast into the sloppailis used by such folk

"And why not?" said Sobakevitch. "I tell you straight that I would not eat such nastiness, even had I made it

myself. Sugar a frog as much as you like, but never shall it pass MY lips. Nor would I swallow an oyster, for

I know only too well what an oyster may resemble. But have some mutton, friend Chichikov. It is shoulder of

mutton, and very different stuff from the mutton which they cook in noble kitchensmutton which has been

kicking about the marketplace four days or more. All that sort of cookery has been invented by French and

German doctors, and I should like to hang them for having done so. They go and prescribe diets and a hunger

cure as though what suits their flaccid German systems will agree with a Russian stomach! Such devices are

no good at all." Sobakevitch shook his head wrathfully. "Fellows like those are for ever talking of

civilisation. As if THAT sort of thing was civilisation! Phew!" (Perhaps the speaker's concluding exclamation

would have been even stronger had he not been seated at table.) "For myself, I will have none of it. When I

eat pork at a meal, give me the WHOLE pig; when mutton, the WHOLE sheep; when goose, the WHOLE of

the bird. Two dishes are better than a thousand, provided that one can eat of them as much as one wants."

And he proceeded to put precept into practice by taking half the shoulder of mutton on to his plate, and then

"My word!" reflected Chichikov. "The fellow has a pretty good holding capacity!"

"None of it for me," repeated Sobakevitch as he wiped his hands on his napkin. "I don't intend to be like a

fellow named Plushkin, who owns eight hundred souls, yet dines worse than does my shepherd."

"A miser," replied Sobakevitch. "Such a miser as never you could imagine. Even convicts in prison live better

"Really?" ejaculated Chichikov, greatly interested. "Should you, then, say that he has lost many peasants by

"Only five versts?" exclaimed Chichikov, feeling his heart beating joyously. "Ought one, when leaving your

"I should be sorry to tell you the way to the house of such a cur," said Sobakevitch. "A man had far better go

"Quite so," responded Chichikov. "My only reason for asking you is that it interests me to become acquainted

To the shoulder of mutton there succeeded, in turn, cutlets (each one larger than a plate), a turkey of about the

size of a calf, eggs, rice, pastry, and every conceivable thing which could possibly be put into a stomach.

There the meal ended. When he rose from table Chichikov felt as though a pood's weight were inside him. In

the drawingroom the company found dessert awaiting them in the shape of pears, plums, and apples; but

since neither host nor guest could tackle these particular dainties the hostess removed them to another room.

Taking advantage of her absence, Chichikov turned to Sobakevitch (who, prone in an armchair, seemed, after

his ponderous meal, to be capable of doing little beyond belching and gruntingeach such grunt or belch

necessitating a subsequent signing of the cross over the mouth), and intimated to him a desire to have a little

private conversation concerning a certain matter. At this moment the hostess returned.

"Later, later," replied Sobakevitch. "Do you go to your room, and Paul Ivanovitch and I will take off our

Upon this the good lady expressed her readiness to send for feather beds and cushions, but her husband

expressed a preference for slumbering in an armchair, and she therefore departed. When she had gone

Sobakevitch inclined his head in an attitude of willingness to listen to Chichikov's business. Our hero began

in a sort of detached mannertouching lightly upon the subject of the Russian Empire, and expatiating upon

the immensity of the same, and saying that even the Empire of Ancient Rome had been of considerably

From that Chichikov went on to remark that, according to the statutes of the said Russian Empire (which

yielded to none in gloryso much so that foreigners marvelled at it), peasants on the census lists who had

ended their earthly careers were nevertheless, on the rendering of new lists, returned equally with the living,

to the end that the courts might be relieved of a multitude of trifling, useless emendations which might

complicate the already sufficiently complex mechanism of the State. Nevertheless, said Chichikov, the

general equity of this measure did not obviate a certain amount of annoyance to landowners, since it forced

them to pay upon a nonliving article the tax due upon a living. Hence (our hero concluded) he (Chichikov)

was prepared, owing to the personal respect which he felt for Sobakevitch, to relieve him, in part, of the

irksome obligation referred to (in passing, it may be said that Chichikov referred to his principal point only

guardedly, for he called the souls which he was seeking not "dead," but "nonexistent").

Meanwhile Sobakevitch listened with bent head; though something like a trace of expression dawned in his

face as he did so. Ordinarily his body lacked a soulor, if he did posses a soul, he seemed to keep it

elsewhere than where it ought to have been; so that, buried beneath mountains (as it were) or enclosed within

"Well?" said Chichikovthough not without a certain tremor of diffidence as to the possible response.

"You are after dead souls?" were Sobakevitch's perfectly simple words. He spoke without the least surprise in

"Yes," replied Chichikov, and then, as before, softened down the expression "dead souls."

"Then of course you will be glad to get rid of any that you may chance to have?"

"Yes, I shall have no objection to SELLING them." At this point the speaker raised his head a little, for it had

"The devil!" thought Chichikov to himself. "Here is he selling the goods before I have even had time to utter

"And what about the price?" he added aloud. "Of course, the articles are not of a kind very easy to appraise."

"I should be sorry to ask too much," said Sobakevitch. "How would a hundred roubles per head suit you?"

"What, a hundred roubles per head?" Chichikov stared openmouthed at his hostdoubting whether he had

heard aright, or whether his host's slowmoving tongue might not have inadvertently substituted one word for

"Yes. Is that too much for you?" said Sobakevitch. Then he added: "What is your own price?"

"My own price? I think that we cannot properly have understood one anotherthat you must have forgotten

of what the goods consist. With my hand on my heart do I submit that eight grivni per soul would be a

"No; yet you, for your part, will agree that these souls are not live human beings?"

"I suppose you hope to find fools ready to sell you souls on the census list for a couple of groats apiece?"

"Pardon me, but why do you use the term 'on the census list'? The souls themselves have long since passed

away, and have left behind them only their names. Not to trouble you with any further discussion of the

"You should be ashamed even to mention such a sum! Since you deal in articles of this kind, quote me a

"I cannot, Michael Semenovitch. Believe me, I cannot. What a man cannot do, that he cannot do." The

"But why hang back with your money?" said Sobakevitch. "Of a truth I am not asking much of you. Any

other rascal than myself would have cheated you by selling you old rubbish instead of good, genuine souls,

whereas I should be ready to give you of my best, even were you buying only nutkernels. For instance, look

at wheelwright Michiev. Never was there such a one to build spring carts! And his handiwork was not like

your Moscow handiworkgood only for an hour. No, he did it all himself, even down to the varnishing."

Chichikov opened his mouth to remark that, nevertheless, the said Michiev had long since departed this

world; but Sobakevitch's eloquence had got too thoroughly into its stride to admit of any interruption.

"And look, too, at Probka Stepan, the carpenter," his host went on. "I will wager my head that nowhere else

would you find such a workman. What a strong fellow he was! He had served in the Guards, and the Lord

only knows what they had given for him, seeing that he was over three arshins in height."

Again Chichikov tried to remark that Probka was dead, but Sobakevitch's tongue was borne on the torrent of

"And Milushkin, the bricklayer! He could build a stove in any house you liked! And Maksim Teliatnikov, the

bootmaker! Anything that he drove his awl into became a pair of bootsand boots for which you would be

thankful, although he WAS a bit foul of the mouth. And Eremi Sorokoplechin, too! He was the best of the lot,

and used to work at his trade in Moscow, where he paid a tax of five hundred roubles. Well, THERE'S an

assortment of serfs for you!a very different assortment from what Plushkin would sell you!"

"But permit me," at length put in Chichikov, astounded at this flood of eloquence to which there appeared to

be no end. "Permit me, I say, to inquire why you enumerate the talents of the deceased, seeing that they are

all of them dead, and that therefore there can be no sense in doing so. 'A dead body is only good to prop a

"Of course they are dead," replied Sobakevitch, but rather as though the idea had only just occurred to him,

and was giving him food for thought. "But tell me, now: what is the use of listing them as still alive? And

"But noNOT only in idea. I tell you that nowhere else would you find such a fellow for working heavy

tools as was Michiev. He had the strength of a horse in his shoulders." And, with the words, Sobakevitch

turned, as though for corroboration, to the portrait of Bagration, as is frequently done by one of the parties in

a dispute when he purports to appeal to an extraneous individual who is not only unknown to him, but wholly

unconnected with the subject in hand; with the result that the individual is left in doubt whether to make a

"Nevertheless, I CANNOT give you more than two roubles per head," said Chichikov.

"Well, as I don't want you to swear that I have asked too much of you and won't meet you halfway, suppose,

"Good heavens!" thought Chichikov to himself. "Does the man take me for a fool?" Then he added aloud:

"The situation seems to me a strange one, for it is as though we were performing a stage comedy. No other

explanation would meet the case. Yet you appear to be a man of sense, and possessed of some education. The

matter is a very simple one. The question is: what is a dead soul worth, and is it of any use to any one?"

Chichikov bit his lip, and stood at a loss for a retort. He tried to saying something about "family and domestic

"I don't want to know your private affairs, for I never poke my nose into such things. You need the souls, and

"Come, come! As you have named that sum, I can understand your not liking to go back upon it; but quote

"The devil fly away with him!" mused Chichikov. "However, I will add another halfrouble." And he did so.

"Indeed?" said Sobakevitch. "Well, my last word upon it isfifty roubles in assignats. That will mean a

sheer loss to me, for nowhere else in the world could you buy better souls than mine."

"The old skinflint!" muttered Chichikov. Then he added aloud, with irritation in his tone: "See here. This is a

serious matter. Any one but you would be thankful to get rid of the souls. Only a fool would stick to them,

"Yes, but remember (and I say it wholly in a friendly way) that transactions of this kind are not generally

allowed, and that any one would say that a man who engages in them must have some rather doubtful

"Have it your own away," said Chichikov, with assumed indifference. "As a matter of fact, I am not

purchasing for profit, as you suppose, but to humour a certain whim of mine. Two and a half roubles is the

"Bless your heart!" retorted the host. "At least give me thirty roubles in assignats, and take the lot."

"Hold on, hold on!" exclaimed Sobakevitch, retaining his guest's hand, and at the same moment treading

heavily upon his toesso heavily, indeed, that Chichikov gasped and danced with the pain.

"I BEG your pardon!" said Sobakevitch hastily. "Evidently I have hurt you. Pray sit down again."

"Oh, sit down just for a moment. I have something more agreeable to say." And, drawing closer to his guest,

Sobakevitch whispered in his ear, as though communicating to him a secret: "How about twentyfive

"No, no, no!" exclaimed Chichikov. "I won't give you even a QUARTER of that. I won't advance another

For a while Sobakevitch remained silent, and Chichikov did the same. This lasted for a couple of minutes,

and, meanwhile, the aquilinenosed Bagration gazed from the wall as though much interested in the

"Then you seem to rate a human soul at about the same value as a boiled turnip. At least give me THREE

"Pardon me, but you are an impossible man to deal with. However, even though it will mean a dead loss to

me, and you have not shown a very nice spirit about it, I cannot well refuse to please a friend. I suppose a

The affair ended in their deciding to do this on the morrow, and to arrange for the signing of a deed of

purchase. Next, Chichikov requested a list of the peasants; to which Sobakevitch readily agreed. Indeed, he

went to his writingdesk then and there, and started to indite a list which gave not only the peasants' names,

Meanwhile Chichikov, having nothing else to do, stood looking at the spacious form of his host; and as he

gazed at his back as broad as that of a cart horse, and at the legs as massive as the iron standards which adorn

"Truly God has endowed you with much! Though not adjusted with nicety, at least you are strongly built. I

wonder whether you were born a bear or whether you have come to it through your rustic life, with its tilling

of crops and its trading with peasants? Yet no; I believe that, even if you had received a fashionable

education, and had mixed with society, and had lived in St. Petersburg, you would still have been just the

kulak[5] that you are. The only difference is that circumstances, as they stand, permit of your polishing off a

stuffed shoulder of mutton at a meal; whereas in St. Petersburg you would have been unable to do so. Also, as

circumstances stand, you have under you a number of peasants, whom you treat well for the reason that they

are your property; whereas, otherwise, you would have had under you tchinovniks[6]: whom you would have

bullied because they were NOT your property. Also, you would have robbed the Treasury, since a kulak

"Indeed? Then please let me look at it." Chichikov ran his eye over the document, and could not but marvel at

its neatness and accuracy. Not only were there set forth in it the trade, the age, and the pedigree of every serf,

but on the margin of the sheet were jotted remarks concerning each serf's conduct and sobriety. Truly it was a

"Yes, I do. Why need that be done? You can receive the money in a lump sum as soon as we visit the town."

"Then I cannot follow it, for I have no money with me. However, here are ten roubles."

Once more Chichikov started to deny that he had any money upon him, but Sobakevitch insisted so strongly

that this was not so that at length the guest pulled out another fifteen roubles, and added them to the ten

"The money? I have it here. Do you write out the receipt, and then the money shall be yours."

Chichikov placed the notes in Sobakevitch's hand; whereupon the host moved nearer to the table, and added

to the list of serfs a note that he had received for the peasants, therewith sold, the sum of twentyfive roubles,

"This is a very OLD note," he remarked, holding one up to the light. "Also, it is a trifle torn. However, in a

"Then, that being so, there is no more to be said. There is no accounting for tastes. 'One man loves the priest,

Chichikov rose to take his leave. "Once more I would request of you," he said, "that the bargain be left as it

"Of course, of course. What is done between friends holds good because of their mutual friendship.

Goodbye, and thank you for your visit. In advance I would beg that, whenever you should have an hour or

two to spare, you will come and lunch with us again. Perhaps we might be able to do one another further

"Not if I know it!" reflected Chichikov as he mounted his britchka. "Not I, seeing that I have had two and a

Altogether he felt dissatisfied with Sobakevitch's behaviour. In spite of the man being a friend of the

Governor and the Chief of Police, he had acted like an outsider in taking money for what was worthless

rubbish. As the britchka left the courtyard Chichikov glanced back and saw Sobakevitch still standing on the

verandahapparently for the purpose of watching to see which way the guest's carriage would turn.

"The old villain, to be still standing there!" muttered Chichikov through his teeth; after which he ordered

Selifan to proceed so that the vehicle's progress should be invisible from the mansionthe truth being that he

had a mind next to visit Plushkin (whose serfs, to quote Sobakevitch, had a habit of dying like flies), but not

to let his late host learn of his intention. Accordingly, on reaching the further end of the village, he hailed the

first peasant whom he sawa man who was in the act of hoisting a ponderous beam on to his shoulder

"Hi!" shouted Chichikov. "How can I reach landowner Plushkin's place without first going past the mansion

"Of course I do!" exclaimed the fellow, and added thereto an uncomplimentary expression of a species not

ordinarily employed in polite society. We may guess that it was a pretty apt expression, since long after the

man had become lost to view Chichikov was still laughing in his britchka. And, indeed, the language of the

Chichikov's amusement at the peasant's outburst prevented him from noticing that he had reached the centre

of a large and populous village; but, presently, a violent jolt aroused him to the fact that he was driving over

wooden pavements of a kind compared with which the cobblestones of the town had been as nothing. Like

the keys of a piano, the planks kept rising and falling, and unguarded passage over them entailed either a

bump on the back of the neck or a bruise on the forehead or a bite on the tip of one's tongue. At the same time

Chichikov noticed a look of decay about the buildings of the village. The beams of the huts had grown dark

with age, many of their roofs were riddled with holes, others had but a tile of the roof remaining, and yet

others were reduced to the riblike framework of the same. It would seem as though the inhabitants

themselves had removed the laths and traverses, on the very natural plea that the huts were no protection

against the rain, and therefore, since the latter entered in bucketfuls, there was no particular object to be

gained by sitting in such huts when all the time there was the tavern and the highroad and other places to

Suddenly a woman appeared from an outbuildingapparently the housekeeper of the mansion, but so

roughly and dirtily dressed as almost to seem indistinguishable from a man. Chichikov inquired for the

"He is not at home," she replied, almost before her interlocutor had had time to finish. Then she added: "What

"Then pray walk into the house," the woman advised. Then she turned upon him a back that was smeared

with flour and had a long slit in the lower portion of its covering. Entering a large, dark hall which reeked like

a tomb, he passed into an equally dark parlour that was lighted only by such rays as contrived to filter through

a crack under the door. When Chichikov opened the door in question, the spectacle of the untidiness within

struck him almost with amazement. It would seem that the floor was never washed, and that the room was

used as a receptacle for every conceivable kind of furniture. On a table stood a ragged chair, with, beside it, a

clock minus a pendulum and covered all over with cobwebs. Against a wall leant a cupboard, full of old

silver, glassware, and china. On a writing table, inlaid with motherofpearl which, in places, had broken

away and left behind it a number of yellow grooves (stuffed with putty), lay a pile of finely written

manuscript, an overturned marble press (turning green), an ancient book in a leather cover with red edges, a

lemon dried and shrunken to the dimensions of a hazelnut, the broken arm of a chair, a tumbler containing the

dregs of some liquid and three flies (the whole covered over with a sheet of notepaper), a pile of rags, two

inkencrusted pens, and a yellow toothpick with which the master of the house had picked his teeth

(apparently) at least before the coming of the French to Moscow. As for the walls, they were hung with a

medley of pictures. Among the latter was a long engraving of a battle scene, wherein soldiers in

threecornered hats were brandishing huge drums and slender lances. It lacked a glass, and was set in a frame

ornamented with bronze fretwork and bronze corner rings. Beside it hung a huge, grimy oil painting

representative of some flowers and fruit, half a water melon, a boar's head, and the pendent form of a dead

wild duck. Attached to the ceiling there was a chandelier in a holland coveringthe covering so dusty as

closely to resemble a huge cocoon enclosing a caterpillar. Lastly, in one corner of the room lay a pile of

articles which had evidently been adjudged unworthy of a place on the table. Yet what the pile consisted of it

would have been difficult to say, seeing that the dust on the same was so thick that any hand which touched it

would have at once resembled a glove. Prominently protruding from the pile was the shaft of a wooden spade

and the antiquated sole of a shoe. Never would one have supposed that a living creature had tenanted the

room, were it not that the presence of such a creature was betrayed by the spectacle of an old nightcap resting

Whilst Chichikov was gazing at this extraordinary mess, a side door opened and there entered the

housekeeper who had met him near the outbuildings. But now Chichikov perceived this person to be a man

rather than a woman, since a female housekeeper would have had no beard to shave, whereas the chin of the

newcomer, with the lower portion of his cheeks, strongly resembled the currycomb which is used for

grooming horses. Chichikov assumed a questioning air, and waited to hear what the housekeeper might have

to say. The housekeeper did the same. At length, surprised at the misunderstanding, Chichikov decided to ask

Involuntarily our hero started and stared. During his travels it had befallen him to meet various types of

mensome of them, it may be, types which you and I have never encountered; but even to Chichikov this

particular species was new. In the old man's face there was nothing very specialit was much like the

wizened face of many another dotard, save that the chin was so greatly projected that whenever he spoke he

was forced to wipe it with a handkerchief to avoid dribbling, and that his small eyes were not yet grown dull,

but twinkled under their overhanging brows like the eyes of mice when, with attentive ears and sensitive

whiskers, they snuff the air and peer forth from their holes to see whether a cat or a boy may not be in the

vicinity. No, the most noticeable feature about the man was his clothes. In no way could it have been guessed

of what his coat was made, for both its sleeves and its skirts were so ragged and filthy as to defy description,

while instead of two posterior tails, there dangled four of those appendages, with, projecting from them, a

torn newspaper. Also, around his neck there was wrapped something which might have been a stocking, a

garter, or a stomacher, but was certainly not a tie. In short, had Chichikov chanced to encounter him at a

church door, he would have bestowed upon him a copper or two (for, to do our hero justice, he had a

sympathetic heart and never refrained from presenting a beggar with alms), but in the present case there was

standing before him, not a mendicant, but a landownerand a landowner possessed of fully a thousand serfs,

the superior of all his neighbours in wealth of flour and grain, and the owner of storehouses, and so forth, that

were crammed with homespun cloth and linen, tanned and undressed sheepskins, dried fish, and every

conceivable species of produce. Nevertheless, such a phenomenon is rare in Russia, where the tendency is

For several minutes Plushkin stood mute, while Chichikov remained so dazed with the appearance of the host

and everything else in the room, that he too, could not begin a conversation, but stood wondering how best to

find words in which to explain the object of his visit. For a while he thought of expressing himself to the

effect that, having heard so much of his host's benevolence and other rare qualities of spirit, he had

considered it his duty to come and pay a tribute of respect; but presently even HE came to the conclusion that

this would be overdoing the thing, and, after another glance round the room, decided that the phrase

"benevolence and other rare qualities of spirit" might to advantage give place to "economy and genius for

method." Accordingly, the speech mentally composed, he said aloud that, having heard of Plushkin's talents

for thrifty and systematic management, he had considered himself bound to make the acquaintance of his

host, and to present him with his personal compliments (I need hardly say that Chichikov could easily have

alleged a better reason, had any better one happened, at the moment, to have come into his head).

With toothless gums Plushkin murmured something in reply, but nothing is known as to its precise terms

beyond that it included a statement that the devil was at liberty to fly away with Chichikov's sentiments.

However, the laws of Russian hospitality do not permit even of a miser infringing their rules; wherefore

"It is long since I last received a visitor," he went on. "Also, I feel bound to say that I can see little good in

their coming. Once introduce the abominable custom of folk paying calls, and forthwith there will ensue such

ruin to the management of estates that landowners will be forced to feed their horses on hay. Not for a long,

long time have I eaten a meal away from homealthough my own kitchen is a poor one, and has its chimney

in such a state that, were it to become overheated, it would instantly catch fire."

"What a brute!" thought Chichikov. "I am lucky to have got through so much pastry and stuffed shoulder of

"Also," went on Plushkin, "I am ashamed to say that hardly a wisp of fodder does the place contain. But how

can I get fodder? My lands are small, and the peasantry lazy fellows who hate work and think of nothing but

the tavern. In the end, therefore, I shall be forced to go and spend my old age in roaming about the world."

"Who told you that? No matter who it was, you would have been justified in giving him the lie. He must have

been a jester who wanted to make a fool of you. A thousand souls, indeed! Why, just reckon the taxes on

them, and see what there would be left! For these three years that accursed fever has been killing off my serfs

"Then might I also ask whether it is from the date of the last census revision that you are reckoning these

"Yes, damn it! And since that date I have been bled for taxes upon a hundred and twenty souls in all."

"Indeed? Upon a hundred and twenty souls in all!" And Chichikov's surprise and elation were such that, this

"Yes, good sir," replied Plushkin. "I am too old to tell you lies, for I have passed my seventieth year."

Somehow he seemed to have taken offence at Chichikov's almost joyous exclamation; wherefore the guest

hastened to heave a profound sigh, and to observe that he sympathised to the full with his host's misfortunes.

"But sympathy does not put anything into one's pocket," retorted Plushkin. "For instance, I have a kinsman

who is constantly plaguing me. He is a captain in the army, damn him, and all day he does nothing but call

me 'dear uncle,' and kiss my hand, and express sympathy until I am forced to stop my ears. You see, he has

squandered all his money upon his brotherofficers, as well as made a fool of himself with an actress; so now

Chichikov hastened to explain that HIS sympathy had nothing in common with the captain's, since he dealt,

not in empty words alone, but in actual deeds; in proof of which he was ready then and there (for the purpose

of cutting the matter short, and of dispensing with circumlocution) to transfer to himself the obligation of

paying the taxes due upon such serfs as Plushkin's as had, in the unfortunate manner just described, departed

this world. The proposal seemed to astonish Plushkin, for he sat staring openeyed. At length he inquired:

"No," replied the other warily, "but I have been a member of the CIVIL Service."

"Oh! Of the CIVIL Service?" And Plushkin sat moving his lips as though he were chewing something. "Well,

"My dear sir! My good benefactor!" In his delight Plushkin lost sight of the fact that his nose was caked with

snuff of the consistency of thick coffee, and that his coat had parted in front and was disclosing some very

unseemly underclothing. "What comfort you have brought to an old man! Yes, as God is my witness!"

For the moment he could say no more. Yet barely a minute had elapsed before this instantaneously aroused

emotion had, as instantaneously, disappeared from his wooden features. Once more they assumed a careworn

expression, and he even wiped his face with his handkerchief, then rolled it into a ball, and rubbed it to and

"If it will not annoy you again to state the proposal," he went on, "what you undertake to do is to pay the

annual tax upon these souls, and to remit the money either to me or to the Treasury?"

"Yes, that is how it shall be done. We will draw up a deed of purchase as though the souls were still alive and

"Quite soa deed of purchase," echoed Plushkin, once more relapsing into thought and the chewing motion

of the lips. "But a deed of such a kind will entail certain expenses, and lawyers are so devoid of conscience!

In fact, so extortionate is their avarice that they will charge one half a rouble, and then a sack of flour, and

then a whole waggonload of meal. I wonder that no one has yet called attention to the system."

Upon that Chichikov intimated that, out of respect for his host, he himself would bear the cost of the transfer

of souls. This led Plushkin to conclude that his guest must be the kind of unconscionable fool who, while

pretending to have been a member of the Civil Service, has in reality served in the army and run after

actresses; wherefore the old man no longer disguised his delight, but called down blessings alike upon

Chichikov's head and upon those of his children (he had never even inquired whether Chichikov possessed a

family). Next, he shuffled to the window, and, tapping one of its panes, shouted the name of "Proshka."

Immediately some one ran quickly into the hall, and, after much stamping of feet, burst into the room. This

was Proshkaa thirteenyearold youngster who was shod with boots of such dimensions as almost to

engulf his legs as he walked. The reason why he had entered thus shod was that Plushkin only kept one pair

of boots for the whole of his domestic staff. This universal pair was stationed in the hall of the mansion, so

that any servant who was summoned to the house might don the said boots after wading barefooted through

the mud of the courtyard, and enter the parlour dryshodsubsequently leaving the boots where he had

found them, and departing in his former barefooted condition. Indeed, had any one, on a slushy winter's

morning, glanced from a window into the said courtyard, he would have seen Plushkin's servitors performing

"Look at that boy's face!" said Plushkin to Chichikov as he pointed to Proshka. "It is stupid enough, yet, lay

anything aside, and in a trice he will have stolen it. Well, my lad, what do you want?"

"Come, come!" went on the old man. "Set out the samovar, and then give Mavra the key of the

storeroomhere it isand tell her to get out some loaf sugar for tea. Here! Wait another moment, fool! Is

the devil in your legs that they itch so to be off? Listen to what more I have to tell you. Tell Mavra that the

sugar on the outside of the loaf has gone bad, so that she must scrape it off with a knife, and NOT throw away

the scrapings, but give them to the poultry. Also, see that you yourself don't go into the storeroom, or I will

give you a birching that you won't care for. Your appetite is good enough already, but a better one won't hurt

you. Don't even TRY to go into the storeroom, for I shall be watching you from this window."

"You see," the old man added to Chichikov, "one can never trust these fellows." Presently, when Proshka and

the boots had departed, he fell to gazing at his guest with an equally distrustful air, since certain features in

Chichikov's benevolence now struck him as a little open to question, and he had begin to think to himself:

"After all, the devil only knows who he iswhether a braggart, like most of these spendthrifts, or a fellow

who is lying merely in order to get some tea out of me." Finally, his circumspection, combined with a desire

to test his guest, led him to remark that it might be well to complete the transaction IMMEDIATELY, since

he had not overmuch confidence in humanity, seeing that a man might be alive today and dead tomorrow.

To this Chichikov assented readily enoughmerely adding that he should like first of all to be furnished

with a list of the dead souls. This reassured Plushkin as to his guest's intention of doing business, so he got

out his keys, approached a cupboard, and, having pulled back the door, rummaged among the cups and

"I cannot find it now, but I used to possess a splendid bottle of liquor. Probably the servants have drunk it all,

Looking up, Chichikov saw that Plushkin had extracted a decanter coated with dust.

"My late wife made the stuff," went on the old man, "but that rascal of a housekeeper went and threw away a

lot of it, and never even replaced the stopper. Consequently bugs and other nasty creatures got into the

The idea of a drink from such a receptacle was too much for Chichikov, so he excused himself on the ground

"You have just had luncheon?" reechoed Plushkin. "Now, THAT shows how invariably one can tell a man

of good society, wheresoever one may be. A man of that kind never eats anythinghe always says that he

has had enough. Very different that from the ways of a rogue, whom one can never satisfy, however much

one may give him. For instance, that captain of mine is constantly begging me to let him have a

mealthough he is about as much my nephew as I am his grandfather. As it happens, there is never a bite of

anything in the house, so he has to go away empty. But about the list of those goodfornothing soulsI

happen to possess such a list, since I have drawn one up in readiness for the next revision."

With that Plushkin donned his spectacles, and once more started to rummage in the cupboard, and to smother

his guest with dust as he untied successive packages of papersso much so that his victim burst out

sneezing. Finally he extracted a muchscribbled document in which the names of the deceased peasants lay

as closepacked as a cloud of midges, for there were a hundred and twenty of them in all. Chichikov grinned

with joy at the sight of the multitude. Stuffing the list into his pocket, he remarked that, to complete the

"To the town?" repeated Plushkin. "But why? Moreover, how could I leave the house, seeing that every one

of my servants is either a thief or a rogue? Day by day they pilfer things, until soon I shall have not a single

"Acquaintances? No. Every acquaintance whom I ever possessed has either left me or is dead. But stop a

moment. I DO know the President of the Council. Even in my old age he has once or twice come to visit me,

for he and I used to be schoolfellows, and to go climbing walls together. Yes, him I do know. Shall I write

Over Plushkin's wooden features there had gleamed a ray of warmtha ray which expressed, if not feeling,

at all events feeling's pale reflection. Just such a phenomenon may be witnessed when, for a brief moment, a

drowning man makes a last reappearance on the surface of a river, and there rises from the crowd lining the

banks a cry of hope that even yet the exhausted hands may clutch the rope which has been thrown himmay

clutch it before the surface of the unstable element shall have resumed for ever its calm, dread vacuity. But

the hope is shortlived, and the hands disappear. Even so did Plushkin's face, after its momentary

"There used to be a sheet of clean writing paper lying on the table," he went on. "But where it is now I cannot

Whit that he fell to looking also under the table, as well as to hurrying about with cries of "Mavra, Mavra!"

At length the call was answered by a woman with a plateful of the sugar of which mention has been made;

"I swear that I have seen no paper except the bit with which you covered the glass."

"Why should I make off with it? 'Twould be of no use to me, for I can neither read nor write."

"Well, if the sexton wanted paper he could get some for himself. Neither he nor I have set eyes upon your

"Ah! Wait a bit, for on the Judgment Day you will be roasted by devils on iron spits. Just see if you are not!"

"But why should I be roasted when I have never even TOUCHED the paper? You might accuse me of any

"Nay, devils shall roast you, sure enough. They will say to you, 'Bad woman, we are doing this because you

"Nevertheless _I_ shall continue to say, 'You are roasting me for nothing, for I never stole anything at all.'

Why, THERE it is, lying on the table! You have been accusing me for no reason whatever!"

And, sure enough, the sheet of paper was lying before Plushkin's very eyes. For a moment or two he chewed

"Well, and what are you making such a noise about? If one says a single word to you, you answer back with

ten. Go and fetch me a candle to seal a letter with. And mind you bring a TALLOW candle, for it will not

Mavra departed, and Plushkin, seating himself, and taking up a pen, sat turning the sheet of paper over and

over, as though in doubt whether to tear from it yet another morsel. At length he came to the conclusion that

it was impossible to do so, and therefore, dipping the pen into the mixture of mouldy fluid and dead flies

which the ink bottle contained, started to indite the letter in characters as bold as the notes of a music score,

while momentarily checking the speed of his hand, lest it should meander too much over the paper, and

crawling from line to line as though he regretted that there was so little vacant space left on the sheet.

"And do you happen to know any one to whom a few runaway serfs would be of use?" he asked as

"What? You have some runaways as well?" exclaimed Chichikov, again greatly interested.

"Certainly I have. My soninlaw has laid the necessary information against them, but says that their tracks

have grown cold. However, he is only a military manthat is to say, good at clinking a pair of spurs, but of

"Alas, yes. Never does a year pass without a certain number of them making off. Yet so gluttonous and idle

are my serfs that they are simply bursting with food, whereas I scarcely get enough to eat. I will take any

price for them that you may care to offer. Tell your friends about it, and, should they find even a score of the

runaways, it will repay them handsomely, seeing that a living serf on the census list is at present worth five

"Perhaps so, but I am not going to let any one but myself have a finger in this," thought Chichikov to himself;

after which he explained to Plushkin that a friend of the kind mentioned would be impossible to discover,

since the legal expenses of the enterprise would lead to the said friend having to cut the very tail from his coat

"Nevertheless," added Chichikov, "seeing that you are so hard pressed for money, and that I am so interested

in the matter, I feel moved to advance youwell, to advance you such a trifle as would scarcely be worth

"But how much is it?" asked Plushkin eagerly, and with his hands trembling like quicksilver.

"Nevertheless, consider my poverty, dear friend, and make it FORTY kopecks per soul."

"Venerable sir, would that I could pay you not merely forty kopecks, but five hundred roubles. I should be

only too delighted if that were possible, since I perceive that you, an aged and respected gentleman, are

"By God, that is true, that is true." Plushkin hung his head, and wagged it feebly from side to side. "Yes, all

"See how instantaneously I have divined your nature! By now it will have become clear to you why it is

impossible for me to pay you five hundred roubles per runaway soul: for by now you will have gathered the

fact that I am not sufficiently rich. Nevertheless, I am ready to add another five kopecks, and so to make it

"As you please, dear sir. Yet stretch another point, and throw in another two kopecks."

"Pardon me, but I cannot. How many runaway serfs did you say that you possess? Seventy?"

"Seventyeight souls at thirty kopecks each will amount toto" only for a moment did our hero halt,

since he was strong in his arithmetic, "will amount to twentyfour roubles, ninetysix kopecks."[1]

[1] Nevertheless Chichikov would appear to have erred, since most people would make the sum amount to

twentythree roubles, forty kopecks. If so, Chichikov cheated himself of one rouble, fiftysix kopecks.

With that he requested Plushkin to make out the receipt, and then handed him the money. Plushkin took it in

both hands, bore it to a bureau with as much caution as though he were carrying a liquid which might at any

moment splash him in the face, and, arrived at the bureau, and glancing round once more, carefully packed

the cash in one of his money bags, where, doubtless, it was destined to lie buried until, to the intense joy of

his daughters and his soninlaw (and, perhaps, of the captain who claimed kinship with him), he should

himself receive burial at the hands of Fathers Carp and Polycarp, the two priests attached to his village.

Lastly, the money concealed, Plushkin reseated himself in the armchair, and seemed at a loss for further

"Are you thinking of starting?" at length he inquired, on seeing Chichikov making a trifling movement,

though the movement was only to extract from his pocket a handkerchief. Nevertheless the question

"What? Even though I have just ordered the samovar to be got ready? Well, well! I myself do not greatly care

for tea, for I think it an expensive beverage. Moreover, the price of sugar has risen terribly."

"Proshka!" he then shouted. "The samovar will not be needed. Return the sugar to Mavra, and tell her to put it

"Goodbye, dear sir," finally he added to Chichikov. "May the Lord bless you! Hand that letter to the

President of the Council, and let him read it. Yes, he is an old friend of mine. We knew one another as

With that this strange phenomenon, this withered old man, escorted his guest to the gates of the courtyard,

and, after the guest had departed, ordered the gates to be closed, made the round of the outbuildings for the

purpose of ascertaining whether the numerous watchmen were at their posts, peered into the kitchen (where,

under the pretence of seeing whether his servants were being properly fed, he made a light meal of cabbage

soup and gruel), rated the said servants soundly for their thievishness and general bad behaviour, and then

returned to his room. Meditating in solitude, he fell to thinking how best he could contrive to recompense his

guest for the latter's measureless benevolence. "I will present him," he thought to himself, "with a watch. It is

a good silver articlenot one of those cheap metal affairs; and though it has suffered some damage, he can

easily get that put right. A young man always needs to give a watch to his betrothed."

"No," he added after further thought. "I will leave him the watch in my will, as a keepsake."

Meanwhile our hero was bowling along in high spirit. Such an unexpected acquisition both of dead souls and

of runaway serfs had come as a windfall. Even before reaching Plushkin's village he had had a presentiment

that he would do successful business there, but not business of such preeminent profitableness as had

actually resulted. As he proceeded he whistled, hummed with hand placed trumpetwise to his mouth, and

ended by bursting into a burst of melody so striking that Selifan, after listening for a while, nodded his head

By the time they reached the town darkness had fallen, and changed the character of the scene. The britchka

bounded over the cobblestones, and at length turned into the hostelry's courtyard, where the travellers were

met by Petrushka. With one hand holding back the tails of his coat (which he never liked to see fly apart), the

valet assisted his master to alight. The waiter ran out with candle in hand and napkin on shoulder. Whether or

not Petrushka was glad to see the barin return it is impossible to say, but at all events he exchanged a wink

with Selifan, and his ordinarily morose exterior seemed momentarily to brighten.

"Then you have been travelling far, sir?" said the waiter, as he lit the way upstarts.

"Nothing, sir," replied the waiter, bowing, "except that last night there arrived a military lieutenant. He has

On entering his room, Chichikov clapped his hand to his nose, and asked his valet why he had never had the

"But I did have them opened," replied Petrushka. Nevertheless this was a lie, as Chichikov well knew, though

he was too tired to contest the point. After ordering and consuming a light supper of sucking pig, he

undressed, plunged beneath the bedclothes, and sank into the profound slumber which comes only to such

fortunate folk as are troubled neither with mosquitoes nor fleas nor excessive activity of brain.

When Chichikov awoke he stretched himself and realised that he had slept well. For a moment or two he lay

on his back, and then suddenly clapped his hands at the recollection that he was now owner of nearly four

hundred souls. At once he leapt out of bed without so much as glancing at his face in the mirror, though, as a

rule, he had much solicitude for his features, and especially for his chin, of which he would make the most

when in company with friends, and more particularly should any one happen to enter while he was engaged

in the process of shaving. "Look how round my chin is!" was his usual formula. On the present occasion,

however, he looked neither at chin nor at any other feature, but at once donned his flowerembroidered

slippers of morroco leather (the kind of slippers in which, thanks to the Russian love for a dressinggowned

existence, the town of Torzhok does such a huge trade), and, clad only in a meagre shirt, so far forgot his

elderliness and dignity as to cut a couple of capers after the fashion of a Scottish highlanderalighting

neatly, each time, on the flat of his heels. Only when he had done that did he proceed to business. Planting

himself before his dispatchbox, he rubbed his hands with a satisfaction worthy of an incorruptible rural

magistrate when adjourning for luncheon; after which he extracted from the receptacle a bundle of papers.

These he had decided not to deposit with a lawyer, for the reason that he would hasten matters, as well as

save expense, by himself framing and faircopying the necessary deeds of indenture; and since he was

thoroughly acquainted with the necessary terminology, he proceeded to inscribe in large characters the date,

and then in smaller ones, his name and rank. By two o'clock the whole was finished, and as he looked at the

sheets of names representing bygone peasants who had ploughed, worked at handicrafts, cheated their

masters, fetched, carried, and got drunk (though SOME of them may have behaved well), there came over

him a strange, unaccountable sensation. To his eye each list of names seemed to possess a character of its

own; and even individual peasants therein seemed to have taken on certain qualities peculiar to themselves.

For instance, to the majority of Madame Korobotchka's serfs there were appended nicknames and other

additions; Plushkin's list was distinguished by a conciseness of exposition which had led to certain of the

items being represented merely by Christian name, patronymic, and a couple of dots; and Sobakevitch's list

was remarkable for its amplitude and circumstantiality, in that not a single peasant had such of his peculiar

characteristics omitted as that the deceased had been "excellent at joinery," or "sober and ready to pay

attention to his work." Also, in Sobakevitch's list there was recorded who had been the father and the mother

of each of the deceased, and how those parents had behaved themselves. Only against the name of a certain

Thedotov was there inscribed: "Father unknown, Mother the maidservant Kapitolina, Morals and Honesty

good." These details communicated to the document a certain air of freshness, they seemed to connote that

the peasants in question had lived but yesterday. As Chichikov scanned the list he felt softened in spirit, and

"My friends, what a concourse of you is here! How did you all pass your lives, my brethren? And how did

As he spoke his eyes halted at one name in particularthat of the same Peter Saveliev Neuvazhai Korito

who had once been the property of the window Korobotchka. Once more he could not help exclaiming:

"What a series of titles! They occupy a whole line! Peter Saveliev, I wonder whether you were an artisan or a

plain muzhik. Also, I wonder how you came to meet your end; whether in a tavern, or whether through going

to sleep in the middle of the road and being run over by a train of waggons. Again, I see the name, 'Probka

Stepan, carpenter, very sober.' That must be the hero of whom the Guards would have been so glad to get

hold. How well I can imagine him tramping the country with an axe in his belt and his boots on his shoulder,

and living on a few groats'worth of bread and dried fish per day, and taking home a couple of halfrouble

pieces in his purse, and sewing the notes into his breeches, or stuffing them into his boots! In what manner

came you by your end, Probka Stepan? Did you, for good wages, mount a scaffold around the cupola of the

village church, and, climbing thence to the cross above, miss your footing on a beam, and fall headlong with

none at hand but Uncle Michaithe good uncle who, scratching the back of his neck, and muttering, 'Ah,

Vania, for once you have been too clever!' straightway lashed himself to a rope, and took your place?

'Maksim Teliatnikov, shoemaker.' A shoemaker, indeed? 'As drunk as a shoemaker,' says the proverb. _I_

know what you were like, my friend. If you wish, I will tell you your whole history. You were apprenticed to

a German, who fed you and your fellows at a common table, thrashed you with a strap, kept you indoors

whenever you had made a mistake, and spoke of you in uncomplimentary terms to his wife and friends. At

length, when your apprenticeship was over, you said to yourself, 'I am going to set up on my own account,

and not just to scrape together a kopeck here and a kopeck there, as the Germans do, but to grow rich quick.'

Hence you took a shop at a high rent, bespoke a few orders, and set to work to buy up some rotten leather out

of which you could make, on each pair of boots, a double profit. But those boots split within a fortnight, and

brought down upon your head dire showers of maledictions; with the result that gradually your shop grew

empty of customers, and you fell to roaming the streets and exclaiming, 'The world is a very poor place

indeed! A Russian cannot make a living for German competition.' Well, well! 'Elizabeta Vorobei!' But that is

a WOMAN'S name! How comes SHE to be on the list? That villain Sobakevitch must have sneaked her in

"'Grigori GoiezhaineDoiedesh,'" he went on. "What sort of a man were YOU, I wonder? Were you a

carrier who, having set up a team of three horses and a tilt waggon, left your home, your native hovel, for

ever, and departed to cart merchandise to market? Was it on the highway that you surrendered your soul to

God, or did your friends first marry you to some fat, redfaced soldier's daughter; after which your harness

and team of rough, but sturdy, horses caught a highwayman's fancy, and you, lying on your pallet, thought

things over until, willynilly, you felt that you must get up and make for the tavern, thereafter blundering into

an icehole? Ah, our peasant of Russia! Never do you welcome death when it comes!"

"And you, my friends?" continued Chichikov, turning to the sheet whereon were inscribed the names of

Plushkin's absconded serfs. "Although you are still alive, what is the good of you? You are practically dead.

Whither, I wonder, have your fugitive feet carried you? Did you fare hardly at Plushkin's, or was it that your

natural inclinations led you to prefer roaming the wilds and plundering travellers? Are you, by this time, in

gaol, or have you taken service with other masters for the tillage of their lands? 'Eremei Kariakin, Nikita

Volokita and Anton Volokita (son of the foregoing).' To judge from your surnames, you would seem to have

been born gadabouts[1]. 'Popov, household serf.' Probably you are an educated man, good Popov, and go in

for polite thieving, as distinguished from the more vulgar cutthroat sort. In my mind's eye I seem to see a

Captain of Rural Police challenging you for being without a passport; whereupon you stake your all upon a

single throw. 'To whom do you belong?' asks the Captain, probably adding to his question a forcible

expletive. 'To such and such a landowner,' stoutly you reply. 'And what are you doing here?' continues the

Captain. 'I have just received permission to go and earn my obrok,' is your fluent explanation. 'Then where is

your passport?' 'At Miestchanin[2] Pimenov's.' 'Pimenov's? Then are you Pimenov himself?' 'Yes, I am

Pimenov himself.' 'He has given you his passport?' 'No, he has not given me his passport.' 'Come, come!'

shouts the Captain with another forcible expletive. 'You are lying!' 'No, I am not,' is your dogged reply. 'It is

only that last night I could not return him his passport, because I came home late; so I handed it to Antip

Prochorov, the bellringer, for him to take care of.' 'Bellringer, indeed! Then HE gave you a passport?' 'No;

I did not receive a passport from him either.' 'What?'and here the Captain shouts another expletive'How

dare you keep on lying? Where is YOUR OWN passport?' 'I had one all right,' you reply cunningly, 'but must

have dropped it somewhere on the road as I came along.' 'And what about that soldier's coat?' asks the

Captain with an impolite addition. 'Whence did you get it? And what of the priest's cashbox and copper

money?'' 'About them I know nothing,' you reply doggedly. 'Never at any time have I committed a theft.'

'Then how is it that the coat was found at your place?' 'I do not know. Probably some one else put it there.'

'You rascal, you rascal!' shouts the Captain, shaking his head, and closing in upon you. 'Put the legirons

upon him, and off with him to prison!' 'With pleasure,' you reply as, taking a snuffbox from your pocket,

you offer a pinch to each of the two gendarmes who are manacling you, while also inquiring how long they

have been discharged from the army, and in what wars they may have served. And in prison you remain until

your case comes on, when the justice orders you to be removed from TsarevKokshaika to such and such

another prison, and a second justice orders you to be transferred thence to Vesiegonsk or somewhere else, and

you go flitting from gaol to gaol, and saying each time, as you eye your new habitation, 'The last place was a

good deal cleaner than this one is, and one could play babki[3] there, and stretch one's legs, and see a little

[1] The names Kariakin and Volokita might, perhaps, be translated as "Gallant" and "Loafer."

"'Abakum Thirov,'" Chichikov went on after a pause. "What of YOU, brother? Where, and in what capacity,

are YOU disporting yourself? Have you gone to the Volga country, and become bitten with the life of

Here, breaking off, Chichikov relapsed into silent meditation. Of what was he thinking as he sat there? Was

he thinking of the fortunes of Abakum Thirov, or was he meditating as meditates every Russian when his

"Ah, well!" he sighed, looking at his watch. "It has now gone twelve o'clock. Why have I so forgotten

myself? There is still much to be done, yet I go shutting myself up and letting my thoughts wander! What a

So saying, he exchanged his Scottish costume (of a shirt and nothing else) for attire of a more European

nature; after which he pulled tight the waistcoat over his ample stomach, sprinkled himself with

eaudeCologne, tucked his papers under his arm, took his fur cap, and set out for the municipal offices, for

the purpose of completing the transfer of souls. The fact that he hurried along was not due to a fear of being

late (seeing that the President of the Local Council was an intimate acquaintance of his, as well as a

functionary who could shorten or prolong an interview at will, even as Homer's Zeus was able to shorten or to

prolong a night or a day, whenever it became necessary to put an end to the fighting of his favourite heroes,

or to enable them to join battle), but rather to a feeling that he would like to have the affair concluded as

quickly as possible, seeing that, throughout, it had been an anxious and difficult business. Also, he could not

get rid of the idea that his souls were unsubstantial things, and that therefore, under the circumstances, his

shoulders had better be relieved of their load with the least possible delay. Pulling on his cinnamoncoloured,

bearlined overcoat as he went, he had just stepped thoughtfully into the street when he collided with a

gentleman dressed in a similar coat and an earlappeted fur cap. Upon that the gentleman uttered an

exclamation. Behold, it was Manilov! At once the friends became folded in a strenuous embrace, and

remained so locked for fully five minutes. Indeed, the kisses exchanged were so vigorous that both suffered

from toothache for the greater portion of the day. Also, Manilov's delight was such that only his nose and lips

remained visiblethe eyes completely disappeared. Afterwards he spent about a quarter of an hour in

holding Chichikov's hand and chafing it vigorously. Lastly, he, in the most pleasant and exquisite terms

possible, intimated to his friend that he had just been on his way to embrace Paul Ivanovitch; and upon this

followed a compliment of the kind which would more fittingly have been addressed to a lady who was being

asked to accord a partner the favour of a dance. Chichikov had opened his mouth to replythough even HE

felt at a loss how to acknowledge what had just been saidwhen Manilov cut him short by producing from

"Ah!" And as Chichikov unrolled the document and ran his eye over it he could not but marvel at the elegant

"It is a beautiful piece of writing," he said. "In fact, there will be no need to make a copy of it. Also, it has a

"Dear, dear!" Chichikov cried. "To think that I should have put her to so much trouble!"

Chichikov bowed his acknowledgements. Next, on learning that he was on his way to the municipal offices

for the purpose of completing the transfer, Manilov expressed his readiness to accompany him; wherefore the

pair linked arm in arm and proceeded together. Whenever they encountered a slight rise in the groundeven

the smallest unevenness or difference of levelManilov supported Chichikov with such energy as almost to

lift him off his feet, while accompanying the service with a smiling implication that not if HE could help it

should Paul Ivanovitch slip or fall. Nevertheless this conduct appeared to embarrass Chichikov, either

because he could not find any fitting words of gratitude or because he considered the proceeding tiresome;

and it was with a sense of relief that he debouched upon the square where the municipal officesa large,

threestoried building of a chalky whiteness which probably symbolised the purity of the souls engaged

withinwere situated. No other building in the square could vie with them in size, seeing that the remaining

edifices consisted only of a sentrybox, a shelter for two or three cabmen, and a long hoardingthe latter

adorned with the usual bills, posters, and scrawls in chalk and charcoal. At intervals, from the windows of the

second and third stories of the municipal offices, the incorruptible heads of certain of the attendant priests of

Themis would peer quickly forth, and as quickly disappear againprobably for the reason that a superior

official had just entered the room. Meanwhile the two friends ascended the staircasenay, almost flew up it,

since, longing to get rid of Manilov's eversupporting arm, Chichikov hastened his steps, and Manilov kept

darting forward to anticipate any possible failure on the part of his companion's legs. Consequently the pair

were breathless when they reached the first corridor. In passing it may be remarked that neither corridors nor

rooms evinced any of that cleanliness and purity which marked the exterior of the building, for such attributes

were not troubled about within, and anything that was dirty remained so, and donned no meritricious, purely

external, disguise. It was as though Themis received her visitors in neglige and a dressinggown. The author

would also give a description of the various offices through which our hero passed, were it not that he (the

Approaching the first desk which he happened to encounter, Chichikov inquired of the two young officials

who were seated at it whether they would kindly tell him where business relating to serfindenture was

"Of what nature, precisely, IS your business?" countered one of the youthful officials as he turned himself

"Yes. But, as I say, I should like first to know where I can find the desk devoted to such business. Is it here or

"You must state what it is you have bought, and for how much. THEN we shall be happy to give you the

Chichikov perceived that the officials' motive was merely one of curiosity, as often happens when young

tchinovniks desire to cut a more important and imposing figure than is rightfully theirs.

"Look here, young sirs," he said. "I know for a fact that all serf business, no matter to what value, is

transacted at one desk alone. Consequently I again request you to direct me to that desk. Of course, if you do

To this the tchinovniks made no reply beyond pointing towards a corner of the room where an elderly man

appeared to be engaged in sorting some papers. Accordingly Chichikov and Manilov threaded their way in

his direction through the desks; whereupon the elderly man became violently busy.

"Would you mind telling me," said Chichikov, bowing, "whether this is the desk for serf affairs?"

The elderly man pointed to another corner of the room; whither Chichikov and Manilov next directed their

steps. As they advanced, Ivan Antonovitch cast an eye backwards and viewed them askance. Then, with

"Would you mind telling me," said Chichikov, bowing, "whether this is the desk for serf affairs?"

It appeared as though Ivan Antonovitch had not heard, so completely did he bury himself in his papers and

return no reply. Instantly it became plain that HE at least was of an age of discretion, and not one of your

jejune chatterboxes and harumscarums; for, although his hair was still thick and black, he had long ago

passed his fortieth year. His whole face tended towards the noseit was what, in common parlance, is

"Would you mind telling me," repeated Chichikov, "whether this is the desk for serf affairs?"

"It is that," said Ivan Antonovitch, again lowering his jugshaped jowl, and resuming his writing.

"Then I should like to transact the following business. From various landowners in this canton I have

purchased a number of peasants for transfer. Here is the purchase list, and it needs but to be registered."

"Yes. I desireindeed, it is necessary for me so to doto hasten matters a little. Could the affair, therefore,

"Today? Oh, dear no!" said Ivan Antonovitch. "Before that can be done you must furnish me with further

"Then, to expedite matters, let me say that Ivan Grigorievitch, the President of the Council, is a very intimate

"Possibly," said Ivan Antonovitch without enthusiasm. "But Ivan Grigorievitch alone will not doit is

"Yes, but the absence of others will not altogether invalidate the transaction. I too have been in the service,

"You had better go and see Ivan Grigorievitch," said Ivan Antonovitch more mildly. "Should he give you an

order addressed to whom it may concern, we shall soon be able to settle the matter."

Upon that Chichikov pulled from his pocket a paper, and laid it before Ivan Antonovitch. At once the latter

covered it with a book. Chichikov again attempted to show it to him, but, with a movement of his head, Ivan

Upon that one of the toilers in the service of Themisa zealot who had offered her such heartfelt sacrifice

that his coat had burst at the elbows and lacked a liningescorted our friends (even as Virgil had once

escorted Dante) to the apartment of the Presence. In this sanctum were some massive armchairs, a table laden

with two or three fat books, and a large lookingglass. Lastly, in (apparently) sunlike isolation, there was

seated at the table the President. On arriving at the door of the apartment, our modern Virgil seemed to have

become so overwhelmed with awe that, without daring even to intrude a foot, he turned back, and, in so

doing, once more exhibited a back as shiny as a mat, and having adhering to it, in one spot, a chicken's

feather. As soon as the two friends had entered the hall of the Presence they perceived that the President was

NOT alone, but, on the contrary, had seated by his side Sobakevitch, whose form had hitherto been concealed

by the intervening mirror. The newcomers' entry evoked sundry exclamations and the pushing back of a pair

of Government chairs as the voluminoussleeved Sobakevitch rose into view from behind the lookingglass.

Chichikov the President received with an embrace, and for a while the hall of the Presence resounded with

osculatory salutations as mutually the pair inquired after one another's health. It seemed that both had lately

had a touch of that pain under the waistband which comes of a sedentary life. Also, it seemed that the

President had just been conversing with Sobakevitch on the subject of sales of souls, since he now proceeded

to congratulate Chichikov on the samea proceeding which rather embarrassed our hero, seeing that

Manilov and Sobakevitch, two of the vendors, and persons with whom he had bargained in the strictest

privacy, were now confronting one another direct. However, Chichikov duly thanked the President, and then,

"Thank God, I have nothing to complain of," replied Sobakevitch: which was true enough, seeing that a piece

of iron would have caught cold and taken to sneezing sooner than would that uncouthly fashioned landowner.

"Ah, yes; you have always had good health, have you not?" put in the President. "Your late father was

"I should think that you too could worst a bear if you were to try a tussle with him," rejoined the President.

"Oh no," said Sobakevitch. "My father was a stronger man than I am." Then with a sigh the speaker added:

"But nowadays there are no such men as he. What is even a life like mine worth?"

"No; far from it," rejoined Sobakevitch, shaking his head. "Judge for yourself, Ivan Grigorievitch. I am fifty

years old, yet never in my life had been ill, except for an occasional carbuncle or boil. That is not a good sign.

"Just listen to the fellow!" was Chichikov's and the President's joint inward comment. "What on earth has HE

"I have a letter for you, Ivan Grigorievitch," went on Chichikov aloud as he produced from his pocket

"From whom?" inquired the President. Having broken the seal, he exclaimed: "Why, it is from Plushkin! To

think that HE is still alive! What a strange world it is! He used to be such a nice fellow, and now"

"And now he is a cur," concluded Sobakevitch, "as well as a miser who starves his serfs to death."

"Allow me a moment," said the President. Then he read the letter through. When he had finished he added:

"Yes, I am quite ready to act as Plushkin's attorney. When do you wish the purchase deeds to be registered,

"Now, if you please," replied Chichikov. "Indeed, I beg that, if possible, the affair may be concluded today,

since tomorrow I wish to leave the town. I have brought with me both the forms of indenture and my

"Very well. Nevertheless we cannot let you depart so soon. The indentures shall be completed today, but

you must continue your sojourn in our midst. I will issue the necessary orders at once."

So saying, he opened the door into the general office, where the clerks looked like a swarm of bees around a

Upon that the pitcherfaced Ivan Antonovitch made his appearance in the doorway, and bowed.

"Take these indentures, Ivan Antonovitch," said the President, "and see that they"

"But first I would ask you to remember," put in Sobakevitch, "that witnesses ought to be in attendancenot

less than two on behalf of either party. Let us, therefore, send for the Public Prosecutor, who has little to do,

and has even that little done for him by his chief clerk, Zolotucha. The Inspector of the Medical Department

is also a man of leisure, and likely to be at homeif he has not gone out to a card party. Others also there

"Quite so, quite so," agreed the President, and at once dispatched a clerk to fetch the persons named.

"Also," requested Chichikov, "I should be glad if you would send for the accredited representative of a

certain lady landowner with whom I have done business. He is the son of a Father Cyril, and a clerk in your

"Certainly we shall call him here," replied the President. "Everything shall be done to meet your convenience,

and I forbid you to present any of our officials with a gratuity. That is a special request on my part. No friend

With that he gave Ivan Antonovitch the necessary instructions; and though they scarcely seemed to meet with

that functionary's approval, upon the President the purchase deeds had evidently produced an excellent

impression, more especially since the moment when he had perceived the sum total to amount to nearly a

hundred thousand roubles. For a moment or two he gazed into Chichikov's eyes with an expression of

"I, too, conceive that I could not well have done better. The truth is that never until a man has driven home

the piles of his life's structure upon a lasting bottom, instead of upon the wayward chimeras of youth, will his

aims in life assume a definite end." And, that said, Chichikov went on to deliver himself of a very telling

indictment of Liberalism and our modern young men. Yet in his words there seemed to lurk a certain lack of

conviction. Somehow he seemed secretly to be saying to himself, "My good sir, you are talking the most

absolute rubbish, and nothing but rubbish." Nor did he even throw a glance at Sobakevitch and Manilov. It

was as though he were uncertain what he might not encounter in their expression. Yet he need not have been

afraid. Never once did Sobakevitch's face move a muscle, and, as for Manilov, he was too much under the

spell of Chichikov's eloquence to do aught beyond nod his approval at intervals, and strike the kind of

attitude which is assumed by lovers of music when a lady singer has, in rivalry of an accompanying violin,

produced a note whereof the shrillness would exceed even the capacity of a bird's throstle.

"But why not tell Ivan Grigorievitch precisely what you have bought?" inquired Sobakevitch of Chichikov.

"And why, Ivan Grigorievitch, do YOU not ask Monsieur Chichikov precisely what his purchases have

consisted of? What a splendid lot of serfs, to be sure! I myself have sold him my wheelwright, Michiev."

"What? You have sold him Michiev?" exclaimed the President. "I know the man well. He is a splendid

craftsman, and, on one occasion, made me a drozhki[4]. Only, onlywell, lately didn't you tell me that he is

"That Michiev is dead?" reechoed Sobakevitch, coming perilously near to laughing. "Oh dear no! That was

his brother. Michiev himself is very much alive, and in even better health than he used to be. Any day he

could knock you up a britchka such as you could not procure even in Moscow. However, he is now bound to

"Indeed a splendid craftsman!" repeated the President. "My only wonder is that you can have brought

"Then think you that Michiev is the ONLY serf with whom I have parted? Nay, for I have parted also with

Probka Stepan, my carpenter, with Milushkin, my bricklayer, and with Teliatnikov, my bootmaker. Yes, the

And to the President's inquiry why he had so acted, seeing that the serfs named were all skilled workers and

indispensable to a household, Sobakevitch replied that a mere whim had led him to do so, and thus the sale

had owed its origin to a piece of folly. Then he hung his head as though already repenting of his rash act, and

"But," inquired the President further, "how comes it about, Paul Ivanovitch, that you have purchased peasants

"Very well, then. That is quite another matter. To what province of the country?"

"Indeed? That region contains some splendid land," said the President; whereupon he proceeded to expatiate

After this reply Chichikov involuntarily threw a glance at Sobakevitch; and though that landowner's face was

as motionless as every, the other seemed to detect in it: "You liar! Don't tell ME that you own both a river

Whilst the foregoing conversation had been in progress, various witnesses had been arriving on the scene.

They consisted of the constantly blinking Public Prosecutor, the Inspector of the Medical Department, and

othersall, to quote Sobakevitch, "men who cumbered the ground for nothing." With some of them,

however, Chichikov was altogether unacquainted, since certain substitutes and supernumeraries had to be

pressed into the service from among the ranks of the subordinate staff. There also arrived, in answer to the

summons, not only the son of Father Cyril before mentioned, but also Father Cyril himself. Each such

witness appended to his signature a full list of his dignities and qualifications: one man in printed characters,

another in a flowing hand, a third in topsyturvy characters of a kind never before seen in the Russian

alphabet, and so forth. Meanwhile our friend Ivan Antonovitch comported himself with not a little address;

and after the indentures had been signed, docketed, and registered, Chichikov found himself called upon to

pay only the merest trifle in the way of Government percentage and fees for publishing the transaction in the

Official Gazette. The reason of this was that the President had given orders that only half the usual charges

were to be exacted from the present purchaserthe remaining half being somehow debited to the account of

"And now," said Ivan Grigorievitch when all was completed, "we need only to wet the bargain."

"For that too I am ready," said Chichikov. "Do you but name the hour. If, in return for your most agreeable

company, I were not to set a few champagne corks flying, I should be indeed in default."

"But we are not going to let you charge yourself with anything whatsoever. WE must provide the champagne,

for you are our guest, and it is for usit is our duty, it is our bounden obligationto entertain you. Look

here, gentlemen. Let us adjourn to the house of the Chief of Police. He is the magician who needs but to wink

when passing a fishmonger's or a wine merchant's. Not only shall we fare well at his place, but also we shall

To this proposal no one had any objection to offer, for the mere mention of the fish shop aroused the

witnesses' appetite. Consequently, the ceremony being over, there was a general reaching for hats and caps.

As the party were passing through the general office, Ivan Antonovitch whispered in Chichikov's ear, with a

"You have given a hundred thousand roubles for the serfs, but have paid ME only a trifle for my trouble."

"Yes," replied Chichikov with a similar whisper, "but what sort of serfs do you suppose them to be? They are

This gave Ivan Antonovitch to understand that the visitor was a man of strong charactera man from whom

"Why have you gone and purchased souls from Plushkin?" whispered Sobakevitch in Chichikov's other ear.

"I added no such name," replied Sobakevitch, and straightway joined the other guests.

At length the party arrived at the residence of the Chief of Police. The latter proved indeed a man of spells,

for no sooner had he learnt what was afoot than he summoned a brisk young constable, whispered in his ear,

adding laconically, "You understand, do you not?" and brought it about that, during the time that the guests

were cutting for partners at whist in an adjoining room, the diningtable became laden with sturgeon, caviare,

salmon, herrings, cheese, smoked tongue, fresh roe, and a potted variety of the sameall procured from the

local fish market, and reinforced with additions from the host's own kitchen. The fact was that the worthy

Chief of Police filled the office of a sort of father and general benefactor to the town, and that he moved

among the citizens as though they constituted part and parcel of his own family, and watched over their shops

and markets as though those establishments were merely his own private larder. Indeed, it would be difficult

to sayso thoroughly did he perform his duties in this respectwhether the post most fitted him, or he the

post. Matters were also so arranged that though his income more than doubled that of his predecessors, he

had never lost the affection of his fellow townsmen. In particular did the tradesmen love him, since he was

never above standing godfather to their children or dining at their tables. True, he had differences of opinion

with them, and serious differences at that; but always these were skilfully adjusted by his slapping the

offended ones jovially on the shoulder, drinking a glass of tea with them, promising to call at their houses and

play a game of chess, asking after their belongings, and, should he learn that a child of theirs was ill,

prescribing the proper medicine. In short, he bore the reputation of being a very good fellow.

On perceiving the feast to be ready, the host proposed that his guests should finish their whist after luncheon;

whereupon all proceeded to the room whence for some time past an agreeable odour had been tickling the

nostrils of those present, and towards the door of which Sobakevitch in particular had been glancing since the

moment when he had caught sight of a huge sturgeon reposing on the sideboard. After a glassful of warm,

olivecoloured vodka apiecevodka of the tint to be seen only in the species of Siberian stone whereof seals

are cutthe company applied themselves to knifeandfork work, and, in so doing, evinced their several

characteristics and tastes. For instance, Sobakevitch, disdaining lesser trifles, tackled the large sturgeon, and,

during the time that his fellow guests were eating minor comestibles, and drinking and talking, contrived to

consume more than a quarter of the whole fish; so that, on the host remembering the creature, and, with fork

in hand, leading the way in its direction and saying, "What, gentlemen, think you of this striking product of

nature?" there ensued the discovery that of the said product of nature there remained little beyond the tail,

while Sobakevitch, with an air as though at least HE had not eaten it, was engaged in plunging his fork into a

much more diminutive piece of fish which happened to be resting on an adjacent platter. After his divorce

from the sturgeon, Sobakevitch ate and drank no more, but sat frowning and blinking in an armchair.

Apparently the host was not a man who believed in sparing the wine, for the toasts drunk were innumerable.

The first toast (as the reader may guess) was quaffed to the health of the new landowner of Kherson; the

second to the prosperity of his peasants and their safe transferment; and the third to the beauty of his future

wifea compliment which brought to our hero's lips a flickering smile. Lastly, he received from the

company a pressing, as well as an unanimous, invitation to extend his stay in town for at least another

"Quite so," agreed the President. "Fight us tooth and nail though you may, we intend to have you married.

You have happened upon us by chance, and you shall have no reason to repent of it. We are in earnest on this

"But why should I fight you tooth and nail?" said Chichikov, smiling. "Marriage would not come amiss to

"Bravo, bravo!" the company shouted. "Long live Paul Ivanovitch! Hurrah! Hurrah!" And with that every one

approached to clink glasses with him, and he readily accepted the compliment, and accepted it many times in

succession. Indeed, as the hours passed on, the hilarity of the company increased yet further, and more than

once the President (a man of great urbanity when thoroughly in his cups) embraced the chief guest of the day

with the heartfelt words, "My dearest fellow! My own most precious of friends!" Nay, he even started to

crack his fingers, to dance around Chichikov's chair, and to sing snatches of a popular song. To the

champagne succeeded Hungarian wine, which had the effect of still further heartening and enlivening the

company. By this time every one had forgotten about whist, and given himself up to shouting and disputing.

Every conceivable subject was discussed, including politics and military affairs; and in this connection guests

voiced jejune opinions for the expression of which they would, at any other time, have soundly spanked their

offspring. Chichikov, like the rest, had never before felt so gay, and, imagining himself really and truly to be

a landowner of Kherson, spoke of various improvements in agriculture, of the threefield system of

tillage[5], and of the beatific felicity of a union between two kindred souls. Also, he started to recite poetry to

Sobakevitch, who blinked as he listened, for he greatly desired to go to sleep. At length the guest of the

evening realised that matters had gone far enough, so begged to be given a lift home, and was accommodated

with the Public Prosecutor's drozhki. Luckily the driver of the vehicle was a practised man at his work, for,

while driving with one hand, he succeeded in leaning backwards and, with the other, holding Chichikov

securely in his place. Arrived at the inn, our hero continued babbling awhile about a flaxenhaired damsel

with rosy lips and a dimple in her right cheek, about villages of his in Kherson, and about the amount of his

capital. Nay, he even issued seignorial instructions that Selifan should go and muster the peasants about to be

transferred, and make a complete and detailed inventory of them. For a while Selifan listened in silence; then

he left the room, and instructed Petrushka to help the barin to undress. As it happened, Chichikov's boots had

no sooner been removed than he managed to perform the rest of his toilet without assistance, to roll on to the

bed (which creaked terribly as he did so), and to sink into a sleep in every way worthy of a landowner of

Kherson. Meanwhile Petrushka had taken his master's coat and trousers of bilberrycoloured check into the

corridor; where, spreading them over a clothes' horse, he started to flick and to brush them, and to fill the

whole corridor with dust. Just as he was about to replace them in his master's room he happened to glance

over the railing of the gallery, and saw Selifan returning from the stable. Glances were exchanged, and in an

instant the pair had arrived at an instinctive understandingan understanding to the effect that the barin was

sound asleep, and that therefore one might consider one's own pleasure a little. Accordingly Petrushka

proceeded to restore the coat and trousers to their appointed places, and then descended the stairs; whereafter

he and Selifan left the house together. Not a word passed between them as to the object of their expedition.

On the contrary, they talked solely of extraneous subjects. Yet their walk did not take them far; it took them

only to the other side of the street, and thence into an establishment which immediately confronted the inn.

Entering a mean, dirty courtyard covered with glass, they passed thence into a cellar where a number of

customers were seated around small wooden tables. What thereafter was done by Selifan and Petrushka God

alone knows. At all events, within an hour's time they issued, arm in arm, and in profound silence, yet

remaining markedly assiduous to one another, and ever ready to help one another around an awkward corner.

Still linked togethernever once releasing their mutual holdthey spent the next quarter of an hour in

attempting to negotiate the stairs of the inn; but at length even that ascent had been mastered, and they

proceeded further on their way. Halting before his mean little pallet, Petrushka stood awhile in thought. His

difficulty was how best to assume a recumbent position. Eventually he lay down on his face, with his legs

trailing over the floor; after which Selifan also stretched himself upon the pallet, with his head resting upon

Petrushka's stomach, and his mind wholly oblivious of the fact that he ought not to have been sleeping there

at all, but in the servant's quarters, or in the stable beside his horses. Scarcely a moment had passed before the

pair were plunged in slumber and emitting the most raucous snores; to which their master (next door)

responded with snores of a whistling and nasal order. Indeed, before long every one in the inn had followed

their soothing example, and the hostelry lay plunged in complete restfulness. Only in the window of the room

of the newlyarrived lieutenant from Riazan did a light remain burning. Evidently he was a devotee of boots,

for he had purchased four pairs, and was now trying on a fifth. Several times he approached the bed with a

view to taking off the boots and retiring to rest; but each time he failed, for the reason that the boots were so

alluring in their make that he had no choice but to lift up first one foot, and then the other, for the purpose of

[5] The system by which, in annual rotation, twothirds of a given area are cultivated, while the remaining

It was not long before Chichikov's purchases had become the talk of the town; and various were the opinions

expressed as to whether or not it was expedient to procure peasants for transferment. Indeed such was the

interest taken by certain citizens in the matter that they advised the purchaser to provide himself and his

convoy with an escort, in order to ensure their safe arrival at the appointed destination; but though Chichikov

thanked the donors of this advice for the same, and declared that he should be very glad, in case of need, to

avail himself of it, he declared also that there was no real need for an escort, seeing that the peasants whom

he had purchased were exceptionally peaceloving folk, and that, being themselves consenting parties to the

One particularly good result of this advertisement of his scheme was that he came to rank as neither more nor

less than a millionaire. Consequently, much as the inhabitants had liked our hero in the first instance (as seen

in Chapter I.), they now liked him more than ever. As a matter of fact, they were citizens of an exceptionally

quiet, goodnatured, easygoing disposition; and some of them were even welleducated. For instance, the

President of the Local Council could recite the whole of Zhukovski's LUDMILLA by heart, and give such an

impressive rendering of the passage "The pine forest was asleep and the valley at rest" (as well as of the

exclamation "Phew!") that one felt, as he did so, that the pine forest and the valley really WERE as he

described them. The effect was also further heightened by the manner in which, at such moments, he assumed

the most portentous frown. For his part, the Postmaster went in more for philosophy, and diligently perused

such works as Young's Night Thoughts, and Eckharthausen's A Key to the Mysteries of Nature; of which

latter work he would make copious extracts, though no one had the slightest notion what they referred to. For

the rest, he was a witty, florid little individual, and much addicted to a practice of what he called

"embellishing" whatsoever he had to saya feat which he performed with the aid of such bytheway

phrases as "my dear sir," "my good SoandSo," "you know," "you understand," "you may imagine,"

"relatively speaking," "for instance," and "et cetera"; of which phrases he would add sackfuls to his speech.

He could also "embellish" his words by the simple expedient of halfclosing, halfwinking one eye; which

trick communicated to some of his satirical utterances quite a mordant effect. Nor were his colleagues a wit

inferior to him in enlightenment. For instance, one of them made a regular practice of reading Karamzin,

another of conning the Moscow Gazette, and a third of never looking at a book at all. Likewise, although they

were the sort of men to whom, in their more intimate movements, their wives would very naturally address

such nicknames as "Toby Jug," "Marmot," "Fatty," "Pot Belly," "Smutty," "Kiki," and "BuzzBuzz," they

were men also of good heart, and very ready to extend their hospitality and their friendship when once a guest

had eaten of their bread and salt, or spent an evening in their company. Particularly, therefore, did Chichikov

earn these good folk's approval with his taking methods and qualitiesso much so that the expression of that

approval bid fair to make it difficult for him to quit the town, seeing that, wherever he went, the one phrase

dinned into his ears was "Stay another week with us, Paul Ivanovitch." In short, he ceased to be a free agent.

But incomparably more striking was the impression (a matter for unbounded surprise!) which he produced

upon the ladies. Properly to explain this phenomenon I should need to say a great deal about the ladies

themselves, and to describe in the most vivid of colours their social intercourse and spiritual qualities. Yet

this would be a difficult thing for me to do, since, on the one hand, I should be hampered by my boundless

respect for the womenfolk of all Civil Service officials, and, on the other handwell, simply by the innate

arduousness of the task. The ladies of N. wereBut no, I cannot do it; my heart has already failed me.

Come, come! The ladies of N. were distinguished forBut it is of no use; somehow my pen seems to refuse

to move over the paperit seems to be weighted as with a plummet of lead. Very well. That being so, I will

merely say a word or two concerning the most prominent tints on the feminine palette of N.merely a word

or two concerning the outward appearance of its ladies, and a word or two concerning their more superficial

characteristics. The ladies of N. were preeminently what is known as "presentable." Indeed, in that respect

they might have served as a model to the ladies of many another town. That is to say, in whatever pertained to

"tone," etiquette, the intricacies of decorum, and strict observance of the prevailing mode, they surpassed

even the ladies of Moscow and St. Petersburg, seeing that they dressed with taste, drove about in carriages in

the latest fashions, and never went out without the escort of a footman in goldlaced livery. Again, they

looked upon a visiting cardeven upon a makeshift affair consisting of an ace of diamonds or a two of

clubsas a sacred thing; so sacred that on one occasion two closely related ladies who had also been closely

attached friends were known to fall out with one another over the mere fact of an omission to return a social

call! Yes, in spite of the best efforts of husbands and kinsfolk to reconcile the antagonists, it became clear

that, though all else in the world might conceivably be possible, never could the hatchet be buried between

ladies who had quarrelled over a neglected visit. Likewise strenuous scenes used to take place over questions

of precedencescenes of a kind which had the effect of inspiring husbands to great and knightly ideas on the

subject of protecting the fair. True, never did a duel actually take place, since all the husbands were officials

belonging to the Civil Service; but at least a given combatant would strive to heap contumely upon his rival,

and, as we all know, that is a resource which may prove even more effectual than a duel. As regards morality,

the ladies of N. were nothing if not censorious, and would at once be fired with virtuous indignation when

they heard of a case of vice or seduction. Nay, even to mere frailty they would award the lash without mercy.

On the other hand, should any instance of what they called "third personism" occur among THEIR OWN

circle, it was always kept darknot a hint of what was going on being allowed to transpire, and even the

wronged husband holding himself ready, should he meet with, or hear of, the "third person," to quote, in a

mild and rational manner, the proverb, "Whom concerns it that a friend should consort with friend?" In

addition, I may say that, like most of the female world of St. Petersburg, the ladies of N. were preeminently

careful and refined in their choice of words and phrases. Never did a lady say, "I blew my nose," or "I

perspired," or "I spat." No, it had to be, "I relieved my nose through the expedient of wiping it with my

handkerchief," and so forth. Again, to say, "This glass, or this plate, smells badly," was forbidden. No, not

even a hint to such an effect was to be dropped. Rather, the proper phrase, in such a case, was "This glass, or

In fact, to refine the Russian tongue the more thoroughly, something like half the words in it were cut out:

which circumstance necessitated very frequent recourse to the tongue of France, since the same words, if

spoken in French, were another matter altogether, and one could use even blunter ones than the ones

So much for the ladies of N., provided that one confines one's observations to the surface; yet hardly need it

be said that, should one penetrate deeper than that, a great deal more would come to light. At the same time, it

is never a very safe proceeding to peer deeply into the hearts of ladies; wherefore, restricting ourselves to the

Hitherto the ladies had paid Chichikov no particular attention, though giving him full credit for his

gentlemanly and urbane demeanour; but from the moment that there arose rumours of his being a millionaire

other qualities of his began to be canvassed. Nevertheless, not ALL the ladies were governed by interested

motives, since it is due to the term "millionaire" rather than to the character of the person who bears it, that

the mere sound of the word exercises upon rascals, upon decent folk, and upon folk who are neither the one

nor the other, an undeniable influence. A millionaire suffers from the disadvantage of everywhere having to

behold meanness, including the sort of meanness which, though not actually based upon calculations of

selfinterest, yet runs after the wealthy man with smiles, and doffs his hat, and begs for invitations to houses

where the millionaire is known to be going to dine. That a similar inclination to meanness seized upon the

ladies of N. goes without saying; with the result that many a drawingroom heard it whispered that, if

Chichikov was not exactly a beauty, at least he was sufficiently goodlooking to serve for a husband, though

he could have borne to have been a little more rotund and stout. To that there would be added scornful

references to lean husbands, and hints that they resembled toothbrushes rather than menwith many other

feminine additions. Also, such crowds of feminine shoppers began to repair to the Bazaar as almost to

constitute a crush, and something like a procession of carriages ensued, so long grew the rank of vehicles. For

their part, the tradesmen had the joy of seeing highly priced dress materials which they had brought at fairs,

and then been unable to dispose of, now suddenly become tradeable, and go off with a rush. For instance, on

one occasion a lady appeared at Mass in a bustle which filled the church to an extent which led the verger on

duty to bid the commoner folk withdraw to the porch, lest the lady's toilet should be soiled in the crush. Even

Chichikov could not help privately remarking the attention which he aroused. On one occasion, when he

returned to the inn, he found on his table a note addressed to himself. Whence it had come, and who had

delivered it, he failed to discover, for the waiter declared that the person who had brought it had omitted to

leave the name of the writer. Beginning abruptly with the words "I MUST write to you," the letter went on to

say that between a certain pair of souls there existed a bond of sympathy; and this verity the epistle further

confirmed with rows of full stops to the extent of nearly half a page. Next there followed a few reflections of

a correctitude so remarkable that I have no choice but to quote them. "What, I would ask, is this life of ours?"

inquired the writer. "'Tis nought but a vale of woe. And what, I would ask, is the world? 'Tis nought but a

mob of unthinking humanity." Thereafter, incidentally remarking that she had just dropped a tear to the

memory of her dear mother, who had departed this life twentyfive years ago, the (presumably) lady writer

invited Chichikov to come forth into the wilds, and to leave for ever the city where, penned in noisome

haunts, folk could not even draw their breath. In conclusion, the writer gave way to unconcealed despair, and

"Two turtle doves to thee, one day, My dust will show, congealed in death; And, cooing wearily, they'll say:

True, the last line did not scan, but that was a trifle, since the quatrain at least conformed to the mode then

prevalent. Neither signature nor date were appended to the document, but only a postscript expressing a

conjecture that Chichikov's own heart would tell him who the writer was, and stating, in addition, that the

This greatly interested Chichikov. Indeed, there was so much that was alluring and provocative of curiosity in

the anonymous missive that he read it through a second time, and then a third, and finally said to himself: "I

SHOULD like to know who sent it!" In short, he took the thing seriously, and spent over an hour in

considering the same. At length, muttering a comment upon the epistle's efflorescent style, he refolded the

document, and committed it to his dispatchbox in company with a playbill and an invitation to a

weddingthe latter of which had for the last seven years reposed in the selfsame receptacle and in the

selfsame position. Shortly afterwards there arrived a card of invitation to the Governor's ball already

referred to. In passing, it may be said that such festivities are not infrequent phenomena in county towns, for

the reason that where Governors exist there must take place balls if from the local gentry there is to be

Thenceforth all extraneous thoughts and considerations were laid aside in favour of preparing for the coming

function. Indeed, this conjunction of exciting and provocative motives led to Chichikov devoting to his toilet

an amount of time never witnessed since the creation of the world. Merely in the contemplation of his

features in the mirror, as he tried to communicate to them a succession of varying expressions, was an hour

spent. First of all he strove to make his features assume an air of dignity and importance, and then an air of

humble, but faintly satirical, respect, and then an air of respect guiltless of any alloy whatsoever. Next, he

practised performing a series of bows to his reflection, accompanied with certain murmurs intended to bear a

resemblance to a French phrase (though Chichikov knew not a single word of the Gallic tongue). Lastly came

the performing of a series of what I might call "agreeable surprises," in the shape of twitchings of the brow

and lips and certain motions of the tongue. In short, he did all that a man is apt to do when he is not only

alone, but also certain that he is handsome and that no one is regarding him through a chink. Finally he

tapped himself lightly on the chin, and said, "Ah, good old face!" In the same way, when he started to dress

himself for the ceremony, the level of his high spirits remained unimpaired throughout the process. That is to

say, while adjusting his braces and tying his tie, he shuffled his feet in what was not exactly a dance, but

might be called the entr'acte of a dance: which performance had the not very serious result of setting a

Later, his entry into the ballroom produced an extraordinary effect. Every one present came forward to meet

him, some with cards in their hands, and one man even breaking off a conversation at the most interesting

pointnamely, the point that "the Inferior Land Court must be made responsible for everything." Yes, in

spite of the responsibility of the Inferior Land Court, the speaker cast all thoughts of it to the winds as he

hurried to greet our hero. From every side resounded acclamations of welcome, and Chichikov felt himself

engulfed in a sea of embraces. Thus, scarcely had he extricated himself from the arms of the President of the

Local Council when he found himself just as firmly clasped in the arms of the Chief of Police, who, in turn,

surrendered him to the Inspector of the Medical Department, who, in turn, handed him over to the

Commissioner of Taxes, who, again, committed him to the charge of the Town Architect. Even the Governor,

who hitherto had been standing among his womenfolk with a box of sweets in one hand and a lapdog in the

other, now threw down both sweets and lapdog (the lapdog giving vent to a yelp as he did so) and added

his greeting to those of the rest of the company. Indeed, not a face was there to be seen on which ecstatic

delightor, at all events, the reflection of other people's ecstatic delightwas not painted. The same

expression may be discerned on the faces of subordinate officials when, the newly arrived Director having

made his inspection, the said officials are beginning to get over their first sense of awe on perceiving that he

has found much to commend, and that he can even go so far as to jest and utter a few words of smiling

approval. Thereupon every tchinovnik responds with a smile of double strength, and those who (it may be)

have not heard a single word of the Director's speech smile out of sympathy with the rest, and even the

gendarme who is posted at the distant doora man, perhaps, who has never before compassed a smile, but is

more accustomed to dealing out blows to the populacesummons up a kind of grin, even though the grin

resembles the grimace of a man who is about to sneeze after inadvertently taking an overlarge pinch of

snuff. To all and sundry Chichikov responded with a bow, and felt extraordinarily at his ease as he did so. To

right and left did he incline his head in the sidelong, yet unconstrained, manner that was his wont and never

failed to charm the beholder. As for the ladies, they clustered around him in a shining bevy that was redolent

of every species of perfumeof roses, of spring violets, and of mignonette; so much so that instinctively

Chichikov raised his nose to snuff the air. Likewise the ladies' dresses displayed an endless profusion of taste

and variety; and though the majority of their wearers evinced a tendency to embonpoint, those wearers knew

how to call upon art for the concealment of the fact. Confronting them, Chichikov thought to himself: "Which

of these beauties is the writer of the letter?" Then again he snuffed the air. When the ladies had, to a certain

extent, returned to their seats, he resumed his attempts to discern (from glances and expressions) which of

them could possibly be the unknown authoress. Yet, though those glances and expressions were too subtle,

too insufficiently open, the difficulty in no way diminished his high spirits. Easily and gracefully did he

exchange agreeable bandinage with one lady, and then approach another one with the short, mincing steps

usually affected by youngold dandies who are fluttering around the fair. As he turned, not without dexterity,

to right and left, he kept one leg slightly dragging behind the other, like a short tail or comma. This trick the

ladies particularly admired. In short, they not only discovered in him a host of recommendations and

attractions, but also began to see in his face a sort of grand, Marslike, military expressiona thing which,

as we know, never fails to please the feminine eye. Certain of the ladies even took to bickering over him, and,

on perceiving that he spent most of his time standing near the door, some of their number hastened to occupy

chairs nearer to his post of vantage. In fact, when a certain dame chanced to have the good fortune to

anticipate a hated rival in the race there very nearly ensued a most lamentable scenewhich, to many of

those who had been desirous of doing exactly the same thing, seemed a peculiarly horrible instance of

So deeply did Chichikov become plunged in conversation with his fair pursuersor rather, so deeply did

those fair pursuers enmesh him in the toils of small talk (which they accomplished through the expedient of

asking him endless subtle riddles which brought the sweat to his brow in his attempts to guess them)that he

forgot the claims of courtesy which required him first of all to greet his hostess. In fact, he remembered those

claims only on hearing the Governor's wife herself addressing him. She had been standing before him for

several minutes, and now greeted him with suave expressement and the words, "So HERE you are, Paul

Ivanovitch!" But what she said next I am not in a position to report, for she spoke in the ultrarefined tone

and vein wherein ladies and gentlemen customarily express themselves in highclass novels which have been

written by experts more qualified than I am to describe salons, and able to boast of some acquaintance with

good society. In effect, what the Governor's wife said was that she hopedshe greatly hopedthat

Monsieur Chichikov's heart still contained a cornereven the smallest possible cornerfor those whom he

had so cruelly forgotten. Upon that Chichikov turned to her, and was on the point of returning a reply at least

no worse than that which would have been returned, under similar circumstances, by the hero of a fashionable

Before him there was standing not only Madame, but also a young girl whom she was holding by the hand.

The golden hair, the finedrawn, delicate contours, the face with its bewitching ovala face which might

have served as a model for the countenance of the Madonna, since it was of a type rarely to be met with in

Russia, where nearly everything, from plains to human feet, is, rather, on the gigantic scale; these features, I

say, were those of the identical maiden whom Chichikov had encountered on the road when he had been

fleeing from Nozdrev's. His emotion was such that he could not formulate a single intelligible syllable; he

could merely murmur the devil only knows what, though certainly nothing of the kind which would have

"I think that you have not met my daughter before?" said Madame. "She is just fresh from school."

He replied that he HAD had the happiness of meeting Mademoiselle before, and under rather unexpected

circumstances; but on his trying to say something further his tongue completely failed him. The Governor's

wife added a word or two, and then carried off her daughter to speak to some of the other guests.

Chichikov stood rooted to the spot, like a man who, after issuing into the street for a pleasant walk, has

suddenly come to a halt on remembering that something has been left behind him. In a moment, as he

struggles to recall what that something is, the mien of careless expectancy disappears from his face, and he no

longer sees a single person or a single object in his vicinity. In the same way did Chichikov suddenly become

oblivious to the scene around him. Yet all the while the melodious tongues of ladies were plying him with

multitudinous hints and questionshints and questions inspired with a desire to captivate. "Might we poor

cumberers of the ground make so bold as to ask you what you are thinking of?" "Pray tell us where lie the

happy regions in which your thoughts are wandering?" "Might we be informed of the name of her who has

plunged you into this sweet abandonment of meditation?"such were the phrases thrown at him. But to

everything he turned a dead ear, and the phrases in question might as well have been stones dropped into a

pool. Indeed, his rudeness soon reached the pitch of his walking away altogether, in order that he might go

and reconnoitre wither the Governor's wife and daughter had retreated. But the ladies were not going to let

him off so easily. Every one of them had made up her mind to use upon him her every weapon, and to exhibit

whatsoever might chance to constitute her best point. Yet the ladies' wiles proved useless, for Chichikov paid

not the smallest attention to them, even when the dancing had begun, but kept raising himself on tiptoe to

peer over people's heads and ascertain in which direction the bewitching maiden with the golden hair had

gone. Also, when seated, he continued to peep between his neighbours' backs and shoulders, until at last he

discovered her sitting beside her mother, who was wearing a sort of Oriental turban and feather. Upon that

one would have thought that his purpose was to carry the position by storm; for, whether moved by the

influence of spring, or whether moved by a push from behind, he pressed forward with such desperate

resolution that his elbow caused the Commissioner of Taxes to stagger on his feet, and would have caused

him to lose his balance altogether but for the supporting row of guests in the rear. Likewise the Postmaster

was made to give ground; whereupon he turned and eyed Chichikov with mingled astonishment and subtle

irony. But Chichikov never even noticed him; he saw in the distance only the goldenhaired beauty. At that

moment she was drawing on a long glove and, doubtless, pining to be flying over the dancingfloor, where,

with clicking heels, four couples had now begun to thread the mazes of the mazurka. In particular was a

military staffcaptain working body and soul and arms and legs to compass such a series of steps as were

never before performed, even in a dream. However, Chichikov slipped past the mazurka dancers, and, almost

treading on their heels, made his way towards the spot where Madame and her daughter were seated. Yet he

approached them with great diffidence and none of his late mincing and prancing. Nay, he even faltered as he

It is difficult to say whether or not the feeling which had awakened in our hero's breast was the feeling of

love; for it is problematical whether or not men who are neither stout nor thin are capable of any such

sentiment. Nevertheless, something strange, something which he could not altogether explain, had come upon

him. It seemed as though the ball, with its talk and its clatter, had suddenly become a thing remotethat the

orchestra had withdrawn behind a hill, and the scene grown misty, like the carelessly paintedin background

of a picture. And from that misty void there could be seen glimmering only the delicate outlines of the

bewitching maiden. Somehow her exquisite shape reminded him of an ivory toy, in such fair, white,

transparent relief did it stand out against the dull blur of the surrounding throng.

Herein we see a phenomenon not infrequently observedthe phenomenon of the Chichikovs of this world

becoming temporarily poets. At all events, for a moment or two our Chichikov felt that he was a young man

again, if not exactly a military officer. On perceiving an empty chair beside the mother and daughter, he

hastened to occupy it, and though conversation at first hung fire, things gradually improved, and he acquired

At this point I must reluctantly deviate to say that men of weight and high office are always a trifle ponderous

when conversing with ladies. Young lieutenantsor, at all events, officers not above the rank of

captainare far more successful at the game. How they contrive to be so God only knows. Let them but

make the most inane of remarks, and at once the maiden by their side will be rocking with laughter; whereas,

should a State Councillor enter into conversation with a damsel, and remark that the Russian Empire is one of

vast extent, or utter a compliment which he has elaborated not without a certain measure of intelligence

(however strongly the said compliment may smack of a book), of a surety the thing will fall flat. Even a

witticism from him will be laughed at far more by him himself than it will by the lady who may happen to be

These comments I have interposed for the purpose of explaining to the reader why, as our hero conversed, the

maiden began to yawn. Blind to this, however, he continued to relate to her sundry adventures which had

befallen him in different parts of the world. Meanwhile (as need hardly be said) the rest of the ladies had

taken umbrage at his behaviour. One of them purposely stalked past him to intimate to him the fact, as well as

to jostle the Governor's daughter, and let the flying end of a scarf flick her face; while from a lady seated

behind the pair came both a whiff of violets and a very venomous and sarcastic remark. Nevertheless, either

he did not hear the remark or he PRETENDED not to hear it. This was unwise of him, since it never does to

disregard ladies' opinions. Laterbut too latehe was destined to learn this to his cost.

In short, dissatisfaction began to display itself on every feminine face. No matter how high Chichikov might

stand in society, and no matter how much he might be a millionaire and include in his expression of

countenance an indefinable element of grandness and martial ardour, there are certain things which no lady

will pardon, whosoever be the person concerned. We know that at Governor's balls it is customary for the

onlookers to compose verses at the expense of the dancers; and in this case the verses were directed to

Chichikov's address. Briefly, the prevailing dissatisfaction grew until a tacit edict of proscription had been

But an even more unpleasant surprise was in store for our hero; for whilst the young lady was still yawning as

Chichikov recounted to her certain of his past adventures and also touched lightly upon the subject of Greek

philosophy, there appeared from an adjoining room the figure of Nozdrev. Whether he had come from the

buffet, or whether he had issued from a little green retreat where a game more strenuous than whist had been

in progress, or whether he had left the latter resort unaided, or whether he had been expelled therefrom, is

unknown; but at all events when he entered the ballroom, he was in an elevated condition, and leading by the

arm the Public Prosecutor, whom he seemed to have been dragging about for a long while past, seeing that

the poor man was glancing from side to side as though seeking a means of putting an end to this personally

conducted tour. Certainly he must have found the situation almost unbearable, in view of the fact that, after

deriving inspiration from two glasses of tea not wholly undiluted with rum, Nozdrev was engaged in lying

unmercifully. On sighting him in the distance, Chichikov at once decided to sacrifice himself. That is to say,

he decided to vacate his present enviable position and make off with all possible speed, since he could see

that an encounter with the newcomer would do him no good. Unfortunately at that moment the Governor

buttonholed him with a request that he would come and act as arbiter between him (the Governor) and two

ladiesthe subject of dispute being the question as to whether or not woman's love is lasting.

"Ah, my fine landowner of Kherson!" he cried with a smile which set his fresh, springrosepink cheeks

aquiver. "Have you been doing much trade in departed souls lately?" With that he turned to the Governor. "I

suppose your Excellency knows that this man traffics in dead peasants?" he bawled. "Look here, Chichikov. I

tell you in the most friendly way possible that every one here likes youyes, including even the Governor.

"And, would you believe it, your Excellency," went on Nozdrev, "but this fellow actually said to me, 'Sell me

your dead souls!' Why, I laughed till I nearly became as dead as the souls. And, behold, no sooner do I arrive

here than I am told that he has bought three million roubles' worth of peasants for transferment! For

transferment, indeed! And he wanted to bargain with me for my DEAD ones! Look here, Chichikov. You are

a swine! Yes, by God, you are an utter swine! Is not that so, your Excellency? Is not that so, friend

But both his Excellency, the Public Prosecutor, and Chichikov were too taken aback to reply. The halftipsy

"Ah, my fine sir!" he cried. "THIS time I don't mean to let you go. No, not until I have learnt what all this

purchasing of dead peasants means. Look here. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Yes, _I_ say that_I_

who am one of your best friends." Here he turned to the Governor again. "Your Excellency," he continued,

"you would never believe what inseperables this man and I have been. Indeed, if you had stood there and said

to me, 'Nozdrev, tell me on your honour which of the two you love bestyour father or Chichikov?' I should

have replied, 'Chichikov, by God!'" With that he tackled our hero again, "Come, come, my friend!" he urged.

"Let me imprint upon your cheeks a baiser or two. You will excuse me if I kiss him, will you not, your

Excellency? No, do not resist me, Chichikov, but allow me to imprint at least one baiser upon your lilywhite

cheek." And in his efforts to force upon Chichikov what he termed his "baisers" he came near to measuring

Every one now edged away, and turned a deaf ear to his further babblings; but his words on the subject of the

purchase of dead souls had none the less been uttered at the top of his voice, and been accompanied with such

uproarious laughter that the curiosity even of those who had happened to be sitting or standing in the remoter

corners of the room had been aroused. So strange and novel seemed the idea that the company stood with

faces expressive of nothing but a dumb, dull wonder. Only some of the ladies (as Chichikov did not fail to

remark) exchanged meaning, illnatured winks and a series of sarcastic smiles: which circumstance still

further increased his confusion. That Nozdrev was a notorious liar every one, of course, knew, and that he

should have given vent to an idiotic outburst of this sort had surprised no one; but a dead soulwell, what

Naturally this unseemly contretemps had greatly upset our hero; for, however foolish be a madman's words,

they may yet prove sufficient to sow doubt in the minds of saner individuals. He felt much as does a man

who, shod with wellpolished boots, has just stepped into a dirty, stinking puddle. He tried to put away from

him the occurrence, and to expand, and to enjoy himself once more. Nay, he even took a hand at whist. But

all was of no availmatters kept going as awry as a badlybent hoop. Twice he blundered in his play, and

the President of the Council was at a loss to understand how his friend, Paul Ivanovitch, lately so good and so

circumspect a player, could perpetrate such a mauvais pas as to throw away a particular king of spades which

the President has been "trusting" as (to quote his own expression) "he would have trusted God." At supper,

too, matters felt uncomfortable, even though the society at Chichikov's table was exceedingly agreeable and

Nozdrev had been removed, owing to the fact that the ladies had found his conduct too scandalous to be

borne, now that the delinquent had taken to seating himself on the floor and plucking at the skirts of passing

lady dancers. As I say, therefore, Chichikov found the situation not a little awkward, and eventually put an

end to it by leaving the supper room before the meal was over, and long before the hour when usually he

In his little room, with its door of communication blocked with a wardrobe, his frame of mind remained as

uncomfortable as the chair in which he was seated. His heart ached with a dull, unpleasant sensation, with a

"The devil take those who first invented balls!" was his reflection. "Who derives any real pleasure from

them? In this province there exist want and scarcity everywhere: yet folk go in for balls! How absurd, too,

were those overdressed women! One of them must have had a thousand roubles on her back, and all acquired

at the expense of the overtaxed peasant, or, worse still, at that of the conscience of her neighbour. Yes, we all

know why bribes are accepted, and why men become crooked in soul. It is all done to provide wivesyes,

may the pit swallow them up!with fallals. And for what purpose? That some woman may not have to

reproach her husband with the fact that, say, the Postmaster's wife is wearing a better dress than she isa

dress which has cost a thousand roubles! 'Balls and gaiety, balls and gaiety' is the constant cry. Yet what folly

balls are! They do not consort with the Russian spirit and genius, and the devil only knows why we have

them. A grown, middleaged mana man dressed in black, and looking as stiff as a pokersuddenly takes

the floor and begins shuffling his feet about, while another man, even though conversing with a companion

on important business, will, the while, keep capering to right and left like a billygoat! Mimicry, sheer

mimicry! The fact that the Frenchman is at forty precisely what he was at fifteen leads us to imagine that we

too, forsooth, ought to be the same. No; a ball leaves one feeling that one has done a wrong thingso much

so that one does not care even to think of it. It also leaves one's head perfectly empty, even as does the

exertion of talking to a man of the world. A man of that kind chatters away, and touches lightly upon every

conceivable subject, and talks in smooth, fluent phrases which he has culled from books without grazing their

substance; whereas go and have a chat with a tradesman who knows at least ONE thing thoroughly, and

through the medium of experience, and see whether his conversation will not be worth more than the prattle

of a thousand chatterboxes. For what good does one get out of balls? Suppose that a competent writer were to

describe such a scene exactly as it stands? Why, even in a book it would seem senseless, even as it certainly

is in life. Are, therefore, such functions right or wrong? One would answer that the devil alone knows, and

Such were the unfavourable comments which Chichikov passed upon balls in general. With it all, however,

there went a second source of dissatisfaction. That is to say, his principal grudge was not so much against

balls as against the fact that at this particular one he had been exposed, he had been made to disclose the

circumstance that he had been playing a strange, an ambiguous part. Of course, when he reviewed the

contretemps in the light of pure reason, he could not but see that it mattered nothing, and that a few rude

words were of no account now that the chief point had been attained; yet man is an odd creature, and

Chichikov actually felt pained by the couldshouldering administered to him by persons for whom he had not

an atom of respect, and whose vanity and love of display he had only that moment been censuring. Still more,

on viewing the matter clearly, he felt vexed to think that he himself had been so largely the cause of the

Yet he was not angry with HIMSELFof that you may be sure, seeing that all of us have a slight weakness

for sparing our own faults, and always do our best to find some fellowcreature upon whom to vent our

displeasurewhether that fellowcreature be a servant, a subordinate official, or a wife. In the same way

Chichikov sought a scapegoat upon whose shoulders he could lay the blame for all that had annoyed him. He

found one in Nozdrev, and you may be sure that the scapegoat in question received a good drubbing from

every side, even as an experienced captain or chief of police will give a knavish starosta or postboy a rating

not only in the terms become classical, but also in such terms as the said captain or chief of police may invent

for himself. In short, Nozdrev's whole lineage was passed in review; and many of its members in the

Meanwhile, at the other end of the town there was in progress an event which was destined to augment still

further the unpleasantness of our hero's position. That is to say, through the outlying streets and alleys of the

town there was clattering a vehicle to which it would be difficult precisely to assign a name, seeing that,

though it was of a species peculiar to itself, it most nearly resembled a large, rickety water melon on wheels.

Eventually this monstrosity drew up at the gates of a house where the archpriest of one of the churches

resided, and from its doors there leapt a damsel clad in a jerkin and wearing a scarf over her head. For a while

she thumped the gates so vigorously as to set all the dogs barking; then the gates stiffly opened, and admitted

this unwieldy phenomenon of the road. Lastly, the barinia herself alighted, and stood revealed as Madame

Korobotchka, widow of a Collegiate Secretary! The reason of her sudden arrival was that she had felt so

uneasy about the possible outcome of Chichikov's whim, that during the three nights following his departure

she had been unable to sleep a wink; whereafter, in spite of the fact that her horses were not shod, she had set

off for the town, in order to learn at first hand how the dead souls were faring, and whether (which might God

forfend!) she had not sold them at something like a third of their true value. The consequences of her venture

the reader will learn from a conversation between two ladies. We will reserve it for the ensuing chapter.

Next morning, before the usual hour for paying calls, there tripped from the portals of an orangecoloured

wooden house with an attic storey and a row of blue pillars a lady in an elegant plaid cloak. With her came a

footman in a manycaped greatcoat and a polished top hat with a gold band. Hastily, but gracefully, the lady

ascended the steps let down from a koliaska which was standing before the entrance, and as soon as she had

done so the footman shut her in, put up the steps again, and, catching hold of the strap behind the vehicle,

shouted to the coachman, "Right away!" The reason of all this was that the lady was the possessor of a piece

of intelligence that she was burning to communicate to a fellowcreature. Every moment she kept looking

out of the carriage window, and perceiving, with almost speechless vexation, that, as yet, she was but

halfway on her journey. The fronts of the houses appeared to her longer than usual, and in particular did the

front of the white stone hospital, with its rows of narrow windows, seem interminable to a degree which at

length forced her to ejaculate: "Oh, the cursed building! Positively there is no end to it!" Also, she twice

adjured the coachman with the words, "Go quicker, Andrusha! You are a horribly long time over the journey

this morning." But at length the goal was reached, and the koliaska stopped before a onestoried wooden

mansion, dark grey in colour, and having white carvings over the windows, a tall wooden fence and narrow

garden in front of the latter, and a few meagre trees looming white with an incongruous coating of road dust.

In the windows of the building were also a few flower pots and a parrot that kept alternately dancing on the

floor of its cage and hanging on to the ring of the same with its beak. Also, in the sunshine before the door

two pet dogs were sleeping. Here there lived the lady's bosom friend. As soon as the bosom friend in question

learnt of the newcomer's arrival, she ran down into the hall, and the two ladies kissed and embraced one

"How glad I am to see you!" said the bosom friend. "When I heard some one arriving I wondered who could

possibly be calling so early. Parasha declared that it must be the ViceGovernor's wife, so, as I did not want

For her part, the guest would have liked to have proceeded to business by communicating her tidings, but a

sudden exclamation from the hostess imparted (temporarily) a new direction to the conversation.

"Yes, it IS pretty," agreed the visitor. "On the other hand, Praskovia Thedorovna thinks that"

In other words, the ladies proceeded to indulge in a conversation on the subject of dress; and only after this

had lasted for a considerable while did the visitor let fall a remark which led her entertainer to inquire:

"My God!" replied the other. "There has been SUCH a business! In fact, do you know why I am here at all?"

And the visitor's breathing became more hurried, and further words seemed to be hovering between her lips

like hawks preparing to stoop upon their prey. Only a person of the unhumanity of a "true friend" would have

had the heart to interrupt her; but the hostess was just such a friend, and at once interposed with:

"I wonder how any one can see anything in the man to praise or to admire. For my own part, I thinkand I

"Oh, I know that some people think him handsome," continued the hostess, unmoved; "but _I_ say that he is

"Yes, but let me finish what I was saying." The guest's tone was almost piteous in its appeal.

"You cannot imagine my state of mind! You see, this morning I received a visit from Father Cyril's

wifethe Archpriest's wifeyou know her, don't you? Well, whom do you suppose that fine gentleman

"Oh dear no! Had that been all, it would have been nothing. No. Listen to what Father Cyril's wife had to tell

me. She said that, last night, a lady landowner named Madame Korobotchka arrived at the Archpriest's

housearrived all pale and tremblingand told her, oh, such things! They sound like a piece out of a book.

That is to say, at dead of night, just when every one had retired to rest, there came the most dreadful knocking

imaginable, and some one screamed out, 'Open the gates, or we will break them down!' Just think! After this,

"Splendid indeed! So he is actually engaged to a person like that? One may heartily commend the taste of our

"Nevertheless, it is not as you suppose. Think, now! Armed with weapons from head to foot, he called upon

this old woman, and said: 'Sell me any souls of yours which have lately died.' Of course, Madame

Korobotchka answered, reasonably enough: 'I cannot sell you those souls, seeing that they have departed this

world;' but he replied: 'No, no! They are NOT dead. 'Tis I who tell you thatI who ought to know the truth

of the matter. I swear that they are still alive.' In short, he made such a scene that the whole village came

running to the house, and children screamed, and men shouted, and no one could tell what it was all about.

The affair seemed to me so horrible, so utterly horrible, that I trembled beyond belief as I listened to the

story. 'My dearest madam,' said my maid, Mashka, 'pray look at yourself in the mirror, and see how white

you are.' 'But I have no time for that,' I replied, 'as I must be off to tell my friend, Anna Grigorievna, the

news.' Nor did I lose a moment in ordering the koliaska. Yet when my coachman, Andrusha, asked me for

directions I could not get a word outI just stood staring at him like a fool, until I thought he must think me

"What a strange affair!" commented the hostess. "What on earth can the man have meant by 'dead souls'? I

confess that the words pass my understanding. Curiously enough, this is the second time I have heard speak

of those souls. True, my husband avers that Nozdrev was lying; yet in his lies there seems to have been a

"Well, just think of my state when I heard all this! 'And now,' apparently said Korobotchka to the Archpriest's

wife, 'I am altogether at a loss what to do, for, throwing me fifteen roubles, the man forced me to sign a

worthless paperyes, me, an inexperienced, defenceless widow who knows nothing of business.' That such

"I think so too," agreed the other. As a matter of fact, her friend's remark had struck her with complete

surprise, as well as filled her with curiosity to know what the word "more" might possibly signify. In fact, she

Upon this the visitor had to confess herself nonplussed; for, though capable of growing hysterical, she was

incapable of propounding any rational theory. Consequently she felt the more that she needed tender comfort

"Then THIS is what I think about the dead souls," said the hostess. Instantly the guest pricked up her ears (or,

rather, they pricked themselves up) and straightened herself and became, somehow, more modish, and,

despite her not inconsiderable weight, posed herself to look like a piece of thistledown floating on the breeze.

"They are an invention to conceal something else. The man's real object is, isTO ABDUCT THE

So startling and unexpected was this conclusion that the guest sat reduced to a state of pale, petrified, genuine

"Well, to tell you the truth, I guessed it as soon as ever you opened your mouth."

"So much, then, for educating girls like the Governor's daughter at school! Just see what comes of it!"

"Yes, indeed! And they tell me that she says things which I hesitate even to repeat."

"Some of the men have quite lost their heads about her, but for my part I think her not worth noticing."

"Of course. And her manners are unbearable. But what puzzles me most is how a travelled man like

Chichikov could come to let himself in for such an affair. Surely he must have accomplices?"

"CERTAINLY I should say so. Why, I have known him even try to sell his own father! At all events he

"Indeed? You interest me. I should never had thought him capable of such things."

The two ladies were still discussing the matter with acumen and success when there walked into the room the

Public Prosecutorbushy eyebrows, motionless features, blinking eyes, and all. At once the ladies hastened

to inform him of the events related, adducing therewith full details both as to the purchase of dead souls and

as to the scheme to abduct the Governor's daughter; after which they departed in different directions, for the

purpose of raising the rest of the town. For the execution of this undertaking not more than half an hour was

required. So thoroughly did they succeed in throwing dust in the public's eyes that for a while every

onemore especially the army of public officialswas placed in the position of a schoolboy who, while

still asleep, has had a bag of pepper thrown in his face by a party of more earlyrising comrades. The

questions now to be debated resolved themselves into twonamely, the question of the dead souls and the

question of the Governor's daughter. To this end two parties were formedthe men's party and the feminine

section. The men's partythe more absolutely senseless of the twodevoted its attention to the dead souls:

the women's party occupied itself exclusively with the alleged abduction of the Governor's daughter. And

here it may be said (to the ladies' credit) that the women's party displayed far more method and caution than

did its rival faction, probably because the function in life of its members had always been that of managing

and administering a household. With the ladies, therefore, matters soon assumed vivid and definite shape;

they became clearly and irrefutably materialised; they stood stripped of all doubt and other impedimenta.

Said some of the ladies in question, Chichikov had long been in love with the maiden, and the pair had kept

tryst by the light of the moon, while the Governor would have given his consent (seeing that Chichikov was

as rich as a Jew) but for the obstacle that Chichikov had deserted a wife already (how the worthy dames came

to know that he was married remains a mystery), and the said deserted wife, pining with love for her faithless

husband, had sent the Governor a letter of the most touching kind, so that Chichikov, on perceiving that the

father and mother would never give their consent, had decided to abduct the girl. In other circles the matter

was stated in a different way. That is to say, this section averred that Chichikov did NOT possess a wife, but

that, as a man of subtlety and experience, he had bethought him of obtaining the daughter's hand through the

expedient of first tackling the mother and carrying on with her an ardent liaison, and that, thereafter, he had

made an application for the desired hand, but that the mother, fearing to commit a sin against religion, and

feeling in her heart certain gnawings of conscience, had returned a blank refusal to Chichikov's request;

whereupon Chichikov had decided to carry out the abduction alleged. To the foregoing, of course, there

became appended various additional proofs and items of evidence, in proportion as the sensation spread to

more remote corners of the town. At length, with these perfectings, the affair reached the ears of the

Governor's wife herself. Naturally, as the mother of a family, and as the first lady in the town, and as a

matron who had never before been suspected of things of the kind, she was highly offended when she heard

the stories, and very justly so: with the result that her poor young daughter, though innocent, had to endure

about as unpleasant a teteatete as ever befell a maiden of sixteen, while, for his part, the Swiss footman

Having done their business with the Governor's wife, the ladies' party descended upon the male section, with

a view to influencing it to their own side by asserting that the dead souls were an invention used solely for the

purpose of diverting suspicion and successfully affecting the abduction. And, indeed, more than one man was

converted, and joined the feminine camp, in spite of the fact that thereby such seceders incurred strong names

from their late comradesnames such as "old women," "petticoats," and others of a nature peculiarly

Also, however much they might arm themselves and take the field, the men could not compass such

orderliness within their ranks as could the women. With the former everything was of the antiquated and

roughhewn and illfitting and unsuitable and badlyadapted and inferior kind; their heads were full of

nothing but discord and triviality and confusion and slovenliness of thought. In brief, they displayed

everywhere the male bent, the rude, ponderous nature which is incapable either of managing a household or

of jumping to a conclusion, as well as remains always distrustful and lazy and full of constant doubt and

everlasting timidity. For instance, the men's party declared that the whole story was rubbishthat the alleged

abduction of the Governor's daughter was the work rather of a military than of a civilian culprit; that the

ladies were lying when they accused Chichikov of the deed; that a woman was like a

moneybagwhatsoever you put into her she thenceforth retained; that the subject which really demanded

attention was the dead souls, of which the devil only knew the meaning, but in which there certainly lurked

something that was contrary to good order and discipline. One reason why the men's party was so certain that

the dead souls connoted something contrary to good order and discipline, was that there had just been

appointed to the province a new GovernorGeneralan event which, of course, had thrown the whole army

of provincial tchinovniks into a state of great excitement, seeing that they knew that before long there would

ensue transferments and sentences of censure, as well as the series of official dinners with which a

GovernorGeneral is accustomed to entertain his subordinates. "Alas," thought the army of tchinovniks, "it is

probable that, should he learn of the gross reports at present afloat in our town, he will make such a fuss that

we shall never hear the last of them." In particular did the Director of the Medical Department turn pale at the

thought that possibly the new GovernorGeneral would surmise the term "dead folk" to connote patients in

the local hospitals who, for want of proper preventative measures, had died of sporadic fever. Indeed, might it

not be that Chichikov was neither more nor less than an emissary of the said GovernorGeneral, sent to

conduct a secret inquiry? Accordingly he (the Director of the Medical Department) communicated this last

supposition to the President of the Council, who, though at first inclined to ejaculate "Rubbish!" suddenly

turned pale on propounding to himself the theory. "What if the souls purchased by Chichikov should

REALLY be dead ones?"a terrible thought considering that he, the President, had permitted their

transferment to be registered, and had himself acted as Plushkin's representative! What if these things should

reach the GovernorGeneral's ears? He mentioned the matter to one friend and another, and they, in their

turn, went white to the lips, for panic spreads faster and is even more destructive, than the dreaded black

death. Also, to add to the tchinovniks' troubles, it so befell that just at this juncture there came into the local

Governor's hands two documents of great importance. The first of them contained advices that, according to

received evidence and reports, there was operating in the province a forger of roublenotes who had been

passing under various aliases and must therefore be sought for with the utmost diligence; while the second

document was a letter from the Governor of a neighbouring province with regard to a malefactor who had

there evaded apprehensiona letter conveying also a warning that, if in the province of the town of N. there

should appear any suspicious individual who could produce neither references nor passports, he was to be

arrested forthwith. These two documents left every one thunderstruck, for they knocked on the head all

previous conceptions and theories. Not for a moment could it be supposed that the former document referred

to Chichikov; yet, as each man pondered the position from his own point of view, he remembered that no one

REALLY knew who Chichikov was; as also that his vague references to himself hadyes!included

statements that his career in the service had suffered much to the cause of Truth, and that he possessed a

number of enemies who were seeking his life. This gave the tchinovniks further food for thought. Perhaps his

life really DID stand in danger? Perhaps he really WAS being sought for by some one? Perhaps he really

HAD done something of the kind above referred to? As a matter of fact, who was he?not that it could

actually be supposed that he was a forger of notes, still less a brigand, seeing that his exterior was respectable

in the highest degree. Yet who was he? At length the tchinovniks decided to make enquiries among those of

whom he had purchased souls, in order that at least it might be learnt what the purchases had consisted of,

and what exactly underlay them, and whether, in passing, he had explained to any one his real intentions, or

revealed to any one his identity. In the first instance, therefore, resort was had to Korobotchka. Yet little was

gleaned from that sourcemerely a statement that he had bought of her some souls for fifteen roubles

apiece, and also a quantity of feathers, while promising also to buy some other commodities in the future,

seeing that, in particular, he had entered into a contract with the Treasury for lard, a fact constituting fairly

presumptive proof that the man was a rogue, seeing that just such another fellow had bought a quantity of

feathers, yet had cheated folk all round, and, in particular, had done the Archpriest out of over a hundred

roubles. Thus the net result of Madame's crossexamination was to convince the tchinovniks that she was a

garrulous, silly old woman. With regard to Manilov, he replied that he would answer for Chichikov as he

would for himself, and that he would gladly sacrifice his property in toto if thereby he could attain even a

tithe of the qualities which Paul Ivanovitch possessed. Finally, he delivered on Chichikov, with

acutelyknitted brows, a eulogy couched in the most charming of terms, and coupled with sundry sentiments

on the subject of friendship and affection in general. True, these remarks sufficed to indicate the tender

impulses of the speaker's heart, but also they did nothing to enlighten his examiners concerning the business

that was actually at hand. As for Sobakevitch, that landowner replied that he considered Chichikov an

excellent fellow, as well as that the souls whom he had sold to his visitor had been in the truest sense of the

word alive, but that he could not answer for anything which might occur in the future, seeing that any

difficulties which might arise in the course of the actual transferment of souls would not be HIS fault, in view

of the fact that God was lord of all, and that fevers and other mortal complaints were so numerous in the

world, and that instances of whole villages perishing through the same could be found on record.

Finally, our friends the tchinovniks found themselves compelled to resort to an expedient which, though not

particularly savoury, is not infrequently employednamely, the expedient of getting lacqueys quietly to

approach the servants of the person concerning whom information is desired, and to ascertain from them (the

servants) certain details with regard to their master's life and antecedents. Yet even from this source very little

was obtained, since Petrushka provided his interrogators merely with a taste of the smell of his livingroom,

and Selifan confined his replies to a statement that the barin had "been in the employment of the State, and

In short, the sum total of the results gathered by the tchinovniks was that they still stood in ignorance of

Chichikov's identity, but that he MUST be some one; wherefore it was decided to hold a final debate on the

subject on what ought to be done, and who Chichikov could possibly be, and whether or not he was a man

who ought to be apprehended and detained as not respectable, or whether he was a man who might himself be

able to apprehend and detain THEM as persons lacking in respectability. The debate in question, it was

proposed, should be held at the residence of the Chief of Police, who is known to our readers as the father and

On assembling at the residence indicated, the tchinovniks had occasion to remark that, owing to all these

cares and excitements, every one of their number had grown thinner. Yes, the appointment of a new

GovernorGeneral, coupled with the rumours described and the reception of the two serious documents

abovementioned, had left manifest traces upon the features of every one present. More than one frockcoat

had come to look too large for its wearer, and more than one frame had fallen away, including the frames of

the President of the Council, the Director of the Medical Department, and the Public Prosecutor. Even a

certain Semen Ivanovitch, who, for some reason or another, was never alluded to by his family name, but

who wore on his index finger a ring with which he was accustomed to dazzle his lady friends, had diminished

in bulk. Yet, as always happens at such junctures, there were also present a score of brazen individuals who

had succeeded in NOT losing their presence of mind, even though they constituted a mere sprinkling. Of

them the Postmaster formed one, since he was a man of equable temperament who could always say: "WE

know you, GovernorGenerals! We have seen three or four of you come and go, whereas WE have been

sitting on the same stools these thirty years." Nevertheless a prominent feature of the gathering was the total

absence of what is vulgarly known as "common sense." In general, we Russians do not make a good show at

representative assemblies, for the reason that, unless there be in authority a leading spirit to control the rest,

the affair always develops into confusion. Why this should be so one could hardly say, but at all events a

success is scored only by such gatherings as have for their object dining and festivityto wit, gatherings at

clubs or in Germanrun restaurants. However, on the present occasion, the meeting was NOT one of this

kind; it was a meeting convoked of necessity, and likely in view of the threatened calamity to affect every

tchinovnik in the place. Also, in addition to the great divergency of views expressed thereat, there was visible

in all the speakers an invincible tendency to indecision which led them at one moment to make assertions,

and at the next to contradict the same. But on at least one point all seemed to agreenamely, that

Chichikov's appearance and conversation were too respectable for him to be a forger or a disguised brigand.

That is to say, all SEEMED to agree on the point; until a sudden shout arose from the direction of the

Taking a pinch of snuff (which he did with the lid of his snuffbox halfopen, lest some extraneous person

should contrive to insert a not overclean finger into the stuff), the Postmaster related the following story[1].

[1] To reproduce this story with a raciness worthy of the Russian original is practically impossible. The

"After fighting in the campaign of 1812, there was sent home, wounded, a certain Captain Kopeikina

headstrong, lively blade who, whether on duty or under arrest, made things lively for everybody. Now, since

at Krasni or at Leipzig (it matters not which) he had lost an arm and a leg, and in those days no provision was

made for wounded soldiers, and he could not work with his left arm alone, he set out to see his father.

Unfortunately his father could only just support himself, and was forced to tell his son so; wherefore the

Captain decided to go and apply for help in St. Petersburg, seeing that he had risked his life for his country,

and had lost much blood in its service. You can imagine him arriving in the capital on a baggage waggonin

the capital which is like no other city in the world! Before him there lay spread out the whole field of life, like

a sort of Arabian Nightsa picture made up of the Nevski Prospect, Gorokhovaia Street, countless tapering

spires, and a number of bridges apparently supported on nothingin fact, a regular second Nineveh. Well, he

made shift to hire a lodging, but found everything so wonderfully furnished with blinds and Persian carpets

and so forth that he saw it would mean throwing away a lot of money. True, as one walks the streets of St.

Petersburg one seems to smell money by the thousand roubles, but our friend Kopeikin's bank was limited to

a few score coppers and a little silvernot enough to buy a village with! At length, at the price of a rouble a

day, he obtained a lodging in the sort of tavern where the daily ration is a bowl of cabbage soup and a crust of

bread; and as he felt that he could not manage to live very long on fare of that kind he asked folk what he had

better do. 'What you had better do?' they said. 'Well the Government is not hereit is in Paris, and the troops

have not yet returned from the war; but there is a TEMPORARY Commission sitting, and you had better go

and see what IT can do for you.' 'All right!' he said. 'I will go and tell the Commission that I have shed my

blood, and sacrificed my life, for my country.' And he got up early one morning, and shaved himself with his

left hand (since the expense of a barber was not worth while), and set out, wooden leg and all, to see the

President of the Commission. But first he asked where the President lived, and was told that his house was in

Naberezhnaia Street. And you may be sure that it was no peasant's hut, with its glazed windows and great

mirrors and statues and lacqueys and brass door handles! Rather, it was the sort of place which you would

enter only after you had bought a cheap cake of soap and indulged in a two hours' wash. Also, at the entrance

there was posted a grand Swiss footman with a baton and an embroidered collara fellow looking like a fat,

overfed pug dog. However, friend Kopeikin managed to get himself and his wooden leg into the reception

room, and there squeezed himself away into a corner, for fear lest he should knock down the gilded china

with his elbow. And he stood waiting in great satisfaction at having arrived before the President had so much

as left his bed and been served with his silver washbasin. Nevertheless, it was only when Kopeikin had been

waiting four hours that a breakfast waiter entered to say, 'The President will soon be here.' By now the room

was as full of people as a plate is of beans, and when the President left the breakfastroom he brought with

him, oh, such dignity and refinement, and such an air of the metropolis! First he walked up to one person, and

then up to another, saying: 'What do YOU want? And what do YOU want? What can I do for YOU? What is

YOUR business?' And at length he stopped before Kopeikin, and Kopeikin said to him: 'I have shed my

blood, and lost both an arm and a leg, for my country, and am unable to work. Might I therefore dare to ask

you for a little help, if the regulations should permit of it, or for a gratuity, or for a pension, or something of

the kind?' Then the President looked at him, and saw that one of his legs was indeed a wooden one, and that

an empty right sleeve was pinned to his uniform. 'Very well,' he said. 'Come to me again in a few days' time.'

Upon this friend Kopeikin felt delighted. 'NOW I have done my job!' he thought to himself; and you may

imagine how gaily he trotted along the pavement, and how he dropped into a tavern for a glass of vodka, and

how he ordered a cutlet and some caper sauce and some other things for luncheon, and how he called for a

bottle of wine, and how he went to the theatre in the evening! In short, he did himself thoroughly well. Next,

he saw in the street a young English lady, as graceful as a swan, and set off after her on his wooden leg. 'But

no,' he thought to himself. 'To the devil with that sort of thing just now! I will wait until I have drawn my

pension. For the present I have spent enough.' (And I may tell you that by now he had got through fully half

his money.) Two or three days later he went to see the President of the Commission again. 'I should be glad

to know,' he said, 'whether by now you can do anything for me in return for my having shed my blood and

suffered sickness and wounds on military service.' 'First of all,' said the President, 'I must tell you that nothing

can be decided in your case without the authority of the Supreme Government. Without that sanction we

cannot move in the matter. Surely you see how things stand until the army shall have returned from the war?

All that I can advise you to do is wait for the Minister to return, and, in the meanwhile, to have patience. Rest

assured that then you will not be overlooked. And if for the moment you have nothing to live upon, this is the

best that I can do for you.' With that he handed Kopeikin a trifle until his case should have been decided.

However, that was not what Kopeikin wanted. He had supposed that he would be given a gratuity of a

thousand roubles straight away; whereas, instead of 'Drink and be merry,' it was 'Wait, for the time is not yet.'

Thus, though his head had been full of soup plates and cutlets and English girls, he now descended the steps

with his ears and his tail downlooking, in fact, like a poodle over which the cook has poured a bucketful of

water. You see, St. Petersburg life had changed him not a little since first he had got a taste of it, and, now

that the devil only knew how he was going to live, it came all the harder to him that he should have no more

sweets to look forward to. Remember that a man in the prime of years has an appetite like a wolf; and as he

passed a restaurant he could see a roundfaced, hollandshirted, snowwhite aproned fellow of a French chef

preparing a dish delicious enough to make it turn to and eat itself; while, again, as he passed a fruit shop he

could see delicacies looking out of a window for fools to come and buy them at a hundred roubles apiece.

Imagine, therefore, his position! On the one hand, so to speak, were salmon and watermelons, while on the

other hand was the bitter fare which passed at a tavern for luncheon. 'Well,' he thought to himself, 'let them

do what they like with me at the Commission, but I intend to go and raise the whole place, and to tell every

blessed functionary there that I have a mind to do as I choose.' And in truth this bold impertinence of a man

did have the hardihood to return to the Commission. 'What do you want?' said the President. 'Why are you

here for the third time? You have had your orders given you.' 'I daresay I have,' he retorted, 'but I am not

going to be put off with THEM. I want some cutlets to eat, and a bottle of French wine, and a chance to go

and amuse myself at the theatre.' 'Pardon me,' said the President. 'What you really need (if I may venture to

mention it) is a little patience. You have been given something for food until the Military Committee shall

have met, and then, doubtless, you will receive your proper reward, seeing that it would not be seemly that a

man who has served his country should be left destitute. On the other hand, if, in the meanwhile, you desire

to indulge in cutlets and theatregoing, please understand that we cannot help you, but you must make your

own resources, and try as best you can to help yourself.' You can imagine that this went in at one of

Kopeikin's ears, and out at the other; that it was like shooting peas at a stone wall. Accordingly he raised a

turmoil which sent the staff flying. One by one, he gave the mob of secretaries and clerks a real good

hammering. 'You, and you, and you,' he said, 'do not even know your duties. You are lawbreakers.' Yes, he

trod every man of them under foot. At length the General himself arrived from another office, and sounded

the alarm. What was to be done with a fellow like Kopeikin? The President saw that strong measures were

imperative. 'Very well,' he said. 'Since you decline to rest satisfied with what has been given you, and quietly

to await the decision of your case in St. Petersburg, I must find you a lodging. Here, constable, remove the

man to gaol.' Then a constable who had been called to the doora constable three ells in height, and armed

with a carbinea man well fitted to guard a bankplaced our friend in a police waggon. 'Well,' reflected

Kopeikin, 'at least I shan't have to pay my fare for THIS ride. That's one comfort.' Again, after he had ridden

a little way, he said to himself: 'they told me at the Commission to go and make my own means of enjoying

myself. Very good. I'll do so.' However, what became of Kopeikin, and whither he went, is known to no one.

He sank, to use the poet's expression, into the waters of Lethe, and his doings now lie buried in oblivion. But

allow me, gentlemen, to piece together the further threads of the story. Not two months later there appeared in

the forests of Riazan a band of robbers: and of that band the chieftain was none other than"

"Allow me," put in the Head of the Police Department. "You have said that Kopeikin had lost an arm and a

To say anything more was unnecessary. The Postmaster clapped his hand to his forehead, and publicly called

himself a fool, though, later, he tried to excuse his mistake by saying that in England the science of

mechanics had reached such a pitch that wooden legs were manufactured which would enable the wearer, on

Various other theories were then propounded, among them a theory that Chichikov was Napoleon, escaped

from St. Helena and travelling about the world in disguise. And if it should be supposed that no such notion

could possibly have been broached, let the reader remember that these events took place not many years after

the French had been driven out of Russia, and that various prophets had since declared that Napoleon was

Antichrist, and would one day escape from his island prison to exercise universal sway on earth. Nay, some

good folk had even declared the letters of Napoleon's name to constitute the Apocalyptic cipher!

As a last resort, the tchinovniks decided to question Nozdrev, since not only had the latter been the first to

mention the dead souls, but also he was supposed to stand on terms of intimacy with Chichikov. Accordingly

the Chief of Police dispatched a note by the hand of a commissionaire. At the time Nozdrev was engaged on

some very important businessso much so that he had not left his room for four days, and was receiving his

meals through the window, and no visitors at all. The business referred to consisted of the marking of several

dozen selected cards in such a way as to permit of his relying upon them as upon his bosom friend. Naturally

he did not like having his retirement invaded, and at first consigned the commissionaire to the devil; but as

soon as he learnt from the note that, since a novice at cards was to be the guest of the Chief of Police that

evening, a call at the latter's house might prove not wholly unprofitable he relented, unlocked the door of his

room, threw on the first garments that came to hand, and set forth. To every question put to him by the

tchinovniks he answered firmly and with assurance. Chichikov, he averred, had indeed purchased dead souls,

and to the tune of several thousand roubles. In fact, he (Nozdrev) had himself sold him some, and still saw no

reason why he should not have done so. Next, to the question of whether or not he considered Chichikov to

be a spy, he replied in the affirmative, and added that, as long ago as his and Chichikov's joint schooldays, the

said Chichikov had been known as "The Informer," and repeatedly been thrashed by his companions on that

account. Again, to the question of whether or not Chichikov was a forger of currency notes the deponent, as

before, responded in the affirmative, and appended thereto an anecdote illustrative of Chichikov's

extraordinary dexterity of handnamely, an anecdote to that effect that, once upon a time, on learning that

two million roubles worth of counterfeit notes were lying in Chichikov's house, the authorities had placed

seals upon the building, and had surrounded it on every side with an armed guard; whereupon Chichikov had,

during the night, changed each of these seals for a new one, and also so arranged matters that, when the house

Again, to the question of whether or not Chichikov had schemed to abduct the Governor's daughter, and also

whether it was true that he, Nozdrev, had undertaken to aid and abet him in the act, the witness replied that,

had he not undertaken to do so, the affair would never have come off. At this point the witness pulled himself

up, on realising that he had told a lie which might get him into trouble; but his tongue was not to be

deniedthe details trembling on its tip were too alluring, and he even went on to cite the name of the village

church where the pair had arranged to be married, that of the priest who had performed the ceremony, the

amount of the fees paid for the same (seventyfive roubles), and statements (1) that the priest had refused to

solemnise the wedding until Chichikov had frightened him by threatening to expose the fact that he (the

priest) had married Mikhail, a local corn dealer, to his paramour, and (2) that Chichikov had ordered both a

koliaska for the couple's conveyance and relays of horses from the posthouses on the road. Nay, the

narrative, as detailed by Nozdrev, even reached the point of his mentioning certain of the postillions by name!

Next, the tchinovniks sounded him on the question of Chichikov's possible identity with Napoleon; but before

long they had reason to regret the step, for Nozdrev responded with a rambling rigmarole such as bore no

resemblance to anything possibly conceivable. Finally, the majority of the audience left the room, and only

the Chief of Police remained to listen (in the hope of gathering something more); but at last even he found

himself forced to disclaim the speaker with a gesture which said: "The devil only knows what the fellow is

talking about!" and so voiced the general opinion that it was no use trying to gather figs of thistles.

Meanwhile Chichikov knew nothing of these events; for, having contracted a slight chill, coupled with a sore

throat, he had decided to keep his room for three days; during which time he gargled his throat with milk and

fig juice, consumed the fruit from which the juice had been extracted, and wore around his neck a poultice of

camomile and camphor. Also, to while away the hours, he made new and more detailed lists of the souls

which he had bought, perused a work by the Duchesse de la Valliere[2], rummaged in his portmanteau,

looked through various articles and papers which he discovered in his dispatchbox, and found every one of

these occupations tedious. Nor could he understand why none of his official friends had come to see him and

inquire after his health, seeing that, not long since, there had been standing in front of the inn the drozhkis

both of the Postmaster, the Public Prosecutor, and the President of the Council. He wondered and wondered,

and then, with a shrug of his shoulders, fell to pacing the room. At length he felt better, and his spirits rose at

the prospect of once more going out into the fresh air; wherefore, having shaved a plentiful growth of hair

from his face, he dressed with such alacrity as almost to cause a split in his trousers, sprinkled himself with

eaudeCologne, and wrapping himself in warm clothes, and turning up the collar of his coat, sallied forth

into the street. His first destination was intended to be the Governor's mansion, and, as he walked along,

certain thoughts concerning the Governor's daughter would keep whirling through his head, so that almost he

[2] One of the mistresses of Louis XIV. of France. In 1680 she wrote a book called Reflexions sur la

Arrived at the Governor's entrance, he was about to divest himself of his scarf when a Swiss footman greeted

"What?" he exclaimed. "You do not know me? Look at me again, and see if you do not recognise me."

"Of course I recognise you," the footman replied. "I have seen you before, but have been ordered to admit

"Those are my orders, and they must be obeyed," said the footman, confronting Chichikov with none of that

politeness with which, on former occasions, he had hastened to divest our hero of his wrappings. Evidently he

was of opinion that, since the gentry declined to receive the visitor, the latter must certainly be a rogue.

"I cannot understand it," said Chichikov to himself. Then he departed, and made his way to the house of the

President of the Council. But so put about was that official by Chichikov's entry that he could not utter two

consecutive wordshe could only murmur some rubbish which left both his visitor and himself out of

countenance. Chichikov wondered, as he left the house, what the President's muttered words could have

meant, but failed to make head or tail of them. Next, he visited, in turn, the Chief of Police, the

ViceGovernor, the Postmaster, and others; but in each case he either failed to be accorded admittance or

was received so strangely, and with such a measure of constraint and conversational awkwardness and

absence of mind and embarrassment, that he began to fear for the sanity of his hosts. Again and again did he

strive to divine the cause, but could not do so; so he went wandering aimlessly about the town, without

succeeding in making up his mind whether he or the officials had gone crazy. At length, in a state bordering

upon bewilderment, he returned to the innto the establishment whence, that every afternoon, he had set

forth in such exuberance of spirits. Feeling the need of something to do, he ordered tea, and, still marvelling

at the strangeness of his position, was about to pour out the beverage when the door opened and Nozdrev

"What says the proverb?" he began. "'To see a friend, seven versts is not too long a round to make.' I

happened to be passing the house, saw a light in your window, and thought to myself: 'Now, suppose I were

to run up and pay him a visit? It is unlikely that he will be asleep.' Ah, ha! I see tea on your table! Good!

Then I will drink a cup with you, for I had wretched stuff for dinner, and it is beginning to lie heavy on my

"Rubbish! As if I did not know what a chimneypot you are! What is your man's name? Hi, Vakhramei!

"Oh, well. Then it must be Derebin's man I am thinking of. What a lucky fellow that Derebin is! An aunt of

his has gone and quarrelled with her son for marrying a serf woman, and has left all her property to HIM, to

Derebin. Would that _I_ had an aunt of that kind to provide against future contingencies! But why have you

been hiding yourself away? I suppose the reason has been that you go in for abstruse subjects and are fond of

reading" (why Nozdrev should have drawn these conclusions no one could possibly have saidleast of all

Chichikov himself). "By the way, I can tell you of something that would have found you scope for your

satirical vein" (the conclusion as to Chichikov's "satirical vein" was, as before, altogether unwarranted on

Nozdrev's part). "That is to say, you would have seen merchant Likhachev losing a pile of money at play. My

word, you would have laughed! A fellow with me named Perependev said: 'Would that Chichikov had been

here! It would have been the very thing for him!'" (As a matter of fact, never since the day of his birth had

Nozdrev met any one of the name of Perependev.) "However, my friend, you must admit that you treated me

rather badly the day that we played that game of chess; but, as I won the game, I bear you no malice. A

propos, I am just from the President's, and ought to tell you that the feeling against you in the town is very

strong, for every one believes you to be a forger of currency notes. I myself was sent for and questioned

about you, but I stuck up for you through thick and thin, and told the tchinovniks that I had been at school

with you, and had known your father. In fact, I gave the fellows a knock or two for themselves."

"You say that I am believed to be a forger?" said Chichikov, starting from his seat.

"Yes," said Nozdrev. "Why have you gone and frightened everybody as you have done? Some of our folk are

almost out of their minds about it, and declare you to be either a brigand in disguise or a spy. Yesterday the

Public Prosecutor even died of it, and is to be buried tomorrow" (this was true in so far as that, on the

previous day, the official in question had had a fatal strokeprobably induced by the excitement of the

public meeting). "Of course, _I_ don't suppose you to be anything of the kind, but, you see, these fellows are

in a blue funk about the new GovernorGeneral, for they think he will make trouble for them over your

affair. A propos, he is believed to be a man who puts on airs, and turns up his nose at everything; and if so, he

will get on badly with the dvoriane, seeing that fellows of that sort need to be humoured a bit. Yes, my word!

Should the new GovernorGeneral shut himself up in his study, and give no balls, there will be the very devil

"Why, that scheme of carrying off the Governor's daughter. However, to tell the truth, I was expecting

something of the kind. No sooner did I see you and her together at the ball than I said to myself: 'Ah, ha!

Chichikov is not here for nothing!' For my own part, I think you have made a poor choice, for I can see

nothing in her at all. On the other hand, the niece of a friend of mine named Bikusovshe IS a girl, and no

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Chichikov with his eyes distended. "HOW could I carry off the

"Come, come! What a secretive fellow you are! My only object in having come to see you is to lend you a

helping hand in the matter. Look here. On condition that you will lend me three thousand roubles, I will stand

you the cost of the wedding, the koliaska, and the relays of horses. I must have the money even if I die for it."

Throughout Nozdrev's maunderings Chichikov had been rubbing his eyes to ascertain whether or not he was

dreaming. What with the charge of being a forger, the accusation of having schemed an abduction, the death

of the Public Prosecutor (whatever might have been its cause), and the advent of a new GovernorGeneral,

"Things having come to their present pass," he reflected, "I had better not linger hereI had better be off at

Getting rid of Nozdrev as soon as he could, he sent for Selifan, and ordered him to be up at daybreak, in order

to clean the britchka and to have everything ready for a start at six o'clock. Yet, though Selifan replied, "Very

well, Paul Ivanovitch," he hesitated awhile by the door. Next, Chichikov bid Petrushka get out the dusty

portmanteau from under the bed, and then set to work to cram into it, pellmell, socks, shirts, collars (both

clean and dirty), boot trees, a calendar, and a variety of other articles. Everything went into the receptacle just

as it came to hand, since his one object was to obviate any possible delay in the morning's departure.

Meanwhile the reluctant Selifan slowly, very slowly, left the room, as slowly descended the staircase (on

each separate step of which he left a muddy footprint), and, finally, halted to scratch his head. What that

scratching may have meant no one could say; for, with the Russian populace, such a scratching may mean

Nevertheless events did not turn out as Chichikov had intended they should. In the first place, he overslept

himself. That was check number one. In the second place, on his rising and inquiring whether the britchka

had been harnessed and everything got ready, he was informed that neither of those two things had been

done. That was check number two. Beside himself with rage, he prepared to give Selifan the wigging of his

life, and, meanwhile, waited impatiently to hear what the delinquent had got to say in his defence. It goes

without saying that when Selifan made his appearance in the doorway he had only the usual excuses to

offerthe sort of excuses usually offered by servants when a hasty departure has become imperatively

"Blockhead!" exclaimed Chichikov. "Why did you not tell me of that before, you damned fool? Was there

"Yes, I suppose there was," agreed Selifan. "Also one of the wheels is in want of a new tyre, for the roads are

so rough that the old tyre is worn through. Also, the body of the britchka is so rickety that probably it will not

"Rascal!" shouted Chichikov, clenching his fists and approaching Selifan in such a manner that, fearing to

receive a blow, the man backed and dodged aside. "Do you mean to ruin me, and to break all our bones on

the road, you cursed idiot? For these three weeks past you have been doing nothing at all; yet now, at the last

moment, you come here stammering and playing the fool! Do you think I keep you just to eat and to drive

yourself about? You must have known of this before? Did you, or did you not, know it? Answer me at once."

Selifan had no reply immediately ready, so continued to hang his head while quietly saying to himself: "See

"And now," continued Chichikov, "go you at once and fetch a blacksmith. Tell him that everything must be

put right within two hours at the most. Do you hear? If that should not be done, I, II will give you the best

flogging that ever you had in your life." Truly Chichikov was almost beside himself with fury.

Turning towards the door, as though for the purpose of going and carrying out his orders, Selifan halted and

"That skewbald, barinyou might think it well to sell him, seeing that he is nothing but a rascal? A horse

"Well, Paul Ivanovitch, he is good for nothing but show, since by nature he is a most cunning beast. Never in

"Fool! Whenever I may wish to sell him I SHALL sell him. Meanwhile, don't you trouble your head about

what doesn't concern you, but go and fetch a blacksmith, and see that everything is put right within two

hours. Otherwise I will take the very hair off your head, and beat you till you haven't a face left. Be off!

Selifan departed, and Chichikov, his illhumour vented, threw down upon the floor the poignard which he

always took with him as a means of instilling respect into whomsoever it might concern, and spent the next

quarter of an hour in disputing with a couple of blacksmithsmen who, as usual, were rascals of the type

which, on perceiving that something is wanted in a hurry, at once multiplies its terms for providing the same.

Indeed, for all Chichikov's storming and raging as he dubbed the fellows robbers and extortioners and

thieves, he could make no impression upon the pair, since, true to their character, they declined to abate their

prices, and, even when they had begun their work, spent upon it, not two hours, but five and a half.

Meanwhile he had the satisfaction of experiencing that delightful time with which all travellers are

familiarnamely, the time during which one sits in a room where, except for a litter of string, waste paper,

and so forth, everything else has been packed. But to all things there comes an end, and there arrived also the

longawaited moment when the britchka had received the luggage, the faulty wheel had been fitted with a

new tyre, the horses had been reshod, and the predatory blacksmiths had departed with their gains. "Thank

God!" thought Chichikov as the britchka rolled out of the gates of the inn, and the vehicle began to jolt over

the cobblestones. Yet a feeling which he could not altogether have defined filled his breast as he gazed upon

the houses and the streets and the garden walls which he might never see again. Presently, on turning a

corner, the britchka was brought to a halt through the fact that along the street there was filing a seemingly

endless funeral procession. Leaning forward in his britchka, Chichikov asked Petrushka whose obsequies the

procession represented, and was told that they represented those of the Public Prosecutor. Disagreeably

shocked, our hero hastened to raise the hood of the vehicle, to draw the curtains across the windows, and to

lean back into a corner. While the britchka remained thus halted Selifan and Petrushka, their caps doffed, sat

watching the progress of the cortege, after they had received strict instructions not to greet any

fellowservant whom they might recognise. Behind the hearse walked the whole body of tchinovniks,

bareheaded; and though, for a moment or two, Chichikov feared that some of their number might discern

him in his britchka, he need not have disturbed himself, since their attention was otherwise engaged. In fact,

they were not even exchanging the small talk customary among members of such processions, but thinking

exclusively of their own affairs, of the advent of the new GovernorGeneral, and of the probable manner in

which he would take up the reins of administration. Next came a number of carriages, from the windows of

which peered the ladies in mourning toilets. Yet the movements of their hands and lips made it evident that

they were indulging in animated conversationprobably about the GovernorGeneral, the balls which he

might be expected to give, and their own eternal fripperies and gewgaws. Lastly came a few empty drozhkis.

As soon as the latter had passed, our hero was able to continue on his way. Throwing back the hood of the

"Ah, good friend, you have lived your life, and now it is over! In the newspapers they will say of you that you

died regretted not only by your subordinates, but also by humanity at large, as well as that, a respected

citizen, a kind father, and a husband beyond reproach, you went to your grave amid the tears of your widow

and orphans. Yet, should those journals be put to it to name any particular circumstance which justified this

eulogy of you, they would be forced to fall back upon the fact that you grew a pair of exceptionally thick

With that Chichikov bid Selifan quicken his pace, and concluded: "After all, it is as well that I encountered

Presently the britchka turned into some less frequented streets, lines of wooden fencing of the kind which

mark the outskirts of a town began to file by, the cobblestones came to an end, the macadam of the highroad

succeeded to them, and once more there began on either side of the turnpike a procession of verst stones, road

menders, and grey villages; inns with samovars and peasant women and landlords who came running out of

yards with seivefuls of oats; pedestrians in worn shoes which, it might be, had covered eight hundred versts;

little towns, bright with booths for the sale of flour in barrels, boots, small loaves, and other trifles; heaps of

slag; much repaired bridges; expanses of field to right and to left; stout landowners; a mounted soldier

bearing a green, ironclamped box inscribed: "The th Battery of Artillery"; long strips of freshlytilled

earth which gleamed green, yellow, and black on the face of the countryside. With it mingled longdrawn

singing, glimpses of elmtops amid mist, the faroff notes of bells, endless clouds of rocks, and the

Ah, Russia, Russia, from my beautiful home in a strange land I can still see you! In you everything is poor

and disordered and unhomely; in you the eye is neither cheered nor dismayed by temerities of nature which a

yet more temerarious art has conquered; in you one beholds no cities with lofty, manywindowed mansions,

lofty as crags, no picturesque trees, no ivyclad ruins, no waterfalls with their everlasting spray and roar, no

beetling precipices which confuse the brain with their stony immensity, no vistas of vines and ivy and

millions of wild roses and ageless lines of blue hills which look almost unreal against the clear, silvery

background of the sky. In you everything is flat and open; your towns project like points or signals from

smooth levels of plain, and nothing whatsoever enchants or deludes the eye. Yet what secret, what invincible

force draws me to you? Why does there ceaselessly echo and reecho in my ears the sad song which hovers

throughout the length and the breadth of your borders? What is the burden of that song? Why does it wail and

sob and catch at my heart? What say the notes which thus painfully caress and embrace my soul, and flit,

uttering their lamentations, around me? What is it you seek of me, O Russia? What is the hidden bond which

subsists between us? Why do you regard me as you do? Why does everything within you turn upon me eyes

full of yearning? Even at this moment, as I stand dumbly, fixedly, perplexedly contemplating your vastness, a

menacing cloud, charged with gathering rain, seems to overshadow my head. What is it that your boundless

expanses presage? Do they not presage that one day there will arise in you ideas as boundless as yourself? Do

they not presage that one day you too will know no limits? Do they not presage that one day, when again you

shall have room for their exploits, there will spring to life the heroes of old? How the power of your

immensity enfolds me, and reverberates through all my being with a wild, strange spell, and flashes in my

eyes with an almost supernatural radiance! Yes, a strange, brilliant, unearthly vista indeed do you disclose, O

"Stop, stop, you fool!" shouted Chichikov to Selifan; and even as he spoke a troika, bound on Government

business, came chattering by, and disappeared in a cloud of dust. To Chichikov's curses at Selifan for not

having drawn out of the way with more alacrity a rural constable with moustaches of the length of an arshin

What a curious and attractive, yet also what an unreal, fascination the term "highway" connotes! And how

interesting for its own sake is a highway! Should the day be a fine one (though chilly) in mellowing autumn,

press closer your travelling cloak, and draw down your cap over your ears, and snuggle cosily, comfortably

into a corner of the britchka before a last shiver shall course through your limbs, and the ensuing warmth

shall put to flight the autumnal cold and damp. As the horses gallop on their way, how delightfully will

drowsiness come stealing upon you, and make your eyelids droop! For a while, through your somnolence,

you will continue to hear the hard breathing of the team and the rumbling of the wheels; but at length, sinking

back into your corner, you will relapse into the stage of snoring. And when you awakebehold! you will

find that five stages have slipped away, and that the moon is shining, and that you have reached a strange

town of churches and old wooden cupolas and blackened spires and white, halftimbered houses! And as the

moonlight glints hither and thither, almost you will believe that the walls and the streets and the pavements of

the place are spread with sheetssheets shot with coalblack shadows which make the wooden roofs look

all the brighter under the slanting beams of the pale luminary. Nowhere is a soul to be seen, for every one is

plunged in slumber. Yet no. In a solitary window a light is flickering where some good burgher is mending

his boots, or a baker drawing a batch of dough. O night and powers of heaven, how perfect is the blackness of

your infinite vaulthow lofty, how remote its inaccessible depths where it lies spread in an intangible, yet

audible, silence! Freshly does the lulling breath of night blow in your face, until once more you relapse into

snoring oblivion, and your poor neighbour turns angrily in his corner as he begins to be conscious of your

weight. Then again you awake, but this time to find yourself confronted with only fields and steppes.

Everywhere in the ascendant is the desolation of space. But suddenly the ciphers on a verst stone leap to the

eye! Morning is rising, and on the chill, gradually paling line of the horizon you can see gleaming a faint gold

streak. The wind freshens and grows keener, and you snuggle closer in your cloak; yet how glorious is that

freshness, and how marvellous the sleep in which once again you become enfolded! A jolt!and for the last

time you return to consciousness. By now the sun is high in the heavens, and you hear a voice cry "gently,

gently!" as a farm waggon issues from a byroad. Below, enclosed within an ample dike, stretches a sheet of

water which glistens like copper in the sunlight. Beyond, on the side of a slope, lie some scattered peasants'

huts, a manor house, and, flanking the latter, a village church with its cross flashing like a star. There also

comes wafted to your ear the sound of peasants' laughter, while in your inner man you are becoming

Oh longdrawn highway, how excellent you are! How often have I in weariness and despondency set forth

upon your length, and found in you salvation and rest! How often, as I followed your leading, have I been

visited with wonderful thoughts and poetic dreams and curious, wild impressions!

At this moment our friend Chichikov also was experiencing visions of a not wholly prosaic nature. Let us

peep into his soul and share them. At first he remained unconscious of anything whatsoever, for he was too

much engaged in making sure that he was really clear of the town; but as soon as he saw that it had

completely disappeared, with its mills and factories and other urban appurtenances, and that even the steeples

of the white stone churches had sunk below the horizon, he turned his attention to the road, and the town of

N. vanished from his thoughts as completely as though he had not seen it since childhood. Again, in its turn,

the road ceased to interest him, and he began to close his eyes and to loll his head against the cushions. Of

this let the author take advantage, in order to speak at length concerning his hero; since hitherto he (the

author) has been prevented from so doing by Nozdrev and balls and ladies and local intriguesby those

thousand trifles which seem trifles only when they are introduced into a book, but which, in life, figure as

Whether the character whom I have selected for my hero has pleased my readers is, of course, exceedingly

doubtful. At all events the ladies will have failed to approve him for the fair sex demands in a hero perfection,

and, should there be the least mental or physical stain on himwell, woe betide! Yes, no matter how

profoundly the author may probe that hero's soul, no matter how clearly he may portray his figure as in a

mirror, he will be given no credit for the achievement. Indeed, Chichikov's very stoutness and plenitude of

years may have militated against him, for never is a hero pardoned for the former, and the majority of ladies

will, in such case, turn away, and mutter to themselves: "Phew! What a beast!" Yes, the author is well aware

of this. Yet, though he could not, to save his life, take a person of virtue for his principal character, it may be

that this story contains themes never before selected, and that in it there projects the whole boundless wealth

of Russian psychology; that it portrays, as well as Chichikov, the peasant who is gifted with the virtues which

God has sent him, and the marvellous maiden of Russia who has not her like in all the world for her beautiful

feminine spirituality, the roots of which lie buried in noble aspirations and boundless selfdenial. In fact,

compared with these types, the virtuous of other races seem lifeless, as does an inanimate volume when

compared with the living word. Yes, each time that there arises in Russia a movement of thought, it becomes

clear that the movement sinks deep into the Slavonic nature where it would but have skimmed the surface of

other nations.But why am I talking like this? Whither am I tending? It is indeed shameful that an author

who long ago reached man's estate, and was brought up to a course of severe introspection and sober, solitary

selfenlightenment, should give way to such jejune wandering from the point. To everything its proper time

and place and turn. As I was saying, it does not lie in me to take a virtuous character for my hero: and I will

tell you why. It is because it is high time that a rest were given to the "poor, but virtuous" individual; it is

because the phrase "a man of worth" has grown into a byword; it is because the "man of worth" has become

converted into a horse, and there is not a writer but rides him and flogs him, in and out of season; it is because

the "man of worth" has been starved until he has not a shred of his virtue left, and all that remains of his body

is but the ribs and the hide; it is because the "man of worth" is for ever being smuggled upon the scene; it is

because the "man of worth" has at length forfeited every one's respect. For these reasons do I reaffirm that it

Our hero's beginnings were both modest and obscure. True, his parents were dvoriane, but he in no way

resembled them. At all events, a short, squab female relative who was present at his birth exclaimed as she

lifted up the baby: "He is altogether different from what I had expected him to be. He ought to have taken

after his maternal grandmother, whereas he has been born, as the proverb has it, 'like not father nor mother,

but like a chance passerby.'" Thus from the first life regarded the little Chichikov with sour distaste, and as

through a dim, frostencrusted window. A tiny room with diminutive casements which were never opened,

summer or winter; an invalid father in a dressinggown lined with lambskin, and with an ailing foot swathed

in bandagesa man who was continually drawing deep breaths, and walking up and down the room, and

spitting into a sandbox; a period of perpetually sitting on a bench with pen in hand and ink on lips and

fingers; a period of being eternally confronted with the copybook maxim, "Never tell a lie, but obey your

superiors, and cherish virtue in your heart;" an everlasting scraping and shuffling of slippers up and down the

room; a period of continually hearing a wellknown, strident voice exclaim: "So you have been playing the

fool again!" at times when the child, weary of the mortal monotony of his task, had added a superfluous

embellishment to his copy; a period of experiencing the everfamiliar, but everunpleasant, sensation which

ensued upon those words as the boy's ear was painfully twisted between two long fingers bent backwards at

the tipssuch is the miserable picture of that youth of which, in later life, Chichikov preserved but the

faintest of memories! But in this world everything is liable to swift and sudden change; and, one day in early

spring, when the rivers had melted, the father set forth with his little son in a teliezshka[1] drawn by a sorrel

steed of the kind known to horsy folk as a soroka, and having as coachman the diminutive hunchback who,

father of the only serf family belonging to the elder Chichikov, served as general factotum in the Chichikov

establishment. For a day and a half the soroka conveyed them on their way; during which time they spent the

night at a roadside inn, crossed a river, dined off cold pie and roast mutton, and eventually arrived at the

county town. To the lad the streets presented a spectacle of unwonted brilliancy, and he gaped with

amazement. Turning into a side alley wherein the mire necessitated both the most strenuous exertions on the

soroka's part and the most vigorous castigation on the part of the driver and the barin, the conveyance

eventually reached the gates of a courtyard which, combined with a small fruit garden containing various

bushes, a couple of appletrees in blossom, and a mean, dirty little shed, constituted the premises attached to

an antiquatedlooking villa. Here there lived a relative of the Chichikovs, a wizened old lady who went to

market in person and dried her stockings at the samovar. On seeing the boy, she patted his cheek and

expressed satisfaction at his physique; whereupon the fact became disclosed that here he was to abide for a

while, for the purpose of attending a local school. After a night's rest his father prepared to betake himself

homeward again; but no tears marked the parting between him and his son, he merely gave the lad a copper

or two and (a far more important thing) the following injunctions. "See here, my boy. Do your lessons well,

do not idle or play the fool, and above all things, see that you please your teachers. So long as you observe

these rules you will make progress, and surpass your fellows, even if God shall have denied you brains, and

you should fail in your studies. Also, do not consort overmuch with your comrades, for they will do you no

good; but, should you do so, then make friends with the richer of them, since one day they may be useful to

you. Also, never entertain or treat any one, but see that every one entertains and treats YOU. Lastly, and

above all else, keep and save your every kopeck. To save money is the most important thing in life. Always a

friend or a comrade may fail you, and be the first to desert you in a time of adversity; but never will a

KOPECK fail you, whatever may be your plight. Nothing in the world cannot be done, cannot be attained,

with the aid of money." These injunctions given, the father embraced his son, and set forth on his return; and

though the son never again beheld his parent, the latter's words and precepts sank deep into the little

The next day young Pavlushka made his first attendance at school. But no special aptitude in any branch of

learning did he display. Rather, his distinguishing characteristics were diligence and neatness. On the other

hand, he developed great intelligence as regards the PRACTICAL aspect of life. In a trice he divined and

comprehended how things ought to be worked, and, from that time forth, bore himself towards his

schoolfellows in such a way that, though they frequently gave him presents, he not only never returned the

compliment, but even on occasions pocketed the gifts for the mere purpose of selling them again. Also, boy

though he was, he acquired the art of selfdenial. Of the trifle which his father had given him on parting he

spent not a kopeck, but, the same year, actually added to his little store by fashioning a bullfinch of wax,

painting it, and selling the same at a handsome profit. Next, as time went on, he engaged in other

speculationsin particular, in the scheme of buying up eatables, taking his seat in class beside boys who had

plenty of pocketmoney, and, as soon as such opulent individuals showed signs of failing attention (and,

therefore, of growing appetite), tendering them, from beneath the desk, a roll of pudding or a piece of

gingerbread, and charging according to degree of appetite and size of portion. He also spent a couple of

months in training a mouse, which he kept confined in a little wooden cage in his bedroom. At length, when

the training had reached the point that, at the several words of command, the mouse would stand upon its

hind legs, lie down, and get up again, he sold the creature for a respectable sum. Thus, in time, his gains

attained the amount of five roubles; whereupon he made himself a purse and then started to fill a second

receptacle of the kind. Still more studied was his attitude towards the authorities. No one could sit more

quietly in his place on the bench than he. In the same connection it may be remarked that his teacher was a

man who, above all things, loved peace and good behaviour, and simply could not abide clever, witty boys,

since he suspected them of laughing at him. Consequently any lad who had once attracted the master's

attention with a manifestation of intelligence needed but to shuffle in his place, or unintentionally to twitch an

eyebrow, for the said master at once to burst into a rage, to turn the supposed offender out of the room, and to

visit him with unmerciful punishment. "Ah, my fine fellow," he would say, "I'LL cure you of your impudence

and want of respect! I know you through and through far better than you know yourself, and will take good

care that you have to go down upon your knees and curb your appetite." Whereupon the wretched lad would,

for no cause of which he was aware, be forced to wear out his breeches on the floor and go hungry for days.

"Talents and gifts," the schoolmaster would declare, "are so much rubbish. I respect only good behaviour, and

shall award full marks to those who conduct themselves properly, even if they fail to learn a single letter of

their alphabet: whereas to those in whom I may perceive a tendency to jocularity I shall award nothing, even

though they should outdo Solon himself." For the same reason he had no great love of the author Krylov, in

that the latter says in one of his Fables: "In my opinion, the more one sings, the better one works;" and often

the pedagogue would relate how, in a former school of his, the silence had been such that a fly could be heard

buzzing on the wing, and for the space of a whole year not a single pupil sneezed or coughed in class, and so

complete was the absence of all sound that no one could have told that there was a soul in the place. Of this

mentor young Chichikov speedily appraised the mentality; wherefore he fashioned his behaviour to

correspond with it. Not an eyelid, not an eyebrow, would he stir during school hours, howsoever many

pinches he might receive from behind; and only when the bell rang would he run to anticipate his fellows in

handing the master the threecornered cap which that dignitary customarily sported, and then to be the first to

leave the classroom, and contrive to meet the master not less than two or three times as the latter walked

homeward, in order that, on each occasion, he might doff his cap. And the scheme proved entirely successful.

Throughout the period of his attendance at school he was held in high favour, and, on leaving the

establishment, received full marks for every subject, as well as a diploma and a book inscribed (in gilt letters)

"For Exemplary Diligence and the Perfection of Good Conduct." By this time he had grown into a fairly

goodlooking youth of the age when the chin first calls for a razor; and at about the same period his father

died, leaving behind him, as his estate, four waistcoats completely worn out, two ancient frockcoats, and a

small sum of money. Apparently he had been skilled only in RECOMMENDING the saving of kopecksnot

in ACTUALLY PRACTISING the art. Upon that Chichikov sold the old house and its little parcel of land for

a thousand roubles, and removed, with his one serf and the serf's family, to the capital, where he set about

organising a new establishment and entering the Civil Service. Simultaneously with his doing so, his old

schoolmaster lost (through stupidity or otherwise) the establishment over which he had hitherto presided, and

in which he had set so much store by silence and good behaviour. Grief drove him to drink, and when nothing

was left, even for that purpose, he retiredill, helpless, and starvinginto a brokendown, cheerless hovel.

But certain of his former pupilsthe same clever, witty lads whom he had once been wont to accuse of

impertinence and evil conduct generallyheard of his pitiable plight, and collected for him what money they

could, even to the point of selling their own necessaries. Only Chichikov, when appealed to, pleaded

inability, and compromised with a contribution of a single piatak[2]: which his old schoolfellows straightway

returned himfull in the face, and accompanied with a shout of "Oh, you skinflint!" As for the poor

schoolmaster, when he heard what his former pupils had done, he buried his face in his hands, and the tears

gushed from his failing eyes as from those of a helpless infant. "God has brought you but to weep over my

deathbed," he murmured feebly; and added with a profound sigh, on hearing of Chichikov's conduct: "Ah,

Pavlushka, how a human being may become changed! Once you were a good lad, and gave me no trouble;

Yet let it not be inferred from this that our hero's character had grown so blase and hard, or his conscience so

blunted, as to preclude his experiencing a particle of sympathy or compassion. As a matter of fact, he was

capable both of the one and the other, and would have been glad to assist his old teacher had no great sum

been required, or had he not been called upon to touch the fund which he had decided should remain intact. In

other words, the father's injunction, "Guard and save every kopeck," had become a hard and fast rule of the

son's. Yet the youth had no particular attachment to money for money's sake; he was not possessed with the

true instinct for hoarding and niggardliness. Rather, before his eyes there floated ever a vision of life and its

amenities and advantagesa vision of carriages and an elegantly furnished house and recherche dinners; and

it was in the hope that some day he might attain these things that he saved every kopeck and, meanwhile,

stinted both himself and others. Whenever a rich man passed him by in a splendid drozhki drawn by swift and

handsomelycaparisoned horses, he would halt as though deep in thought, and say to himself, like a man

awakening from a long sleep: "That gentleman must have been a financier, he has so little hair on his brow."

In short, everything connected with wealth and plenty produced upon him an ineffaceable impression. Even

when he left school he took no holiday, so strong in him was the desire to get to work and enter the Civil

Service. Yet, for all the encomiums contained in his diploma, he had much ado to procure a nomination to a

Government Department; and only after a long time was a minor post found for him, at a salary of thirty or

fourty roubles a year. Nevertheless, wretched though this appointment was, he determined, by strict attention

to business, to overcome all obstacles, and to win success. And, indeed, the selfdenial, the patience, and the

economy which he displayed were remarkable. From early morn until late at night he would, with

indefatigable zeal of body and mind, remain immersed in his sordid task of copying official

documentsnever going home, snatching what sleep he could on tables in the building, and dining with the

watchman on duty. Yet all the while he contrived to remain clean and neat, to preserve a cheerful expression

of countenance, and even to cultivate a certain elegance of movement. In passing, it may be remarked that his

fellow tchinovniks were a peculiarly plain, unsightly lot, some of them having faces like badly baked bread,

swollen cheeks, receding chins, and cracked and blistered upper lips. Indeed, not a man of them was

handsome. Also, their tone of voice always contained a note of sullenness, as though they had a mind to

knock some one on the head; and by their frequent sacrifices to Bacchus they showed that even yet there

remains in the Slavonic nature a certain element of paganism. Nay, the Director's room itself they would

invade while still licking their lips, and since their breath was not overaromatic, the atmosphere of the room

grew not overpleasant. Naturally, among such an official staff a man like Chichikov could not fail to attract

attention and remark, since in everythingin cheerfulness of demeanour, in suavity of voice, and in

complete neglect of the use of strong potionshe was the absolute antithesis of his companions. Yet his path

was not an easy one to tread, for over him he had the misfortune to have placed in authority a Chief Clerk

who was a graven image of elderly insensibility and inertia. Always the same, always unapproachable, this

functionary could never in his life have smiled or asked civilly after an acquaintance's health. Nor had any

one ever seen him a whit different in the street or at his own home from what he was in the office, or showing

the least interest in anything whatever, or getting drunk and relapsing into jollity in his cups, or indulging in

that species of wild gaiety which, when intoxicated, even a burglar affects. No, not a particle of this was there

in him. Nor, for that matter, was there in him a particle of anything at all, whether good or bad: which

complete negativeness of character produced rather a strange effect. In the same way, his wizened,

marblelike features reminded one of nothing in particular, so primly proportioned were they. Only the

numerous pockmarks and dimples with which they were pitted placed him among the number of those over

whose faces, to quote the popular saying, "The Devil has walked by night to grind peas." In short, it would

seem that no human agency could have approached such a man and gained his goodwill. Yet Chichikov made

the effort. As a first step, he took to consulting the other's convenience in all manner of insignificant

triflesto cleaning his pens carefully, and, when they had been prepared exactly to the Chief Clerk's liking,

laying them ready at his elbow; to dusting and sweeping from his table all superfluous sand and tobacco ash;

to procuring a new mat for his inkstand; to looking for his hatthe meanestlooking hat that ever the world

beheldand having it ready for him at the exact moment when business came to an end; to brushing his back

if it happened to become smeared with whitewash from a wall. Yet all this passed as unnoticed as though it

had never been done. Finally, Chichikov sniffed into his superior's family and domestic life, and learnt that he

possessed a grownup daughter on whose face also there had taken place a nocturnal, diabolical grinding of

peas. HERE was a quarter whence a fresh attack might be delivered! After ascertaining what church the

daughter attended on Sundays, our hero took to contriving to meet her in a neat suit and a wellstarched

dickey: and soon the scheme began to work. The surly Chief Clerk wavered for a while; then ended by

inviting Chichikov to tea. Nor could any man in the office have told you how it came about that before long

Chichikov had removed to the Chief Clerk's house, and become a person necessaryindeed

indispensableto the household, seeing that he bought the flour and the sugar, treated the daughter as his

betrothed, called the Chief Clerk "Papenka," and occasionally kissed "Papenka's" hand. In fact, every one at

the office supposed that, at the end of February (i.e. before the beginning of Lent) there would take place a

wedding. Nay, the surly father even began to agitate with the authorities on Chichikov's behalf, and so

enabled our hero, on a vacancy occurring, to attain the stool of a Chief Clerk. Apparently this marked the

consummation of Chichikov's relations with his host, for he hastened stealthily to pack his trunk and, the next

day, figured in a fresh lodging. Also, he ceased to call the Chief Clerk "Papenka," or to kiss his hand; and the

matter of the wedding came to as abrupt a termination as though it had never been mooted. Yet also he never

failed to press his late host's hand, whenever he met him, and to invite him to tea; while, on the other hand,

for all his immobility and dry indifference, the Chief Clerk never failed to shake his head with a muttered,

The foregoing constituted the most difficult step that our hero had to negotiate. Thereafter things came with

greater ease and swifter success. Everywhere he attracted notice, for he developed within himself everything

necessary for this worldnamely, charm of manner and bearing, and great diligence in business matters.

Armed with these resources, he next obtained promotion to what is known as "a fat post," and used it to the

best advantage; and even though, at that period, strict inquiry had begun to be made into the whole subject of

bribes, such inquiry failed to alarm himnay, he actually turned it to account and thereby manifested the

Russian resourcefulness which never fails to attain its zenith where extortion is concerned. His method of

working was the following. As soon as a petitioner or a suitor put his hand into his pocket, to extract thence

the necessary letters of recommendation for signature, Chichikov would smilingly exclaim as he detained his

interlocutor's hand: "No, no! Surely you do not think that I? But no, no! It is our duty, it is our obligation,

and we do not require rewards for doing our work properly. So far as YOUR matter is concerned, you may

rest easy. Everything shall be carried through tomorrow. But may I have your address? There is no need to

trouble yourself, seeing that the documents can easily be brought to you at your residence." Upon which the

delighted suitor would return home in raptures, thinking: "Here, at long last, is the sort of man so badly

needed. A man of that kind is a jewel beyond price." Yet for a day, for two daysnay, even for threethe

suitor would wait in vain so far as any messengers with documents were concerned. Then he would repair to

the officeto find that his business had not so much as been entered upon! Lastly, he would confront the

"jewel beyond price." "Oh, pardon me, pardon me!" Chichikov would exclaim in the politest of tones as he

seized and grasped the visitor's hands. "The truth is that we have SUCH a quantity of business on hand! But

the matter shall be put through tomorrow, and in the meanwhile I am most sorry about it." And with this

would go the most fascinating of gestures. Yet neither on the morrow, nor on the day following, nor on the

third would documents arrive at the suitor's abode. Upon that he would take thought as to whether something

more ought not to have been done; and, sure enough, on his making inquiry, he would be informed that

"something will have to be given to the copyists." "Well, there can be no harm in that," he would reply. "As a

matter of fact, I have ready a tchetvertak[3] or two." "Oh, no, no," the answer would come. "Not a tchetvertak

per copyist, but a rouble, is the fee." "What? A rouble per copyist?" "Certainly. What is there to grumble at in

that? Of the money the copyists will receive a tchetvertak apiece, and the rest will go to the Government."

Upon that the disillusioned suitor would fly out upon the new order of things brought about by the inquiry

into illicit fees, and curse both the tchinovniks and their uppish, insolent behaviour. "Once upon a time,"

would the suitor lament, "one DID know what to do. Once one had tipped the Director a banknote, one's

affair was, so to speak, in the hat. But now one has to pay a rouble per copyist after waiting a week because

otherwise it was impossible to guess how the wind might set! The devil fly away with all 'disinterested' and

'trustworthy' tchinovniks!" And certainly the aggrieved suitor had reason to grumble, seeing that, now that

bribetakers had ceased to exist, and Directors had uniformly become men of honour and integrity,

secretaries and clerks ought not with impunity to have continued their thievish ways. In time there opened out

to Chichikov a still wider field, for a Commission was appointed to supervise the erection of a Government

building, and, on his being nominated to that body, he proved himself one of its most active members. The

Commission got to work without delay, but for a space of six years had some trouble with the building in

question. Either the climate hindered operations or the materials used were of the kind which prevents official

edifices from ever rising higher than the basement. But, meanwhile, OTHER quarters of the town saw arise,

for each member of the Commission, a handsome house of the NONofficial style of architecture. Clearly the

foundation afforded by the soil of those parts was better than that where the Government building was still

engaged in hanging fire! Likewise the members of the Commission began to look exceedingly prosperous,

and to blossom out into family life; and, for the first time in his existence, even Chichikov also departed from

the iron laws of his selfimposed restraint and inexorable selfdenial, and so far mitigated his heretofore

asceticism as to show himself a man not averse to those amenities which, during his youth, he had been

capable of renouncing. That is to say, certain superfluities began to make their appearance in his

establishment. He engaged a good cook, took to wearing linen shirts, bought for himself cloth of a pattern

worn by no one else in the province, figured in checks shot with the brightest of reds and browns, fitted

himself out with two splendid horses (which he drove with a single pair of reins, added to a ring attachment

for the trace horse), developed a habit of washing with a sponge dipped in eaudeCologne, and invested in

soaps of the most expensive quality, in order to communicate to his skin a more elegant polish.

But suddenly there appeared upon the scene a new Directora military man, and a martinet as regarded his

hostility to bribetakers and anything which might be called irregular. On the very day after his arrival he

struck fear into every breast by calling for accounts, discovering hosts of deficits and missing sums, and

directing his attention to the aforesaid fine houses of civilian architecture. Upon that there ensued a complete

reshuffling. Tchinovniks were retired wholesale, and the houses were sequestrated to the Government, or else

converted into various pious institutions and schools for soldiers' children. Thus the whole fabric, and

especially Chichikov, came crashing to the ground. Particularly did our hero's agreeable face displease the

new Director. Why that was so it is impossible to say, but frequently, in cases of the kind, no reason exists.

However, the Director conceived a mortal dislike to him, and also extended that enmity to the whole of

Chichikov's colleagues. But inasmuch as the said Director was a military man, he was not fully acquainted

with the myriad subtleties of the civilian mind; wherefore it was not long before, by dint of maintaining a

discreet exterior, added to a faculty for humouring all and sundry, a fresh gang of tchinovniks succeeded in

restoring him to mildness, and the General found himself in the hands of greater thieves than before, but

thieves whom he did not even suspect, seeing that he believed himself to have selected men fit and proper,

and even ventured to boast of possessing a keen eye for talent. In a trice the tchinovniks concerned appraised

his spirit and character; with the result that the entire sphere over which he ruled became an agency for the

detection of irregularities. Everywhere, and in every case, were those irregularities pursued as a fisherman

pursues a fat sturgeon with a gaff; and to such an extent did the sport prove successful that almost in no time

each participator in the hunt was seen to be in possession of several thousand roubles of capital. Upon that a

large number of the former band of tchinovniks also became converted to paths of rectitude, and were

allowed to reenter the Service; but not by hook or by crook could Chichikov worm his way back, even

though, incited thereto by sundry items of paper currency, the General's first secretary and principal bear

leader did all he could on our hero's behalf. It seemed that the General was the kind of man who, though

easily led by the nose (provided it was done without his knowledge) no sooner got an idea into his head than

it stuck there like a nail, and could not possibly be extracted; and all that the wily secretary succeeded in

procuring was the tearing up of a certain dirty fragment of papereven that being effected only by an appeal

to the General's compassion, on the score of the unhappy fate which, otherwise, would befall Chichikov's

"Well," said Chichikov to himself, "I have done my best, and now everything has failed. Lamenting my

misfortune won't help me, but only action." And with that he decided to begin his career anew, and once

more to arm himself with the weapons of patience and selfdenial. The better to effect this, he had, of course

to remove to another town. Yet somehow, for a while, things miscarried. More than once he found himself

forced to exchange one post for another, and at the briefest of notice; and all of them were posts of the

meanest, the most wretched, order. Yet, being a man of the utmost nicety of feeling, the fact that he found

himself rubbing shoulders with anything but nice companions did not prevent him from preserving intact his

innate love of what was decent and seemly, or from cherishing the instinct which led him to hanker after

office fittings of lacquered wood, with neatness and orderliness everywhere. Nor did he at any time permit a

foul word to creep into his speech, and would feel hurt even if in the speech of others there occurred a

scornful reference to anything which pertained to rank and dignity. Also, the reader will be pleased to know

that our hero changed his linen every other day, and in summer, when the weather was very hot, EVERY day,

seeing that the very faintest suspicion of an unpleasant odour offended his fastidiousness. For the same reason

it was his custom, before being valeted by Petrushka, always to plug his nostrils with a couple of cloves. In

short, there were many occasions when his nerves suffered rackings as cruel as a young girl's, and so helped

to increase his disgust at having once more to associate with men who set no store by the decencies of life.

Yet, though he braced himself to the task, this period of adversity told upon his health, and he even grew a

trifle shabby. More than once, on happening to catch sight of himself in the mirror, he could not forbear

exclaiming: "Holy Mother of God, but what a nastylooking brute I have become!" and for a long while

afterwards could not with anything like sangfroid contemplate his reflection. Yet throughout he bore up

stoutly and patientlyand ended by being transferred to the Customs Department. It may be said that the

department had long constituted the secret goal of his ambition, for he had noted the foreign elegancies with

which its officials always contrived to provide themselves, and had also observed that invariably they were

able to send presents of china and cambric to their sisters and auntswell, to their lady friends generally.

Yes, more than once he had said to himself with a sigh: "THAT is the department to which I ought to belong,

for, given a town near the frontier, and a sensible set of colleagues, I might be able to fit myself out with

excellent linen shirts." Also, it may be said that most frequently of all had his thoughts turned towards a

certain quality of French soap which imparted a peculiar whiteness to the skin and a peerless freshness to the

cheeks. Its name is known to God alone, but at least it was to be procured only in the immediate

neighbourhood of the frontier. So, as I say, Chichikov had long felt a leaning towards the Customs, but for a

time had been restrained from applying for the same by the various current advantages of the Building

Commission; since rightly he had adjudged the latter to constitute a bird in the hand, and the former to

constitute only a bird in the bush. But now he decided that, come what might, into the Customs he must make

his way. And that way he made, and then applied himself to his new duties with a zeal born of the fact that he

realised that fortune had specially marked him out for a Customs officer. Indeed, such activity, perspicuity,

and ubiquity as his had never been seen or thought of. Within four weeks at the most he had so thoroughly

got his hand in that he was conversant with Customs procedure in every detail. Not only could he weigh and

measure, but also he could divine from an invoice how many arshins of cloth or other material a given piece

contained, and then, taking a roll of the latter in his hand, could specify at once the number of pounds at

which it would tip the scale. As for searchings, well, even his colleagues had to admit that he possessed the

nose of a veritable bloodhound, and that it was impossible not to marvel at the patience wherewith he would

try every button of the suspected person, yet preserve, throughout, a deadly politeness and an icy sangfroid

which surpass belief. And while the searched were raging, and foaming at the mouth, and feeling that they

would give worlds to alter his smiling exterior with a good, resounding slap, he would move not a muscle of

his face, nor abate by a jot the urbanity of his demeanour, as he murmured, "Do you mind so far

incommoding yourself as to stand up?" or "Pray step into the next room, madam, where the wife of one of

our staff will attend you," or "Pray allow me to slip this penknife of mine into the lining of your coat" (after

which he would extract thence shawls and towels with as much nonchalance as he would have done from his

own travellingtrunk). Even his superiors acknowledged him to be a devil at the job, rather than a human

being, so perfect was his instinct for looking into cartwheels, carriagepoles, horses' ears, and places

whither an author ought not to penetrate even in thoughtplaces whither only a Customs official is

permitted to go. The result was that the wretched traveller who had just crossed the frontier would, within a

few minutes, become wholly at sea, and, wiping away the perspiration, and breaking out into body flushes,

would be reduced to crossing himself and muttering, "Well, well, well!" In fact, such a traveller would feel in

the position of a schoolboy who, having been summoned to the presence of the headmaster for the ostensible

purpose of being give an order, has found that he receives, instead, a sound flogging. In short, for some time

Chichikov made it impossible for smugglers to earn a living. In particular, he reduced Polish Jewry almost to

despair, so invincible, so almost unnatural, was the rectitude, the incorruptibility which led him to refrain

from converting himself into a small capitalist with the aid of confiscated goods and articles which, "to save

excessive clerical labour," had failed to be handed over to the Government. Also, without saying it goes that

such phenomenally zealous and disinterested service attracted general astonishment, and, eventually, the

notice of the authorities; whereupon he received promotion, and followed that up by mooting a scheme for

the infallible detection of contrabandists, provided that he could be furnished with the necessary authority for

carrying out the same. At once such authority was accorded him, as also unlimited power to conduct every

species of search and investigation. And that was all he wanted. It happened that previously there had been

formed a wellfound association for smuggling on regular, carefully prepared lines, and that this daring

scheme seemed to promise profit to the extent of some millions of money: yet, though he had long had

knowledge of it, Chichikov had said to the association's emissaries, when sent to buy him over, "The time is

not yet." But now that he had got all the reins into his hands, he sent word of the fact to the gang, and with it

the remark, "The time is NOW." Nor was he wrong in his calculations, for, within the space of a year, he had

acquired what he could not have made during twenty years of nonfraudulent service. With similar sagacity

he had, during his early days in the department, declined altogether to enter into relations with the

association, for the reason that he had then been a mere cipher, and would have come in for nothing large in

the way of takings; but nowwell, now it was another matter altogether, and he could dictate what terms he

liked. Moreover, that the affair might progress the more smoothly, he suborned a fellow tchinovnik of the

type which, in spite of grey hairs, stands powerless against temptation; and, the contract concluded, the

association duly proceeded to business. Certainly business began brilliantly. But probably most of my readers

are familiar with the oftrepeated story of the passage of Spanish sheep across the frontier in double fleeces

which carried between their outer layers and their inner enough lace of Brabant to sell to the tune of millions

of roubles; wherefore I will not recount the story again beyond saying that those journeys took place just

when Chichikov had become head of the Customs, and that, had he not a hand in the enterprise, not all the

Jews in the world could have brought it to success. By the time that three or four of these ovine invasions had

taken place, Chichikov and his accomplice had come to be the possessors of four hundred thousand roubles

apiece; while some even aver that the former's gains totalled half a million, owing to the greater industry

which he had displayed in the matter. Nor can any one but God say to what a figure the fortunes of the pair

might not eventually have attained, had not an awkward contretemps cut right across their arrangements. That

is to say, for some reason or another the devil so far deprived these tchinovnikconspirators of sense as to

make them come to words with one another, and then to engage in a quarrel. Beginning with a heated

argument, this quarrel reached the point of Chichikovwho was, possibly, a trifle tipsycalling his

colleague a priest's son; and though that description of the person so addressed was perfectly accurate, he

chose to take offence, and to answer Chichikov with the words (loudly and incisively uttered), "It is YOU

who have a priest for your father," and to add to that (the more to incense his companion), "Yes, mark you!

THAT is how it is." Yet, though he had thus turned the tables upon Chichikov with a tu quoque, and then

capped that exploit with the words last quoted, the offended tchinovnik could not remain satisfied, but went

on to send in an anonymous document to the authorities. On the other hand, some aver that it was over a

woman that the pair fell outover a woman who, to quote the phrase then current among the staff of the

Customs Department, was "as fresh and as strong as the pulp of a turnip," and that nightbirds were hired to

assault our hero in a dark alley, and that the scheme miscarried, and that in any case both Chichikov and his

friend had been deceived, seeing that the person to whom the lady had really accorded her favours was a

certain staffcaptain named Shamsharev. However, only God knows the truth of the matter. Let the

inquisitive reader ferret it out for himself. The fact remains that a complete exposure of the dealings with the

contrabandists followed, and that the two tchinovniks were put to the question, deprived of their property, and

made to formulate in writing all that they had done. Against this thunderbolt of fortune the State Councillor

could make no headway, and in some retired spot or another sank into oblivion; but Chichikov put a brave

face upon the matter, for, in spite of the authorities' best efforts to smell out his gains, he had contrived to

conceal a portion of them, and also resorted to every subtle trick of intellect which could possibly be

employed by an experienced man of the world who has a wide knowledge of his fellows. Nothing which

could be effected by pleasantness of demeanour, by moving oratory, by clouds of flattery, and by the

occasional insertion of a coin into a palm did he leave undone; with the result that he was retired with less

ignominy than was his companion, and escaped actual trial on a criminal charge. Yet he issued stripped of all

his capital, stripped of his imported effects, stripped of everything. That is to say, all that remained to him

consisted of ten thousand roubles which he had stored against a rainy day, two dozen linen shirts, a small

britchka of the type used by bachelors, and two servingmen named Selifan and Petrushka. Yes, and an

impulse of kindness moved the tchinovniks of the Customs also to set aside for him a few cakes of the soap

which he had found so excellent for the freshness of the cheeks. Thus once more our hero found himself

stranded. And what an accumulation of misfortunes had descended upon his head!though, true, he termed

them "suffering in the Service in the cause of Truth." Certainly one would have thought that, after these

buffetings and trials and changes of fortuneafter this taste of the sorrows of lifehe and his precious ten

thousand roubles would have withdrawn to some peaceful corner in a provincial town, where, clad in a stuff

dressinggown, he could have sat and listened to the peasants quarrelling on festival days, or (for the sake of

a breath of fresh air) have gone in person to the poulterer's to finger chickens for soup, and so have spent a

quiet, but not wholly useless, existence; but nothing of the kind took place, and therein we must do justice to

the strength of his character. In other words, although he had undergone what, to the majority of men, would

have meant ruin and discouragement and a shattering of ideals, he still preserved his energy. True, downcast

and angry, and full of resentment against the world in general, he felt furious with the injustice of fate, and

dissatisfied with the dealings of men; yet he could not forbear courting additional experiences. In short, the

patience which he displayed was such as to make the wooden persistency of the Germana persistency

merely due to the slow, lethargic circulation of the Teuton's bloodseem nothing at all, seeing that by nature

Chichikov's blood flowed strongly, and that he had to employ much force of will to curb within himself those

elements which longed to burst forth and revel in freedom. He thought things over, and, as he did so, a certain

"How have I come to be what I am?" he said to himself. "Why has misfortune overtaken me in this way?

Never have I wronged a poor person, or robbed a widow, or turned any one out of doors: I have always been

careful only to take advantage of those who possess more than their share. Moreover, I have never gleaned

anywhere but where every one else was gleaning; and, had I not done so, others would have gleaned in my

place. Why, then, should those others be prospering, and I be sunk as low as a worm? What am I? What am I

good for? How can I, in future, hope to look any honest father of a family in the face? How shall I escape

being tortured with the thought that I am cumbering the ground? What, in the years to come, will my children

Here I may remark that we have seen how much thought Chichikov devoted to his future descendants.

Indeed, had not there been constantly recurring to his mind the insistent question, "What will my children

say?" he might not have plunged into the affair so deeply. Nevertheless, like a wary cat which glances hither

and thither to see whether its mistress be not coming before it can make off with whatsoever first falls to its

paw (butter, fat, lard, a duck, or anything else), so our future founder of a family continued, though weeping

and bewailing his lot, to let not a single detail escape his eye. That is to say, he retained his wits ever in a

state of activity, and kept his brain constantly working. All that he required was a plan. Once more he pulled

himself together, once more he embarked upon a life of toil, once more he stinted himself in everything, once

more he left clean and decent surroundings for a dirty, mean existence. In other words, until something better

should turn up, he embraced the calling of an ordinary attorneya calling which, not then possessed of a

civic status, was jostled on very side, enjoyed little respect at the hands of the minor legal fry (or, indeed, at

its own), and perforce met with universal slights and rudeness. But sheer necessity compelled Chichikov to

face these things. Among commissions entrusted to him was that of placing in the hands of the Public Trustee

several hundred peasants who belonged to a ruined estate. The estate had reached its parlous condition

through cattle disease, through rascally bailiffs, through failures of the harvest, through such epidemic

diseases that had killed off the best workmen, and, last, but not least, through the senseless conduct of the

owner himself, who had furnished a house in Moscow in the latest style, and then squandered his every

kopeck, so that nothing was left for his further maintenance, and it became necessary to mortgage the

remainsincluding the peasantsof the estate. In those days mortgage to the Treasury was an innovation

looked upon with reserve, and, as attorney in the matter, Chichikov had first of all to "entertain" every official

concerned (we know that, unless that be previously done, unless a whole bottle of madeira first be emptied

down each clerical throat, not the smallest legal affair can be carried through), and to explain, for the barring

"And are they entered on the revision lists?" asked the secretary. "Yes," replied Chichikov. "Then what are

you boggling at?" continued the Secretary. "Should one soul die, another will be born, and in time grow up to

take the first one's place." Upon that there dawned on our hero one of the most inspired ideas which ever

entered the human brain. "What a simpleton I am!" he thought to himself. "Here am I looking about for my

mittens when all the time I have got them tucked into my belt. Why, were I myself to buy up a few souls

which are deadto buy them before a new revision list shall have been made, the Council of Public Trust

might pay me two hundred roubles apiece for them, and I might find myself with, say, a capital of two

hundred thousand roubles! The present moment is particularly propitious, since in various parts of the

country there has been an epidemic, and, glory be to God, a large number of souls have died of it. Nowadays

landowners have taken to cardplaying and junketting and wasting their money, or to joining the Civil

Service in St. Petersburg; consequently their estates are going to rack and ruin, and being managed in any sort

of fashion, and succeeding in paying their dues with greater difficulty each year. That being so, not a man of

the lot but would gladly surrender to me his dead souls rather than continue paying the polltax; and in this

fashion I might makewell, not a few kopecks. Of course there are difficulties, and, to avoid creating a

scandal, I should need to employ plenty of finesse; but man was given his brain to USE, not to neglect. One

good point about the scheme is that it will seem so improbable that in case of an accident, no one in the world

will believe in it. True, it is illegal to buy or mortgage peasants without land, but I can easily pretend to be

buying them only for transferment elsewhere. Land is to be acquired in the provinces of Taurida and Kherson

almost for nothing, provided that one undertakes subsequently to colonise it; so to Kherson I will 'transfer'

them, and long may they live there! And the removal of my dead souls shall be carried out in the strictest

legal form; and if the authorities should want confirmation by testimony, I shall produce a letter signed by my

own superintendent of the Khersonian rural policethat is to say, by myself. Lastly, the supposed village in

Kherson shall be called Chichikovoebetter still Pavlovskoe, according to my Christian name."

In this fashion there germinated in our hero's brain that strange scheme for which the reader may or may not

be grateful, but for which the author certainly is so, seeing that, had it never occurred to Chichikov, this story

After crossing himself, according to the Russian custom, Chichikov set about carrying out his enterprise. On

pretence of selecting a place wherein to settle, he started forth to inspect various corners of the Russian

Empire, but more especially those which had suffered from such unfortunate accidents as failures of the

harvest, a high rate of mortality, or whatsoever else might enable him to purchase souls at the lowest possible

rate. But he did not tackle his landowners haphazard: he rather selected such of them as seemed more

particularly suited to his taste, or with whom he might with the least possible trouble conclude identical

agreements; though, in the first instance, he always tried, by getting on terms of acquaintanceshipbetter

still, of friendshipwith them, to acquire the souls for nothing, and so to avoid purchase at all. In passing,

my readers must not blame me if the characters whom they have encountered in these pages have not been

altogether to their liking. The fault is Chichikov's rather than mine, for he is the master, and where he leads

we must follow. Also, should my readers gird at me for a certain dimness and want of clarity in my principal

characters and actors, that will be tantamount to saying that never do the broad tendency and the general

scope of a work become immediately apparent. Similarly does the entry to every townthe entry even to the

Capital itselfconvey to the traveller such an impression of vagueness that at first everything looks grey and

monotonous, and the lines of smoky factories and workshops seem never to be coming to an end; but in time

there will begin also to stand out the outlines of sixstoried mansions, and of shops and balconies, and wide

perspectives of streets, and a medley of steeples, columns, statues, and turretsthe whole framed in rattle

and roar and the infinite wonders which the hand and the brain of men have conceived. Of the manner in

which Chichikov's first purchases were made the reader is aware. Subsequently he will see also how the affair

progressed, and with what success or failure our hero met, and how Chichikov was called upon to decide and

to overcome even more difficult problems than the foregoing, and by what colossal forces the levers of his

farflung tale are moved, and how eventually the horizon will become extended until everything assumes a

grandiose and a lyrical tendency. Yes, many a verst of road remains to be travelled by a party made up of an

elderly gentleman, a britchka of the kind affected by bachelors, a valet named Petrushka, a coachman named

Selifan, and three horses which, from the Assessor to the skewbald, are known to us individually by name.

Again, although I have given a full description of our hero's exterior (such as it is), I may yet be asked for an

inclusive definition also of his moral personality. That he is no hero compounded of virtues and perfections

must be already clear. Then WHAT is he? A villain? Why should we call him a villain? Why should we be so

hard upon a fellow man? In these days our villains have ceased to exist. Rather it would be fairer to call him

an ACQUIRER. The love of acquisition, the love of gain, is a fault common to many, and gives rise to many

and many a transaction of the kind generally known as "not strictly honourable." True, such a character

contains an element of ugliness, and the same reader who, on his journey through life, would sit at the board

of a character of this kind, and spend a most agreeable time with him, would be the first to look at him

askance if he should appear in the guise of the hero of a novel or a play. But wise is the reader who, on

meeting such a character, scans him carefully, and, instead of shrinking from him with distaste, probes him to

the springs of his being. The human personality contains nothing which may not, in the twinkling of an eye,

become altogether changednothing in which, before you can look round, there may not spring to birth

some cankerous worm which is destined to suck thence the essential juice. Yes, it is a common thing to see

not only an overmastering passion, but also a passion of the most petty order, arise in a man who was born to

better things, and lead him both to forget his greatest and most sacred obligations, and to see only in the

veriest trifles the Great and the Holy. For human passions are as numberless as is the sand of the seashore,

and go on to become his most insistent of masters. Happy, therefore, the man who may choose from among

the gamut of human passions one which is noble! Hour by hour will that instinct grow and multiply in its

measureless beneficence; hour by hour will it sink deeper and deeper into the infinite paradise of his soul. But

there are passions of which a man cannot rid himself, seeing that they are born with him at his birth, and he

has no power to abjure them. Higher powers govern those passions, and in them is something which will call

to him, and refuse to be silenced, to the end of his life. Yes, whether in a guise of darkness, or whether in a

guise which will become converted into a light to lighten the world, they will and must attain their

consummation on life's field: and in either case they have been evoked for man's good. In the same way may

the passion which drew our Chichikov onwards have been one that was independent of himself; in the same

way may there have lurked even in his cold essence something which will one day cause men to humble

Yet that folk should be dissatisfied with my hero matters nothing. What matters is the fact that, under

different circumstances, their approval could have been taken as a foregone conclusion. That is to say, had

not the author pried overdeeply into Chichikov's soul, nor stirred up in its depths what shunned and lay

hidden from the light, nor disclosed those of his hero's thoughts which that hero would have not have

disclosed even to his most intimate friend; had the author, indeed, exhibited Chichikov just as he exhibited

himself to the townsmen of N. and Manilov and the rest; well, then we may rest assured that every reader

would have been delighted with him, and have voted him a most interesting person. For it is not nearly so

necessary that Chichikov should figure before the reader as though his form and person were actually present

to the eye as that, on concluding a perusal of this work, the reader should be able to return, unharrowed in

soul, to that cult of the cardtable which is the solace and delight of all good Russians. Yes, readers of this

book, none of you really care to see humanity revealed in its nakedness. "Why should we do so?" you say.

"What would be the use of it? Do we not know for ourselves that human life contains much that is gross and

contemptible? Do we not with our own eyes have to look upon much that is anything but comforting? Far

better would it be if you would put before us what is comely and attractive, so that we might forget ourselves

a little." In the same fashion does a landowner say to his bailiff: "Why do you come and tell me that the

affairs of my estate are in a bad way? I know that without YOUR help. Have you nothing else to tell me?

Kindly allow me to forget the fact, or else to remain in ignorance of it, and I shall be much obliged to you."

Whereafter the said landowner probably proceeds to spend on his diversion the money which ought to have

Possibly the author may also incur censure at the hands of those socalled "patriots" who sit quietly in

corners, and become capitalists through making fortunes at the expense of others. Yes, let but something

which they conceive to be derogatory to their country occurfor instance, let there be published some book

which voices the bitter truthand out they will come from their hidingplaces like a spider which perceives

a fly to be caught in its web. "Is it well to proclaim this to the world, and to set folk talking about it?" they

will cry. "What you have described touches US, is OUR affair. Is conduct of that kind right? What will

foreigners say? Does any one care calmly to sit by and hear himself traduced? Why should you lead

foreigners to suppose that all is not well with us, and that we are not patriotic?" Well, to these sage remarks

no answer can really be returned, especially to such of the above as refer to foreign opinion. But see here.

There once lived in a remote corner of Russia two natives of the region indicated. One of those natives was a

good man named Kifa Mokievitch, and a man of kindly disposition; a man who went through life in a

dressinggown, and paid no heed to his household, for the reason that his whole being was centred upon the

province of speculation, and that, in particular, he was preoccupied with a philosophical problem usually

stated by him thus: "A beast," he would say, "is born naked. Now, why should that be? Why should not a

beast be born as a bird is bornthat is to say, through the process of being hatched from an egg? Nature is

beyond the understanding, however much one may probe her." This was the substance of Kifa Mokievitch's

reflections. But herein is not the chief point. The other of the pair was a fellow named Mofi Kifovitch, and

son to the first named. He was what we Russians call a "hero," and while his father was pondering the

parturition of beasts, his, the son's, lusty, twentyyearold temperament was violently struggling for

development. Yet that son could tackle nothing without some accident occurring. At one moment would he

crack some one's fingers in half, and at another would he raise a bump on somebody's nose; so that both at

home and abroad every one and everythingfrom the servingmaid to the yarddogfled on his approach,

and even the bed in his bedroom became shattered to splinters. Such was Mofi Kifovitch; and with it all he

had a kindly soul. But herein is not the chief point. "Good sir, good Kifa Mokievitch," servants and

neighbours would come and say to the father, "what are you going to do about your Moki Kifovitch? We get

no rest from him, he is so above himself." "That is only his play, that is only his play," the father would reply.

"What else can you expect? It is too late now to start a quarrel with him, and, moreover, every one would

accuse me of harshness. True, he is a little conceited; but, were I to reprove him in public, the whole thing

would become common talk, and folk would begin giving him a dog's name. And if they did that, would not

their opinion touch me also, seeing that I am his father? Also, I am busy with philosophy, and have no time

for such things. Lastly, Moki Kifovitch is my son, and very dear to my heart." And, beating his breast, Kifa

Mokievitch again asserted that, even though his son should elect to continue his pranks, it would not be for

HIM, for the father, to proclaim the fact, or to fall out with his offspring. And, this expression of paternal

feeling uttered, Kifa Mokievitch left Moki Kifovitch to his heroic exploits, and himself returned to his

beloved subject of speculation, which now included also the problem, "Suppose elephants were to take to

being hatched from eggs, would not the shell of such eggs be of a thickness proof against cannonballs, and

necessitate the invention of some new type of firearm?" Thus at the end of this little story we have these two

denizens of a peaceful corner of Russia looking thence, as from a window, in less terror of doing what was

scandalous than of having it SAID of them that they were acting scandalously. Yes, the feeling animating our

socalled "patriots" is not true patriotism at all. Something else lies beneath it. Who, if not an author, is to

speak aloud the truth? Men like you, my pseudopatriots, stand in dread of the eye which is able to discern,

yet shrink from using your own, and prefer, rather, to glance at everything unheedingly. Yes, after laughing

heartily over Chichikov's misadventures, and perhaps even commending the author for his dexterity of

observation and pretty turn of wit, you will look at yourselves with redoubled pride and a selfsatisfied smile,

and add: "Well, we agree that in certain parts of the provinces there exists strange and ridiculous individuals,

Yet which of you, when quiet, and alone, and engaged in solitary selfcommunion, would not do well to

probe YOUR OWN souls, and to put to YOURSELVES the solemn question, "Is there not in ME an element

of Chichikov?" For how should there not be? Which of you is not liable at any moment to be passed in the

street by an acquaintance who, nudging his neighbour, may say of you, with a barely suppressed sneer:

But here are we talking at the top of our voices whilst all the time our hero lies slumbering in his britchka!

Indeed, his name has been repeated so often during the recital of his life's history that he must almost have

heard us! And at any time he is an irritable, irascible fellow when spoken of with disrespect. True, to the

reader Chichikov's displeasure cannot matter a jot; but for the author it would mean ruin to quarrel with his

"What is it? Why, how dare you drive like that? Come! Bestir yourself a little!"

And indeed, Selifan had long been sitting with halfclosed eyes, and hands which bestowed no

encouragement upon his somnolent steeds save an occasional flicking of the reins against their flanks; whilst

Petrushka had lost his cap, and was leaning backwards until his head had come to rest against Chichikov's

kneesa position which necessitated his being awakened with a cuff. Selifan also roused himself, and

apportioned to the skewbald a few cuts across the back of a kind which at least had the effect of inciting that

animal to trot; and when, presently, the other two horses followed their companion's example, the light

britchka moved forwards like a piece of thistledown. Selifan flourished his whip and shouted, "Hi, hi!" as the

inequalities of the road jerked him vertically on his seat; and meanwhile, reclining against the leather

cushions of the vehicle's interior, Chichikov smiled with gratification at the sensation of driving fast. For

what Russian does not love to drive fast? Which of us does not at times yearn to give his horses their head,

and to let them go, and to cry, "To the devil with the world!"? At such moments a great force seems to uplift

one as on wings; and one flies, and everything else flies, but contrariwiseboth the verst stones, and traders

riding on the shafts of their waggons, and the forest with dark lines of spruce and fir amid which may be

heard the axe of the woodcutter and the croaking of the raven. Yes, out of a dim, remote distance the road

comes towards one, and while nothing save the sky and the light clouds through which the moon is cleaving

her way seem halted, the brief glimpses wherein one can discern nothing clearly have in them a pervading

touch of mystery. Ah, troika, troika, swift as a bird, who was it first invented you? Only among a hardy race

of folk can you have come to birthonly in a land which, though poor and rough, lies spread over half the

world, and spans versts the counting whereof would leave one with aching eyes. Nor are you a

modishlyfashioned vehicle of the roada thing of clamps and iron. Rather, you are a vehicle but shapen

and fitted with the axe or chisel of some handy peasant of Yaroslav. Nor are you driven by a coachman

clothed in German livery, but by a man bearded and mittened. See him as he mounts, and flourishes his whip,

and breaks into a longdrawn song! Away like the wind go the horses, and the wheels, with their spokes,

become transparent circles, and the road seems to quiver beneath them, and a pedestrian, with a cry of

astonishment, halts to watch the vehicle as it flies, flies, flies on its way until it becomes lost on the ultimate

And you, Russia of mineare not you also speeding like a troika which nought can overtake? Is not the road

smoking beneath your wheels, and the bridges thundering as you cross them, and everything being left in the

rear, and the spectators, struck with the portent, halting to wonder whether you be not a thunderbolt launched

from heaven? What does that aweinspiring progress of yours foretell? What is the unknown force which lies

within your mysterious steeds? Surely the winds themselves must abide in their manes, and every vein in

their bodies be an ear stretched to catch the celestial message which bids them, with irongirded breasts, and

hooves which barely touch the earth as they gallop, fly forward on a mission of God? Whither, then, are you

speeding, O Russia of mine? Whither? Answer me! But no answer comesonly the weird sound of your

collarbells. Rent into a thousand shreds, the air roars past you, for you are overtaking the whole world, and

Why do I so persistently paint the poverty, the imperfections of Russian life, and delve into the remotest

depths, the most retired holes and corners, of our Empire for my subjects? The answer is that there is nothing

else to be done when an author's idiosyncrasy happens to incline him that way. So again we find ourselves in

Imagine, if you can, a mountain range like a gigantic fortress, with embrasures and bastions which appear to

soar a thousand versts towards the heights of heaven, and, towering grandly over a boundless expanse of

plain, are broken up into precipitous, overhanging limestone cliffs. Here and there those cliffs are seamed

with watercourses and gullies, while at other points they are rounded off into spurs of greenspurs now

coated with fleecelike tufts of young undergrowth, now studded with the stumps of felled trees, now

covered with timber which has, by some miracle, escaped the woodman's axe. Also, a river winds awhile

between its banks, then leaves the meadow land, divides into runlets (all flashing in the sun like fire),

plunges, reunited, into the midst of a thicket of elder, birth, and pine, and, lastly, speeds triumphantly past

bridges and mills and weirs which seem to be lying in wait for it at every turn.

At one particular spot the steep flank of the mountain range is covered with billowy verdure of denser growth

than the rest; and here the aid of skilful planting, added to the shelter afforded by a rugged ravine, has

enabled the flora of north and south so to be brought together that, twined about with sinuous hoptendrils,

the oak, the spruce fir, the wild pear, the maple, the cherry, the thorn, and the mountain ash either assist or

check one another's growth, and everywhere cover the declivity with their straggling profusion. Also, at the

edge of the summit there can be seen mingling with the green of the trees the red roofs of a manorial

homestead, while behind the upper stories of the mansion proper and its carved balcony and a great

semicircular window there gleam the tiles and gables of some peasants' huts. Lastly, over this combination

of trees and roofs there risesovertopping everything with its gilded, sparkling steeplean old village

church. On each of its pinnacles a cross of carved gilt is stayed with supports of similar gilding and design;

with the result that from a distance the gilded portions have the effect of hanging without visible agency in

the air. And the wholethe three successive tiers of woodland, roofs, and crosses wholelies exquisitely

mirrored in the river below, where hollow willows, grotesquely shaped (some of them rooted on the river's

banks, and some in the water itself, and all drooping their branches until their leaves have formed a tangle

with the water lilies which float on the surface), seem to be gazing at the marvellous reflection at their feet.

Thus the view from below is beautiful indeed. But the view from above is even better. No guest, no visitor,

could stand on the balcony of the mansion and remain indifferent. So boundless is the panorama revealed that

surprise would cause him to catch at his breath, and exclaim: "Lord of Heaven, but what a prospect!" Beyond

meadows studded with spinneys and watermills lie forests belted with green; while beyond, again, there can

be seen showing through the slightly misty air strips of yellow heath, and, again, widerolling forests (as blue

as the sea or a cloud), and more heath, paler than the first, but still yellow. Finally, on the far horizon a range

of chalktopped hills gleams white, even in dull weather, as though it were lightened with perpetual

sunshine; and here and there on the dazzling whiteness of its lower slopes some plasterlike, nebulous

patches represent faroff villages which lie too remote for the eye to discern their details. Indeed, only when

the sunlight touches a steeple to gold does one realise that each such patch is a human settlement. Finally, all

is wrapped in an immensity of silence which even the far, faint echoes of persons singing in the void of the

Even after gazing at the spectacle for a couple of hours or so, the visitor would still find nothing to say, save:

"Lord of Heaven, but what a prospect!" Then who is the dweller in, the proprietor of, this manora manor to

which, as to an impregnable fortress, entrance cannot be gained from the side where we have been standing,

but only from the other approach, where a few scattered oaks offer hospitable welcome to the visitor, and

then, spreading above him their spacious branches (as in friendly embrace), accompany him to the facade of

the mansion whose top we have been regarding from the reverse aspect, but which now stands frontwise on to

us, and has, on one side of it, a row of peasants' huts with red tiles and carved gables, and, on the other, the

village church, with those glittering golden crosses and gilded openwork charms which seem to hang

suspended in the air? Yes, indeed!to what fortunate individual does this corner of the world belong? It

belongs to Andrei Ivanovitch Tientietnikov, landowner of the canton of Tremalakhan, and, withal, a bachelor

Should my lady readers ask of me what manner of man is Tientietnikov, and what are his attributes and

peculiarities, I should refer them to his neighbours. Of these, a member of the almost extinct tribe of

intelligent staff officers on the retired list once summed up Tientietnikov in the phrase, "He is an absolute

blockhead;" while a General who resided ten versts away was heard to remark that "he is a young man who,

though not exactly a fool, has at least too much crowded into his head. I myself might have been of use to

him, for not only do I maintain certain connections with St. Petersburg, but also" And the General left his

sentence unfinished. Thirdly, a captainsuperintendent of rural police happened to remark in the course of

conversation: "Tomorrow I must go and see Tientietnikov about his arrears." Lastly, a peasant of

Tientietnikov's own village, when asked what his barin was like, returned no answer at all. All of which

would appear to show that Tientietnikov was not exactly looked upon with favour.

To speak dispassionately, however, he was not a bad sort of fellowmerely a stargazer; and since the

world contains many watchers of the skies, why should Tientietnikov not have been one of them? However,

let me describe in detail a specimen day of his existenceone that will closely resemble the rest, and then

the reader will be enabled to judge of Tientietnikov's character, and how far his life corresponded to the

On the morning of the specimen day in question he awoke very late, and, raising himself to a sitting posture,

rubbed his eyes. And since those eyes were small, the process of rubbing them occupied a very long time, and

throughout its continuance there stood waiting by the door his valet, Mikhailo, armed with a towel and basin.

For one hour, for two hours, did poor Mikhailo stand there: then he departed to the kitchen, and returned to

find his master still rubbing his eyes as he sat on the bed. At length, however, Tientietnikov rose, washed

himself, donned a dressinggown, and moved into the drawingroom for morning tea, coffee, cocoa, and

warm milk; of all of which he partook but sparingly, while munching a piece of bread, and scattering tobacco

ash with complete insouciance. Two hours did he sit over this meal, then poured himself out another cup of

the rapidly cooling tea, and walked to the window. This faced the courtyard, and outside it, as usual, there

took place the following daily altercation between a serf named Grigory (who purported to act as butler) and

Grigory. Ah, you nuisance, you goodfornothing, you had better hold your stupid tongue.

Perfilievna. Nay, he is as big a thief as you are. Do you think the barin doesn't know you? And there he is! He

Next, to complete the hubbub, a serf child which had been clouted by its mother broke out into a bawl, while

a borzoi puppy which had happened to get splashed with boiling water by the cook fell to yelping

vociferously. In short, the place soon became a babel of shouts and squeals, and, after watching and listening

for a time, the barin found it so impossible to concentrate his mind upon anything that he sent out word that

The next item was that, a couple of hours before luncheon time, he withdrew to his study, to set about

employing himself upon a weighty work which was to consider Russia from every point of view: from the

political, from the philosophical, and from the religious, as well as to resolve various problems which had

arisen to confront the Empire, and to define clearly the great future to which the country stood ordained. In

short, it was to be the species of compilation in which the man of the day so much delights. Yet the colossal

undertaking had progressed but little beyond the sphere of projection, since, after a pen had been gnawed

awhile, and a few strokes had been committed to paper, the whole would be laid aside in favour of the

reading of some book; and that reading would continue also during luncheon and be followed by the lighting

of a pipe, the playing of a solitary game of chess, and the doing of more or less nothing for the rest of the day.

The foregoing will give the reader a pretty clear idea of the manner in which it was possible for this man of

thirtythree to waste his time. Clad constantly in slippers and a dressinggown, Tientietnikov never went out,

never indulged in any form of dissipation, and never walked upstairs. Nothing did he care for fresh air, and

would bestow not a passing glance upon all those beauties of the countryside which moved visitors to such

ecstatic admiration. From this the reader will see that Andrei Ivanovitch Tientietnikov belonged to that band

of sluggards whom we always have with us, and who, whatever be their present appellation, used to be

known by the nicknames of "lollopers," "bed pressers," and "marmots." Whether the type is a type originating

at birth, or a type resulting from untoward circumstances in later life, it is impossible to say. A better course

than to attempt to answer that question would be to recount the story of Tientietnikov's boyhood and

Everything connected with the latter seemed to promise success, for at twelve years of age the

boykeenwitted, but dreamy of temperament, and inclined to delicacywas sent to an educational

establishment presided over by an exceptional type of master. The idol of his pupils, and the admiration of his

assistants, Alexander Petrovitch was gifted with an extraordinary measure of good sense. How thoroughly he

knew the peculiarities of the Russian of his day! How well he understood boys! How capable he was of

drawing them out! Not a practical joker in the school but, after perpetrating a prank, would voluntarily

approach his preceptor and make to him free confession. True, the preceptor would put a stern face upon the

matter, yet the culprit would depart with head held higher, not lower, than before, since in Alexander

Petrovitch there was something which heartenedsomething which seemed to say to a delinquent: "Forward

you! Rise to your feet again, even though you have fallen!" Not lectures on good behaviour was it, therefore,

that fell from his lips, but rather the injunction, "I want to see intelligence, and nothing else. The boy who

devotes his attention to becoming clever will never play the fool, for under such circumstances, folly

disappears of itself." And so folly did, for the boy who failed to strive in the desired direction incurred the

contempt of all his comrades, and even dunces and fools of senior standing did not dare to raise a finger when

saluted by their juniors with opprobrious epithets. Yet "This is too much," certain folk would say to

Alexander. "The result will be that your students will turn out prigs." "But no," he would reply. "Not at all.

You see, I make it my principle to keep the incapables for a single term only, since that is enough for them;

but to the clever ones I allot a double course of instruction." And, true enough, any lad of brains was retained

for this finishing course. Yet he did not repress all boyish playfulness, since he declared it to be as necessary

as a rash to a doctor, inasmuch as it enabled him to diagnose what lay hidden within.

Consequently, how the boys loved him! Never was there such an attachment between master and pupils. And

even later, during the foolish years, when foolish things attract, the measure of affection which Alexander

Petrovitch retained was extraordinary. In fact, to the day of his death, every former pupil would celebrate the

birthday of his late master by raising his glass in gratitude to the mentor dead and buriedthen close his

eyelids upon the tears which would come trickling through them. Even the slightest word of encouragement

from Alexander Petrovitch could throw a lad into a transport of tremulous joy, and arouse in him an

honourable emulation of his fellows. Boys of small capacity he did not long retain in his establishment;

whereas those who possessed exceptional talent he put through an extra course of schooling. This senior

classa class composed of speciallyselected pupilswas a very different affair from what usually obtains

in other colleges. Only when a boy had attained its ranks did Alexander demand of him what other masters

indiscreetly require of mere infantsnamely the superior frame of mind which, while never indulging in

mockery, can itself bear ridicule, and disregard the fool, and keep its temper, and repress itself, and eschew

revenge, and calmly, proudly retain its tranquillity of soul. In short, whatever avails to form a boy into a man

of assured character, that did Alexander Petrovitch employ during the pupil's youth, as well as constantly put

Of assistant tutors he kept but few, since most of the necessary instruction he imparted in person, and,

without pedantic terminology and inflated diction and views, could so transmit to his listeners the inmost

spirit of a lesson that even the youngest present absorbed its essential elements. Also, of studies he selected

none but those which may help a boy to become a good citizen; and therefore most of the lectures which he

delivered consisted of discourses on what may be awaiting a youth, as well as of such demarcations of life's

field that the pupil, though seated, as yet, only at the desk, could beforehand bear his part in that field both in

thought and spirit. Nor did the master CONCEAL anything. That is to say, without mincing words, he

invariably set before his hearers the sorrows and the difficulties which may confront a man, the trials and the

temptations which may beset him. And this he did in terms as though, in every possible calling and capacity,

he himself had experienced the same. Consequently, either the vigorous development of selfrespect or the

constant stimulus of the master's eye (which seemed to say to the pupil, "Forward!"that word which has

become so familiar to the contemporary Russian, that word which has worked such wonders upon his

sensitive temperament); one or the other, I repeat, would from the first cause the pupil to tackle difficulties,

and only difficulties, and to hunger for prowess only where the path was arduous, and obstacles were many,

and it was necessary to display the utmost strength of mind. Indeed, few completed the course of which I

have spoken without issuing therefrom reliable, seasoned fighters who could keep their heads in the most

embarrassing of official positions, and at times when older and wiser men, distracted with the annoyances of

life, had either abandoned everything or, grown slack and indifferent, had surrendered to the bribetakers and

the rascals. In short, no expupil of Alexander Petrovitch ever wavered from the right road, but, familiar with

life and with men, armed with the weapons of prudence, exerted a powerful influence upon wrongdoers.

For a long time past the ardent young Tientietnikov's excitable heart had also beat at the thought that one day

he might attain the senior class described. And, indeed, what better teacher could he have had befall him than

its preceptor? Yet just at the moment when he had been transferred thereto, just at the moment when he had

reached the coveted position, did his instructor come suddenly by his death! This was indeed a blow for the

boyindeed a terrible initial loss! In his eyes everything connected with the school seemed to undergo a

changethe chief reason being the fact that to the place of the deceased headmaster there succeeded a

certain Thedor Ivanovitch, who at once began to insist upon certain external rules, and to demand of the boys

what ought rightly to have been demanded only of adults. That is to say, since the lads' frank and open

demeanour savoured to him only of lack of discipline, he announced (as though in deliberate spite of his

predecessor) that he cared nothing for progress and intellect, but that heed was to be paid only to good

behaviour. Yet, curiously enough, good behaviour was just what he never obtained, for every kind of secret

prank became the rule; and while, by day, there reigned restraint and conspiracy, by night there began to take

Also, certain changes in the curriculum of studies came about, for there were engaged new teachers who held

new views and opinions, and confused their hearers with a multitude of new terms and phrases, and displayed

in their exposition of things both logical sequence and a zest for modern discovery and much warmth of

individual bias. Yet their instruction, alas! contained no LIFEin the mouths of those teachers a dead

language savoured merely of carrion. Thus everything connected with the school underwent a radical

alteration, and respect for authority and the authorities waned, and tutors and ushers came to be dubbed "Old

Thedor," "Crusty," and the like. And sundry other things began to take placethings which necessitated

many a penalty and expulsion; until, within a couple of years, no one who had known the school in former

Nevertheless Tientietnikov, a youth of retiring disposition, experienced no leanings towards the nocturnal

orgies of his companions, orgies during which the latter used to flirt with damsels before the very windows of

the headmaster's rooms, nor yet towards their mockery of all that was sacred, simply because fate had cast in

their way an injudicious priest. No, despite its dreaminess, his soul ever remembered its celestial origin, and

could not be diverted from the path of virtue. Yet still he hung his head, for, while his ambition had come to

life, it could find no sort of outlet. Truly 'twere well if it had NOT come to life, for throughout the time that

he was listening to professors who gesticulated on their chairs he could not help remembering the old

preceptor who, invariably cool and calm, had yet known how to make himself understood. To what subjects,

to what lectures, did the boy not have to listen!to lectures on medicine, and on philosophy, and on law, and

on a version of general history so enlarged that even three years failed to enable the professor to do more than

finish the introduction thereto, and also the account of the development of some selfgoverning towns in

Germany. None of the stuff remained fixed in Tientietnikov's brain save as shapeless clots; for though his

native intellect could not tell him how instruction ought to be imparted, it at least told him that THIS was not

the way. And frequently, at such moments he would recall Alexander Petrovitch, and give way to such grief

But youth is fortunate in the fact that always before it there lies a future; and in proportion as the time for his

leaving school drew nigh, Tientietnikov's heart began to beat higher and higher, and he said to himself: "This

is not life, but only a preparation for life. True life is to be found in the Public Service. There at least will

there be scope for activity." So, bestowing not a glance upon that beautiful corner of the world which never

failed to strike the guest or chance visitor with amazement, and reverencing not a whit the dust of his

ancestors, he followed the example of most ambitious men of his class by repairing to St. Petersburg

(whither, as we know, the more spirited youth of Russia from every quarter gravitatesthere to enter the

Public Service, to shine, to obtain promotion, and, in a word, to scale the topmost peaks of that pale, cold,

deceptive elevation which is known as society). But the real startingpoint of Tientietnikov's ambition was

the moment when his uncle (one State Councillor Onifri Ivanovitch) instilled into him the maxim that the

only means to success in the Service lay in good handwriting, and that, without that accomplishment, no one

could ever hope to become a Minister or Statesman. Thus, with great difficulty, and also with the help of his

uncle's influence, young Tientietnikov at length succeeded in being posted to a Department. On the day that

he was conducted into a splendid, shining halla hall fitted with inlaid floors and lacquered desks as fine as

though this were actually the place where the great ones of the Empire met for discussion of the fortunes of

the State; on the day that he saw legions of handsome gentlemen of the quilldriving profession making loud

scratchings with pens, and cocking their heads to one side; lastly on the day that he saw himself also allotted

a desk, and requested to copy a document which appeared purposely to be one of the pettiest possible order

(as a matter of fact it related to a sum of three roubles, and had taken half a year to produce)well, at that

moment a curious, an unwonted sensation seized upon the inexperienced youth, for the gentlemen around him

appeared so exactly like a lot of college students. And, the further to complete the resemblance, some of them

were engaged in reading trashy translated novels, which they kept hurriedly thrusting between the sheets of

their apportioned work whenever the Director appeared, as though to convey the impression that it was to that

work alone that they were applying themselves. In short, the scene seemed to Tientietnikov strange, and his

former pursuits more important than his present, and his preparation for the Service preferable to the Service

itself. Yes, suddenly he felt a longing for his old school; and as suddenly, and with all the vividness of life,

there appeared before his vision the figure of Alexander Petrovitch. He almost burst into tears as he beheld

his old master, and the room seemed to swim before his eyes, and the tchinovniks and the desks to become a

blur, and his sight to grow dim. Then he thought to himself with an effort: "No, no! I WILL apply myself to

my work, however petty it be at first." And hardening his heart and recovering his spirit, he determined then

and there to perform his duties in such a manner as should be an example to the rest.

But where are compensations to be found? Even in St. Petersburg, despite its grim and murky exterior, they

exist. Yes, even though thirty degrees of keen, cracking frost may have bound the streets, and the family of

the North Wind be wailing there, and the Snowstorm Witch have heaped high the pavements, and be blinding

the eyes, and powdering beards and fur collars and the shaggy manes of horseseven THEN there will be

shining hospitably through the swirling snowflakes a fourthfloor window where, in a cosy room, and by the

light of modest candles, and to the hiss of the samovar, there will be in progress a discussion which warms

the heart and soul, or else a reading aloud of a brilliant page of one of those inspired Russian poets with

whom God has dowered us, while the breast of each member of the company is heaving with a rapture

Gradually, therefore, Tientietnikov grew more at home in the Service. Yet never did it become, for him, the

main pursuit, the main object in life, which he had expected. No, it remained but one of a secondary kind.

That is to say, it served merely to divide up his time, and enable him the more to value his hours of leisure.

Nevertheless, just when his uncle was beginning to flatter himself that his nephew was destined to succeed in

the profession, the said nephew elected to ruin his every hope. Thus it befell. Tientietnikov's friends (he had

many) included among their number a couple of fellows of the species known as "embittered." That is to say,

though goodnatured souls of that curiously restless type which cannot endure injustice, nor anything which

it conceives to be such, they were thoroughly unbalanced of conduct themselves, and, while demanding

general agreement with their views, treated those of others with the scantiest of ceremony. Nevertheless these

two associates exercised upon Tientietnikovboth by the fire of their eloquence and by the form of their

noble dissatisfaction with societya very strong influence; with the result that, through arousing in him an

innate tendency to nervous resentment, they led him also to notice trifles which before had escaped his

attention. An instance of this is seen in the fact that he conceived against Thedor Thedorovitch Lienitsin,

Director of one of the Departments which was quartered in the splendid range of offices before mentioned, a

dislike which proved the cause of his discerning n the man a host of hitherto unmarked imperfections. Above

all things did Tientietnikov take it into his head that, when conversing with his superiors, Lienitsin became,

of the moment, a stick of luscious sweetmeat, but that, when conversing with his inferiors, he approximated

more to a vinegar cruet. Certain it is that, like all pettyminded individuals, Lienitsin made a note of any one

who failed to offer him a greeting on festival days, and that he revenged himself upon any one whose

visitingcard had not been handed to his butler. Eventually the youth's aversion almost attained the point of

hysteria; until he felt that, come what might, he MUST insult the fellow in some fashion. To that task he

applied himself con amore; and so thoroughly that he met with complete success. That is to say, he seized on

an occasion to address Lienitsin in such fashion that the delinquent received notice either to apologies or to

leave the Service; and when of these alternatives he chose the latter his uncle came to him, and made a

terrified appeal. "For God's sake remember what you are doing!" he cried. "To think that, after beginning

your career so well, you should abandon it merely for the reason that you have not fallen in with the sort of

Director whom you prefer! What do you mean by it, what do you mean by it? Were others to regard things in

the same way, the Service would find itself without a single individual. Reconsider your conductforego

"But, dear Uncle," the nephew replied, "that is not the point. The point is, not that I should find an apology

difficult to offer, seeing that, since Lienitsin is my superior, and I ought not to have addressed him as I did, I

am clearly in the wrong. Rather, the point is the following. To my charge there has been committed the

performance of another kind of service. That is to say, I am the owner of three hundred peasant souls, a badly

administered estate, and a fool of a bailiff. That being so, whereas the State will lose little by having to fill

my stool with another copyist, it will lose very much by causing three hundred peasant souls to fail in the

payment of their taxes. As I say (how am I to put it?), I am a landowner who has preferred to enter the Public

Service. Now, should I employ myself henceforth in conserving, restoring, and improving the fortunes of the

souls whom God has entrusted to my care, and thereby provide the State with three hundred lawabiding,

sober, hardworking taxpayers, how will that service of mine rank as inferior to the service of a

On hearing this speech, the State Councillor could only gape, for he had not expected Tientietnikov's torrent

"Yes, but, butbut how can a man like you retire to rustication in the country? What society will you get

there? Here one meets at least a general or a prince sometimes; indeed, no matter whom you pass in the

street, that person represents gas lamps and European civilisation; but in the country, no matter what part of it

you are in, not a soul is to be encountered save muzhiks and their women. Why should you go and condemn

Nevertheless the uncle's expostulations fell upon deaf ears, for already the nephew was beginning to think of

his estate as a retreat of a type more likely to nourish the intellectual faculties and afford the only profitable

field of activity. After unearthing one or two modern works on agriculture, therefore, he, two weeks later,

found himself in the neighbourhood of the home where his boyhood had been spent, and approaching the spot

which never failed to enthral the visitor or guest. And in the young man's breast there was beginning to

palpitate a new feelingin the young man's soul there were reawakening old, longconcealed impressions;

with the result that many a spot which had long been faded from his memory now filled him with interest,

and the beautiful views on the estate found him gazing at them like a newcomer, and with a beating heart.

Yes, as the road wound through a narrow ravine, and became engulfed in a forest where, both above and

below, he saw threecenturiesold oaks which three men could not have spanned, and where Siberian firs

and elms overtopped even the poplars, and as he asked the peasants to tell him to whom the forest belonged,

and they replied, "To Tientietnikov," and he issued from the forest, and proceeded on his way through

meadows, and past spinneys of elder, and of old and young willows, and arrived in sight of the distant range

of hills, and, crossing by two different bridges the winding river (which he left successively to right and to

left of him as he did so), he again questioned some peasants concerning the ownership of the meadows and

the flooded lands, and was again informed that they all belonged to Tientietnikov, and then, ascending a rise,

reached a tableland where, on one side, lay ungarnered fields of wheat and rye and barley, and, on the other,

the country already traversed (but which now showed in shortened perspective), and then plunged into the

shade of some forked, umbrageous trees which stood scattered over turf and extended to the manorhouse

itself, and caught glimpses of the carved huts of the peasants, and of the red roofs of the stone manorial

outbuildings, and of the glittering pinnacles of the church, and felt his heart beating, and knew, without being

told by any one, whither he had at length arrivedwell, then the feeling which had been growing within his

"Why have I been a fool so long? Why, seeing that fate has appointed me to be ruler of an earthly paradise,

did I prefer to bind myself in servitude as a scribe of lifeless documents? To think that, after I had been

nurtured and schooled and stored with all the knowledge necessary for the diffusion of good among those

under me, and for the improvement of my domain, and for the fulfilment of the manifold duties of a

landowner who is at once judge, administrator, and constable of his people, I should have entrusted my estate

to an ignorant bailiff, and sought to maintain an absentee guardianship over the affairs of serfs whom I have

never met, and of whose capabilities and characters I am yet ignorant! To think that I should have deemed

true estatemanagement inferior to a documentary, fantastical management of provinces which lie a thousand

versts away, and which my foot has never trod, and where I could never have effected aught but blunders and

Meanwhile another spectacle was being prepared for him. On learning that the barin was approaching the

mansion, the muzhiks collected on the verandah in very variety of picturesque dress and tonsure; and when

these good folk surrounded him, and there arose a resounding shout of "Here is our Foster Father! He has

remembered us!" and, in spite of themselves, some of the older men and women began weeping as they

recalled his grandfather and greatgrandfather, he himself could not restrain his tears, but reflected: "How

much affection! And in return for what? In return for my never having come to see themin return for my

never having taken the least interest in their affairs!" And then and there he registered a mental vow to share

So he applied himself to supervising and administering. He reduced the amount of the barstchina[1], he

decreased the number of workingdays for the owner, and he augmented the sum of the peasants'

leisuretime. He also dismissed the fool of a bailiff, and took to bearing a personal hand in everythingto

being present in the fields, at the threshingfloor, at the kilns, at the wharf, at the freighting of barges and

rafts, and at their conveyance down the river: wherefore even the lazy hands began to look to themselves. But

this did not last long. The peasant is an observant individual, and Tientietnikov's muzhiks soon scented the

fact that, though energetic and desirous of doing much, the barin had no notion how to do it, nor even how to

set about itthat, in short, he spoke by the book rather than out of his personal knowledge. Consequently

things resulted, not in master and men failing to understand one another, but in their not singing together, in

[1] In the days of serfdom, the rate of forced labourso many hours or so many days per weekwhich the

That is to say, it was not long before Tientietnikov noticed that on the manorial lands, nothing prospered to

the extent that it did on the peasants'. The manorial crops were sown in good time, and came up well, and

every one appeared to work his best, so much so that Tientietnikov, who supervised the whole, frequently

ordered mugs of vodka to be served out as a reward for the excellence of the labour performed. Yet the rye on

the peasants' land had formed into ear, and the oats had begun to shoot their grain, and the millet had filled

before, on the manorial lands, the corn had so much as grown to stalk, or the ears had sprouted in embryo. In

short, gradually the barin realised that, in spite of favours conferred, the peasants were playing the rogue with

him. Next he resorted to remonstrance, but was met with the reply, "How could we not do our best for our

barin? You yourself saw how well we laboured at the ploughing and the sowing, for you gave us mugs of

"Who can say? It must be that a grub has eaten the crop from below. Besides, what a summer has it

Nevertheless, the barin noted that no grub had eaten the PEASANTS' crops, as well as that the rain had fallen

in the most curious fashionnamely, in patches. It had obliged the muzhiks, but had shed a mere sprinkling

Still more difficult did he find it to deal with the peasant women. Ever and anon they would beg to be

excused from work, or start making complaints of the severity of the barstchina. Indeed, they were terrible

folk! However, Tientietnikov abolished the majority of the tithes of linen, hedge fruit, mushrooms, and nuts,

and also reduced by onehalf other tasks proper to the women, in the hope that they would devote their spare

time to their own domestic concernsnamely, to sewing and mending, and to making clothes for their

husbands, and to increasing the area of their kitchen gardens. Yet no such result came about. On the contrary,

such a pitch did the idleness, the quarrelsomeness, and the intriguing and caballing of the fair sex attain that

their helpmeets were for ever coming to the barin with a request that he would rid one or another of his wife,

Next, hardening his heart, the barin attempted severity. But of what avail was severity? The peasant woman

remained always the peasant woman, and would come and whine that she was sick and ailing, and keep

pitifully hugging to herself the mean and filthy rags which she had donned for the occasion. And when poor

Tientietnikov found himself unable to say more to her than just, "Get out of my sight, and may the Lord go

with you!" the next item in the comedy would be that he would see her, even as she was leaving his gates, fall

to contending with a neighbour for, say, the possession of a turnip, and dealing out slaps in the face such as

Again, amongst other things, Tientietnikov conceived the idea of establishing a school for his people; but the

scheme resulted in a farce which left him in sackcloth and ashes. In the same way he found that, when it came

to a question of dispensing justice and of adjusting disputes, the host of juridical subtleties with which the

professors had provided him proved absolutely useless. That is to say, the one party lied, and the other party

lied, and only the devil could have decided between them. Consequently he himself perceived that a

knowledge of mankind would have availed him more than all the legal refinements and philosophical maxims

in the world could do. He lacked something; and though he could not divine what it was, the situation

brought about was the common one of the barin failing to understand the peasant, and the peasant failing to

understand the barin, and both becoming disaffected. In the end, these difficulties so chilled Tientietnikov's

enthusiasm that he took to supervising the labours of the field with greatly diminished attention. That is to

say, no matter whether the scythes were softly swishing through the grass, or ricks were being built, or rafts

were being loaded, he would allow his eyes to wander from his men, and to fall to gazing at, say, a

redbilled, redlegged heron which, after strutting along the bank of a stream, would have caught a fish in its

beak, and be holding it awhile, as though in doubt whether to swallow it. Next he would glance towards the

spot where a similar bird, but one not yet in possession of a fish, was engaged in watching the doings of its

mate. Lastly, with eyebrows knitted, and face turned to scan the zenith, he would drink in the smell of the

fields, and fall to listening to the winged population of the air as from earth and sky alike the manifold music

of winged creatures combined in a single harmonious chorus. In the rye the quail would be calling, and, in the

grass, the corncrake, and over them would be wheeling flocks of twittering linnets. Also, the jacksnipe would

be uttering its croak, and the lark executing its roulades where it had become lost in the sunshine, and cranes

sending forth their trumpetlike challenge as they deployed towards the zenith in triangleshaped flocks. In

fact, the neighbourhood would seem to have become converted into one great concert of melody. O Creator,

how fair is Thy world where, in remote, rural seclusion, it lies apart from cities and from highways!

But soon even this began to pall upon Tientietnikov, and he ceased altogether to visit his fields, or to do aught

but shut himself up in his rooms, where he refused to receive even the bailiff when that functionary called

with his reports. Again, although, until now, he had to a certain extent associated with a retired colonel of

hussarsa man saturated with tobacco smokeand also with a student of pronounced, but immature,

opinions who culled the bulk of his wisdom from contemporary newspapers and pamphlets, he found, as time

went on, that these companions proved as tedious as the rest, and came to think their conversation superficial,

and their European method of comporting themselvesthat is to say, the method of conversing with much

slapping of knees and a great deal of bowing and gesticulationtoo direct and unadorned. So these and

every one else he decided to "drop," and carried this resolution into effect with a certain amount of rudeness.

On the next occasion that Varvar Nikolaievitch Vishnepokromov called to indulge in a freeandeasy

symposium on politics, philosophy, literature, morals, and the state of financial affairs in England (he was, in

all matters which admit of superficial discussion, the pleasantest fellow alive, seeing that he was a typical

representative both of the retired fireeater and of the school of thought which is now becoming the

rage)when, I say, this next happened, Tientietnikov merely sent out to say that he was not at home, and

then carefully showed himself at the window. Host and guest exchanged glances, and, while the one muttered

through his teeth "The cur!" the other relieved his feelings with a remark or two on swine. Thus the

acquaintance came to an abrupt end, and from that time forth no visitor called at the mansion.

Tientietnikov in no way regretted this, for he could now devote himself wholly to the projection of a great

work on Russia. Of the scale on which this composition was conceived the reader is already aware. The

reader also knows how strange, how unsystematic, was the system employed in it. Yet to say that

Tientietnikov never awoke from his lethargy would not be altogether true. On the contrary, when the post

brought him newspapers and reviews, and he saw in their printed pages, perhaps, the wellknown name of

some former comrade who had succeeded in the great field of Public Service, or had conferred upon science

and the world's work some notable contribution, he would succumb to secret and suppressed grief, and

involuntarily there would burst from his soul an expression of aching, voiceless regret that he himself had

done so little. And at these times his existence would seem to him odious and repellent; at these times there

would uprise before him the memory of his school days, and the figure of Alexander Petrovitch, as vivid as in

What meant these repinings? Was there not disclosed in them the secret of his galling spiritual painthe fact

that he had failed to order his life aright, to confirm the lofty aims with which he had started his course; the

fact that, always poorly equipped with experience, he had failed to attain the better and the higher state, and

there to strengthen himself for the overcoming of hindrances and obstacles; the fact that, dissolving like

overheated metal, his bounteous store of superior instincts had failed to take the final tempering; the fact that

the tutor of his boyhood, a man in a thousand, had prematurely died, and left to Tientietnikov no one who

could restore to him the moral strength shattered by vacillation and the will power weakened by want of

virilityno one, in short, who could cry hearteningly to his soul "Forward!"the word for which the

Russian of every degree, of every class, of every occupation, of every school of thought, is for ever

Indeed, WHERE is the man who can cry aloud for any of us, in the Russian tongue dear to our soul, the

allcompelling command "Forward!"? Who is there who, knowing the strength and the nature and the inmost

depths of the Russian genius, can by a single magic incantation divert our ideals to the higher life? Were

there such a man, with what tears, with what affection, would not the grateful sons of Russia repay him! Yet

age succeeds to age, and our callow youth still lies wrapped in shameful sloth, or strives and struggles to no

One circumstance which almost aroused Tientietnikov, which almost brought about a revolution in his

character, was the fact that he came very near to falling in love. Yet even this resulted in nothing. Ten versts

away there lived the general whom we have heard expressing himself in highly uncomplimentary terms

concerning Tientietnikov. He maintained a Generallike establishment, dispensed hospitality (that is to say,

was glad when his neighbours came to pay him their respects, though he himself never went out), spoke

always in a hoarse voice, read a certain number of books, and had a daughtera curious, unfamiliar type, but

full of life as life itself. This maiden's name was Ulinka, and she had been strangely brought up, for, losing

her mother in early childhood, she had subsequently received instruction at the hands of an English governess

who knew not a single word of Russian. Moreover her father, though excessively fond of her, treated her

always as a toy; with the result that, as she grew to years of discretion, she became wholly wayward and

spoilt. Indeed, had any one seen the sudden rage which would gather on her beautiful young forehead when

she was engaged in a heated dispute with her father, he would have thought her one of the most capricious

beings in the world. Yet that rage gathered only when she had heard of injustice or harsh treatment, and never

because she desired to argue on her own behalf, or to attempt to justify her own conduct. Also, that anger

would disappear as soon as ever she saw any one whom she had formerly disliked fall upon evil times, and, at

his first request for alms would, without consideration or subsequent regret, hand him her purse and its whole

contents. Yes, her every act was strenuous, and when she spoke her whole personality seemed to be following

hotfoot upon her thoughtboth her expression of face and her diction and the movements of her hands.

Nay, the very folds of her frock had a similar appearance of striving; until one would have thought that all her

self were flying in pursuit of her words. Nor did she know reticence: before any one she would disclose her

mind, and no force could compel her to maintain silence when she desired to speak. Also, her enchanting,

peculiar gaita gait which belonged to her alonewas so absolutely free and unfettered that every one

involuntarily gave her way. Lastly, in her presence churls seemed to become confused and fall to silence, and

even the roughest and most outspoken would lose their heads, and have not a word to say; whereas the shy

man would find himself able to converse as never in his life before, and would feel, from the first, as though

he had seen her and known her at some previous periodduring the days of some unremembered childhood,

when he was at home, and spending a merry evening among a crowd of romping children. And for long

afterwards he would feel as though his man's intellect and estate were a burden.

This was what now befell Tientietnikov; and as it did so a new feeling entered into his soul, and his dreamy

At first the General used to receive him with hospitable civility, but permanent concord between them proved

impossible; their conversation always merged into dissension and soreness, seeing that, while the General

could not bear to be contradicted or worsted in an argument, Tientietnikov was a man of extreme

sensitiveness. True, for the daughter's sake, the father was for a while deferred to, and thus peace was

maintained; but this lasted only until the time when there arrived, on a visit to the General, two kinswomen of

histhe Countess Bordirev and the Princess Uziakin, retired Court dames, but ladies who still kept up a

certain connection with Court circles, and therefore were much fawned upon by their host. No sooner had

they appeared on the scene than (so it seemed to Tientietnikov) the General's attitude towards the young man

became coldereither he ceased to notice him at all or he spoke to him familiarly, and as to a person having

no standing in society. This offended Tientietnikov deeply, and though, when at length he spoke out on the

subject, he retained sufficient presence of mind to compress his lips, and to preserve a gentle and courteous

"General," he said, "I thank you for your condescension. By addressing me in the second person singular, you

have admitted me to the circle of your most intimate friends. Indeed, were it not that a difference of years

The General sat aghast. At length, rallying his tongue and his faculties, he replied that, though he had spoken

with a lack of ceremony, he had used the term "thou" merely as an elderly man naturally employs it towards a

Nevertheless, the acquaintance broke off here, and with it any possibility of lovemaking. The light which

had shed a momentary gleam before Tientietnikov's eyes had become extinguished for ever, and upon it there

followed a darkness denser than before. Henceforth everything conduced to evolve the regime which the

reader has notedthat regime of sloth and inaction which converted Tientietnikov's residence into a place of

dirt and neglect. For days at a time would a broom and a heap of dust be left lying in the middle of a room,

and trousers tossing about the salon, and pairs of wornout braces adorning the whatnot near the sofa. In

short, so mean and untidy did Tientietnikov's mode of life become, that not only his servants, but even his

very poultry ceased to treat him with respect. Taking up a pen, he would spend hours in idly sketching

houses, huts, waggons, troikas, and flourishes on a piece of paper; while at other times, when he had sunk

into a reverie, the pen would, all unknowingly, sketch a small head which had delicate features, a pair of

quick, penetrating eyes, and a raised coiffure. Then suddenly the dreamer would perceive, to his surprise, that

the pen had executed the portrait of a maiden whose picture no artist could adequately have painted; and

therewith his despondency would become greater than ever, and, believing that happiness did not exist on

earth, he would relapse into increased ennui, increased neglect of his responsibilities.

But one morning he noticed, on moving to the window after breakfast, that not a word was proceeding either

from the butler or the housekeeper, but that, on the contrary, the courtyard seemed to smack of a certain

bustle and excitement. This was because through the entrance gates (which the kitchen maid and the scullion

had run to open) there were appearing the noses of three horsesone to the right, one in the middle, and one

to the left, after the fashion of triumphal groups of statuary. Above them, on the box seat, were seated a

coachman and a valet, while behind, again, there could be discerned a gentleman in a scarf and a fur cap.

Only when the equipage had entered the courtyard did it stand revealed as a light spring britchka. And as it

came to a halt, there leapt on to the verandah of the mansion an individual of respectable exterior, and

possessed of the art of moving with the neatness and alertness of a military man.

Upon this Tientietnikov's heart stood still. He was unused to receiving visitors, and for the moment conceived

the new arrival to be a Government official, sent to question him concerning an abortive society to which he

had formerly belonged. (Here the author may interpolate the fact that, in Tientietnikov's early days, the young

man had become mixed up in a very absurd affair. That is to say, a couple of philosophers belonging to a

regiment of hussars had, together with an aesthete who had not yet completed his student's course and a

gambler who had squandered his all, formed a secret society of philanthropic aims under the presidency of a

certain old rascal of a freemason and the ruined gambler aforesaid. The scope of the society's work was to be

extensive: it was to bring lasting happiness to humanity at large, from the banks of the Thames to the shores

of Kamtchatka. But for this much money was needed: wherefore from the nobleminded members of the

society generous contributions were demanded, and then forwarded to a destination known only to the

supreme authorities of the concern. As for Tientietnikov's adhesion, it was brought about by the two friends

already alluded to as "embittered"goodhearted souls whom the wear and tear of their efforts on behalf of

science, civilisation, and the future emancipation of mankind had ended by converting into confirmed

drunkards. Perhaps it need hardly be said that Tientietnikov soon discovered how things stood, and withdrew

from the association; but, meanwhile, the latter had had the misfortune so to have engaged in dealings not

wholly creditable to gentlemen of noble origin as likewise to have become entangled in dealings with the

police. Consequently, it is not to be wondered at that, though Tientietnikov had long severed his connection

with the society and its policy, he still remained uneasy in his mind as to what might even yet be the result.)

However, his fears vanished the instant that the guest saluted him with marked politeness and explained, with

many deferential poises of the head, and in terms at once civil and concise, that for some time past he (the

newcomer) had been touring the Russian Empire on business and in the pursuit of knowledge, that the

Empire abounded in objects of interestnot to mention a plenitude of manufactures and a great diversity of

soil, and that, in spite of the fact that he was greatly struck with the amenities of his host's domain, he would

certainly not have presumed to intrude at such an inconvenient hour but for the circumstance that the

inclement spring weather, added to the state of the roads, had necessitated sundry repairs to his carriage at the

hands of wheelwrights and blacksmiths. Finally he declared that, even if this last had NOT happened, he

would still have felt unable to deny himself the pleasure of offering to his host that meed of homage which

This speecha speech of fascinating bonhomiedelivered, the guest executed a sort of shuffle with a

halfboot of patent leather studded with buttons of motherofpearl, and followed that up by (in spite of his

pronounced rotundity of figure) stepping backwards with all the elan of an indiarubber ball.

From this the somewhat reassured Tientietnikov concluded that his visitor must be a literary,

knowledgeseeking professor who was engaged in roaming the country in search of botanical specimens and

fossils; wherefore he hastened to express both his readiness to further the visitor's objects (whatever they

might be) and his personal willingness to provide him with the requisite wheelwrights and blacksmiths.

Meanwhile he begged his guest to consider himself at home, and, after seating him in an armchair, made

But the newcomer applied himself, rather, to phenomena of the internal world, saying that his life might be

likened to a barque tossed on the crests of perfidious billows, that in his time he had been fated to play many

parts, and that on more than one occasion his life had stood in danger at the hands of foes. At the same time,

these tidings were communicated in a manner calculated to show that the speaker was also a man of

PRACTICAL capabilities. In conclusion, the visitor took out a cambric pockethandkerchief, and sneezed

into it with a vehemence wholly new to Tientietnikov's experience. In fact, the sneeze rather resembled the

note which, at times, the trombone of an orchestra appears to utter not so much from its proper place on the

platform as from the immediate neighbourhood of the listener's ear. And as the echoes of the drowsy mansion

resounded to the report of the explosion there followed upon the same a wave of perfume, skilfully wafted

By this time the reader will have guessed that the visitor was none other than our old and respected friend

Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov. Naturally, time had not spared him his share of anxieties and alarms; wherefore

his exterior had come to look a trifle more elderly, his frockcoat had taken on a suggestion of shabbiness, and

britchka, coachman, valet, horses, and harness alike had about them a sort of secondhand, worseforwear

effect. Evidently the Chichikovian finances were not in the most flourishing of conditions. Nevertheless, the

old expression of face, the old air of breeding and refinement, remained unimpaired, and our hero had even

improved in the art of walking and turning with grace, and of dexterously crossing one leg over the other

when taking a seat. Also, his mildness of diction, his discreet moderation of word and phrase, survived in, if

anything, increased measure, and he bore himself with a skill which caused his tactfulness to surpass itself in

sureness of aplomb. And all these accomplishments had their effect further heightened by a snowy

immaculateness of collar and dickey, and an absence of dust from his frockcoat, as complete as though he

had just arrived to attend a nameday festival. Lastly, his cheeks and chin were of such neat cleanshavenness

From that moment onwards great changes took place in Tientietnikov's establishment, and certain of its

rooms assumed an unwonted air of cleanliness and order. The rooms in question were those assigned to

Chichikov, while one other apartmenta little front chamber opening into the hallbecame permeated with

Petrushka's own peculiar smell. But this lasted only for a little while, for presently Petrushka was transferred

to the servants' quarters, a course which ought to have been adopted in the first instance.

During the initial days of Chichikov's sojourn, Tientietnikov feared rather to lose his independence, inasmuch

as he thought that his guest might hamper his movements, and bring about alterations in the established

routine of the place. But these fears proved groundless, for Paul Ivanovitch displayed an extraordinary

aptitude for accommodating himself to his new position. To begin with, he encouraged his host in his

philosophical inertia by saying that the latter would help Tientietnikov to become a centenarian. Next, in the

matter of a life of isolation, he hit things off exactly by remarking that such a life bred in a man a capacity for

high thinking. Lastly, as he inspected the library and dilated on books in general, he contrived an opportunity

to observe that literature safeguarded a man from a tendency to waste his time. In short, the few words of

which he delivered himself were brief, but invariably to the point. And this discretion of speech was outdone

by his discretion of conduct. That is to say, whether entering or leaving the room, he never wearied his host

with a question if Tientietnikov had the air of being disinclined to talk; and with equal satisfaction the guest

could either play chess or hold his tongue. Consequently Tientietnikov said to himself:

"For the first time in my life I have met with a man with whom it is possible to live. In general, not many of

the type exist in Russia, and, though clever, goodhumoured, welleducated men abound, one would be hard

put to it to find an individual of equable temperament with whom one could share a roof for centuries without

For his part, Chichikov was only too delighted to reside with a person so quiet and agreeable as his host. Of a

wandering life he was temporarily weary, and to rest, even for a month, in such a beautiful spot, and in sight

of green fields and the slow flowering of spring, was likely to benefit him also from the hygienic point of

view. And, indeed, a more delightful retreat in which to recuperate could not possibly have been found. The

spring, long retarded by previous cold, had now begun in all its comeliness, and life was rampant. Already,

over the first emerald of the grass, the dandelion was showing yellow, and the redpink anemone was

hanging its tender head; while the surface of every pond was a swarm of dancing gnats and midges, and the

waterspider was being joined in their pursuit by birds which gathered from every quarter to the

vantageground of the dry reeds. Every species of creature also seemed to be assembling in concourse, and

taking stock of one another. Suddenly the earth became populous, the forest had opened its eyes, and the

meadows were lifting up their voice in song. In the same way had choral dances begun to be weaved in the

village, and everywhere that the eye turned there was merriment. What brightness in the green of nature, what

freshness in the air, what singing of birds in the gardens of the mansion, what general joy and rapture and

exaltation! Particularly in the village might the shouting and singing have been in honour of a wedding!

Chichikov walked hither, thither, and everywherea pursuit for which there was ample choice and facility.

At one time he would direct his steps along the edge of the flat tableland, and contemplate the depths below,

where still there lay sheets of water left by the floods of winter, and where the islandlike patches of forest

showed leafless boughs; while at another time he would plunge into the thicket and ravine country, where

nests of birds weighted branches almost to the ground, and the sky was darkened with the crisscross flight

of cawing rooks. Again, the drier portions of the meadows could be crossed to the river wharves, whence the

first barges were just beginning to set forth with peameal and barley and wheat, while at the same time one's

ear would be caught with the sound of some mill resuming its functions as once more the water turned the

wheel. Chichikov would also walk afield to watch the early tillage operations of the season, and observe how

the blackness of a new furrow would make its way across the expanse of green, and how the sower,

rhythmically striking his hand against the pannier slung across his breast, would scatter his fistfuls of seed

with equal distribution, apportioning not a grain too much to one side or to the other.

In fact, Chichikov went everywhere. He chatted and talked, now with the bailiff, now with a peasant, now

with a miller, and inquired into the manner and nature of everything, and sought information as to how an

estate was managed, and at what price corn was selling, and what species of grain was best for spring and

autumn grinding, and what was the name of each peasant, and who were his kinsfolk, and where he had

bought his cow, and what he fed his pigs on. Chichikov also made inquiry concerning the number of peasants

who had lately died: but of these there appeared to be few. And suddenly his quick eye discerned that

Tientietnikov's estate was not being worked as it might have beenthat much neglect and listlessness and

pilfering and drunkenness was abroad; and on perceiving this, he thought to himself: "What a fool is that

Tientietnikov! To think of letting a property like this decay when he might be drawing from it an income of

Also, more than once, while taking these walks, our hero pondered the idea of himself becoming a

landownernot now, of course, but later, when his chief aim should have been achieved, and he had got into

his hands the necessary means for living the quiet life of the proprietor of an estate. Yes, and at these times

there would include itself in his castlebuilding the figure of a young, fresh, fairfaced maiden of the

mercantile or other rich grade of society, a woman who could both play and sing. He also dreamed of little

descendants who should perpetuate the name of Chichikov; perhaps a frolicsome little boy and a fair young

daughter, or possibly, two boys and quite two or three daughters; so that all should know that he had really

lived and had his being, that he had not merely roamed the world like a spectre or a shadow; so that for him

and his the country should never be put to shame. And from that he would go on to fancy that a title appended

to his rank would not be a bad thingthe title of State Councillor, for instance, which was deserving of all

honour and respect. Ah, it is a common thing for a man who is taking a solitary walk so to detach himself

from the irksome realities of the present that he is able to stir and to excite and to provoke his imagination to

Chichikov's servants also found the mansion to their taste, and, like their master, speedily made themselves at

home in it. In particular did Petrushka make friends with Grigory the butler, although at first the pair showed

a tendency to outbrag one anotherPetrushka beginning by throwing dust in Grigory's eyes on the score of

his (Petrushka's) travels, and Grigory taking him down a peg or two by referring to St. Petersburg (a city

which Petrushka had never visited), and Petrushka seeking to recover lost ground by dilating on towns which

he HAD visited, and Grigory capping this by naming some town which is not to be found on any map in

existence, and then estimating the journey thither as at least thirty thousand verstsa statement which would

so completely flabbergast the henchman of Chichikov's suite that he would be left staring openmouthed,

amid the general laughter of the domestic staff. However, as I say, the pair ended by swearing eternal

friendship with one another, and making a practice of resorting to the village tavern in company.

For Selifan, however, the place had a charm of a different kind. That is to say, each evening there would take

place in the village a singing of songs and a weaving of country dances; and so shapely and buxom were the

maidensmaidens of a type hard to find in our presentday villages on large estatesthat he would stand

for hours wondering which of them was the best. Whitenecked and whitebosomed, all had great roving

eyes, the gait of peacocks, and hair reaching to the waist. And as, with his hands clasping theirs, he glided

hither and thither in the dance, or retired backwards towards a wall with a row of other young fellows, and

then, with them, returned to meet the damselsall singing in chorus (and laughing as they sang it), "Boyars,

show me my bridegroom!" and dusk was falling gently, and from the other side of the river there kept coming

far, faint, plaintive echoes of the melodywell, then our Selifan hardly knew whether he were standing upon

his head or his heels. Later, when sleeping and when waking, both at noon and at twilight, he would seem

Chichikov's horses also found nothing of which to disapprove. Yes, both the bay, the Assessor, and the

skewbald accounted residence at Tientietnikov's a most comfortable affair, and voted the oats excellent, and

the arrangement of the stables beyond all cavil. True, on this occasion each horse had a stall to himself; yet,

by looking over the intervening partition, it was possible always to see one's fellows, and, should a neighbour

As for the errand which had hitherto led Chichikov to travel about Russia, he had now decided to move very

cautiously and secretly in the matter. In fact, on noticing that Tientietnikov went in absorbedly for reading

and for talking philosophy, the visitor said to himself, "NoI had better begin at the other end," and

proceeded first to feel his way among the servants of the establishment. From them he learnt several things,

and, in particular, that the barin had been wont to go and call upon a certain General in the neighbourhood,

and that the General possessed a daughter, and that she and Tientietnikov had had an affair of some sort, but

that the pair had subsequently parted, and gone their several ways. For that matter, Chichikov himself had

noticed that Tientietnikov was in the habit of drawing heads of which each representation exactly resembled

Tientietnikov made no rejoinder, and the conversation came temporarily to an end.

But Chichikov was not to be discouraged; wherefore, while waiting for supper and talking on different

As before, Tientietnikov did not reply, and the renewed mention of the subject seemed to have annoyed him.

For the third timeit was after supperChichikov returned to the charge by remarking:

"Today, as I was walking round your property, I could not help thinking that marriage would do you a great

Whether Chichikov's words now voiced sufficiently the note of persuasion, or whether Tientietnikov

happened, at the moment, to be unusually disposed to frankness, at all events the young landowner sighed,

"To attain anything, Paul Ivanovitch, one needs to have been born under a lucky star."

And he related to his guest the whole history of his acquaintanceship and subsequent rupture with the

As Chichikov listened to the recital, and gradually realised that the affair had arisen merely out of a chance

word on the General's part, he was astounded beyond measure, and gazed at Tientietnikov without knowing

"Nothing, as regards the actual words spoken," replied the other. "The offence lay, rather, in the insult

conveyed in the General's tone." Tientietnikov was a kindly and peaceable man, yet his eyes flashed as he

"I disagree with you. Had he been an old man in a humble station of life, instead of a proud and swaggering

officer, I should not have minded so much. But, as it was, I could not, and would not, brook his words."

"I tell you what," resumed Chichikov. "Tomorrow I myself will go and see the General."

"To what purpose?" asked Tientietnikov, with astonishment and distrust in his eyes.

"A strange fellow, this Tientietnikov!" thought Chichikov, and then added aloud: "Yes, I will go and see him

at ten o'clock tomorrow; but since my britchka is not yet altogether in travelling order, would you be so

Tientietnikov's good horses covered the ten versts to the General's house in a little over half an hour.

Descending from the koliaska with features attuned to deference, Chichikov inquired for the master of the

house, and was at once ushered into his presence. Bowing with head held respectfully on one side and hands

extended like those of a waiter carrying a trayful of teacups, the visitor inclined his whole body forward, and

"I have deemed it my duty to present myself to your Excellency. I have deemed it my duty because in my

heart I cherish a most profound respect for the valiant men who, on the field of battle, have proved the

That this preliminary attack did not wholly displease the General was proved by the fact that, responding with

"I am glad to make your acquaintance. Pray be so good as to take a seat. In what capacity or capacities have

"Of my service," said Chichikov, depositing his form, not exactly in the centre of the chair, but rather on one

side of it, and resting a hand upon one of its arms, "of my service the scene was laid, in the first instance,

in the Treasury; while its further course bore me successively into the employ of the Public Buildings

Commission, of the Customs Board, and of other Government Offices. But, throughout, my life has

resembled a barque tossed on the crests of perfidious billows. In suffering I have been swathed and wrapped

until I have come to be, as it were, suffering personified; while of the extent to which my life has been sought

by foes, no words, no colouring, no (if I may so express it?) painter's brush could ever convey to you an

adequate idea. And now, at length, in my declining years, I am seeking a corner in which to eke out the

remainder of my miserable existence, while at the present moment I am enjoying the hospitality of a

"Led me add," put in Chichikov hastily, "that he greatly regrets that on a former occasion he should have

"For the services to the public which your Excellency has rendered. Indeed, he cannot find words to express

his sorrow, but keeps repeating to himself: 'Would that I had valued at their true worth the men who have

"And why should he say that?" asked the mollified General. "I bear him no grudge. In fact, I have never

cherished aught but a sincere liking for him, a sincere esteem, and do not doubt but that, in time, he may

"In the words which you have been good enough to utter," said Chichikov with a bow, "there is embodied

much justice. Yes, Tientietnikov is in very truth a man of worth. Not only does he possess the gift of

"Ah, yes; he DOES write rubbish of some sort, doesn't he? Verses, or something of the kind?"

"Not rubbish, your Excellency, but practical stuff. In short, he is inditing a history."

"A history of, of" For a moment or two Chichikov hesitated. Then, whether because it was a General that

was seated in front of him, or because he desired to impart greater importance to the subject which he was

"Of Generals generallyof Generals at large. That is to say, and to be more precise, a history of the Generals

By this time Chichikov was floundering badly. Mentally he spat upon himself and reflected: "Gracious

"Pardon me," went on his interlocutor, "but I do not quite understand you. Is Tientietnikov producing a

history of a given period, or only a history made up of a series of biographies? Also, is he including ALL our

"The latter, your Excellencyonly the Generals of 1812," replied Chichikov. Then he added beneath his

breath: "Were I to be killed for it, I could not say what that may be supposed to mean."

"Then why should he not come and see me in person?" went on his host. "Possibly I might be able to furnish

"Nonsense! Just because of a hasty word or two! I am not that sort of man at all. In fact, I should be very

"Never would he permit that, your Excellency. He would greatly prefer to be the first to make advances."

And Chichikov added to himself: "What a stroke of luck those Generals were! Otherwise, the Lord knows

At this moment the door into the adjoining room opened, and there appeared in the doorway a girl as fair as a

ray of the sunso fair, indeed, that Chichikov stared at her in amazement. Apparently she had come to speak

to her father for a moment, but had stopped short on perceiving that there was some one with him. The only

fault to be found in her appearance was the fact that she was too thin and fragilelooking.

"May I introduce you to my little pet?" said the General to Chichikov. "To tell you the truth, I do not know

"That you should be unacquainted with the name of one who has never distinguished himself in the manner

of which you yourself can boast is scarcely to be wondered at." And Chichikov executed one of his sidelong,

"It is Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov, your Excellency." With that went the easy bow of a military man and the

"Ulinka, this is Paul Ivanovitch," said the General, turning to his daughter. "He has just told me some

interesting newsnamely, that our neighbour Tientietnikov is not altogether the fool we had at first thought

him. On the contrary, he is engaged upon a very important workupon a history of the Russian Generals of

"But who ever supposed him to be a fool?" asked the girl quickly. "What happened was that you took

Vishnepokromov's wordthe word of a man who is himself both a fool and a goodfornothing."

"Well, well," said the father after further goodnatured dispute on the subject of Vishnepokromov. "Do you

now run away, for I wish to dress for luncheon. And you, sir," he added to Chichikov, "will you not join us at

Chichikov bowed so low and so long that, by the time that his eyes had ceased to see nothing but his own

boots, the General's daughter had disappeared, and in her place was standing a bewhiskered butler, armed

"By no means," replied Chichikov. "Pray do whatsoever you please in that respect."

Upon that the General fell to scrubbing himselfincidentally, to sending soapsuds flying in every direction.

Meanwhile he seemed so favourably disposed that Chichikov decided to sound him then and there, more

"It is this, your Excellency. I have a decrepit old uncle who owns three hundred souls and two thousand

roublesworth of other property. Also, except for myself, he possesses not a single heir. Now, although his

infirm state of health will not permit of his managing his property in person, he will not allow me either to

manage it. And the reason for his conducthis very strange conducthe states as follows: 'I do not know

my nephew, and very likely he is a spendthrift. If he wishes to show me that he is good for anything, let him

go and acquire as many souls as _I_ have acquired; and when he has done that I will transfer to him my three

"Possibly. And were that all, things would not be as bad as they are. But, unfortunately, my uncle has gone

and taken up with his housekeeper, and has had children by her. Consequently, everything will now pass to

"The old man must have taken leave of his senses," remarked the General. "Yet how _I_ can help you I fail to

"Well, I have thought of a plan. If you will hand me over all the dead souls on your estatehand them over

to me exactly as though they were still alive, and were purchasable propertyI will offer them to the old

At this point the General burst into a roar of laughter such as few can ever have heard. Halfdressed, he

subsided into a chair, threw back his head, and guffawed until he came near to choking. In fact, the house

shook with his merriment, so much so that the butler and his daughter came running into the room in alarm.

It was long before he could produce a single articulate word; and even when he did so (to reassure his

daughter and the butler) he kept momentarily relapsing into spluttering chuckles which made the house ring

"Oh, that uncle!" bellowed the General in paroxysms of mirth. "Oh, that blessed uncle! WHAT a fool he'll

look! Ha, ha, ha! Dead souls offered him instead of live ones! Oh, my goodness!"

"I suppose I've put my foot in it again," ruefully reflected Chichikov. "But, good Lord, what a man the fellow

"Ha, ha, ha!" broke out the General afresh. "WHAT a donkey the old man must be! To think of his saying to

you: 'You go and fit yourself out with three hundred souls, and I'll cap them with my own lot'! My word!

"Yes, indeed! And to think of the jest of putting him off with dead souls! Ha, ha, ha! WHAT wouldn't I give

to see you handing him the title deeds? Who is he? What is he like? Is he very old?"

"But still brisk and able to move about, eh? Surely he must be pretty strong to go on living with his

"And does he go out at all? Does he see company? Can he still hold himself upright?"

"The old jackass! Don't be angry with me, but I must say that, though your uncle, he is also a jackass."

"Quite so, your Excellency. And though it grieves ME to have to confess that he is my uncle, what am I to do

Yet this was not altogether the truth. What would have been a far harder thing for Chichikov to have

"Those dead souls, eh? Why, in return for the jest I will give you some land as well. Yes, you can take the

whole graveyard if you like. Ha, ha, ha! The old man! Ha, ha, ha! WHAT a fool he'll look! Ha, ha, ha!"

"If Colonel Koshkarev should turn out to be as mad as the last one it is a bad lookout," said Chichikov to

himself on opening his eyes amid fields and open countryeverything else having disappeared save the

"Yes, Paul Ivanovitch. At least, there was such a clatter around the koliaska that I could not; but Petrushka

"You fool! How often have I told you not to rely on Petrushka? Petrushka is a blockhead, an idiot. Besides, at

"No, you are wrong, barin," put in the person referred to, turning his head with a sidelong glance. "After we

get down the next hill we shall need but to keep bending round it. That is all."

"Yes, and I suppose you'll tell me that sivnkha is the only thing that has passed your lips? Well, the view at

least is beautiful. In fact, when one has seen this place one may say that one has seen one of the beauty spots

of Europe." This said, Chichikov added to himself, smoothing his chin: "What a difference between the

Meanwhile the koliaska quickened its pace, and Chichikov once more caught sight of Tientietnikov's

aspenstudded meadows. Undulating gently on elastic springs, the vehicle cautiously descended the steep

incline, and then proceeded past watermills, rumbled over a bridge or two, and jolted easily along the

roughset road which traversed the flats. Not a molehill, not a mound jarred the spine. The vehicle was

Swiftly there flew by clumps of osiers, slender elder trees, and silverleaved poplars, their branches brushing

against Selifan and Petrushka, and at intervals depriving the valet of his cap. Each time that this happened,

the sullenfaced servitor fell to cursing both the tree responsible for the occurrence and the landowner

responsible for the tree being in existence; yet nothing would induce him thereafter either to tie on the cap or

to steady it with his hand, so complete was his assurance that the accident would never be repeated. Soon to

the foregoing trees there became added an occasional birch or spruce fir, while in the dense undergrowth

around their roots could be seen the blue iris and the yellow woodtulip. Gradually the forest grew darker, as

though eventually the obscurity would become complete. Then through the trunks and the boughs there began

to gleam points of light like glittering mirrors, and as the number of trees lessened, these points grew larger,

until the travellers debouched upon the shore of a lake four versts or so in circumference, and having on its

further margin the grey, scattered log huts of a peasant village. In the water a great commotion was in

progress. In the first place, some twenty men, immersed to the knee, to the breast, or to the neck, were

dragging a large fishingnet inshore, while, in the second place, there was entangled in the same, in addition

to some fish, a stout man shaped precisely like a melon or a hogshead. Greatly excited, he was shouting at the

top of his voice: "Let Kosma manage it, you lout of a Denis! Kosma, take the end of the rope from Denis!

Don't bear so hard on it, Thoma Bolshoy[1]! Go where Thoma Menshov[2] is! Damn it, bring the net to land,

will you!" From this it became clear that it was not on his own account that the stout man was worrying.

Indeed, he had no need to do so, since his fat would in any case have prevented him from sinking. Yes, even

if he had turned head over heels in an effort to dive, the water would persistently have borne him up; and the

same if, say, a couple of men had jumped on his backthe only result would have been that he would have

become a trifle deeper submerged, and forced to draw breath by spouting bubbles through his nose. No, the

cause of his agitation was lest the net should break, and the fish escape: wherefore he was urging some

additional peasants who were standing on the bank to lay hold of and to pull at, an extra rope or two.

"Because, if you please, his skin is whiter than the rest, and he has the respectable paunch of a gentleman."

Meanwhile good progress was being made with the hauling in of the barin; until, feeling the ground with his

feet, he rose to an upright position, and at the same moment caught sight of the koliaska, with Chichikov

"Have you dined yet?" shouted the barin as, still entangled in the net, he approached the shore with a huge

fish on his back. With one hand shading his eyes from the sun, and the other thrown backwards, he looked, in

"Why?" asked Chichikov with no little curiosity, and still holding his cap over his head.

"Because of THIS. Cast off the net, Thoma Menshov, and pick up that sturgeon for the gentleman to see. Go

With that the peasants indicated picked up by the head what was a veritable monster of a fish.

"Isn't it a beautya sturgeon fresh run from the river?" exclaimed the stout barin. "And now let us be off

home. Coachman, you can take the lower road through the kitchen garden. Run, you lout of a Thoma

Bolshoy, and open the gate for him. He will guide you to the house, and I myself shall be along presently."

Thereupon the barelegged Thoma Bolshoy, clad in nothing but a shirt, ran ahead of the koliaska through the

village, every hut of which had hanging in front of it a variety of nets, for the reason that every inhabitant of

the place was a fisherman. Next, he opened a gate into a large vegetable enclosure, and thence the koliaska

emerged into a square near a wooden church, with, showing beyond the latter, the roofs of the manorial

"Well, whatever I may be, at least I'm here," said a voice by his side. Chichikov looked round, and perceived

that, in the meanwhile, the barin had dressed himself and overtaken the carriage. With a pair of yellow

trousers he was wearing a grassgreen jacket, and his neck was as guiltless of a collar as Cupid's. Also, as he

sat sideways in his drozhki, his bulk was such that he completely filled the vehicle. Chichikov was about to

make some remark or another when the stout gentleman disappeared; and presently his drozhki reemerged

into view at the spot where the fish had been drawn to land, and his voice could be heard reiterating

exhortations to his serfs. Yet when Chichikov reached the verandah of the house he found, to his intense

surprise, the stout gentleman waiting to welcome the visitor. How he had contrived to convey himself thither

passed Chichikov's comprehension. Host and guest embraced three times, according to a bygone custom of

"What? You do not know General Alexander Dmitrievitch Betrishev?" exclaimed Chichikov with a touch of

"How comes that about?" he ejaculated. "I hope that I have the honour of addressing Colonel Koshkarev?"

"Your hopes are vain. It is to my house, not to his, that you have come; and I am Peter Petrovitch

"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "I told you to drive to the house of Colonel Koshkarev, whereas you

"All the same, your fellows have done quite right," put in the gentleman referred to. "Do you" (this to Selifan

and Petrushka) "go to the kitchen, where they will give you a glassful of vodka apiece. Then put up the

"But it is not a mistake. When you have tried the dinner which I have in store for you, just see whether you

think IT a mistake. Enter, I beg of you." And, taking Chichikov by the arm, the host conducted him within,

"Let me introduce my two sons, home for their holidays from the Gymnasium[3]," said Pietukh. "Nikolasha,

come and entertain our good visitor, while you, Aleksasha, follow me." And with that the host disappeared.

Chichikov turned to Nikolasha, whom he found to be a budding man about town, since at first he opened a

conversation by stating that, as no good was to be derived from studying at a provincial institution, he and his

brother desired to remove, rather, to St. Petersburg, the provinces not being worth living in.

"I quite understand," Chichikov thought to himself. "The end of the chapter will be confectioners' assistants

"It is all mortgaged," put in the father himself as he reentered the room. "Yes, it is all mortgaged, every bit

"What a pity!" thought Chichikov. "At this rate it will not be long before this man has no property at all left. I

must hurry my departure." Aloud he said with an air of sympathy: "That you have mortgaged the estate seems

"No, not at all," replied Pietukh. "In fact, they tell me that it is a good thing to do, and that every one else is

doing it. Why should I act differently from my neighbours? Moreover, I have had enough of living here, and

should like to try Moscowmore especially since my sons are always begging me to give them a

"Oh, the fool, the fool!" reflected Chichikov. "He is for throwing up everything and making spendthrifts of

his sons. Yet this is a nice property, and it is clear that the local peasants are doing well, and that the family,

too, is comfortably off. On the other hand, as soon as ever these lads begin their education in restaurants and

theatres, the devil will away with every stick of their substance. For my own part, I could desire nothing

"You are thinking to yourself: 'That fool of a Pietukh has asked me to dinner, yet not a bite of dinner do I see.'

But wait a little. It will be ready presently, for it is being cooked as fast as a maiden who has had her hair cut

"Here comes Platon Mikhalitch, father!" exclaimed Aleksasha, who had been peeping out of the window.

The next moment Platon Mikhalitch himself entered the room, accompanied by a sporting dog named Yarb.

He was a tall, handsome man, with extremely red hair. As for his companion, it was of the keenmuzzled

"Indeed? What do you mean by coming here to laugh at us all? Do I ever go to YOUR place after dinner?"

The newcomer smiled. "Well, if it can bring you any comfort," he said, "let me tell you that I ate nothing at

"But you should see what I have caughtwhat sort of a sturgeon fate has brought my way! Yes, and what

"The truth is you don't eat enough. Try the plan of making a good dinner. Weariness of everything is a

"Never in my life. I do not so much as know whether I should find time to be tired. In the morning, when one

awakes, the cook is waiting, and the dinner has to be ordered. Then one drinks one's morning tea, and then

the bailiff arrives for HIS orders, and then there is fishing to be done, and then one's dinner has to be eaten.

Next, before one has even had a chance to utter a snore, there enters once again the cook, and one has to order

supper; and when she has departed, behold, back she comes with a request for the following day's dinner!

Throughout this conversation, Chichikov had been taking stock of the newcomer, who astonished him with

his good looks, his upright, picturesque figure, his appearance of fresh, unwasted youthfulness, and the

boyish purity, innocence, and clarity of his features. Neither passion nor care nor aught of the nature of

agitation or anxiety of mind had ventured to touch his unsullied face, or to lay a single wrinkle thereon. Yet

the touch of life which those emotions might have imparted was wanting. The face was, as it were, dreaming,

"I, too, cannot understand," remarked Chichikov, "how a man of your appearance can find things wearisome.

Of course, if a man is hard pressed for money, or if he has enemies who are lying in wait for his life (as have

"Believe me when I say," interrupted the handsome guest, "that, for the sake of a diversion, I should be glad

of ANY sort of an anxiety. Would that some enemy would conceive a grudge against me! But no one does so.

"Not at all. I and my brother own ten thousand desiatins[4] of land, and over a thousand souls."

"Curious! I do not understand it. But perhaps the harvest has failed, or you have sickness about, and many of

"On the contrary, everything is in splendid order, for my brother is the best of managers."

"Then to find things wearisome!" exclaimed Chichikov. "It passes my comprehension." And he shrugged his

"Well, we will soon put weariness to flight," interrupted the host. "Aleksasha, do you run helterskelter to the

kitchen, and there tell the cook to serve the fish pasties. Yes, and where have that gawk of an Emelian and

At this moment the door opened, and the "gawk" and the "thief" in question made their appearance with

napkins and a traythe latter bearing six decanters of variouslycoloured beverages. These they placed upon

the table, and then ringed them about with glasses and platefuls of every conceivable kind of appetiser. That

done, the servants applied themselves to bringing in various comestibles under covers, through which could

be heard the hissing of hot roast viands. In particular did the "gawk" and the "thief" work hard at their tasks.

As a matter of fact, their appellations had been given them merely to spur them to greater activity, for, in

general, the barin was no lover of abuse, but, rather, a kindhearted man who, like most Russians, could not

get on without a sharp word or two. That is to say, he needed them for his tongue as he need a glass of vodka

for his digestion. What else could you expect? It was his nature to care for nothing mild.

To the zakuski succeeded the meal itself, and the host became a perfect glutton on his guests' behalf. Should

he notice that a guest had taken but a single piece of a comestible, he added thereto another one, saying:

"Without a mate, neither man nor bird can live in this world." Should any one take two pieces, he added

thereto a third, saying: "What is the good of the number 2? God loves a trinity." Should any one take three

pieces, he would say: "Where do you see a waggon with three wheels? Who builds a threecornered hut?"

Lastly, should any one take four pieces, he would cap them with a fifth, and add thereto the punning quip,

"Na piat opiat[5]". After devouring at least twelve steaks of sturgeon, Chichikov ventured to think to himself,

"My host cannot possibly add to THEM," but found that he was mistaken, for, without a word, Pietukh

heaped upon his plate an enormous portion of spitroasted veal, and also some kidneys. And what veal it

"That calf was fed two years on milk," he explained. "I cared for it like my own son."

"If there be no room in a church for a newcomer, the beadle is sent for, and room is very soon madeyes,

even though before there was such a crush that an apple couldn't have been dropped between the people. Do

So Chichikov made the attempt; and in very truth the veal was beyond all praise, and room was found for it,

"Fancy this good fellow removing to St. Petersburg or Moscow!" said the guest to himself. "Why, with a

scale of living like this, he would be ruined in three years." For that matter, Pietukh might well have been

ruined already, for hospitality can dissipate a fortune in three months as easily as it can in three years.

The host also dispensed the wine with a lavish hand, and what the guests did not drink he gave to his sons,

who thus swallowed glass after glass. Indeed, even before coming to table, it was possible to discern to what

department of human accomplishment their bent was turned. When the meal was over, however, the guests

had no mind for further drinking. Indeed, it was all that they could do to drag themselves on to the balcony,

and there to relapse into easy chairs. Indeed, the moment that the host subsided into his seatit was large

enough for fourhe fell asleep, and his portly presence, converting itself into a sort of blacksmith's bellows,

started to vent, through open mouth and distended nostrils, such sounds as can have greeted the reader's ear

but seldomsounds as of a drum being beaten in combination with the whistling of a flute and the strident

"Naturally, on such dinners as that," continued the other, "our host does NOT find the time dull. And as soon

"Yes, but, pardon me, I still fail to understand why you should find life wearisome. There are so many

"For a young man, dancing, the playing of one or another musical instrument, andwell, yes, marriage."

"Then, were I you, I should travel, and seek a maiden elsewhere." And a brilliant idea therewith entered

Chichikov's head. "This last resource," he added, "is the best of all resources against ennui."

"Well, should it so please you, you might join me as my companion." This said, the speaker added to himself

as he eyed Platon: "Yes, that would suit me exactly, for then I should have half my expenses paid, and could

"In that respect I am not wholly my own master, as I have business to do for others as well as for myself. For

instance, General Betristchevan intimate friend and, I might add, a generous benefactor of minehas

charged me with commissions to certain of his relatives. However, though relatives are relatives, I am

travelling likewise on my own account, since I wish to see the world and the whirligig of humanitywhich,

in spite of what people may say, is as good as a living book or a second education." As a matter of fact,

Chichikov was reflecting, "Yes, the plan is an excellent one. I might even contrive that he should have to bear

the whole of our expenses, and that his horses should be used while my own should be put out to graze on his

"Well, why should I not adopt the suggestion?" was Platon's thought. "There is nothing for me to do at home,

since the management of the estate is in my brother's hands, and my going would cause him no

"Would you come and stay with my brother for a couple of days? Otherwise he might refuse me his consent."

"Then here is my hand on it. Let us be off at once." Platon seemed suddenly to have come to life again.

"Where are you off to?" put in their host unexpectedly as he roused himself and stared in astonishment at the

pair. "No, no, my good sirs. I have had the wheels removed from your koliaska, Monsieur Chichikov, and

have sent your horse, Platon Mikhalitch, to a grazing ground fifteen versts away. Consequently you must

What could be done with a man like Pietukh? There was no help for it but to remain. In return, the guests

were rewarded with a beautiful spring evening, for, to spend the time, the host organised a boating expedition

on the river, and a dozen rowers, with a dozen pairs of oars, conveyed the party (to the accompaniment of

song) across the smooth surface of the lake and up a great river with towering banks. From time to time the

boat would pass under ropes, stretched across for purposes of fishing, and at each turn of the rippling current

new vistas unfolded themselves as tier upon tier of woodland delighted the eye with a diversity of timber and

foliage. In unison did the rowers ply their sculls, yet it was though of itself that the skiff shot forward,

birdlike, over the glassy surface of the water; while at intervals the broadshouldered young oarsman who

was seated third from the bow would raise, as from a nightingale's throat, the opening staves of a boat song,

and then be joined by five or six more, until the melody had come to pour forth in a volume as free and

boundless as Russia herself. And Pietukh, too, would give himself a shake, and help lustily to support the

chorus; and even Chichikov felt acutely conscious of the fact that he was a Russian. Only Platon reflected:

"What is there so splendid in these melancholy songs? They do but increase one's depression of spirits."

The journey homeward was made in the gathering dusk. Rhythmically the oars smote a surface which no

longer reflected the sky, and darkness had fallen when they reached the shore, along which lights were

twinkling where the fisherfolk were boiling live eels for soup. Everything had now wended its way

homeward for the night; the cattle and poultry had been housed, and the herdsmen, standing at the gates of

the village cattlepens, amid the trailing dust lately raised by their charges, were awaiting the milkpails and

a summons to partake of the eelbroth. Through the dusk came the hum of humankind, and the barking of

dogs in other and more distant villages; while, over all, the moon was rising, and the darkened countryside

was beginning to glimmer to light again under her beams. What a glorious picture! Yet no one thought of

admiring it. Instead of galloping over the countryside on frisky cobs, Nikolasha and Aleksasha were engaged

in dreaming of Moscow, with its confectioners' shops and the theatres of which a cadet, newly arrived on a

visit from the capital, had just been telling them; while their father had his mind full of how best to stuff his

guests with yet more food, and Platon was given up to yawning. Only in Chichikov was a spice of animation

visible. "Yes," he reflected, "some day I, too, will become lord of such a country place." And before his

By the time that supper was finished the party had again overeaten themselves, and when Chichikov entered

the room allotted him for the night, he lay down upon the bed, and prodded his stomach. "It is as tight as a

drum," he said to himself. "Not another titbit of veal could now get into it." Also, circumstances had so

brought it about that next door to him there was situated his host's apartment; and since the intervening wall

was thin, Chichikov could hear every word that was said there. At the present moment the master of the

house was engaged in giving the cook orders for what, under the guise of an early breakfast, promised to

constitute a veritable dinner. You should have heard Pietukh's behests! They would have excited the appetite

"Yes," he said, sucking his lips, and drawing a deep breath, "in the first place, make a pasty in four divisions.

Into one of the divisions put the sturgeon's cheeks and some viaziga[6], and into another division some

buckwheat porridge, young mushrooms and onions, sweet milk, calves' brains, and anything else that you

may find suitableanything else that you may have got handy. Also, bake the pastry to a nice brown on one

side, and but lightly on the other. Yes, and, as to the under side, bake it so that it will be all juicy and flaky, so

that it shall not crumble into bits, but melt in the mouth like the softest snow that ever you heard of." And as

"The devil take him!" muttered Chichikov, thrusting his head beneath the bedclothes to avoid hearing more.

"And garnish the sturgeon with beetroot, smelts, peppered mushrooms, young radishes, carrots, beans, and

anything else you like, so as to have plenty of trimmings. Yes, and put a lump of ice into the pig's bladder, so

Many other dishes did Pietukh order, and nothing was to be heard but his talk of boiling, roasting, and

stewing. Finally, just as mention was being made of a turkey cock, Chichikov fell asleep.

Next morning the guest's state of repletion had reached the point of Platon being unable to mount his horse;

wherefore the latter was dispatched homeward with one of Pietukh's grooms, and the two guests entered

Chichikov's koliaska. Even the dog trotted lazily in the rear; for he, too, had overeaten himself.

"It has been rather too much of a good thing," remarked Chichikov as the vehicle issued from the courtyard.

"Ah," thought Chichikov to himself, "if _I_ had an income of seventy thousand roubles, as you have, I'd very

soon give tiredness one in the eye! Take Murazov, the taxfarmerhe, again, must be worth ten millions.

"Do you mind where we drive?" asked Platon. "I should like first to go and take leave of my sister and my

"My brotherinlaw is the leading landowner hereabouts. At the present moment he is drawing an income of

two hundred thousand roubles from a property which, eight years ago, was producing a bare twenty

"Truly a man worthy of the utmost respect! I shall be most interested to make his acquaintance. To think of

"Constantine Thedorovitch Kostanzhoglo. Yes, it will be a most interesting event to make his acquaintance.

Here Platon set himself to give Selifan some directions as to the way, a necessary proceeding in view of the

fact that Selifan could hardly maintain his seat on the box. Twice Petrushka, too, had fallen headlong, and

this necessitated being tied to his perch with a piece of rope. "What a clown!" had been Chichikov's only

And, indeed, from this point the countryside became planted with timber; the rows of trees running as straight

as pistolshots, and having beyond them, and on higher ground, a second expanse of forest, newly planted

like the first; while beyond it, again, loomed a third plantation of older trees. Next there succeeded a flat

"All this timber," said Platon, "has grown up within eight or ten years at the most; whereas on another man's

"You must ask him yourself. He is so excellent a husbandman that nothing ever fails with him. You see, he

knows the soil, and also knows what ought to be planted beside what, and what kinds of timber are the best

neighbourhood for grain. Again, everything on his estate is made to perform at least three or four different

functions. For instance, he makes his timber not only serve as timber, but also serve as a provider of moisture

and shade to a given stretch of land, and then as a fertiliser with its fallen leaves. Consequently, when

everywhere else there is drought, he still has water, and when everywhere else there has been a failure of the

harvest, on his lands it will have proved a success. But it is a pity that I know so little about it all as to be

unable to explain to you his many expedients. Folk call him a wizard, for he produces so much. Nevertheless,

"Truly an astonishing fellow!" reflected Chichikov with a glance at his companion. "It is sad indeed to see a

At length the manor appeared in sightan establishment looking almost like a town, so numerous were the

huts where they stood arranged in three tiers, crowned with three churches, and surrounded with huge ricks

and barns. "Yes," thought Chichikov to himself, "one can see what a jewel of a landowner lives here." The

huts in question were stoutly built and the intervening alleys well laidout; while, wherever a waggon was

visible, it looked serviceable and more or less new. Also, the local peasants bore an intelligent look on their

faces, the cattle were of the best possible breed, and even the peasants' pigs belonged to the porcine

aristocracy. Clearly there dwelt here peasants who, to quote the song, were accustomed to "pick up silver by

the shovelful." Nor were Englishified gardens and parterres and other conceits in evidence, but, on the

contrary, there ran an open view from the manor house to the farm buildings and the workmen's cots, so that,

after the old Russian fashion, the barin should be able to keep an eye upon all that was going on around him.

For the same purpose, the mansion was topped with a tall lantern and a superstructurea device designed,

not for ornament, nor for a vantagespot for the contemplation of the view, but for supervision of the

labourers engaged in distant fields. Lastly, the brisk, active servants who received the visitors on the verandah

were very different menials from the drunken Petrushka, even though they did not wear swallowtailed coats,

The lady of the house also issued on to the verandah. With her face of the freshness of "blood and milk" and

the brightness of God's daylight, she as nearly resembled Platon as one pea resembles another, save that,

"Good day, brother!" she cried. "How glad I am to see you! Constantine is not at home, but will be back

"Doing business in the village with a party of factors," replied the lady as she conducted her guests to the

With no little curiosity did Chichikov gaze at the interior of the mansion inhabited by the man who received

an annual income of two hundred thousand roubles; for he thought to discern therefrom the nature of its

proprietor, even as from a shell one may deduce the species of oyster or snail which has been its tenant, and

has left therein its impression. But no such conclusions were to be drawn. The rooms were simple, and even

bare. Not a fresco nor a picture nor a bronze nor a flower nor a china whatnot nor a book was there to be

seen. In short, everything appeared to show that the proprietor of this abode spent the greater part of his time,

not between four walls, but in the field, and that he thought out his plans, not in sybaritic fashion by the

fireside, nor in an easy chair beside the stove, but on the spot where work was actually in progressthat, in a

word, where those plans were conceived, there they were put into execution. Nor in these rooms could

Chichikov detect the least trace of a feminine hand, beyond the fact that certain tables and chairs bore

"It is not rubbish," replied the lady of the house. "On the contrary, it is the best possible remedy for fever.

Last year we cured every one of our sick peasants with it. Some of the petals I am going to make into an

ointment, and some into an infusion. You may laugh as much as you like at my potting and preserving, yet

you yourself will be glad of things of the kind when you set out on your travels."

"Good Lord, what an ancient instrument!" he exclaimed. "Are you not ashamed of it, sister?"

"Well, the truth is that I get no time to practice my music. You see," she added to Chichikov, "I have an

eightyearold daughter to educate; and to hand her over to a foreign governess in order that I may have

leisure for my own pianoplayingwell, that is a thing which I could never bring myself to do."

"You have become a wearisome sort of person," commented Platon, and walked away to the window. "Ah,

Chichikov also glanced out of the window, and saw approaching the verandah a brisk,

swarthycomplexioned man of about forty, a man clad in a rough cloth jacket and a velveteen cap. Evidently

he was one of those who care little for the niceties of dress. With him, bareheaded, there came a couple of

men of a somewhat lower station in life, and all three were engaged in an animated discussion. One of the

barin's two companions was a plain peasant, and the other (clad in a blue Siberian smock) a travelling factor.

The fact that the party halted awhile by the entrance steps made it possible to overhear a portion of their

"This is what you peasants had better do," the barin was saying. "Purchase your release from your present

master. I will lend you the necessary money, and afterwards you can work for me."

"No, Constantine Thedorovitch," replied the peasant. "Why should we do that? Remove us just as we are.

You will know how to arrange it, for a cleverer gentleman than you is nowhere to be found. The misfortune

of us muzhiks is that we cannot protect ourselves properly. The tavernkeepers sell us such liquor that,

before a man knows where he is, a glassful of it has eaten a hole through his stomach, and made him feel as

though he could drink a pail of water. Yes, it knocks a man over before he can look around. Everywhere

temptation lies in wait for the peasant, and he needs to be cunning if he is to get through the world at all. In

fact, things seem to be contrived for nothing but to make us peasants lose our wits, even to the tobacco which

they sell us. What are folk like ourselves to do, Constantine Thedorovitch? I tell you it is terribly difficult for

"Listen to me. This is how things are done here. When I take on a serf, I fit him out with a cow and a horse.

On the other hand, I demand of him thereafter more than is demanded of a peasant anywhere else. That is to

say, first and foremost I make him work. Whether a peasant be working for himself or for me, never do I let

him waste time. I myself toil like a bullock, and I force my peasants to do the same, for experience has taught

me that that is the only way to get through life. All the mischief in the world comes through lack of

employment. Now, do you go and consider the matter, and talk it over with your mir[8]."

"We have done that already, Constantine Thedorovitch, and our elders' opinion is: 'There is no need for

further talk. Every peasant belonging to Constantine Thedorovitch is well off, and hasn't to work for nothing.

The priests of his village, too, are men of good heart, whereas ours have been taken away, and there is no one

"I have told you before," replied the barin, "that I do not care to play the huckster. I am not one of those

landowners whom fellows of your sort visit on the very day that the interest on a mortgage is due. Ah, I know

your fraternity thoroughly, and know that you keep lists of all who have mortgages to repay. But what is there

so clever about that? Any man, if you pinch him sufficiently, will surrender you a mortgage at

halfprice,any man, that is to say, except myself, who care nothing for your money. Were a loan of mine

"Quite so, Constantine Thedorovitch," replied the factor. "But I am asking this of you more for the purpose of

establishing us on a business footing than because I desire to win your favour. Prey, therefore, accept this

earnest money of three thousand roubles." And the man drew from his breast pocket a dirty roll of

banknotes, which, carelessly receiving, Kostanzhoglo thrust, uncounted, into the back pocket of his

"Hm!" thought Chichikov. "For all he cares, the notes might have been a handkerchief."

When Kostanzhoglo appeared at closer quartersthat is to say, in the doorway of the drawingroomhe

struck Chichikov more than ever with the swarthiness of his complexion, the dishevelment of his black,

slightly grizzled locks, the alertness of his eye, and the impression of fiery southern origin which his whole

personality diffused. For he was not wholly a Russian, nor could he himself say precisely who his forefathers

had been. Yet, inasmuch as he accounted genealogical research no part of the science of estatemanagement,

but a mere superfluity, he looked upon himself as, to all intents and purposes, a native of Russia, and the

"To get rid of my depression, Constantine," continued Platon, "I am thinking of accompanying our guest on a

"An excellent idea," said Kostanzhoglo. "But precisely whither?" he added, turning hospitably to Chichikov.

"To tell you the truth," replied that personage with an affable inclination of the head as he smoothed the arm

of his chair with his hand, "I am travelling less on my own affairs than on the affairs of others. That is to say,

General Betristchev, an intimate friend, and, I might add, a generous benefactor, of mine, has charged me

with commissions to some of his relatives. Nevertheless, though relatives are relatives, I may say that I am

travelling on my own account as well, in that, in addition to possible benefit to my health, I desire to see the

world and the whirligig of humanity, which constitute, so to speak, a living book, a second course of

"Yes, there is no harm in looking at other corners of the world besides one's own."

"You speak truly. There IS no harm in such a proceeding. Thereby one may see things which one has not

before encountered, one may meet men with whom one has not before come in contact. And with some men

of that kind a conversation is as precious a benefit as has been conferred upon me by the present occasion. I

come to you, most worthy Constantine Thedorovitch, for instruction, and again for instruction, and beg of

you to assuage my thirst with an exposition of the truth as it is. I hunger for the favour of your words as for

"But how so? What can _I_ teach you?" exclaimed Kostanzhoglo in confusion. "I myself was given but the

"Nay, most worthy sir, you possess wisdom, and again wisdom. Wisdom only can direct the management of a

great estate, that can derive a sound income from the same, that can acquire wealth of a real, not a fictitious,

order while also fulfilling the duties of a citizen and thereby earning the respect of the Russian public. All this

"I tell you what," said Kostanzhoglo, looking meditatively at his guest. "You had better stay with me for a

few days, and during that time I can show you how things are managed here, and explain to you everything.

Then you will see for yourself that no great wisdom is required for the purpose."

"Yes, certainly you must stay here," put in the lady of the house. Then, turning to her brother, she added:

"I say the same as you, and with much pleasure," replied Chichikov. "But also I ought to tell you this: that

"As you say, he is mad, and I should not have been intending to visit him, were it not that General Betristchev

is an intimate friend of mine, as well as, I might add, my most generous benefactor."

"Then," said Kostanzhoglo, "do you go and see Colonel Koshkarev NOW. He lives less than ten versts from

here, and I have a gig already harnessed. Go to him at once, and return here for tea."

Half an hour's drive sufficed to bring him to the Colonel's establishment. The village attached to the manor

was in a state of utter confusion, since in every direction building and repairing operations were in progress,

and the alleys were choked with heaps of lime, bricks, and beams of wood. Also, some of the huts were

arranged to resemble offices, and superscribed in gilt letters "Depot for Agricultural Implements," "Chief

Office of Accounts," "Estate Works Committee," "Normal School for the Education of Colonists," and so

Chichikov found the Colonel posted behind a desk and holding a pen between his teeth. Without an instant's

delay the master of the establishmentwho seemed a kindly, approachable man, and accorded to his visitor a

very civil welcomeplunged into a recital of the labour which it had cost him to bring the property to its

present condition of affluence. Then he went on to lament the fact that he could not make his peasantry

understand the incentives to labour which the riches of science and art provide; for instance, he had failed to

induce his female serfs to wear corsets, whereas in Germany, where he had resided for fourteen years, every

humble miller's daughter could play the piano. None the less, he said, he meant to peg away until every

peasant on the estate should, as he walked behind the plough, indulge in a regular course of reading Franklin's

Notes on Electricity, Virgil's Georgics, or some work on the chemical properties of soil.

"Good gracious!" mentally exclaimed Chichikov. "Why, I myself have not had time to finish that book by the

Much else the Colonel said. In particular did he aver that, provided the Russian peasant could be induced to

array himself in German costume, science would progress, trade increase, and the Golden Age dawn in

For a while Chichikov listened with distended eyes. Then he felt constrained to intimate that with all that he

had nothing to do, seeing that his business was merely to acquire a few souls, and thereafter to have their

"If I understand you aright," said the Colonel, "you wish to present a Statement of Plea?"

"Then kindly put it into writing, and it shall be forwarded to the Office for the Reception of Reports and

Returns. Thereafter that Office will consider it, and return it to me, who will, in turn, dispatch it to the Estate

Works Committee, who will, in turn, revise it, and present it to the Administrator, who, jointly with the

"Pardon me," expostulated Chichikov, "but that procedure will take up a great deal of time. Why need I put

the matter into writing at all? It is simply this. I want a few souls which arewell, which are, so to speak,

"Very good," commented the Colonel. "Do you write down in your Statement of Plea that the souls which

"But what would be the use of my doing so? Though the souls are dead, my purpose requires that they should

"Very good," again commented the Colonel. "Do you write down in your Statement that 'it is necessary' (or,

should you prefer an alternative phrase, 'it is requested,' or 'it is desiderated,' or 'it is prayed,') 'that the souls

be represented as alive.' At all events, WITHOUT documentary process of that kind, the matter cannot

possibly be carried through. Also, I will appoint a Commissioner to guide you round the various Offices."

And he sounded a bell; whereupon there presented himself a man whom, addressing as "Secretary," the

Colonel instructed to summon the "Commissioner." The latter, on appearing, was seen to have the air, half of

What could be done with a lunatic like Koshkarev? In the end, curiosity moved Chichikov to accompany the

Commissioner. The Committee for the Reception of Reports and Returns was discovered to have put up its

shutters, and to have locked its doors, for the reason that the Director of the Committee had been transferred

to the newlyformed Committee of Estate Management, and his successor had been annexed by the same

Committee. Next, Chichikov and his escort rapped at the doors of the Department of Estate Affairs; but that

Department's quarters happened to be in a state of repair, and no one could be made to answer the summons

save a drunken peasant from whom not a word of sense was to be extracted. At length the escort felt himself

"There is a deal of foolishness going on here. Fellows like that drunkard lead the barin by the nose, and

everything is ruled by the Committee of Management, which takes men from their proper work, and sets

them to do any other it likes. Indeed, only through the Committee does ANYTHING get done."

By this time Chichikov felt that he had seen enough; wherefore he returned to the Colonel, and informed him

that the Office for the Reception of Reports and Returns had ceased to exist. At once the Colonel flamed to

noble rage. Pressing Chichikov's hand in token of gratitude for the information which the guest had furnished,

he took paper and pen, and noted eight searching questions under three separate headings: (1) "Why has the

Committee of Management presumed to issue orders to officials not under its jurisdiction?" (2) "Why has the

Chief Manager permitted his predecessor, though still in retention of his post, to follow him to another

Department?" and (3) "Why has the Committee of Estate Affairs suffered the Office for the Reception of

"Now for a row!" thought Chichikov to himself, and turned to depart; but his host stopped him, saying:

"I cannot let you go, for, in addition to my honour having become involved, it behoves me to show my people

how the regular, the organised, administration of an estate may be conducted. Herewith I will hand over the

conduct of your affair to a man who is worth all the rest of the staff put together, and has had a university

education. Also, the better to lose no time, may I humbly beg you to step into my library, where you will find

notebooks, paper, pens, and everything else that you may require. Of these articles pray make full use, for

you are a gentleman of letters, and it is your and my joint duty to bring enlightenment to all."

So saying, he ushered his guest into a large room lined from floor to ceiling with books and stuffed

specimens. The books in question were divided into sectionsa section on forestry, a section on

cattlebreeding, a section on the raising of swine, and a section on horticulture, together with special journals

of the type circulated merely for the purposes of reference, and not for general reading. Perceiving that these

works were scarcely of a kind calculated to while away an idle hour, Chichikov turned to a second bookcase.

But to do so was to fall out of the fryingpan into the fire, for the contents of the second bookcase proved to

be works on philosophy, while, in particular, six huge volumes confronted him under a label inscribed "A

Preparatory Course to the Province of Thought, with the Theory of Community of Effort, Cooperation, and

Subsistence, in its Application to a Right Understanding of the Organic Principles of a Mutual Division of

Social Productivity." Indeed, wheresoever Chichikov looked, every page presented to his vision some such

words as "phenomenon," "development," "abstract," "contents," and "synopsis." "This is not the sort of thing

for me," he murmured, and turned his attention to a third bookcase, which contained books on the Arts.

Extracting a huge tome in which some by no means reticent mythological illustrations were contained, he set

himself to examine these pictures. They were of the kind which pleases mostly middleaged bachelors and

old men who are accustomed to seek in the ballet and similar frivolities a further spur to their waning

passions. Having concluded his examination, Chichikov had just extracted another volume of the same

species when Colonel Koshkarev returned with a document of some sort and a radiant countenance.

"Everything has been carried through in due form!" he cried. "The man whom I mentioned is a genius indeed,

and I intend not only to promote him over the rest, but also to create for him a special Department. Herewith

shall you hear what a splendid intellect is his, and how in a few minutes he has put the whole affair in order."

"May the Lord be thanked for that!" thought Chichikov. Then he settled himself while the Colonel read

"'After giving full consideration to the Reference which your Excellency has entrusted to me, I have the

"'(1) In the Statement of Plea presented by one Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov, Gentleman, Chevalier, and

Collegiate Councillor, there lurks an error, in that an oversight has led the Petitioner to apply to Revisional

Souls the term "Dead." Now, from the context it would appear that by this term the Petitioner desires to

signify Souls Approaching Death rather than Souls Actually Deceased: wherefore the term employed betrays

such an empirical instruction in letters as must, beyond doubt, have been confined to the Village School,

"The rascal!" Koshkarev broke off to exclaim delightedly. "He has got you there, Monsieur Chichikov. And

"'(2) On this Estate there exist no Unmortgaged Souls whatsoever, whether Approaching Death or Otherwise;

for the reason that all Souls thereon have been pledged not only under a First Deed of Mortgage, but also (for

the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Roubles per Soul) under a Second,the village of Gurmailovka alone

excepted, in that, in consequence of a Suit having been brought against Landowner Priadistchev, and of a

caveat having been pronounced by the Land Court, and of such caveat having been published in No. 42 of the

Gazette of Moscow, the said Village has come within the Jurisdiction of the Court AboveMentioned."

"Why did you not tell me all this before?" cried Chichikov furiously. "Why you have kept me dancing about

"Because it was absolutely necessary that you should view the matter through forms of documentary process.

This is no jest on my part. The inexperienced may see things subconsciously, yet is imperative that he should

But to Chichikov's patience an end had come. Seizing his cap, and casting all ceremony to the winds, he fled

from the house, and rushed through the courtyard. As it happened, the man who had driven him thither had,

warned by experience, not troubled even to take out the horses, since he knew that such a proceeding would

have entailed not only the presentation of a Statement of Plea for fodder, but also a delay of twentyfour

hours until the Resolution granting the same should have been passed. Nevertheless the Colonel pursued his

guest to the gates, and pressed his hand warmly as he thanked him for having enabled him (the Colonel) thus

to exhibit in operation the proper management of an estate. Also, he begged to state that, under the

circumstances, it was absolutely necessary to keep things moving and circulating, since, otherwise, slackness

was apt to supervene, and the working of the machine to grow rusty and feeble; but that, in spite of all, the

present occasion had inspired him with a happy ideanamely, the idea of instituting a Committee which

should be entitled "The Committee of Supervision of the Committee of Management," and which should

have for its function the detection of backsliders among the body first mentioned.

It was late when, tired and dissatisfied, Chichikov regained Kostanzhoglo's mansion. Indeed, the candles had

"What has delayed you?" asked the master of the house as Chichikov entered the drawingroom.

"Yes, what has kept you and the Colonel so long in conversation together?" added Platon.

"Thisthe fact that never in my life have I come across such an imbecile," was Chichikov's reply.

"Never mind," said Kostanzhoglo. "Koshkarev is a most reassuring phenomenon. He is necessary in that in

him we see expressed in caricature all the more crying follies of our intellectualsof the intellectuals who,

without first troubling to make themselves acquainted with their own country, borrow silliness from abroad.

Yet that is how certain of our landowners are now carrying on. They have set up 'offices' and factories and

schools and 'commissions,' and the devil knows what else besides. A fine lot of wiseacres! After the French

War in 1812 they had to reconstruct their affairs: and see how they have done it! Yet so much worse have

they done it than a Frenchman would have done that any fool of a Peter Petrovitch Pietukh now ranks as a

"Yes, nowadays everything is being mortgaged, or is going to be." This said, Kostanzhoglo's temper rose still

further. "Out upon your factories of hats and candles!" he cried. "Out upon procuring candlemakers from

London, and then turning landowners into hucksters! To think of a Russian pomiestchik[9], a member of the

noblest of callings, conducting workshops and cotton mills! Why, it is for the wenches of towns to handle

"I do; but who established them? They established themselves. For instance, wool had accumulated, and since

I had nowhere to store it, I began to weave it into clothbut, mark you, only into good, plain cloth of which

I can dispose at a cheap rate in the local markets, and which is needed by peasants, including my own. Again,

for six years on end did the fish factories keep dumping their offal on my bank of the river; wherefore, at last,

as there was nothing to be done with it, I took to boiling it into glue, and cleared forty thousand roubles by

"The devil!" thought Chichikov to himself as he stared at his host. "What a fist this man has for making

"Another reason why I started those factories," continued Kostanzhoglo, "is that they might give employment

to many peasants who would otherwise have starved. You see, the year happened to have been a lean

onethanks to those same industrymongering landowners, in that they had neglected to sow their crops;

and now my factories keep growing at the rate of a factory a year, owing to the circumstance that such

quantities of remnants and cuttings become so accumulated that, if a man looks carefully to his management,

he will find every sort of rubbish to be capable of bringing in a returnyes, to the point of his having to

reject money on the plea that he has no need of it. Yet I do not find that to do all this I require to build a

"Marvellous!" exclaimed Chichikov. "Beyond all things does it surprise me that refuse can be so utilised."

"Yes, and that is what can be done by SIMPLE methods. But nowadays every one is a mechanic, and wants

to open that money chest with an instrument instead of simply. For that purpose he hies him to England. Yes,

THAT is the thing to do. What folly!" Kostanzhoglo spat and added: "Yet when he returns from abroad he is

"Ah, Constantine," put in his wife anxiously, "you know how bad for you it is to talk like this."

"Yes, but how am I to help losing my temper? The thing touches me too closely, it vexes me too deeply to

think that the Russian character should be degenerating. For in that character there has dawned a sort of

Quixotism which never used to be there. Yes, no sooner does a man get a little education into his head than

he becomes a Don Quixote, and establishes schools on his estate such as even a madman would never have

dreamed of. And from that school there issues a workman who is good for nothing, whether in the country or

in the towna fellow who drinks and is for ever standing on his dignity. Yet still our landowners keep taking

to philanthropy, to converting themselves into philanthropic knightserrant, and spending millions upon

senseless hospitals and institutions, and so ruining themselves and turning their families adrift. Yes, that is all

Chichikov's business had nothing to do with the spread of enlightenment, he was but seeking an opportunity

to inquire further concerning the putting of refuse to lucrative uses; but Kostanzhoglo would not let him get a

word in edgeways, so irresistibly did the flow of sarcastic comment pour from the speaker's lips.

"Yes," went on Kostanzhoglo, "folk are always scheming to educate the peasant. But first make him welloff

and a good farmer. THEN he will educate himself fast enough. As things are now, the world has grown

stupid to a degree that passes belief. Look at the stuff our presentday scribblers write! Let any sort of a book

be published, and at once you will see every one making a rush for it. Similarly will you find folk saying:

'The peasant leads an oversimple life. He ought to be familiarised with luxuries, and so led to yearn for

things above his station.' And the result of such luxuries will be that the peasant will become a rag rather than

a man, and suffer from the devil only knows what diseases, until there will remain in the land not a boy of

eighteen who will not have experienced the whole gamut of them, and found himself left with not a tooth in

his jaws or a hair on his pate. Yes, that is what will come of infecting the peasant with such rubbish. But,

thank God, there is still one healthy class left to usa class which has never taken up with the 'advantages' of

which I speak. For that we ought to be grateful. And since, even yet, the Russian agriculturist remains the

most respectworthy man in the land, why should he be touched? Would to God every one were an

"Then you believe agriculture to be the most profitable of occupations?" said Chichikov.

"The best, at all eventsif not the most profitable. 'In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou till the land.' To quote

that requires no great wisdom, for the experience of ages has shown us that, in the agricultural calling, man

has ever remained more moral, more pure, more noble than in any other. Of course I do not mean to imply

that no other calling ought to be practised: simply that the calling in question lies at the root of all the rest.

However much factories may be established privately or by the law, there will still lie ready to man's hand all

that he needshe will still require none of those amenities which are sapping the vitality of our presentday

folk, nor any of those industrial establishments which make their profit, and keep themselves going, by

causing foolish measures to be adopted which, in the end, are bound to deprave and corrupt our unfortunate

masses. I myself am determined never to establish any manufacture, however profitable, which will give rise

to a demand for 'higher things,' such as sugar and tobaccono not if I lose a million by my refusing to do so.

If corruption MUST overtake the MIR, it shall not be through my hands. And I think that God will justify me

in my resolve. Twenty years have I lived among the common folk, and I know what will inevitably come of

"But what surprises me most," persisted Chichikov, "is that from refuse it should be possible, with good

"And as for political economy," continued Kostanzhoglo, without noticing him, and with his face charged

with bilious sarcasm, "as for political economy, it is a fine thing indeed. Just one fool sitting on another

fool's back, and flogging him along, even though the rider can see no further than his own nose! Yet into the

saddle will that fool climbspectacles and all! Oh, the folly, the folly of such things!" And the speaker spat

"That may be true," said his wife. "Yet you must not get angry about it. Surely one can speak on such

"As I listen to you, most worthy Constantine Thedorovitch," Chichikov hastened to remark, "it becomes plain

to me that you have penetrated into the meaning of life, and laid your finger upon the essential root of the

matter. Yet supposing, for a moment, we leave the affairs of humanity in general, and turn our attention to a

purely individual affair, might I ask you how, in the case of a man becoming a landowner, and having a mind

to grow wealthy as quickly as possible (in order that he may fulfil his bounden obligations as a citizen), he

"Let us go to supper," interrupted the lady of the house, rising from her chair, and moving towards the centre

of the room, where she wrapped her shivering young form in a shawl. Chichikov sprang up with the alacrity

of a military man, offered her his arm, and escorted her, as on parade, to the diningroom, where awaiting

them there was the souptoureen. From it the lid had just been removed, and the room was redolent of the

fragrant odour of early spring roots and herbs. The company took their seats, and at once the servants placed

the remainder of the dishes (under covers) upon the table and withdrew, for Kostanzhoglo hated to have

servants listening to their employers' conversation, and objected still more to their staring at him all the while

When the soup had been consumed, and glasses of an excellent vintage resembling Hungarian wine had been

"Most worthy sir, allow me once more to direct your attention to the subject of which we were speaking at

the point when the conversation became interrupted. You will remember that I was asking you how best a

. . . "A property for which, had he asked forty thousand, I should still have demanded a reduction."

"Hm!" thought Chichikov; then added aloud: "But why do you not purchase it yourself?"

"Because to everything there must be assigned a limit. Already my property keeps me sufficiently employed.

Moreover, I should cause our local dvoriane to begin crying out in chorus that I am exploiting their

extremities, their ruined position, for the purpose of acquiring land for under its value. Of that I am weary."

"Yes, and the amount of evilspeaking in our province surpasses belief. Never will you hear my name

mentioned without my being called also a miser and a usurer of the worst possible sort; whereas my accusers

justify themselves in everything, and say that, 'though we have wasted our money, we have started a demand

for the higher amenities of life, and therefore encouraged industry with our wastefulness, a far better way of

"And so forth, and so forth. Yet what are the 'higher amenities of life'? What good can they do to any one?

Even if a landowner of the day sets up a library, he never looks at a single book in it, but soon relapses into

cardplayingthe usual pursuit. Yet folk call me names simply because I do not waste my means upon the

giving of dinners! One reason why I do not give such dinners is that they weary me; and another reason is

that I am not used to them. But come you to my house for the purpose of taking pot luck, and I shall be

delighted to see you. Also, folk foolishly say that I lend money on interest; whereas the truth is that if you

should come to me when you are really in need, and should explain to me openly how you propose to employ

my money, and I should perceive that you are purposing to use that money wisely, and that you are really

likely to profit therebywell, in that case you would find me ready to lend you all that you might ask

"Yes," repeated Kostanzhoglo, "under those circumstances I should never refuse you my assistance. But I do

object to throwing my money to the winds. Pardon me for expressing myself so plainly. To think of lending

money to a man who is merely devising a dinner for his mistress, or planning to furnish his house like a

lunatic, or thinking of taking his paramour to a masked ball or a jubilee in honour of some one who had better

And, spitting, he came near to venting some expression which would scarcely have been becoming in the

presence of his wife. Over his face the dark shadow of hypochondria had cast a cloud, and furrows had

formed on his brow and temples, and his every gesture bespoke the influence of a hot, nervous rancour.

"But allow me once more to direct your attention to the subject of our recently interrupted conversation,"

persisted Chichikov as he sipped a glass of excellent raspberry wine. "That is to say, supposing I were to

acquire the property which you have been good enough to bring to my notice, how long would it take me to

"That would depend on yourself," replied Kostanzhoglo with grim abruptness and evident illhumour. "You

might either grow rich quickly or you might never grow rich at all. If you made up your mind to grow rich,

"Yes," replied Kostanzhoglo, as sharply as though he were angry with Chichikov. "You would merely need

to be fond of work: otherwise you would effect nothing. The main thing is to like looking after your property.

Believe me, you would never grow weary of doing so. People would have it that life in the country is dull;

whereas, if I were to spend a single day as it is spent by some folk, with their stupid clubs and their

restaurants and their theatres, I should die of ennui. The fools, the idiots, the generations of blind dullards!

But a landowner never finds the days wearisomehe has not the time. In his life not a moment remains

unoccupied; it is full to the brim. And with it all goes an endless variety of occupations. And what

occupations! Occupations which genuinely uplift the soul, seeing that the landowner walks with nature and

the seasons of the year, and takes part in, and is intimate with, everything which is evolved by creation. For

let us look at the round of the year's labours. Even before spring has arrived there will have begun a general

watching and a waiting for it, and a preparing for sowing, and an apportioning of crops, and a measuring of

seed grain by byres, and drying of seed, and a dividing of the workers into teams. For everything needs to be

examined beforehand, and calculations must be made at the very start. And as soon as ever the ice shall have

melted, and the rivers be flowing, and the land have dried sufficiently to be workable, the spade will begin its

task in kitchen and flower garden, and the plough and the harrow their tasks in the field; until everywhere

there will be tilling and sowing and planting. And do you understand what the sum of that labour will mean?

It will mean that the harvest is being sown, that the welfare of the world is being sown, that the food of

millions is being put into the earth. And thereafter will come summer, the season of reaping, endless reaping;

for suddenly the crops will have ripened, and ryesheaf will be lying heaped upon ryesheaf, with,

elsewhere, stocks of barley, and of oats, and of wheat. And everything will be teeming with life, and not a

moment will there need to be lost, seeing that, had you even twenty eyes, you would have need for them all.

And after the harvest festivities there will be grain to be carted to byre or stacked in ricks, and stores to be

prepared for the winter, and storehouses and kilns and cattlesheds to be cleaned for the same purpose, and

the women to be assigned their tasks, and the totals of everything to be calculated, so that one may see the

value of what has been done. And lastly will come winter, when in every threshingfloor the flail will be

working, and the grain, when threshed, will need to be carried from barn to binn, and the mills require to be

seen to, and the estate factories to be inspected, and the workmen's huts to be visited for the purpose of

ascertaining how the muzhik is faring (for, given a carpenter who is clever with his tools, I, for one, am only

too glad to spend an hour or two in his company, so cheering to me is labour). And if, in addition, one

discerns the end to which everything is moving, and the manner in which the things of earth are everywhere

multiplying and multiplying, and bringing forth more and more fruit to one's profiting, I cannot adequately

express what takes place in a man's soul. And that, not because of the growth in his wealthmoney is money

and no morebut because he will feel that everything is the work of his own hands, and that he has been the

cause of everything, and its creator, and that from him, as from a magician, there has flowed bounty and

goodness for all. In what other calling will you find such delights in prospect?" As he spoke, Kostanzhoglo

raised his face, and it became clear that the wrinkles had fled from it, and that, like the Tsar on the solemn

day of his crowning, Kostanzhoglo's whole form was diffusing light, and his features had in them a gentle

radiance. "In all the world," he repeated, "you will find no joys like these, for herein man imitates the God

who projected creation as the supreme happiness, and now demands of man that he, too, should act as the

Kostanzhoglo's mellifluous periods fell upon Chichikov's ear like the notes of a bird of paradise. From time

to time he gulped, and his softened eyes expressed the pleasure which it gave him to listen.

"Constantine, it is time to leave the table," said the lady of the house, rising from her seat. Every one

followed her example, and Chichikov once again acted as his hostess's escortalthough with less dexterity

of deportment than before, owing to the fact that this time his thoughts were occupied with more essential

"In spite of what you say," remarked Platon as he walked behind the pair, "I, for my part, find these things

But the master of the house paid no attention to his remark, for he was reflecting that his guest was no fool,

but a man of serious thought and speech who did not take things lightly. And, with the thought, Kostanzhoglo

grew lighter in soul, as though he had warmed himself with his own words, and were exulting in the fact that

When they had settled themselves in the cosy, candlelighted drawingroom, with its balcony and the glass

door opening out into the gardena door through which the stars could be seen glittering amid the

slumbering tops of the treesChichikov felt more comfortable than he had done for many a day past. It was

as though, after long journeying, his own rooftree had received him once morehad received him when his

quest had been accomplished, when all that he wished for had been gained, when his travellingstaff had

been laid aside with the words "It is finished." And of this seductive frame of mind the true source had been

the eloquent discourse of his hospitable host. Yes, for every man there exist certain things which, instantly

that they are said, seem to touch him more closely, more intimately, than anything has done before. Nor is it

an uncommon occurrence that in the most unexpected fashion, and in the most retired of retreats, one will

suddenly come face to face with a man whose burning periods will lead one to forget oneself and the

tracklessness of the route and the discomfort of one's nightly haltingplaces, and the futility of crazes and the

falseness of tricks by which one human being deceives another. And at once there will become engraven

upon one's memoryvividly, and for all timethe evening thus spent. And of that evening one's

remembrance will hold true, both as to who was present, and where each such person sat, and what he or she

was wearing, and what the walls and the stove and other trifling features of the room looked like.

In the same way did Chichikov note each detail that eveningboth the appointments of the agreeable, but

not luxuriously furnished, room, and the goodhumoured expression which reigned on the face of the

thoughtful host, and the design of the curtains, and the ambermounted pipe smoked by Platon, and the way

in which he kept puffing smoke into the fat jowl of the dog Yarb, and the sneeze which, on each such

occasion, Yarb vented, and the laughter of the pleasantfaced hostess (though always followed by the words

"Pray do not tease him any more") and the cheerful candlelight, and the cricket chirping in a corner, and the

glass door, and the spring night which, laying its elbows upon the treetops, and spangled with stars, and

vocal with the nightingales which were pouring forth warbled ditties from the recesses of the foliage, kept

"How it delights me to hear your words, good Constantine Thedorovitch!" said Chichikov. "Indeed, nowhere

"If you want a man of GENUINE intellect," he said, "I can tell you of one. He is a man whose boot soles are

"He is a man who, were he not the director of an estate, might well be a director of the Empire. And were the

Empire under my direction, I should at once appoint him my Minister of Finance."

"I have heard tales beyond belief concerning himfor instance, that he has acquired ten million roubles."

"Yes, certainly. The man who has only a hundred thousand roubles to work with grows rich but slowly,

whereas he who has millions at his disposal can operate over a greater radius, and so back whatsoever he

undertakes with twice or thrice the money which can be brought against him. Consequently his field becomes

so spacious that he ends by having no rivals. Yes, no one can compete with him, and, whatsoever price he

may fix for a given commodity, at that price it will have to remain, nor will any man be able to outbid it."

"My God!" muttered Chichikov, crossing himself, and staring at Kostanzhoglo with his breath catching in his

throat. "The mind cannot grasp itit petrifies one's thoughts with awe. You see folk marvelling at what

Science has achieved in the matter of investigating the habits of cowbugs, but to me it is a far more

marvellous thing that in the hands of a single mortal there can become accumulated such gigantic sums of

money. But may I ask whether the great fortune of which you speak has been acquired through honest

"Yes; through means of the most irreproachable kindthrough the most honourable of methods."

"Yet so improbable does it seem that I can scarcely believe it. Thousands I could understand, but

"On the contrary, to make thousands honestly is a far more difficult matter than to make millions. Millions

are easily come by, for a millionaire has no need to resort to crooked ways; the way lies straight before him,

and he needs but to annex whatsoever he comes across. No rival will spring up to oppose him, for no rival

will be sufficiently strong, and since the millionaire can operate over an extensive radius, he can bring (as I

have said) two or three roubles to bear upon any one else's one. Consequently, what interest will he derive

"And it is beyond measure marvellous that the whole should have started from a single kopeck."

"Had it started otherwise, the thing could never have been done at all. Such is the normal course. He who is

born with thousands, and is brought up to thousands, will never acquire a single kopeck more, for he will

have been set up with the amenities of life in advance, and so never come to stand in need of anything. It is

necessary to begin from the beginning rather than from the middle; from a kopeck rather than from a rouble;

from the bottom rather than from the top. For only thus will a man get to know the men and conditions

among which his career will have to be carved. That is to say, through encountering the rough and the tumble

of life, and through learning that every kopeck has to be beaten out with a threekopeck nail, and through

worsting knave after knave, he will acquire such a degree of perspicuity and wariness that he will err in

nothing which he may tackle, and never come to ruin. Believe me, it is so. The beginning, and not the middle,

is the right starting point. No one who comes to me and says, 'Give me a hundred thousand roubles, and I will

grow rich in no time,' do I believe, for he is likely to meet with failure rather than with the success of which

he is so assured. 'Tis with a kopeck, and with a kopeck only, that a man must begin."

"If that is so, _I_ shall grow rich," said Chichikov, involuntarily remembering the dead souls. "For of a surety

"Constantine, pray allow Paul Ivanovitch to retire to rest," put in the lady of the house. "It is high time, and I

"Yes, beyond a doubt you will grow rich," continued Kostanzhoglo, without heeding his wife. "For towards

you there will run rivers and rivers of gold, until you will not know what to do with all your gains."

As though spellbound, Chichikov sat in an aureate world of evergrowing dreams and fantasies. All his

thoughts were in a whirl, and on a carpet of future wealth his tumultuous imagination was weaving golden

patterns, while ever in his ears were ringing the words, "towards you there will run rivers and rivers of gold."

"What on earth is the matter?" retorted the master of the household testily. "Pray go yourself if you wish to."

Then he stopped short, for the snoring of Platon was filling the whole room, and alsooutrivalling itthat

of the dog Yarb. This caused Kostanzhoglo to realise that bedtime really had arrived; wherefore, after he had

shaken Platon out of his slumbers, and bidden Chichikov good night, all dispersed to their several chambers,

All, that is to say, except Chichikov, whose thoughts remained wakeful, and who kept wondering and

wondering how best he could become the owner, not of a fictitious, but of a real, estate. The conversation

with his host had made everything clear, had made the possibility of his acquiring riches manifest, had made

the difficult art of estate management at once easy and understandable; until it would seem as though

particularly was his nature adapted for mastering the art in question. All that he would need to do would be to

mortgage the dead souls, and then to set up a genuine establishment. Already he saw himself acting and

administering as Kostanzhoglo had advised himenergetically, and through personal oversight, and

undertaking nothing new until the old had been thoroughly learned, and viewing everything with his own

eyes, and making himself familiar with each member of his peasantry, and abjuring all superfluities, and

giving himself up to hard work and husbandry. Yes, already could he taste the pleasure which would be his

when he had built up a complete industrial organisation, and the springs of the industrial machine were in

vigorous working order, and each had become able to reinforce the other. Labour should be kept in active

operation, and, even as, in a mill, flour comes flowing from grain, so should cash, and yet more cash, come

flowing from every atom of refuse and remnant. And all the while he could see before him the landowner

who was one of the leading men in Russia, and for whom he had conceived such an unbounded respect.

Hitherto only for rank or for opulence had Chichikov respected a mannever for mere intellectual power;

but now he made a first exception in favour of Kostanzhoglo, seeing that he felt that nothing undertaken by

his host could possibly come to naught. And another project which was occupying Chichikov's mind was the

project of purchasing the estate of a certain landowner named Khlobuev. Already Chichikov had at his

disposal ten thousand roubles, and a further fifteen thousand he would try and borrow of Kostanzhoglo

(seeing that the latter had himself said that he was prepared to help any one who really desired to grow rich);

while, as for the remainder, he would either raise the sum by mortgaging the estate or force Khlobuev to wait

Long did our hero ponder the scheme; until at length the slumber which had, these four hours past, been

holding the rest of the household in its embraces enfolded also Chichikov, and he sank into oblivion.

Next day, with Platon and Constantine, Chichikov set forth to interview Khlobuev, the owner whose estate

Constantine had consented to help Chichikov to purchase with a noninterestbearing, uncovenanted loan of

ten thousand roubles. Naturally, our hero was in the highest of spirits. For the first fifteen versts or so the road

led through forest land and tillage belonging to Platon and his brotherinlaw; but directly the limit of these

domains was reached, forest land began to be replaced with swamp, and tillage with waste. Also, the village

in Khlobuev's estate had about it a deserted air, and as for the proprietor himself, he was discovered in a state

of drowsy dishevelment, having not long left his bed. A man of about forty, he had his cravat crooked, his

frockcoat adorned with a large stain, and one of his boots worn through. Nevertheless he seemed delighted to

"What?" he exclaimed. "Constantine Thedorovitch and Platon Mikhalitch? Really I must rub my eyes! Never

again in this world did I look to see callers arriving. As a rule, folk avoid me like the devil, for they cannot

disabuse their minds of the idea that I am going to ask them for a loan. Yes, it is my own fault, I know, but

what would you? To the end will swine cheat swine. Pray excuse my costume. You will observe that my

"Never mind," said Constantine. "We have come on business only. May I present to you a possible purchaser

"I am indeed glad to meet you!" was Khlobuev's response. "Pray shake hands with me, Paul Ivanovitch."

"I can show you a property worth your attention," went on the master of the estate. "May I ask if you have yet

"Yes, we have," put in Constantine, desirous of escaping as soon as possible. "To save you further trouble, let

"Very well," replied Khlobuev. "Pray come and inspect my irregularities and futilities. You have done well to

dine beforehand, for not so much as a fowl is left in the place, so dire are the extremities to which you see me

Sighing deeply, he took Platon by the arm (it was clear that he did not look for any sympathy from

"Things are going hard with me, Platon Mikhalitch," continued Khlobuev. "How hard you cannot imagine.

No money have I, no food, no boots. Were I still young and a bachelor, it would have come easy to me to live

on bread and cheese; but when a man is growing old, and has got a wife and five children, such trials press

"But, should you succeed in selling the estate, that would help to put you right, would it not?" said Platon.

"How could it do so?" replied Khlobuev with a despairing gesture. "What I might get for the property would

have to go towards discharging my debts, and I should find myself left with less than a thousand roubles

"But is there NOTHING to which you could set your hand in order to clear yourself of your difficulties?"

"Become a provincial secretary, you mean? How could I obtain such a post? They would not offer me one of

the meanest possible kind. Even supposing that they did, how could I live on a salary of five hundred

"Nevertheless, when death and destitution threaten, a man must either do something or starve. Shall I ask my

"No, no, Platon Mikhalitch," sighed Khlobuev, gripping the other's hand. "I am no longer serviceableI am

grown old before my time, and find that liver and rheumatism are paying me for the sins of my youth. Why

should the Government be put to a loss on my account?not to speak of the fact that for every salaried post

there are countless numbers of applicants. God forbid that, in order to provide me with a livelihood further

"Such are the results of improvident management!" thought Platon to himself. "The disease is even worse

Meanwhile Kostanzhoglo, walking by Chichikov's side, was almost taking leave of his senses.

"Look at it!" he cried with a wave of his hand. "See to what wretchedness the peasant has become reduced!

Should cattle disease come, Khlobuev will have nothing to fall back upon, but will be forced to sell his

allto leave the peasant without a horse, and therefore without the means to labour, even though the loss of

a single day's work may take years of labour to rectify. Meanwhile it is plain that the local peasant has

become a mere dissolute, lazy drunkard. Give a muzhik enough to live upon for twelve months without

working, and you will corrupt him for ever, so inured to rags and vagrancy will he grow. And what is the

good of that piece of pasture thereof that piece on the further side of those huts? It is a mere flooded tract.

Were it mine, I should put it under flax, and clear five thousand roubles, or else sow it with turnips, and clear,

perhaps, four thousand. And see how the rye is drooping, and nearly laid. As for wheat, I am pretty sure that

he has not sown any. Look, too, at those ravines! Were they mine, they would be standing under timber

which even a rook could not top. To think of wasting such quantities of land! Where land wouldn't bear corn,

I should dig it up, and plant it with vegetables. What ought to be done is that Khlobuev ought to take a spade

into his own hands, and to set his wife and children and servants to do the same; and even if they died of the

exertion, they would at least die doing their duty, and not through guzzling at the dinner table."

Presently they reached an elevation whence the distant flashing of a river, with its flood waters and subsidiary

streams, caught the eye, while, further off, a portion of General Betristchev's homestead could be discerned

among the trees, and, over it, a blue, densely wooded hill which Chichikov guessed to be the spot where

"This is where I should plant timber," said Chichikov. "And, regarded as a site for a manor house, the

"You seem to get great store upon views and beauty," remarked Kostanzhoglo with reproof in his tone.

"Should you pay too much attention to those things, you might find yourself without crops or view. Utility

should be placed first, not beauty. Beauty will come of itself. Take, for example, towns. The fairest and most

beautiful towns are those which have built themselvesthose in which each man has built to suit his own

exclusive circumstances and needs; whereas towns which men have constructed on regular, stringtaut lines

are no better than collections of barracks. Put beauty aside, and look only to what is NECESSARY."

"Yes, but to me it would always be irksome to have to wait. All the time that I was doing so I should be

"Come, come! Are you a man of twentyfiveyou who have served as a tchinovnik in St. Petersburg? Have

patience, have patience. For six years work, and work hard. Plant, sow, and dig the earth without taking a

moment's rest. It will be difficult, I knowyes, difficult indeed; but at the end of that time, if you have

thoroughly stirred the soil, the land will begin to help you as nothing else can do. That is to say, over and

above your seventy or so pairs of hands, there will begin to assist in the work seven hundred pairs of hands

which you cannot see. Thus everything will be multiplied tenfold. I myself have ceased even to have to lift a

finger, for whatsoever needs to be done gets done of itself. Nature loves patience: always remember that. It is

a law given her of God Himself, who has blessed all those who are strong to endure."

"To hear your words is to be both encouraged and strengthened," said Chichikov. To this Kostanzhoglo made

"And see how that piece of land has been ploughed! To stay here longer is more than I can do. For me, to

have to look upon such want of orderliness and foresight is death. Finish your business with Khlobuev

without me, and whatsoever you do, get this treasure out of that fool's hands as quickly as possible, for he is

And Kostanzhoglo, his face dark with the rage that was seething in his excitable soul, left Chichikov, and

"What, Constantine Thedorovitch?" cried Khlobuev in astonishment. "Just arrived, you are going already?"

"Yes; I cannot help it; urgent business requires me at home." And entering his gig, Kostanzhoglo drove

rapidly away. Somehow Khlobuev seemed to divine the cause of his sudden departure.

"It was too much for him," he remarked. "An agriculturist of that kind does not like to have to look upon the

results of such feckless management as mine. Would you believe it, Paul Ivanovitch, but this year I have been

unable to sow any wheat! Am I not a fine husbandman? There was no seed for the purpose, nor yet anything

with which to prepare the ground. No, I am not like Constantine Thedorovitch, who, I hear, is a perfect

Napoleon in his particular line. Again and again the thought occurs to me, 'Why has so much intellect been

put into that head, and only a drop or two into my own dull pate?' Take care of that puddle, gentlemen. I have

told my peasants to lay down planks for the spring, but they have not done so. Nevertheless my heart aches

for the poor fellows, for they need a good example, and what sort of an example am I? How am _I_ to give

them orders? Pray take them under your charge, Paul Ivanovitch, for I cannot teach them orderliness and

method when I myself lack both. As a matter of fact, I should have given them their freedom long ago, had

there been any use in my doing so; for even I can see that peasants must first be afforded the means of

earning a livelihood before they can live. What they need is a stern, yet just, master who shall live with them,

day in, day out, and set them an example of tireless energy. The presentday RussianI know of it

myselfis helpless without a driver. Without one he falls asleep, and the mould grows over him."

"Yet I cannot understand WHY he should fall asleep and grow mouldy in that fashion," said Platon. "Why

should he need continual surveillance to keep him from degenerating into a drunkard and a

"Possiblyonly God knows. Yet enlightenment has reached us right enough. Do we not attend university

lectures and everything else that is befitting? Take my own education. I learnt not only the usual things, but

also the art of spending money upon the latest refinement, the latest amenitythe art of familiarising oneself

with whatsoever money can buy. How, then, can it be said that I was educated foolishly? And my comrades'

education was the same. A few of them succeeded in annexing the cream of things, for the reason that they

had the wit to do so, and the rest spent their time in doing their best to ruin their health and squander their

money. Often I think there is no hope for the presentday Russian. While desiring to do everything, he

accomplishes nothing. One day he will scheme to begin a new mode of existence, a new dietary; yet before

evening he will have so overeaten himself as to be unable to speak or do aught but sit staring like an owl.

"To tell the truth, we are not born to common sense. I doubt whether Russia has ever produced a really

sensible man. For my own part, if I see my neighbour living a regular life, and making money, and saving it, I

begin to distrust him, and to feel certain that in old age, if not before, he too will be led astray by the

devilled astray in a moment. Yes, whether or not we be educated, there is something we lack. But what

On the return journey the prospect was the same as before. Everywhere the same slovenliness, the same

disorder, was displaying itself unadorned: the only difference being that a fresh puddle had formed in the

middle of the village street. This want and neglect was noticeable in the peasants' quarters equally with the

quarters of the barin. In the village a furious woman in greasy sackcloth was beating a poor young wench

within an ace of her life, and at the same time devoting some third person to the care of all the devils in hell;

further away a couple of peasants were stoically contemplating the viragoone scratching his rump as he did

so, and the other yawning. The same yawn was discernible in the buildings, for not a roof was there but had a

gaping hole in it. As he gazed at the scene Platon himself yawned. Patch was superimposed upon patch, and,

in place of a roof, one hut had a piece of wooden fencing, while its crumbling windowframes were stayed

with sticks purloined from the barin's barn. Evidently the system of upkeep in vogue was the system

employed in the case of Trishkin's coatthe system of cutting up the cuffs and the collar into mendings for

"No, I do not admire your way of doing things," was Chichikov's unspoken comment when the inspection had

been concluded and the party had reentered the house. Everywhere in the latter the visitors were struck with

the way in which poverty went with glittering, fashionable profusion. On a writingtable lay a volume of

Shakespeare, and, on an occasional table, a carved ivory backscratcher. The hostess, too, was elegantly and

fashionably attired, and devoted her whole conversation to the town and the local theatre. Lastly, the

childrenbright, merry little thingswere welldressed both as regards boys and girls. Yet far better would

it have been for them if they had been clad in plain striped smocks, and running about the courtyard like

peasant children. Presently a visitor arrived in the shape of a chattering, gossiping woman; whereupon the

hostess carried her off to her own portion of the house, and, the children following them, the men found

"How much do you want for the property?" asked Chichikov of Khlobuev. "I am afraid I must request you to

name the lowest possible sum, since I find the estate in a far worse condition than I had expected to do."

"Yes, it IS in a terrible state," agreed Khlobuev. "Nor is that the whole of the story. That is to say, I will not

conceal from you the fact that, out of a hundred souls registered at the last revision, only fifty survive, so

terrible have been the ravages of cholera. And of these, again, some have absconded; wherefore they too must

be reckoned as dead, seeing that, were one to enter process against them, the costs would end in the property

having to pass en bloc to the legal authorities. For these reasons I am asking only thirtyfive thousand

"Thirtyfive thousand?" he cried. "Come, come! Surely you will accept TWENTYfive thousand?"

"Now, now, Paul Ivanovitch!" he exclaimed. "Take the property at the price named, and have done with it.

The estate is worth at least that amountso much so that, should you not be willing to give it, my

"That being so," said Chichikov, taken aback, "I beg to agree to the price in question. At the same time, I

must ask you to allow me to defer payment of onehalf of the purchase money until a year from now."

"No, no, Paul Ivanovitch. Under no circumstances could I do that. Pay me half now, and the rest in . . .[1]

"That places me in a difficulty," remarked Chichikov. "Ten thousand roubles is all that at the moment I have

available." As a matter of fact, this was not true, seeing that, counting also the money which he had borrowed

of Kostanzhoglo, he had at his disposal TWENTY thousand. His real reason for hesitating was that he

"I must repeat my request, Paul Ivanovitch," said Khlobuev, "namely, that you pay me at least fifteen

In the end Chichikov's dispatchbox was brought from the koliaska, and Khlobuev received thence ten

thousand roubles, together with a promise that the remaining five thousand should be forthcoming on the

morrow; though the promise was given only after Chichikov had first proposed that THREE thousand should

be brought on the day named, and the rest be left over for two or three days longer, if not for a still more

protracted period. The truth was that Paul Ivanovitch hated parting with money. No matter how urgent a

situation might have been, he would still have preferred to pay a sum tomorrow rather than today. In other

words, he acted as we all do, for we all like keeping a petitioner waiting. "Let him rub his back in the hall for

a while," we say. "Surely he can bide his time a little?" Yet of the fact that every hour may be precious to the

poor wretch, and that his business may suffer from the delay, we take no account. "Good sir," we say, "pray

"Where do you intend henceforth to live?" inquired Platon. "Have you any other property to which you can

"No," replied Khlobuev. "I shall remove to the town, where I possess a small villa. That would have been

necessary, in any case, for the children's sake. You see, they must have instruction in God's word, and also

lessons in music and dancing; and not for love or money can these things be procured in the country.

"However, we must contrive to wet our bargain somehow," continued Khlobuev. "Hi, Kirushka! Bring that

"Nothing to eat, yet champagne to drink!" reflected Chichikov. As for Platon, he did not know WHAT to

In Khlobuev's eyes it was de rigueur that he should provide a guest with champagne; but, though he had sent

to the town for some, he had been met with a blank refusal to forward even a bottle of kvass on credit. Only

the discovery of a French dealer who had recently transferred his business from St. Petersburg, and opened a

connection on a system of general credit, saved the situation by placing Khlobuev under the obligation of

The company drank three glassfuls apiece, and so grew more cheerful. In particular did Khlobuev expand,

and wax full of civility and friendliness, and scatter witticisms and anecdotes to right and left. What

knowledge of men and the world did his utterances display! How well and accurately could he divine things!

With what appositeness did he sketch the neighbouring landowners! How clearly he exposed their faults and

failings! How thoroughly he knew the story of certain ruined gentrythe story of how, why, and through

what cause they had fallen upon evil days! With what comic originality could he describe their little habits

In short, his guests found themselves charmed with his discourse, and felt inclined to vote him a man of

"What most surprises me," said Chichikov, "is how, in view of your ability, you come to be so destitute of

"But I have plenty of both," said Khlobuev, and with that went on to deliver himself of a perfect avalanche of

projects. Yet those projects proved to be so uncouth, so clumsy, so little the outcome of a knowledge of men

and things, that his hearers could only shrug their shoulders and mentally exclaim: "Good Lord! What a

difference between worldly wisdom and the capacity to use it!" In every case the projects in question were

based upon the imperative necessity of at once procuring from somewhere two hundredor at least one

hundredthousand roubles. That done (so Khlobuev averred), everything would fall into its proper place,

the holes in his pockets would become stopped, his income would be quadrupled, and he would find himself

in a position to liquidate his debts in full. Nevertheless he ended by saying: "What would you advise me to

do? I fear that the philanthropist who would lend me two hundred thousand roubles or even a hundred

"Good gracious!" inwardly ejaculated Chichikov. "To suppose that God would send such a fool two hundred

"However," went on Khlobuev, "I possess an aunt worth three millionsa pious old woman who gives freely

to churches and monasteries, but finds a difficulty in helping her neighbour. At the same time, she is a lady of

the old school, and worth having a peep at. Her canaries alone number four hundred, and, in addition, there is

an army of pugdogs, hangerson, and servants. Even the youngest of the servants is sixty, but she calls them

all 'young fellows,' and if a guest happens to offend her during dinner, she orders them to leave him out when

"Then why do you not apply to her?" asked Platon earnestly. "It seems to me that, once she realised the

"Alas! nothing is to be looked for from that quarter," replied Khlobuev. "My aunt is of a very stubborn

dispositiona perfect stone of a woman. Moreover, she has around her a sufficient band of favourites

already. In particular is there a fellow who is aiming for a Governorship, and to that end has managed to

insinuate himself into the circle of her kinsfolk. By the way," the speaker added, turning to Platon, "would

you do me a favour? Next week I am giving a dinner to the associated guilds of the town."

Platon stared. He had been unaware that both in our capitals and in our provincial towns there exists a class of

men whose lives are an enigmamen who, though they will seem to have exhausted their substance, and to

have become enmeshed in debt, will suddenly be reported as in funds, and on the point of giving a dinner!

And though, at this dinner, the guests will declare that the festival is bound to be their host's last fling, and

that for a certainty he will be haled to prison on the morrow, ten years or more will elapse, and the rascal will

still be at liberty, even though, in the meanwhile, his debts will have increased!

In the same way did the conduct of Khlobuev's menage afford a curious phenomenon, for one day the house

would be the scene of a solemn Te Deum, performed by a priest in vestments, and the next of a stage play

performed by a troupe of French actors in theatrical costume. Again, one day would see not a morsel of bread

in the house, and the next day a banquet and generous largesse given to a party of artists and sculptors.

During these seasons of scarcity (sufficiently severe to have led any one but Khlobuev to seek suicide by

hanging or shooting), the master of the house would be preserved from rash action by his strongly religious

disposition, which, contriving in some curious way to conform with his irregular mode of life, enabled him to

fall back upon reading the lives of saints, ascetics, and others of the type which has risen superior to its

misfortunes. And at such times his spirit would become softened, his thoughts full of gentleness, and his eyes

wet with tears; he would fall to saying his prayers, and invariably some strange coincidence would bring an

answer thereto in the shape of an unexpected measure of assistance. That is to say, some former friend of his

would remember him, and send him a trifle in the way of money; or else some female visitor would be moved

by his story to let her impulsive, generous heart proffer him a handsome gift; or else a suit whereof tidings

had never even reached his ears would end by being decided in his favour. And when that happened he would

reverently acknowledge the immensity of the mercy of Providence, gratefully tender thanksgiving for the

"Somehow I feel sorry for the man," said Platon when he and Chichikov had taken leave of their host, and

"Perhaps so, but he is a hopeless prodigal," replied the other. "Personally I find it impossible to

And with that the pair ceased to devote another thought to Khlobuev. In the case of Platon, this was because

he contemplated the fortunes of his fellows with the lethargic, halfsomnolent eye which he turned upon all

the rest of the world; for though the sight of distress of others would cause his heart to contract and feel full

of sympathy, the impression thus produced never sank into the depths of his being. Accordingly, before many

minutes were over he had ceased to bestow a single thought upon his late host. With Chichikov, however,

things were different. Whereas Platon had ceased to think of Khlobuev no more than he had ceased to think

of himself, Chichikov's mind had strayed elsewhere, for the reason that it had become taken up with grave

meditation on the subject of the purchase just made. Suddenly finding himself no longer a fictitious

proprietor, but the owner of a real, an actually existing, estate, he became contemplative, and his plans and

ideas assumed such a serious vein as imparted to his features an unconsciously important air.

"Patience and hard work!" he muttered to himself. "The thing will not be difficult, for with those two

requisites I have been familiar from the days of my swaddling clothes. Yes, no novelty will they be to me.

Yet, in middle age, shall I be able to compass the patience whereof I was capable in my youth?"

However, no matter how he regarded the future, and no matter from what point of view he considered his

recent acquisition, he could see nothing but advantage likely to accrue from the bargain. For one thing, he

might be able to proceed so that, first the whole of the estate should be mortgaged, and then the better

portions of land sold outright. Or he might so contrive matters as to manage the property for a while (and thus

become a landowner like Kostanzhoglo, whose advice, as his neighbour and his benefactor, he intended

always to follow), and then to dispose of the property by private treaty (provided he did not wish to continue

his ownership), and still to retain in his hands the dead and abandoned souls. And another possible coup

occurred to his mind. That is to say, he might contrive to withdraw from the district without having repaid

Kostanzhoglo at all! Truly a splendid idea! Yet it is only fair to say that the idea was not one of Chichikov's

own conception. Rather, it had presented itselfmocking, laughing, and winkingunbidden. Yet the

impudent, the wanton thing! Who is the procreator of suddenly born ideas of the kind? The thought that he

was now a real, an actual, proprietor instead of a fictitiousthat he was now a proprietor of real land, real

rights of timber and pasture, and real serfs who existed not only in the imagination, but also in veritable

actualitygreatly elated our hero. So he took to dancing up and down in his seat, to rubbing his hands

together, to winking at himself, to holding his fist, trumpetwise, to his mouth (while making believe to

execute a march), and even to uttering aloud such encouraging nicknames and phrases as "bulldog" and "little

fat capon." Then suddenly recollecting that he was not alone, he hastened to moderate his behaviour and

endeavoured to stifle the endless flow of his good spirits; with the result that when Platon, mistaking certain

sounds for utterances addressed to himself, inquired what his companion had said, the latter retained the

Presently, as Chichikov gazed about him, he saw that for some time past the koliaska had been skirting a

beautiful wood, and that on either side the road was bordered with an edging of birch trees, the

tenderlygreen, recentlyopened leaves of which caused their tall, slender trunks to show up with the

whiteness of a snowdrift. Likewise nightingales were warbling from the recesses of the foliage, and some

wood tulips were glowing yellow in the grass. Next (and almost before Chichikov had realised how he came

to be in such a beautiful spot when, but a moment before, there had been visible only open fields) there

glimmered among the trees the stony whiteness of a church, with, on the further side of it, the intermittent,

foliageburied line of a fence; while from the upper end of a village street there was advancing to meet the

vehicle a gentleman with a cap on his head, a knotted cudgel in his hands, and a slenderlimbed English dog

"This is my brother," said Platon. "Stop, coachman." And he descended from the koliaska, while Chichikov

followed his example. Yarb and the strange dog saluted one another, and then the active, thinlegged,

slendertongued Azor relinquished his licking of Yarb's blunt jowl, licked Platon's hands instead, and,

"Really, Platon," said the gentleman (whose name was Vassili), "what do you mean by treating me like this?"

"What? For three days past I have seen and heard nothing of you! A groom from Pietukh's brought your cob

home, and told me you had departed on an expedition with some barin. At least you might have sent me word

as to your destination and the probable length of your absence. What made you act so? God knows what I

"Does it matter?" rejoined Platon. "I forgot to send you word, and we have been no further than Constantine's

(who, with our sister, sends you his greeting). By the way, may I introduce Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov?"

"What sort of man is this Chichikov?" thought Vassili. "As a rule my brother Platon is not overnice in his

choice of acquaintances." And, eyeing our hero as narrowly as civility permitted, he saw that his appearance

Chichikov returned Vassili's scrutiny with a similar observance of the dictates of civility, and perceived that

he was shorter than Platon, that his hair was of a darker shade, and that his features, though less handsome,

contained far more life, animation, and kindliness than did his brother's. Clearly he indulged in less dreaming,

"I have made up my mind to go touring our Holy Russia with Paul Ivanovitch," said Platon. "Perhaps it will

"What has made you come to such a sudden decision?" asked the perplexed Vassili (very nearly he added:

"Fancy going travelling with a man whose acquaintance you have just made, and who may turn out to be a

rascal or the devil knows what!" But, in spite of his distrust, he contented himself with another covert

scrutiny of Chichikov, and this time came to the conclusion that there was no fault to be found with his

The party turned to the right, and entered the gates of an ancient courtyard attached to an oldfashioned

house of a type no longer builtthe type which has huge gables supporting a highpitched roof. In the centre

of the courtyard two great lime trees covered half the surrounding space with shade, while beneath them were

ranged a number of wooden benches, and the whole was encircled with a ring of blossoming lilacs and cherry

trees which, like a beaded necklace, reinforced the wooden fence, and almost buried it beneath their clusters

of leaves and flowers. The house, too, stood almost concealed by this greenery, except that the front door and

the windows peered pleasantly through the foliage, and that here and there between the stems of the trees

there could be caught glimpses of the kitchen regions, the storehouses, and the cellar. Lastly, around the

whole stood a grove, from the recesses of which came the echoing songs of nightingales.

Involuntarily the place communicated to the soul a sort of quiet, restful feeling, so eloquently did it speak of

that carefree period when every one lived on good terms with his neighbour, and all was simple and

unsophisticated. Vassili invited Chichikov to seat himself, and the party approached, for that purpose, the

benches under the lime trees; after which a youth of about seventeen, and clad in a red shirt, brought

decanters containing various kinds of kvass (some of them as thick as syrup, and others hissing like aerated

lemonade), deposited the same upon the table, and, taking up a spade which he had left leaning against a tree,

moved away towards the garden. The reason of this was that in the brothers' household, as in that of

Kostanzhoglo, no servants were kept, since the whole staff were rated as gardeners, and performed that duty

in rotationVassili holding that domestic service was not a specialised calling, but one to which any one

might contribute a hand, and therefore one which did not require special menials to be kept for the purpose.

Moreover, he held that the average Russian peasant remains active and willing (rather than lazy) only so long

as he wears a shirt and a peasant's smock; but that as soon as ever he finds himself put into a German tailcoat,

he becomes awkward, sluggish, indolent, disinclined to change his vest or take a bath, fond of sleeping in his

clothes, and certain to breed fleas and bugs under the German apparel. And it may be that Vassili was right.

At all events, the brothers' peasantry were exceedingly well cladthe women, in particular, having their

headdresses spangled with gold, and the sleeves of their blouses embroidered after the fashion of a Turkish

"You see here the species of kvass for which our house has long been famous," said Vassili to Chichikov.

The latter poured himself out a glassful from the first decanter which he lighted upon, and found the contents

to be linden honey of a kind never tasted by him even in Poland, seeing that it had a sparkle like that of

champagne, and also an effervescence which sent a pleasant spray from the mouth into the nose.

"Nectar!" he proclaimed. Then he took some from a second decanter. It proved to be even better than the

first. "A beverage of beverages!" he exclaimed. "At your respected brotherinlaw's I tasted the finest syrup

"Yet the recipe for the syrup also came from here," said Vassili, "seeing that my sister took it with her. By the

way, to what part of the country, and to what places, are you thinking of travelling?"

"To tell the truth," replied Chichikov, rocking himself to and fro on the bench, and smoothing his knee with

his hand, and gently inclining his head, "I am travelling less on my own affairs than on the affairs of others.

That is to say, General Betristchev, an intimate friend, and, I might add, a generous benefactor of mine, has

charged me with commissions to some of his relatives. Nevertheless, though relatives are relatives, I may say

that I am travelling on my own account as well, in that, in addition to possible benefit to my health, I desire to

see the world and the whirligig of humanity, which constitute, to so speak, a living book, a second course of

Vassili took thought. "The man speaks floridly," he reflected, "yet his words contain a certain element of

truth." After a moment's silence he added to Platon: "I am beginning to think that the tour might help you to

bestir yourself. At present you are in a condition of mental slumber. You have fallen asleep, not so much

from weariness or satiety, as through a lack of vivid perceptions and impressions. For myself, I am your

complete antithesis. I should be only too glad if I could feel less acutely, if I could take things less to heart."

"Emotion has become a disease with you," said Platon. "You seek your own troubles, and make your own

"How can you say that when readymade anxieties greet one at every step?" exclaimed Vassili. "For

example, have you heard of the trick which Lienitsin has just played usof his seizing the piece of vacant

land whither our peasants resort for their sports? That piece I would not sell for all the money in the world. It

has long been our peasants' playground, and all the traditions of our village are bound up with it. Moreover,

for me, old custom is a sacred thing for which I would gladly sacrifice everything else."

"Lienitsin cannot have known of this, or he would not have seized the land," said Platon. "He is a newcomer,

just arrived from St. Petersburg. A few words of explanation ought to meet the case."

"But he DOES know of what I have stated; he DOES know of it. Purposely I sent him word to that affect, yet

"No, I will not do that; he has tried to carry off things with too high a hand. But YOU can go if you like."

"I would certainly go were it not that I scarcely like to interfere. Also, I am a man whom he could easily

"Would it help you if _I_ were to go?" put in Chichikov. "Pray enlighten me as to the matter."

Vassili glanced at the speaker, and thought to himself: "What a passion the man has for travelling!"

"Yes, pray give me an idea of the kind of fellow," repeated Chichikov, "and also outline to me the affair."

"I should be ashamed to trouble you with such an unpleasant commission," replied Vassili. "He is a man

whom I take to be an utter rascal. Originally a member of a family of plain dvoriane in this province, he

entered the Civil Service in St. Petersburg, then married some one's natural daughter in that city, and has

returned to lord it with a high hand. I cannot bear the tone he adopts. Our folk are by no means fools. They do

not look upon the current fashion as the Tsar's ukaz any more than they look upon St. Petersburg as the

"Naturally," said Chichikov. "But tell me more of the particulars of the quarrel."

"They are these. He needs additional land and, had he not acted as he has done, I would have given him some

land elsewhere for nothing; but, as it is, the pestilent fellow has taken it into his head to"

"I think I had better go and have a talk with him. That might settle the affair. Several times have people

charged me with similar commissions, and never have they repented of it. General Betristchev is an

"Nevertheless I am ashamed that you should be put to the annoyance of having to converse with such a

"And above all things, such a transaction would need to be carried through in secret," said Chichikov. "True,

the law does not forbid such things, but there is always the risk of a scandal."

"Then we agree!" exclaimed Chichikov. "How charming! As I say, my business is both legal and illegal.

Though needing to effect a mortgage, I desire to put no one to the risk of having to pay the two roubles on

each living soul; wherefore I have conceived the idea of relieving landowners of that distasteful obligation by

acquiring dead and absconded souls who have failed to disappear from the revision list. This enables me at

once to perform an act of Christian charity and to remove from the shoulders of our more impoverished

proprietors the burden of taxpayment upon souls of the kind specified. Should you yourself care to do

business with me, we will draw up a formal purchase agreement as though the souls in question were still

"But it would be such a curious arrangement," muttered Lienitsin, moving his chair and himself a little further

"Would involve you in no scandal whatever, seeing that the affair would be carried through in secret.

Chichikov adopted a firmer and more decided tone. "I repeat that there would be no scandal," he said. "The

transaction would take place as between good friends, and as between friends of mature age, and as between

friends of good status, and as between friends who know how to keep their own counsel." And, so saying, he

Nevertheless Lienitsin's resourcefulness and acumen in business matters failed to relieve his mind of a certain

perplexityand the less so since he had contrived to become caught in his own net. Yet, in general, he

possessed neither a love for nor a talent for underhand dealings, and, had not fate and circumstances favoured

Chichikov by causing Lienitsin's wife to enter the room at that moment, things might have turned out very

differently from what they did. Madame was a pale, thin, insignificantlooking young lady, but none the less

a lady who wore her clothes a la St. Petersburg, and cultivated the society of persons who were

unimpeachably comme il faut. Behind her, borne in a nurse's arms, came the first fruits of the love of husband

and wife. Adopting his most telling method of approach (the method accompanied with a sidelong inclination

of the head and a sort of hop), Chichikov hastened to greet the lady from the metropolis, and then the baby.

At first the latter started to bellow disapproval, but the words "Agoo, agoo, my pet!" added to a little cracking

of the fingers and a sight of a beautiful seal on a watch chain, enabled Chichikov to weedle the infant into his

arms; after which he fell to swinging it up and down until he had contrived to raise a smile on its facea

circumstance which greatly delighted the parents, and finally inclined the father in his visitor's favour.

Suddenly, howeverwhether from pleasure or from some other causethe infant misbehaved itself!"

True enough, on glancing downwards, Chichikov saw that the sleeve of his brandnew garment had indeed

suffered a hurt. "If I could catch you alone, you little devil," he muttered to himself, "I'd shoot you!"

Host, hostess and nurse all ran for eaudeCologne, and from three sides set themselves to rub the spot

"Never mind, never mind; it is nothing," said Chichikov as he strove to communicate to his features as

cheerful an expression as possible. "What does it matter what a child may spoil during the golden age of its

To himself he remarked: "The little brute! Would it could be devoured by wolves. It has made only too good

How, after thisafter the guest had shown such innocent affection for the little one, and magnanimously

paid for his so doing with a brandnew suitcould the father remain obdurate? Nevertheless, to avoid

setting a bad example to the countryside, he and Chichikov agreed to carry through the transaction

"In return," said Chichikov, "would you mind doing me the following favour? I desire to mediate in the

matter of your difference with the Brothers Platonov. I believe that you wish to acquire some additional land?

Everything in life fulfils its function, and Chichikov's tour in search of a fortune was carried out so

successfully that not a little money passed into his pockets. The system employed was a good one: he did not

steal, he merely used. And every one of us at times does the same: one man with regard to Government

timber, and another with regard to a sum belonging to his employer, while a third defrauds his children for

the sake of an actress, and a fourth robs his peasantry for the sake of smart furniture or a carriage. What can

one do when one is surrounded on every side with roguery, and everywhere there are insanely expensive

restaurants, masked balls, and dances to the music of gipsy bands? To abstain when every one else is

Chichikov was for setting forth again, but the roads had now got into a bad state, and, in addition, there was

in preparation a second fairone for the dvoriane only. The former fair had been held for the sale of horses,

cattle, cheese, and other peasant produce, and the buyers had been merely cattlejobbers and kulaks; but this

time the function was to be one for the sale of manorial produce which had been bought up by wholesale

dealers at Nizhni Novgorod, and then transferred hither. To the fair, of course, came those ravishers of the

Russian purse who, in the shape of Frenchmen with pomades and Frenchwomen with hats, make away with

money earned by blood and hard work, and, like the locusts of Egypt (to use Kostanzhoglo's term) not only

devour their prey, but also dig holes in the ground and leave behind their eggs.

Although, unfortunately, the occurrence of a bad harvest retained many landowners at their country houses,

the local tchinovniks (whom the failure of the harvest did NOT touch) proceeded to let themselves goas

also, to their undoing, did their wives. The reading of books of the type diffused, in these modern days, for

the inoculation of humanity with a craving for new and superior amenities of life had caused every one to

conceive a passion for experimenting with the latest luxury; and to meet this want the French wine merchant

opened a new establishment in the shape of a restaurant as had never before been heard of in the provincea

restaurant where supper could be procured on credit as regarded onehalf, and for an unprecedentedly low

sum as regarded the other. This exactly suited both heads of boards and clerks who were living in hope of

being able some day to resume their bribestaking from suitors. There also developed a tendency to compete

in the matter of horses and liveried flunkeys; with the result that despite the damp and snowy weather

exceedingly elegant turnouts took to parading backwards and forwards. Whence these equipages had come

God only knows, but at least they would not have disgraced St. Petersburg. From within them merchants and

attorneys doffed their caps to ladies, and inquired after their health, and likewise it became a rare sight to see

a bearded man in a rough fur cap, since every one now went about cleanshaven and with dirty teeth, after

"Sir, I beg of you to inspect my goods," said a tradesman as Chichikov was passing his establishment.

"I have cloths of the finest kind," replied the tradesman, raising his cap with one hand, and pointing to his

shop with the other. Chichikov entered, and in a trice the proprietor had dived beneath the counter, and

appeared on the other side of it, with his back to his wares and his face towards the customer. Leaning

forward on the tips of his fingers, and indicating his merchandise with just the suspicion of a nod, he

requested the gentleman to specify exactly the species of cloth which he required.

"A cloth with an olivecoloured or a bottletinted spot in its patternanything in the nature of bilberry,"

"That being so, sir, I may say that I am about to show you clothes of a quality which even our illustrious

capitals could not surpass. Hi, boy! Reach down that roll up therenumber 34. No, NOT that one, fool!

Such fellows as you are always too good for your job. Therehand it to me. This is indeed a nice pattern!"

Unfolding the garment, the tradesman thrust it close to Chichikov's nose in order that he might not only

"Excellent, but not what I want," pronounced Chichikov. "Formerly I was in the Custom's Department, and

therefore wear none but cloth of the latest make. What I want is of a ruddier pattern than thisnot exactly a

"I understand, sir. Of course you require only the very newest thing. A cloth of that kind I DO possess, sir,

Carrying the roll of stuff to the lighteven stepping into the street for the purposethe shopman unfolded

his prize with the words, "A truly beautiful shade! A cloth of smoked grey, shot with flame colour!"

The material met with the customer's approval, a price was agreed upon, and with incredible celerity the

vendor made up the purchase into a brownpaper parcel, and stowed it away in Chichikov's koliaska.

"The devil take me if it isn't Khlobuev!" muttered our hero, turning his back upon the newcomer.

"Come, come, Paul Ivanovitch!" he expostulated. "Surely you do not intend to overlook me? I have been

"My dear sir, my very dear sir," said Chichikov as he pressed Khlobuev's hand, "I can assure you that, had I

the necessary leisure, I should at all times be charmed to converse with you." And mentally he added:

Almost at the same time Murazov, the great landowner, entered the shop. As he did so our hero hastened to

"Well enough," replied Murazov, removing his cap (Khlobuev and the shopman had already done the same).

"But poorly," replied Chichikov, "for of late I have been troubled with indigestion, and my sleep is bad. I do

However, instead of probing deeper into the subject of Chichikov's ailments, Murazov turned to Khlobuev.

"I saw you enter the shop," he said, "and therefore followed you, for I have something important for your ear.

"A wise and noble gentleman, Athanasi Vassilievitch!" remarked the tradesman. Chichikov made no reply

"Paul Ivanovitch, I have been looking for you everywhere," Lienitsin's voice said from behind him, while

again the tradesman hastened to remove his cap. "Pray come home with me, for I have something to say to

Chichikov scanned the speaker's face, but could make nothing of it. Paying the tradesman for the cloth, he

"Tell me," he said to his guest, "exactly how your affairs stand. I take it that, after all, your aunt left you

"It would be difficult to say whether or not my affairs are improved," replied Khlobuev. "True, fifty souls and

thirty thousand roubles came to me from Madame Khanasarova, but I had to pay them away to satisfy my

debts. Consequently I am once more destitute. But the important point is that there was trickery connected

with the legacy, and shameful trickery at that. Yes, though it may surprise you, it is a fact that that fellow

"Yes, Semen Semenovitch, but, before you go on to speak of Chichikov, pray tell me something about

yourself, and how much, in your opinion, would be sufficient to clear you of your difficulties?"

"My difficulties are grievous," replied Khlobuev. "To rid myself of them, and also to have enough to go on

with, I should need to acquire at least a hundred thousand roubles, if not more. In short, things are becoming

"I should rent a tenement, and devote myself to the education of my children. Not a thought should I give to

myself, for my career is over, seeing that it is impossible for me to reenter the Civil Service and I am good

"Nevertheless, when a man is leading an idle life he is apt to incur temptations which shun his

"Yes, but beyond question I am good for nothing, so broken is my health, and such a martyr I am to

"But how to you propose to live without working? How can a man like you exist without a post or a position

of any kind? Look around you at the works of God. Everything has its proper function, and pursues its proper

course. Even a stone can be used for one purpose or another. How, then, can it be right for a man who is a

"But I should not be a drone, for I should employ myself with the education of my children."

"No, Semen Semenovitchno: THAT you would find the hardest task of all. For how can a man educate his

children who has never even educated himself? Instruction can be imparted to children only through the

medium of example; and would a life like yours furnish them with a profitable examplea life which has

been spent in idleness and the playing of cards? No, Semen Semenovitch. You had far better hand your

children over to me. Otherwise they will be ruined. Do not think that I am jesting. Idleness has wrecked your

life, and you must flee from it. Can a man live with nothing to keep him in place? Even a journeyman

"Athanasi Vassilievitch, I have tried to overcome myself, but what further resource lies open to me? Can I

who am old and incapable reenter the Civil Service and spend year after year at a desk with youths who are

just starting their careers? Moreover, I have lost the trick of taking bribes; I should only hinder both myself

and others; while, as you know, it is a department which has an established caste of its own. Therefore,

though I have considered, and even attempted to obtain, every conceivable post, I find myself incompetent

"Nay, nay. Monasteries, again, are only for those who have worked. To those who have spent their youth in

dissipation such havens say what the ant said to the dragonflynamely, 'Go you away, and return to your

dancing.' Yes, even in a monastery do folk toil and toilthey do not sit playing whist." Murazov looked at

Khlobuev, and added: "Semen Semenovitch, you are deceiving both yourself and me."

Poor Khlobuev could not utter a word in reply, and Murazov began to feel sorry for him.

"Listen, Semen Semenovitch," he went on. "I know that you say your prayers, and that you go to church, and

that you observe both Matins and Vespers, and that, though averse to early rising, you leave your bed at four

"Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch," said Khlobuev, "that is another matter altogether. That I do, not for man's sake,

but for the sake of Him who has ordered all things here on earth. Yes, I believe that He at least can feel

compassion for me, that He at least, though I be foul and lowly, will pardon me and receive me when all men

have cast me out, and my best friend has betrayed me and boasted that he has done it for a good end."

Khlobuev's face was glowing with emotion, and from the older man's eyes also a tear had started.

"You will do well to hearken unto Him who is merciful," he said. "But remember also that, in the eyes of the

AllMerciful, honest toil is of equal merit with a prayer. Therefore take unto yourself whatsoever task you

may, and do it as though you were doing it, not unto man, but unto God. Even though to your lot there should

fall but the cleaning of a floor, clean that floor as though it were being cleaned for Him alone. And thence at

least this good you will reap: that there will remain to you no time for what is evilfor card playing, for

feasting, for all the life of this gay world. Are you acquainted with Ivan Potapitch?"

"Time was when Ivan Potapitch was a merchant worth half a million roubles. In everything did he look but

for gain, and his affairs prospered exceedingly, so much so that he was able to send his son to be educated in

France, and to marry his daughter to a General. And whether in his office or at the Exchange, he would stop

any friend whom he encountered and carry him off to a tavern to drink, and spend whole days thus employed.

But at last he became bankrupt, and God sent him other misfortunes also. His son! Ah, well! Ivan Potapitch is

now my steward, for he had to begin life over again. Yet once more his affairs are in order, and, had it been

his wish, he could have restarted in business with a capital of half a million roubles. 'But no,' he said. 'A

steward am I, and a steward will I remain to the end; for, from being fullstomached and heavy with dropsy,

I have become strong and well.' Not a drop of liquor passes his lips, but only cabbage soup and gruel. And he

prays as none of the rest of us pray, and he helps the poor as none of the rest of us help them; and to this he

"Semen Semenovitch," he said, "you cannot think how much I pity you, or how much I have had you in my

thoughts. Listen to me. In the monastery there is a recluse who never looks upon a human face. Of all men

whom I know he has the broadest mind, and he breaks not his silence save to give advice. To him I went and

said that I had a friend (though I did not actually mention your name) who was in great trouble of soul.

Suddenly the recluse interrupted me with the words: 'God's work first, and our own last. There is need for a

church to be built, but no money wherewith to build it. Money must be collected to that end.' Then he shut to

the wicket. I wondered to myself what this could mean, and concluded that the recluse had been unwilling to

accord me his counsel. Next I repaired to the Archimandrite, and had scarce reached his door when he

inquired of me whether I could commend to him a man meet to be entrusted with the collection of alms for a

churcha man who should belong to the dvoriane or to the more lettered merchants, but who would guard

the trust as he would guard the salvation of his soul. On the instant thought I to myself: 'Why should not the

Holy Father appoint my friend Semen Semenovitch? For the way of suffering would benefit him greatly; and

as he passed with his ledger from landowner to peasant, and from peasant to townsman, he would learn where

folk dwell, and who stands in need of aught, and thus would become better acquainted with the countryside

than folk who dwell in cities. And, thus become, he would find that his services were always in demand.'

Only of late did the GovernorGeneral say to me that, could he but be furnished with the name of a secretary

who should know his work not only by the book but also by experience, he would give him a great sum, since

nothing is to be learned by the former means, and, through it, much confusion arises."

"You confound me, you overwhelm me!" said Khlobuev, staring at his companion in openeyed

astonishment. "I can scarcely believe that your words are true, seeing that for such a trust an active,

indefatigable man would be necessary. Moreover, how could I leave my wife and children unprovided for?"

"Have no fear," said Murazov, "I myself will take them under my care, as well as procure for the children a

tutor. Far better and nobler were it for you to be travelling with a wallet, and asking alms on behalf of God,

then to be remaining here and asking alms for yourself alone. Likewise, I will furnish you with a tiltwaggon,

so that you may be saved some of the hardships of the journey, and thus be preserved in good health. Also, I

will give you some money for the journey, in order that, as you pass on your way, you may give to those who

stand in greater need than their fellows. Thus, if, before giving, you assure yourself that the recipient of the

alms is worthy of the same, you will do much good; and as you travel you will become acquainted with all

men and sundry, and they will treat you, not as a tchinovnik to be feared, but as one to whom, as a petitioner

"I feel that the scheme is a splendid one, and would gladly bear my part in it were it not likely to exceed my

"What is there that does NOT exceed your strength?" said Murazov. "Nothing is wholly proportionate to

iteverything surpasses it. Help from above is necessary: otherwise we are all powerless. Strength comes of

prayer, and of prayer alone. When a man crosses himself, and cries, 'Lord, have mercy upon me!' he soon

stems the current and wins to the shore. Nor need you take any prolonged thought concerning this matter. All

that you need do is to accept it as a commission sent of God. The tiltwaggon can be prepared for you

immediately; and then, as soon as you have been to the Archimandrite for your book of accounts and his

And even as Khlobuev spoke he felt renewed vigour and confidence arise in his soul, and his mind begin to

awake to a sense of hopefulness of eventually being able to put to flight his troubles. And even as it was, the

Meanwhile, plea after plea had been presented to the legal authorities, and daily were relatives whom no one

had before heard of putting in an appearance. Yes, like vultures to a corpse did these good folk come flocking

to the immense property which Madam Khanasarov had left behind her. Everywhere were heard rumours

against Chichikov, rumours with regard to the validity of the second will, rumours with regard to will number

one, and rumours of larceny and concealment of funds. Also, there came to hand information with regard

both to Chichikov's purchase of dead souls and to his conniving at contraband goods during his service in the

Customs Department. In short, every possible item of evidence was exhumed, and the whole of his previous

history investigated. How the authorities had come to suspect and to ascertain all this God only knows, but

the fact remains that there had fallen into the hands of those authorities information concerning matters of

which Chichikov had believed only himself and the four walls to be aware. True, for a time these matters

remained within the cognisance of none but the functionaries concerned, and failed to reach Chichikov's ears;

but at length a letter from a confidential friend gave him reason to think that the fat was about to fall into the

fire. Said the letter briefly: "Dear sir, I beg to advise you that possibly legal trouble is pending, but that you

have no cause for uneasiness, seeing that everything will be attended to by yours very truly." Yet, in spite of

its tenor, the epistle reassured its recipient. "What a genius the fellow is!" thought Chichikov to himself.

Next, to complete his satisfaction, his tailor arrived with the new suit which he had ordered. Not without a

certain sense of pride did our hero inspect the frockcoat of smoked grey shot with flame colour and look at it

from every point of view, and then try on the breechesthe latter fitting him like a picture, and quite

concealing any deficiencies in the matter of his thighs and calves (though, when buckled behind, they left his

stomach projecting like a drum). True, the customer remarked that there appeared to be a slight tightness

under the right armpit, but the smiling tailor only rejoined that that would cause the waist to fit all the better.

"Sir," he said triumphantly, "you may rest assured that the work has been executed exactly as it ought to have

been executed. No one, except in St. Petersburg, could have done it better." As a matter of fact, the tailor

himself hailed from St. Petersburg, but called himself on his signboard "Foreign Costumier from London and

Paris"the truth being that by the use of a doublebarrelled flourish of cities superior to mere "Karlsruhe"

Chichikov graciously settled the man's account, and, as soon as he had gone, paraded at leisure, and con

amore, and after the manner of an artist of aesthetic taste, before the mirror. Somehow he seemed to look

better than ever in the suit, for his cheeks had now taken on a still more interesting air, and his chin an added

seductiveness, while his white collar lent tone to his neck, the blue satin tie heightened the effect of the collar,

the fashionable dickey set off the tie, the rich satin waistcoat emphasised the dickey, and the

smokedgreyshotwithflamecolour frockcoat, shining like silk, splendidly rounded off the whole. When

he turned to the right he looked well: when he turned to the left he looked even better. In short, it was a

costume worthy of a Lord Chamberlain or the species of dandy who shrinks from swearing in the Russian

language, but amply relieves his feelings in the language of France. Next, inclining his head slightly to one

side, our hero endeavoured to pose as though he were addressing a middleaged lady of exquisite refinement;

and the result of these efforts was a picture which any artist might have yearned to portray. Next, his delight

led him gracefully to execute a hop in ballet fashion, so that the wardrobe trembled and a bottle of

eaudeCologne came crashing to the floor. Yet even this contretemps did not upset him; he merely called

the offending bottle a fool, and then debated whom first he should visit in his attractive guise.

Suddenly there resounded through the hall a clatter of spurred heels, and then the voice of a gendarme saying:

"You are commanded to present yourself before the GovernorGeneral!" Turning round, Chichikov stared in

horror at the spectacle presented; for in the doorway there was standing an apparition wearing a huge

moustache, a helmet surmounted with a horsehair plume, a pair of crossed shoulderbelts, and a gigantic

sword! A whole army might have been combined into a single individual! And when Chichikov opened his

mouth to speak the apparition repeated, "You are commanded to present yourself before the

GovernorGeneral," and at the same moment our hero caught sight both of a second apparition outside the

door and of a coach waiting beneath the window. What was to be done? Nothing whatever was possible. Just

as he stoodin his smokedgreyshotwithflamecolour suithe had then and there to enter the vehicle,

and, shaking in every limb, and with a gendarme seated by his side, to start for the residence of the

And even in the hall of that establishment no time was given him to pull himself together, for at once an

aidedecamp said: "Go inside immediately, for the Prince is awaiting you." And as in a dream did our hero

see a vestibule where couriers were being handed dispatches, and then a salon which he crossed with the

thought, "I suppose I am not to be allowed a trial, but shall be sent straight to Siberia!" And at the thought his

heart started beating in a manner which the most jealous of lovers could not have rivalled. At length there

opened a door, and before him he saw a study full of portfolios, ledgers, and dispatchboxes, with, standing

"There stands my executioner," thought Chichikov to himself. "He is about to tear me to pieces as a wolf

"Once before did I spare you," he said, "and allow you to remain in the town when you ought to have been in

prison: yet your only return for my clemency has been to revert to a career of fraudand of fraud as

"To what dishonourable fraud do you refer, your Highness?" asked Chichikov, trembling from head to foot.

"Let me tell you," he said, "that the woman whom you induced to witness a certain will has been arrested,

"Your Highness," he gasped, "I will tell you the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I am guiltyyes, I am

"That any one can have led you away is impossible," retorted the Prince. "Recorded against your name there

stand more felonies than even the most hardened liar could have invented. I believe that never in your life

have you done a deed not innately dishonourablethat not a kopeck have you ever obtained by aught but

shameful methods of trickery and theft, the penalty for which is Siberia and the knut. But enough of this!

From this room you will be conveyed to prison, where, with other rogues and thieves, you will be confined

until your trial may come on. And this is lenient treatment on my part, for you are worse, far worse, than the

felons who will be your companions. THEY are but poor men in smocks and sheepskins, whereas YOU"

"Your Highness," cried Chichikov, "have mercy upon me! You are the father of a family! Spare me for the

"Rubbish!" exclaimed the Prince. "Even as before you besought me for the sake of a wife and children whom

"Your Highness," protested Chichikov, "though I am a wretch and the lowest of rascals, and though it is true

that I lied when I told you that I possessed a wife and children, I swear that, as God is my witness, it has

always been my DESIRE to possess a wife, and to fulfil all the duties of a man and a citizen, and to earn the

respect of my fellows and the authorities. But what could be done against the force of circumstances? By

hook or by crook I have ever been forced to win a living, though confronted at every step by wiles and

temptations and traitorous enemies and despoilers. So much has this been so that my life has, throughout,

resembled a barque tossed by tempestuous waves, a barque driven at the mercy of the winds. Ah, I am only a

And in a moment the tears had gushed in torrents from his eyes, and he had fallen forward at the Prince's

feetfallen forward just as he was, in his smokedgreyshotwithflamecolour frockcoat, his velvet

waistcoat, his satin tie, and his exquisitely fitting breeches, while from his neatly brushed pate, as again and

again he struck his hand against his forehead, there came an odorous whiff of bestquality eaudeCologne.

"Away with him!" exclaimed the Prince to the gendarme who had just entered. "Summon the escort to

"Your Highness!" Chichikov cried again as he clasped the Prince's knees; but, shuddering all over, and

struggling to free himself, the Prince repeated his order for the prisoner's removal.

"Your Highness, I say that I will not leave this room until you have accorded me mercy!" cried Chichikov as

he clung to the Prince's leg with such tenacity that, frockcoat and all, he began to be dragged along the floor.

"Away with him, I say!" once more the Prince exclaimed with the sort of indefinable aversion which one

feels at the sight of a repulsive insect which he cannot summon up the courage to crush with his boot. So

convulsively did the Prince shudder that Chichikov, clinging to his leg, received a kick on the nose. Yet still

the prisoner retained his hold; until at length a couple of burly gendarmes tore him away and, grasping his

arms, hurried himpale, dishevelled, and in that strange, halfconscious condition into which a man sinks

when he sees before him only the dark, terrible figure of death, the phantom which is so abhorrent to all our

naturesfrom the building. But on the threshold the party came face to face with Murazov, and in

Chichikov's heart the circumstance revived a ray of hope. Wresting himself with almost supernatural strength

from the grasp of the escorting gendarmes, he threw himself at the feet of the horrorstricken old man.

Yet almost as he spoke the gendarmes seized him again, and hurried him away so swiftly that Murazov's

A damp, mouldy cell which reeked of soldiers' boots and leggings, an unvarnished table, two sorry chairs, a

window closed with a grating, a crazy stove which, while letting the smoke emerge through its cracks, gave

out no heatsuch was the den to which the man who had just begun to taste the sweets of life, and to attract

the attention of his fellows with his new suit of smokedgreyshotwithflamecolour, now found himself

consigned. Not even necessaries had he been allowed to bring away with him, nor his dispatchbox which

contained all his booty. No, with the indenture deeds of the dead souls, it was lodged in the hands of a

tchinovnik; and as he thought of these things Chichikov rolled about the floor, and felt the cankerous worm

of remorse seize upon and gnaw at his heart, and bite its way ever further and further into that heart so

defenceless against its ravages, until he made up his mind that, should he have to suffer another twentyfour

hours of this misery, there would no longer be a Chichikov in the world. Yet over him, as over every one,

there hung poised the AllSaving Hand; and, an hour after his arrival at the prison, the doors of the gaol

Compared with poor Chichikov's sense of relief when the old man entered his cell, even the pleasure

experienced by a thirsty, dusty traveller when he is given a drink of clear spring water to cool his dry,

"Ah, my deliverer!" he cried as he rose from the floor, where he had been grovelling in heartrending

paroxysms of grief. Seizing the old man's hand, he kissed it and pressed it to his bosom. Then, bursting into

tears, he added: "God Himself will reward you for having come to visit an unfortunate wretch!"

Murazov looked at him sorrowfully, and said no more than "Ah, Paul Ivanovitch, Paul Ivanovitch! What has

"What has happened?" cried Chichikov. "I have been ruined by an accursed woman. That was because I

could not do things in moderationI was powerless to stop myself in time, Satan tempted me, and drove me

from my senses, and bereft me of human prudence. Yes, truly I have sinned, I have sinned! Yet how came I

so to sin? To think that a dvorianinyes, a dvorianinshould be thrown into prison without process or trial!

I repeat, a dvorianin! Why was I not given time to go home and collect my effects? Whereas now they are left

with no one to look after them! My dispatchbox, my dispatchbox! It contained my whole property, all that

my heart's blood and years of toil and want have been needed to acquire. And now everything will be stolen,

And, unable to stand against the torrent of grief which came rushing over his heart once more, he sobbed

aloud in tones which penetrated even the thickness of the prison walls, and made dull echoes awake behind

them. Then, tearing off his satin tie, and seizing by the collar, the smokedgreyshotwithflamecolour

"Ah, Paul Ivanovitch," said the old man, "how even now the property which you have acquired is blinding

"Yes, my good friend and benefactor," wailed poor Chichikov despairingly, and clasping Murazov by the

knees. "Yet save me if you can! The Prince is fond of you, and would do anything for your sake."

"No, Paul Ivanovitch; however much I might wish to save you, and however much I might try to do so, I

could not help you as you desire; for it is to the power of an inexorable law, and not to the authority of any

"Satan tempted me, and has ended by making of me an outcast from the human race!" Chichikov beat his

head against the wall and struck the table with his fist until the blood spurted from his hand. Yet neither his

"Calm yourself, Paul Ivanovitch," said Murazov. "Calm yourself, and consider how best you can make your

"I will, Athanasi Vassilievitch, I will. But what a fate is mine! Did ever such a fate befall a man? To think of

all the patience with which I have gathered my kopecks, of all the toil and trouble which I have endured! Yet

what I have done has not been done with the intention of robbing any one, nor of cheating the Treasury. Why,

then, did I gather those kopecks? I gathered them to the end that one day I might be able to live in plenty, and

also to have something to leave to the wife and children whom, for the benefit and welfare of my country, I

hoped eventually to win and maintain. That was why I gathered those kopecks. True, I worked by devious

methodsthat I fully admit; but what else could I do? And even devious methods I employed only when I

saw that the straight road would not serve my purpose so well as a crooked. Moreover, as I toiled, the appetite

for those methods grew upon me. Yet what I took I took only from the rich; whereas villains exist who, while

drawing thousands a year from the Treasury, despoil the poor, and take from the man with nothing even that

which he has. Is it not the cruelty of fate, therefore, that, just when I was beginning to reap the harvest of my

toilto touch it, so to speak, with the tip of one fingerthere should have arisen a sudden storm which has

sent my barque to pieces on a rock? My capital had nearly reached the sum of three hundred thousand

roubles, and a threestoried house was as good as mine, and twice over I could have bought a country estate.

Why, then, should such a tempest have burst upon me? Why should I have sustained such a blow? Was not

my life already like a barque tossed to and fro by the billows? Where is Heaven's justicewhere is the

reward for all my patience, for my boundless perseverance? Three times did I have to begin life afresh, and

each time that I lost my all I began with a single kopeck at a moment when other men would have given

themselves up to despair and drink. How much did I not have to overcome. How much did I not have to bear!

Every kopeck which I gained I had to make with my whole strength; for though, to others, wealth may come

easily, every coin of mine had to be 'forged with a nail worth three kopecks' as the proverb has it. With such a

Convulsively sobbing with a grief which he could not repress, Chichikov sank upon a chair, tore from his

shoulders the last ragged, trailing remnants of his frockcoat, and hurled them from him. Then, thrusting his

fingers into the hair which he had once been so careful to preserve, he pulled it out by handfuls at a time, as

though he hoped through physical pain to deaden the mental agony which he was suffering.

Meanwhile Murazov sat gazing in silence at the unwonted spectacle of a man who had lately been mincing

with the gait of a worldling or a military fop now writhing in dishevelment and despair as he poured out upon

the hostile forces by which human ingenuity so often finds itself outwitted a flood of invective.

"Paul Ivanovitch, Paul Ivanovitch," at length said Murazov, "what could not each of us rise to be did we but

devote to good ends the same measure of energy and of patience which we bestow upon unworthy objects!

How much good would not you yourself have effected! Yet I do not grieve so much for the fact that you have

sinned against your fellow as I grieve for the fact that you have sinned against yourself and the rich store of

gifts and opportunities which has been committed to your care. Though originally destined to rise, you have

"Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch," cried poor Chichikov, clasping his friends hands, "I swear to you that, if you

would but restore me my freedom, and recover for me my lost property, I would lead a different life from this

"How can I do that? So to do I should need to procure the setting aside of a law. Again, even if I were to

make the attempt, the Prince is a strict administrator, and would refuse on any consideration to release you."

"Yes, but for you all things are possible. It is not the law that troubles me: with that I could find a means to

deal. It is the fact that for no offence at all I have been cast into prison, and treated like a dog, and deprived of

"Paul Ivanovitch," said Murazov, shaking his head, "how that property of yours still seals your eyes and ears,

"Paul Ivanovitch," the old man began again, and then stopped. For a little while there was a pause.

"Paul Ivanovitch," at length he went on," to save you does not lie within my power. Surely you yourself see

that? But, so far as I can, I will endeavour to, at all events, lighten your lot and procure your eventual release.

Whether or not I shall succeed I do not know; but I will make the attempt. And should I, contrary to my

expectations, prove successful, I beg of you, in return for these my efforts, to renounce all thought of benefit

from the property which you have acquired. Sincerely do I assure you that, were I myself to be deprived of

my property (and my property greatly exceeds yours in magnitude), I should not shed a single tear. It is not

the property of which men can deprive us that matters, but the property of which no one on earth can deprive

or despoil us. You are a man who has seen something of lifeto use your own words, you have been a

barque tossed hither and thither by tempestuous waves: yet still will there be left to you a remnant of

substance on which to live, and therefore I beseech you to settle down in some quiet nook where there is a

church, and where none but plain, goodhearted folk abide. Or, should you feel a yearning to leave behind

you posterity, take in marriage a good woman who shall bring you, not money, but an aptitude for simple,

modest domestic life. But this lifethe life of turmoil, with its longings and its temptationsforget, and let

it forget YOU; for there is no peace in it. See for yourself how, at every step, it brings one but hatred and

"Indeed, yes!" agreed the repentant Chichikov. "Gladly will I do as you wish, since for many a day past have

I been longing to amend my life, and to engage in husbandry, and to reorder my affairs. A demon, the tempter

Suddenly there had recurred to Chichikov longunknown, longunfamiliar feelings. Something seemed to be

striving to come to life again in himsomething dim and remote, something which had been crushed out of

his boyhood by the dreary, deadening education of his youthful days, by his desolate home, by his subsequent

lack of family ties, by the poverty and niggardliness of his early impressions, by the grim eye of fatean eye

which had always seemed to be regarding him as through a misty, mournful, frostencrusted windowpane,

and to be mocking at his struggles for freedom. And as these feelings came back to the penitent a groan burst

from his lips, and, covering his face with his hands, he moaned: "It is all true, it is all true!"

"Of little avail are knowledge of the world and experience of men unless based upon a secure foundation,"

observed Murazov. "Though you have fallen, Paul Ivanovitch, awake to better things, for as yet there is

"No, no!" groaned Chichikov in a voice which made Murazov's heart bleed. "It is too late, too late. More and

more is the conviction gaining upon me that I am powerless, that I have strayed too far ever to be able to do

as you bid me. The fact that I have become what I am is due to my early schooling; for, though my father

taught me moral lessons, and beat me, and set me to copy maxims into a book, he himself stole land from his

neighbours, and forced me to help him. I have even known him to bring an unjust suit, and defraud the

orphan whose guardian he was! Consequently I know and feel that, though my life has been different from

his, I do not hate roguery as I ought to hate it, and that my nature is coarse, and that in me there is no real love

for what is good, no real spark of that beautiful instinct for welldoing which becomes a second nature, a

settled habit. Also, never do I yearn to strive for what is right as I yearn to acquire property. This is no more

"Paul Ivanovitch," he said, "I know that you possess willpower, and that you possess also perseverance. A

medicine may be bitter, yet the patient will gladly take it when assured that only by its means can he recover.

Therefore, if it really be that you have no genuine love for doing good, do good by FORCING yourself to do

so. Thus you will benefit yourself even more than you will benefit him for whose sake the act is performed.

Only force yourself to do good just once and again, and, behold, you will suddenly conceive the TRUE love

for welldoing. That is so, believe me. 'A kingdom is to be won only by striving,' says the proverb. That is to

say, things are to be attained only by putting forth one's whole strength, since nothing short of one's whole

strength will bring one to the desired goal. Paul Ivanovitch, within you there is a source of strength denied to

many another man. I refer to the strength of an iron perseverance. Cannot THAT help you to overcome? Most

men are weak and lack willpower, whereas I believe that you possess the power to act a hero's part."

Sinking deep into Chichikov's heart, these words would seem to have aroused in it a faint stirring of ambition,

so much so that, if it was not fortitude which shone in his eyes, at all events it was something virile, and of

"Athanasi Vassilievitch," he said firmly, "if you will but petition for my release, as well as for permission for

me to leave here with a portion of my property, I swear to you on my word of honour that I will begin a new

life, and buy a country estate, and become the head of a household, and save money, nor for myself, but for

others, and do good everywhere, and to the best of my ability, and forget alike myself and the feasting and

"In that resolve may God strengthen you!" cried the old man with unbounded joy. "And I, for my part, will do

my utmost to procure your release. And though God alone knows whether my efforts will be successful, at all

events I hope to bring about a mitigation of your sentence. Come, let me embrace you! How you have filled

And the next moment Chichikov found himself alone. His whole nature felt shaken and softened, even as,

when the bellows have fanned the furnace to a sufficient heat, a plate compounded even of the hardest and

"I myself can feel but little," he reflected, "but I intend to use my every faculty to help others to feel. I myself

am but bad and worthless, but I intend to do my utmost to set others on the right road. I myself am but an

indifferent Christian, but I intend to strive never to yield to temptation, but to work hard, and to till my land

with the sweat of my brow, and to engage only in honourable pursuits, and to influence my fellows in the

same direction. For, after all, am I so very useless? At least I could maintain a household, for I am frugal and

active and intelligent and steadfast. The only thing is to make up my mind to it."

Thus Chichikov pondered; and as he did so his halfawakened energies of soul touched upon something.

That is to say, dimly his instinct divined that every man has a duty to perform, and that that duty may be

performed here, there, and everywhere, and no matter what the circumstances and the emotions and the

difficulties which compass a man about. And with such clearness did Chichikov mentally picture to himself

the life of grateful toil which lies removed from the bustle of towns and the temptations which man, forgetful

of the obligation of labour, has invented to beguile an hour of idleness that almost our hero forgot his

unpleasant position, and even felt ready to thank Providence for the calamity which had befallen him,

provided that it should end in his being released, and in his receiving back a portion of his property.

Presently the massive door of the cell opened to admit a tchinovnik named Samosvitov, a robust, sensual

individual who was reputed by his comrades to be something of a rake. Had he served in the army, he would

have done wonders, for he would have stormed any point, however dangerous and inaccessible, and captured

cannon under the very noses of the foe; but, as it was, the lack of a more warlike field for his energies caused

him to devote the latter principally to dissipation. Nevertheless he enjoyed great popularity, for he was loyal

to the point that, once his word had been given, nothing would ever make him break it. At the same time,

some reason or another led him to regard his superiors in the light of a hostile battery which, come what

might, he must breach at any weak or unguarded spot or gap which might be capable of being utilised for the

"We have all heard of your plight," he began as soon as the door had been safely closed behind him. "Yes,

every one has heard of it. But never mind. Things will yet come right. We will do our very best for you, and

act as your humble servants in everything. Thirty thousand roubles is our priceno more."

"Thirty thousand roubles, to be divided among ourselves, the GovernorGeneral's staff, and the

"But how is even that to be managed, for all my effects, including my dispatchbox, will have been sealed up

"In an hour's time they will be within your hands again," said Samosvitov. "Shall we shake hands over the

"For the present, then, farewell," concluded Samosvitov. "I have instructed a certain mutual friend that the

Even when Samosvitov had departed the prisoner found it difficult to credit all that had been said. Yet not an

hour had elapsed before a messenger arrived with his dispatchbox and the papers and money therein

practically undisturbed and intact! Later it came out that Samosvitov had assumed complete authority in the

matter. First, he had rebuked the gendarmes guarding Chichikov's effects for lack of vigilance, and then sent

word to the Superintendent that additional men were required for the purpose; after which he had taken the

dispatchbox into his own charge, removed from it every paper which could possibly compromise

Chichikov, sealed up the rest in a packet, and ordered a gendarme to convey the whole to their owner on the

pretence of forwarding him sundry garments necessary for the night. In the result Chichikov received not

only his papers, but also some warm clothing for his hypersensitive limbs. Such a swift recovery of his

treasures delighted him beyond expression, and, gathering new hope, he began once more to dream of such

allurements as theatregoing and the ballet girl after whom he had for some time past been dangling.

Gradually did the country estate and the simple life begin to recede into the distance: gradually did the town

house and the life of gaiety begin to loom larger and larger in the foreground. Oh, life, life!

Meanwhile in Government offices and chancellories there had been set on foot a boundless volume of work.

Clerical pens slaved, and brains skilled in legal casus toiled; for each official had the artist's liking for the

curved line in preference to the straight. And all the while, like a hidden magician, Chichikov's lawyer

imparted driving power to that machine which caught up a man into its mechanism before he could even look

round. And the complexity of it increased and increased, for Samosvitov surpassed himself in importance and

daring. On learning of the place of confinement of the woman who had been arrested, he presented himself at

the doors, and passed so well for a smart young officer of gendarmery that the sentry saluted and sprang to

"Presently I shall want you, so I will instruct your officer to have you relieved at once."

Hastening home, thereafter, at top speed, and donning the uniform of a gendarme, with a false moustache and

a pair of false whiskersan ensemble in which the devil himself would not have known him, Samosvitov

then made for the gaol where Chichikov was confined, and, en route, impressed into the service the first street

woman whom he encountered, and handed her over to the care of two young fellows of like sort with himself.

The next step was to hurry back to the prison where the original woman had been interned, and there to

intimate to the sentry that he, Samosvitov (with whiskers and rifle complete), had been sent to relieve the said

sentry at his posta proceeding which, of course, enabled the newlyarrived relief to ensure, while

performing his selfassumed turn of duty, that for the woman lying under arrest there should be substituted

the woman recently recruited to the plot, and that the former should then be conveyed to a place of

Meanwhile, Samosvitov's feats in the military sphere were being rivalled by the wonders worked by

Chichikov's lawyer in the civilian field of action. As a first step, the lawyer caused it to be intimated to the

local Governor that the Public Prosecutor was engaged in drawing up a report to his, the local Governor's,

detriment; whereafter the lawyer caused it to be intimated also to the Chief of Gendarmery that a certain

confidential official was engaged in doing the same by HIM; whereafter, again, the lawyer confided to the

confidential official in question that, owing to the documentary exertions of an official of a still more

confidential nature than the first, he (the confidential official firstmentioned) was in a fair way to find

himself in the same boat as both the local Governor and the Chief of Gendarmery: with the result that the

whole trio were reduced to a frame of mind in which they were only too glad to turn to him (Samosvitov) for

advice. The ultimate and farcical upshot was that report came crowding upon report, and that such alleged

doings were brought to light as the sun had never before beheld. In fact, the documents in question employed

anything and everything as material, even to announcing that such and such an individual had an illegitimate

son, that such and such another kept a paid mistress, and that such and such a third was troubled with a

gadabout wife; whereby there became interwoven with and welded into Chichikov's past history and the story

of the dead souls such a crop of scandals and innuendoes that by no manner of means could any mortal

decide to which of these rubbishy romances to award the palm, since all them presented an equal claim to that

honour. Naturally, when, at length, the dossier reached the GovernorGeneral himself it simply flabbergasted

the poor man; and even the exceptionally clever and energetic secretary to whom he deputed the making of

an abstract of the same very nearly lost his reason with the strain of attempting to lay hold of the tangled end

of the skein. It happened that just at that time the Prince had several other important affairs on hand, and

affairs of a very unpleasant nature. That is to say, famine had made its appearance in one portion of the

province, and the tchinovniks sent to distribute food to the people had done their work badly; in another

portion of the province certain Raskolniki[2] were in a state of ferment, owing to the spreading of a report

than an Antichrist had arisen who would not even let the dead rest, but was purchasing them

wholesalewherefore the said Raskolniki were summoning folk to prayer and repentance, and, under cover

of capturing the Antichrist in question, were bludgeoning nonAntichrists in batches; lastly, the peasants of a

third portion of the province had risen against the local landowners and superintendents of police, for the

reason that certain rascals had started a rumour that the time was come when the peasants themselves were to

become landowners, and to wear frockcoats, while the landowners in being were about to revert to the

peasant state, and to take their own wares to market; wherefore one of the local volosts[3], oblivious of the

fact that an order of things of that kind would lead to a superfluity alike of landowners and of superintendents

of police, had refused to pay its taxes, and necessitated recourse to forcible measures. Hence it was in a mood

of the greatest possible despondency that the poor Prince was sitting plunged when word was brought to him

[2] Dissenters or Old Believers: i.e. members of the sect which refused to accept the revised version of the

"A fine fellow your Chichikov!" began the Prince angrily. "You defended him, and went bail for him, even

though he had been up to business which even the lowest thief would not have touched!"

"I am referring to the matter of the fraudulent will. The fellow ought to have been given a public flogging for

"Although to exculpate Chichikov is not my intention, might I ask you whether you do not think the case is

"What? We have as chief witness the woman who personated the deceased, and I will have her interrogated

"It is a most disgraceful affair," he went on; "and, ashamed though I am to have to say it, some of our leading

tchinovniks, including the local Governor himself, have become implicated in the matter. Yet you tell me that

this Chichikov ought not to be confined among thieves and rascals!" Clearly the GovernorGeneral's wrath

"Your Highness," said Murazov, "the Governor of the town is one of the heirs under the will: wherefore he

has a certain right to intervene. Also, the fact that extraneous persons have meddled in the matter is only what

is to be expected from human nature. A rich woman dies, and no exact, regular disposition of her property is

made. Hence there comes flocking from every side a cloud of fortune hunters. What else could one expect?

"Yes, but why should such persons go and commit fraud?" asked the Prince irritably. "I feel as though not a

single honest tchinovnik were availableas though every one of them were a rogue."

"Your Highness, which of us is altogether beyond reproach? The tchinovniks of our town are human beings,

and no more. Some of them are men of worth, and nearly all of them men skilled in businessthough also,

"Now, tell me this, Athanasi Vassilievitch," said the Prince, "for you are about the only honest man of my

"This," replied Murazov. "Take any man you like of the persons whom you thus term rascals. That man none

the less remains a human being. That being so, how can one refuse to defend him when all the time one

knows that half his errors have been committed through ignorance and stupidity? Each of us commits faults

with every step that we take; each of us entails unhappiness upon others with every breath that we drawand

that although we may have no evil intention whatever in our minds. Your Highness himself has, before now,

"_I_ have?" cried the Prince, taken aback by this unexpected turn given to the conversation.

Murazov remained silent for a moment, as though he were debating something in his thoughts. Then he said:

"Nevertheless it is as I say. You committed the injustice in the case of the lad Dierpiennikov."

"What, Athanasi Vassilievitch? The fellow had infringed one of the Fundamental Laws! He had been found

"I am not seeking to justify him; I am only asking you whether you think it right that an inexperienced youth

who had been tempted and led away by others should have received the same sentence as the man who had

taken the chief part in the affair. That is to say, although Dierpiennikov and the man VoronDrianni received

"If," exclaimed the Prince excitedly, "you know anything further concerning the case, for God's sake tell it

me at once. Only the other day did I forward a recommendation that St. Petersburg should remit a portion of

"Your Highness," replied Murazov, "I do not mean that I know of anything which does not lie also within

your own cognisance, though one circumstance there was which might have told in the lad's favour had he

not refused to admit it, lest another should suffer injury. All that I have in my mind is this. On that occasion

were you not a little overhasty in coming to a conclusion? You will understand, of course, that I am judging

only according to my own poor lights, and for the reason that on more than one occasion you have urged me

to be frank. In the days when I myself acted as a chief of gendarmery I came in contact with a great number

of accusedsome of them bad, some of them good; and in each case I found it well also to consider a man's

past career, for the reason that, unless one views things calmly, instead of at once decrying a man, he is apt to

take alarm, and to make it impossible thereafter to get any real confession from him. If, on the other hand,

you question a man as friend might question friend, the result will be that straightway he will tell you

everything, nor ask for mitigation of his penalty, nor bear you the least malice, in that he will understand that

The Prince relapsed into thought; until presently there entered a young tchinovnik. Portfolio in hand, this

official stood waiting respectfully. Care and hard work had already imprinted their insignia upon his fresh

young face; for evidently he had not been in the Service for nothing. As a matter of fact, his greatest joy was

"I will send corn to the localities where famine is worst," said Murazov, "for I understand that sort of work

better than do the tchinovniks, and will personally see to the needs of each person. Also, if you will allow me,

your Highness, I will go and have a talk with the Raskolniki. They are more likely to listen to a plain man

than to an official. God knows whether I shall succeed in calming them, but at least no tchinovnik could do

so, for officials of the kind merely draw up reports and lose their way among their own documentswith the

result that nothing comes of it. Nor will I accept from you any money for these purposes, since I am ashamed

to devote as much as a thought to my own pocket at a time when men are dying of hunger. I have a large

stock of grain lying in my granaries; in addition to which, I have sent orders to Siberia that a new

"Of a surety will God reward you for your services, Athanasi Vassilievitch! Not another word will I say to

you on the subject, for you yourself feel that any words from me would be inadequate. Yet tell me one thing:

I refer to the case of which you know. Have I the right to pass over the case? Also, would it be just and

"Your Highness, it is impossible to return a definite answer to those two questions: and the more so because

many rascals are at heart men of rectitude. Human problems are difficult things to solve. Sometimes a man

may be drawn into a vicious circle, so that, having once entered it, he ceases to be himself."

"But what would the tchinovniks say if I allowed the case to be passed over? Would not some of them turn up

their noses at me, and declare that they have effected my intimidation? Surely they would be the last persons

"Your Highness, I think this: that your best course would be to call them together, and to inform them that

you know everything, and to explain to them your personal attitude (exactly as you have explained it to me),

and to end by at once requesting their advice and asking them what each of them would have done had he

"What? You think that those tchinovniks would be so accessible to lofty motives that they would cease

"I think not, your Highness. Even the baser section of humanity possesses a certain sense of equity. Your

wisest plan, your Highness, would be to conceal nothing and to speak to them as you have just spoken to me.

If, at present, they imagine you to be ambitious and proud and unapproachable and selfassured, your action

would afford them an opportunity of seeing how the case really stands. Why should you hesitate? You would

but be exercising your undoubted right. Speak to them as though delivering not a message of your own, but a

"I will think it over," the Prince said musingly, "and meanwhile I thank you from my heart for your good

"Yes, I will do so. Tell him from me that he is to depart hence as quickly as possible, and that the further he

should remove himself, the better it will be for him. Also, tell him that it is only owing to your efforts that he

Murazov bowed, and proceeded from the Prince's presence to that of Chichikov. He found the prisoner

cheerfully enjoying a hearty dinner which, under hot covers, had been brought him from an exceedingly

excellent kitchen. But almost the first words which he uttered showed Murazov that the prisoner had been

having dealings with the army of bribetakers; as also that in those transactions his lawyer had played the

"Listen, Paul Ivanovitch," the old man said. "I bring you your freedom, but only on this conditionthat you

depart out of the town forthwith. Therefore gather together your effects, and waste not a moment, lest worse

befall you. Also, of all that a certain person has contrived to do on your behalf I am aware; wherefore let me

tell you, as between ourselves, that should the conspiracy come to light, nothing on earth can save him, and in

his fall he will involve others rather then be left unaccompanied in the lurch, and not see the guilt shared.

How is it that when I left you recently you were in a better frame of mind than you are now? I beg of you not

to trifle with the matter. Ah me! what boots that wealth for which men dispute and cut one another's throats?

Do they think that it is possible to prosper in this world without thinking of the world to come? Believe me

when I say that, until a man shall have renounced all that leads humanity to contend without giving a thought

to the ordering of spiritual wealth, he will never set his temporal goods either upon a satisfactory foundation.

Yes, even as times of want and scarcity may come upon nations, so may they come upon individuals. No

matter what may be said to the contrary, the body can never dispense with the soul. Why, then, will you not

try to walk in the right way, and, by thinking no longer of dead souls, but only of your only living one,

regain, with God's help, the better road? I too am leaving the town tomorrow. Hasten, therefore, lest, bereft

And the old man departed, leaving Chichikov plunged in thought. Once more had the gravity of life begun to

Leaving the prisona warder carrying his effects in his wakehe found Selifan and Petrushka overjoyed at

"True, true, Paul Ivanovitch," agreed Selifan. "And by this time the roads will have become firmer, for much

snow has fallen. Yes, high time is it that we were clear of the town. So weary of it am I that the sight of it

"Go to the coachbuilder's," commanded Chichikov, "and have sledgerunners fitted to the koliaska."

Chichikov then made his way into the townthough not with the object of paying farewell visits (in view of

recent events, that might have given rise to some awkwardness), but for the purpose of paying an unobtrusive

call at the shop where he had obtained the cloth for his latest suit. There he now purchased four more arshins

of the same smokedgreyshotwithflamecolour material as he had had before, with the intention of

having it made up by the tailor who had fashioned the previous costume; and by promising double

remuneration he induced the tailor in question so to hasten the cutting out of the garments that, through

sitting up all night over the work, the man might have the whole ready by break of day. True, the goods were

delivered a trifle after the appointed hour, yet the following morning saw the coat and breeches completed;

and while the horses were being put to, Chichikov tried on the clothes, and found them equal to the previous

creation, even though during the process he caught sight of a bald patch on his head, and was led mournfully

to reflect: "Alas! Why did I give way to such despair? Surely I need not have torn my hair out so freely?"

Then, when the tailor had been paid, our hero left the town. But no longer was he the old Chichikovhe was

only a ruin of what he had been, and his frame of mind might have been compared to a building recently

pulled down to make room for a new one, while the new one had not yet been erected owing to the

nonreceipt of the plans from the architect. Murazov, too, had departed, but at an earlier hour, and in a

An hour later the GovernorGeneral issued to all and sundry officials a notice that, on the occasion of his

departure for St. Petersburg, he would be glad to see the corps of tchinovniks at a private meeting.

Accordingly all ranks and grades of officialdom repaired to his residence, and there awaitednot without a

certain measure of trepidation and of searching of heartthe GovernorGeneral's entry. When that took

place he looked neither clear nor dull. Yet his bearing was proud, and his step assured. The tchinovniks

bowedsome of them to the waist, and he answered their salutations with a slight inclination of the head.

"Since I am about to pay a visit to St. Petersburg, I have thought it right to meet you, and to explain to you

privately my reasons for doing so. An affair of a most scandalous character has taken place in our midst. To

what affair I am referring I think most of those present will guess. Now, an automatic process has led to that

affair bringing about the discovery of other matters. Those matters are no less dishonourable than the primary

one; and to that I regret to have to add that there stand involved in them certain persons whom I had hitherto

believed to be honourable. Of the object aimed at by those who have complicated matters to the point of

making their resolution almost impossible by ordinary methods I am aware; as also I am aware of the identity

of the ringleader, despite the skill with which he has sought to conceal his share in the scandal. But the

principal point is, that I propose to decide these matters, not by formal documentary process, but by the more

summary process of courtmartial, and that I hope, when the circumstances have been laid before his

Imperial Majesty, to receive from him authority to adopt the course which I have mentioned. For I conceive

that when it has become impossible to resolve a case by civil means, and some of the necessary documents

have been burnt, and attempts have been made (both through the adduction of an excess of false and

extraneous evidence and through the framing of fictitious reports) to cloud an already sufficiently obscure

investigation with an added measure of complexity,when all these circumstances have arisen, I conceive

that the only possible tribunal to deal with them is a military tribunal. But on that point I should like your

The Prince paused for a moment or two, as though awaiting a reply; but none came, seeing that every man

had his eyes bent upon the floor, and many of the audience had turned white in the face.

"Then," he went on, "I may say that I am aware also of a matter which those who have carried it through

believe to lie only within the cognisance of themselves. The particulars of that matter will not be set forth in

documentary form, but only through process of myself acting as plaintiff and petitioner, and producing none

Among the throng of tchinovniks some one gave a start, and thereby caused others of the more apprehensive

"Without saying does it go that the prime conspirators ought to undergo deprivation of rank and property, and

that the remainder ought to be dismissed from their posts; for though that course would cause a certain

proportion of the innocent to suffer with the guilty, there would seem to be no other course available, seeing

that the affair is one of the most disgraceful nature, and calls aloud for justice. Therefore, although I know

that to some my action will fail to serve as a lesson, since it will lead to their succeeding to the posts of

dismissed officials, as well as that others hitherto considered honourable will lose their reputation, and others

entrusted with new responsibilities will continue to cheat and betray their trust,although all this is known

to me, I still have no choice but to satisfy the claims of justice by proceeding to take stern measures. I am also

aware that I shall be accused of undue severity; but, lastly, I am aware that it is my duty to put aside all

personal feeling, and to act as the unconscious instrument of that retribution which justice demands."

Over ever face there passed a shudder. Yet the Prince had spoken calmly, and not a trace of anger or any

"Nevertheless," he went on, "the very man in whose hands the fate of so many now lies, the very man whom

no prayer for mercy could ever have influenced, himself desires to make a request of you. Should you grant

that request, all will be forgotten and blotted out and pardoned, for I myself will intercede with the Throne on

your behalf. That request is this. I know that by no manner of means, by no preventive measures, and by no

penalties will dishonesty ever be completely extirpated from our midst, for the reason that its roots have

struck too deep, and that the dishonourable traffic in bribes has become a necessity to, even the mainstay of,

some whose nature is not innately venal. Also, I know that, to many men, it is an impossibility to swim

against the stream. Yet now, at this solemn and critical juncture, when the country is calling aloud for

saviours, and it is the duty of every citizen to contribute and to sacrifice his all, I feel that I cannot but issue

an appeal to every man in whom a Russian heart and a spark of what we understand by the word 'nobility'

exist. For, after all, which of us is more guilty than his fellow? It may be to ME the greatest culpability

should be assigned, in that at first I may have adopted towards you too reserved an attitude, that I may have

been overhasty in repelling those who desired but to serve me, even though of their services I did not

actually stand in need. Yet, had they really loved justice and the good of their country, I think that they would

have been less prone to take offence at the coldness of my attitude, but would have sacrificed their feelings

and their personality to their superior convictions. For hardly can it be that I failed to note their overtures and

the loftiness of their motives, or that I would not have accepted any wise and useful advice proffered. At the

same time, it is for a subordinate to adapt himself to the tone of his superior, rather than for a superior to

adapt himself to the tone of his subordinate. Such a course is at once more regular and more smooth of

working, since a corps of subordinates has but one director, whereas a director may have a hundred

subordinates. But let us put aside the question of comparative culpability. The important point is, that before

us all lies the duty of rescuing our fatherland. Our fatherland is suffering, not from the incursion of a score of

alien tongues, but from our own acts, in that, in addition to the lawful administration, there has grown up a

second administration possessed of infinitely greater powers than the system established by law. And that

second administration has established its conditions, fixed its tariff of prices, and published that tariff abroad;

nor could any ruler, even though the wisest of legislators and administrators, do more to correct the evil than

limit it in the conduct of his more venal tchinovniks by setting over them, as their supervisors, men of

superior rectitude. No, until each of us shall come to feel that, just as arms were taken up during the period of

the upheaval of nations, so now each of us must make a stand against dishonesty, all remedies will end in

failure. As a Russian, thereforeas one bound to you by consanguinity and identity of bloodI make to you

my appeal. I make it to those of you who understand wherein lies nobility of thought. I invite those men to

remember the duty which confronts us, whatsoever our respective stations; I invite them to observe more

closely their duty, and to keep more constantly in mind their obligations of holding true to their country, in