DEAD SOULS

By Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

Translated by D. J. Hogarth

Introduction By John Cournos

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, born at Sorochintsky, Russia, on 31stMarch 1809. Obtained government post at St. Petersburg and later anappointment at the university. Lived in Rome from 1836 to 1848. Died on21st February 1852. 

PREPARER'S NOTE

The book this was typed from contains a complete Part I, and a partialPart II, as it seems only part of Part II survived the adventuresdescribed in the introduction. Where the text notes that pages aremissing from the "original", this refers to the Russian original, notthe translation. 

All the foreign words were italicised in the original, a style notpreserved here. Accents and diphthongs have also been left out. 

INTRODUCTION

Dead Souls, first published in 1842, is the great prose classic ofRussia. That amazing institution, "the Russian novel, " not only beganits career with this unfinished masterpiece by Nikolai Vasil'evichGogol, but practically all the Russian masterpieces that have come sincehave grown out of it, like the limbs of a single tree. Dostoieffskygoes so far as to bestow this tribute upon an earlier work by the sameauthor, a short story entitled The Cloak; this idea has been wittilyexpressed by another compatriot, who says: "We have all issued out ofGogol's Cloak. "

Dead Souls, which bears the word "Poem" upon the title page of theoriginal, has been generally compared to Don Quixote and to the PickwickPapers, while E. M. Vogue places its author somewhere between Cervantesand Le Sage. However considerable the influences of Cervantes andDickens may have been--the first in the matter of structure, the otherin background, humour, and detail of characterisation--the predominatingand distinguishing quality of the work is undeniably something foreignto both and quite peculiar to itself; something which, for want ofa better term, might be called the quality of the Russian soul. TheEnglish reader familiar with the works of Dostoieffsky, Turgenev, andTolstoi, need hardly be told what this implies; it might be defined inthe words of the French critic just named as "a tendency to pity. " Onemight indeed go further and say that it implies a certain tolerance ofone's characters even though they be, in the conventional sense, knaves, products, as the case might be, of conditions or circumstance, whichafter all is the thing to be criticised and not the man. But pity andtolerance are rare in satire, even in clash with it, producing in theresult a deep sense of tragic humour. It is this that makes of DeadSouls a unique work, peculiarly Gogolian, peculiarly Russian, anddistinct from its author's Spanish and English masters. 

Still more profound are the contradictions to be seen in the author'spersonal character; and unfortunately they prevented him from completinghis work. The trouble is that he made his art out of life, and when inhis final years he carried his struggle, as Tolstoi did later, back intolife, he repented of all he had written, and in the frenzy of a wakefulnight burned all his manuscripts, including the second part of DeadSouls, only fragments of which were saved. There was yet a third part tobe 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 perfectionare among the reasons given. Again it is said that he had destroyed themanuscript with the others inadvertently. 

The poet Pushkin, who said of Gogol that "behind his laughter you feelthe unseen tears, " was his chief friend and inspirer. It was he whosuggested the plot of Dead Souls as well as the plot of the earlier workThe Revisor, which is almost the only comedy in Russian. The importanceof both is their introduction of the social element in Russianliterature, as Prince Kropotkin points out. Both hold up the mirrorto Russian officialdom and the effects it has produced on the nationalcharacter. The plot of Dead Souls is simple enough, and is said to havebeen suggested by an actual episode. 

It was the day of serfdom in Russia, and a man's standing was oftenjudged by the numbers of "souls" he possessed. There was a periodicalcensus of serfs, say once every ten or twenty years. This being thecase, an owner had to pay a tax on every "soul" registered at thelast census, though some of the serfs might have died in the meantime. Nevertheless, the system had its material advantages, inasmuch as anowner might borrow money from a bank on the "dead souls" no less thanon the living ones. The plan of Chichikov, Gogol's hero-villain, wastherefore 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 tomortgage to a bank for a considerable sum. With this money he would buyan estate and some real life serfs, and make the beginning of a fortune. 

Obviously, this plot, which is really no plot at all but merely a ruseto enable Chichikov to go across Russia in a troika, with Selifan thecoachman as a sort of Russian Sancho Panza, gives Gogol a magnificentopportunity to reveal his genius as a painter of Russian panorama, peopled with characteristic native types commonplace enough but drawn incomic relief. "The comic, " explained the author yet at the beginning ofhis career, "is hidden everywhere, only living in the midst of it we arenot conscious of it; but if the artist brings it into his art, on thestage say, we shall roll about with laughter and only wonder we did notnotice it before. " But the comic in Dead Souls is merely external. Letus see how Pushkin, who loved to laugh, regarded the work. As Gogol readit aloud to him from the manuscript the poet grew more and more gloomyand at last cried out: "God! What a sad country Russia is!" And later hesaid of it: "Gogol invents nothing; it is the simple truth, the terribletruth. "

The work on one hand was received as nothing less than an exposure ofall Russia--what 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 toRussia and not to heap ridicule upon her, took the criticisms of theSlavophiles to heart; and he palliated his critics by promising to bringabout in the succeeding parts of his novel the redemption of Chichikovand the other "knaves and blockheads. " But the "Westerner" Belinskyand others of the liberal camp were mistrustful. It was about this time(1847) that Gogol published his Correspondence with Friends, and arouseda literary controversy that is alive to this day. Tolstoi is to be foundamong his apologists. 

Opinions as to the actual significance of Gogol's masterpiece differ. Some consider the author a realist who has drawn with meticulous detaila picture of Russia; others, Merejkovsky among them, see in him a greatsymbolist; the very title Dead Souls is taken to describe the living ofRussia as well as its dead. Chichikov himself is now generally regardedas a universal character. We find an American professor, William LyonPhelps [1], of Yale, holding the opinion that "no one can travel far inAmerica without meeting scores of Chichikovs; indeed, he is an accurateportrait of the American promoter, of the successful commercialtraveller whose success depends entirely not on the real value andusefulness of his stock-in-trade, but on his knowledge of human natureand of the persuasive power of his tongue. " This is also the opinionheld by Prince Kropotkin [2], who says: "Chichikov may buy deadsouls, or railway shares, or he may collect funds for some charitableinstitution, or look for a position in a bank, but he is an immortalinternational type; we meet him everywhere; he is of all lands and ofall times; he but takes different forms to suit the requirements ofnationality and time. "

Again, the work bears an interesting relation to Gogol himself. Aromantic, writing of realities, he was appalled at the commonplacesof life, at finding no outlet for his love of colour derived from hisCossack ancestry. He realised that he had drawn a host of "heroes, " "onemore commonplace than another, that there was not a single palliatingcircumstance, that there was not a single place where the reader mightfind pause to rest and to console himself, and that when he had finishedthe book it was as though he had walked out of an oppressive cellarinto the open air. " He felt perhaps inward need to redeem Chichikov;in Merejkovsky's opinion he really wanted to save his own soul, buthad succeeded only in losing it. His last years were spent morbidly;he suffered torments and ran from place to place like one hunted; butreally always running from himself. Rome was his favourite refuge, andhe returned to it again and again. In 1848, he made a pilgrimage to theHoly Land, but he could find no peace for his soul. Something of thismood had reflected itself even much earlier in the Memoirs of a Madman:"Oh, little mother, save your poor son! Look how they are tormentinghim. .. . There's no place for him on earth! He's being driven!. .. Oh, little mother, take pity on thy poor child. "

All the contradictions of Gogol's character are not to be disposed ofin a brief essay. Such a strange combination of the tragic and the comicwas truly seldom seen in one man. He, for one, realised that "it isdangerous to jest with laughter. " "Everything that I laughed at becamesad. " "And terrible, " adds Merejkovsky. But earlier his humour waslighter, less tinged with the tragic; in those days Pushkin never failedto be amused by what Gogol had brought to read to him. Even Revizor(1835), with its tragic undercurrent, was a trifle compared to DeadSouls, 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 acriticism of official rottenness, but laughed uproariously, and led theapplause. Moreover, he gave Gogol a grant of money, and asked that itssource should not be revealed to the author lest "he might feel obligedto write from the official point of view. "

Gogol was born at Sorotchinetz, Little Russia, in March 1809. He leftcollege at nineteen and went to St. Petersburg, where he secured aposition as copying clerk in a government department. He did not keephis position long, yet long enough to store away in his mind a number ofbureaucratic types which proved useful later. He quite suddenly startedfor 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 tobecome an actor, but his voice proved not strong enough. Later he wrotea poem which was unkindly received. As the copies remained unsold, hegathered them all up at the various shops and burned them in his room. 

His next effort, Evenings at the Farm of Dikanka (1831) was moresuccessful. It was a series of gay and colourful pictures of Ukraine, the land he knew and loved, and if he is occasionally a little overromantic here and there, he also achieves some beautifully lyricalpassages. Then came another even finer series called Mirgorod, which wonthe 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 ornine volumes. The result of all this study was a beautiful and shortHomeric epic in prose, called Taras Bulba. His appointment to aprofessorship in history was a ridiculous episode in his life. After abrilliant first lecture, in which he had evidently said all he had tosay, he settled to a life of boredom for himself and his pupils. When heresigned he said joyously: "I am once more a free Cossack. " Between1834 and 1835 he produced a new series of stories, including his famousCloak, which may be regarded as the legitimate beginning of the Russiannovel. 

Gogol knew little about women, who played an equally minor role inhis life and in his books. This may be partly because his personalappearance was not prepossessing. He is described by a contemporary as"a little man with legs too short for his body. He walked crookedly; hewas clumsy, ill-dressed, and rather ridiculous-looking, with his longlock of hair flapping on his forehead, and his large prominent nose. "

From 1835 Gogol spent almost his entire time abroad; some strangeunrest--possibly his Cossack blood--possessed him like a demon, andhe never stopped anywhere very long. After his pilgrimage in 1848 toJerusalem, he returned to Moscow, his entire possessions in a littlebag; these consisted of pamphlets, critiques, and newspaper articlesmostly inimical to himself. He wandered about with these from house tohouse. Everything he had of value he gave away to the poor. He ceasedwork entirely. According to all accounts he spent his last days inpraying 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 spiritualladder, " in the words of Merejkovsky--had been made on an earlieroccasion by a certain Russian saint, who used almost the same language. "I shall laugh my bitter laugh" [3] was the inscription placed onGogol's grave. 

 JOHN COURNOS

Evenings on the Farm near the Dikanka, 1829-31; Mirgorod, 1831-33; TarasBulba, 1834; Arabesques (includes tales, The Portrait and A Madman'sDiary), 1831-35; The Cloak, 1835; The Revizor (The Inspector-General), 1836; Dead Souls, 1842; Correspondence with Friends, 1847. 

ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS: Cossack Tales (The Night of Christmas Eve, TarassBoolba), trans. By G. Tolstoy, 1860; St. John's Eve and Other Stories, trans. By Isabel F. Hapgood, New York, Crowell, 1886; Taras Bulba: AlsoSt. John's Eve and Other Stories, London, Vizetelly, 1887; Taras Bulba, trans. By B. C. Baskerville, London, Scott, 1907; The Inspector: aComedy, Calcutta, 1890; The Inspector-General, trans. By A. A. Sykes, London, Scott, 1892; Revizor, trans. For the Yale Dramatic Associationby Max S. Mandell, New Haven, Conn. , 1908; Home Life in Russia(adaptation of Dead Souls), London, Hurst, 1854; Tchitchikoff'sJourney'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 L. Alexeieff, London, A. R. Mowbray and Co. , 1913. 

LIVES, etc. : (Russian) Kotlyarevsky (N. A. ), 1903; Shenrok (V. I. ), Materials for a Biography, 1892; (French) Leger (L. ), Nicholas Gogol, 1914. 

AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE FIRST PORTION OF THIS WORK

Second Edition published in 1846

From the Author to the Reader

Reader, whosoever or wheresoever you be, and whatsoever be yourstation--whether that of a member of the higher ranks of society or thatof a member of the plainer walks of life--I beg of you, if God shallhave given you any skill in letters, and my book shall fall into yourhands, to extend to me your assistance. 

For in the book which lies before you, and which, probably, you haveread in its first edition, there is portrayed a man who is a type takenfrom our Russian Empire. This man travels about the Russian land andmeets with folk of every condition--from the nobly-born to the humbletoiler. Him I have taken as a type to show forth the vices and thefailings, rather than the merits and the virtues, of the commonplaceRussian individual; and the characters which revolve around him havealso been selected for the purpose of demonstrating our nationalweaknesses and shortcomings. As for men and women of the better sort, Ipropose to portray them in subsequent volumes. Probably much of what Ihave described is improbable and does not happen as things customarilyhappen in Russia; and the reason for that is that for me to learn allthat I have wished to do has been impossible, in that human life is notsufficiently long to become acquainted with even a hundredth partof what takes place within the borders of the Russian Empire. Also, carelessness, inexperience, and lack of time have led to my perpetratingnumerous errors and inaccuracies of detail; with the result that inevery 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, andhowever lofty your station, and however insignificant, in your eyes, my book, and however trifling the apparent labour of correcting andcommenting upon that book, I implore you to do as I have said. And youtoo, O reader of lowly education and simple status, I beseech you not tolook upon yourself as too ignorant to be able in some fashion, howeversmall, to help me. Every man who has lived in the world and mixed withhis fellow men will have remarked something which has remained hiddenfrom the eyes of others; and therefore I beg of you not to deprive meof your comments, seeing that it cannot be that, should you read my bookwith attention, you will have NOTHING to say at some point therein. 

For example, how excellent it would be if some reader who issufficiently rich in experience and the knowledge of life to beacquainted with the sort of characters which I have described hereinwould annotate in detail the book, without missing a single page, andundertake to read it precisely as though, laying pen and paper beforehim, he were first to peruse a few pages of the work, and then to recallhis 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 fromothers, and to proceed to annotate, in so far as may tally with his ownexperience or otherwise, what is set forth in the book, and to jot downthe whole exactly as it stands pictured to his memory, and, lastly, tosend me the jottings as they may issue from his pen, and to continuedoing so until he has covered the entire work! Yes, he would indeed dome a vital service! Of style or beauty of expression he would needto take no account, for the value of a book lies in its truth and itsactuality rather than in its wording. Nor would he need to consider myfeelings if at any point he should feel minded to blame or to upbraidme, or to demonstrate the harm rather than the good which has beendone through any lack of thought or verisimilitude of which I havebeen guilty. In short, for anything and for everything in the way ofcriticism I should be thankful. 

Also, it would be an excellent thing if some reader in the higher walksof 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 knowsthe life of the circle in which he himself revolves, would undertake toread my work in similar fashion, and methodically to recall to his mindany members of superior social classes whom he has met, and carefully toobserve whether there exists any resemblance between one such class andanother, and whether, at times, there may not be repeated in a highersphere what is done in a lower, and likewise to note any additional factin the same connection which may occur to him (that is to say, any factpertaining to the higher ranks of society which would seem to confirm orto disprove his conclusions), and, lastly, to record that fact as it mayhave occurred within his own experience, while giving full details ofpersons (of individual manners, tendencies, and customs) and also ofinanimate surroundings (of dress, furniture, fittings of houses, and soforth). For I need knowledge of the classes in question, which are theflower of our people. In fact, this very reason--the reason that I donot yet know Russian life in all its aspects, and in the degree towhich it is necessary for me to know it in order to become a successfulauthor--is what has, until now, prevented me from publishing anysubsequent volumes of this story. 

Again, it would be an excellent thing if some one who is endowed withthe faculty of imagining and vividly picturing to himself the varioussituations wherein a character may be placed, and of mentally followingup a character's career in one field and another--by this I mean someone who possesses the power of entering into and developing the ideasof the author whose work he may be reading--would scan each characterherein portrayed, and tell me how each character ought to have actedat a given juncture, and what, to judge from the beginnings of eachcharacter, ought to have become of that character later, and what newcircumstances might be devised in connection therewith, and what newdetails might advantageously be added to those already described. Honestly can I say that to consider these points against the time when anew edition of my book may be published in a different and a better formwould give me the greatest possible pleasure. 

One thing in particular would I ask of any reader who may be willing togive me the benefit of his advice. That is to say, I would beg of himto suppose, while recording his remarks, that it is for the benefit ofa man in no way his equal in education, or similar to him in tastes andideas, or capable of apprehending criticisms without full explanationappended, that he is doing so. Rather would I ask such a reader tosuppose that before him there stands a man of incomparably inferiorenlightenment and schooling--a rude country bumpkin whose life, throughout, has been passed in retirement--a bumpkin to whom it isnecessary to explain each circumstance in detail, while never forgettingto be as simple of speech as though he were a child, and at every stepthere were a danger of employing terms beyond his understanding. Shouldthese precautions be kept constantly in view by any reader undertakingto annotate my book, that reader's remarks will exceed in weightand interest even his own expectations, and will bring me very realadvantage. 

Thus, provided that my earnest request be heeded by my readers, andthat among them there be found a few kind spirits to do as I desire, thefollowing is the manner in which I would request them to transmit theirnotes for my consideration. Inscribing the package with my name, letthem then enclose that package in a second one addressed either to theRector of the University of St. Petersburg or to Professor Shevirev ofthe University of Moscow, according as the one or the other of those twocities may be the nearer to the sender. 

Lastly, while thanking all journalists and litterateurs for theirpreviously published criticisms of my book--criticisms which, in spiteof a spice of that intemperance and prejudice which is common to allhumanity, have proved of the greatest use both to my head and to myheart--I beg of such writers again to favour me with their reviews. Forin all sincerity I can assure them that whatsoever they may be pleasedto say for my improvement and my instruction will be received by me withnaught but gratitude. 

DEAD SOULS

PART I

CHAPTER I

To the door of an inn in the provincial town of N. There drew up a smartbritchka--a light spring-carriage of the sort affected by bachelors, retired lieutenant-colonels, staff-captains, land-owners possessed ofabout a hundred souls, and, in short, all persons who rank as gentlemenof the intermediate category. In the britchka was seated such agentleman--a man who, though not handsome, was not ill-favoured, notover-fat, and not over-thin. Also, though not over-elderly, he wasnot over-young. His arrival produced no stir in the town, and wasaccompanied by no particular incident, beyond that a couple of peasantswho happened to be standing at the door of a dramshop exchanged a fewcomments with reference to the equipage rather than to the individualwho was seated in it. "Look at that carriage, " one of them said to theother. "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 asKazan. " With that the conversation ended. Presently, as the britchka wasapproaching the inn, it was met by a young man in a pair of very short, very tight breeches of white dimity, a quasi-fashionable frockcoat, anda dickey fastened with a pistol-shaped bronze tie-pin. The young manturned 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 beingremoved by the wind) and resumed his way. On the vehicle reaching theinn door, its occupant found standing there to welcome him the polevoi, or waiter, of the establishment--an individual of such nimble andbrisk movement that even to distinguish the character of his face wasimpossible. Running out with a napkin in one hand and his lanky formclad in a tailcoat, reaching almost to the nape of his neck, he tossedback his locks, and escorted the gentleman upstairs, along a woodengallery, and so to the bedchamber which God had prepared for thegentleman's reception. The said bedchamber was of quite ordinaryappearance, since the inn belonged to the species to be found in allprovincial towns--the species wherein, for two roubles a day, travellersmay obtain a room swarming with black-beetles, and communicating by adoorway with the apartment adjoining. True, the doorway may be blockedup with a wardrobe; yet behind it, in all probability, there will bestanding a silent, motionless neighbour whose ears are burning to learnevery possible detail concerning the latest arrival. The inn's exteriorcorresponded with its interior. Long, and consisting only of twostoreys, the building had its lower half destitute of stucco; with theresult that the dark-red bricks, originally more or less dingy, hadgrown yet dingier under the influence of atmospheric changes. As for theupper half of the building, it was, of course, painted the usual tintof unfading yellow. Within, on the ground floor, there stood a numberof benches heaped with horse-collars, rope, and sheepskins; while thewindow-seat accommodated a sbitentshik [4], cheek by jowl with a samovar[5]--the latter so closely resembling the former in appearance that, butfor the fact of the samovar possessing a pitch-black lip, the samovarand the sbitentshik might have been two of a pair. 

During the traveller's inspection of his room his luggage was broughtinto the apartment. First came a portmanteau of white leather whoseraggedness indicated that the receptacle had made several previousjourneys. The bearers of the same were the gentleman's coachman, Selifan (a little man in a large overcoat), and the gentleman'svalet, Petrushka--the latter a fellow of about thirty, clad in a worn, over-ample jacket which formerly had graced his master's shoulders, andpossessed of a nose and a pair of lips whose coarseness communicated tohis face rather a sullen expression. Behind the portmanteau came asmall dispatch-box of redwood, lined with birch bark, a boot-case, and (wrapped in blue paper) a roast fowl; all of which having beendeposited, the coachman departed to look after his horses, and the valetto establish himself in the little dark anteroom or kennel where alreadyhe had stored a cloak, a bagful of livery, and his own peculiar smell. Pressing the narrow bedstead back against the wall, he covered it withthe tiny remnant of mattress--a remnant as thin and flat (perhaps alsoas greasy) as a pancake--which he had managed to beg of the landlord ofthe establishment. 

While the attendants had been thus setting things straight the gentlemanhad repaired to the common parlour. The appearance of common parlours ofthe kind is known to every one who travels. Always they have varnishedwalls which, grown black in their upper portions with tobacco smoke, are, in their lower, grown shiny with the friction of customers'backs--more especially with that of the backs of such local tradesmenas, on market-days, make it their regular practice to resort tothe local hostelry for a glass of tea. Also, parlours of this kindinvariably contain smutty ceilings, an equally smutty chandelier, anumber of pendent shades which jump and rattle whenever the waiterscurries across the shabby oilcloth with a trayful of glasses (theglasses looking like a flock of birds roosting by the seashore), and aselection of oil paintings. In short, there are certain objects whichone sees in every inn. In the present case the only outstanding featureof the room was the fact that in one of the paintings a nymph wasportrayed as possessing breasts of a size such as the reader can neverin his life have beheld. A similar caricaturing of nature is to be notedin the historical pictures (of unknown origin, period, and creation)which reach us--sometimes through the instrumentality of Russianmagnates who profess to be connoisseurs of art--from Italy; owing tothe said magnates having made such purchases solely on the advice of thecouriers who have escorted them. 

To resume, however--our traveller removed his cap, and divested his neckof a parti-coloured woollen scarf of the kind which a wife makes forher husband with her own hands, while accompanying the gift withinterminable injunctions as to how best such a garment ought to befolded. 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 ordereddinner, and whilst the various dishes were being got ready--cabbagesoup, a pie several weeks old, a dish of marrow and peas, a dish ofsausages and cabbage, a roast fowl, some salted cucumber, and the sweettart which stands perpetually ready for use in such establishments;whilst, I say, these things were either being warmed up or brought incold, the gentleman induced the waiter to retail certain fragments oftittle-tattle concerning the late landlord of the hostelry, the amountof income which the hostelry produced, and the character of its presentproprietor. To the last-mentioned inquiry the waiter returned the answerinvariably given in such cases--namely, "My master is a terribly hardman, sir. " Curious that in enlightened Russia so many people cannot eventake a meal at an inn without chattering to the attendant and makingfree with him! Nevertheless not ALL the questions which the gentlemanasked 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 anair of detachment) the most exact particulars concerning the landownersof the neighbourhood. Which of them, he inquired, possessed serfs, andhow 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 ofpaying frequent visits to the town? The gentleman also made searchinginquiries concerning the hygienic condition of the countryside. Wasthere, he asked, much sickness about--whether sporadic fever, fatalforms of ague, smallpox, or what not? Yet, though his solicitudeconcerning these matters showed more than ordinary curiosity, hisbearing retained its gravity unimpaired, and from time to time heblew his nose with portentous fervour. Indeed, the manner in which heaccomplished this latter feat was marvellous in the extreme, for, thoughthat member emitted sounds equal to those of a trumpet in intensity, he could yet, with his accompanying air of guileless dignity, evoke thewaiter's undivided respect--so much so that, whenever the sounds ofthe nose reached that menial's ears, he would shake back his locks, straighten himself into a posture of marked solicitude, and inquireafresh, with head slightly inclined, whether the gentleman happenedto require anything further. After dinner the guest consumed a cup ofcoffee, and then, seating himself upon the sofa, with, behind him, one of those wool-covered 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 himselfto 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 ofpaper with his name, his surname, and his rank (for communication, inaccordance with the law, to the police): and on that paper the waiter, leaning forward from the corridor, read, syllable by syllable: "PaulIvanovitch Chichikov, Collegiate Councillor--Landowner--Travellingon Private Affairs. " The waiter had just time to accomplish thisfeat before Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov set forth to inspect the town. Apparently the place succeeded in satisfying him, and, to tell thetruth, it was at least up to the usual standard of our provincialcapitals. Where the staring yellow of stone edifices did not greet hiseye he found himself confronted with the more modest grey of woodenones; which, consisting, for the most part, of one or two storeys (addedto the range of attics which provincial architects love so well), lookedalmost lost amid the expanses of street and intervening medleys ofbroken or half-finished partition-walls. At other points evidence ofmore life and movement was to be seen, and here the houses stood crowdedtogether and displayed dilapidated, rain-blurred signboards whereonboots of cakes or pairs of blue breeches inscribed "Arshavski, Tailor, "and so forth, were depicted. Over a shop containing hats and capswas written "Vassili Thedorov, Foreigner"; while, at another spot, asignboard portrayed a billiard table and two players--the latter cladin frockcoats of the kind usually affected by actors whose part it isto enter the stage during the closing act of a piece, even though, witharms sharply crooked and legs slightly bent, the said billiard playerswere taking the most careful aim, but succeeding only in making abortivestrokes in the air. Each emporium of the sort had written over it: "Thisis the best establishment of its kind in the town. " Also, al fresco inthe streets there stood tables heaped with nuts, soap, and gingerbread(the latter but little distinguishable from the soap), and at aneating-house there was displayed the sign of a plump fish transfixedwith a gaff. But the sign most frequently to be discerned was theinsignia of the State, the double-headed eagle (now replaced, in thisconnection, with the laconic inscription "Dramshop"). As for the pavingof the town, it was uniformly bad. 

The gentleman peered also into the municipal gardens, which containedonly a few sorry trees that were poorly selected, requiring to bepropped with oil-painted, triangular green supports, and able to boastof a height no greater than that of an ordinary walking-stick. Yetrecently the local paper had said (apropos of a gala) that, "Thanks tothe efforts of our Civil Governor, the town has become enriched with apleasaunce full of umbrageous, spaciously-branching trees. Even on themost sultry day they afford agreeable shade, and indeed gratifyingwas it to see the hearts of our citizens panting with an impulse ofgratitude as their eyes shed tears in recognition of all that theirGovernor has done for them!"

Next, after inquiring of a gendarme as to the best ways and means offinding the local council, the local law-courts, and the local Governor, should he (Chichikov) have need of them, the gentleman went on toinspect the river which ran through the town. En route he tore off anotice affixed to a post, in order that he might the more convenientlyread it after his return to the inn. Also, he bestowed upon a ladyof 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 inhis mind the general topography of the place) and betook himselfhome. There, gently aided by the waiter, he ascended the stairs to hisbedroom, drank a glass of tea, and, seating himself at the table, calledfor a candle; which having been brought him, he produced from his pocketthe notice, held it close to the flame, and conned its tenour--slightlycontracting his right eye as he did so. Yet there was little in thenotice to call for remark. All that it said was that shortly one ofKotzebue's [6] plays would be given, and that one of the parts in theplay was to be taken by a certain Monsieur Poplevin, and another bya certain Mademoiselle Ziablova, while the remaining parts were tobe filled by a number of less important personages. Nevertheless thegentleman perused the notice with careful attention, and even jotteddown the prices to be asked for seats for the performance. Also, heremarked that the bill had been printed in the press of the ProvincialGovernment. Next, he turned over the paper, in order to see if anythingfurther 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 areceptacle for odds and ends, and brought the day to a close with aportion of cold veal, a bottle of pickles, and a sound sleep. 

The following day he devoted to paying calls upon the various municipalofficials--a first, and a very respectful, visit being paid to theGovernor. This personage turned out to resemble Chichikov himself inthat he was neither fat nor thin. Also, he wore the riband of the orderof Saint Anna about his neck, and was reported to have been recommendedalso for the star. For the rest, he was large and good-natured, and hada habit of amusing himself with occasional spells of knitting. Next, Chichikov repaired to the Vice-Governor's, and thence to the house ofthe Public Prosecutor, to that of the President of the Local Council, tothat of the Chief of Police, to that of the Commissioner of Taxes, andto that of the local Director of State Factories. True, the task ofremembering every big-wig in this world of ours is not a very easy one;but at least our visitor displayed the greatest activity in his work ofpaying calls, seeing that he went so far as to pay his respects also tothe Inspector of the Municipal Department of Medicine and to the CityArchitect. Thereafter he sat thoughtfully in his britchka--plungedin meditation on the subject of whom else it might be well to visit. However, not a single magnate had been neglected, and in conversationwith his hosts he had contrived to flatter each separate one. Forinstance to the Governor he had hinted that a stranger, on arrivingin his, the Governor's province, would conceive that he had reachedParadise, so velvety were the roads. "Governors who appoint capablesubordinates, " had said Chichikov, "are deserving of the most ample meedof praise. " Again, to the Chief of Police our hero had passed a mostgratifying remark on the subject of the local gendarmery; while inhis conversation with the Vice-Governor and the President of the LocalCouncil (neither of whom had, as yet, risen above the rank of StateCouncillor) he had twice been guilty of the gaucherie of addressing hisinterlocutors with the title of "Your Excellency"--a blunder which hadnot failed to delight them. In the result the Governor had invitedhim to a reception the same evening, and certain other officials hadfollowed suit by inviting him, one of them to dinner, a second to atea-party, and so forth, and so forth. 

Of himself, however, the traveller had spoken little; or, if he hadspoken at any length, he had done so in a general sort of way and withmarked modesty. Indeed, at moments of the kind his discourse had assumedsomething of a literary vein, in that invariably he had stated that, being a worm of no account in the world, he was deserving of noconsideration at the hands of his fellows; that in his time he hadundergone many strange experiences; that subsequently he had sufferedmuch 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 aspot wherein to dwell--wherefore, having stumbled upon the town in whichhe now found himself, he had considered it his bounden duty to evincehis respect for the chief authorities of the place. This, and no more, was all that, for the moment, the town succeeded in learning about thenew arrival. Naturally he lost no time in presenting himself at theGovernor's evening party. First, however, his preparations for thatfunction occupied a space of over two hours, and necessitated anattention to his toilet of a kind not commonly seen. That is to say, after a brief post-grandial nap he called for soap and water, and spenta considerable period in the task of scrubbing his cheeks (which, forthe purpose, he supported from within with his tongue) and then ofdrying his full, round face, from the ears downwards, with a towel whichhe took from the waiter's shoulder. Twice he snorted into the waiter'scountenance as he did this, and then he posted himself in front of themirror, donned a false shirt-front, plucked out a couple of hairs whichwere protruding from his nose, and appeared vested in a frockcoatof bilberry-coloured check. Thereafter driving through broad streetssparsely lighted with lanterns, he arrived at the Governor's residenceto find it illuminated as for a ball. Barouches with gleaming lamps, a couple of gendarmes posted before the doors, a babel of postillions'cries--nothing of a kind likely to be impressive was wanting; and, onreaching the salon, the visitor actually found himself obliged toclose 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 coats--evenas on a hot summer's day flies revolve around a sugar loaf while theold housekeeper is cutting it into cubes before the open window, andthe children of the house crowd around her to watch the movements of herrugged hands as those members ply the smoking pestle; and airy squadronsof flies, borne on the breeze, enter boldly, as though free of thehouse, and, taking advantage of the fact that the glare of the sunshineis troubling the old lady's sight, disperse themselves over brokenand unbroken fragments alike, even though the lethargy induced by theopulence of summer and the rich shower of dainties to be encountered atevery step has induced them to enter less for the purpose of eating thanfor that of showing themselves in public, of parading up and down thesugar loaf, of rubbing both their hindquarters and their fore againstone another, of cleaning their bodies under the wings, of extendingtheir forelegs over their heads and grooming themselves, and of flyingout of the window again to return with other predatory squadrons. Indeed, so dazed was Chichikov that scarcely did he realise that theGovernor was taking him by the arm and presenting him to his (theGovernor's) lady. Yet the newly-arrived guest kept his head sufficientlyto contrive to murmur some such compliment as might fittingly comefrom a middle-aged individual of a rank neither excessively high norexcessively low. Next, when couples had been formed for dancing and theremainder of the company found itself pressed back against the walls, Chichikov folded his arms, and carefully scrutinised the dancers. Someof the ladies were dressed well and in the fashion, while the remainderwere clad in such garments as God usually bestows upon a provincialtown. Also here, as elsewhere, the men belonged to two separate anddistinct categories; one of which comprised slender individuals who, flitting around the ladies, were scarcely to be distinguished fromdenizens of the metropolis, so carefully, so artistically, groomed weretheir whiskers, so presentable their oval, clean-shaven faces, so easythe manner of their dancing attendance upon their womenfolk, so glibtheir French conversation as they quizzed their female companions. Asfor the other category, it comprised individuals who, stout, or of thesame build as Chichikov (that is to say, neither very portly nor verylean), backed and sidled away from the ladies, and kept peering hitherand thither to see whether the Governor's footmen had set out greentables for whist. Their features were full and plump, some of them hadbeards, and in no case was their hair curled or waved or arranged inwhat the French call "the devil-may-care" style. On the contrary, theirheads were either close-cropped or brushed very smooth, and their faceswere round and firm. This category represented the more respectableofficials of the town. In passing, I may say that in business mattersfat men always prove superior to their leaner brethren; which isprobably the reason why the latter are mostly to be found in thePolitical Police, or acting as mere ciphers whose existence is a purelyhopeless, airy, trivial one. Again, stout individuals never take a backseat, but always a front one, and, wheresoever it be, they sit firmly, and with confidence, and decline to budge even though the seat crack andbend 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 thecase with figures of leaner individuals. Yet invariably fat men amassthe greater wealth. In three years' time a thin man will not have asingle serf whom he has left unpledged; whereas--well, pray look ata fat man's fortunes, and what will you see? First of all a suburbanvilla, and then a larger suburban villa, and then a villa close to atown, and lastly a country estate which comprises every amenity! That isto say, having served both God and the State, the stout individualhas won universal respect, and will end by retiring from business, reordering his mode of life, and becoming a Russian landowner--in otherwords, a fine gentleman who dispenses hospitality, lives in comfort andluxury, and is destined to leave his property to heirs who are purposingto squander the same on foreign travel. 

That the foregoing represents pretty much the gist of Chichikov'sreflections as he stood watching the company I will not attempt to deny. And of those reflections the upshot was that he decided to joinhimself to the stouter section of the guests, among whom he hadalready recognised several familiar faces--namely, those of the PublicProsecutor (a man with beetling brows over eyes which seemed to besaying with a wink, "Come into the next room, my friend, for I havesomething to say to you"--though, in the main, their owner was a man ofgrave and taciturn habit), of the Postmaster (an insignificant-lookingindividual, yet a would-be wit and a philosopher), and of the Presidentof the Local Council (a man of much amiability and good sense). Thesethree personages greeted Chichikov as an old acquaintance, and to theirsalutations he responded with a sidelong, yet a sufficiently civil, bow. Also, he became acquainted with an extremely unctuous and approachablelandowner named Manilov, and with a landowner of more uncouth exteriornamed Sobakevitch--the latter of whom began the acquaintance by treadingheavily upon Chichikov's toes, and then begging his pardon. Next, Chichikov received an offer of a "cut in" at whist, and acceptedthe same with his usual courteous inclination of the head. Seatingthemselves at a green table, the party did not rise therefrom tillsupper time; and during that period all conversation between the playersbecame hushed, as is the custom when men have given themselves up toa really serious pursuit. Even the Postmaster--a talkative man bynature--had no sooner taken the cards into his hands than he assumedan expression of profound thought, pursed his lips, and retained thisattitude unchanged throughout the game. Only when playing a court cardwas it his custom to strike the table with his fist, and to exclaim (ifthe card happened to be a queen), "Now, old popadia [7]!" and (ifthe card happened to be a king), "Now, peasant of Tambov!" To whichejaculations invariably the President of the Local Council retorted, "Ah, I have him by the ears, I have him by the ears!" And from theneighbourhood of the table other strong ejaculations relative to theplay would arise, interposed with one or another of those nicknameswhich participants in a game are apt to apply to members of the varioussuits. I need hardly add that, the game over, the players fell toquarrelling, and that in the dispute our friend joined, though soartfully as to let every one see that, in spite of the fact that he waswrangling, he was doing so only in the most amicable fashion possible. Never did he say outright, "You played the wrong card at such and sucha point. " No, he always employed some such phrase as, "You permittedyourself to make a slip, and thus afforded me the honour of coveringyour deuce. " Indeed, the better to keep in accord with his antagonists, he kept offering them his silver-enamelled snuff-box (at the bottomof which lay a couple of violets, placed there for the sake of theirscent). In particular did the newcomer pay attention to landownersManilov and Sobakevitch; so much so that his haste to arrive on goodterms with them led to his leaving the President and the Postmasterrather in the shade. At the same time, certain questions which he putto those two landowners evinced not only curiosity, but also a certainamount of sound intelligence; for he began by asking how many peasantsouls each of them possessed, and how their affairs happened at presentto be situated, and then proceeded to enlighten himself also as theirstanding and their families. Indeed, it was not long before he hadsucceeded in fairly enchanting his new friends. In particular didManilov--a man still in his prime, and possessed of a pair of eyeswhich, sweet as sugar, blinked whenever he laughed--find himself unableto make enough of his enchanter. Clasping Chichikov long and ferventlyby the hand, he besought him to do him, Manilov, the honour of visitinghis country house (which he declared to lie at a distance of not morethan fifteen versts from the boundaries of the town); and in returnChichikov averred (with an exceedingly affable bow and a most sincerehandshake) 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 sameway Sobakevitch said to him laconically: "And do you pay ME a visit, "and then proceeded to shuffle a pair of boots of such dimensions thatto find a pair to correspond with them would have been indeeddifficult--more especially at the present day, when the race of epicheroes is beginning to die out in Russia. 

Next day Chichikov dined and spent the evening at the house of the Chiefof Police--a residence where, three hours after dinner, every one satdown to whist, and remained so seated until two o'clock in the morning. On this occasion Chichikov made the acquaintance of, among others, alandowner named Nozdrev--a dissipated little fellow of thirty who had nosooner exchanged three or four words with his new acquaintance than hebegan to address him in the second person singular. Yet although he didthe same to the Chief of Police and the Public Prosecutor, the companyhad no sooner seated themselves at the card-table than both the oneand the other of these functionaries started to keep a careful eye uponNozdrev's tricks, and to watch practically every card which he played. The following evening Chichikov spent with the President of the LocalCouncil, who received his guests--even though the latter included twoladies--in a greasy dressing-gown. Upon that followed an evening at theVice-Governor's, a large dinner party at the house of the Commissionerof Taxes, a smaller dinner-party at the house of the Public Prosecutor(a very wealthy man), and a subsequent reception given by the Mayor. Inshort, not an hour of the day did Chichikov find himself forced tospend at home, and his return to the inn became necessary only for thepurposes of sleeping. Somehow or other he had landed on his feet, andeverywhere he figured as an experienced man of the world. No matter whatthe conversation chanced to be about, he always contrived to maintainhis part in the same. Did the discourse turn upon horse-breeding, uponhorse-breeding he happened to be peculiarly well-qualified to speak. Didthe company fall to discussing well-bred dogs, at once he had remarks ofthe most pertinent kind possible to offer. Did the company touch upona prosecution which had recently been carried out by the ExciseDepartment, instantly he showed that he too was not wholly unacquaintedwith legal affairs. Did an opinion chance to be expressed concerningbilliards, on that subject too he was at least able to avoid committinga blunder. Did a reference occur to virtue, concerning virtue hehastened to deliver himself in a way which brought tears to every eye. Did the subject in hand happen to be the distilling of brandy--well, that was a matter concerning which he had the soundest of knowledge. Didany one happen to mention Customs officials and inspectors, from thatmoment he expatiated as though he too had been both a minor functionaryand a major. Yet a remarkable fact was the circumstance that he alwayscontrived to temper his omniscience with a certain readiness to giveway, a certain ability so to keep a rein upon himself that never did hisutterances become too loud or too soft, or transcend what was perfectlybefitting. In a word, he was always a gentleman of excellent manners, and every official in the place felt pleased when he saw him enter thedoor. Thus the Governor gave it as his opinion that Chichikov was a manof excellent intentions; the Public Prosecutor, that he was a good manof 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 andrefinement; and the wife of the Chief of Gendarmery, that his politenessof behaviour was equalled only by his affability of bearing. Nay, evenSobakevitch--who as a rule never spoke well of ANY ONE--said to hislanky wife when, on returning late from the town, he undressed andbetook himself to bed by her side: "My dear, this evening, after diningwith the Chief of Police, I went on to the Governor's, and met there, among others, a certain Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov, who is a CollegiateCouncillor and a very pleasant fellow. " To this his spouse replied "Hm!"and then dealt him a hearty kick in the ribs. 

Such were the flattering opinions earned by the newcomer to the town;and these opinions he retained until the time when a certain specialityof his, a certain scheme of his (the reader will learn presently what itwas), plunged the majority of the townsfolk into a sea of perplexity. 

CHAPTER II

For more than two weeks the visitor lived amid a round of eveningparties and dinners; wherefore he spent (as the saying goes) a verypleasant time. Finally he decided to extend his visits beyond the urbanboundaries by going and calling upon landowners Manilov and Sobakevitch, seeing that he had promised on his honour to do so. Yet what reallyincited him to this may have been a more essential cause, a matter ofgreater gravity, a purpose which stood nearer to his heart, than themotive which I have just given; and of that purpose the reader willlearn if only he will have the patience to read this prefatory narrative(which, lengthy though it be, may yet develop and expand in proportionas we approach the denouement with which the present work is destined tobe crowned). 

One evening, therefore, Selifan the coachman received orders to havethe horses harnessed in good time next morning; while Petrushkareceived orders to remain behind, for the purpose of looking after theportmanteau and the room. In passing, the reader may care to becomemore fully acquainted with the two serving-men of whom I have spoken. Naturally, they were not persons of much note, but merely what folk callcharacters of secondary, or even of tertiary, importance. Yet, despitethe fact that the springs and the thread of this romance will not DEPENDupon them, but only touch upon them, and occasionally include them, the author has a passion for circumstantiality, and, like the averageRussian, such a desire for accuracy as even a German could not rival. To what the reader already knows concerning the personages in hand it istherefore necessary to add that Petrushka usually wore a cast-off brownjacket of a size too large for him, as also that he had (according tothe custom of individuals of his calling) a pair of thick lips anda very prominent nose. In temperament he was taciturn rather thanloquacious, and he cherished a yearning for self-education. That is tosay, he loved to read books, even though their contents came alike tohim whether they were books of heroic adventure or mere grammars orliturgical compendia. As I say, he perused every book with an equalamount of attention, and, had he been offered a work on chemistry, would have accepted that also. Not the words which he read, but the meresolace derived from the act of reading, was what especially pleased hismind; even though at any moment there might launch itself from the pagesome devil-sent word whereof he could make neither head nor tail. Forthe most part, his task of reading was performed in a recumbent positionin the anteroom; which circumstance ended by causing his mattress tobecome as ragged and as thin as a wafer. In addition to his love ofporing over books, he could boast of two habits which constituted twoother essential features of his character--namely, a habit ofretiring to rest in his clothes (that is to say, in the brown jacketabove-mentioned) and a habit of everywhere bearing with him his ownpeculiar atmosphere, his own peculiar smell--a smell which filledany lodging with such subtlety that he needed but to make up his bedanywhere, even in a room hitherto untenanted, and to drag thither hisgreatcoat and other impedimenta, for that room at once to assume an airof having been lived in during the past ten years. Nevertheless, thougha fastidious, and even an irritable, man, Chichikov would merely frownwhen his nose caught this smell amid the freshness of the morning, andexclaim with a toss of his head: "The devil only knows what is up withyou! Surely you sweat a good deal, do you not? The best thing you can dois 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 bependent, or starting to arrange one and another article in order, wouldstrive to seem wholly immersed in his work. Yet of what was he thinkingas he remained thus silent? Perhaps he was saying to himself: "My masteris a good fellow, but for him to keep on saying the same thing fortytimes 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 aservant while his master is scolding him is wholly impossible. However, no more need be said about Petrushka. On the other hand, CoachmanSelifan--

But here let me remark that I do not like engaging the reader'sattention in connection with persons of a lower class than himself; forexperience has taught me that we do not willingly familiarise ourselveswith the lower orders--that it is the custom of the average Russian toyearn exclusively for information concerning persons on the higher rungsof the social ladder. In fact, even a bowing acquaintance with a princeor a lord counts, in his eyes, for more than do the most intimate ofrelations with ordinary folk. For the same reason the author feelsapprehensive on his hero's account, seeing that he has made that heroa mere Collegiate Councillor--a mere person with whom Aulic Councillorsmight consort, but upon whom persons of the grade of full General[8] would probably bestow one of those glances proper to a man who iscringing at their august feet. Worse still, such persons of the grade ofGeneral are likely to treat Chichikov with studied negligence--and to anauthor studied negligence spells death. 

However, in spite of the distressfulness of the foregoing possibilities, it is time that I returned to my hero. After issuing, overnight, thenecessary orders, he awoke early, washed himself, rubbed himselffrom head to foot with a wet sponge (a performance executed only onSundays--and the day in question happened to be a Sunday), shaved hisface with such care that his cheeks issued of absolutely satin-likesmoothness and polish, donned first his bilberry-coloured, spottedfrockcoat, and then his bearskin overcoat, descended the staircase(attended, throughout, by the waiter) and entered his britchka. With aloud rattle the vehicle left the inn-yard, and issued into the street. A passing priest doffed his cap, and a few urchins in grimy shirtsshouted, "Gentleman, please give a poor orphan a trifle!" Presently thedriver noticed that a sturdy young rascal was on the point of climbingonto the splashboard; wherefore he cracked his whip and the britchkaleapt forward with increased speed over the cobblestones. At last, witha feeling of relief, the travellers caught sight of macadam ahead, whichpromised an end both to the cobblestones and to sundry other annoyances. And, sure enough, after his head had been bumped a few more timesagainst the boot of the conveyance, Chichikov found himself bowling oversofter ground. On the town receding into the distance, the sides of theroad began to be varied with the usual hillocks, fir trees, clumps ofyoung pine, trees with old, scarred trunks, bushes of wild juniper, andso forth, Presently there came into view also strings of country villaswhich, with their carved supports and grey roofs (the latter lookinglike pendent, embroidered tablecloths), resembled, rather, bundlesof old faggots. Likewise the customary peasants, dressed in sheepskinjackets, could be seen yawning on benches before their huts, whiletheir womenfolk, fat of feature and swathed of bosom, gazed out of upperwindows, and the windows below displayed, here a peering calf, and therethe unsightly jaws of a pig. In short, the view was one of the familiartype. After passing the fifteenth verst-stone Chichikov suddenlyrecollected that, according to Manilov, fifteen versts was the exactdistance between his country house and the town; but the sixteenth verststone flew by, and the said country house was still nowhere to beseen. In fact, but for the circumstance that the travellers happened toencounter a couple of peasants, they would have come on their errand invain. To a query as to whether the country house known as Zamanilovkawas anywhere in the neighbourhood the peasants replied by doffing theircaps; after which one of them who seemed to boast of a little moreintelligence than his companion, and who wore a wedge-shaped beard, madeanswer:

"Perhaps you mean Manilovka--not ZAmanilovka?"

"Yes, yes--Manilovka. "

"Manilovka, eh? Well, you must continue for another verst, and then youwill see it straight before you, on the right. "

"On the right?" re-echoed the coachman. 

"Yes, on the right, " affirmed the peasant. "You are on the proper roadfor Manilovka, but ZAmanilovka--well, there is no such place. The houseyou mean is called Manilovka because Manilovka is its name; but no houseat all is called ZAmanilovka. The house you mean stands there, on thathill, and is a stone house in which a gentleman lives, and its nameis Manilovka; but ZAmanilovka does not stand hereabouts, nor ever hasstood. "

So the travellers proceeded in search of Manilovka, and, after drivingan additional two versts, arrived at a spot whence there branched off aby-road. Yet two, three, or four versts of the by-road had been coveredbefore they saw the least sign of a two-storied stone mansion. Then itwas that Chichikov suddenly recollected that, when a friend has invitedone to visit his country house, and has said that the distance theretois fifteen versts, the distance is sure to turn out to be at leastthirty. 

Not many people would have admired the situation of Manilov's abode, forit stood on an isolated rise and was open to every wind that blew. Onthe slope of the rise lay closely-mown turf, while, disposed here andthere, after the English fashion, were flower-beds containing clumps oflilac and yellow acacia. Also, there were a few insignificant groupsof slender-leaved, pointed-tipped birch trees, with, under two of thelatter, an arbour having a shabby green cupola, some blue-painted woodensupports, and the inscription "This is the Temple of Solitary Thought. "Lower down the slope lay a green-coated pond--green-coated pondsconstitute a frequent spectacle in the gardens of Russian landowners;and, lastly, from the foot of the declivity there stretched a line ofmouldy, log-built huts which, for some obscure reason or another, ourhero set himself to count. Up to two hundred or more did he count, butnowhere could he perceive a single leaf of vegetation or a single stickof timber. The only thing to greet the eye was the logs of which thehuts were constructed. Nevertheless the scene was to a certain extentenlivened by the spectacle of two peasant women who, with clothespicturesquely tucked up, were wading knee-deep in the pond and draggingbehind them, with wooden handles, a ragged fishing-net, in the meshesof which two crawfish and a roach with glistening scales were entangled. The women appeared to have cause of dispute between themselves--to berating one another about something. In the background, and to one sideof the house, showed a faint, dusky blur of pinewood, and even theweather was in keeping with the surroundings, since the day was neitherclear nor dull, but of the grey tint which may be noted in uniforms ofgarrison 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 ofgallantry had led to his having had his head pecked bare by othercocks, he flapped a pair of wings--appendages as bare as two pieces ofbast--and crowed loudly. 

As Chichikov approached the courtyard of the mansion he caught sightof his host (clad in a green frock coat) standing on the verandah andpressing one hand to his eyes to shield them from the sun and so get abetter view of the approaching carriage. In proportion as the britchkadrew nearer and nearer to the verandah, the host's eyes assumed a moreand more delighted expression, and his smile a broader and broadersweep. 

"Paul Ivanovitch!" he exclaimed when at length Chichikov leapt from thevehicle. "Never should I have believed that you would have rememberedus!"

The two friends exchanged hearty embraces, and Manilov then conductedhis guest to the drawing-room. During the brief time that they aretraversing the hall, the anteroom, and the dining-room, let me tryto say something concerning the master of the house. But such anundertaking bristles with difficulties--it promises to be a far lesseasy task than the depicting of some outstanding personality which callsbut for a wholesale dashing of colours upon the canvas--the colours ofa pair of dark, burning eyes, a pair of dark, beetling brows, a foreheadseamed with wrinkles, a black, or a fiery-red, cloak thrown backwardsover the shoulder, and so forth, and so forth. Yet, so numerous areRussian serf owners that, though careful scrutiny reveals to one's sighta quantity of outre peculiarities, they are, as a class, exceedinglydifficult to portray, and one needs to strain one's faculties to theutmost before it becomes possible to pick out their variously subtle, their almost invisible, features. In short, one needs, before doingthis, to carry out a prolonged probing with the aid of an insightsharpened in the acute school of research. 

Only God can say what Manilov's real character was. A class of menexists whom the proverb has described as "men unto themselves, neitherthis nor that--neither Bogdan of the city nor Selifan of the village. "And to that class we had better assign also Manilov. Outwardly he waspresentable enough, for his features were not wanting in amiability, butthat amiability was a quality into which there entered too much of thesugary element, so that his every gesture, his every attitude, seemedto connote an excess of eagerness to curry favour and cultivate a closeracquaintance. On first speaking to the man, his ingratiating smile, hisflaxen hair, and his blue eyes would lead one to say, "What a pleasant, good-tempered fellow he seems!" yet during the next moment or two onewould 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 withthe deadly sense of ennui which comes of the intuition that nothingin the least interesting is to be looked for, but only a series ofwearisome utterances of the kind which are apt to fall from the lipsof a man whose hobby has once been touched upon. For every man HAS hishobby. One man's may be sporting dogs; another man's may be that ofbelieving himself to be a lover of music, and able to sound the art toits inmost depths; another's may be that of posing as a connoisseur ofrecherche cookery; another's may be that of aspiring to play roles ofa kind higher than nature has assigned him; another's (though this isa more limited ambition) may be that of getting drunk, and of dreamingthat he is edifying both his friends, his acquaintances, and people withwhom he has no connection at all by walking arm-in-arm with an Imperialaide-de-camp; another's may be that of possessing a hand able to chipcorners off aces and deuces of diamonds; another's may be that ofyearning to set things straight--in other words, to approximate hispersonality to that of a stationmaster or a director of posts. In short, almost every man has his hobby or his leaning; yet Manilov had nonesuch, for at home he spoke little, and spent the greater part ofhis time in meditation--though God only knows what that meditationcomprised! Nor can it be said that he took much interest in themanagement of his estate, for he never rode into the country, and theestate practically managed itself. Whenever the bailiff said to him, "Itmight be well to have such-and-such a thing done, " he would reply, "Yes, that is not a bad idea, " and then go on smoking his pipe--a habit whichhe had acquired during his service in the army, where he had been lookedupon as an officer of modesty, delicacy, and refinement. "Yes, it is NOTa bad idea, " he would repeat. Again, whenever a peasant approached himand, rubbing the back of his neck, said "Barin, may I have leave to goand work for myself, in order that I may earn my obrok [9]?" he wouldsnap out, with pipe in mouth as usual, "Yes, go!" and never trouble hishead as to whether the peasant's real object might not be to go and getdrunk. True, at intervals he would say, while gazing from the verandahto the courtyard, and from the courtyard to the pond, that it would beindeed splendid if a carriage drive could suddenly materialise, and thepond as suddenly become spanned with a stone bridge, and little shopsas suddenly arise whence pedlars could dispense the petty merchandise ofthe kind which peasantry most need. And at such moments his eyeswould grow winning, and his features assume an expression of intensesatisfaction. Yet never did these projects pass beyond the stage ofdebate. Likewise there lay in his study a book with the fourteenth pagepermanently turned down. It was a book which he had been reading forthe past two years! In general, something seemed to be wanting in theestablishment. For instance, although the drawing-room was filled withbeautiful furniture, and upholstered in some fine silken material whichclearly had cost no inconsiderable sum, two of the chairs lackedany covering but bast, and for some years past the master had beenaccustomed to warn his guests with the words, "Do not sit upon thesechairs; they are not yet ready for use. " Another room contained nofurniture at all, although, a few days after the marriage, it had beensaid: "My dear, to-morrow let us set about procuring at least someTEMPORARY furniture for this room. " Also, every evening would see placedupon the drawing-room table a fine bronze candelabrum, a statuetterepresentative of the Three Graces, a tray inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and a rickety, lop-sided copper invalide. Yet of the fact that all fourarticles were thickly coated with grease neither the master of thehouse nor the mistress nor the servants seemed to entertain the leastsuspicion. At the same time, Manilov and his wife were quite satisfiedwith 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 ofapple or a bonbon or a nut, while murmuring some tender something whichvoiced a whole-hearted affection. "Open your mouth, dearest"--thus ranthe formula--"and let me pop into it this titbit. " You may be sure thaton such occasions the "dearest mouth" parted its lips most graciously!For their mutual birthdays the pair always contrived some "surprisepresent" in the shape of a glass receptacle for tooth-powder, or whatnot; and as they sat together on the sofa he would suddenly, and forsome unknown reason, lay aside his pipe, and she her work (if at themoment she happened to be holding it in her hands) and husband and wifewould imprint upon one another's cheeks such a prolonged and languishingkiss that during its continuance you could have smoked a small cigar. Inshort, they were what is known as "a very happy couple. " Yet it may beremarked that a household requires other pursuits to be engaged in thanlengthy embracings and the preparing of cunning "surprises. " Yes, manya function calls for fulfilment. For instance, why should it be thoughtfoolish or low to superintend the kitchen? Why should care not be takenthat the storeroom never lacks supplies? Why should a housekeeper beallowed to thieve? Why should slovenly and drunken servants exist?Why should a domestic staff be suffered in indulge in bouts ofunconscionable debauchery during its leisure time? Yet none of thesethings were thought worthy of consideration by Manilov's wife, for shehad been gently brought up, and gentle nurture, as we all know, is tobe acquired only in boarding schools, and boarding schools, as we know, hold the three principal subjects which constitute the basis of humanvirtue to be the French language (a thing indispensable to the happinessof married life), piano-playing (a thing wherewith to beguilea husband's leisure moments), and that particular department ofhousewifery which is comprised in the knitting of purses and other"surprises. " Nevertheless changes and improvements have begun to takeplace, since things now are governed more by the personal inclinationsand idiosyncracies of the keepers of such establishments. For instance, in some seminaries the regimen places piano-playing first, and theFrench 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 pianos--so diverseare the systems in force! None the less, I may remark that MadameManilov--

But let me confess that I always shrink from saying too much aboutladies. Moreover, it is time that we returned to our heroes, who, duringthe past few minutes, have been standing in front of the drawing-roomdoor, and engaged in urging one another to enter first. 

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

"No, Paul Ivanovitch--no! You are my guest. " And Manilov pointed towardsthe doorway. 

"Make no difficulty about it, I pray, " urged Chichikov. "I beg of you tomake no difficulty about it, but to pass into the room. "

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

"Why call me 'distinguished, ' my dear sir? I beg of you to proceed. "

"Nay; be YOU pleased to do so. "

"And why?"

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

Finally the pair entered simultaneously and sideways; with the resultthat they jostled one another not a little in the process. 

"Allow me to present to you my wife, " continued Manilov. "My dear--PaulIvanovitch. "

Upon that Chichikov caught sight of a lady whom hitherto he hadoverlooked, but who, with Manilov, was now bowing to him in the doorway. Not wholly of unpleasing exterior, she was dressed in a well-fitting, high-necked morning dress of pale-coloured silk; and as the visitorentered the room her small white hands threw something upon the tableand clutched her embroidered skirt before rising from the sofa where shehad been seated. Not without a sense of pleasure did Chichikov take herhand as, lisping a little, she declared that she and her husband wereequally gratified by his coming, and that, of late, not a day had passedwithout her husband recalling him to mind. 

"Yes, " affirmed Manilov; "and every day SHE has said to ME: 'Why doesnot your friend put in an appearance?' 'Wait a little dearest, ' I havealways replied. ''Twill not be long now before he comes. ' And you HAVEcome, you HAVE honoured us with a visit, you HAVE bestowed upon us atreat--a treat destined to convert this day into a gala day, a truebirthday of the heart. "

The intimation that matters had reached the point of the occasion beingdestined to constitute a "true birthday of the heart" caused Chichikovto become a little confused; wherefore he made modest reply that, as amatter of fact, he was neither of distinguished origin nor distinguishedrank. 

"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 agreeabletime in it?"

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

"And what do you think of our Governor?"

"Yes; IS he not a most engaging and dignified personage?" added Manilov. 

"He is all that, " assented Chichikov. "Indeed, he is a man worthy of thegreatest respect. And how thoroughly he performs his duty according tohis lights! Would that we had more like him!"

"And the tactfulness with which he greets every one!" added Manilov, smiling, and half-closing his eyes, like a cat which is being tickledbehind the ears. 

"Quite so, " assented Chichikov. "He is a man of the most eminentcivility and approachableness. And what an artist! Never should I havethought he could have worked the marvellous household samplers which hehas done! Some specimens of his needlework which he showed me could notwell have been surpassed by any lady in the land!"

"And the Vice-Governor, too--he is a nice man, is he not?" inquiredManilov with renewed blinkings of the eyes. 

"Who? The Vice-Governor? Yes, a most worthy fellow!" replied Chichikov. 

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

"Very agreeable indeed. And what a clever, well-read individual! Withhim and the Public Prosecutor and the President of the Local Council Iplayed whist until the cocks uttered their last morning crow. He is amost excellent fellow. "

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

"One of the best among my limited acquaintance, " agreed Chichikov. 

Nor were the President of the Local Council and the Postmasteroverlooked; until the company had run through the whole list of urbanofficials. And in every case those officials appeared to be persons ofthe highest possible merit. 

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

"Well, most of it, " replied Manilov; "though also we pay occasionalvisits to the town, in order that we may mingle with a little well-bredsociety. One grows a trifle rusty if one lives for ever in retirement. "

"Quite so, " agreed Chichikov. 

"Yes, quite so, " capped Manilov. "At the same time, it would be adifferent matter if the neighbourhood were a GOOD one--if, for example, one had a friend with whom one could discuss manners and politedeportment, or engage in some branch of science, and so stimulate one'swits. 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 feelingswere apt to carry him away; after which he continued with a gesture:"What I mean is that, were that sort of thing possible, I, forone, could find the country and an isolated life possessed of greatattractions. But, as matters stand, such a thing is NOT possible. Allthat I can manage to do is, occasionally, to read a little of A Son ofthe Fatherland. "

With these sentiments Chichikov expressed entire agreement: adding thatnothing could be more delightful than to lead a solitary life in whichthere should be comprised only the sweet contemplation of nature and theintermittent perusal of a book. 

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

"True, true, " agreed Chichikov. "Without a friend, what are all thetreasures in the world? 'Possess not money, ' a wise man has said, 'butrather good friends to whom to turn in case of need. '"

"Yes, Paul Ivanovitch, " said Manilov with a glance not merely sweet, but positively luscious--a glance akin to the mixture which even cleverphysicians have to render palatable before they can induce a hesitantpatient to take it. "Consequently you may imagine what happiness--whatPERFECT happiness, so to speak--the present occasion has brought me, seeing that I am permitted to converse with you and to enjoy yourconversation. "

"But WHAT of my conversation?" replied Chichikov. "I am an insignificantindividual, and, beyond that, nothing. "

"Oh, Paul Ivanovitch!" cried the other. "Permit me to be frank, and tosay that I would give half my property to possess even a PORTION of thetalents which you possess. "

"On the contrary, I should consider it the highest honour in the worldif--"

The lengths to which this mutual outpouring of soul would have proceededhad not a servant entered to announce luncheon must remain a mystery. 

"I humbly invite you to join us at table, " said Manilov. "Also, you willpardon us for the fact that we cannot provide a banquet such as is tobe obtained in our metropolitan cities? We partake of simple fare, according to Russian custom--we confine ourselves to shtchi [10], but wedo so with a single heart. Come, I humbly beg of you. "

After another contest for the honour of yielding precedence, Chichikovsucceeded in making his way (in zigzag fashion) to the dining-room, where they found awaiting them a couple of youngsters. These wereManilov's sons, and boys of the age which admits of their presence attable, but necessitates the continued use of high chairs. Beside themwas their tutor, who bowed politely and smiled; after which the hostesstook her seat before her soup plate, and the guest of honour foundhimself esconsed between her and the master of the house, while theservant tied up the boys' necks in bibs. 

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

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

"Themistocleus, " went on the father, turning to his first-born, who wasengaged in striving to free his chin from the bib with which the footmanhad encircled it. On hearing this distinctly Greek name (to which, forsome 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 cityin France. "

Upon this the tutor concentrated his attention upon Themistocleus, andappeared to be trying hard to catch his eye. Only when Themistocleus hadmuttered "Paris" did the preceptor grow calmer, and nod his head. 

"And which is the finest city in Russia?" continued Manilov. 

Again the tutor's attitude became wholly one of concentration. 

"St. Petersburg, " replied Themistocleus. 

"And what other city?"

"Moscow, " responded the boy. 

"Clever little dear!" burst out Chichikov, turning with an air ofsurprise to the father. "Indeed, I feel bound to say that the childevinces the greatest possible potentialities. "

"You do not know him fully, " replied the delighted Manilov. "The amountof sharpness which he possesses is extraordinary. Our younger one, Alkid, is not so quick; whereas his brother--well, no matter what hemay happen upon (whether upon a cowbug or upon a water-beetle or uponanything else), his little eyes begin jumping out of his head, and heruns to catch the thing, and to inspect it. For HIM I am reserving adiplomatic post. Themistocleus, " added the father, again turning to hisson, "do you wish to become an ambassador?"

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

At this moment the lacquey who had been standing behind the futureambassador wiped the latter's nose; and well it was that he did so, since otherwise an inelegant and superfluous drop would have been addedto the soup. After that the conversation turned upon the joys of a quietlife--though occasionally it was interrupted by remarks from the hostesson the subject of acting and actors. Meanwhile the tutor kept his eyesfixed upon the speakers' faces; and whenever he noticed that they wereon the point of laughing he at once opened his mouth, and laughed withenthusiasm. Probably he was a man of grateful heart who wished torepay his employers for the good treatment which he had received. Once, however, his features assumed a look of grimness as, fixing his eyesupon his vis-a-vis, the boys, he tapped sternly upon the table. Thishappened at a juncture when Themistocleus had bitten Alkid on the ear, and the said Alkid, with frowning eyes and open mouth, was preparinghimself to sob in piteous fashion; until, recognising that for such aproceeding he might possibly be deprived of his plate, he hastened torestore his mouth to its original expression, and fell tearfully tognawing a mutton bone--the grease from which had soon covered hischeeks. 

Every now and again the hostess would turn to Chichikov with the words, "You are eating nothing--you have indeed taken little;" but invariablyher guest replied: "Thank you, I have had more than enough. A pleasantconversation is worth all the dishes in the world. "

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 ofconducting him to the drawing-room, when suddenly Chichikov intimatedto him, with a meaning look, that he wished to speak to him on a veryimportant matter. 

"That being so, " said Manilov, "allow me to invite you into my study. "And he led the way to a small room which faced the blue of the forest. "This is my sanctum, " he added. 

"What a pleasant apartment!" remarked Chichikov as he eyed it carefully. And, indeed, the room did not lack a certain attractiveness. The wallswere painted a sort of blueish-grey colour, and the furniture consistedof four chairs, a settee, and a table--the latter of which bore a fewsheets of writing-paper and the book of which I have before had occasionto speak. But the most prominent feature of the room was tobacco, whichappeared in many different guises--in packets, in a tobacco jar, and ina loose heap strewn about the table. Likewise, both window sills werestudded with little heaps of ash, arranged, not without artifice, inrows of more or less tidiness. Clearly smoking afforded the master ofthe house a frequent means of passing the time. 

"Permit me to offer you a seat on this settee, " said Manilov. "Here youwill be quieter than you would be in the drawing-room. "

"But I should prefer to sit upon this chair. "

"I cannot allow that, " objected the smiling Manilov. "The settee isspecially reserved for my guests. Whether you choose or no, upon it youMUST sit. "

Accordingly Chichikov obeyed. 

"And also let me hand you a pipe. "

"No, I never smoke, " answered Chichikov civilly, and with an assumed airof regret. 

"And why?" inquired Manilov--equally civilly, but with a regret that waswholly genuine. 

"Because I fear that I have never quite formed the habit, owing tomy having heard that a pipe exercises a desiccating effect upon thesystem. "

"Then allow me to tell you that that is mere prejudice. Nay, I wouldeven go so far as to say that to smoke a pipe is a healthier practicethan to take snuff. Among its members our regiment numbered alieutenant--a most excellent, well-educated fellow--who was simplyINCAPABLE of removing his pipe from his mouth, whether at table or(pardon me) in other places. He is now forty, yet no man could enjoybetter health than he has always done. "

Chichikov replied that such cases were common, since nature comprisedmany things which even the finest intellect could not compass. 

"But allow me to put to you a question, " he went on in a tone in whichthere was a strange--or, at all events, RATHER a strange--note. For someunknown reason, also, he glanced over his shoulder. For some equallyunknown reason, Manilov glanced over HIS. 

"How long is it, " inquired the guest, "since you last rendered a censusreturn?"

"Oh, a long, long time. In fact, I cannot remember when it was. "

"And since then have many of your serfs died?"

"I do not know. To ascertain that I should need to ask my bailiff. Footman, go and call the bailiff. I think he will be at home to-day. "

Before long the bailiff made his appearance. He was a man of underforty, clean-shaven, clad in a smock, and evidently used to a quietlife, seeing that his face was of that puffy fullness, and the skinencircling his slit-like eyes was of that sallow tint, which shows thatthe owner of those features is well acquainted with a feather bed. In atrice it could be seen that he had played his part in life as all suchbailiffs do--that, originally a young serf of elementary education, hehad married some Agashka of a housekeeper or a mistress's favourite, andthen himself become housekeeper, and, subsequently, bailiff; after whichhe had proceeded according to the rules of his tribe--that is to say, he had consorted with and stood in with the more well-to-do serfs on theestate, 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, whenthe samovar had been brought, drinking his tea at leisure. 

"Look here, my good man, " said Manilov. "How many of our serfs have diedsince the last census revision?"

"How many of them have died? Why, a great many. " The bailiff hiccoughed, and slapped his mouth lightly after doing so. 

"Yes, I imagined that to be the case, " corroborated Manilov. "In fact, a VERY great many serfs have died. " He turned to Chichikov and repeatedthe words. 

"How many, for instance?" asked Chichikov. 

"Yes; how many?" re-echoed Manilov. 

"HOW many?" re-echoed the bailiff. "Well, no one knows the exact number, for no one has kept any account. "

"Quite so, " remarked Manilov. "I supposed the death-rate to have beenhigh, but was ignorant of its precise extent. "

"Then would you be so good as to have it computed for me?" saidChichikov. "And also to have a detailed list of the deaths made out?"

"Yes, I will--a detailed list, " agreed Manilov. 

"Very well. "

The bailiff departed. 

"For what purpose do you want it?" inquired Manilov when the bailiff hadgone. 

The question seemed to embarrass the guest, for in Chichikov's facethere dawned a sort of tense expression, and it reddened as though itsowner were striving to express something not easy to put into words. True enough, Manilov was now destined to hear such strange andunexpected things as never before had greeted human ears. 

"You ask me, " said Chichikov, "for what purpose I want the list. Well, my purpose in wanting it is this--that I desire to purchase a fewpeasants. " And he broke off in a gulp. 

"But may I ask HOW you desire to purchase those peasants?" askedManilov. "With land, or merely as souls for transferment--that is tosay, by themselves, and without any land?"

"I want the peasants themselves only, " replied Chichikov. "And I wantdead ones at that. "

"What?--Excuse me, but I am a trifle deaf. Really, your words sound moststrange!"

"All that I am proposing to do, " replied Chichikov, "is to purchase thedead peasants who, at the last census, were returned by you as alive. "

Manilov dropped his pipe on the floor, and sat gaping. Yes, the twofriends who had just been discussing the joys of camaraderie satstaring at one another like the portraits which, of old, used to hang onopposite sides of a mirror. At length Manilov picked up his pipe, and, while doing so, glanced covertly at Chichikov to see whether there wasany trace of a smile to be detected on his lips--whether, in short, hewas joking. But nothing of the sort could be discerned. On the contrary, Chichikov's face looked graver than usual. Next, Manilov wonderedwhether, for some unknown reason, his guest had lost his wits; whereforehe spent some time in gazing at him with anxious intentness. But theguest's eyes seemed clear--they contained no spark of the wild, restlessfire which is apt to wander in the eyes of madmen. All was as it shouldbe. Consequently, in spite of Manilov's cogitations, he could thinkof nothing better to do than to sit letting a stream of tobacco smokeescape from his mouth. 

"So, " continued Chichikov, "what I desire to know is whether you arewilling to hand over to me--to resign--these actually non-living, butlegally living, peasants; or whether you have any better proposal tomake?"

Manilov felt too confused and confounded to do aught but continuestaring at his interlocutor. 

"I think that you are disturbing yourself unnecessarily, " wasChichikov's next remark. 

"I? Oh no! Not at all!" stammered Manilov. "Only--pardon me--I do notquite comprehend you. You see, never has it fallen to my lot to acquirethe brilliant polish which is, so to speak, manifest in your everymovement. Nor have I ever been able to attain the art of expressingmyself well. Consequently, although there is a possibility that inthe--er--utterances which have just fallen from your lips there maylie something else concealed, it may equally be that--er--you have beenpleased so to express yourself for the sake of the beauty of the termswherein that expression found shape?"

"Oh, no, " asserted Chichikov. "I mean what I say and no more. Myreference to such of your pleasant souls as are dead was intended to betaken literally. "

Manilov still felt at a loss--though he was conscious that he MUST dosomething, he MUST propound some question. But what question? The devilalone knew! In the end he merely expelled some more tobacco smoke--thistime from his nostrils as well as from his mouth. 

"So, " went on Chichikov, "if no obstacle stands in the way, we might aswell proceed to the completion of the purchase. "

"What? Of the purchase of the dead souls?"

"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 Ipermit myself to step outside the civil law, great though has beenthe harm which that rule has wrought me in my career. In my eyes anobligation is a sacred thing. In the presence of the law I am dumb. "

These last words reassured Manilov not a little: yet still the meaningof the affair remained to him a mystery. By way of answer, he fell tosucking at his pipe with such vehemence that at length the pipe beganto gurgle like a bassoon. It was as though he had been seeking ofit inspiration in the present unheard-of juncture. But the pipe onlygurgled, et praeterea nihil. 

"Perhaps you feel doubtful about the proposal?" said Chichikov. 

"Not at all, " replied Manilov. "But you will, I know, excuse me if Isay (and I say it out of no spirit of prejudice, nor yet as criticisingyourself in any way)--you will, I know, excuse me if I say that possiblythis--er--this, er, SCHEME of yours, this--er--TRANSACTION of yours, mayfail altogether to accord with the Civil Statutes and Provisions of theRealm?"

And Manilov, with a slight gesture of the head, looked meaningly intoChichikov's face, while displaying in his every feature, includinghis closely-compressed lips, such an expression of profundity asnever before was seen on any human countenance--unless on that of someparticularly sapient Minister of State who is debating some particularlyabstruse problem. 

Nevertheless Chichikov rejoined that the kind of scheme or transactionwhich he had adumbrated in no way clashed with the Civil Statutes andProvisions of Russia; to which he added that the Treasury would evenBENEFIT by the enterprise, seeing it would draw therefrom the usuallegal percentage. 

"What, then, do you propose?" asked Manilov. 

"I propose only what is above-board, and nothing else. "

"Then, that being so, it is another matter, and I have nothing to urgeagainst it, " said Manilov, apparently reassured to the full. 

"Very well, " remarked Chichikov. "Then we need only to agree as to theprice. "

"As to the price?" began Manilov, and then stopped. Presently he wenton: "Surely you cannot suppose me capable of taking money for soulswhich, in one sense at least, have completed their existence? Seeingthat this fantastic whim of yours (if I may so call it?) has seizedupon you to the extent that it has, I, on my side, shall be ready tosurrender to you those souls UNCONDITIONALLY, and to charge myself withthe whole expenses of the sale. "

I should be greatly to blame if I were to omit that, as soon as Manilovhad pronounced these words, the face of his guest became replete withsatisfaction. Indeed, grave and prudent a man though Chichikov was, he had much ado to refrain from executing a leap that would have donecredit to a goat (an animal which, as we all know, finds itself movedto such exertions only during moments of the most ecstatic joy). Nevertheless the guest did at least execute such a convulsive shufflethat the material with which the cushions of the chair were covered cameapart, and Manilov gazed at him with some misgiving. Finally Chichikov'sgratitude led him to plunge into a stream of acknowledgement of avehemence which caused his host to grow confused, to blush, to shakehis head in deprecation, and to end by declaring that the concession wasnothing, and that, his one desire being to manifest the dictates ofhis heart and the psychic magnetism which his friend exercised, he, inshort, looked upon the dead souls as so much worthless rubbish. 

"Not at all, " replied Chichikov, pressing his hand; after whichhe heaved a profound sigh. Indeed, he seemed in the right mood foroutpourings of the heart, for he continued--not without a ring ofemotion in his tone: "If you but knew the service which you haverendered to an apparently insignificant individual who is devoid bothof family and kindred! For what have I not suffered in my time--I, adrifting 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 everI have preserved inviolate an unsullied conscience, because ever I havestretched out a helping hand to the defenceless widow and the haplessorphan!" After which outpouring Chichikov pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped away a brimming tear. 

Manilov's heart was moved to the core. Again and again did the twofriends press one another's hands in silence as they gazed into oneanother's tear-filled eyes. Indeed, Manilov COULD not let go our hero'shand, but clasped it with such warmth that the hero in question beganto feel himself at a loss how best to wrench it free: until, quietlywithdrawing it, he observed that to have the purchase completed asspeedily as possible would not be a bad thing; wherefore he himselfwould at once return to the town to arrange matters. Taking up his hat, therefore, he rose to make his adieus. 

"What? Are you departing already?" said Manilov, suddenly recoveringhimself, and experiencing a sense of misgiving. At that moment his wifesailed into the room. 

"Is Paul Ivanovitch leaving us so soon, dearest Lizanka?" she said withan air of regret. 

"Yes. Surely it must be that we have wearied him?" her spouse replied. 

"By no means, " asserted Chichikov, pressing his hand to his heart. "Inthis breast, madam, will abide for ever the pleasant memory of the timewhich I have spent with you. Believe me, I could conceive of no greaterblessing than to reside, if not under the same roof as yourselves, atall events in your immediate neighbourhood. "

"Indeed?" exclaimed Manilov, greatly pleased with the idea. "Howsplendid it would be if you DID come to reside under our roof, so thatwe could recline under an elm tree together, and talk philosophy, anddelve to the very root of things!"

"Yes, it WOULD be a paradisaical existence!" agreed Chichikov with asigh. Nevertheless he shook hands with Madame. "Farewell, sudarina, " hesaid. "And farewell to YOU, my esteemed host. Do not forget what I haverequested you to do. "

"Rest assured that I will not, " responded Manilov. "Only for a couple ofdays will you and I be parted from one another. "

With that the party moved into the drawing-room. 

"Farewell, dearest children, " Chichikov went on as he caught sight ofAlkid and Themistocleus, who were playing with a wooden hussar whichlacked both a nose and one arm. "Farewell, dearest pets. Pardon me forhaving 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 becoming again, I will not fail to bring you gifts. Themistocleus, to youI will bring a sword. You would like that, would you not?"

"I should, " replied Themistocleus. 

"And to you, Alkid, I will bring a drum. That would suit you, would itnot?" And he bowed in Alkid's direction. 

"Zeth--a drum, " lisped the boy, hanging his head. 

"Good! Then a drum it shall be--SUCH a beautiful drum! What atur-r-r-ru-ing and a tra-ta-ta-ta-ing you will be able to kick up!Farewell, my darling. " And, kissing the boy's head, he turned to Manilovand Madame with the slight smile which one assumes before assuringparents of the guileless merits of their offspring. 

"But you had better stay, Paul Ivanovitch, " said the father as the triostepped out on to the verandah. "See how the clouds are gathering!"

"They are only small ones, " replied Chichikov. 

"And you know your way to Sobakevitch's?"

"No, I do not, and should be glad if you would direct me. "

"If you like I will tell your coachman. " And in very civil fashionManilov did so, even going so far as to address the man in the secondperson plural. On hearing that he was to pass two turnings, and then totake a third, Selifan remarked, "We shall get there all right, sir, " andChichikov departed amid a profound salvo of salutations and wavings ofhandkerchiefs on the part of his host and hostess, who raised themselveson tiptoe in their enthusiasm. 

For a long while Manilov stood following the departing britchka with hiseyes. In fact, he continued to smoke his pipe and gaze after thevehicle even when it had become lost to view. Then he re-entered thedrawing-room, seated himself upon a chair, and surrendered his mind tothe thought that he had shown his guest most excellent entertainment. Next, his mind passed imperceptibly to other matters, until at last itlost 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 hisown, and to build an enormous mansion with a facade lofty enough even toafford a view to Moscow. On that facade he and his wife and friend woulddrink afternoon tea in the open air, and discuss interesting subjects;after which, in a fine carriage, they would drive to some reunion orother, where with their pleasant manners they would so charm the companythat the Imperial Government, on learning of their merits, would raisethe pair to the grade of General or God knows what--that is to say, toheights whereof even Manilov himself could form no idea. Then suddenlyChichikov's extraordinary request interrupted the dreamer's reflections, and he found his brain powerless to digest it, seeing that, turn andturn the matter about as he might, he could not properly explain itsbearing. Smoking his pipe, he sat where he was until supper time. 

CHAPTER III

Meanwhile, Chichikov, seated in his britchka and bowling along theturnpike, was feeling greatly pleased with himself. From the precedingchapter the reader will have gathered the principal subject of his bentand inclinations: wherefore it is no matter for wonder that his bodyand his soul had ended by becoming wholly immersed therein. To allappearances the thoughts, the calculations, and the projects whichwere now reflected in his face partook of a pleasant nature, sincemomentarily they kept leaving behind them a satisfied smile. Indeed, soengrossed was he that he never noticed that his coachman, elated withthe hospitality of Manilov's domestics, was making remarks of a didacticnature to the off horse of the troika [11], a skewbald. This skewbaldwas a knowing animal, and made only a show of pulling; whereas itscomrades, the middle horse (a bay, and known as the Assessor, owing tohis having been acquired from a gentleman of that rank) and the nearhorse (a roan), would do their work gallantly, and even evince in theireyes the pleasure which they derived from their exertions. 

"Ah, you rascal, you rascal! I'll get the better of you!" ejaculatedSelifan as he sat up and gave the lazy one a cut with his whip. "YOUknow your business all right, you German pantaloon! The bay is a goodfellow, and does his duty, and I will give him a bit over his feed, forhe is a horse to be respected; and the Assessor too is a good horse. Butwhat are YOU shaking your ears for? You are a fool, so just mind whenyou'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 whipgently across the backs of the skewbald's comrades--not as a punishment, but as a sign of his approval. That done, he addressed himself to theskewbald again. 

"Do you think, " he cried, "that I don't see what you are doing? You canbehave quite decently when you like, and make a man respect you. "

With that he fell to recalling certain reminiscences. 

"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 thatkind I am always hail-fellow-well-met, and glad to drink a glass oftea with him, or to eat a biscuit. One CAN'T help respecting a decentfellow. For instance, this gentleman of mine--why, every one looks upto him, for he has been in the Government's service, and is a CollegiateCouncillor. "

Thus soliloquising, he passed to more remote abstractions; until, hadChichikov been listening, he would have learnt a number of interestingdetails concerning himself. However, his thoughts were wholly occupiedwith his own subject, so much so that not until a loud clap of thunderawoke him from his reverie did he glance around him. The sky wascompletely covered with clouds, and the dusty turnpike beginning tobe sprinkled with drops of rain. At length a second and a nearer and alouder peal resounded, and the rain descended as from a bucket. Fallingslantwise, it beat upon one side of the basketwork of the tilt until thesplashings began to spurt into his face, and he found himself forced todraw the curtains (fitted with circular openings through which to obtaina glimpse of the wayside view), and to shout to Selifan to quicken hispace. Upon that the coachman, interrupted in the middle of his harangue, bethought him that no time was to be lost; wherefore, extracting fromunder the box-seat a piece of old blanket, he covered over his sleeves, resumed the reins, and cheered on his threefold team (which, it maybe said, had so completely succumbed to the influence of the pleasantlassitude induced by Selifan's discourse that it had taken to scarcelyplacing one leg before the other). Unfortunately, Selifan could notclearly 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 ofturnings had been passed. But since, at moments which call for a hastydecision, a Russian is quick to discover what may conceivably bethe best course to take, our coachman put away from him all ulteriorreasoning, and, turning to the right at the next cross-road, shouted, "Hi, my beauties!" and set off at a gallop. Never for a moment did hestop to think whither the road might lead him!

It was long before the clouds had discharged their burden, and, meanwhile, the dust on the road became kneaded into mire, and thehorses' task of pulling the britchka heavier and heavier. Also, Chichikov had taken alarm at his continued failure to catch sight ofSobakevitch's country house. According to his calculations, it ought tohave been reached long ago. He gazed about him on every side, but thedarkness was too dense for the eye to pierce. 

"Selifan!" he exclaimed, leaning forward in the britchka. 

"What is it, barin?" replied the coachman. 

"Can you see the country house anywhere?"

"No, barin. " After which, with a flourish of the whip, the man brokeinto a sort of endless, drawling song. In that song everything hada place. By "everything" I mean both the various encouraging andstimulating cries with which Russian folk urge on their horses, and arandom, unpremeditated selection of adjectives. 

Meanwhile Chichikov began to notice that the britchka was swayingviolently, and dealing him occasional bumps. Consequently he suspectedthat 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, forhe had ceased to hold forth. 

"You rascal, what road are you following?" inquired Chichikov. 

"I don't know, " retorted the coachman. "What can a man do at a time ofnight when the darkness won't let him even see his whip?" And as Selifanspoke the vehicle tilted to an angle which left Chichikov no choice butto hang on with hands and teeth. At length he realised the fact thatSelifan was drunk. 

"Stop, stop, or you will upset us!" he shouted to the fellow. 

"No, no, barin, " replied Selifan. "HOW could I upset you? To upsetpeople is wrong. I know that very well, and should never dream of suchconduct. "

Here he started to turn the vehicle round a little--and kept on doing sountil the britchka capsized on to its side, and Chichikov landed in themud on his hands and knees. Fortunately Selifan succeeded in stoppingthe horses, although they would have stopped of themselves, seeingthat they were utterly worn out. This unforeseen catastrophe evidentlyastonished their driver. Slipping from the box, he stood resting hishands against the side of the britchka, while Chichikov tumbled andfloundered about in the mud, in a vain endeavour to wriggle clear of thestuff. 

"Ah, you!" said Selifan meditatively to the britchka. "To think ofupsetting us like this!"

"You are as drunk as a lord!" exclaimed Chichikov. 

"No, no, barin. Drunk, indeed? Why, I know my manners too well. A wordor two with a friend--that is all that I have taken. Any one may talkwith a decent man when he meets him. There is nothing wrong inthat. Also, we had a snack together. There is nothing wrong in asnack--especially a snack with a decent man. "

"What did I say to you when last you got drunk?" asked Chichikov. "Haveyou forgotten what I said then?"

"No, no, barin. HOW could I forget it? I know what is what, and knowthat it is not right to get drunk. All that I have been having is a wordor 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 adecent fellow, I'll warrant!"

"As you please, barin, " replied the complacent Selifan. "Should youwhip me, you will whip me, and I shall have nothing to complain of. Whyshould 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. If I have deserved it, beat me. Why should you not?"

This reasoning seemed, at the moment, irrefutable, and Chichikov saidnothing more. Fortunately fate had decided to take pity on the pair, forfrom afar their ears caught the barking of a dog. Plucking up courage, Chichikov gave orders for the britchka to be righted, and the horses tobe 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 placeof eyesight, he can, if necessary, drive at random and yet reach adestination of some sort, Selifan succeeded, though powerless to discerna single object, in directing his steeds to a country house near by, andthat with such a certainty of instinct that it was not until the shaftshad collided with a garden wall, and thereby made it clear that toproceed another pace was impossible, that he stopped. All that Chichikovcould discern through the thick veil of pouring rain was somethingwhich resembled a verandah. So he dispatched Selifan to search for theentrance gates, and that process would have lasted indefinitely had itnot been shortened by the circumstance that, in Russia, the place ofa Swiss footman is frequently taken by watchdogs; of which animals anumber now proclaimed the travellers' presence so loudly that Chichikovfound himself forced to stop his ears. Next, a light gleamed in oneof the windows, and filtered in a thin stream to the garden wall--thusrevealing the whereabouts of the entrance gates; whereupon Selifanfell to knocking at the gates until the bolts of the house door werewithdrawn and there issued therefrom a figure clad in a rough cloak. 

"Who is that knocking? What have you come for?" shouted the hoarse voiceof an elderly woman. 

"We are travellers, good mother, " said Chichikov. "Pray allow us tospend the night here. "

"Out upon you for a pair of gadabouts!" retorted the old woman. "A finetime of night to be arriving! We don't keep an hotel, mind you. This isa lady's residence. "

"But what are we to do, mother? We have lost our way, and cannot spendthe night out of doors in such weather. "

"No, we cannot. The night is dark and cold, " added Selifan. 

"Hold your tongue, you fool!" exclaimed Chichikov. 

"Who ARE you, then?" inquired the old woman. 

"A dvorianin [12], good mother. "

Somehow the word dvorianin seemed to give the old woman food forthought. 

"Wait a moment, " she said, "and I will tell the mistress. "

Two minutes later she returned with a lantern in her hand, the gateswere opened, and a light glimmered in a second window. Entering thecourtyard, the britchka halted before a moderate-sized mansion. Thedarkness did not permit of very accurate observation being made, but, apparently, the windows only of one-half of the building wereilluminated, while a quagmire in front of the door reflected the beamsfrom the same. Meanwhile the rain continued to beat sonorously down uponthe wooden roof, and could be heard trickling into a water butt; norfor a single moment did the dogs cease to bark with all the strength oftheir lungs. One of them, throwing up its head, kept venting a howlof such energy and duration that the animal seemed to be howling for ahandsome wager; while another, cutting in between the yelpings of thefirst animal, kept restlessly reiterating, like a postman's bell, thenotes of a very young puppy. Finally, an old hound which appeared to begifted with a peculiarly robust temperament kept supplying the part ofcontrabasso, so that his growls resembled the rumbling of a bass singerwhen a chorus is in full cry, and the tenors are rising on tiptoe intheir efforts to compass a particularly high note, and the whole body ofchoristers are wagging their heads before approaching a climax, andthis contrabasso alone is tucking his bearded chin into his collar, andsinking almost to a squatting posture on the floor, in order to producea note which shall cause the windows to shiver and their panes to crack. Naturally, from a canine chorus of such executants it might reasonablybe inferred that the establishment was one of the utmost respectability. To that, however, our damp, cold hero gave not a thought, for all hismind was fixed upon bed. Indeed, the britchka had hardly come to astandstill before he leapt out upon the doorstep, missed his footing, and came within an ace of falling. To meet him there issued a femaleyounger than the first, but very closely resembling her; and on hisbeing conducted to the parlour, a couple of glances showed him that theroom was hung with old striped curtains, and ornamented with picturesof birds and small, antique mirrors--the latter set in dark frames whichwere carved to resemble scrolls of foliage. Behind each mirror was stuckeither a letter or an old pack of cards or a stocking, while on the wallhung a clock with a flowered dial. More, however, Chichikov could notdiscern, for his eyelids were as heavy as though smeared with treacle. Presently the lady of the house herself entered--an elderly woman in asort of nightcap (hastily put on) and a flannel neck wrap. She belongedto that class of lady landowners who are for ever lamenting failures ofthe harvest and their losses thereby; to the class who, drooping theirheads despondently, are all the while stuffing money into stripedpurses, which they keep hoarded in the drawers of cupboards. Into onepurse they will stuff rouble pieces, into another half roubles, and intoa third tchetvertachki [13], although from their mien you would supposethat the cupboard contained only linen and nightshirts and skeins ofwool and the piece of shabby material which is destined--should theold gown become scorched during the baking of holiday cakes and otherdainties, or should it fall into pieces of itself--to become convertedinto a new dress. But the gown never does get burnt or wear out, forthe reason that the lady is too careful; wherefore the piece of shabbymaterial reposes in its unmade-up condition until the priest advisesthat it be given to the niece of some widowed sister, together with aquantity of other such rubbish. 

Chichikov apologised for having disturbed the household with hisunexpected arrival. 

"Not at all, not at all, " replied the lady. "But in what dreadfulweather God has brought you hither! What wind and what rain! You couldnot help losing your way. Pray excuse us for being unable to make betterpreparations for you at this time of night. "

Suddenly there broke in upon the hostess' words the sound of a strangehissing, a sound so loud that the guest started in alarm, and the moreso seeing that it increased until the room seemed filled with adders. Onglancing upwards, however, he recovered his composure, for he perceivedthe sound to be emanating from the clock, which appeared to be in a mindto strike. To the hissing sound there succeeded a wheezing one, until, putting forth its best efforts, the thing struck two with as muchclatter as though some one had been hitting an iron pot with acudgel. That done, the pendulum returned to its right-left, right-leftoscillation. 

Chichikov thanked his hostess kindly, and said that he needed nothing, and she must not put herself about: only for rest was he longing--thoughalso he should like to know whither he had arrived, and whether thedistance to the country house of land-owner Sobakevitch was anythingvery great. To this the lady replied that she had never so much as heardthe name, since no gentleman of the name resided in the locality. 

"But at least you are acquainted with landowner Manilov?" continuedChichikov. 

"No. Who is he?"

"Another landed proprietor, madam. "

"Well, neither have I heard of him. No such landowner lives hereabouts. "

"Then who ARE your local landowners?"

"Bobrov, Svinin, Kanapatiev, Khapakin, Trepakin, and Plieshakov. "

"Are they rich men?"

"No, none of them. One of them may own twenty souls, and another thirty, but of gentry who own a hundred there are none. "

Chichikov reflected that he had indeed fallen into an aristocraticwilderness!

"At all events, is the town far away?" he inquired. 

"About sixty versts. How sorry I am that I have nothing for you to eat!Should you care to drink some tea?"

"I thank you, good mother, but I require nothing beyond a bed. "

"Well, after such a journey you must indeed be needing rest, so youshall lie upon this sofa. Fetinia, bring a quilt and some pillows andsheets. What weather God has sent us! And what dreadful thunder! Eversince sunset I have had a candle burning before the ikon in my bedroom. My God! Why, your back and sides are as muddy as a boar's! However haveyou managed to get into such a state?"

"That I am nothing worse than muddy is indeed fortunate, since, but forthe Almighty, I should have had my ribs broken. "

"Dear, dear! To think of all that you must have been through. Had I notbetter wipe your back?"

"I thank you, I thank you, but you need not trouble. Merely be so goodas to tell your maid to dry my clothes. "

"Do you hear that, Fetinia?" said the hostess, turning to a woman whowas engaged in dragging in a feather bed and deluging the room withfeathers. "Take this coat and this vest, and, after drying them beforethe fire--just as we used to do for your late master--give them a goodrub, 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. "Good-night, dear sir. I wish you good-night. Is there anything elsethat you require? Perhaps you would like to have your heels tickledbefore retiring to rest? Never could my late husband get to sleepwithout that having been done. "

But the guest declined the proffered heel-tickling, and, on his hostesstaking her departure, hastened to divest himself of his clothing, bothupper and under, and to hand the garments to Fetinia. She wished himgood-night, and removed the wet trappings; after which he found himselfalone. Not without satisfaction did he eye his bed, which reachedalmost to the ceiling. Clearly Fetinia was a past mistress in the art ofbeating up such a couch, and, as the result, he had no sooner mountedit with the aid of a chair than it sank well-nigh to the floor, and thefeathers, squeezed out of their proper confines, flew hither and thitherinto every corner of the apartment. Nevertheless he extinguished thecandle, covered himself over with the chintz quilt, snuggled downbeneath it, and instantly fell asleep. Next day it was late in themorning before he awoke. Through the window the sun was shining into hiseyes, and the flies which, overnight, had been roosting quietly on thewalls and ceiling now turned their attention to the visitor. One settledon his lip, another on his ear, a third hovered as though intendingto lodge in his very eye, and a fourth had the temerity to alightjust under his nostrils. In his drowsy condition he inhaled the latterinsect, sneezed violently, and so returned to consciousness. Heglanced around the room, and perceived that not all the pictures wererepresentative of birds, since among them hung also a portrait ofKutuzov [14] and an oil painting of an old man in a uniform with redfacings such as were worn in the days of the Emperor Paul [15]. At thismoment the clock uttered its usual hissing sound, and struck ten, whilea woman's face peered in at the door, but at once withdrew, for thereason that, with the object of sleeping as well as possible, Chichikovhad removed every stitch of his clothing. Somehow the face seemed to himfamiliar, and he set himself to recall whose it could be. At length herecollected that it was the face of his hostess. His clothes he foundlying, clean and dry, beside him; so he dressed and approached themirror, meanwhile sneezing again with such vehemence that a cock whichhappened at the moment to be near the window (which was situated at nogreat distance from the ground) chuckled a short, sharp phrase. Probablyit meant, in the bird's alien tongue, "Good morning to you!" Chichikovretorted by calling the bird a fool, and then himself approached thewindow to look at the view. It appeared to comprise a poulterer'spremises. At all events, the narrow yard in front of the window was fullof poultry and other domestic creatures--of game fowls and barn doorfowls, with, among them, a cock which strutted with measured gait, andkept shaking its comb, and tilting its head as though it were trying tolisten to something. Also, a sow and her family were helping to gracethe scene. First, she rooted among a heap of litter; then, in passing, she ate up a young pullet; lastly, she proceeded carelessly to munchsome pieces of melon rind. To this small yard or poultry-run a lengthof planking served as a fence, while beyond it lay a kitchen gardencontaining cabbages, onions, potatoes, beetroots, and other householdvegetables. Also, the garden contained a few stray fruit trees thatwere covered with netting to protect them from the magpies and sparrows;flocks of which were even then wheeling and darting from one spot toanother. For the same reason a number of scarecrows with outstretchedarms stood reared on long poles, with, surmounting one of the figures, a cast-off cap of the hostess's. Beyond the garden again there stood anumber of peasants' huts. Though scattered, instead of being arranged inregular rows, these appeared to Chichikov's eye to comprise well-to-doinhabitants, since all rotten planks in their roofing had been replacedwith new ones, and none of their doors were askew, and such of theirtiltsheds as faced him evinced evidence of a presence of a sparewaggon--in some cases almost a new one. 

"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, andto cultivate her closer acquaintance. Accordingly he peeped through thechink of the door whence her head had recently protruded, and, on seeingher seated at a tea table, entered and greeted her with a cheerful, kindly smile. 

"Good morning, dear sir, " she responded as she rose. "How have youslept?" She was dressed in better style than she had been on theprevious evening. That is to say, she was now wearing a gown of somedark colour, and lacked her nightcap, and had swathed her neck insomething stiff. 

"I have slept exceedingly well, " replied Chichikov, seating himself upona chair. "And how are YOU, good madam?"

"But poorly, my dear sir. "

"And why so?"

"Because I cannot sleep. A pain has taken me in my middle, and my legs, from the ankles upwards, are aching as though they were broken. "

"That will pass, that will pass, good mother. You must pay no attentionto it. "

"God grant that it MAY pass. However, I have been rubbing myself withlard and turpentine. What sort of tea will you take? In this jar I havesome of the scented kind. "

"Excellent, good mother! Then I will take that. "

Probably the reader will have noticed that, for all his expressions ofsolicitude, Chichikov's tone towards his hostess partook of a freer, amore unceremonious, nature than that which he had adopted towards MadamManilov. And here I should like to assert that, howsoever much, incertain respects, we Russians may be surpassed by foreigners, at leastwe surpass them in adroitness of manner. In fact the various shades andsubtleties of our social intercourse defy enumeration. A Frenchman ora German would be incapable of envisaging and understanding all itspeculiarities and differences, for his tone in speaking to a millionairediffers but little from that which he employs towards a smalltobacconist--and that in spite of the circumstance that he is accustomedto cringe before the former. With us, however, things are different. InRussian society there exist clever folk who can speak in one manner toa landowner possessed of two hundred peasant souls, and in another toa landowner possessed of three hundred, and in another to a landownerpossessed of five hundred. In short, up to the number of a millionsouls the Russian will have ready for each landowner a suitable mode ofaddress. For example, suppose that somewhere there exists a governmentoffice, and that in that office there exists a director. I would beg ofyou to contemplate him as he sits among his myrmidons. Sheer nervousnesswill prevent you from uttering a word in his presence, so great are thepride and superiority depicted on his countenance. Also, were you tosketch him, you would be sketching a veritable Prometheus, for hisglance is as that of an eagle, and he walks with measured, statelystride. Yet no sooner will the eagle have left the room to seek thestudy of his superior officer than he will go scurrying along (papersheld close to his nose) like any partridge. But in society, and at theevening party (should the rest of those present be of lesser rank thanhimself) the Prometheus will once more become Prometheus, and the manwho stands a step below him will treat him in a way never dreamt of byOvid, 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 aman as you regard him. "Ivan Petrovitch is tall, whereas this man issmall and spare. Ivan Petrovitch has a loud, deep voice, and neversmiles, whereas this man (whoever he may be) is twittering like asparrow, and smiling all the time. " Yet approach and take a good look atthe fellow and you will see that is IS Ivan Petrovitch. "Alack, alack!"will be the only remark you can make. 

Let us return to our characters in real life. We have seen that, on thisoccasion, Chichikov decided to dispense with ceremony; wherefore, takingup the teapot, he went on as follows:

"You have a nice little village here, madam. How many souls does itcontain?"

"A little less than eighty, dear sir. But the times are hard, and I havelost a great deal through last year's harvest having proved a failure. "

"But your peasants look fine, strong fellows. May I enquire your name?Through arriving so late at night I have quite lost my wits. "

"Korobotchka, the widow of a Collegiate Secretary. "

"I humbly thank you. And your Christian name and patronymic?"

"Nastasia Petrovna. "

"Nastasia Petrovna! Those are excellent names. I have a maternal auntnamed like yourself. "

"And YOUR name?" queried the lady. "May I take it that you are aGovernment Assessor?"

"No, madam, " replied Chichikov with a smile. "I am not an Assessor, buta traveller on private business. "

"Then you must be a buyer of produce? How I regret that I have sold myhoney so cheaply to other buyers! Otherwise YOU might have bought it, dear sir. "

"I never buy honey. "

"Then WHAT do you buy, pray? Hemp? I have a little of that by me, butnot more than half a pood [16] or so. "

"No, madam. It is in other wares that I deal. Tell me, have you, of lateyears, lost many of your peasants by death?"

"Yes; no fewer than eighteen, " responded the old lady with a sigh. "Sucha fine lot, too--all good workers! True, others have since grown up, but of what use are THEY? Mere striplings. When the Assessor last calledupon 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! Andonly last week my blacksmith got burnt to death! Such a clever hand athis trade he was!"

"What? A fire occurred at your place?"

"No, no, God preserve us all! It was not so bad as that. You mustunderstand that the blacksmith SET HIMSELF on fire--he got set on firein his bowels through overdrinking. Yes, all of a sudden there burstfrom him a blue flame, and he smouldered and smouldered until he hadturned as black as a piece of charcoal! Yet what a clever blacksmith hewas! And now I have no horses to drive out with, for there is no one toshoe them. "

"In everything the will of God, madam, " said Chichikov with a sigh. "Against the divine wisdom it is not for us to rebel. Pray hand themover to me, Nastasia Petrovna. "

"Hand over whom?"

"The dead peasants. "

"But how could I do that?"

"Quite simply. Sell them to me, and I will give you some money inexchange. "

"But how am I to sell them to you? I scarcely understand what you mean. Am I to dig them up again from the ground?"

Chichikov perceived that the old lady was altogether at sea, and that hemust explain the matter; wherefore in a few words he informed her thatthe transfer or purchase of the souls in question would take placemerely on paper--that the said souls would be listed as still alive. 

"And what good would they be to you?" asked his hostess, staring at himwith her eyes distended. 

"That is MY affair. "

"But they are DEAD souls. "

"Who said they were not? The mere fact of their being dead entails uponyou a loss as dead as the souls, for you have to continue paying taxupon them, whereas MY plan is to relieve you both of the tax and of theresultant trouble. NOW do you understand? And I will not only do asI say, but also hand you over fifteen roubles per soul. Is that clearenough?"

"Yes--but I do not know, " said his hostess diffidently. "You see, neverbefore have I sold dead souls. "

"Quite so. It would be a surprising thing if you had. But surely you donot think that these dead souls are in the least worth keeping?"

"Oh, no, indeed! Why should they be worth keeping? I am sure they arenot so. The only thing which troubles me is the fact that they areDEAD. "

"She seems a truly obstinate old woman!" was Chichikov's inward comment. "Look here, madam, " he added aloud. "You reason well, but you are simplyruining yourself by continuing to pay the tax upon dead souls as thoughthey were still alive. "

"Oh, good sir, do not speak of it!" the lady exclaimed. "Three weeks agoI took a hundred and fifty roubles to that Assessor, and buttered himup, and--"

"Then you see how it is, do you not? Remember that, according to myplan, you will never again have to butter up the Assessor, seeing thatit will be I who will be paying for those peasants--_I_, not YOU, for Ishall have taken over the dues upon them, and have transferred them tomyself as so many bona fide serfs. Do you understand AT LAST?"

However, the old lady still communed with herself. She could see thatthe transaction would be to her advantage, yet it was one of such anovel and unprecedented nature that she was beginning to fear lest thispurchaser of souls intended to cheat her. Certainly he had come from Godonly knew where, and at the dead of night, too!

"But, sir, I have never in my life sold dead folk--only living ones. Three years ago I transferred two wenches to Protopopov for a hundredroubles apiece, and he thanked me kindly, for they turned out splendidworkers--able to make napkins or anything else. 

"Yes, but with the living we have nothing to do, damn it! I am askingyou only about DEAD folk. "

"Yes, yes, of course. But at first sight I felt afraid lest I should beincurring a loss--lest you should be wishing to outwit me, good sir. You see, the dead souls are worth rather more than you have offered forthem. "

"See here, madam. (What a woman it is!) HOW could they be worth more?Think for yourself. They are so much loss to you--so much loss, do youunderstand? Take any worthless, rubbishy article you like--a piece ofold rag, for example. That rag will yet fetch its price, for it can bebought for paper-making. But these dead souls are good for NOTHING ATALL. Can you name anything that they ARE good for?"

"True, true--they ARE good for nothing. But what troubles me is the factthat they are dead. "

"What a blockhead of a creature!" said Chichikov to himself, for he wasbeginning 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 fromhis brow. Yet he need not have flown into such a passion. More than onerespected statesman reveals himself, when confronted with a businessmatter, to be just such another as Madam Korobotchka, in that, once hehas got an idea into his head, there is no getting it out of him--youmay ply him with daylight-clear arguments, yet they will reboundfrom his brain as an india-rubber ball rebounds from a flagstone. Nevertheless, wiping away the perspiration, Chichikov resolved to trywhether he could not bring her back to the road by another path. 

"Madam, " he said, "either you are declining to understand what I say oryou are talking for the mere sake of talking. If I hand you over somemoney--fifteen roubles for each soul, do you understand?--it is MONEY, not something which can be picked up haphazard on the street. Forinstance, tell me how much you sold your honey for?"

"For twelve roubles per pood. "

"Ah! Then by those words, madam, you have laid a trifling sin upon yoursoul; for you did NOT sell the honey for twelve roubles. "

"By the Lord God I did!"

"Well, well! Never mind. Honey is only honey. Now, you had collectedthat 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 frozenout 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 inthis case you have put forth no exertions--it was merely God's will thatthey should leave the world, and thus decrease the personnel of yourestablishment. In the former case you received (so you allege) twelveroubles per pood for your labour; but in this case you will receivemoney for having done nothing at all. Nor will you receive twelveroubles per item, but FIFTEEN--and roubles not in silver, but roubles ingood paper currency. "

That these powerful inducements would certainly cause the old woman toyield Chichikov had not a doubt. 

"True, " his hostess replied. "But how strangely business comes to me asa widow! Perhaps I had better wait a little longer, seeing that otherbuyers might come along, and I might be able to compare prices. "

"For shame, madam! For shame! Think what you are saying. Who else, Iwould ask, would care to buy those souls? What use could they be to anyone?"

"If that is so, they might come in useful to ME, " mused the old womanaloud; after which she sat staring at Chichikov with her mouth open anda face of nervous expectancy as to his possible rejoinder. 

"Dead folk useful in a household!" he exclaimed. "Why, what could you dowith them? Set them up on poles to frighten away the sparrows from yourgarden?"

"The Lord save us, but what things you say!" she ejaculated, crossingherself. 

"Well, WHAT could you do with them? By this time they are so much bonesand earth. That is all there is left of them. Their transfer to myselfwould be ON PAPER only. Come, come! At least give me an answer. "

Again the old woman communed with herself. 

"What are you thinking of, Nastasia Petrovna?" inquired Chichikov. 

"I am thinking that I scarcely know what to do. Perhaps I had bettersell you some hemp?"

"What do I want with hemp? Pardon me, but just when I have made to youa different proposal altogether you begin fussing about hemp! Hemp ishemp, and though I may want some when I NEXT visit you, I should like toknow what you have to say to the suggestion under discussion. "

"Well, I think it a very queer bargain. Never have I heard of such athing. "

Upon this Chichikov lost all patience, upset his chair, and bid her goto the devil; of which personage even the mere mention terrified herextremely. 

"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 appearedto me in a dream. You see, after saying my prayers, I bethought meof telling my fortune by the cards; and God must have sent him as apunishment. He looked so horrible, and had horns longer than a bull's!"

"I wonder you don't see SCORES of devils in your dreams! Merely out ofChristian charity he had come to you to say, 'I perceive a poor widowgoing to rack and ruin, and likely soon to stand in danger of want. 'Well, go to rack and ruin--yes, you and all your village together!"

"The insults!" exclaimed the old woman, glancing at her visitor interror. 

"I should think so!" continued Chichikov. "Indeed, I cannot find wordsto describe you. To say no more about it, you are like a dog in amanger. You don't want to eat the hay yourself, yet you won't letanyone else touch it. All that I am seeking to do is to purchasecertain domestic products of yours, for the reason that I have certainGovernment contracts to fulfil. " This last he added in passing, andwithout any ulterior motive, save that it came to him as a happythought. Nevertheless the mention of Government contracts exercised apowerful influence upon Nastasia Petrovna, and she hastened to say in atone that was almost supplicatory:

"Why should you be so angry with me? Had I known that you were going tolose your temper in this way, I should never have discussed the matter. "

"No wonder that I lose my temper! An egg too many is no great matter, yet it may prove exceedingly annoying. "

"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 timeyou should find yourself in need of rye-meal or buckwheat or groats ordead meat. "

"No, I shall NEVER forget you, madam!" he said, wiping his forehead, where three separate streams of perspiration were trickling down hisface. Then he asked her whether in the town she had any acquaintance oragent whom she could empower to complete the transference of the serfs, and to carry out whatsoever else might be necessary. 

"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 apower of attorney, while, to save extra trouble, he himself would thenand there compose the requisite letter. 

"It would be a fine thing if he were to buy up all my meal and stockfor the Government, " thought Madame to herself. "I must encourage him alittle. There has been some dough standing ready since last night, so Iwill go and tell Fetinia to try a few pancakes. Also, it might be wellto try him with an egg pie. We make then nicely here, and they do nottake long in the making. "

So she departed to translate her thoughts into action, as well as tosupplement the pie with other products of the domestic cuisine; while, for his part, Chichikov returned to the drawing-room where he had spentthe night, in order to procure from his dispatch-box the necessarywriting-paper. The room had now been set in order, the sumptuousfeather bed removed, and a table set before the sofa. Depositing hisdispatch-box upon the table, he heaved a gentle sigh on becoming awarethat he was so soaked with perspiration that he might almost havebeen dipped in a river. Everything, from his shirt to his socks, was dripping. "May she starve to death, the cursed old harridan!" heejaculated after a moment's rest. Then he opened his dispatch-box. Inpassing, I may say that I feel certain that at least SOME of my readerswill be curious to know the contents and the internal arrangements ofthat receptacle. Why should I not gratify their curiosity? To beginwith, the centre of the box contained a soap-dish, with, disposed aroundit, six or seven compartments for razors. Next came square partitionsfor a sand-box [17] and an inkstand, as well as (scooped out in theirmidst) a hollow of pens, sealing-wax, and anything else that requiredmore room. Lastly there were all sorts of little divisions, both withand without lids, for articles of a smaller nature, such as visitingcards, memorial cards, theatre tickets, and things which Chichikov hadlaid by as souvenirs. This portion of the box could be taken out, andbelow it were both a space for manuscripts and a secret money-box--thelatter made to draw out from the side of the receptacle. 

Chichikov set to work to clean a pen, and then to write. Presently hishostess entered the room. 

"What a beautiful box you have got, my dear sir!" she exclaimed as shetook a seat beside him. "Probably you bought it in Moscow?"

"Yes--in Moscow, " replied Chichikov without interrupting his writing. 

"I thought so. One CAN get good things there. Three years ago my sisterbrought me a few pairs of warm shoes for my sons, and they were suchexcellent articles! To this day my boys wear them. And what nice stampedpaper you have!" (she had peered into the dispatch-box, where, sureenough, there lay a further store of the paper in question). "Would youmind letting me have a sheet of it? I am without any at all, although Ishall soon have to be presenting a plea to the land court, and possessnot a morsel of paper to write it on. "

Upon this Chichikov explained that the paper was not the sort properfor the purpose--that it was meant for serf-indenturing, and not forthe framing of pleas. Nevertheless, to quiet her, he gave her a sheetstamped to the value of a rouble. Next, he handed her the letter tosign, and requested, in return, a list of her peasants. Unfortunately, such a list had never been compiled, let alone any copies of it, and theonly way in which she knew the peasants' names was by heart. However, hetold her to dictate them. Some of the names greatly astonished our hero, so, still more, did the surnames. Indeed, frequently, on hearing thelatter, he had to pause before writing them down. Especially did he haltbefore a certain "Peter Saveliev Neuvazhai Korito. " "What a string oftitles!" involuntarily he ejaculated. To the Christian name of anotherserf was appended "Korovi Kirpitch, " and to that of a third "KolesoIvan. " However, at length the list was compiled, and he caught a deepbreath; which latter proceeding caused him to catch also the attractiveodour of something fried in fat. 

"I beseech you to have a morsel, " murmured his hostess. Chichikov lookedup, and saw that the table was spread with mushrooms, pies, and otherviands. 

"Try this freshly-made pie and an egg, " continued Madame. 

Chichikov did so, and having eaten more than half of what she offeredhim, praised the pie highly. Indeed, it was a toothsome dish, and, afterhis difficulties and exertions with his hostess, it tasted even betterthan it might otherwise have done. 

"And also a few pancakes?" suggested Madame. 

For answer Chichikov folded three together, and, having dipped them inmelted butter, consigned the lot to his mouth, and then wiped hismouth with a napkin. Twice more was the process repeated, and thenhe requested his hostess to order the britchka to be got ready. Indispatching Fetinia with the necessary instructions, she ordered her toreturn with a second batch of hot pancakes. 

"Your pancakes are indeed splendid, " said Chichikov, applying himself tothe second consignment of fried dainties when they had arrived. 

"Yes, we make them well here, " replied Madame. "Yet how unfortunate itis that the harvest should have proved so poor as to have prevented mefrom earning anything on my--But why should you be in such a hurry todepart, good sir?" She broke off on seeing Chichikov reach for his cap. "The britchka is not yet ready. "

"Then it is being got so, madam, it is being got so, and I shall need amoment or two to pack my things. "

"As you please, dear sir; but do not forget me in connection with thoseGovernment contracts. "

"No, I have said that NEVER shall I forget you, " replied Chichikov as hehurried into the hall. 

"And would you like to buy some lard?" continued his hostess, pursuinghim. 

"Lard? Oh certainly. Why not? Only, only--I will do so ANOTHER time. "

"I shall have some ready at about Christmas. "

"Quite so, madam. THEN I will buy anything and everything--the lardincluded. "

"And perhaps you will be wanting also some feathers? I shall be havingsome for sale about St. Philip's Day. "

"Very well, very well, madam. "

"There you see!" she remarked as they stepped out on to the verandah. "The britchka is NOT yet ready. "

"But it soon will be, it soon will be. Only direct me to the main road. "

"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 agirl to guide you. You could find room for her on the box-seat, couldyou not?"

"Yes, of course. "

"Then I will send her. She knows the way thoroughly. Only do not carryher off for good. Already some traders have deprived me of one of mygirls. "

Chichikov reassured his hostess on the point, and Madame plucked upcourage enough to scan, first of all, the housekeeper, who happened tobe issuing from the storehouse with a bowl of honey, and, next, ayoung peasant who happened to be standing at the gates; and, while thusengaged, she became wholly absorbed in her domestic pursuits. Butwhy pay her so much attention? The Widow Korobotchka, Madame Manilov, domestic life, non-domestic life--away with them all! How strangely arethings compounded! In a trice may joy turn to sorrow, should one haltlong enough over it: in a trice only God can say what ideas may strikeone. You may fall even to thinking: "After all, did Madame Korobotchkastand so very low in the scale of human perfection? Was there reallysuch a very great gulf between her and Madame Manilov--between her andthe Madame Manilov whom we have seen entrenched behind the walls of agenteel mansion in which there were a fine staircase of wrought metaland a number of rich carpets; the Madame Manilov who spent most of hertime in yawning behind half-read books, and in hoping for a visit fromsome socially distinguished person in order that she might display herwit and carefully rehearsed thoughts--thoughts which had been de rigeurin town for a week past, yet which referred, not to what was going onin her household or on her estate--both of which properties were at oddsand ends, owing to her ignorance of the art of managing them--but tothe coming political revolution in France and the direction in whichfashionable Catholicism was supposed to be moving? But away with suchthings! Why need we speak of them? Yet how comes it that suddenly intothe midst of our careless, frivolous, unthinking moments there may enteranother, and a very different, tendency?--that the smile may not haveleft a human face before its owner will have radically changed his orher nature (though not his or her environment) with the result thatthe face will suddenly become lit with a radiance never before seenthere?. .. 

"Here is the britchka, here is the britchka!" exclaimed Chichikov onperceiving that vehicle slowly advancing. "Ah, you blockhead!" hewent on to Selifan. "Why have you been loitering about? I suppose lastnight's fumes have not yet left your brain?"

To this Selifan returned no reply. 

"Good-bye, madam, " added the speaker. "But where is the girl whom youpromised me?"

"Here, Pelagea!" called the hostess to a wench of about eleven who wasdressed in home-dyed garments and could boast of a pair of bare feetwhich, from a distance, might almost have been mistaken for boots, soencrusted were they with fresh mire. "Here, Pelagea! Come and show thisgentleman the way. "

Selifan helped the girl to ascend to the box-seat. Placing one foot uponthe step by which the gentry mounted, she covered the said step withmud, and then, ascending higher, attained the desired position besidethe coachman. Chichikov followed in her wake (causing the britchka toheel over with his weight as he did so), and then settled himself backinto his place with an "All right! Good-bye, madam!" as the horses movedaway at a trot. 

Selifan looked gloomy as he drove, but also very attentive to hisbusiness. This was invariably his custom when he had committed the faultof getting drunk. Also, the horses looked unusually well-groomed. Inparticular, the collar on one of them had been neatly mended, althoughhitherto its state of dilapidation had been such as perennially to allowthe stuffing to protrude through the leather. The silence preserved waswell-nigh complete. Merely flourishing his whip, Selifan spoke to theteam no word of instruction, although the skewbald was as ready as usualto listen to conversation of a didactic nature, seeing that at suchtimes 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 thetroika. This time, however, there could be heard issuing from Selifan'ssullen lips only the uniformly unpleasant exclamation, "Now then, youbrutes! Get on with you, get on with you!" The bay and the Assessor toofelt put out at not hearing themselves called "my pets" or "good lads";while, in addition, the skewbald came in for some nasty cuts across hissleek and ample quarters. "What has put master out like this?" thoughtthe animal as it shook its head. "Heaven knows where he does not keepbeating me--across the back, and even where I am tenderer still. Yes, hekeeps catching the whip in my ears, and lashing me under the belly. "

"To the right, eh?" snapped Selifan to the girl beside him as he pointedto a rain-soaked road which trended away through fresh green fields. 

"No, no, " she replied. "I will show you the road when the time comes. "

"Which way, then?" he asked again when they had proceeded a littlefurther. 

"This way. " And she pointed to the road just mentioned. 

"Get along with you!" retorted the coachman. "That DOES go to the right. You don't know your right hand from your left. "

The weather was fine, but the ground so excessively sodden that thewheels of the britchka collected mire until they had become caked aswith a layer of felt, a circumstance which greatly increased the weightof the vehicle, and prevented it from clearing the neighbouring parishesbefore the afternoon was arrived. Also, without the girl's help thefinding of the way would have been impossible, since roads wiggled awayin every direction, like crabs released from a net, and, but for theassistance mentioned, Selifan would have found himself left to his owndevices. Presently she pointed to a building ahead, with the words, "THERE is the main road. "

"And what is the building?" asked Selifan. 

"A tavern, " she said. 

"Then we can get along by ourselves, " he observed. "Do you get down, andbe off home. "

With that he stopped, and helped her to alight--muttering as he did so:"Ah, you blackfooted creature!"

Chichikov added a copper groat, and she departed well pleased with herride in the gentleman's carriage. 

CHAPTER IV

On reaching the tavern, Chichikov called a halt. His reasons for thiswere twofold--namely, that he wanted to rest the horses, and that hehimself desired some refreshment. In this connection the author feelsbound to confess that the appetite and the capacity of such men aregreatly to be envied. Of those well-to-do folk of St. Petersburg andMoscow who spend their time in considering what they shall eat on themorrow, and in composing a dinner for the day following, and who neversit down to a meal without first of all injecting a pill and thenswallowing oysters and crabs and a quantity of other monsters, whileeternally departing for Karlsbad or the Caucasus, the author has but asmall opinion. Yes, THEY are not the persons to inspire envy. Rather, it is the folk of the middle classes--folk who at one posthouse call forbacon, and at another for a sucking pig, and at a third for a steak ofsturgeon or a baked pudding with onions, and who can sit down to tableat any hour, as though they had never had a meal in their lives, andcan devour fish of all sorts, and guzzle and chew it with a viewto provoking further appetite--these, I say, are the folk who enjoyheaven's most favoured gift. To attain such a celestial condition thegreat folk of whom I have spoken would sacrifice half their serfs andhalf their mortgaged and non-mortgaged property, with the foreign anddomestic improvements thereon, if thereby they could compass sucha stomach as is possessed by the folk of the middle class. But, unfortunately, neither money nor real estate, whether improved ornon-improved, can purchase such a stomach. 

The little wooden tavern, with its narrow, but hospitable, curtainsuspended from a pair of rough-hewn doorposts like old churchcandlesticks, seemed to invite Chichikov to enter. True, theestablishment was only a Russian hut of the ordinary type, but it wasa hut of larger dimensions than usual, and had around its windows andgables carved and patterned cornices of bright-coloured wood which threwinto relief the darker hue of the walls, and consorted well with theflowered pitchers painted on the shutters. 

Ascending the narrow wooden staircase to the upper floor, and arrivingupon a broad landing, Chichikov found himself confronted with a creakingdoor and a stout old woman in a striped print gown. "This way, if youplease, " she said. Within the apartment designated Chichikovencountered the old friends which one invariably finds in such roadsidehostelries--to wit, a heavy samovar, four smooth, bescratched walls ofwhite pine, a three-cornered press with cups and teapots, egg-cupsof gilded china standing in front of ikons suspended by blue and redribands, a cat lately delivered of a family, a mirror which gives onefour eyes instead of two and a pancake for a face, and, beside theikons, some bunches of herbs and carnations of such faded dustinessthat, should one attempt to smell them, one is bound to burst outsneezing. 

"Have you a sucking-pig?" Chichikov inquired of the landlady as shestood expectantly before him. 

"Yes. "

"And some horse-radish and sour cream?"

"Yes. "

"Then serve them. "

The landlady departed for the purpose, and returned with a plate, anapkin (the latter starched to the consistency of dried bark), a knifewith a bone handle beginning to turn yellow, a two-pronged fork as thinas a wafer, and a salt-cellar incapable of being made to stand upright. 

Following the accepted custom, our hero entered into conversation withthe woman, and inquired whether she herself or a landlord kept thetavern; how much income the tavern brought in; whether her sons livedwith her; whether the oldest was a bachelor or married; whom theeldest had taken to wife; whether the dowry had been large; whether thefather-in-law had been satisfied, and whether the said father-in-lawhad 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 theneighbourhood. Their names, he ascertained, were Blochin, Potchitaev, Minoi, Cheprakov, and Sobakevitch. 

"Then you are acquainted with Sobakevitch?" he said; whereupon the oldwoman 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 onedish only, but consume the whole of it, and then demand more at the sameprice. 

Whilst Chichikov was thus conversing and partaking of the sucking piguntil only a fragment of it seemed likely to remain, the sound of anapproaching vehicle made itself heard. Peering through the window, hesaw draw up to the tavern door a light britchka drawn by three finehorses. From it there descended two men--one flaxen-haired and tall, andthe other dark-haired and of slighter build. While the flaxen-hairedman was clad in a dark-blue coat, the other one was wrapped in a coatof striped pattern. Behind the britchka stood a second, but an empty, turn-out, drawn by four long-coated steeds in ragged collars andrope harnesses. The flaxen-haired man lost no time in ascending thestaircase, while his darker friend remained below to fumble at somethingin the britchka, talking, as he did so, to the driver of the vehiclewhich stood hitched behind. Somehow, the dark-haired man's voice struckChichikov as familiar; and as he was taking another look at him theflaxen-haired gentleman entered the room. The newcomer was a man oflofty stature, with a small red moustache and a lean, hard-bitten facewhose redness made it evident that its acquaintance, if not with thesmoke of gunpowder, at all events with that of tobacco, was intimateand extensive. Nevertheless he greeted Chichikov civilly, and the latterreturned his bow. Indeed, the pair would have entered into conversation, and have made one another's acquaintance (since a beginning was madewith their simultaneously expressing satisfaction at the circumstancethat the previous night's rain had laid the dust on the roads, and thereby made driving cool and pleasant) when the gentleman'sdarker-favoured friend also entered the room, and, throwing his cap uponthe 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 assnow, and coal-black whiskers. Indeed, so fresh was his complexion thatit seemed to have been compounded of blood and milk, while health dancedin his every feature. 

"Ha, ha, ha!" he cried with a gesture of astonishment at the sight ofChichikov. "What chance brings YOU here?"

Upon that Chichikov recognised Nozdrev--the man whom he had met atdinner at the Public Prosecutor's, and who, within a minute or two ofthe introduction, had become so intimate with his fellow guest as toaddress him in the second person singular, in spite of the fact thatChichikov had given him no opportunity for doing so. 

"Where have you been to-day?" Nozdrev inquired, and, without waiting foran answer, went on: "For myself, I am just from the fair, and completelycleaned out. Actually, I have had to do the journey back with stagehorses! Look out of the window, and see them for yourself. " And heturned Chichikov's head so sharply in the desired direction that he camevery near to bumping it against the window frame. "Did you ever see sucha 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 knowone another? He is Mizhuev, my brother-in-law. He and I were talking ofyou only this morning. 'Just you see, ' said I to him, 'if we do not fallin with Chichikov before we have done. ' Heavens, how completely cleanedout I am! Not only have I lost four good horses, but also my watch andchain. " Chichikov perceived that in very truth his interlocutor wasminus the articles named, as well as that one of Nozdrev's whiskers wasless bushy in appearance than the other one. "Had I had another twentyroubles in my pocket, " went on Nozdrev, "I should have won back all thatI have lost, as well as have pouched a further thirty thousand. Yes, Igive you my word of honour on that. "

"But you were saying the same thing when last I met you, " put in theflaxen-haired man. "Yet, even though I lent you fifty roubles, you lostthem all. "

"But I should not have lost them THIS time. Don't try to make me outa fool. I should NOT have lost them, I tell you. Had I only played theright card, I should have broken the bank. "

"But you did NOT break the bank, " remarked the flaxen-haired man. 

"No. That was because I did not play my cards right. But what about yourprecious major's play? Is THAT good?"

"Good or not, at least he beat you. "

"Splendid of him! Nevertheless I will get my own back. Let him play meat 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 atremendous success. Indeed, the tradesmen said that never yet had therebeen such a gathering. I myself managed to sell everything from myestate at a good price. In fact, we had a magnificent time. I can't helpthinking of it, devil take me! But what a pity YOU were not there! Threeversts from the town there is quartered a regiment of dragoons, and youwould scarcely believe what a lot of officers it has. Forty at leastthere are, and they do a fine lot of knocking about the town anddrinking. In particular, Staff-Captain 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. AndLieutenant Kuvshinnikov, too! He is as delightful as the other man. Infact, I may say that every one of the lot is a rake. I spent my wholetime 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, andought not to be dealt with, for he puts all sorts of rubbish into hisliquor--Indian 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 ofdelight. And what quantities of champagne we drank! Compared with it, provincial stuff is kvass [18]. Try to imagine not merely Clicquot, buta sort of blend of Clicquot and Matradura--Clicquot 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 rosegarden, of anything else you like. What times we had, to be sure! Justafter we had left Pnomarev's place, some prince or another arrived inthe town, and sent out for some champagne; but not a bottle was thereleft, for the officers had drunk every one! Why, I myself got throughseventeen bottles at a sitting. "

"Come, come! You CAN'T have got through seventeen, " remarked theflaxen-haired man. 

"But I did, I give my word of honour, " retorted Nozdrev. 

"Imagine what you like, but you didn't drink even TEN bottles at asitting. "

"Will you bet that I did not?"

"No; for what would be the use of betting about it?"

"Then at least wager the gun which you have bought. "

"No, I am not going to do anything of the kind. "

"Just as an experiment?"

"No. "

"It is as well for you that you don't, since, otherwise, you would havefound yourself minus both gun and cap. However, friend Chichikov, itis a pity you were not there. Had you been there, I feel sure you wouldhave found yourself unable to part with Lieutenant Kuvshinnikov. You andhe would have hit it off splendidly. You know, he is quite adifferent sort from the Public Prosecutor and our other provincialskinflints--fellows who shiver in their shoes before they will spend asingle 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 cattlebreeding or something of the sort? But never mind. Embrace me. I likeyou immensely. Mizhuev, see how curiously things have turned out. Chichikov has nothing to do with me, or I with him, yet here is he comefrom God knows where, and landed in the very spot where I happen to beliving! I may tell you that, no matter how many carriages I possessed, Ishould 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 stakedsome more things, and, like a fool, lost them all, and six roubles inaddition. What a dog is that Kuvshinnikov! He and I attended nearlyevery ball in the place. In particular, there was a woman--decolletee, and such a swell! I merely thought to myself, 'The devil take her!' butKuvshinnikov is such a wag that he sat down beside her, and began payingher strings of compliments in French. However, I did not neglect thedamsels altogether--although HE calls that sort of thing 'going in forstrawberries. ' By the way, I have a splendid piece of fish and somecaviare with me. 'Tis all I HAVE brought back! In fact it is a luckychance that I happened to buy the stuff before my money was gone. Whereare you for?"

"I am about to call on a friend. "

"On what friend? Let him go to the devil, and come to my place instead. "

"I cannot, I cannot. I have business to do. "

"Oh, business again! I thought so!"

"But I HAVE business to do--and pressing business at that. "

"I wager that you're lying. If not, tell me whom you're going to callupon. "

"Upon Sobakevitch. "

Instantly Nozdrev burst into a laugh compassable only by a healthy manin whose head every tooth still remains as white as sugar. By this Imean the laugh of quivering cheeks, the laugh which causes a neighbourwho is sleeping behind double doors three rooms away to leap from hisbed and exclaim with distended eyes, "Hullo! Something HAS upset him!"

"What is there to laugh at?" asked Chichikov, a trifle nettled; butNozdrev laughed more unrestrainedly than ever, ejaculating: "Oh, spareus 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 infulfilment of a promise that I am on my way to Sobakevitch's. "

"Then you will scarcely be glad to be alive when you've got there, forhe 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 aremistaken. 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 sturgeonto offer you for dinner. Ponomarev said to me on parting: 'This piece isjust the thing for you. Even if you were to search the whole market, youwould 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 twogreatest skinflints in the town. ' But he only stroked his beardand smiled. Every day I used to breakfast with Kuvshinnikov in hisrestaurant. Well, what I was nearly forgetting is this: that, though Iam aware that you can't forgo your engagement, I am not going to giveyou up--no, not for ten thousand roubles of money. I tell you that inadvance. "

Here he broke off to run to the window and shout to his servant (who washolding a knife in one hand and a crust of bread and a piece of sturgeonin the other--he had contrived to filch the latter while fumbling in thebritchka for something else):

"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, eventhough I have promised him the roan filly which, as you may remember, Iswopped from Khvostirev. " As a matter of act, Chichikov had never in hislife seen either Khvostirev or the roan filly. 

"Barin, do you wish for anything to eat?" inquired the landlady as sheentered. 

"No, nothing at all. Ah, friend Chichikov, what times we had! Yes, giveme a glass of vodka, old woman. What sort to you keep?"

"Aniseed. "

"Then bring me a glass of it, " repeated Nozdrev. 

"And one for me as well, " added the flaxen-haired man. 

"At the theatre, " went on Nozdrev, "there was an actress who sang like acanary. Kuvshinnikov, who happened to be sitting with me, said: 'My boy, you had better go and gather that strawberry. ' As for the booths at thefair, they numbered, I should say, fifty. " At this point he broke offto take the glass of vodka from the landlady, who bowed low inacknowledgement of his doing so. At the same moment Porphyri--afellow dressed like his master (that is to say, in a greasy, waddedovercoat)--entered with the puppy. 

"Put the brute down here, " commanded Nozdrev, "and then fasten it up. "

Porphyri deposited the animal upon the floor; whereupon it proceeded toact after the manner of dogs. 

"THERE'S a puppy for you!" cried Nozdrev, catching hold of it by theback, and lifting it up. The puppy uttered a piteous yelp. 

"I can see that you haven't done what I told you to do, " he continuedto Porphyri after an inspection of the animal's belly. "You have quiteforgotten to brush him. "

"I DID brush him, " protested Porphyri. 

"Then where did these fleas come from?"

"I cannot think. Perhaps they have leapt into his coat out of thebritchka. "

"You liar! As a matter of fact, you have forgotten to brush him. Nevertheless, look at these ears, Chichikov. Just feel them. "

"Why should I? Without doing that, I can see that he is well-bred. "

"Nevertheless, catch hold of his ears and feel them. "

To humour the fellow Chichikov did as he had requested, remarking: "Yes, he seems likely to turn out well. "

"And feel the coldness of his nose! Just take it in your hand. "

Not wishing to offend his interlocutor, Chichikov felt the puppy's nose, saying: "Some day he will have an excellent scent. "

"Yes, will he not? 'Tis the right sort of muzzle for that. I must saythat I have long been wanting such a puppy. Porphyri, take him awayagain. "

Porphyri lifted up the puppy, and bore it downstairs. 

"Look here, Chichikov, " resumed Nozdrev. "You MUST come to my place. Itlies only five versts away, and we can go there like the wind, and youcan visit Sobakevitch afterwards. "

"Shall I, or shall I not, go to Nozdrev's?" reflected Chichikov. "Is helikely to prove any more useful than the rest? Well, at least he is aspromising, even though he has lost so much at play. But he has a head onhis shoulders, and therefore I must go carefully if I am to tackle himconcerning my scheme. "

With that he added aloud: "Very well, I WILL come with you, but do notlet us be long, for my time is very precious. "

"That's right, that's right!" cried Nozdrev. "Splendid, splendid! Let meembrace you!" And he fell upon Chichikov's neck. "All three of us willgo. "

"No, no, " put in the flaxen-haired man. "You must excuse me, for I mustbe off home. "

"Rubbish, rubbish! I am NOT going to excuse you. "

"But my wife will be furious with me. You and Monsieur Chichikov mustchange into the other britchka. "

"Come, come! The thing is not to be thought of. "

The flaxen-haired man was one of those people in whose character, atfirst sight, there seems to lurk a certain grain of stubbornness--somuch so that, almost before one has begun to speak, they are ready todispute one's words, and to disagree with anything that may be opposedto their peculiar form of opinion. For instance, they will decline tohave folly called wisdom, or any tune danced to but their own. Always, however, will there become manifest in their character a soft spot, andin the end they will accept what hitherto they have denied, and callwhat is foolish sensible, and even dance--yes, better than any one elsewill do--to a tune set by some one else. In short, they generally beginwell, but always end badly. 

"Rubbish!" said Nozdrev in answer to a further objection on hisbrother-in-law's part. And, sure enough, no sooner had Nozdrev clappedhis cap upon his head than the flaxen-haired man started to follow himand his companion. 

"But the gentleman has not paid for the vodka?" put in the old woman. 

"All right, all right, good mother. Look here, brother-in-law. Pay her, will you, for I have not a kopeck left. "

"How much?" inquired the brother-in-law. 

"What, sir? Eighty kopecks, if you please, " replied the old woman. 

"A lie! Give her half a rouble. That will be quite enough. "

"No, it will NOT, barin, " protested the old woman. However, she took themoney 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 shehad demanded fully a quarter more than the vodka was worth. 

The travellers then took their seats, and since Chichikov's britchkakept alongside the britchka wherein Nozdrev and his brother-in-law wereseated, it was possible for all three men to converse together as theyproceeded. Behind them came Nozdrev's smaller buggy, with its teamof lean stage horses and Porphyri and the puppy. But inasmuch as theconversation which the travellers maintained was not of a kind likelyto interest the reader, I might do worse than say something concerningNozdrev himself, seeing that he is destined to play no small role in ourstory. 

Nozdrev's face will be familiar to the reader, seeing that every onemust have encountered many such. Fellows of the kind are known as"gay young sparks, " and, even in their boyhood and school days, earn areputation for being bons camarades (though with it all they come in forsome hard knocks) for the reason that their faces evince an element offrankness, directness, and enterprise which enables them soon to makefriends, and, almost before you have had time to look around, to startaddressing you in the second person singular. Yet, while cementing suchfriendships for all eternity, almost always they begin quarrelling thesame evening, since, throughout, they are a loquacious, dissipated, high-spirited, over-showy tribe. Indeed, at thirty-five Nozdrev was justwhat he had been an eighteen and twenty--he was just such a lover offast living. Nor had his marriage in any way changed him, and the lessso since his wife had soon departed to another world, and left behindher two children, whom he did not want, and who were therefore placedin the charge of a good-looking nursemaid. Never at any time could heremain at home for more than a single day, for his keen scent couldrange over scores and scores of versts, and detect any fair whichpromised balls and crowds. Consequently in a trice he would bethere--quarrelling, and creating disturbances over the gaming-table(like all men of his type, he had a perfect passion for cards) yetplaying neither a faultless nor an over-clean game, since he was botha blunderer and able to indulge in a large number of illicit cuts andother devices. The result was that the game often ended in another kindof sport altogether. That is to say, either he received a good kicking, or he had his thick and very handsome whiskers pulled; with the resultthat on certain occasions he returned home with one of those appendageslooking decidedly ragged. Yet his plump, healthy-looking cheeks wereso robustly constituted, and contained such an abundance of recreativevigour, that a new whisker soon sprouted in place of the old one, andeven surpassed its predecessor. Again (and the following is a phenomenonpeculiar to Russia) a very short time would have elapsed before oncemore he would be consorting with the very cronies who had recentlycuffed him--and consorting with them as though nothing whatsoever hadhappened--no reference to the subject being made by him, and they tooholding their tongues. 

In short, Nozdrev was, as it were, a man of incident. Never was hepresent at any gathering without some sort of a fracas occurringthereat. Either he would require to be expelled from the room bygendarmes, or his friends would have to kick him out into the street. Atall events, should neither of those occurrences take place, at least hedid 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 anextent as to make very one smile, you may be sure that he was engaged inlying to a degree which at times abashed even himself. Moreover, the manlied without reason. For instance, he would begin telling a story to theeffect that he possessed a blue-coated or a red-coated 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 Nozdrevhave a passion for insulting their neighbours without the leastexcuse afforded. (For that matter, even a man of good standing and ofrespectable exterior--a man with a star on his breast--may unexpectedlypress your hand one day, and begin talking to you on subjects of anature to give food for serious thought. Yet just as unexpectedly maythat man start abusing you to your face--and do so in a manner worthyof a collegiate registrar rather than of a man who wears a star on hisbreast and aspires to converse on subjects which merit reflection. Allthat one can do in such a case is to stand shrugging one's shoulders inamazement. ) Well, Nozdrev had just such a weakness. The more he becamefriendly with a man, the sooner would he insult him, and be readyto spread calumnies as to his reputation. Yet all the while he wouldconsider himself the insulted one's friend, and, should he meet himagain, would greet him in the most amicable style possible, and say, "You rascal, why have you given up coming to see me. " Thus, taken allround, Nozdrev was a person of many aspects and numerous potentialities. In one and the same breath would he propose to go with you whithersoeveryou might choose (even to the very ends of the world should you sorequire) or to enter upon any sort of an enterprise with you, or toexchange any commodity for any other commodity which you might care toname. Guns, horses, dogs, all were subjects for barter--though not forprofit so far as YOU were concerned. Such traits are mostly the outcomeof a boisterous temperament, as is additionally exemplified by the factthat if at a fair he chanced to fall in with a simpleton and to fleecehim, he would then proceed to buy a quantity of the very first articleswhich came to hand--horse-collars, cigar-lighters, dresses for hisnursemaid, 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. Yetseldom were these articles conveyed home, since, as a rule, the same daysaw them lost to some more skilful gambler, in addition to his pipe, his tobacco-pouch, his mouthpiece, his four-horsed turn-out, and hiscoachman: with the result that, stripped to his very shirt, he would beforced to beg the loan of a vehicle from a friend. 

Such was Nozdrev. Some may say that characters of his type have becomeextinct, that Nozdrevs no longer exist. Alas! such as say this willbe wrong; for many a day must pass before the Nozdrevs will havedisappeared from our ken. Everywhere they are to be seen in ourmidst--the only difference between the new and the old being adifference of garments. Persons of superficial observation are apt toconsider that a man clad in a different coat is quite a different personfrom what he used to be. 

To continue. The three vehicles bowled up to the steps of Nozdrev'shouse, and their occupants alighted. But no preparations whatsoever hadbeen made for the guest's reception, for on some wooden trestles inthe centre of the dining-room a couple of peasants were engaged inwhitewashing the ceiling and drawling out an endless song as theysplashed their stuff about the floor. Hastily bidding peasants andtrestles to be gone, Nozdrev departed to another room with furtherinstructions. Indeed, so audible was the sound of his voice as heordered dinner that Chichikov--who was beginning to feel hungry oncemore--was enabled to gather that it would be at least five o'clockbefore a meal of any kind would be available. On his return, Nozdrevinvited his companions to inspect his establishment--even though asearly as two o'clock he had to announce that nothing more was to beseen. 

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 thousandroubles. 

"You NEVER paid ten thousand roubles for the brute!" exclaimed thebrother-in-law. "He isn't worth even a thousand. "

"By God, I DID pay ten thousand!" asserted Nozdrev. 

"You can swear that as much as you like, " retorted the other. 

"Will you bet that I did not?" asked Nozdrev, but the brother-in-lawdeclined the offer. 

Next, Nozdrev showed his guests some empty stalls where a number ofequally fine animals (so he alleged) had lately stood. Also there was onview the goat which an old belief still considers to be an indispensableadjunct to such places, even though its apparent use is to pace up anddown 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 hadgot 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 partyinspected a pond in which there were "fish of such a size that it wouldtake two men all their time to lift one of them out. "

This piece of information was received with renewed incredulity on thepart of the brother-in-law. 

"Now, Chichikov, " went on Nozdrev, "let me show you a truly magnificentbrace of dogs. The hardness of their muscles will surprise you, and theyhave jowls as sharp as needles. "

So saying, he led the way to a small, but neatly-built, shed surroundedon every side with a fenced-in run. Entering this run, the visitorsbeheld a number of dogs of all sorts and sizes and colours. In theirmidst Nozdrev looked like a father lording it over his family circle. Erecting their tails--their "stems, " as dog fanciers call thosemembers--the animals came bounding to greet the party, and fully a scoreof them laid their paws upon Chichikov's shoulders. Indeed, one dog wasmoved with such friendliness that, standing on its hind legs, it lickedhim on the lips, and so forced him to spit. That done, the visitors dulyinspected the couple already mentioned, and expressed astonishment attheir muscles. True enough, they were fine animals. Next, the partylooked 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 saidNozdrev. Next came another bitch--also blind; then an inspection ofthe water-mill, which lacked the spindle-socket wherein the upper stoneought to have been revolving--"fluttering, " to use the Russian peasant'squaint expression. "But never mind, " said Nozdrev. "Let us proceed tothe blacksmith's shop. " So to the blacksmith's shop the party proceeded, and when the said shop had been viewed, Nozdrev said as he pointed to afield:

"In this field I have seen such numbers of hares as to render the groundquite invisible. Indeed, on one occasion I, with my own hands, caught ahare by the hind legs. "

"You never caught a hare by the hind legs with your hands!" remarked thebrother-in-law. 

"But I DID" reiterated Nozdrev. "However, let me show you the boundarywhere my lands come to an end. "

So saying, he started to conduct his guests across a field whichconsisted mostly of moleheaps, and in which the party had to pick theirway between strips of ploughed land and of harrowed. Soon Chichikovbegan to feel weary, for the terrain was so low-lying that in many spotswater could be heard squelching underfoot, and though for a while thevisitors watched their feet, and stepped carefully, they soon perceivedthat such a course availed them nothing, and took to following theirnoses, without either selecting or avoiding the spots where the mirehappened to be deeper or the reverse. At length, when a considerabledistance had been covered, they caught sight of a boundary-post and anarrow ditch. 

"That is the boundary, " said Nozdrev. "Everything that you see on thisside of the post is mine, as well as the forest on the other side of it, and what lies beyond the forest. "

"WHEN did that forest become yours?" asked the brother-in-law. "Itcannot be long since you purchased it, for it never USED to be yours. "

"Yes, it isn't long since I purchased it, " said Nozdrev. 

"How long?"

"How long? Why, I purchased it three days ago, and gave a pretty sum forit, as the devil knows!"

"Indeed? Why, three days ago you were at the fair?"

"Wiseacre! Cannot one be at a fair and buy land at the same time? Yes, IWAS at the fair, and my steward bought the land in my absence. "

"Oh, your STEWARD bought it. " The brother-in-law seemed doubtful, andshook 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 suchapartments--such things as books and papers. On the contrary, the onlyarticles to be seen were a sword and a brace of guns--the one "of themworth three hundred roubles, " and the other "about eight hundred. " Thebrother-in-law inspected the articles in question, and then shookhis head as before. Next, the visitors were shown some "real Turkish"daggers, of which one bore the inadvertent inscription, "SaveliSibiriakov [19], Master Cutler. " Then came a barrel-organ, on whichNozdrev started to play some tune or another. For a while the soundswere not wholly unpleasing, but suddenly something seemed to go wrong, for a mazurka started, to be followed by "Marlborough has gone to thewar, " and to this, again, there succeeded an antiquated waltz. Also, long after Nozdrev had ceased to turn the handle, one particularlyshrill-pitched pipe which had, throughout, refused to harmonise with therest kept up a protracted whistling on its own account. Then followedan exhibition of tobacco pipes--pipes of clay, of wood, of meerschaum, pipes smoked and non-smoked; pipes wrapped in chamois leather and notso wrapped; an amber-mounted hookah (a stake won at cards) and a tobaccopouch (worked, it was alleged, by some countess who had fallen in lovewith Nozdrev at a posthouse, and whose handiwork Nozdrev averredto constitute the "sublimity of superfluity"--a term which, in theNozdrevian vocabulary, purported to signify the acme of perfection). 

Finally, after some hors-d'oeuvres of sturgeon's back, they sat downto table--the time being then nearly five o'clock. But the meal did notconstitute by any means the best of which Chichikov had ever partaken, seeing that some of the dishes were overcooked, and others were scarcelycooked at all. Evidently their compounder had trusted chiefly toinspiration--she had laid hold of the first thing which had happened tocome to hand. For instance, had pepper represented the nearest articlewithin reach, she had added pepper wholesale. Had a cabbage chanced tobe so encountered, she had pressed it also into the service. And thesame 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. " Forthe rest, Nozdrev drew heavily upon the wine. Even before the souphad been served, he had poured out for each guest a bumper of port andanother of "haut" sauterne. (Never in provincial towns is ordinary, vulgar sauterne even procurable. ) Next, he called for a bottle ofmadeira--"as fine a tipple as ever a field-marshall drank"; but themadeira only burnt the mouth, since the dealers, familiar with the tasteof our landed gentry (who love "good" madeira) invariably doctor thestuff with copious dashes of rum and Imperial vodka, in the hope thatRussian stomachs will thus be enabled to carry off the lot. After thisbottle Nozdrev called for another and "a very special" brand--a brandwhich he declared to consist of a blend of burgundy and champagne, andof which he poured generous measures into the glasses of Chichikovand the brother-in-law as they sat to right and left of him. But sinceChichikov noticed that, after doing so, he added only a scanty modicumof the mixture to his own tumbler, our hero determined to be cautious, and therefore took advantage of a moment when Nozdrev had again plungedinto conversation and was yet a third time engaged in refilling hisbrother-in-law's glass, to contrive to upset his (Chichikov's)glass over his plate. In time there came also to table a tart ofmountain-ashberries--berries 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 hasescaped me, but which the host rendered differently even on the secondoccasion of its being mentioned. The meal over, and the whole tale ofwines tried, the guests still retained their seats--a circumstance whichembarrassed Chichikov, seeing that he had no mind to propound his petscheme in the presence of Nozdrev's brother-in-law, who was a completestranger to him. No, that subject called for amicable and PRIVATEconversation. Nevertheless, the brother-in-law appeared to bode littledanger, seeing that he had taken on board a full cargo, and was nowengaged in doing nothing of a more menacing nature than picking hisnose. At length he himself noticed that he was not altogether in aresponsible condition; wherefore he rose and began to make excuses fordeparting homewards, though in a tone so drowsy and lethargic that, toquote the Russian proverb, he might almost have been "pulling a collaron to a horse by the clasps. "

"No, no!" cried Nozdrev. "I am NOT going to let you go. "

"But I MUST go, " replied the brother-in-law. "Don't dry to hinder me. You are annoying me greatly. "

"Rubbish! We are going to play a game of banker. "

"No, no. You must play it without me, my friend. My wife is expecting meat home, and I must go and tell her all about the fair. Yes, I MUST goif I am to please her. Do not try to detain me. "

"Your wife be--! But have you REALLY an important piece of business withher?"

"No, no, my friend. The real reason is that she is a good and trustfulwoman, and that she does a great deal for me. The tears spring to myeyes as I think of it. Do not detain me. As an honourable man I say thatI must go. Of that I do assure you in all sincerity. "

"Oh, let him go, " put in Chichikov under his breath. "What use will hebe here?"

"Very well, " said Nozdrev, "though, damn it, I do not like fellows wholose their heads. " Then he added to his brother-in-law: "All right, Thetuk [20]. Off you go to your wife and your woman's talk and may thedevil go with you!"

"Do not insult me with the term Thetuk, " retorted the brother-in-law. "To her I owe my life, and she is a dear, good woman, and has shown memuch affection. At the very thought of it I could weep. You see, shewill be asking me what I have seen at the fair, and tell her about it Imust, for she is such a dear, good woman. "

"Then off you go to her with your pack of lies. Here is your cap. "

"No, good friend, you are not to speak of her like that. By so doing youoffend me greatly--I say that she is a dear, good woman. "

"Then run along home to her. "

"Yes, I am just going. Excuse me for having been unable to stay. Gladlywould I have stayed, but really I cannot. "

The brother-in-law repeated his excuses again and again without noticingthat 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 thathis wife succeeded in gleaning from him few details of the fair. 

"What a fool!" said Nozdrev as, standing by the window, he watched thedeparting vehicle. "Yet his off-horse is not such a bad one. For a longtime past I have been wanting to get hold of it. A man like that issimply impossible. Yes, he is a Thetuk, a regular Thetuk. "

With that they repaired to the parlour, where, on Porphyri bringingcandles, Chichikov perceived that his host had produced a pack of cards. 

"I tell you what, " said Nozdrev, pressing the sides of the packtogether, and then slightly bending them, so that the pack cracked anda card flew out. "How would it be if, to pass the time, I were to make abank of three hundred?"

Chichikov pretended not to have heard him, but remarked with an air ofhaving just recollected a forgotten point:

"By the way, I had omitted to say that I have a request to make of you. "

"What request?"

"First give me your word that you will grant it. "

"What is the request, I say?"

"Then you give me your word, do you?"

"Certainly. "

"Your word of honour?"

"My word of honour. "

"This, then, is my request. I presume that you have a large numberof dead serfs whose names have not yet been removed from the revisionlist?"

"I have. But why do you ask?"

"Because I want you to make them over to me. "

"Of what use would they be to you?"

"Never mind. I have a purpose in wanting them. "

"What purpose?"

"A purpose which is strictly my own affair. In short, I need them. "

"You seem to have hatched a very fine scheme. Out with it, now! What isin the wind?"

"How could I have hatched such a scheme as you say? One could not verywell hatch a scheme out of such a trifle as this. "

"Then for what purpose do you want the serfs?"

"Oh, the curiosity of the man! He wants to poke his fingers into andsmell over every detail!"

"Why do you decline to say what is in your mind? At all events, untilyou DO say I shall not move in the matter. "

"But how would it benefit you to know what my plans are? A whim hasseized me. That is all. Nor are you playing fair. You have given me yourword 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 havetold me your purpose. "

"What am I to say to the fellow?" thought Chichikov. He reflected fora moment, and then explained that he wanted the dead souls in orderto acquire a better standing in society, since at present he possessedlittle landed property, and only a handful of serfs. 

"You are lying, " said Nozdrev without even letting him finish. "Yes, youare lying my good friend. "

Chichikov himself perceived that his device had been a clumsy one, andhis pretext weak. "I must tell him straight out, " he said to himself ashe pulled his wits together. 

"Should I tell you the truth, " he added aloud, "I must beg of you notto repeat it. The truth is that I am thinking of getting married. But, unfortunately, my betrothed's father and mother are very ambitiouspeople, and do not want me to marry her, since they desire thebridegroom to own not less than three hundred souls, whereas I own but ahundred and fifty, and that number is not sufficient. "

"Again you are lying, " said Nozdrev. 

"Then look here; I have been lying only to this extent. " And Chichikovmarked off upon his little finger a minute portion. 

"Nevertheless I will bet my head that you have been lying throughout. "

"Come, come! That is not very civil of you. Why should I have beenlying?"

"Because I know you, and know that you are a regular skinflint. I saythat in all friendship. If I possessed any power over you I should hangyou to the nearest tree. "

This remark hurt Chichikov, for at any time he disliked expressionsgross or offensive to decency, and never allowed any one--no, not evenpersons of the highest rank--to behave towards him with an unduemeasure of familiarity. Consequently his sense of umbrage on the presentoccasion was unbounded. 

"By God, I WOULD hang you!" repeated Nozdrev. "I say this frankly, andnot for the purpose of offending you, but simply to communicate to youmy friendly opinion. "

"To everything there are limits, " retorted Chichikov stiffly. "If youwant to indulge in speeches of that sort you had better return to thebarracks. "

However, after a pause he added:

"If you do not care to give me the serfs, why not SELL them?"

"SELL them? _I_ know you, you rascal! You wouldn't give me very much forthem, WOULD you?"

"A nice fellow! Look here. What are they to you? So many diamonds, eh?"

"I thought so! _I_ know you!"

"Pardon me, but I could wish that you were a member of the Jewishpersuasion. You would give them to me fast enough then. "

"On the contrary, to show you that I am not a usurer, I will decline toask of you a single kopeck for the serfs. All that you need do is to buythat colt of mine, and then I will throw in the serfs in addition. "

"But what should _I_ want with your colt?" said Chichikov, genuinelyastonished at the proposal. 

"What should YOU want with him? Why, I have bought him for ten thousandroubles, and am ready to let you have him for four. "

"I ask you again: of what use could the colt possibly be to me? I am notthe keeper of a breeding establishment. "

"Ah! I see that you fail to understand me. Let me suggest that you paydown at once three thousand roubles of the purchase money, and leave theother thousand until later. "

"But I do not mean to buy the colt, damn him!"

"Then buy the roan mare. "

"No, nor the roan mare. "

"Then you shall have both the mare and the grey horse which you haveseen in my stables for two thousand roubles. "

"I require no horses at all. "

"But you would be able to sell them again. You would be able to getthrice their purchase price at the very first fair that was held. "

"Then sell them at that fair yourself, seeing that you are so certain ofmaking a triple profit. "

"Oh, I should make it fast enough, only I want YOU to benefit by thetransaction. "

Chichikov duly thanked his interlocutor, but continued to decline eitherthe grey horse or the roan mare. 

"Then buy a few dogs, " said Nozdrev. "I can sell you a couple of hidesa-quiver, ears well pricked, coats like quills, ribs barrel-shaped, andpaws so tucked up as scarcely to graze the ground when they run. "

"Of what use would those dogs be to me? I am not a sportsman. "

"But I WANT you to have the dogs. Listen. If you won't have the dogs, then buy my barrel-organ. 'Tis a splendid instrument. As a man of honourI can tell you that, when new, it cost me fifteen hundred roubles. Well, you shall have it for nine hundred. "

"Come, come! What should I want with a barrel-organ? I am not a German, to go hauling it about the roads and begging for coppers. "

"But this is quite a different kind of organ from the one which Germanstake about with them. You see, it is a REAL organ. Look at it foryourself. It is made of the best wood. I will take you to have anotherview of it. "

And seizing Chichikov by the hand, Nozdrev drew him towards the otherroom, where, in spite of the fact that Chichikov, with his feet plantedfirmly on the floor, assured his host, again and again, that he knewexactly what the organ was like, he was forced once more to hear howMarlborough went to the war. 

"Then, since you don't care to give me any money for it, " persistedNozdrev, "listen to the following proposal. I will give you thebarrel-organ and all the dead souls which I possess, and in return youshall give me your britchka, and another three hundred roubles into thebargain. "

"Listen to the man! In that case, what should I have left to drive in?"

"Oh, I would stand you another britchka. Come to the coach-house, andI will show you the one I mean. It only needs repainting to look aperfectly splendid britchka. "

"The ramping, incorrigible devil!" thought Chichikov to himself as atall hazards he resolved to escape from britchkas, organs, and everyspecies of dog, however marvellously barrel-ribbed and tucked up of paw. 

"And in exchange, you shall have the britchka, the barrel-organ, and thedead souls, " repeated Nozdrev. 

"I must decline the offer, " said Chichikov. 

"And why?"

"Because I don't WANT the things--I am full up already. "

"I can see that you don't know how things should be done between goodfriends and comrades. Plainly you are a man of two faces. "

"What do you mean, you fool? Think for yourself. Why should I acquirearticles 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 tostake both the dead souls and the barrel-organ 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 gotin his hands. Somehow the way in which his companion had cut that packseemed to him suspicious. 

"Why 'to the unknown'?" asked Nozdrev. "There is no such thing as 'theunknown. ' Should luck be on your side, you may win the devil knows whata haul. Oh, luck, luck!" he went on, beginning to deal, in the hope ofraising 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 Ito myself: 'The devil take you, you false, accursed card!'"

Just as Nozdrev uttered the words Porphyri entered with a fresh bottleof liquor; but Chichikov declined either to play or to drink. 

"Why do you refuse to play?" asked Nozdrev. 

"Because I feel indisposed to do so. Moreover, I must confess that I amno great hand at cards. "

"WHY are you no great hand at them?"

Chichikov shrugged his shoulders. "Because I am not, " he replied. 

"You are no great hand at ANYTHING, I think. "

"What does that matter? God has made me so. "

"The truth is that you are a Thetuk, and nothing else. Once upon atime I believed you to be a good fellow, but now I see that youdon't understand civility. One cannot speak to you as one would to anintimate, for there is no frankness or sincerity about you. You are aregular Sobakevitch--just such another as he. "

"For what reason are you abusing me? Am I in any way at fault fordeclining to play cards? Sell me those souls if you are the man tohesitate over such rubbish. "

"The foul fiend take you! I was about to have given them to you fornothing, but now you shan't have them at all--not if you offer me threekingdoms in exchange. Henceforth I will have nothing to do with you, youcobbler, you dirty blacksmith! Porphyri, go and tell the ostler to givethe gentleman's horses no oats, but only hay. "

This development Chichikov had hardly expected. 

"And do you, " added Nozdrev to his guest, "get out of my sight. "

Yet in spite of this, host and guest took supper together--even thoughon this occasion the table was adorned with no wines of fictitiousnomenclature, but only with a bottle which reared its solitary headbeside a jug of what is usually known as vin ordinaire. When supper wasover Nozdrev said to Chichikov as he conducted him to a side room wherea bed had been made up:

"This is where you are to sleep. I cannot very well wish yougood-night. "

Left to himself on Nozdrev's departure, Chichikov felt in a mostunenviable frame of mind. Full of inward vexation, he blamed himselfbitterly for having come to see this man and so wasted valuabletime; but even more did he blame himself for having told him of hisscheme--for having acted as carelessly as a child or a madman. Of asurety the scheme was not one which ought to have been confided to a manlike Nozdrev, for he was a worthless fellow who might lie about it, andappend additions to it, and spread such stories as would give riseto God knows what scandals. "This is indeed bad!" Chichikov said tohimself. "I have been an absolute fool. " Consequently he spent an uneasynight--this uneasiness being increased by the fact that a number ofsmall, but vigorous, insects so feasted upon him that he could donothing but scratch the spots and exclaim, "The devil take you andNozdrev alike!" Only when morning was approaching did he fall asleep. Onrising, he made it his first business (after donning dressing-gownand slippers) to cross the courtyard to the stable, for the purpose ofordering Selifan to harness the britchka. Just as he was returning fromhis errand he encountered Nozdrev, clad in a dressing-gown, and holdinga pipe between his teeth. 

Host and guest greeted one another in friendly fashion, and Nozdrevinquired how Chichikov had slept. 

"Fairly well, " replied Chichikov, but with a touch of dryness in histone. 

"The same with myself, " said Nozdrev. "The truth is that such a lot ofnasty brutes kept crawling over me that even to speak of it gives methe shudders. Likewise, as the effect of last night's doings, a wholesquadron of soldiers seemed to be camping on my chest, and giving me aflogging. Ugh! And whom also do you think I saw in a dream? You wouldnever guess. Why, it was Staff-Captain Potsieluev and LieutenantKuvshinnikov!"

"Yes, " though Chichikov to himself, "and I wish that they too would giveyou a public thrashing!"

"I felt so ill!" went on Nozdrev. "And just after I had fallen asleepsomething 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 Imust give that scoundrel of a bailiff a wigging. "

Chichikov departed to his own room to wash and dress; which processcompleted, he entered the dining-room to find the table laid withtea-things and a bottle of rum. Clearly no broom had yet touched theplace, for there remained traces of the previous night's dinner andsupper in the shape of crumbs thrown over the floor and tobacco ash onthe tablecloth. The host himself, when he entered, was still clad in adressing-gown exposing a hairy chest; and as he sat holding his pipe inhis hand, and drinking tea from a cup, he would have made a model forthe sort of painter who prefers to portray gentlemen of the less curledand scented order. 

"What think you?" he asked of Chichikov after a short silence. "Are youwilling NOW to play me for those souls?"

"I have told you that I never play cards. If the souls are for sale, Iwill buy them. "

"I decline to sell them. Such would not be the course proper betweenfriends. But a game of banker would be quite another matter. Let us dealthe cards. "

"I have told you that I decline to play. "

"And you will not agree to an exchange?"

"No. "

"Then look here. Suppose we play a game of chess. If you win, the soulsshall be yours. There are lot which I should like to see crossed off therevision list. Hi, Porphyri! Bring me the chessboard. "

"You are wasting your time. I will play neither chess nor cards. "

"But chess is different from playing with a bank. In chess there can beneither luck nor cheating, for everything depends upon skill. In fact, Iwarn you that I cannot possibly play with you unless you allow me a moveor two in advance. "

"The same with me, " thought Chichikov. "Shall I, or shall I not, playthis fellow? I used not to be a bad chess-player, and it is a sport inwhich he would find it more difficult to be up to his tricks. "

"Very well, " he added aloud. "I WILL play you at chess. "

"And stake the souls for a hundred roubles?" asked Nozdrev. 

"No. Why for a hundred? Would it not be sufficient to stake them forfifty?"

"No. What would be the use of fifty? Nevertheless, for the hundredroubles I will throw in a moderately old puppy, or else a gold seal andwatch-chain. "

"Very well, " assented Chichikov. 

"Then how many moves are you going to allow me?"

"Is THAT to be part of the bargain? Why, none, of course. "

"At least allow me two. "

"No, none. I myself am only a poor player. "

"_I_ know you and your poor play, " said Nozdrev, moving a chessman. 

"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 secondchessman. 

"I say again that it is a long time since last I had a chessman in myhand. " And Chichikov, in his turn, moved. 

"Ah! _I_ know you and your poor play, " repeated Nozdrev, for the thirdtime as he made a third move. At the same moment the cuff of one of hissleeves happened to dislodge another chessman from its position. 

"Again, I say, " said Chichikov, "that 'tis a long time since last--Buthi! look here! Put that piece back in its place!"

"What piece?"

"This one. " And almost as Chichikov spoke he saw a third chessman cominginto view between the queens. God only knows whence that chessman hadmaterialised. 

"No, no!" shouted Chichikov as he rose from the table. "It is impossibleto play with a man like you. People don't move three pieces at once. "

"How 'three pieces'? All that I have done is to make a mistake--to moveone of my pieces by accident. If you like, I will forfeit it to you. "

"And whence has the third piece come?"

"What third piece?"

"The one now standing between the queens?"

"'Tis one of your own pieces. Surely you are forgetting?"

"No, no, my friend. I have counted every move, and can remember eachone. That piece has only just become added to the board. Put it back inits place, I say. "

"Its place? Which IS its place?" But Nozdrev had reddened a good deal. "I perceive you to be a strategist at the game. "

"No, no, good friend. YOU are the strategist--though an unsuccessfulone, as it happens. "

"Then of what are you supposing me capable? Of cheating you?"

"I am not supposing you capable of anything. All that I say is that Iwill not play with you any more. "

"But you can't refuse to, " said Nozdrev, growing heated. "You see, thegame has begun. "

"Nevertheless, I have a right not to continue it, seeing that you arenot playing as an honest man should do. "

"You are lying--you cannot truthfully say that. "

"'Tis you who are lying. "

"But I have NOT cheated. Consequently you cannot refuse to play, butmust continue the game to a finish. "

"You cannot force me to play, " retorted Chichikov coldly as, turning tothe chessboard, he swept the pieces into confusion. 

Nozdrev approached Chichikov with a manner so threatening that the otherfell back a couple of paces. 

"I WILL force you to play, " said Nozdrev. "It is no use you making amess of the chessboard, for I can remember every move. We will replacethe chessmen exactly as they were. "

"No, no, my friend. The game is over, and I play you no more. "

"You say that you will not?"

"Yes. Surely you can see for yourself that such a thing is impossible?"

"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 momentraised his hands towards his face, for the dispute was growing heated. Nor was the act of caution altogether unwarranted, for Nozdrevalso raised his fist, and it may be that one of her hero's plump, pleasant-looking cheeks would have sustained an indelible insult hadnot he (Chichikov) parried the blow and, seizing Nozdrev by his whirlingarms, held them fast. 

"Porphyri! Pavlushka!" shouted Nozdrev as madly he strove to freehimself. 

On hearing the words, Chichikov, both because he wished to avoidrendering the servants witnesses of the unedifying scene and because hefelt that it would be of no avail to hold Nozdrev any longer, let go ofthe latter's arms; but at the same moment Porphyri and Pavlushka enteredthe room--a pair of stout rascals with whom it would be unwise tomeddle. 

"Do you, or do you not, intend to finish the game?" said Nozdrev. "Giveme 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 forhim, and Selifan evidently awaiting orders to draw up to the entrancesteps. But from the room there was no escape, since in the doorway wasposted the couple of well-built serving-men. 

"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, asit is, I cannot. "

"You cannot, eh, you villain? You find that you cannot as soon as youfind that you are not winning? Thrash him, you fellows!" And as he spokeNozdrev grasped the cherrywood shank of his pipe. Chichikov turned aswhite as a sheet. He tried to say something, but his quivering lipsemitted no sound. "Thrash him!" again shouted Nozdrev as he rushedforward in a state of heat and perspiration more proper to a warrior whois attacking an impregnable fortress. "Thrash him!" again he shoutedin a voice like that of some half-demented lieutenant whose desperatebravery has acquired such a reputation that orders have had to be issuedthat his hands shall be held lest he attempt deeds of over-presumptuousdaring. Seized with the military spirit, however, the lieutenant's headbegins to whirl, and before his eye there flits the image of Suvorov[21]. He advances to the great encounter, and impulsively cries, "Forward, my sons!"--cries it without reflecting that he may bespoiling the plan of the general attack, that millions of rifles maybe protruding their muzzles through the embrasures of the impregnable, towering walls of the fortress, that his own impotent assault may bedestined to be dissipated like dust before the wind, and that alreadythere may have been launched on its whistling career the bullet which isto close for ever his vociferous throat. However, if Nozdrev resembledthe headstrong, desperate lieutenant whom we have just pictured asadvancing upon a fortress, at least the fortress itself in no wayresembled the impregnable stronghold which I have described. As a matterof fact, the fortress became seized with a panic which drove its spiritinto its boots. First of all, the chair with which Chichikov (thefortress in question) sought to defend himself was wrested from hisgrasp by the serfs, and then--blinking and neither alive nor dead--heturned to parry the Circassian pipe-stem of his host. In fact, Godonly knows what would have happened had not the fates been pleased bya miracle to deliver Chichikov's elegant back and shoulders from theonslaught. Suddenly, and as unexpectedly as though the sound hadcome from the clouds, there made itself heard the tinkling notes ofa collar-bell, and then the rumble of wheels approaching the entrancesteps, and, lastly, the snorting and hard breathing of a team of horsesas a vehicle came to a standstill. Involuntarily all present glancedthrough the window, and saw a man clad in a semi-military greatcoat leapfrom a buggy. After making an inquiry or two in the hall, he entered thedining-room just at the juncture when Chichikov, almost swooning withterror, had found himself placed in about as awkward a situation ascould well befall a mortal man. 

"Kindly tell me which of you is Monsieur Nozdrev?" said the unknown witha glance of perplexity both at the person named (who was still standingwith pipe-shank upraised) and at Chichikov (who was just beginning torecover from his unpleasant predicament). 

"Kindly tell ME whom I have the honour of addressing?" retorted Nozdrevas he approached the official. 

"I am the Superintendent of Rural Police. "

"And what do you want?"

"I have come to fulfil a commission imposed upon me. That is to say, I have come to place you under arrest until your case shall have beendecided. "

"Rubbish! What case, pray?"

"The case in which you involved yourself when, in a drunken condition, and through the instrumentality of a walking-stick, you offered graveoffence to the person of Landowner Maksimov. "

"You lie! To your face I tell you that never in my life have I set eyesupon Landowner Maksimov. "

"Good sir, allow me to represent to you that I am a Government officer. Speeches like that you may address to your servants, but not to me. "

At this point Chichikov, without waiting for Nozdrev's reply, seizedhis cap, slipped behind the Superintendent's back, rushed out on to theverandah, sprang into his britchka, and ordered Selifan to drive likethe wind. 

CHAPTER V

Certainly Chichikov was a thorough coward, for, although the britchkapursued its headlong course until Nozdrev's establishment haddisappeared behind hillocks and hedgerows, our hero continued to glancenervously behind him, as though every moment expecting to see a sternchase begin. His breath came with difficulty, and when he tried hisheart with his hands he could feel it fluttering like a quail caught ina 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 inelegantin their nature. But what was to be done next? He was a Russianand thoroughly aroused. The affair had been no joke. "But for theSuperintendent, " he reflected, "I might never again have looked uponGod's daylight--I might have vanished like a bubble on a pool, and leftneither trace nor posterity nor property nor an honourable name for myfuture offspring to inherit!" (it seemed that our hero was particularlyanxious with regard to his possible issue). 

"What a scurvy barin!" mused Selifan as he drove along. "Never have Iseen such a barin. I should like to spit in his face. 'Tis better toallow a man nothing to eat than to refuse to feed a horse properly. Ahorse needs his oats--they are his proper fare. Even if you make a manprocure a meal at his own expense, don't deny a horse his oats, for heought always to have them. "

An equally poor opinion of Nozdrev seemed to be cherished also bythe steeds, for not only were the bay and the Assessor clearly out ofspirits, but even the skewbald was wearing a dejected air. True, at homethe skewbald got none but the poorer sorts of oats to eat, and Selifannever filled his trough without having first called him a villain; butat least they WERE oats, and not hay--they were stuff which could bechewed with a certain amount of relish. Also, there was the fact thatat intervals he could intrude his long nose into his companions' troughs(especially when Selifan happened to be absent from the stable) andascertain what THEIR provender was like. But at Nozdrev's there hadbeen nothing but hay! That was not right. All three horses felt greatlydiscontented. 

But presently the malcontents had their reflections cut short in a veryrude and unexpected manner. That is to say, they were brought backto practicalities by coming into violent collision with a six-horsedvehicle, while upon their heads descended both a babel of cries from theladies inside and a storm of curses and abuse from the coachman. "Ah, you damned fool!" he vociferated. "I shouted to you loud enough! Drawout, you old raven, and keep to the right! Are you drunk?" Selifanhimself felt conscious that he had been careless, but since a Russiandoes not care to admit a fault in the presence of strangers, he retortedwith dignity: "Why have you run into US? Did you leave your eyes behindyou at the last tavern that you stopped at?" With that he started toback the britchka, in the hope that it might get clear of the other'sharness; but this would not do, for the pair were too hopelesslyintertwined. Meanwhile the skewbald snuffed curiously at his newacquaintances as they stood planted on either side of him; while theladies 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. Amass of golden hair fell daintily from a small head, and the oval ofher comely face was as shapely as an egg, and white with the transparentwhiteness seen when the hands of a housewife hold a new-laid egg tothe light to let the sun's rays filter through its shell. The same tintmarked the maiden's ears where they glowed in the sunshine, and, in short, what with the tears in her wide-open, arresting eyes, shepresented so attractive a picture that our hero bestowed upon it morethan a passing glance before he turned his attention to the hubbub whichwas being raised among the horses and the coachmen. 

"Back out, you rook of Nizhni Novgorod!" the strangers' coachmanshouted. Selifan tightened his reins, and the other driver did the same. The horses stepped back a little, and then came together again--thistime getting a leg or two over the traces. In fact, so pleased did theskewbald seem with his new friends that he refused to stir from themelee into which an unforeseen chance had plunged him. Laying his muzzlelovingly upon the neck of one of his recently-acquired acquaintances, he seemed to be whispering something in that acquaintance's ear--andwhispering pretty nonsense, too, to judge from the way in which thatconfidant kept shaking his ears. 

At length peasants from a village which happened to be near the scene ofthe accident tackled the mess; and since a spectacle of that kind is tothe Russian muzhik what a newspaper or a club-meeting is to the German, the vehicles soon became the centre of a crowd, and the village denudedeven of its old women and children. The traces were disentangled, and afew slaps on the nose forced the skewbald to draw back a little; afterwhich the teams were straightened out and separated. Nevertheless, either sheer obstinacy or vexation at being parted from their newfriends caused the strange team absolutely to refuse to move a leg. Their driver laid the whip about them, but still they stood as thoughrooted to the spot. At length the participatory efforts of the peasantsrose to an unprecedented degree of enthusiasm, and they shouted in anintermittent chorus the advice, "Do you, Andrusha, take the head of thetrace horse on the right, while Uncle Mitai mounts the shaft horse. Getup, Uncle Mitai. " Upon that the lean, long, and red-bearded Uncle Mitaimounted the shaft horse; in which position he looked like a villagesteeple or the winder which is used to raise water from wells. Thecoachman whipped up his steeds afresh, but nothing came of it, andUncle Mitai had proved useless. "Hold on, hold on!" shouted the peasantsagain. "Do you, Uncle Mitai, mount the trace horse, while Uncle Minaimounts the shaft horse. " Whereupon Uncle Minai--a peasant with a pair ofbroad shoulders, a beard as black as charcoal, and a belly like thehuge samovar in which sbiten is brewed for all attending a localmarket--hastened to seat himself upon the shaft horse, which almostsank to the ground beneath his weight. "NOW they will go all right!" themuzhiks exclaimed. "Lay it on hot, lay it on hot! Give that sorrel horsethe whip, and make him squirm like a koramora [22]. " Nevertheless, theaffair in no way progressed; wherefore, seeing that flogging was ofno use, Uncles Mitai and Minai BOTH mounted the sorrel, while Andrushaseated himself upon the trace horse. Then the coachman himself lostpatience, and sent the two Uncles about their business--and not beforeit was time, seeing that the horses were steaming in a way that made itclear that, unless they were first winded, they would never reach thenext posthouse. So they were given a moment's rest. That done, theymoved off of their own accord!

Throughout, Chichikov had been gazing at the young unknown withgreat attention, and had even made one or two attempts to enter intoconversation with her: but without success. Indeed, when the ladiesdeparted, 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 formvanish from his sight; it was as in a dream that once more he saw onlythe road, the britchka, the three horses, Selifan, and the bare, emptyfields. Everywhere in life--yes, even in the plainest, the dingiestranks of society, as much as in those which are uniformly bright andpresentable--a man may happen upon some phenomenon which is so entirelydifferent from those which have hitherto fallen to his lot. Everywherethrough the web of sorrow of which our lives are woven there maysuddenly break a clear, radiant thread of joy; even as suddenly alongthe street of some poor, poverty-stricken village which, ordinarily, sees nought but a farm waggon there may came bowling a gorgeous coachwith plated harness, picturesque horses, and a glitter of glass, so thatthe peasants stand gaping, and do not resume their caps until long afterthe strange equipage has become lost to sight. Thus the golden-hairedmaiden makes a sudden, unexpected appearance in our story, and assuddenly, as unexpectedly, disappears. Indeed, had it not been that theperson concerned was Chichikov, and not some youth of twenty summers--ahussar or a student or, in general, a man standing on the thresholdof life--what thoughts would not have sprung to birth, and stirred andspoken, within him; for what a length of time would he not have stoodentranced as he stared into the distance and forgot alike his journey, the business still to be done, the possibility of incurring loss throughlingering--himself, his vocation, the world, and everything else thatthe world contains!

But in the present case the hero was a man of middle-age, and ofcautious and frigid temperament. True, he pondered over the incident, but in more deliberate fashion than a younger man would have done. Thatis to say, his reflections were not so irresponsible and unsteady. "Shewas a comely damsel, " he said to himself as he opened his snuff-box andtook a pinch. "But the important point is: Is she also a NICE DAMSEL?One thing she has in her favour--and that is that she appears only justto have left school, and not to have had time to become womanly in theworser sense. At present, therefore, she is like a child. Everything inher is simple, and she says just what she thinks, and laughs merely whenshe feels inclined. Such a damsel might be made into anything--or shemight be turned into worthless rubbish. The latter, I surmise, fortrudging after her she will have a fond mother and a bevy of aunts, and so forth--persons who, within a year, will have filled her withwomanishness to the point where her own father wouldn't know her. Andto that there will be added pride and affectation, and she will beginto observe established rules, and to rack her brains as to how, and howmuch, she ought to talk, and to whom, and where, and so forth. Everymoment will see her growing timorous and confused lest she be saying toomuch. Finally, she will develop into a confirmed prevaricator, and endby marrying the devil knows whom!" Chichikov paused awhile. Then he wenton: "Yet I should like to know who she is, and who her father is, andwhether he is a rich landowner of good standing, or merely a respectableman who has acquired a fortune in the service of the Government. Should he allow her, on marriage, a dowry of, say, two hundred thousandroubles, she will be a very nice catch indeed. She might even, so tospeak, make a man of good breeding happy. "

Indeed, so attractively did the idea of the two hundred thousandroubles begin to dance before his imagination that he felt a twinge ofself-reproach because, during the hubbub, he had not inquired of thepostillion or the coachman who the travellers might be. But soon thesight of Sobakevitch's country house dissipated his thoughts, and forcedhim to return to his stock subject of reflection. 

Sobakevitch's country house and estate were of very fair size, and oneach side of the mansion were expanses of birch and pine forest in twoshades of green. The wooden edifice itself had dark-grey walls and ared-gabled roof, for it was a mansion of the kind which Russia buildsfor her military settlers and for German colonists. A noticeablecircumstance was the fact that the taste of the architect had differedfrom that of the proprietor--the former having manifestly been a pedantand desirous of symmetry, and the latter having wished only for comfort. Consequently he (the proprietor) had dispensed with all windows on oneside of the mansion, and had caused to be inserted, in their place, onlya small aperture which, doubtless, was intended to light an otherwisedark lumber-room. Likewise, the architect's best efforts had failed tocause the pediment to stand in the centre of the building, since theproprietor had had one of its four original columns removed. Evidentlydurability had been considered throughout, for the courtyard wasenclosed by a strong and very high wooden fence, and both the stables, the coach-house, and the culinary premises were partially constructed ofbeams warranted to last for centuries. Nay, even the wooden huts of thepeasantry were wonderful in the solidity of their construction, andnot a clay wall or a carved pattern or other device was to be seen. Everything fitted exactly into its right place, and even the draw-wellof the mansion was fashioned of the oakwood usually thought suitableonly for mills or ships. In short, wherever Chichikov's eye turned hesaw nothing that was not free from shoddy make and well and skilfullyarranged. As he approached the entrance steps he caught sight of twofaces peering from a window. One of them was that of a woman in a mobcapwith features as long and as narrow as a cucumber, and the other thatof a man with features as broad and as short as the Moldavian pumpkins(known as gorlianki) whereof balallaiki--the species of light, two-stringed instrument which constitutes the pride and the joy ofthe gay young fellow of twenty as he sits winking and smiling at thewhite-necked, white-bosomed maidens who have gathered to listen to hislow-pitched tinkling--are fashioned. This scrutiny made, both faceswithdrew, and there came out on to the entrance steps a lacquey cladin a grey jacket and a stiff blue collar. This functionary conductedChichikov into the hall, where he was met by the master of the househimself, who requested his guest to enter, and then led him into theinner part of the mansion. 

A covert glance at Sobakevitch showed our hero that his host exactlyresembled a moderate-sized bear. To complete the resemblance, Sobakevitch's long frockcoat and baggy trousers were of the precisecolour of a bear's hide, while, when shuffling across the floor, he madea criss-cross motion of the legs, and had, in addition, a constant habitof treading upon his companion's toes. As for his face, it was of thewarm, ardent tint of a piatok [23]. Persons of this kind--personsto whose designing nature has devoted not much thought, and in thefashioning of whose frames she has used no instruments so delicate as afile or a gimlet and so forth--are not uncommon. Such persons she merelyroughhews. One cut with a hatchet, and there results a nose; anothersuch cut with a hatchet, and there materialises a pair of lips; twothrusts with a drill, and there issues a pair of eyes. Lastly, scorningto plane down the roughness, she sends out that person into the world, saying: "There is another live creature. " Sobakevitch was just such aragged, curiously put together figure--though the above model would seemto have been followed more in his upper portion than in his lower. Oneresult was that he seldom turned his head to look at the person withwhom he was speaking, but, rather, directed his eyes towards, say, thestove corner or the doorway. As host and guest crossed the dining-roomChichikov directed a second glance at his companion. "He is a bear, andnothing but a bear, " he thought to himself. And, indeed, the strangecomparison was inevitable. Incidentally, Sobakevitch's Christian nameand patronymic were Michael Semenovitch. Of his habit of treading uponother people's toes Chichikov had become fully aware; wherefore hestepped cautiously, and, throughout, allowed his host to take thelead. As a matter of fact, Sobakevitch himself seemed conscious of hisfailing, for at intervals he would inquire: "I hope I have not hurtyou?" and Chichikov, with a word of thanks, would reply that as yet hehad sustained no injury. 

At length they reached the drawing-room, where Sobakevitch pointed toan armchair, and invited his guest to be seated. Chichikov gazed withinterest at the walls and the pictures. In every such picture there wereportrayed either young men or Greek generals of the type of Movrogordato(clad in a red uniform and breaches), Kanaris, and others; and all theseheroes were depicted with a solidity of thigh and a wealth of moustachewhich made the beholder simply shudder with awe. Among them there wereplaced also, according to some unknown system, and for some unknownreason, firstly, Bagration [24]--tall and thin, and with a cluster ofsmall flags and cannon beneath him, and the whole set in the narrowestof frames--and, secondly, the Greek heroine, Bobelina, whose legs lookedlarger than do the whole bodies of the drawing-room dandies of thepresent day. Apparently the master of the house was himself a man ofhealth and strength, and therefore liked to have his apartments adornedwith none but folk of equal vigour and robustness. Lastly, in thewindow, and suspected cheek by jowl with Bobelina, there hung a cagewhence at intervals there peered forth a white-spotted blackbird. Like everything else in the apartment, it bore a strong resemblance toSobakevitch. When host and guest had been conversing for two minutes orso the door opened, and there entered the hostess--a tall lady in a capadorned with ribands of domestic colouring and manufacture. She entereddeliberately, and held her head as erect as a palm. 

"This is my wife, Theodulia Ivanovna, " said Sobakevitch. 

Chichikov approached and took her hand. The fact that she raised itnearly to the level of his lips apprised him of the circumstance that ithad just been rinsed in cucumber oil. 

"My dear, allow me to introduce Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov, " addedSobakevitch. "He has the honour of being acquainted both with ourGovernor and with our Postmaster. "

Upon this Theodulia Ivanovna requested her guest to be seated, andaccompanied the invitation with the kind of bow usually employed only byactresses who are playing the role of queens. Next, she took a seat uponthe sofa, drew around her her merino gown, and sat thereafter withoutmoving an eyelid or an eyebrow. As for Chichikov, he glanced upwards, and once more caught sight of Kanaris with his fat thighs andinterminable moustache, and of Bobelina and the blackbird. For fullyfive minutes all present preserved a complete silence--the only soundaudible being that of the blackbird's beak against the wooden floor ofthe cage as the creature fished for grains of corn. Meanwhile Chichikovagain surveyed the room, and saw that everything in it was massive andclumsy in the highest degree; as also that everything was curiously inkeeping with the master of the house. For example, in one corner of theapartment there stood a hazelwood bureau with a bulging body on fourgrotesque legs--the perfect image of a bear. Also, the tables and thechairs were of the same ponderous, unrestful order, and every singlearticle in the room appeared to be saying either, "I, too, am aSobakevitch, " or "I am exactly like Sobakevitch. "

"I heard speak of you one day when I was visiting the President of theCouncil, " said Chichikov, on perceiving that no one else had a mind tobegin a conversation. "That was on Thursday last. We had a very pleasantevening. "

"Yes, on that occasion I was not there, " replied Sobakevitch. 

"What a nice man he is!"

"Who is?" inquired Sobakevitch, gazing into the corner by the stove. 

"The President of the Local Council. "

"Did he seem so to you? True, he is a mason, but he is also the greatestfool that the world ever saw. "

Chichikov started a little at this mordant criticism, but soon pulledhimself together again, and continued:

"Of course, every man has his weakness. Yet the President seems to be anexcellent fellow. "

"And do you think the same of the Governor?"

"Yes. Why not?"

"Because there exists no greater rogue than he. "

"What? The Governor a rogue?" ejaculated Chichikov, at a loss tounderstand how the official in question could come to be numbered withthieves. "Let me say that I should never have guessed it. Permit mealso to remark that his conduct would hardly seem to bear out youropinion--he seems so gentle a man. " And in proof of this Chichikovcited the purses which the Governor knitted, and also expatiated on themildness of his features. 

"He has the face of a robber, " said Sobakevitch. "Were you to give him aknife, and to turn him loose on a turnpike, he would cut your throat fortwo kopecks. And the same with the Vice-Governor. The pair are just Gogand Magog. "

"Evidently he is not on good terms with them, " thought Chichikov tohimself. "I had better pass to the Chief of Police, which whom he DOESseem to be friendly. " Accordingly he added aloud: "For my own part, Ishould give the preference to the Head of the Gendarmery. What a frank, outspoken nature he has! And what an element of simplicity does hisexpression contain!"

"He is mean to the core, " remarked Sobakevitch coldly. "He will sell youand cheat you, and then dine at your table. Yes, I know them all, andevery one of them is a swindler, and the town a nest of rascals engagedin robbing one another. Not a man of the lot is there but would sellChrist. Yet stay: ONE decent fellow there is--the 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 continuerunning through the list of officials--more especially since suddenly hehad remembered that Sobakevitch was not at any time given to commendinghis fellow man. 

"Let us go to luncheon, my dear, " put in Theodulia Ivanovna to herspouse. 

"Yes; pray come to table, " said Sobakevitch to his guest; whereupon theyconsumed the customary glass of vodka (accompanied by sundry snacks ofsalted cucumber and other dainties) with which Russians, both in townand country, preface a meal. Then they filed into the dining-room in thewake of the hostess, who sailed on ahead like a goose swimming across apond. The small dining-table was found to be laid for four persons--thefourth place being occupied by a lady or a young girl (it would havebeen difficult to say which exactly) who might have been either arelative, the housekeeper, or a casual visitor. Certain persons in theworld exist, not as personalities in themselves, but as spots or speckson the personalities of others. Always they are to be seen sitting inthe same place, and holding their heads at exactly the same angle, sothat one comes within an ace of mistaking them for furniture, and thinksto oneself that never since the day of their birth can they have spokena single word. 

"My dear, " said Sobakevitch, "the cabbage soup is excellent. " With thathe finished his portion, and helped himself to a generous measure ofniania [25]--the dish which follows shtchi and consists of a sheep'sstomach stuffed with black porridge, brains, and other things. "Whatniania this is!" he added to Chichikov. "Never would you get such stuffin a town, where one is given the devil knows what. "

"Nevertheless the Governor keeps a fair table, " said Chichikov. 

"Yes, but do you know what all the stuff is MADE OF?" retortedSobakevitch. "If you DID know you would never touch it. "

"Of course I am not in a position to say how it is prepared, but atleast the pork cutlets and the boiled fish seemed excellent. "

"Ah, it might have been thought so; yet I know the way in which suchthings are bought in the market-place. They are bought by some rascal ofa cook whom a Frenchman has taught how to skin a tomcat and then serveit up as hare. "

"Ugh! What horrible things you say!" put in Madame. 

"Well, my dear, that is how things are done, and it is no fault of minethat it is so. Moreover, everything that is left over--everything thatWE (pardon me for mentioning it) cast into the slop-pail--is used bysuch folk for making soup. "

"Always at table you begin talking like this!" objected his helpmeet. 

"And why not?" said Sobakevitch. "I tell you straight that I would noteat such nastiness, even had I made it myself. Sugar a frog as muchas you like, but never shall it pass MY lips. Nor would I swallow anoyster, for I know only too well what an oyster may resemble. Buthave some mutton, friend Chichikov. It is shoulder of mutton, andvery different stuff from the mutton which they cook in noblekitchens--mutton which has been kicking about the market-place four daysor more. All that sort of cookery has been invented by French and Germandoctors, and I should like to hang them for having done so. They go andprescribe diets and a hunger cure as though what suits their flaccidGerman systems will agree with a Russian stomach! Such devices are nogood at all. " Sobakevitch shook his head wrathfully. "Fellows likethose are for ever talking of civilisation. As if THAT sort of thing wascivilisation! Phew!" (Perhaps the speaker's concluding exclamation wouldhave been even stronger had he not been seated at table. ) "For myself, Iwill 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. Twodishes are better than a thousand, provided that one can eat of them asmuch as one wants. "

And he proceeded to put precept into practice by taking half theshoulder of mutton on to his plate, and then devouring it down to thelast morsel of gristle and bone. 

"My word!" reflected Chichikov. "The fellow has a pretty good holdingcapacity!"

"None of it for me, " repeated Sobakevitch as he wiped his hands on hisnapkin. "I don't intend to be like a fellow named Plushkin, who ownseight hundred souls, yet dines worse than does my shepherd. "

"Who is Plushkin?" asked Chichikov. 

"A miser, " replied Sobakevitch. "Such a miser as never you couldimagine. Even convicts in prison live better than he does. And hestarves his servants as well. "

"Really?" ejaculated Chichikov, greatly interested. "Should you, then, say that he has lost many peasants by death?"

"Certainly. They keep dying like flies. "

"Then how far from here does he reside?"

"About five versts. "

"Only five versts?" exclaimed Chichikov, feeling his heart beatingjoyously. "Ought one, when leaving your gates, to turn to the right orto the left?"

"I should be sorry to tell you the way to the house of such a cur, " saidSobakevitch. "A man had far better go to hell than to Plushkin's. "

"Quite so, " responded Chichikov. "My only reason for asking you isthat it interests me to become acquainted with any and every sort oflocality. "

To the shoulder of mutton there succeeded, in turn, cutlets (each onelarger 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 astomach. There the meal ended. When he rose from table Chichikov felt asthough a pood's weight were inside him. In the drawing-room the companyfound dessert awaiting them in the shape of pears, plums, and apples;but since neither host nor guest could tackle these particular daintiesthe hostess removed them to another room. Taking advantage of herabsence, Chichikov turned to Sobakevitch (who, prone in an armchair, seemed, after his ponderous meal, to be capable of doing littlebeyond belching and grunting--each such grunt or belch necessitating asubsequent signing of the cross over the mouth), and intimated to hima desire to have a little private conversation concerning a certainmatter. At this moment the hostess returned. 

"Here is more dessert, " she said. "Pray have a few radishes stewed inhoney. "

"Later, later, " replied Sobakevitch. "Do you go to your room, and PaulIvanovitch and I will take off our coats and have a nap. "

Upon this the good lady expressed her readiness to send for feather bedsand cushions, but her husband expressed a preference for slumbering inan armchair, and she therefore departed. When she had gone Sobakevitchinclined his head in an attitude of willingness to listen to Chichikov'sbusiness. Our hero began in a sort of detached manner--touching lightlyupon the subject of the Russian Empire, and expatiating upon theimmensity of the same, and saying that even the Empire of Ancient Romehad been of considerably smaller dimensions. Meanwhile Sobakevitch satwith his head drooping. 

From that Chichikov went on to remark that, according to the statutes ofthe said Russian Empire (which yielded to none in glory--so much so thatforeigners marvelled at it), peasants on the census lists who had endedtheir earthly careers were nevertheless, on the rendering of new lists, returned equally with the living, to the end that the courts might berelieved of a multitude of trifling, useless emendations which mightcomplicate the already sufficiently complex mechanism of the State. Nevertheless, said Chichikov, the general equity of this measure didnot obviate a certain amount of annoyance to landowners, since it forcedthem to pay upon a non-living article the tax due upon a living. Hence(our hero concluded) he (Chichikov) was prepared, owing to the personalrespect which he felt for Sobakevitch, to relieve him, in part, ofthe irksome obligation referred to (in passing, it may be said thatChichikov referred to his principal point only guardedly, for he calledthe souls which he was seeking not "dead, " but "non-existent"). 

Meanwhile Sobakevitch listened with bent head; though something like atrace of expression dawned in his face as he did so. Ordinarily hisbody lacked a soul--or, if he did posses a soul, he seemed to keep itelsewhere than where it ought to have been; so that, buried beneathmountains (as it were) or enclosed within a massive shell, its movementsproduced no sort of agitation on the surface. 

"Well?" said Chichikov--though not without a certain tremor ofdiffidence as to the possible response. 

"You are after dead souls?" were Sobakevitch's perfectly simple words. He spoke without the least surprise in his tone, and much as though theconversation had been turning on grain. 

"Yes, " replied Chichikov, and then, as before, softened down theexpression "dead souls. "

"They are to be found, " said Sobakevitch. "Why should they not be?"

"Then of course you will be glad to get rid of any that you may chanceto have?"

"Yes, I shall have no objection to SELLING them. " At this point thespeaker raised his head a little, for it had struck him that surely thewould-be buyer must have some advantage in view. 

"The devil!" thought Chichikov to himself. "Here is he selling the goodsbefore I have even had time to utter a word!"

"And what about the price?" he added aloud. "Of course, the articles arenot of a kind very easy to appraise. "

"I should be sorry to ask too much, " said Sobakevitch. "How would ahundred roubles per head suit you?"

"What, a hundred roubles per head?" Chichikov stared open-mouthed athis host--doubting whether he had heard aright, or whether his host'sslow-moving tongue might not have inadvertently substituted one word foranother. 

"Yes. Is that too much for you?" said Sobakevitch. Then he added: "Whatis your own price?"

"My own price? I think that we cannot properly have understood oneanother--that you must have forgotten of what the goods consist. Withmy hand on my heart do I submit that eight grivni per soul would be ahandsome, a VERY handsome, offer. "

"What? Eight grivni?"

"In my opinion, a higher offer would be impossible. "

"But I am not a seller of boots. "

"No; yet you, for your part, will agree that these souls are not livehuman beings?"

"I suppose you hope to find fools ready to sell you souls on the censuslist for a couple of groats apiece?"

"Pardon me, but why do you use the term 'on the census list'? The soulsthemselves have long since passed away, and have left behind them onlytheir names. Not to trouble you with any further discussion of thesubject, I can offer you a rouble and a half per head, but no more. "

"You should be ashamed even to mention such a sum! Since you deal inarticles of this kind, quote me a genuine price. "

"I cannot, Michael Semenovitch. Believe me, I cannot. What a mancannot do, that he cannot do. " The speaker ended by advancing anotherhalf-rouble per head. 

"But why hang back with your money?" said Sobakevitch. "Of a truth I amnot asking much of you. Any other rascal than myself would have cheatedyou by selling you old rubbish instead of good, genuine souls, whereasI should be ready to give you of my best, even were you buying onlynut-kernels. For instance, look at wheelwright Michiev. Never was theresuch a one to build spring carts! And his handiwork was not like yourMoscow handiwork--good only for an hour. No, he did it all himself, evendown to the varnishing. "

Chichikov opened his mouth to remark that, nevertheless, the saidMichiev had long since departed this world; but Sobakevitch's eloquencehad got too thoroughly into its stride to admit of any interruption. 

"And look, too, at Probka Stepan, the carpenter, " his host went on. "Iwill wager my head that nowhere else would you find such a workman. Whata strong fellow he was! He had served in the Guards, and the Lord onlyknows what they had given for him, seeing that he was over three arshinsin height. "

Again Chichikov tried to remark that Probka was dead, but Sobakevitch'stongue was borne on the torrent of its own verbiage, and the only thingto be done was to listen. 

"And Milushkin, the bricklayer! He could build a stove in any house youliked! And Maksim Teliatnikov, the bootmaker! Anything that he drovehis awl into became a pair of boots--and boots for which you wouldbe thankful, although he WAS a bit foul of the mouth. And EremiSorokoplechin, too! He was the best of the lot, and used to work athis trade in Moscow, where he paid a tax of five hundred roubles. Well, THERE'S an assortment of serfs for you!--a very different assortmentfrom what Plushkin would sell you!"

"But permit me, " at length put in Chichikov, astounded at this flood ofeloquence to which there appeared to be no end. "Permit me, I say, toinquire why you enumerate the talents of the deceased, seeing that theyare all of them dead, and that therefore there can be no sense in doingso. 'A dead body is only good to prop a fence with, ' says the proverb. "

"Of course they are dead, " replied Sobakevitch, but rather as though theidea 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? Andwhat is the use of them themselves? They are flies, not human beings. "

"Well, " said Chichikov, "they exist, though only in idea. "

"But no--NOT only in idea. I tell you that nowhere else would youfind such a fellow for working heavy tools as was Michiev. He had thestrength of a horse in his shoulders. " And, with the words, Sobakevitchturned, as though for corroboration, to the portrait of Bagration, as isfrequently done by one of the parties in a dispute when he purports toappeal to an extraneous individual who is not only unknown to him, butwholly unconnected with the subject in hand; with the result that theindividual is left in doubt whether to make a reply, or whether tobetake himself elsewhere. 

"Nevertheless, I CANNOT give you more than two roubles per head, " saidChichikov. 

"Well, as I don't want you to swear that I have asked too much of youand won't meet you halfway, suppose, for friendship's sake, that you payme seventy-five roubles in assignats?"

"Good heavens!" thought Chichikov to himself. "Does the man take me fora fool?" Then he added aloud: "The situation seems to me a strangeone, for it is as though we were performing a stage comedy. No otherexplanation 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. Thequestion is: what is a dead soul worth, and is it of any use to anyone?"

"It is of use to YOU, or you would not be buying such articles. "

Chichikov bit his lip, and stood at a loss for a retort. He triedto saying something about "family and domestic circumstances, " butSobakevitch cut him short with:

"I don't want to know your private affairs, for I never poke my noseinto such things. You need the souls, and I am ready to sell them. Should you not buy them, I think you will repent it. "

"Two roubles is my price, " repeated Chichikov. 

"Come, come! As you have named that sum, I can understand your notliking to go back upon it; but quote me a bona fide figure. "

"The devil fly away with him!" mused Chichikov. "However, I will addanother half-rouble. " And he did so. 

"Indeed?" said Sobakevitch. "Well, my last word upon it is--fiftyroubles in assignats. That will mean a sheer loss to me, for nowhereelse in the world could you buy better souls than mine. "

"The old skinflint!" muttered Chichikov. Then he added aloud, withirritation in his tone: "See here. This is a serious matter. Any one butyou would be thankful to get rid of the souls. Only a fool would stickto them, and continue to pay the tax. "

"Yes, but remember (and I say it wholly in a friendly way) thattransactions of this kind are not generally allowed, and that any onewould say that a man who engages in them must have some rather doubtfuladvantage in view. "

"Have it your own away, " said Chichikov, with assumed indifference. "Asa matter of fact, I am not purchasing for profit, as you suppose, but tohumour a certain whim of mine. Two and a half roubles is the most that Ican offer. "

"Bless your heart!" retorted the host. "At least give me thirty roublesin assignats, and take the lot. "

"No, for I see that you are unwilling to sell. I must say good-day toyou. "

"Hold on, hold on!" exclaimed Sobakevitch, retaining his guest's hand, and at the same moment treading heavily upon his toes--so heavily, indeed, that Chichikov gasped and danced with the pain. 

"I BEG your pardon!" said Sobakevitch hastily. "Evidently I have hurtyou. Pray sit down again. "

"No, " retorted Chichikov. "I am merely wasting my time, and must beoff. "

"Oh, sit down just for a moment. I have something more agreeable tosay. " And, drawing closer to his guest, Sobakevitch whispered in hisear, as though communicating to him a secret: "How about twenty-fiveroubles?"

"No, no, no!" exclaimed Chichikov. "I won't give you even a QUARTER ofthat. I won't advance another kopeck. "

For a while Sobakevitch remained silent, and Chichikov did the same. This lasted for a couple of minutes, and, meanwhile, the aquiline-nosedBagration gazed from the wall as though much interested in thebargaining. 

"What is your outside price?" at length said Sobakevitch. 

"Two and a half roubles. "

"Then you seem to rate a human soul at about the same value as a boiledturnip. At least give me THREE roubles. "

"No, I cannot. "

"Pardon me, but you are an impossible man to deal with. However, eventhough it will mean a dead loss to me, and you have not shown a verynice spirit about it, I cannot well refuse to please a friend. I supposea purchase deed had better be made out in order to have everything inorder?"

"Of course. "

"Then for that purpose let us repair to the town. "

The affair ended in their deciding to do this on the morrow, and toarrange for the signing of a deed of purchase. Next, Chichikov requesteda list of the peasants; to which Sobakevitch readily agreed. Indeed, hewent to his writing-desk then and there, and started to indite alist which gave not only the peasants' names, but also their latequalifications. 

Meanwhile Chichikov, having nothing else to do, stood looking at thespacious form of his host; and as he gazed at his back as broad as thatof a cart horse, and at the legs as massive as the iron standards whichadorn a street, he could not help inwardly ejaculating:

"Truly God has endowed you with much! Though not adjusted with nicety, at least you are strongly built. I wonder whether you were born abear or whether you have come to it through your rustic life, with itstilling of crops and its trading with peasants? Yet no; I believe that, even if you had received a fashionable education, and had mixed withsociety, and had lived in St. Petersburg, you would still have been justthe kulak [26] that you are. The only difference is that circumstances, as they stand, permit of your polishing off a stuffed shoulder of muttonat a meal; whereas in St. Petersburg you would have been unable todo so. Also, as circumstances stand, you have under you a numberof peasants, whom you treat well for the reason that they are yourproperty; whereas, otherwise, you would have had under you tchinovniks[27]: whom you would have bullied because they were NOT your property. Also, you would have robbed the Treasury, since a kulak always remains amoney-grubber. "

"The list is ready, " said Sobakevitch, turning round. 

"Indeed? Then please let me look at it. " Chichikov ran his eye over thedocument, and could not but marvel at its neatness and accuracy. Notonly were there set forth in it the trade, the age, and the pedigreeof every serf, but on the margin of the sheet were jotted remarksconcerning each serf's conduct and sobriety. Truly it was a pleasure tolook at it. 

"And do you mind handing me the earnest money?" said Sobakevitch?

"Yes, I do. Why need that be done? You can receive the money in a lumpsum as soon as we visit the town. "

"But it is always the custom, you know, " asserted Sobakevitch. 

"Then I cannot follow it, for I have no money with me. However, here areten roubles. "

"Ten roubles, indeed? You might as well hand me fifty while you areabout it. "

Once more Chichikov started to deny that he had any money upon him, butSobakevitch insisted so strongly that this was not so that at lengththe guest pulled out another fifteen roubles, and added them to the tenalready produced. 

"Kindly give me a receipt for the money, " he added. 

"A receipt? Why should I give you a receipt?"

"Because it is better to do so, in order to guard against mistakes. "

"Very well; but first hand me over the money. "

"The money? I have it here. Do you write out the receipt, and then themoney shall be yours. "

"Pardon me, but how am I to write out the receipt before I have seen thecash?"

Chichikov placed the notes in Sobakevitch's hand; whereupon the hostmoved nearer to the table, and added to the list of serfs a note thathe had received for the peasants, therewith sold, the sum of twenty-fiveroubles, as earnest money. This done, he counted the notes once more. 

"This is a very OLD note, " he remarked, holding one up to the light. "Also, it is a trifle torn. However, in a friendly transaction one mustnot be too particular. "

"What a kulak!" thought Chichikov to himself. "And what a brute beast!"

"Then you do not want any WOMEN souls?" queried Sobakevitch. 

"I thank you, no. "

"I could let you have some cheap--say, as between friends, at a rouble ahead?"

"No, I should have no use for them. "

"Then, that being so, there is no more to be said. There is noaccounting for tastes. 'One man loves the priest, and another thepriest's wife, ' says the proverb. "

Chichikov rose to take his leave. "Once more I would request of you, " hesaid, "that the bargain be left as it is. "

"Of course, of course. What is done between friends holds good becauseof their mutual friendship. Good-bye, and thank you for your visit. Inadvance I would beg that, whenever you should have an hour or two tospare, you will come and lunch with us again. Perhaps we might be ableto do one another further service?"

"Not if I know it!" reflected Chichikov as he mounted his britchka. "NotI, seeing that I have had two and a half roubles per soul squeezed outof me by a brute of a kulak!"

Altogether he felt dissatisfied with Sobakevitch's behaviour. In spiteof 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 worthlessrubbish. As the britchka left the courtyard Chichikov glanced backand saw Sobakevitch still standing on the verandah--apparently for thepurpose of watching to see which way the guest's carriage would turn. 

"The old villain, to be still standing there!" muttered Chichikovthrough his teeth; after which he ordered Selifan to proceed so that thevehicle's progress should be invisible from the mansion--the truthbeing that he had a mind next to visit Plushkin (whose serfs, to quoteSobakevitch, had a habit of dying like flies), but not to let his latehost learn of his intention. Accordingly, on reaching the further end ofthe village, he hailed the first peasant whom he saw--a man who was inthe act of hoisting a ponderous beam on to his shoulder before settingoff with it, ant-like, to his hut. 

"Hi!" shouted Chichikov. "How can I reach landowner Plushkin's placewithout first going past the mansion here?"

The peasant seemed nonplussed by the question. 

"Don't you know?" queried Chichikov. 

"No, barin, " replied the peasant. 

"What? You don't know skinflint Plushkin who feeds his people so badly?"

"Of course I do!" exclaimed the fellow, and added thereto anuncomplimentary expression of a species not ordinarily employed inpolite society. We may guess that it was a pretty apt expression, sincelong after the man had become lost to view Chichikov was still laughingin his britchka. And, indeed, the language of the Russian populace isalways forcible in its phraseology. 

CHAPTER VI

Chichikov's amusement at the peasant's outburst prevented him fromnoticing that he had reached the centre of a large and populous village;but, presently, a violent jolt aroused him to the fact that he wasdriving over wooden pavements of a kind compared with which thecobblestones of the town had been as nothing. Like the keys of a piano, the planks kept rising and falling, and unguarded passage over thementailed either a bump on the back of the neck or a bruise on theforehead or a bite on the tip of one's tongue. At the same timeChichikov 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 wereriddled with holes, others had but a tile of the roof remaining, and yetothers were reduced to the rib-like framework of the same. It wouldseem as though the inhabitants themselves had removed the laths andtraverses, on the very natural plea that the huts were no protectionagainst the rain, and therefore, since the latter entered in bucketfuls, there was no particular object to be gained by sitting in such huts whenall the time there was the tavern and the highroad and other places toresort to. 

Suddenly a woman appeared from an outbuilding--apparently thehousekeeper of the mansion, but so roughly and dirtily dressed as almostto seem indistinguishable from a man. Chichikov inquired for the masterof the place. 

"He is not at home, " she replied, almost before her interlocutor had hadtime to finish. Then she added: "What do you want with him?"

"I have some business to do, " said Chichikov. 

"Then pray walk into the house, " the woman advised. Then she turned uponhim a back that was smeared with flour and had a long slit in the lowerportion of its covering. Entering a large, dark hall which reeked likea tomb, he passed into an equally dark parlour that was lighted only bysuch rays as contrived to filter through a crack under the door. WhenChichikov opened the door in question, the spectacle of the untidinesswithin struck him almost with amazement. It would seem that the floorwas never washed, and that the room was used as a receptacle for everyconceivable 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, andchina. On a writing table, inlaid with mother-of-pearl which, in places, had broken away and left behind it a number of yellow grooves (stuffedwith putty), lay a pile of finely written manuscript, an overturnedmarble press (turning green), an ancient book in a leather cover withred 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 liquidand three flies (the whole covered over with a sheet of notepaper), apile of rags, two ink-encrusted pens, and a yellow toothpick with whichthe master of the house had picked his teeth (apparently) at leastbefore the coming of the French to Moscow. As for the walls, they werehung with a medley of pictures. Among the latter was a long engraving ofa battle scene, wherein soldiers in three-cornered hats were brandishinghuge drums and slender lances. It lacked a glass, and was set in a frameornamented with bronze fretwork and bronze corner rings. Beside it hunga huge, grimy oil painting representative of some flowers and fruit, half a water melon, a boar's head, and the pendent form of a deadwild duck. Attached to the ceiling there was a chandelier in a hollandcovering--the covering so dusty as closely to resemble a huge cocoonenclosing a caterpillar. Lastly, in one corner of the room lay a pileof articles which had evidently been adjudged unworthy of a place on thetable. Yet what the pile consisted of it would have been difficult tosay, seeing that the dust on the same was so thick that any hand whichtouched it would have at once resembled a glove. Prominently protrudingfrom the pile was the shaft of a wooden spade and the antiquated soleof a shoe. Never would one have supposed that a living creature hadtenanted the room, were it not that the presence of such a creature wasbetrayed by the spectacle of an old nightcap resting on the table. 

Whilst Chichikov was gazing at this extraordinary mess, a side dooropened and there entered the housekeeper who had met him near theoutbuildings. But now Chichikov perceived this person to be a man ratherthan a woman, since a female housekeeper would have had no beard toshave, whereas the chin of the newcomer, with the lower portion of hischeeks, strongly resembled the curry-comb which is used for groominghorses. Chichikov assumed a questioning air, and waited to hear what thehousekeeper might have to say. The housekeeper did the same. At length, surprised at the misunderstanding, Chichikov decided to ask the firstquestion. 

"Is the master at home?" he inquired. 

"Yes, " replied the person addressed. 

"Then were is he?" continued Chichikov. 

"Are you blind, my good sir?" retorted the other. "_I_ am the master. "

Involuntarily our hero started and stared. During his travels it hadbefallen him to meet various types of men--some of them, it may be, types which you and I have never encountered; but even to Chichikov thisparticular species was new. In the old man's face there was nothing veryspecial--it was much like the wizened face of many another dotard, savethat the chin was so greatly projected that whenever he spoke he wasforced to wipe it with a handkerchief to avoid dribbling, and that hissmall eyes were not yet grown dull, but twinkled under their overhangingbrows like the eyes of mice when, with attentive ears and sensitivewhiskers, they snuff the air and peer forth from their holes tosee whether a cat or a boy may not be in the vicinity. No, the mostnoticeable feature about the man was his clothes. In no way could ithave been guessed of what his coat was made, for both its sleeves andits skirts were so ragged and filthy as to defy description, whileinstead of two posterior tails, there dangled four of those appendages, with, projecting from them, a torn newspaper. Also, around his neckthere was wrapped something which might have been a stocking, a garter, or a stomacher, but was certainly not a tie. In short, had Chichikovchanced to encounter him at a church door, he would have bestowed uponhim a copper or two (for, to do our hero justice, he had a sympatheticheart and never refrained from presenting a beggar with alms), but inthe present case there was standing before him, not a mendicant, buta landowner--and a landowner possessed of fully a thousand serfs, thesuperior of all his neighbours in wealth of flour and grain, and theowner of storehouses, and so forth, that were crammed with homespuncloth and linen, tanned and undressed sheepskins, dried fish, and everyconceivable species of produce. Nevertheless, such a phenomenon israre in Russia, where the tendency is rather to prodigality than toparsimony. 

For several minutes Plushkin stood mute, while Chichikov remained sodazed with the appearance of the host and everything else in the room, that he too, could not begin a conversation, but stood wondering howbest to find words in which to explain the object of his visit. For awhile he thought of expressing himself to the effect that, having heardso 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; butpresently even HE came to the conclusion that this would be overdoingthe thing, and, after another glance round the room, decided thatthe phrase "benevolence and other rare qualities of spirit" might toadvantage give place to "economy and genius for method. " Accordingly, the speech mentally composed, he said aloud that, having heard ofPlushkin's talents for thrifty and systematic management, he hadconsidered himself bound to make the acquaintance of his host, andto present him with his personal compliments (I need hardly say thatChichikov could easily have alleged a better reason, had any better onehappened, at the moment, to have come into his head). 

With toothless gums Plushkin murmured something in reply, but nothing isknown as to its precise terms beyond that it included a statementthat the devil was at liberty to fly away with Chichikov's sentiments. However, the laws of Russian hospitality do not permit even of a miserinfringing their rules; wherefore Plushkin added to the foregoing a morecivil invitation to be seated. 

"It is long since I last received a visitor, " he went on. "Also, I feelbound to say that I can see little good in their coming. Once introducethe abominable custom of folk paying calls, and forthwith there willensue such ruin to the management of estates that landowners will beforced to feed their horses on hay. Not for a long, long time have Ieaten a meal away from home--although my own kitchen is a poor one, andhas its chimney in such a state that, were it to become overheated, itwould instantly catch fire. "

"What a brute!" thought Chichikov. "I am lucky to have got through somuch pastry and stuffed shoulder of mutton at Sobakevitch's!"

"Also, " went on Plushkin, "I am ashamed to say that hardly a wisp offodder does the place contain. But how can I get fodder? My lands aresmall, and the peasantry lazy fellows who hate work and think of nothingbut the tavern. In the end, therefore, I shall be forced to go and spendmy old age in roaming about the world. "

"But I have been told that you possess over a thousand serfs?" saidChichikov. 

"Who told you that? No matter who it was, you would have been justifiedin giving him the lie. He must have been a jester who wanted to makea fool of you. A thousand souls, indeed! Why, just reckon the taxeson them, and see what there would be left! For these three years thataccursed fever has been killing off my serfs wholesale. "

"Wholesale, you say?" echoed Chichikov, greatly interested. 

"Yes, wholesale, " replied the old man. 

"Then might I ask you the exact number?"

"Fully eighty. "

"Surely not?"

"But it is so. "

"Then might I also ask whether it is from the date of the last censusrevision that you are reckoning these souls?"

"Yes, damn it! And since that date I have been bled for taxes upon ahundred and twenty souls in all. "

"Indeed? Upon a hundred and twenty souls in all!" And Chichikov'ssurprise and elation were such that, this said, he remained sittingopen-mouthed. 

"Yes, good sir, " replied Plushkin. "I am too old to tell you lies, for Ihave passed my seventieth year. "

Somehow he seemed to have taken offence at Chichikov's almost joyousexclamation; wherefore the guest hastened to heave a profound sigh, andto observe that he sympathised to the full with his host's misfortunes. 

"But sympathy does not put anything into one's pocket, " retortedPlushkin. "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 butcall me 'dear uncle, ' and kiss my hand, and express sympathy until I amforced to stop my ears. You see, he has squandered all his money uponhis brother-officers, as well as made a fool of himself with an actress;so now he spends his time in telling me that he has a sympatheticheart!"

Chichikov hastened to explain that HIS sympathy had nothing in commonwith the captain's, since he dealt, not in empty words alone, but inactual deeds; in proof of which he was ready then and there (forthe purpose of cutting the matter short, and of dispensing withcircumlocution) to transfer to himself the obligation of paying thetaxes due upon such serfs as Plushkin's as had, in the unfortunatemanner just described, departed this world. The proposal seemed toastonish Plushkin, for he sat staring open-eyed. At length he inquired:

"My dear sir, have you seen military service?"

"No, " replied the other warily, "but I have been a member of the CIVILService. "

"Oh! Of the CIVIL Service?" And Plushkin sat moving his lips as thoughhe were chewing something. "Well, what of your proposal?" he addedpresently. "Are you prepared to lose by it?"

"Yes, certainly, if thereby I can please you. "

"My dear sir! My good benefactor!" In his delight Plushkin lost sight ofthe fact that his nose was caked with snuff of the consistency of thickcoffee, and that his coat had parted in front and was disclosing somevery unseemly underclothing. "What comfort you have brought to an oldman! Yes, as God is my witness!"

For the moment he could say no more. Yet barely a minute had elapsedbefore this instantaneously aroused emotion had, as instantaneously, disappeared from his wooden features. Once more they assumed a carewornexpression, and he even wiped his face with his handkerchief, thenrolled it into a ball, and rubbed it to and fro against his upper lip. 

"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, andto 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 purchaseas though the souls were still alive and you had sold them to myself. "

"Quite so--a deed of purchase, " echoed Plushkin, once more relapsinginto thought and the chewing motion of the lips. "But a deed of sucha kind will entail certain expenses, and lawyers are so devoid ofconscience! In fact, so extortionate is their avarice that they willcharge one half a rouble, and then a sack of flour, and then a wholewaggon-load of meal. I wonder that no one has yet called attention tothe system. "

Upon that Chichikov intimated that, out of respect for his host, hehimself would bear the cost of the transfer of souls. This led Plushkinto conclude that his guest must be the kind of unconscionable fool who, while pretending to have been a member of the Civil Service, has inreality served in the army and run after actresses; wherefore the oldman no longer disguised his delight, but called down blessings alikeupon Chichikov's head and upon those of his children (he had never eveninquired whether Chichikov possessed a family). Next, he shuffled to thewindow, and, tapping one of its panes, shouted the name of "Proshka. "Immediately some one ran quickly into the hall, and, after much stampingof feet, burst into the room. This was Proshka--a thirteen-year-oldyoungster who was shod with boots of such dimensions as almost to engulfhis legs as he walked. The reason why he had entered thus shod wasthat Plushkin only kept one pair of boots for the whole of his domesticstaff. This universal pair was stationed in the hall of the mansion, sothat any servant who was summoned to the house might don the said bootsafter wading barefooted through the mud of the courtyard, and enterthe parlour dry-shod--subsequently leaving the boots where he had foundthem, and departing in his former barefooted condition. Indeed, had anyone, on a slushy winter's morning, glanced from a window into the saidcourtyard, he would have seen Plushkin's servitors performing saltatoryfeats worthy of the most vigorous of stage-dancers. 

"Look at that boy's face!" said Plushkin to Chichikov as he pointed toProshka. "It is stupid enough, yet, lay anything aside, and in a tricehe will have stolen it. Well, my lad, what do you want?"

He paused a moment or two, but Proshka made no reply. 

"Come, come!" went on the old man. "Set out the samovar, and then giveMavra the key of the store-room--here it is--and tell her to get outsome loaf sugar for tea. Here! Wait another moment, fool! Is the devilin your legs that they itch so to be off? Listen to what more I have totell you. Tell Mavra that the sugar on the outside of the loaf has gonebad, so that she must scrape it off with a knife, and NOT throw awaythe scrapings, but give them to the poultry. Also, see that you yourselfdon't go into the storeroom, or I will give you a birching that youwon't care for. Your appetite is good enough already, but a better onewon't hurt you. Don't even TRY to go into the storeroom, for I shall bewatching you from this window. "

"You see, " the old man added to Chichikov, "one can never trust thesefellows. " Presently, when Proshka and the boots had departed, he fellto gazing at his guest with an equally distrustful air, since certainfeatures in Chichikov's benevolence now struck him as a little open toquestion, and he had begin to think to himself: "After all, thedevil only knows who he is--whether a braggart, like most of thesespendthrifts, or a fellow who is lying merely in order to get some teaout of me. " Finally, his circumspection, combined with a desire totest his guest, led him to remark that it might be well to completethe transaction IMMEDIATELY, since he had not overmuch confidence inhumanity, seeing that a man might be alive to-day and dead to-morrow. 

To this Chichikov assented readily enough--merely adding that he shouldlike first of all to be furnished with a list of the dead souls. Thisreassured Plushkin as to his guest's intention of doing business, sohe got out his keys, approached a cupboard, and, having pulled back thedoor, rummaged among the cups and glasses with which it was filled. Atlength he said:

"I cannot find it now, but I used to possess a splendid bottle ofliquor. Probably the servants have drunk it all, for they are suchthieves. Oh no: perhaps this is it!"

Looking up, Chichikov saw that Plushkin had extracted a decanter coatedwith dust. 

"My late wife made the stuff, " went on the old man, "but that rascal ofa housekeeper went and threw away a lot of it, and never even replacedthe stopper. Consequently bugs and other nasty creatures got into thedecanter, but I cleaned it out, and now beg to offer you a glassful. "

The idea of a drink from such a receptacle was too much for Chichikov, so he excused himself on the ground that he had just had luncheon. 

"You have just had luncheon?" re-echoed Plushkin. "Now, THAT shows howinvariably one can tell a man of good society, wheresoever one may be. A man of that kind never eats anything--he always says that he has hadenough. Very different that from the ways of a rogue, whom one can neversatisfy, however much one may give him. For instance, that captain ofmine is constantly begging me to let him have a meal--though he is aboutas much my nephew as I am his grandfather. As it happens, there is nevera bite of anything in the house, so he has to go away empty. But aboutthe list of those good-for-nothing souls--I happen to possess such alist, since I have drawn one up in readiness for the next revision. "

With that Plushkin donned his spectacles, and once more started torummage in the cupboard, and to smother his guest with dust as he untiedsuccessive packages of papers--so much so that his victim burst outsneezing. Finally he extracted a much-scribbled document in which thenames of the deceased peasants lay as close-packed as a cloud of midges, for there were a hundred and twenty of them in all. Chichikov grinnedwith joy at the sight of the multitude. Stuffing the list into hispocket, he remarked that, to complete the transaction, it would benecessary to return to the town. 

"To the town?" repeated Plushkin. "But why? Moreover, how could I leavethe house, seeing that every one of my servants is either a thief ora rogue? Day by day they pilfer things, until soon I shall have not asingle coat to hang on my back. "

"Then you possess acquaintances in the town?"

"Acquaintances? No. Every acquaintance whom I ever possessed has eitherleft me or is dead. But stop a moment. I DO know the President of theCouncil. Even in my old age he has once or twice come to visit me, forhe and I used to be schoolfellows, and to go climbing walls together. Yes, him I do know. Shall I write him a letter?"

"By all means. "

"Yes, him I know well, for we were friends together at school. "

Over Plushkin's wooden features there had gleamed a ray of warmth--aray which expressed, if not feeling, at all events feeling's palereflection. Just such a phenomenon may be witnessed when, for a briefmoment, a drowning man makes a last re-appearance on the surface of ariver, and there rises from the crowd lining the banks a cry of hopethat even yet the exhausted hands may clutch the rope which has beenthrown him--may clutch it before the surface of the unstable elementshall have resumed for ever its calm, dread vacuity. But the hope isshort-lived, and the hands disappear. Even so did Plushkin's face, after its momentary manifestation of feeling, become meaner and moreinsensible than ever. 

"There used to be a sheet of clean writing paper lying on the table, " hewent on. "But where it is now I cannot think. That comes of my servantsbeing such rascals. "

Whit that he fell to looking also under the table, as well as tohurrying about with cries of "Mavra, Mavra!" At length the call wasanswered by a woman with a plateful of the sugar of which mention hasbeen made; whereupon there ensued the following conversation. 

"What have you done with my piece of writing paper, you pilferer?"

"I swear that I have seen no paper except the bit with which you coveredthe glass. "

"Your very face tells me that you have made off with it. "

"Why should I make off with it? 'Twould be of no use to me, for I canneither read nor write. "

"You lie! You have taken it away for the sexton to scribble upon. "

"Well, if the sexton wanted paper he could get some for himself. Neitherhe nor I have set eyes upon your piece. "

"Ah! Wait a bit, for on the Judgment Day you will be roasted by devilson 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 other fault than theft. "

"Nay, devils shall roast you, sure enough. They will say to you, 'Badwoman, we are doing this because you robbed your master, ' and then stokeup the fire still hotter. "

"Nevertheless _I_ shall continue to say, 'You are roasting me fornothing, for I never stole anything at all. ' Why, THERE it is, lying onthe table! You have been accusing me for no reason whatever!"

And, sure enough, the sheet of paper was lying before Plushkin's veryeyes. For a moment or two he chewed silently. Then he went on:

"Well, and what are you making such a noise about? If one says a singleword to you, you answer back with ten. Go and fetch me a candle to seala letter with. And mind you bring a TALLOW candle, for it will not costso much as the other sort. And bring me a match too. "

Mavra departed, and Plushkin, seating himself, and taking up a pen, satturning the sheet of paper over and over, as though in doubt whetherto tear from it yet another morsel. At length he came to the conclusionthat it was impossible to do so, and therefore, dipping the pen into themixture of mouldy fluid and dead flies which the ink bottle contained, started to indite the letter in characters as bold as the notes of amusic score, while momentarily checking the speed of his hand, lest itshould meander too much over the paper, and crawling from line to lineas though he regretted that there was so little vacant space left on thesheet. 

"And do you happen to know any one to whom a few runaway serfs would beof use?" he asked as subsequently he folded the letter. 

"What? You have some runaways as well?" exclaimed Chichikov, againgreatly interested. 

"Certainly I have. My son-in-law has laid the necessary informationagainst them, but says that their tracks have grown cold. However, he isonly a military man--that is to say, good at clinking a pair of spurs, but of no use for laying a plea before a court. "

"And how many runaways have you?"

"About seventy. "

"Surely not?"

"Alas, yes. Never does a year pass without a certain number of themmaking off. Yet so gluttonous and idle are my serfs that they are simplybursting with food, whereas I scarcely get enough to eat. I will takeany price for them that you may care to offer. Tell your friends aboutit, and, should they find even a score of the runaways, it will repaythem handsomely, seeing that a living serf on the census list is atpresent worth five hundred roubles. "

"Perhaps so, but I am not going to let any one but myself have a fingerin this, " thought Chichikov to himself; after which he explained toPlushkin that a friend of the kind mentioned would be impossible todiscover, since the legal expenses of the enterprise would lead to thesaid friend having to cut the very tail from his coat before he wouldget clear of the lawyers. 

"Nevertheless, " added Chichikov, "seeing that you are so hard pressedfor money, and that I am so interested in the matter, I feel moved toadvance you--well, to advance you such a trifle as would scarcely beworth mentioning. "

"But how much is it?" asked Plushkin eagerly, and with his handstrembling like quicksilver. 

"Twenty-five kopecks per soul. "

"What? In ready money?"

"Yes--in money down. "

"Nevertheless, consider my poverty, dear friend, and make it FORTYkopecks 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 werepossible, since I perceive that you, an aged and respected gentleman, are suffering for your own goodness of heart. "

"By God, that is true, that is true. " Plushkin hung his head, and waggedit feebly from side to side. "Yes, all that I have done I have donepurely out of kindness. "

"See how instantaneously I have divined your nature! By now it will havebecome clear to you why it is impossible for me to pay you five hundredroubles per runaway soul: for by now you will have gathered the factthat I am not sufficiently rich. Nevertheless, I am ready to add anotherfive kopecks, and so to make it that each runaway serf shall cost me, inall, thirty kopecks. "

"As you please, dear sir. Yet stretch another point, and throw inanother two kopecks. "

"Pardon me, but I cannot. How many runaway serfs did you say that youpossess? Seventy?"

"No; seventy-eight. "

"Seventy-eight souls at thirty kopecks each will amount to--to--" onlyfor a moment did our hero halt, since he was strong in his arithmetic, "--will amount to twenty-four roubles, ninety-six kopecks. " [28]

With that he requested Plushkin to make out the receipt, and then handedhim the money. Plushkin took it in both hands, bore it to a bureau withas much caution as though he were carrying a liquid which might at anymoment splash him in the face, and, arrived at the bureau, and glancinground once more, carefully packed the cash in one of his money bags, where, doubtless, it was destined to lie buried until, to the intensejoy of his daughters and his son-in-law (and, perhaps, of the captainwho claimed kinship with him), he should himself receive burial at thehands of Fathers Carp and Polycarp, the two priests attached to hisvillage. Lastly, the money concealed, Plushkin re-seated himself in thearmchair, and seemed at a loss for further material for conversation. 

"Are you thinking of starting?" at length he inquired, on seeingChichikov making a trifling movement, though the movement was onlyto extract from his pocket a handkerchief. Nevertheless the questionreminded Chichikov that there was no further excuse for lingering. 

"Yes, I must be going, " he said as he took his hat. 

"Then what about the tea?"

"Thank you, I will have some on my next visit. "

"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 anexpensive beverage. Moreover, the price of sugar has risen terribly. "

"Proshka!" he then shouted. "The samovar will not be needed. Return thesugar to Mavra, and tell her to put it back again. But no. Bring thesugar here, and _I_ will put it back. "

"Good-bye, dear sir, " finally he added to Chichikov. "May the Lord blessyou! Hand that letter to the President of the Council, and let himread it. Yes, he is an old friend of mine. We knew one another asschoolfellows. "

With that this strange phenomenon, this withered old man, escorted hisguest to the gates of the courtyard, and, after the guest had departed, ordered the gates to be closed, made the round of the outbuildings forthe purpose of ascertaining whether the numerous watchmen were at theirposts, peered into the kitchen (where, under the pretence of seeingwhether his servants were being properly fed, he made a light mealof cabbage soup and gruel), rated the said servants soundly for theirthievishness and general bad behaviour, and then returned to his room. Meditating in solitude, he fell to thinking how best he could contriveto recompense his guest for the latter's measureless benevolence. "Iwill present him, " he thought to himself, "with a watch. It is a goodsilver article--not one of those cheap metal affairs; and though ithas suffered some damage, he can easily get that put right. A young manalways needs to give a watch to his betrothed. "

"No, " he added after further thought. "I will leave him the watch in mywill, as a keepsake. "

Meanwhile our hero was bowling along in high spirit. Such an unexpectedacquisition both of dead souls and of runaway serfs had come asa windfall. Even before reaching Plushkin's village he had had apresentiment that he would do successful business there, but notbusiness of such pre-eminent profitableness as had actually resulted. As he proceeded he whistled, hummed with hand placed trumpetwise to hismouth, and ended by bursting into a burst of melody so striking thatSelifan, after listening for a while, nodded his head and exclaimed, "Myword, but the master CAN sing!"

By the time they reached the town darkness had fallen, and changed thecharacter of the scene. The britchka bounded over the cobblestones, andat length turned into the hostelry's courtyard, where the travellerswere met by Petrushka. With one hand holding back the tails of his coat(which he never liked to see fly apart), the valet assisted hismaster to alight. The waiter ran out with candle in hand and napkin onshoulder. Whether or not Petrushka was glad to see the barin returnit is impossible to say, but at all events he exchanged a wink withSelifan, and his ordinarily morose exterior seemed momentarily tobrighten. 

"Then you have been travelling far, sir?" said the waiter, as he lit theway upstarts. 

"Yes, " said Chichikov. "What has happened here in the meanwhile?"

"Nothing, sir, " replied the waiter, bowing, "except that last nightthere arrived a military lieutenant. He has got room number sixteen. "

"A lieutenant?"

"Yes. He came from Riazan, driving three grey horses. "

On entering his room, Chichikov clapped his hand to his nose, and askedhis valet why he had never had the windows opened. 

"But I did have them opened, " replied Petrushka. Nevertheless this wasa lie, as Chichikov well knew, though he was too tired to contest thepoint. After ordering and consuming a light supper of sucking pig, heundressed, plunged beneath the bedclothes, and sank into the profoundslumber which comes only to such fortunate folk as are troubled neitherwith mosquitoes nor fleas nor excessive activity of brain. 

CHAPTER VII

When Chichikov awoke he stretched himself and realised that he had sleptwell. For a moment or two he lay on his back, and then suddenly clappedhis hands at the recollection that he was now owner of nearly fourhundred souls. At once he leapt out of bed without so much as glancingat his face in the mirror, though, as a rule, he had much solicitude forhis features, and especially for his chin, of which he would make themost when in company with friends, and more particularly should any onehappen to enter while he was engaged in the process of shaving. "Lookhow 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 oncedonned his flower-embroidered slippers of morroco leather (the kindof slippers in which, thanks to the Russian love for a dressing-gownedexistence, the town of Torzhok does such a huge trade), and, clad onlyin a meagre shirt, so far forgot his elderliness and dignity as to cuta couple of capers after the fashion of a Scottish highlander--alightingneatly, each time, on the flat of his heels. Only when he had done thatdid he proceed to business. Planting himself before his dispatch-box, he rubbed his hands with a satisfaction worthy of an incorruptible ruralmagistrate when adjourning for luncheon; after which he extracted fromthe receptacle a bundle of papers. These he had decided not to depositwith a lawyer, for the reason that he would hasten matters, as well assave expense, by himself framing and fair-copying the necessary deedsof indenture; and since he was thoroughly acquainted with the necessaryterminology, he proceeded to inscribe in large characters the date, andthen in smaller ones, his name and rank. By two o'clock the whole wasfinished, and as he looked at the sheets of names representing bygonepeasants who had ploughed, worked at handicrafts, cheated their masters, fetched, carried, and got drunk (though SOME of them may have behavedwell), there came over him a strange, unaccountable sensation. To hiseye each list of names seemed to possess a character of its own;and even individual peasants therein seemed to have taken on certainqualities peculiar to themselves. For instance, to the majority ofMadame Korobotchka's serfs there were appended nicknames and otheradditions; Plushkin's list was distinguished by a conciseness ofexposition which had led to certain of the items being representedmerely by Christian name, patronymic, and a couple of dots;and Sobakevitch's list was remarkable for its amplitude andcircumstantiality, in that not a single peasant had such of his peculiarcharacteristics omitted as that the deceased had been "excellent atjoinery, " or "sober and ready to pay attention to his work. " Also, inSobakevitch's list there was recorded who had been the father andthe mother of each of the deceased, and how those parents had behavedthemselves. Only against the name of a certain Thedotov was thereinscribed: "Father unknown, Mother the maidservant Kapitolina, Moralsand Honesty good. " These details communicated to the document a certainair of freshness, they seemed to connote that the peasants in questionhad lived but yesterday. As Chichikov scanned the list he felt softenedin spirit, and said with a sigh:

"My friends, what a concourse of you is here! How did you all pass yourlives, my brethren? And how did you all come to depart hence?"

As he spoke his eyes halted at one name in particular--that of the samePeter Saveliev Neuvazhai Korito who had once been the property of thewindow Korobotchka. Once more he could not help exclaiming:

"What a series of titles! They occupy a whole line! Peter Saveliev, Iwonder whether you were an artisan or a plain muzhik. Also, I wonder howyou came to meet your end; whether in a tavern, or whether through goingto sleep in the middle of the road and being run over by a train ofwaggons. 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 gethold. How well I can imagine him tramping the country with an axe in hisbelt and his boots on his shoulder, and living on a few groats'-worthof bread and dried fish per day, and taking home a couple of half-roublepieces in his purse, and sewing the notes into his breeches, or stuffingthem 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 thevillage church, and, climbing thence to the cross above, miss yourfooting on a beam, and fall headlong with none at hand but UncleMichai--the good uncle who, scratching the back of his neck, andmuttering, 'Ah, Vania, for once you have been too clever!' straightwaylashed himself to a rope, and took your place? 'Maksim Teliatnikov, shoemaker. ' A shoemaker, indeed? 'As drunk as a shoemaker, ' says theproverb. _I_ know what you were like, my friend. If you wish, I willtell you your whole history. You were apprenticed to a German, who fedyou 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 inuncomplimentary terms to his wife and friends. At length, when yourapprenticeship was over, you said to yourself, 'I am going to set upon my own account, and not just to scrape together a kopeck here and akopeck there, as the Germans do, but to grow rich quick. ' Hence you tooka shop at a high rent, bespoke a few orders, and set to work to buy upsome rotten leather out of which you could make, on each pair of boots, a double profit. But those boots split within a fortnight, and broughtdown upon your head dire showers of maledictions; with the result thatgradually your shop grew empty of customers, and you fell to roamingthe 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 onthe list? That villain Sobakevitch must have sneaked her in without myknowing it. "

"'Grigori Goiezhai-ne-Doiedesh, '" he went on. "What sort of a man wereYOU, I wonder? Were you a carrier who, having set up a team of threehorses and a tilt waggon, left your home, your native hovel, for ever, and departed to cart merchandise to market? Was it on the highway thatyou surrendered your soul to God, or did your friends first marry youto some fat, red-faced soldier's daughter; after which your harness andteam of rough, but sturdy, horses caught a highwayman's fancy, and you, lying on your pallet, thought things over until, willy-nilly, you feltthat you must get up and make for the tavern, thereafter blundering intoan icehole? Ah, our peasant of Russia! Never do you welcome death whenit comes!"

"And you, my friends?" continued Chichikov, turning to the sheet whereonwere inscribed the names of Plushkin's absconded serfs. "Although youare still alive, what is the good of you? You are practically dead. Whither, I wonder, have your fugitive feet carried you? Did you farehardly at Plushkin's, or was it that your natural inclinations led youto prefer roaming the wilds and plundering travellers? Are you, by thistime, in gaol, or have you taken service with other masters for thetillage of their lands? 'Eremei Kariakin, Nikita Volokita and AntonVolokita (son of the foregoing). ' To judge from your surnames, you wouldseem to have been born gadabouts [29]. 'Popov, household serf. ' Probablyyou are an educated man, good Popov, and go in for polite thieving, asdistinguished from the more vulgar cut-throat sort. In my mind's eye Iseem to see a Captain of Rural Police challenging you for being withouta passport; whereupon you stake your all upon a single throw. 'To whomdo you belong?' asks the Captain, probably adding to his question aforcible expletive. 'To such and such a landowner, ' stoutly you reply. 'And what are you doing here?' continues the Captain. 'I havejust received permission to go and earn my obrok, ' is your fluentexplanation. 'Then where is your passport?' 'At Miestchanin [30]Pimenov's. ' 'Pimenov's? Then are you Pimenov himself?' 'Yes, I amPimenov himself. ' 'He has given you his passport?' 'No, he has not givenme his passport. ' 'Come, come!' shouts the Captain with another forcibleexpletive. 'You are lying!' 'No, I am not, ' is your dogged reply. 'It isonly that last night I could not return him his passport, because I camehome late; so I handed it to Antip Prochorov, the bell-ringer, for himto take care of. ' 'Bell-ringer, indeed! Then HE gave you a passport?''No; I did not receive a passport from him either. ' 'What?'--and herethe Captain shouts another expletive--'How dare you keep on lying? Whereis YOUR OWN passport?' 'I had one all right, ' you reply cunningly, 'butmust have dropped it somewhere on the road as I came along. ' 'And whatabout that soldier's coat?' asks the Captain with an impolite addition. 'Whence did you get it? And what of the priest's cashbox and coppermoney?'' 'About them I know nothing, ' you reply doggedly. 'Never at anytime have I committed a theft. ' 'Then how is it that the coat was foundat your place?' 'I do not know. Probably some one else put it there. ''You rascal, you rascal!' shouts the Captain, shaking his head, andclosing in upon you. 'Put the leg-irons upon him, and off with him toprison!' 'With pleasure, ' you reply as, taking a snuff-box from yourpocket, you offer a pinch to each of the two gendarmes who are manaclingyou, while also inquiring how long they have been discharged from thearmy, and in what wars they may have served. And in prison you remainuntil your case comes on, when the justice orders you to be removed fromTsarev-Kokshaika to such and such another prison, and a second justiceorders you to be transferred thence to Vesiegonsk or somewhere else, andyou go flitting from gaol to gaol, and saying each time, as you eye yournew habitation, 'The last place was a good deal cleaner than this oneis, and one could play babki [31] there, and stretch one's legs, and seea little society. '"

"'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 offreedom, and joined the fishermen of the river?"

Here, breaking off, Chichikov relapsed into silent meditation. Of whatwas he thinking as he sat there? Was he thinking of the fortunes ofAbakum Thirov, or was he meditating as meditates every Russian when histhoughts once turn to the joys of an emancipated existence?

"Ah, well!" he sighed, looking at his watch. "It has now gone twelveo'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 foolI am!"

So saying, he exchanged his Scottish costume (of a shirt and nothingelse) for attire of a more European nature; after which he pulledtight the waistcoat over his ample stomach, sprinkled himself witheau-de-Cologne, tucked his papers under his arm, took his fur cap, andset out for the municipal offices, for the purpose of completing thetransfer of souls. The fact that he hurried along was not due to a fearof being late (seeing that the President of the Local Council was anintimate acquaintance of his, as well as a functionary who could shortenor prolong an interview at will, even as Homer's Zeus was able toshorten or to prolong a night or a day, whenever it became necessary toput an end to the fighting of his favourite heroes, or to enable themto join battle), but rather to a feeling that he would like to have theaffair concluded as quickly as possible, seeing that, throughout, it hadbeen an anxious and difficult business. Also, he could not get rid ofthe idea that his souls were unsubstantial things, and that therefore, under the circumstances, his shoulders had better be relieved of theirload with the least possible delay. Pulling on his cinnamon-coloured, bear-lined overcoat as he went, he had just stepped thoughtfully intothe street when he collided with a gentleman dressed in a similarcoat and an ear-lappeted fur cap. Upon that the gentleman uttered anexclamation. Behold, it was Manilov! At once the friends became foldedin a strenuous embrace, and remained so locked for fully five minutes. Indeed, the kisses exchanged were so vigorous that both suffered fromtoothache for the greater portion of the day. Also, Manilov's delightwas such that only his nose and lips remained visible--the eyescompletely disappeared. Afterwards he spent about a quarter of an hourin holding Chichikov's hand and chafing it vigorously. Lastly, he, inthe most pleasant and exquisite terms possible, intimated to his friendthat he had just been on his way to embrace Paul Ivanovitch; and uponthis followed a compliment of the kind which would more fittingly havebeen addressed to a lady who was being asked to accord a partner thefavour of a dance. Chichikov had opened his mouth to reply--thougheven HE felt at a loss how to acknowledge what had just been said--whenManilov cut him short by producing from under his coat a roll of papertied with red riband. 

"What have you there?" asked Chichikov. 

"The list of my souls. "

"Ah!" And as Chichikov unrolled the document and ran his eye over ithe could not but marvel at the elegant neatness with which it had beeninscribed. 

"It is a beautiful piece of writing, " he said. "In fact, there will beno need to make a copy of it. Also, it has a border around its edge! Whoworked that exquisite border?"

"Do not ask me, " said Manilov. 

"Did YOU do it?"

"No; my wife. "

"Dear, dear!" Chichikov cried. "To think that I should have put her toso much trouble!"

"NOTHING could be too much trouble where Paul Ivanovitch is concerned. "

Chichikov bowed his acknowledgements. Next, on learning that he wason his way to the municipal offices for the purpose of completing thetransfer, Manilov expressed his readiness to accompany him; whereforethe pair linked arm in arm and proceeded together. Whenever theyencountered a slight rise in the ground--even the smallest unevennessor difference of level--Manilov supported Chichikov with such energy asalmost to lift him off his feet, while accompanying the service with asmiling implication that not if HE could help it should Paul Ivanovitchslip or fall. Nevertheless this conduct appeared to embarrass Chichikov, either because he could not find any fitting words of gratitude orbecause he considered the proceeding tiresome; and it was with asense of relief that he debouched upon the square where the municipaloffices--a large, three-storied building of a chalky whiteness whichprobably symbolised the purity of the souls engaged within--weresituated. No other building in the square could vie with them in size, seeing that the remaining edifices consisted only of a sentry-box, ashelter for two or three cabmen, and a long hoarding--the latter adornedwith the usual bills, posters, and scrawls in chalk and charcoal. Atintervals, from the windows of the second and third stories of themunicipal offices, the incorruptible heads of certain of the attendantpriests of Themis would peer quickly forth, and as quickly disappearagain--probably for the reason that a superior official had just enteredthe room. Meanwhile the two friends ascended the staircase--nay, almostflew up it, since, longing to get rid of Manilov's ever-supportingarm, Chichikov hastened his steps, and Manilov kept darting forward toanticipate any possible failure on the part of his companion's legs. Consequently the pair were breathless when they reached the firstcorridor. In passing it may be remarked that neither corridors nor roomsevinced any of that cleanliness and purity which marked the exterior ofthe building, for such attributes were not troubled about within, andanything that was dirty remained so, and donned no meritricious, purelyexternal, disguise. It was as though Themis received her visitors inneglige and a dressing-gown. The author would also give a description ofthe various offices through which our hero passed, were it not that he(the author) stands in awe of such legal haunts. 

Approaching the first desk which he happened to encounter, Chichikovinquired of the two young officials who were seated at it whether theywould kindly tell him where business relating to serf-indenture wastransacted. 

"Of what nature, precisely, IS your business?" countered one of theyouthful officials as he turned himself round. 

"I desire to make an application. "

"In connection with a purchase?"

"Yes. But, as I say, I should like first to know where I can find thedesk devoted to such business. Is it here or elsewhere?"

"You must state what it is you have bought, and for how much. THEN weshall be happy to give you the information. "

Chichikov perceived that the officials' motive was merely one ofcuriosity, as often happens when young tchinovniks desire to cut a moreimportant and imposing figure than is rightfully theirs. 

"Look here, young sirs, " he said. "I know for a fact that all serfbusiness, 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 not know your business I can easily ask some one else. "

To this the tchinovniks made no reply beyond pointing towards a cornerof the room where an elderly man appeared to be engaged in sorting somepapers. Accordingly Chichikov and Manilov threaded their way in hisdirection through the desks; whereupon the elderly man became violentlybusy. 

"Would you mind telling me, " said Chichikov, bowing, "whether this isthe desk for serf affairs?"

The elderly man raised his eyes, and said stiffly:

"This is NOT the desk for serf affairs. "

"Where is it, then?"

"In the Serf Department. "

"And where might the Serf Department be?"

"In charge of Ivan Antonovitch. "

"And where is Ivan Antonovitch?"

The elderly man pointed to another corner of the room; whitherChichikov and Manilov next directed their steps. As they advanced, IvanAntonovitch cast an eye backwards and viewed them askance. Then, withrenewed ardour, he resumed his work of writing. 

"Would you mind telling me, " said Chichikov, bowing, "whether this isthe desk for serf affairs?"

It appeared as though Ivan Antonovitch had not heard, so completely didhe bury himself in his papers and return no reply. Instantly it becameplain that HE at least was of an age of discretion, and not one of yourjejune chatterboxes and harum-scarums; for, although his hair was stillthick and black, he had long ago passed his fortieth year. His wholeface tended towards the nose--it was what, in common parlance, is knownas a "pitcher-mug. "

"Would you mind telling me, " repeated Chichikov, "whether this is thedesk for serf affairs?"

"It is that, " said Ivan Antonovitch, again lowering his jug-shaped jowl, and resuming his writing. 

"Then I should like to transact the following business. From variouslandowners in this canton I have purchased a number of peasants fortransfer. Here is the purchase list, and it needs but to be registered. "

"Have you also the vendors here?"

"Some of them, and from the rest I have obtained powers of attorney. "

"And have you your statement of application?"

"Yes. I desire--indeed, it is necessary for me so to do--to hastenmatters a little. Could the affair, therefore, be carried throughto-day?"

"To-day? Oh, dear no!" said Ivan Antonovitch. "Before that can be doneyou must furnish me with further proofs that no impediments exist. "

"Then, to expedite matters, let me say that Ivan Grigorievitch, thePresident of the Council, is a very intimate friend of mine. "

"Possibly, " said Ivan Antonovitch without enthusiasm. "But IvanGrigorievitch alone will not do--it is customary to have others aswell. "

"Yes, but the absence of others will not altogether invalidate thetransaction. I too have been in the service, and know how things can bedone. "

"You had better go and see Ivan Grigorievitch, " said Ivan Antonovitchmore mildly. "Should he give you an order addressed to whom it mayconcern, we shall soon be able to settle the matter. "

Upon that Chichikov pulled from his pocket a paper, and laid it beforeIvan Antonovitch. At once the latter covered it with a book. Chichikovagain attempted to show it to him, but, with a movement of his head, Ivan Antonovitch signified that that was unnecessary. 

"A clerk, " he added, "will now conduct you to Ivan Grigorievitch'sroom. "

Upon that one of the toilers in the service of Themis--a zealot whohad offered her such heartfelt sacrifice that his coat had burst at theelbows and lacked a lining--escorted our friends (even as Virgil hadonce escorted Dante) to the apartment of the Presence. In this sanctumwere some massive armchairs, a table laden with two or three fat books, and a large looking-glass. Lastly, in (apparently) sunlike isolation, there was seated at the table the President. On arriving at the door ofthe apartment, our modern Virgil seemed to have become so overwhelmedwith 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, andhaving adhering to it, in one spot, a chicken's feather. As soon as thetwo friends had entered the hall of the Presence they perceived that thePresident was NOT alone, but, on the contrary, had seated by his sideSobakevitch, whose form had hitherto been concealed by the interveningmirror. The newcomers' entry evoked sundry exclamations and thepushing back of a pair of Government chairs as the voluminous-sleevedSobakevitch rose into view from behind the looking-glass. Chichikovthe President received with an embrace, and for a while the hall ofthe Presence resounded with osculatory salutations as mutually the pairinquired after one another's health. It seemed that both had latelyhad a touch of that pain under the waistband which comes of a sedentarylife. Also, it seemed that the President had just been conversing withSobakevitch on the subject of sales of souls, since he now proceededto congratulate Chichikov on the same--a proceeding which ratherembarrassed our hero, seeing that Manilov and Sobakevitch, two ofthe vendors, and persons with whom he had bargained in the strictestprivacy, were now confronting one another direct. However, Chichikovduly thanked the President, and then, turning to Sobakevitch, inquiredafter HIS health. 

"Thank God, I have nothing to complain of, " replied Sobakevitch: whichwas true enough, seeing that a piece of iron would have caught cold andtaken to sneezing sooner than would that uncouthly fashioned landowner. 

"Ah, yes; you have always had good health, have you not?" put in thePresident. "Your late father was equally strong. "

"Yes, he even went out bear hunting alone, " replied Sobakevitch. 

"I should think that you too could worst a bear if you were to try atussle 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 menas he. What is even a life like mine worth?"

"Then you do not have a comfortable time of it?" exclaimed thePresident. 

"No; far from it, " rejoined Sobakevitch, shaking his head. "Judge foryourself, Ivan Grigorievitch. I am fifty years old, yet never in my lifehad been ill, except for an occasional carbuncle or boil. That is not agood sign. Sooner or later I shall have to pay for it. " And he relapsedinto melancholy. 

"Just listen to the fellow!" was Chichikov's and the President's jointinward comment. "What on earth has HE to complain of?"

"I have a letter for you, Ivan Grigorievitch, " went on Chichikov aloudas he produced from his pocket Plushkin's epistle. 

"From whom?" inquired the President. Having broken the seal, heexclaimed: "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 whostarves his serfs to death. "

"Allow me a moment, " said the President. Then he read the letterthrough. When he had finished he added: "Yes, I am quite ready to actas Plushkin's attorney. When do you wish the purchase deeds to beregistered, Monsieur Chichikov--now or later?"

"Now, if you please, " replied Chichikov. "Indeed, I beg that, ifpossible, the affair may be concluded to-day, since to-morrow I wish toleave the town. I have brought with me both the forms of indenture andmy statement of application. "

"Very well. Nevertheless we cannot let you depart so soon. Theindentures shall be completed to-day, but you must continue your sojournin our midst. I will issue the necessary orders at once. "

So saying, he opened the door into the general office, where the clerkslooked like a swarm of bees around a honeycomb (if I may liken affairsof Government to such an article?). 

"Is Ivan Antonovitch here?" asked the President. 

"Yes, " replied a voice from within. 

"Then send him here. "

Upon that the pitcher-faced Ivan Antonovitch made his appearance in thedoorway, and bowed. 

"Take these indentures, Ivan Antonovitch, " said the President, "and seethat they--"

"But first I would ask you to remember, " put in Sobakevitch, "thatwitnesses ought to be in attendance--not less than two on behalf ofeither party. Let us, therefore, send for the Public Prosecutor, who haslittle 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 ofleisure, and likely to be at home--if he has not gone out to a cardparty. Others also there are--all men who cumber the ground fornothing. "

"Quite so, quite so, " agreed the President, and at once dispatched aclerk to fetch the persons named. 

"Also, " requested Chichikov, "I should be glad if you would send for theaccredited representative of a certain lady landowner with whom I havedone business. He is the son of a Father Cyril, and a clerk in youroffices. "

"Certainly we shall call him here, " replied the President. "Everythingshall be done to meet your convenience, and I forbid you to present anyof our officials with a gratuity. That is a special request on my part. No friend of mine ever pays a copper. "

With that he gave Ivan Antonovitch the necessary instructions; andthough they scarcely seemed to meet with that functionary's approval, upon the President the purchase deeds had evidently produced anexcellent impression, more especially since the moment when he hadperceived 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 ofprofound satisfaction. Then he said:

"Well done, Paul Ivanovitch! You have indeed made a nice haul!"

"That is so, " replied Chichikov. 

"Excellent business! Yes, excellent business!"

"I, too, conceive that I could not well have done better. The truth isthat never until a man has driven home the piles of his life's structureupon a lasting bottom, instead of upon the wayward chimeras of youth, will his aims in life assume a definite end. " And, that said, Chichikovwent on to deliver himself of a very telling indictment of Liberalismand our modern young men. Yet in his words there seemed to lurk acertain lack of conviction. Somehow he seemed secretly to be saying tohimself, "My good sir, you are talking the most absolute rubbish, andnothing but rubbish. " Nor did he even throw a glance at Sobakevitch andManilov. It was as though he were uncertain what he might not encounterin their expression. Yet he need not have been afraid. Never once didSobakevitch's face move a muscle, and, as for Manilov, he was too muchunder the spell of Chichikov's eloquence to do aught beyond nod hisapproval at intervals, and strike the kind of attitude which is assumedby lovers of music when a lady singer has, in rivalry of an accompanyingviolin, produced a note whereof the shrillness would exceed even thecapacity 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 YOUnot ask Monsieur Chichikov precisely what his purchases have consistedof? What a splendid lot of serfs, to be sure! I myself have sold him mywheelwright, Michiev. "

"What? You have sold him Michiev?" exclaimed the President. "I know theman well. He is a splendid craftsman, and, on one occasion, made me adrozhki [32]. Only, only--well, lately didn't you tell me that he isdead?"

"That Michiev is dead?" re-echoed Sobakevitch, coming perilously nearto laughing. "Oh dear no! That was his brother. Michiev himself is verymuch alive, and in even better health than he used to be. Any day hecould knock you up a britchka such as you could not procure even inMoscow. However, he is now bound to work for only one master. "

"Indeed a splendid craftsman!" repeated the President. "My only wonderis that you can have brought yourself to part with him. "

"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, withMilushkin, my bricklayer, and with Teliatnikov, my bootmaker. Yes, thewhole lot I have sold. "

And to the President's inquiry why he had so acted, seeing that theserfs named were all skilled workers and indispensable to a household, Sobakevitch replied that a mere whim had led him to do so, and thus thesale had owed its origin to a piece of folly. Then he hung his head asthough already repenting of his rash act, and added:

"Although a man of grey hairs, I have not yet learned wisdom. "

"But, " inquired the President further, "how comes it about, PaulIvanovitch, that you have purchased peasants apart from land? Is it fortransferment elsewhere that you need them?"

"Yes. "

"Very well, then. That is quite another matter. To what province of thecountry?"

"To the province of Kherson. "

"Indeed? That region contains some splendid land, " said the President;whereupon he proceeded to expatiate on the fertility of the Khersonpastures. 

"And have you MUCH land there?" he continued. 

"Yes; quite sufficient to accommodate the serfs whom I have purchased. "

"And is there a river on the estate or a lake?"

"Both. "

After this reply Chichikov involuntarily threw a glance at Sobakevitch;and though that landowner's face was as motionless as every other, theother seemed to detect in it: "You liar! Don't tell ME that you own botha river and a lake, as well as the land which you say you do. "

Whilst the foregoing conversation had been in progress, variouswitnesses had been arriving on the scene. They consisted of theconstantly blinking Public Prosecutor, the Inspector of the MedicalDepartment, and others--all, to quote Sobakevitch, "men who cumberedthe ground for nothing. " With some of them, however, Chichikov wasaltogether unacquainted, since certain substitutes and supernumerarieshad to be pressed into the service from among the ranks of thesubordinate staff. There also arrived, in answer to the summons, notonly the son of Father Cyril before mentioned, but also Father Cyrilhimself. Each such witness appended to his signature a full list of hisdignities and qualifications: one man in printed characters, another ina flowing hand, a third in topsy-turvy characters of a kind never beforeseen in the Russian alphabet, and so forth. Meanwhile our friend IvanAntonovitch comported himself with not a little address; and after theindentures had been signed, docketed, and registered, Chichikovfound himself called upon to pay only the merest trifle in the way ofGovernment percentage and fees for publishing the transaction in theOfficial Gazette. The reason of this was that the President had givenorders that only half the usual charges were to be exacted from thepresent purchaser--the remaining half being somehow debited to theaccount of another applicant for serf registration. 

"And now, " said Ivan Grigorievitch when all was completed, "we need onlyto 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 fewchampagne corks flying, I should be indeed in default. "

"But we are not going to let you charge yourself with anythingwhatsoever. WE must provide the champagne, for you are our guest, andit is for us--it is our duty, it is our bounden obligation--to entertainyou. Look here, gentlemen. Let us adjourn to the house of the Chiefof Police. He is the magician who needs but to wink when passing afishmonger's or a wine merchant's. Not only shall we fare well at hisplace, but also we shall get a game of whist. "

To this proposal no one had any objection to offer, for the mere mentionof the fish shop aroused the witnesses' appetite. Consequently, theceremony being over, there was a general reaching for hats and caps. As the party were passing through the general office, Ivan Antonovitchwhispered in Chichikov's ear, with a courteous inclination of hisjug-shaped physiognomy:

"You have given a hundred thousand roubles for the serfs, but have paidME only a trifle for my trouble. "

"Yes, " replied Chichikov with a similar whisper, "but what sort of serfsdo you suppose them to be? They are a poor, useless lot, and not wortheven half the purchase money. "

This gave Ivan Antonovitch to understand that the visitor was a man ofstrong character--a man from whom nothing more was to be expected. 

"Why have you gone and purchased souls from Plushkin?" whisperedSobakevitch in Chichikov's other ear. 

"Why did YOU go and add the woman Vorobei to your list?" retortedChichikov. 

"Vorobei? Who is Vorobei?"

"The woman 'Elizabet' Vorobei--'Elizabet, ' not 'Elizabeta?'"

"I added no such name, " replied Sobakevitch, and straightway joined theother guests. 

At length the party arrived at the residence of the Chief of Police. Thelatter proved indeed a man of spells, for no sooner had he learnt whatwas afoot than he summoned a brisk young constable, whispered in hisear, adding laconically, "You understand, do you not?" and brought itabout that, during the time that the guests were cutting for partners atwhist in an adjoining room, the dining-table became laden with sturgeon, caviare, salmon, herrings, cheese, smoked tongue, fresh roe, and apotted variety of the same--all procured from the local fish market, andreinforced with additions from the host's own kitchen. The fact was thatthe worthy Chief of Police filled the office of a sort of father andgeneral benefactor to the town, and that he moved among the citizens asthough they constituted part and parcel of his own family, and watchedover their shops and markets as though those establishments weremerely his own private larder. Indeed, it would be difficult to say--sothoroughly did he perform his duties in this respect--whether the postmost fitted him, or he the post. Matters were also so arranged thatthough his income more than doubled that of his predecessors, he hadnever lost the affection of his fellow townsmen. In particular did thetradesmen love him, since he was never above standing godfather to theirchildren or dining at their tables. True, he had differences of opinionwith them, and serious differences at that; but always these wereskilfully adjusted by his slapping the offended ones jovially on theshoulder, drinking a glass of tea with them, promising to call at theirhouses and play a game of chess, asking after their belongings, and, should he learn that a child of theirs was ill, prescribing the propermedicine. In short, he bore the reputation of being a very good fellow. 

On perceiving the feast to be ready, the host proposed that his guestsshould finish their whist after luncheon; whereupon all proceeded to theroom whence for some time past an agreeable odour had been tickling thenostrils of those present, and towards the door of which Sobakevitch inparticular had been glancing since the moment when he had caught sightof a huge sturgeon reposing on the sideboard. After a glassful of warm, olive-coloured vodka apiece--vodka of the tint to be seen only in thespecies of Siberian stone whereof seals are cut--the company appliedthemselves to knife-and-fork work, and, in so doing, evinced theirseveral characteristics and tastes. For instance, Sobakevitch, disdaining lesser trifles, tackled the large sturgeon, and, during thetime that his fellow guests were eating minor comestibles, and drinkingand 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 youof this striking product of nature?" there ensued the discovery that ofthe said product of nature there remained little beyond the tail, whileSobakevitch, with an air as though at least HE had not eaten it, wasengaged in plunging his fork into a much more diminutive piece of fishwhich happened to be resting on an adjacent platter. After his divorcefrom the sturgeon, Sobakevitch ate and drank no more, but sat frowningand blinking in an armchair. 

Apparently the host was not a man who believed in sparing the wine, forthe toasts drunk were innumerable. The first toast (as the reader mayguess) was quaffed to the health of the new landowner of Kherson; thesecond to the prosperity of his peasants and their safe transferment;and the third to the beauty of his future wife--a compliment whichbrought to our hero's lips a flickering smile. Lastly, he received fromthe company a pressing, as well as an unanimous, invitation to extendhis stay in town for at least another fortnight, and, in the meanwhile, to allow a wife to be found for him. 

"Quite so, " agreed the President. "Fight us tooth and nail though youmay, 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 thissubject. "

"But why should I fight you tooth and nail?" said Chichikov, smiling. "Marriage would not come amiss to me, were I but provided with abetrothed. "

"Then a betrothed you shall have. Why not? We will do as you wish. "

"Very well, " assented Chichikov. 

"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 insuccession. Indeed, as the hours passed on, the hilarity of the companyincreased yet further, and more than once the President (a man of greaturbanity when thoroughly in his cups) embraced the chief guest of theday with the heartfelt words, "My dearest fellow! My own most preciousof friends!" Nay, he even started to crack his fingers, to dance aroundChichikov's chair, and to sing snatches of a popular song. To thechampagne succeeded Hungarian wine, which had the effect of stillfurther heartening and enlivening the company. By this time everyone had forgotten about whist, and given himself up to shouting anddisputing. Every conceivable subject was discussed, including politicsand military affairs; and in this connection guests voiced jejuneopinions for the expression of which they would, at any other time, havesoundly spanked their offspring. Chichikov, like the rest, had neverbefore felt so gay, and, imagining himself really and truly to be alandowner of Kherson, spoke of various improvements in agriculture, ofthe three-field system of tillage [33], and of the beatific felicity ofa union between two kindred souls. Also, he started to recite poetry toSobakevitch, who blinked as he listened, for he greatly desired to go tosleep. At length the guest of the evening realised that matters had gonefar enough, so begged to be given a lift home, and was accommodated withthe Public Prosecutor's drozhki. Luckily the driver of the vehicle wasa practised man at his work, for, while driving with one hand, hesucceeded in leaning backwards and, with the other, holding Chichikovsecurely in his place. Arrived at the inn, our hero continued babblingawhile about a flaxen-haired damsel with rosy lips and a dimple in herright cheek, about villages of his in Kherson, and about the amount ofhis capital. Nay, he even issued seignorial instructions that Selifanshould go and muster the peasants about to be transferred, and make acomplete and detailed inventory of them. For a while Selifan listenedin silence; then he left the room, and instructed Petrushka to help thebarin to undress. As it happened, Chichikov's boots had no soonerbeen removed than he managed to perform the rest of his toilet withoutassistance, 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 ofbilberry-coloured check into the corridor; where, spreading them over aclothes' horse, he started to flick and to brush them, and to fill thewhole corridor with dust. Just as he was about to replace them in hismaster's room he happened to glance over the railing of the gallery, andsaw Selifan returning from the stable. Glances were exchanged, and inan instant the pair had arrived at an instinctive understanding--anunderstanding to the effect that the barin was sound asleep, and thattherefore one might consider one's own pleasure a little. AccordinglyPetrushka proceeded to restore the coat and trousers to their appointedplaces, and then descended the stairs; whereafter he and Selifan leftthe house together. Not a word passed between them as to the objectof their expedition. On the contrary, they talked solely of extraneoussubjects. Yet their walk did not take them far; it took them only tothe other side of the street, and thence into an establishment whichimmediately confronted the inn. Entering a mean, dirty courtyard coveredwith glass, they passed thence into a cellar where a number of customerswere seated around small wooden tables. What thereafter was done bySelifan and Petrushka God alone knows. At all events, within an hour'stime they issued, arm in arm, and in profound silence, yet remainingmarkedly assiduous to one another, and ever ready to help one anotheraround an awkward corner. Still linked together--never once releasingtheir mutual hold--they spent the next quarter of an hour in attemptingto negotiate the stairs of the inn; but at length even that ascent hadbeen mastered, and they proceeded further on their way. Haltingbefore his mean little pallet, Petrushka stood awhile in thought. Hisdifficulty was how best to assume a recumbent position. Eventually helay down on his face, with his legs trailing over the floor; after whichSelifan also stretched himself upon the pallet, with his head restingupon Petrushka's stomach, and his mind wholly oblivious of the fact thathe ought not to have been sleeping there at all, but in the servant'squarters, or in the stable beside his horses. Scarcely a moment hadpassed before the pair were plunged in slumber and emitting the mostraucous snores; to which their master (next door) responded with snoresof a whistling and nasal order. Indeed, before long every one in theinn had followed their soothing example, and the hostelry lay plungedin complete restfulness. Only in the window of the room of thenewly-arrived 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 witha view to taking off the boots and retiring to rest; but each time hefailed, for the reason that the boots were so alluring in their makethat he had no choice but to lift up first one foot, and then the other, for the purpose of scanning their elegant welts. 

CHAPTER VIII

It was not long before Chichikov's purchases had become the talk of thetown; and various were the opinions expressed as to whether or not itwas expedient to procure peasants for transferment. Indeed such was theinterest taken by certain citizens in the matter that they advised thepurchaser to provide himself and his convoy with an escort, in orderto ensure their safe arrival at the appointed destination; but thoughChichikov thanked the donors of this advice for the same, and declaredthat he should be very glad, in case of need, to avail himself of it, hedeclared also that there was no real need for an escort, seeing that thepeasants whom he had purchased were exceptionally peace-loving folk, and that, being themselves consenting parties to the transferment, theywould undoubtedly prove in every way tractable. 

One particularly good result of this advertisement of his scheme wasthat he came to rank as neither more nor less than a millionaire. Consequently, much as the inhabitants had liked our hero in the firstinstance (as seen in Chapter I. ), they now liked him more than ever. As a matter of fact, they were citizens of an exceptionally quiet, good-natured, easy-going disposition; and some of them were evenwell-educated. For instance, the President of the Local Council couldrecite the whole of Zhukovski's LUDMILLA by heart, and give such animpressive rendering of the passage "The pine forest was asleep and thevalley 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 hedescribed them. The effect was also further heightened by the manner inwhich, at such moments, he assumed the most portentous frown. For hispart, the Postmaster went in more for philosophy, and diligently perusedsuch works as Young's Night Thoughts, and Eckharthausen's A Key tothe Mysteries of Nature; of which latter work he would make copiousextracts, though no one had the slightest notion what they referredto. For the rest, he was a witty, florid little individual, and muchaddicted to a practice of what he called "embellishing" whatsoever hehad to say--a feat which he performed with the aid of such by-the-wayphrases as "my dear sir, " "my good So-and-So, " "you know, " "youunderstand, " "you may imagine, " "relatively speaking, " "for instance, "and "et cetera"; of which phrases he would add sackfuls to hisspeech. He could also "embellish" his words by the simple expedient ofhalf-closing, half-winking one eye; which trick communicated to some ofhis satirical utterances quite a mordant effect. Nor were his colleaguesa wit inferior to him in enlightenment. For instance, one of them madea regular practice of reading Karamzin, another of conning the MoscowGazette, and a third of never looking at a book at all. Likewise, although they were the sort of men to whom, in their more intimatemovements, their wives would very naturally address such nicknamesas "Toby Jug, " "Marmot, " "Fatty, " "Pot Belly, " "Smutty, " "Kiki, " and"Buzz-Buzz, " they were men also of good heart, and very ready to extendtheir hospitality and their friendship when once a guest had eatenof their bread and salt, or spent an evening in their company. Particularly, therefore, did Chichikov earn these good folk's approvalwith his taking methods and qualities--so much so that the expressionof 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 tobe 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 dealabout the ladies themselves, and to describe in the most vivid ofcolours their social intercourse and spiritual qualities. Yet this wouldbe a difficult thing for me to do, since, on the one hand, I should behampered by my boundless respect for the womenfolk of all CivilService officials, and, on the other hand--well, simply by the innatearduousness of the task. The ladies of N. Were--But no, I cannot doit; my heart has already failed me. Come, come! The ladies of N. Weredistinguished for--But it is of no use; somehow my pen seems to refuseto move over the paper--it seems to be weighted as with a plummetof lead. Very well. That being so, I will merely say a word ortwo concerning the most prominent tints on the feminine palette ofN. --merely a word or two concerning the outward appearance ofits ladies, and a word or two concerning their more superficialcharacteristics. The ladies of N. Were pre-eminently what is known as"presentable. " Indeed, in that respect they might have served as amodel to the ladies of many another town. That is to say, in whateverpertained to "tone, " etiquette, the intricacies of decorum, and strictobservance of the prevailing mode, they surpassed even the ladies ofMoscow and St. Petersburg, seeing that they dressed with taste, droveabout in carriages in the latest fashions, and never went out withoutthe escort of a footman in gold-laced livery. Again, they looked upona visiting card--even upon a make-shift affair consisting of an ace ofdiamonds or a two of clubs--as a sacred thing; so sacred that on oneoccasion two closely related ladies who had also been closely attachedfriends were known to fall out with one another over the mere fact of anomission to return a social call! Yes, in spite of the best effortsof husbands and kinsfolk to reconcile the antagonists, it became clearthat, though all else in the world might conceivably be possible, nevercould the hatchet be buried between ladies who had quarrelled overa neglected visit. Likewise strenuous scenes used to take place overquestions of precedence--scenes of a kind which had the effect ofinspiring husbands to great and knightly ideas on the subject ofprotecting the fair. True, never did a duel actually take place, sinceall the husbands were officials belonging to the Civil Service; but atleast a given combatant would strive to heap contumely upon his rival, and, as we all know, that is a resource which may prove even moreeffectual than a duel. As regards morality, the ladies of N. Werenothing if not censorious, and would at once be fired with virtuousindignation when they heard of a case of vice or seduction. Nay, even tomere frailty they would award the lash without mercy. On the other hand, should any instance of what they called "third personism" occur amongTHEIR OWN circle, it was always kept dark--not a hint of what was goingon being allowed to transpire, and even the wronged husband holdinghimself ready, should he meet with, or hear of, the "third person, " toquote, in a mild and rational manner, the proverb, "Whom concerns itthat 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. Werepre-eminently 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 itwith my handkerchief, " and so forth. Again, to say, "This glass, orthis plate, smells badly, " was forbidden. No, not even a hint to such aneffect was to be dropped. Rather, the proper phrase, in such a case, was"This glass, or this plate, is not behaving very well, "--or some suchformula. 

In fact, to refine the Russian tongue the more thoroughly, somethinglike half the words in it were cut out: which circumstance necessitatedvery frequent recourse to the tongue of France, since the same words, ifspoken in French, were another matter altogether, and one could use evenblunter ones than the ones originally objected to. 

So much for the ladies of N. , provided that one confines one'sobservations to the surface; yet hardly need it be said that, should onepenetrate deeper than that, a great deal more would come to light. Atthe same time, it is never a very safe proceeding to peer deeply intothe hearts of ladies; wherefore, restricting ourselves to the foregoingsuperficialities, let us proceed further on our way. 

Hitherto the ladies had paid Chichikov no particular attention, thoughgiving him full credit for his gentlemanly and urbane demeanour; butfrom the moment that there arose rumours of his being a millionaireother qualities of his began to be canvassed. Nevertheless, not ALL theladies 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 decentfolk, and upon folk who are neither the one nor the other, an undeniableinfluence. A millionaire suffers from the disadvantage of everywherehaving to behold meanness, including the sort of meanness which, thoughnot actually based upon calculations of self-interest, yet runs afterthe wealthy man with smiles, and doffs his hat, and begs for invitationsto houses where the millionaire is known to be going to dine. Thata similar inclination to meanness seized upon the ladies of N. Goeswithout saying; with the result that many a drawing-room heard itwhispered that, if Chichikov was not exactly a beauty, at least he wassufficiently good-looking to serve for a husband, though he could haveborne to have been a little more rotund and stout. To that there wouldbe added scornful references to lean husbands, and hints that theyresembled tooth-brushes rather than men--with many other feminineadditions. Also, such crowds of feminine shoppers began to repair to theBazaar as almost to constitute a crush, and something like a processionof carriages ensued, so long grew the rank of vehicles. For their part, the tradesmen had the joy of seeing highly priced dress materials whichthey had brought at fairs, and then been unable to dispose of, nowsuddenly become tradeable, and go off with a rush. For instance, on oneoccasion a lady appeared at Mass in a bustle which filled the church toan extent which led the verger on duty to bid the commoner folk withdrawto the porch, lest the lady's toilet should be soiled in the crush. Even Chichikov could not help privately remarking the attention which hearoused. On one occasion, when he returned to the inn, he found onhis table a note addressed to himself. Whence it had come, and who haddelivered it, he failed to discover, for the waiter declared that theperson 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 wenton to say that between a certain pair of souls there existed a bond ofsympathy; and this verity the epistle further confirmed with rows offull stops to the extent of nearly half a page. Next there followed afew reflections of a correctitude so remarkable that I have no choicebut to quote them. "What, I would ask, is this life of ours?" inquiredthe writer. "'Tis nought but a vale of woe. And what, I would ask, isthe world? 'Tis nought but a mob of unthinking humanity. " Thereafter, incidentally remarking that she had just dropped a tear to the memory ofher dear mother, who had departed this life twenty-five 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, folkcould not even draw their breath. In conclusion, the writer gave way tounconcealed despair, and wound up with the following verses:

 "Two turtle doves to thee, one day, My dust will show, congealed in death; And, cooing wearily, they'll say: 'In grief and loneliness she drew her closing breath. '"

True, the last line did not scan, but that was a trifle, since thequatrain at least conformed to the mode then prevalent. Neithersignature nor date were appended to the document, but only a postscriptexpressing a conjecture that Chichikov's own heart would tell him whothe writer was, and stating, in addition, that the said writer would bepresent at the Governor's ball on the following night. 

This greatly interested Chichikov. Indeed, there was so much that wasalluring and provocative of curiosity in the anonymous missive that heread it through a second time, and then a third, and finally said tohimself: "I SHOULD like to know who sent it!" In short, he took thething seriously, and spent over an hour in considering the same. Atlength, muttering a comment upon the epistle's efflorescent style, herefolded the document, and committed it to his dispatch-box in companywith a play-bill and an invitation to a wedding--the latter of which hadfor the last seven years reposed in the self-same receptacle and inthe self-same position. Shortly afterwards there arrived a card ofinvitation to the Governor's ball already referred to. In passing, itmay be said that such festivities are not infrequent phenomena in countytowns, for the reason that where Governors exist there must take placeballs if from the local gentry there is to be evoked that respectfulaffection which is every Governor's due. 

Thenceforth all extraneous thoughts and considerations were laid asidein favour of preparing for the coming function. Indeed, this conjunctionof exciting and provocative motives led to Chichikov devoting to histoilet an amount of time never witnessed since the creation of theworld. Merely in the contemplation of his features in the mirror, as hetried to communicate to them a succession of varying expressions, was anhour spent. First of all he strove to make his features assume an airof dignity and importance, and then an air of humble, but faintlysatirical, respect, and then an air of respect guiltless of any alloywhatsoever. Next, he practised performing a series of bows to hisreflection, accompanied with certain murmurs intended to bear aresemblance to a French phrase (though Chichikov knew not a single wordof the Gallic tongue). Lastly came the performing of a series of what Imight call "agreeable surprises, " in the shape of twitchings of the browand lips and certain motions of the tongue. In short, he did all that aman is apt to do when he is not only alone, but also certain that he ishandsome and that no one is regarding him through a chink. Finally hetapped himself lightly on the chin, and said, "Ah, good old face!" Inthe same way, when he started to dress himself for the ceremony, thelevel of his high spirits remained unimpaired throughout the process. That is to say, while adjusting his braces and tying his tie, heshuffled his feet in what was not exactly a dance, but might be calledthe entr'acte of a dance: which performance had the not very seriousresult of setting a wardrobe a-rattle, and causing a brush to slide fromthe table to the floor. 

Later, his entry into the ballroom produced an extraordinary effect. Every one present came forward to meet him, some with cards in theirhands, and one man even breaking off a conversation at the mostinteresting point--namely, the point that "the Inferior Land Court mustbe made responsible for everything. " Yes, in spite of the responsibilityof the Inferior Land Court, the speaker cast all thoughts of it tothe winds as he hurried to greet our hero. From every side resoundedacclamations of welcome, and Chichikov felt himself engulfed in a sea ofembraces. Thus, scarcely had he extricated himself from the arms ofthe President of the Local Council when he found himself just as firmlyclasped in the arms of the Chief of Police, who, in turn, surrenderedhim to the Inspector of the Medical Department, who, in turn, handedhim over to the Commissioner of Taxes, who, again, committed him to thecharge of the Town Architect. Even the Governor, who hitherto had beenstanding among his womenfolk with a box of sweets in one hand anda lap-dog in the other, now threw down both sweets and lap-dog (thelap-dog giving vent to a yelp as he did so) and added his greeting tothose of the rest of the company. Indeed, not a face was there to beseen on which ecstatic delight--or, at all events, the reflection ofother people's ecstatic delight--was not painted. The same expressionmay be discerned on the faces of subordinate officials when, the newlyarrived Director having made his inspection, the said officials arebeginning to get over their first sense of awe on perceiving that hehas found much to commend, and that he can even go so far as to jestand utter a few words of smiling approval. Thereupon every tchinovnikresponds with a smile of double strength, and those who (it may be) havenot heard a single word of the Director's speech smile out of sympathywith the rest, and even the gendarme who is posted at the distantdoor--a man, perhaps, who has never before compassed a smile, but ismore accustomed to dealing out blows to the populace--summons up a kindof grin, even though the grin resembles the grimace of a man who isabout to sneeze after inadvertently taking an over-large pinch ofsnuff. To all and sundry Chichikov responded with a bow, and feltextraordinarily at his ease as he did so. To right and left did heincline his head in the sidelong, yet unconstrained, manner that washis wont and never failed to charm the beholder. As for the ladies, they clustered around him in a shining bevy that was redolent of everyspecies of perfume--of roses, of spring violets, and of mignonette; somuch so that instinctively Chichikov raised his nose to snuff the air. Likewise the ladies' dresses displayed an endless profusion of taste andvariety; and though the majority of their wearers evinced a tendency toembonpoint, those wearers knew how to call upon art for the concealmentof the fact. Confronting them, Chichikov thought to himself: "Which ofthese beauties is the writer of the letter?" Then again he snuffed theair. When the ladies had, to a certain extent, returned to their seats, he resumed his attempts to discern (from glances and expressions) whichof them could possibly be the unknown authoress. Yet, though thoseglances and expressions were too subtle, too insufficiently open, thedifficulty in no way diminished his high spirits. Easily and gracefullydid he exchange agreeable bandinage with one lady, and then approachanother one with the short, mincing steps usually affected by young-olddandies who are fluttering around the fair. As he turned, not withoutdexterity, to right and left, he kept one leg slightly draggingbehind the other, like a short tail or comma. This trick the ladiesparticularly admired. In short, they not only discovered in him a hostof recommendations and attractions, but also began to see in his facea sort of grand, Mars-like, military expression--a thing which, as weknow, never fails to please the feminine eye. Certain of the ladies eventook to bickering over him, and, on perceiving that he spent most ofhis time standing near the door, some of their number hastened to occupychairs nearer to his post of vantage. In fact, when a certain damechanced to have the good fortune to anticipate a hated rival in therace there very nearly ensued a most lamentable scene--which, to manyof those who had been desirous of doing exactly the same thing, seemed apeculiarly horrible instance of brazen-faced audacity. 

So deeply did Chichikov become plunged in conversation with his fairpursuers--or rather, so deeply did those fair pursuers enmesh him in thetoils of small talk (which they accomplished through the expedient ofasking him endless subtle riddles which brought the sweat to his brow inhis attempts to guess them)--that he forgot the claims of courtesy whichrequired him first of all to greet his hostess. In fact, he rememberedthose claims only on hearing the Governor's wife herself addressing him. She had been standing before him for several minutes, and now greetedhim with suave expressement and the words, "So HERE you are, PaulIvanovitch!" But what she said next I am not in a position to report, for she spoke in the ultra-refined tone and vein wherein ladies andgentlemen customarily express themselves in high-class novels which havebeen written by experts more qualified than I am to describe salons, andable to boast of some acquaintance with good society. In effect, whatthe Governor's wife said was that she hoped--she greatly hoped--thatMonsieur Chichikov's heart still contained a corner--even the smallestpossible corner--for those whom he had so cruelly forgotten. Upon thatChichikov turned to her, and was on the point of returning a reply atleast no worse than that which would have been returned, under similarcircumstances, by the hero of a fashionable novelette, when he stoppedshort, as though thunderstruck. 

Before him there was standing not only Madame, but also a young girlwhom she was holding by the hand. The golden hair, the fine-drawn, delicate contours, the face with its bewitching oval--a face which mighthave served as a model for the countenance of the Madonna, since it wasof a type rarely to be met with in Russia, where nearly everything, fromplains to human feet, is, rather, on the gigantic scale; these features, I say, were those of the identical maiden whom Chichikov had encounteredon the road when he had been fleeing from Nozdrev's. His emotion wassuch that he could not formulate a single intelligible syllable; hecould merely murmur the devil only knows what, though certainlynothing of the kind which would have risen to the lips of the hero of afashionable novel. 

"I think that you have not met my daughter before?" said Madame. "She isjust 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 saysomething further his tongue completely failed him. The Governor's wifeadded a word or two, and then carried off her daughter to speak to someof the other guests. 

Chichikov stood rooted to the spot, like a man who, after issuinginto the street for a pleasant walk, has suddenly come to a halt onremembering that something has been left behind him. In a moment, ashe struggles to recall what that something is, the mien of carelessexpectancy disappears from his face, and he no longer sees a singleperson or a single object in his vicinity. In the same way did Chichikovsuddenly become oblivious to the scene around him. Yet all the while themelodious tongues of ladies were plying him with multitudinous hintsand questions--hints and questions inspired with a desire to captivate. "Might we poor cumberers of the ground make so bold as to ask you whatyou are thinking of?" "Pray tell us where lie the happy regions in whichyour thoughts are wandering?" "Might we be informed of the name of herwho has plunged you into this sweet abandonment of meditation?"--suchwere 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 intoa pool. Indeed, his rudeness soon reached the pitch of his walkingaway altogether, in order that he might go and reconnoitre wither theGovernor's wife and daughter had retreated. But the ladies were notgoing to let him off so easily. Every one of them had made up her mindto use upon him her every weapon, and to exhibit whatsoever might chanceto constitute her best point. Yet the ladies' wiles proved useless, forChichikov paid not the smallest attention to them, even when the dancinghad begun, but kept raising himself on tiptoe to peer over people'sheads and ascertain in which direction the bewitching maiden with thegolden hair had gone. Also, when seated, he continued to peep betweenhis neighbours' backs and shoulders, until at last he discovered hersitting beside her mother, who was wearing a sort of Oriental turban andfeather. Upon that one would have thought that his purpose was to carrythe position by storm; for, whether moved by the influence of spring, or whether moved by a push from behind, he pressed forward with suchdesperate resolution that his elbow caused the Commissioner of Taxesto stagger on his feet, and would have caused him to lose his balancealtogether but for the supporting row of guests in the rear. Likewisethe Postmaster was made to give ground; whereupon he turned and eyedChichikov with mingled astonishment and subtle irony. But Chichikovnever even noticed him; he saw in the distance only the golden-hairedbeauty. At that moment she was drawing on a long glove and, doubtless, pining to be flying over the dancing-floor, where, with clicking heels, four couples had now begun to thread the mazes of the mazurka. Inparticular was a military staff-captain working body and soul andarms and legs to compass such a series of steps as were never beforeperformed, even in a dream. However, Chichikov slipped past the mazurkadancers, and, almost treading on their heels, made his way towards thespot where Madame and her daughter were seated. Yet he approached themwith great diffidence and none of his late mincing and prancing. Nay, he even faltered as he walked; his every movement had about it an air ofawkwardness. 

It is difficult to say whether or not the feeling which had awakenedin our hero's breast was the feeling of love; for it is problematicalwhether or not men who are neither stout nor thin are capable of anysuch sentiment. Nevertheless, something strange, something which hecould not altogether explain, had come upon him. It seemed as thoughthe ball, with its talk and its clatter, had suddenly become a thingremote--that the orchestra had withdrawn behind a hill, and the scenegrown misty, like the carelessly painted-in background of a picture. Andfrom that misty void there could be seen glimmering only the delicateoutlines of the bewitching maiden. Somehow her exquisite shape remindedhim of an ivory toy, in such fair, white, transparent relief did itstand out against the dull blur of the surrounding throng. 

Herein we see a phenomenon not infrequently observed--the phenomenon ofthe 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, ifnot exactly a military officer. On perceiving an empty chair beside themother and daughter, he hastened to occupy it, and though conversationat first hung fire, things gradually improved, and he acquired moreconfidence. 

At this point I must reluctantly deviate to say that men of weight andhigh office are always a trifle ponderous when conversing with ladies. Young lieutenants--or, at all events, officers not above the rank ofcaptain--are far more successful at the game. How they contrive to be soGod only knows. Let them but make the most inane of remarks, and at oncethe maiden by their side will be rocking with laughter; whereas, shoulda State Councillor enter into conversation with a damsel, and remarkthat the Russian Empire is one of vast extent, or utter a complimentwhich he has elaborated not without a certain measure of intelligence(however strongly the said compliment may smack of a book), of a suretythe thing will fall flat. Even a witticism from him will be laughed atfar more by him himself than it will by the lady who may happen to belistening to his remarks. 

These comments I have interposed for the purpose of explaining to thereader why, as our hero conversed, the maiden began to yawn. Blind tothis, however, he continued to relate to her sundry adventures which hadbefallen him in different parts of the world. Meanwhile (as need hardlybe said) the rest of the ladies had taken umbrage at his behaviour. Oneof them purposely stalked past him to intimate to him the fact, as wellas to jostle the Governor's daughter, and let the flying end of a scarfflick her face; while from a lady seated behind the pair came both awhiff of violets and a very venomous and sarcastic remark. Nevertheless, either he did not hear the remark or he PRETENDED not to hear it. Thiswas unwise of him, since it never does to disregard ladies' opinions. Later-but too late--he was destined to learn this to his cost. 

In short, dissatisfaction began to display itself on every feminineface. No matter how high Chichikov might stand in society, and no matterhow much he might be a millionaire and include in his expression ofcountenance an indefinable element of grandness and martial ardour, there are certain things which no lady will pardon, whosoever be theperson concerned. We know that at Governor's balls it is customary forthe onlookers to compose verses at the expense of the dancers; and inthis case the verses were directed to Chichikov's address. Briefly, theprevailing dissatisfaction grew until a tacit edict of proscription hadbeen issued against both him and the poor young maiden. 

But an even more unpleasant surprise was in store for our hero; forwhilst the young lady was still yawning as Chichikov recounted to hercertain of his past adventures and also touched lightly upon the subjectof Greek philosophy, there appeared from an adjoining room the figure ofNozdrev. Whether he had come from the buffet, or whether he had issuedfrom a little green retreat where a game more strenuous than whist hadbeen in progress, or whether he had left the latter resort unaided, orwhether he had been expelled therefrom, is unknown; but at all eventswhen he entered the ballroom, he was in an elevated condition, andleading by the arm the Public Prosecutor, whom he seemed to have beendragging about for a long while past, seeing that the poor man wasglancing from side to side as though seeking a means of putting an endto this personally conducted tour. Certainly he must have found thesituation almost unbearable, in view of the fact that, after derivinginspiration from two glasses of tea not wholly undiluted with rum, Nozdrev was engaged in lying unmercifully. On sighting him in thedistance, Chichikov at once decided to sacrifice himself. That is tosay, he decided to vacate his present enviable position and make offwith all possible speed, since he could see that an encounter with thenewcomer would do him no good. Unfortunately at that moment the Governorbuttonholed him with a request that he would come and act as arbiterbetween him (the Governor) and two ladies--the subject of disputebeing the question as to whether or not woman's love is lasting. Simultaneously Nozdrev descried our hero and bore down upon him. 

"Ah, my fine landowner of Kherson!" he cried with a smile which set hisfresh, spring-rose-pink cheeks a-quiver. "Have you been doing muchtrade in departed souls lately?" With that he turned to the Governor. "Isuppose your Excellency knows that this man traffics in dead peasants?"he bawled. "Look here, Chichikov. I tell you in the most friendlyway possible that every one here likes you--yes, including even theGovernor. Nevertheless, had I my way, I would hang you! Yes, by God Iwould!"

Chichikov's discomfiture was complete. 

"And, would you believe it, your Excellency, " went on Nozdrev, "but thisfellow actually said to me, 'Sell me your dead souls!' Why, I laughedtill I nearly became as dead as the souls. And, behold, no sooner doI arrive here than I am told that he has bought three million roubles'worth of peasants for transferment! For transferment, indeed! And hewanted to bargain with me for my DEAD ones! Look here, Chichikov. Youare a swine! Yes, by God, you are an utter swine! Is not that so, yourExcellency? Is not that so, friend Prokurator [34]?"

But both his Excellency, the Public Prosecutor, and Chichikov were tootaken aback to reply. The half-tipsy Nozdrev, without noticing them, continued his harangue as before. 

"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 Governoragain. "Your Excellency, " he continued, "you would never believe whatinseperables this man and I have been. Indeed, if you had stood thereand said to me, 'Nozdrev, tell me on your honour which of the two youlove best--your 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 willexcuse me if I kiss him, will you not, your Excellency? No, do notresist me, Chichikov, but allow me to imprint at least one baiser uponyour lily-white cheek. " And in his efforts to force upon Chichikov whathe termed his "baisers" he came near to measuring his length upon thefloor. 

Every one now edged away, and turned a deaf ear to his furtherbabblings; but his words on the subject of the purchase of dead soulshad none the less been uttered at the top of his voice, and beenaccompanied with such uproarious laughter that the curiosity even ofthose who had happened to be sitting or standing in the remoter cornersof the room had been aroused. So strange and novel seemed the idea thatthe company stood with faces expressive of nothing but a dumb, dullwonder. Only some of the ladies (as Chichikov did not fail to remark)exchanged meaning, ill-natured winks and a series of sarcastic smiles:which circumstance still further increased his confusion. That Nozdrevwas a notorious liar every one, of course, knew, and that he should havegiven vent to an idiotic outburst of this sort had surprised no one; buta dead soul--well, what was one to make of Nozdrev's reference to such acommodity?

Naturally this unseemly contretemps had greatly upset our hero; for, however foolish be a madman's words, they may yet prove sufficient tosow doubt in the minds of saner individuals. He felt much as does aman who, shod with well-polished boots, has just stepped into a dirty, stinking puddle. He tried to put away from him the occurrence, and toexpand, and to enjoy himself once more. Nay, he even took a handat whist. But all was of no avail--matters kept going as awry as abadly-bent hoop. Twice he blundered in his play, and the President ofthe Council was at a loss to understand how his friend, Paul Ivanovitch, lately so good and so circumspect a player, could perpetrate such amauvais pas as to throw away a particular king of spades which thePresident has been "trusting" as (to quote his own expression) "he wouldhave trusted God. " At supper, too, matters felt uncomfortable, eventhough the society at Chichikov's table was exceedingly agreeable andNozdrev had been removed, owing to the fact that the ladies had foundhis conduct too scandalous to be borne, now that the delinquent hadtaken to seating himself on the floor and plucking at the skirts ofpassing lady dancers. As I say, therefore, Chichikov found the situationnot a little awkward, and eventually put an end to it by leaving thesupper room before the meal was over, and long before the hour whenusually he returned to the inn. 

In his little room, with its door of communication blocked with awardrobe, his frame of mind remained as uncomfortable as the chair inwhich he was seated. His heart ached with a dull, unpleasant sensation, with a sort of oppressive emptiness. 

"The devil take those who first invented balls!" was his reflection. "Who derives any real pleasure from them? In this province there existwant and scarcity everywhere: yet folk go in for balls! How absurd, too, were those overdressed women! One of them must have had a thousandroubles on her back, and all acquired at the expense of the overtaxedpeasant, or, worse still, at that of the conscience of her neighbour. Yes, we all know why bribes are accepted, and why men become crookedin soul. It is all done to provide wives--yes, may the pit swallow themup!--with fal-lals. And for what purpose? That some woman may not haveto reproach her husband with the fact that, say, the Postmaster's wifeis wearing a better dress than she is--a dress which has cost a thousandroubles! 'Balls and gaiety, balls and gaiety' is the constant cry. Yetwhat folly balls are! They do not consort with the Russian spirit andgenius, and the devil only knows why we have them. A grown, middle-agedman--a man dressed in black, and looking as stiff as a poker--suddenlytakes the floor and begins shuffling his feet about, while another man, even though conversing with a companion on important business, will, thewhile, keep capering to right and left like a billy-goat! Mimicry, sheermimicry! The fact that the Frenchman is at forty precisely what he wasat fifteen leads us to imagine that we too, forsooth, ought to be thesame. No; a ball leaves one feeling that one has done a wrong thing--somuch so that one does not care even to think of it. It also leaves one'shead perfectly empty, even as does the exertion of talking to a man ofthe world. A man of that kind chatters away, and touches lightly uponevery conceivable subject, and talks in smooth, fluent phrases which hehas culled from books without grazing their substance; whereas go andhave a chat with a tradesman who knows at least ONE thing thoroughly, and through the medium of experience, and see whether his conversationwill not be worth more than the prattle of a thousand chatterboxes. Forwhat good does one get out of balls? Suppose that a competent writerwere to describe such a scene exactly as it stands? Why, even in abook it would seem senseless, even as it certainly is in life. Are, therefore, such functions right or wrong? One would answer that thedevil alone knows, and then spit and close the book. "

Such were the unfavourable comments which Chichikov passed upon ballsin general. With it all, however, there went a second source ofdissatisfaction. That is to say, his principal grudge was not so muchagainst balls as against the fact that at this particular one he hadbeen exposed, he had been made to disclose the circumstance that he hadbeen playing a strange, an ambiguous part. Of course, when he reviewedthe contretemps in the light of pure reason, he could not but see thatit mattered nothing, and that a few rude words were of no account nowthat the chief point had been attained; yet man is an odd creature, andChichikov actually felt pained by the could-shouldering administered tohim by persons for whom he had not an atom of respect, and whose vanityand love of display he had only that moment been censuring. Still more, on viewing the matter clearly, he felt vexed to think that he himselfhad been so largely the cause of the catastrophe. 

Yet he was not angry with HIMSELF--of that you may be sure, seeing thatall of us have a slight weakness for sparing our own faults, andalways do our best to find some fellow-creature upon whom to vent ourdispleasure--whether that fellow-creature be a servant, a subordinateofficial, or a wife. In the same way Chichikov sought a scapegoat uponwhose shoulders he could lay the blame for all that had annoyed him. Hefound one in Nozdrev, and you may be sure that the scapegoat in questionreceived a good drubbing from every side, even as an experienced captainor chief of police will give a knavish starosta or postboy a rating notonly in the terms become classical, but also in such terms as the saidcaptain or chief of police may invent for himself. In short, Nozdrev'swhole lineage was passed in review; and many of its members in theascending line fared badly in the process. 

Meanwhile, at the other end of the town there was in progress an eventwhich was destined to augment still further the unpleasantness of ourhero's position. That is to say, through the outlying streets andalleys of the town there was clattering a vehicle to which it would bedifficult precisely to assign a name, seeing that, though it was of aspecies peculiar to itself, it most nearly resembled a large, ricketywater melon on wheels. Eventually this monstrosity drew up at the gatesof a house where the archpriest of one of the churches resided, and fromits doors there leapt a damsel clad in a jerkin and wearing a scarf overher head. For a while she thumped the gates so vigorously as to setall the dogs barking; then the gates stiffly opened, and admitted thisunwieldy phenomenon of the road. Lastly, the barinia herself alighted, and stood revealed as Madame Korobotchka, widow of a CollegiateSecretary! The reason of her sudden arrival was that she had felt souneasy about the possible outcome of Chichikov's whim, that during thethree nights following his departure she had been unable to sleep awink; 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 thedead souls were faring, and whether (which might God forfend!) shehad not sold them at something like a third of their true value. Theconsequences of her venture the reader will learn from a conversationbetween two ladies. We will reserve it for the ensuing chapter. 

CHAPTER IX

Next morning, before the usual hour for paying calls, there tripped fromthe portals of an orange-coloured wooden house with an attic storey anda row of blue pillars a lady in an elegant plaid cloak. With her camea footman in a many-caped greatcoat and a polished top hat with a goldband. Hastily, but gracefully, the lady ascended the steps let down froma koliaska which was standing before the entrance, and as soon asshe 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 possessorof a piece of intelligence that she was burning to communicate to afellow-creature. Every moment she kept looking out of the carriagewindow, and perceiving, with almost speechless vexation, that, as yet, she was but half-way on her journey. The fronts of the houses appearedto her longer than usual, and in particular did the front of the whitestone hospital, with its rows of narrow windows, seem interminable toa degree which at length forced her to ejaculate: "Oh, the cursedbuilding! Positively there is no end to it!" Also, she twice adjured thecoachman with the words, "Go quicker, Andrusha! You are a horribly longtime over the journey this morning. " But at length the goal was reached, and the koliaska stopped before a one-storied wooden mansion, dark greyin colour, and having white carvings over the windows, a tall woodenfence and narrow garden in front of the latter, and a few meagre treeslooming white with an incongruous coating of road dust. In the windowsof the building were also a few flower pots and a parrot that keptalternately dancing on the floor of its cage and hanging on to the ringof the same with its beak. Also, in the sunshine before the door two petdogs were sleeping. Here there lived the lady's bosom friend. As soon asthe bosom friend in question learnt of the newcomer's arrival, she randown into the hall, and the two ladies kissed and embraced one another. Then they adjourned to the drawing-room. 

"How glad I am to see you!" said the bosom friend. "When I heard someone arriving I wondered who could possibly be calling so early. Parashadeclared that it must be the Vice-Governor's wife, so, as I did not wantto be bored with her, I gave orders that I was to be reported 'not athome. '"

For her part, the guest would have liked to have proceeded to businessby communicating her tidings, but a sudden exclamation from the hostessimparted (temporarily) a new direction to the conversation. 

"What a pretty chintz!" she cried, gazing at the other's gown. 

"Yes, it IS pretty, " agreed the visitor. "On the other hand, PraskoviaThedorovna thinks that--"

In other words, the ladies proceeded to indulge in a conversation onthe subject of dress; and only after this had lasted for a considerablewhile did the visitor let fall a remark which led her entertainer toinquire:

"And how is the universal charmer?"

"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 becamemore hurried, and further words seemed to be hovering between her lipslike hawks preparing to stoop upon their prey. Only a person of theunhumanity 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 toadmire. For my own part, I think--and I would say the same thingstraight to his face--that he is a perfect rascal. "

"Yes, but do listen to what I have got to tell you. "

"Oh, I know that some people think him handsome, " continued thehostess, unmoved; "but _I_ say that he is nothing of the kind--that, inparticular, his nose is perfectly odious. "

"Yes, but let me finish what I was saying. " The guest's tone was almostpiteous in its appeal. 

"What is it, then?"

"You cannot imagine my state of mind! You see, this morning I receiveda visit from Father Cyril's wife--the Archpriest's wife--you know her, don't you? Well, whom do you suppose that fine gentleman visitor of ourshas turned out to be?"

"The man who has built the Archpriest a poultry-run?"

"Oh dear no! Had that been all, it would have been nothing. No. Listento what Father Cyril's wife had to tell me. She said that, last night, a lady landowner named Madame Korobotchka arrived at the Archpriest'shouse--arrived all pale and trembling--and 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 dreadfulknocking imaginable, and some one screamed out, 'Open the gates, or wewill break them down!' Just think! After this, how any one can say thatthe man is charming I cannot imagine. "

"Well, what of Madame Korobotchka? Is she a young woman or goodlooking?"

"Oh dear no! Quite an old woman. "

"Splendid indeed! So he is actually engaged to a person like that? Onemay heartily commend the taste of our ladies for having fallen in lovewith him!"

"Nevertheless, it is not as you suppose. Think, now! Armed with weaponsfrom head to foot, he called upon this old woman, and said: 'Sell me anysouls of yours which have lately died. ' Of course, Madame Korobotchkaanswered, reasonably enough: 'I cannot sell you those souls, seeing thatthey have departed this world;' but he replied: 'No, no! They are NOTdead. 'Tis I who tell you that--I who ought to know the truth of thematter. I swear that they are still alive. ' In short, he made such ascene that the whole village came running to the house, and childrenscreamed, and men shouted, and no one could tell what it was allabout. The affair seemed to me so horrible, so utterly horrible, that Itrembled beyond belief as I listened to the story. 'My dearest madam, 'said my maid, Mashka, 'pray look at yourself in the mirror, and see howwhite you are. ' 'But I have no time for that, ' I replied, 'as I mustbe off to tell my friend, Anna Grigorievna, the news. ' Nor did I lose amoment in ordering the koliaska. Yet when my coachman, Andrusha, askedme for directions I could not get a word out--I just stood staringat him like a fool, until I thought he must think me mad. Oh, AnnaGrigorievna, if you but knew how upset I am!"

"What a strange affair!" commented the hostess. "What on earth canthe man have meant by 'dead souls'? I confess that the words pass myunderstanding. Curiously enough, this is the second time I have heardspeak of those souls. True, my husband avers that Nozdrev was lying; yetin his lies there seems to have been a grain of truth. "

"Well, just think of my state when I heard all this! 'And now, 'apparently said Korobotchka to the Archpriest's wife, 'I am altogetherat a loss what to do, for, throwing me fifteen roubles, the man forcedme to sign a worthless paper--yes, me, an inexperienced, defencelesswidow who knows nothing of business. ' That such things should happen!TRY and imagine my feelings!"

"In my opinion, there is in this more than the dead souls which meet theeye. "

"I think so too, " agreed the other. As a matter of fact, her friend'sremark had struck her with complete surprise, as well as filled her withcuriosity to know what the word "more" might possibly signify. In fact, she felt driven to inquire: "What do YOU suppose to be hidden beneath itall?"

"No; tell me what YOU suppose?"

"What _I_ suppose? I am at a loss to conjecture. "

"Yes, but tell me what is in your mind?"

Upon this the visitor had to confess herself nonplussed; for, thoughcapable of growing hysterical, she was incapable of propounding anyrational theory. Consequently she felt the more that she needed tendercomfort and advice. 

"Then THIS is what I think about the dead souls, " said the hostess. Instantly the guest pricked up her ears (or, rather, they prickedthemselves up) and straightened herself and became, somehow, moremodish, and, despite her not inconsiderable weight, posed herself tolook like a piece of thistledown floating on the breeze. 

"The dead souls, " began the hostess. 

"Are what, are what?" inquired the guest in great excitement. 

"Are, are--"

"Tell me, tell me, for heaven's sake!"

"They are an invention to conceal something else. The man's real objectis, is--TO ABDUCT THE GOVERNOR'S DAUGHTER. "

So startling and unexpected was this conclusion that the guest satreduced to a state of pale, petrified, genuine amazement. 

"My God!" she cried, clapping her hands, "I should NEVER have guessedit!"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I guessed it as soon as ever you openedyour mouth. "

"So much, then, for educating girls like the Governor's daughter atschool! Just see what comes of it!"

"Yes, indeed! And they tell me that she says things which I hesitateeven to repeat. "

"Truly it wrings one's heart to see to what lengths immorality hascome. "

"Some of the men have quite lost their heads about her, but for my partI think her not worth noticing. "

"Of course. And her manners are unbearable. But what puzzles me most ishow a travelled man like Chichikov could come to let himself in for suchan affair. Surely he must have accomplices?"

"Yes; and I should say that one of those accomplices is Nozdrev. "

"Surely not?"

"CERTAINLY I should say so. Why, I have known him even try to sell hisown father! At all events he staked him at cards. "

"Indeed? You interest me. I should never had thought him capable of suchthings. "

"I always guessed him to be so. "

The two ladies were still discussing the matter with acumen and successwhen there walked into the room the Public Prosecutor--bushy eyebrows, motionless features, blinking eyes, and all. At once the ladies hastenedto inform him of the events related, adducing therewith full detailsboth as to the purchase of dead souls and as to the scheme to abduct theGovernor's daughter; after which they departed in different directions, for the purpose of raising the rest of the town. For the execution ofthis undertaking not more than half an hour was required. So thoroughlydid they succeed in throwing dust in the public's eyes that for a whileevery one--more especially the army of public officials--was placed inthe position of a schoolboy who, while still asleep, has had a bag ofpepper thrown in his face by a party of more early-rising comrades. Thequestions now to be debated resolved themselves into two--namely, thequestion of the dead souls and the question of the Governor's daughter. To this end two parties were formed--the men's party and the femininesection. The men's party--the more absolutely senseless of thetwo--devoted its attention to the dead souls: the women's partyoccupied itself exclusively with the alleged abduction of the Governor'sdaughter. And here it may be said (to the ladies' credit) that thewomen's party displayed far more method and caution than did its rivalfaction, probably because the function in life of its members had alwaysbeen that of managing and administering a household. With the ladies, therefore, matters soon assumed vivid and definite shape; they becameclearly and irrefutably materialised; they stood stripped of all doubtand other impedimenta. Said some of the ladies in question, Chichikovhad long been in love with the maiden, and the pair had kept tryst bythe 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 thatChichikov had deserted a wife already (how the worthy dames came toknow that he was married remains a mystery), and the said deserted wife, pining with love for her faithless husband, had sent the Governor aletter of the most touching kind, so that Chichikov, on perceiving thatthe father and mother would never give their consent, had decided toabduct the girl. In other circles the matter was stated in a differentway. That is to say, this section averred that Chichikov did NOT possessa wife, but that, as a man of subtlety and experience, he had bethoughthim of obtaining the daughter's hand through the expedient of firsttackling the mother and carrying on with her an ardent liaison, andthat, thereafter, he had made an application for the desired hand, butthat the mother, fearing to commit a sin against religion, and feelingin her heart certain gnawings of conscience, had returned a blankrefusal to Chichikov's request; whereupon Chichikov had decided to carryout the abduction alleged. To the foregoing, of course, there becameappended various additional proofs and items of evidence, in proportionas the sensation spread to more remote corners of the town. At length, with these perfectings, the affair reached the ears of the Governor'swife herself. Naturally, as the mother of a family, and as the firstlady in the town, and as a matron who had never before been suspected ofthings of the kind, she was highly offended when she heard the stories, and very justly so: with the result that her poor young daughter, thoughinnocent, had to endure about as unpleasant a tete-a-tete as ever befella maiden of sixteen, while, for his part, the Swiss footman receivedorders never at any time to admit Chichikov to the house. 

Having done their business with the Governor's wife, the ladies' partydescended upon the male section, with a view to influencing it to theirown side by asserting that the dead souls were an invention used solelyfor the purpose of diverting suspicion and successfully affecting theabduction. And, indeed, more than one man was converted, and joined thefeminine camp, in spite of the fact that thereby such seceders incurredstrong names from their late comrades--names such as "old women, ""petticoats, " and others of a nature peculiarly offensive to the malesex. 

Also, however much they might arm themselves and take the field, themen could not compass such orderliness within their ranks as could thewomen. With the former everything was of the antiquated and rough-hewnand ill-fitting and unsuitable and badly-adapted and inferior kind;their heads were full of nothing but discord and triviality andconfusion and slovenliness of thought. In brief, they displayedeverywhere the male bent, the rude, ponderous nature which is incapableeither of managing a household or of jumping to a conclusion, as wellas remains always distrustful and lazy and full of constant doubt andeverlasting timidity. For instance, the men's party declared that thewhole story was rubbish--that the alleged abduction of the Governor'sdaughter 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 money-bag--whatsoever you put into her shethenceforth retained; that the subject which really demanded attentionwas the dead souls, of which the devil only knew the meaning, but inwhich there certainly lurked something that was contrary to good orderand discipline. One reason why the men's party was so certain that thedead souls connoted something contrary to good order and discipline, was that there had just been appointed to the province a newGovernor-General--an event which, of course, had thrown the whole armyof provincial tchinovniks into a state of great excitement, seeing thatthey knew that before long there would ensue transferments and sentencesof censure, as well as the series of official dinners with which aGovernor-General is accustomed to entertain his subordinates. "Alas, "thought the army of tchinovniks, "it is probable that, should he learnof the gross reports at present afloat in our town, he will make such afuss that we shall never hear the last of them. " In particular didthe Director of the Medical Department turn pale at the thought thatpossibly the new Governor-General would surmise the term "dead folk"to connote patients in the local hospitals who, for want of properpreventative measures, had died of sporadic fever. Indeed, might it notbe that Chichikov was neither more nor less than an emissary of the saidGovernor-General, sent to conduct a secret inquiry? Accordingly he (theDirector of the Medical Department) communicated this last suppositionto the President of the Council, who, though at first inclined toejaculate "Rubbish!" suddenly turned pale on propounding to himself thetheory. "What if the souls purchased by Chichikov should REALLY bedead ones?"--a terrible thought considering that he, the President, hadpermitted their transferment to be registered, and had himself actedas Plushkin's representative! What if these things should reach theGovernor-General's ears? He mentioned the matter to one friend andanother, and they, in their turn, went white to the lips, for panicspreads faster and is even more destructive, than the dreaded blackdeath. Also, to add to the tchinovniks' troubles, it so befell thatjust at this juncture there came into the local Governor's hands twodocuments of great importance. The first of them contained advices that, according to received evidence and reports, there was operating in theprovince a forger of rouble-notes who had been passing under variousaliases and must therefore be sought for with the utmost diligence;while the second document was a letter from the Governor of aneighbouring province with regard to a malefactor who had there evadedapprehension--a letter conveying also a warning that, if in the provinceof the town of N. There should appear any suspicious individual whocould produce neither references nor passports, he was to be arrestedforthwith. These two documents left every one thunderstruck, for theyknocked on the head all previous conceptions and theories. Not fora moment could it be supposed that the former document referred toChichikov; yet, as each man pondered the position from his own point ofview, he remembered that no one REALLY knew who Chichikov was; as alsothat his vague references to himself had--yes!--included statements thathis career in the service had suffered much to the cause of Truth, andthat he possessed a number of enemies who were seeking his life. Thisgave the tchinovniks further food for thought. Perhaps his life reallyDID 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 amatter of fact, who was he?--not that it could actually be supposed thathe was a forger of notes, still less a brigand, seeing that his exteriorwas respectable in the highest degree. Yet who was he? At lengththe tchinovniks decided to make enquiries among those of whom he hadpurchased souls, in order that at least it might be learnt what thepurchases had consisted of, and what exactly underlay them, and whether, in passing, he had explained to any one his real intentions, or revealedto any one his identity. In the first instance, therefore, resort washad to Korobotchka. Yet little was gleaned from that source--merelya statement that he had bought of her some souls for fifteen roublesapiece, and also a quantity of feathers, while promising also to buysome other commodities in the future, seeing that, in particular, he hadentered into a contract with the Treasury for lard, a fact constitutingfairly presumptive proof that the man was a rogue, seeing that just suchanother fellow had bought a quantity of feathers, yet had cheated folkall round, and, in particular, had done the Archpriest out of over ahundred roubles. Thus the net result of Madame's cross-examination wasto convince the tchinovniks that she was a garrulous, silly old woman. With regard to Manilov, he replied that he would answer for Chichikov ashe would for himself, and that he would gladly sacrifice his property intoto if thereby he could attain even a tithe of the qualities whichPaul Ivanovitch possessed. Finally, he delivered on Chichikov, withacutely-knitted brows, a eulogy couched in the most charming of terms, and coupled with sundry sentiments on the subject of friendship andaffection in general. True, these remarks sufficed to indicate thetender impulses of the speaker's heart, but also they did nothing toenlighten his examiners concerning the business that was actually athand. As for Sobakevitch, that landowner replied that he consideredChichikov an excellent fellow, as well as that the souls whom he hadsold to his visitor had been in the truest sense of the word alive, butthat he could not answer for anything which might occur in the future, seeing that any difficulties which might arise in the course of theactual transferment of souls would not be HIS fault, in view of the factthat God was lord of all, and that fevers and other mortal complaintswere so numerous in the world, and that instances of whole villagesperishing through the same could be found on record. 

Finally, our friends the tchinovniks found themselves compelled toresort to an expedient which, though not particularly savoury, is notinfrequently employed--namely, the expedient of getting lacqueys quietlyto approach the servants of the person concerning whom information isdesired, and to ascertain from them (the servants) certain details withregard to their master's life and antecedents. Yet even from this sourcevery little was obtained, since Petrushka provided his interrogatorsmerely with a taste of the smell of his living-room, and Selifanconfined his replies to a statement that the barin had "been in theemployment of the State, and also had served in the Customs. "

In short, the sum total of the results gathered by the tchinovniks wasthat they still stood in ignorance of Chichikov's identity, but that heMUST be some one; wherefore it was decided to hold a final debate on thesubject 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 detainedas not respectable, or whether he was a man who might himself be ableto apprehend and detain THEM as persons lacking in respectability. Thedebate in question, it was proposed, should be held at the residence ofthe Chief of Police, who is known to our readers as the father and thegeneral benefactor of the town. 

CHAPTER X

On assembling at the residence indicated, the tchinovniks had occasionto remark that, owing to all these cares and excitements, every oneof their number had grown thinner. Yes, the appointment of a newGovernor-General, coupled with the rumours described and the receptionof the two serious documents above-mentioned, had left manifest tracesupon the features of every one present. More than one frockcoat had cometo look too large for its wearer, and more than one frame had fallenaway, including the frames of the President of the Council, the Directorof the Medical Department, and the Public Prosecutor. Even a certainSemen Ivanovitch, who, for some reason or another, was never alluded toby his family name, but who wore on his index finger a ring with whichhe was accustomed to dazzle his lady friends, had diminished in bulk. Yet, as always happens at such junctures, there were also presenta score of brazen individuals who had succeeded in NOT losing theirpresence of mind, even though they constituted a mere sprinkling. Of them the Postmaster formed one, since he was a man of equabletemperament who could always say: "WE know you, Governor-Generals! Wehave seen three or four of you come and go, whereas WE have been sittingon the same stools these thirty years. " Nevertheless a prominent featureof the gathering was the total absence of what is vulgarly known as"common sense. " In general, we Russians do not make a good show atrepresentative assemblies, for the reason that, unless there be inauthority a leading spirit to control the rest, the affair alwaysdevelops into confusion. Why this should be so one could hardly say, butat all events a success is scored only by such gatherings as have fortheir object dining and festivity--to wit, gatherings at clubs or inGerman-run restaurants. However, on the present occasion, the meetingwas NOT one of this kind; it was a meeting convoked of necessity, andlikely in view of the threatened calamity to affect every tchinovnik inthe place. Also, in addition to the great divergency of views expressedthereat, there was visible in all the speakers an invincible tendency toindecision which led them at one moment to make assertions, and at thenext to contradict the same. But on at least one point all seemed toagree--namely, that Chichikov's appearance and conversation were toorespectable for him to be a forger or a disguised brigand. That is tosay, all SEEMED to agree on the point; until a sudden shout arose fromthe direction of the Postmaster, who for some time past had been sittingplunged in thought. 

"_I_ can tell you, " he cried, "who Chichikov is!"

"Who, then?" replied the crowd in great excitement. 

"He is none other than Captain Kopeikin. "

"And who may Captain Kopeikin be?"

Taking a pinch of snuff (which he did with the lid of his snuff-boxhalf-open, lest some extraneous person should contrive to insert a notover-clean finger into the stuff), the Postmaster related the followingstory [35]. 

"After fighting in the campaign of 1812, there was sent home, wounded, a certain Captain Kopeikin--a headstrong, lively blade who, whether onduty or under arrest, made things lively for everybody. Now, since atKrasni or at Leipzig (it matters not which) he had lost an arm and aleg, and in those days no provision was made for wounded soldiers, andhe 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 forcedto tell his son so; wherefore the Captain decided to go and apply forhelp in St. Petersburg, seeing that he had risked his life for hiscountry, and had lost much blood in its service. You can imagine himarriving in the capital on a baggage waggon--in the capital which islike no other city in the world! Before him there lay spread out thewhole field of life, like a sort of Arabian Nights--a picture made up ofthe Nevski Prospect, Gorokhovaia Street, countless tapering spires, anda number of bridges apparently supported on nothing--in fact, a regularsecond Nineveh. Well, he made shift to hire a lodging, but foundeverything so wonderfully furnished with blinds and Persian carpets andso 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 bythe thousand roubles, but our friend Kopeikin's bank was limited to afew score coppers and a little silver--not enough to buy a village with!At length, at the price of a rouble a day, he obtained a lodging in thesort of tavern where the daily ration is a bowl of cabbage soup and acrust of bread; and as he felt that he could not manage to live verylong on fare of that kind he asked folk what he had better do. 'What youhad better do?' they said. 'Well the Government is not here--it is inParis, and the troops have not yet returned from the war; but there is aTEMPORARY Commission sitting, and you had better go and see what IT cando for you. ' 'All right!' he said. 'I will go and tell the Commissionthat 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, woodenleg and all, to see the President of the Commission. But first heasked where the President lived, and was told that his house was inNaberezhnaia Street. And you may be sure that it was no peasant's hut, with its glazed windows and great mirrors and statues and lacqueys andbrass door handles! Rather, it was the sort of place which you wouldenter only after you had bought a cheap cake of soap and indulged in atwo hours' wash. Also, at the entrance there was posted a grand Swissfootman with a baton and an embroidered collar--a fellow looking like afat, over-fed pug dog. However, friend Kopeikin managed to get himselfand his wooden leg into the reception room, and there squeezed himselfaway into a corner, for fear lest he should knock down the gilded chinawith his elbow. And he stood waiting in great satisfaction at havingarrived before the President had so much as left his bed and been servedwith his silver wash-basin. Nevertheless, it was only when Kopeikin hadbeen waiting four hours that a breakfast waiter entered to say, 'ThePresident will soon be here. ' By now the room was as full of people asa plate is of beans, and when the President left the breakfast-room hebrought with him, oh, such dignity and refinement, and such an airof the metropolis! First he walked up to one person, and then up toanother, saying: 'What do YOU want? And what do YOU want? What can Ido for YOU? What is YOUR business?' And at length he stopped beforeKopeikin, and Kopeikin said to him: 'I have shed my blood, and lostboth an arm and a leg, for my country, and am unable to work. Might Itherefore dare to ask you for a little help, if the regulations shouldpermit of it, or for a gratuity, or for a pension, or something of thekind?' Then the President looked at him, and saw that one of his legswas indeed a wooden one, and that an empty right sleeve was pinned tohis uniform. 'Very well, ' he said. 'Come to me again in a few days'time. ' Upon this friend Kopeikin felt delighted. 'NOW I have done myjob!' he thought to himself; and you may imagine how gaily he trottedalong the pavement, and how he dropped into a tavern for a glass ofvodka, and how he ordered a cutlet and some caper sauce and some otherthings for luncheon, and how he called for a bottle of wine, and how hewent to the theatre in the evening! In short, he did himself thoroughlywell. Next, he saw in the street a young English lady, as graceful as aswan, and set off after her on his wooden leg. 'But no, ' he thought tohimself. 'To the devil with that sort of thing just now! I will waituntil 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 hismoney. ) Two or three days later he went to see the President of theCommission again. 'I should be glad to know, ' he said, 'whether by nowyou can do anything for me in return for my having shed my blood andsuffered sickness and wounds on military service. ' 'First of all, ' saidthe President, 'I must tell you that nothing can be decided in your casewithout the authority of the Supreme Government. Without that sanctionwe cannot move in the matter. Surely you see how things stand until thearmy shall have returned from the war? All that I can advise you todo is wait for the Minister to return, and, in the meanwhile, to havepatience. Rest assured that then you will not be overlooked. And if forthe moment you have nothing to live upon, this is the best that I cando for you. ' With that he handed Kopeikin a trifle until his case shouldhave been decided. However, that was not what Kopeikin wanted. Hehad supposed that he would be given a gratuity of a thousand roublesstraight 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 soupplates and cutlets and English girls, he now descended the steps withhis ears and his tail down--looking, in fact, like a poodle over whichthe cook has poured a bucketful of water. You see, St. Petersburg lifehad 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 theharder 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 awolf; and as he passed a restaurant he could see a round-faced, holland-shirted, snow-white aproned fellow of a French chef preparing adish 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 awindow for fools to come and buy them at a hundred roubles apiece. Imagine, therefore, his position! On the one hand, so to speak, weresalmon and water-melons, while on the other hand was the bitter farewhich passed at a tavern for luncheon. 'Well, ' he thought to himself, 'let them do what they like with me at the Commission, but I intendto go and raise the whole place, and to tell every blessed functionarythere that I have a mind to do as I choose. ' And in truth thisbold impertinence of a man did have the hardihood to return to theCommission. 'What do you want?' said the President. 'Why are you herefor the third time? You have had your orders given you. ' 'I daresay Ihave, ' he retorted, 'but I am not going to be put off with THEM. I wantsome cutlets to eat, and a bottle of French wine, and a chance to go andamuse myself at the theatre. ' 'Pardon me, ' said the President. 'What youreally need (if I may venture to mention it) is a little patience. Youhave been given something for food until the Military Committee shallhave met, and then, doubtless, you will receive your proper reward, seeing that it would not be seemly that a man who has served his countryshould be left destitute. On the other hand, if, in the meanwhile, youdesire to indulge in cutlets and theatre-going, please understand thatwe cannot help you, but you must make your own resources, and try asbest you can to help yourself. ' You can imagine that this went in at oneof Kopeikin's ears, and out at the other; that it was like shooting peasat a stone wall. Accordingly he raised a turmoil which sent the staffflying. One by one, he gave the mob of secretaries and clerks a realgood hammering. 'You, and you, and you, ' he said, 'do not even knowyour duties. You are law-breakers. ' Yes, he trod every man of them underfoot. At length the General himself arrived from another office, andsounded the alarm. What was to be done with a fellow like Kopeikin?The President saw that strong measures were imperative. 'Very well, ' hesaid. '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 mustfind you a lodging. Here, constable, remove the man to gaol. ' Then aconstable who had been called to the door--a constable three ellsin height, and armed with a carbine--a man well fitted to guard abank--placed our friend in a police waggon. 'Well, ' reflected Kopeikin, 'at least I shan't have to pay my fare for THIS ride. That's onecomfort. ' 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 enjoyingmyself. 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'sexpression, into the waters of Lethe, and his doings now lie buried inoblivion. But allow me, gentlemen, to piece together the further threadsof the story. Not two months later there appeared in the forests ofRiazan a band of robbers: and of that band the chieftain was none otherthan--"

"Allow me, " put in the Head of the Police Department. "You have saidthat Kopeikin had lost an arm and a leg; whereas Chichikov--"

To say anything more was unnecessary. The Postmaster clapped his handto his forehead, and publicly called himself a fool, though, later, hetried to excuse his mistake by saying that in England the science ofmechanics had reached such a pitch that wooden legs were manufacturedwhich would enable the wearer, on touching a spring, to vanishinstantaneously from sight. 

Various other theories were then propounded, among them a theory thatChichikov was Napoleon, escaped from St. Helena and travelling aboutthe world in disguise. And if it should be supposed that no such notioncould possibly have been broached, let the reader remember that theseevents took place not many years after the French had been driven out ofRussia, and that various prophets had since declared that Napoleon wasAntichrist, and would one day escape from his island prison to exerciseuniversal sway on earth. Nay, some good folk had even declared theletters of Napoleon's name to constitute the Apocalyptic cipher!

As a last resort, the tchinovniks decided to question Nozdrev, since notonly had the latter been the first to mention the dead souls, butalso he was supposed to stand on terms of intimacy with Chichikov. Accordingly the Chief of Police dispatched a note by the hand of acommissionaire. At the time Nozdrev was engaged on some very importantbusiness--so much so that he had not left his room for four days, andwas receiving his meals through the window, and no visitors at all. Thebusiness referred to consisted of the marking of several dozen selectedcards in such a way as to permit of his relying upon them as upon hisbosom friend. Naturally he did not like having his retirement invaded, and at first consigned the commissionaire to the devil; but as soonas he learnt from the note that, since a novice at cards was to be theguest of the Chief of Police that evening, a call at the latter's housemight prove not wholly unprofitable he relented, unlocked the door ofhis 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 andwith assurance. Chichikov, he averred, had indeed purchased dead souls, and to the tune of several thousand roubles. In fact, he (Nozdrev) hadhimself sold him some, and still saw no reason why he should not havedone so. Next, to the question of whether or not he considered Chichikovto be a spy, he replied in the affirmative, and added that, as long agoas his and Chichikov's joint schooldays, the said Chichikov had beenknown as "The Informer, " and repeatedly been thrashed by his companionson that account. Again, to the question of whether or not Chichikov wasa forger of currency notes the deponent, as before, responded inthe affirmative, and appended thereto an anecdote illustrative ofChichikov's extraordinary dexterity of hand--namely, an anecdote tothat effect that, once upon a time, on learning that two millionroubles worth of counterfeit notes were lying in Chichikov's house, theauthorities had placed seals upon the building, and had surrounded iton every side with an armed guard; whereupon Chichikov had, during thenight, changed each of these seals for a new one, and also so arrangedmatters that, when the house was searched, the forged notes were foundto be genuine ones!

Again, to the question of whether or not Chichikov had schemed to abductthe 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. Atthis point the witness pulled himself up, on realising that he had tolda lie which might get him into trouble; but his tongue was not to bedenied--the details trembling on its tip were too alluring, and heeven went on to cite the name of the village church where the pairhad arranged to be married, that of the priest who had performedthe ceremony, the amount of the fees paid for the same (seventy-fiveroubles), and statements (1) that the priest had refused to solemnisethe wedding until Chichikov had frightened him by threatening to exposethe fact that he (the priest) had married Mikhail, a local corn dealer, to his paramour, and (2) that Chichikov had ordered both a koliaska forthe couple's conveyance and relays of horses from the post-houses on theroad. Nay, the narrative, as detailed by Nozdrev, even reached thepoint of his mentioning certain of the postillions by name! Next, thetchinovniks sounded him on the question of Chichikov's possible identitywith Napoleon; but before long they had reason to regret the step, forNozdrev responded with a rambling rigmarole such as bore no resemblanceto anything possibly conceivable. Finally, the majority of the audienceleft the room, and only the Chief of Police remained to listen (in thehope of gathering something more); but at last even he found himselfforced to disclaim the speaker with a gesture which said: "The devilonly knows what the fellow is talking about!" and so voiced the generalopinion that it was no use trying to gather figs of thistles. 

Meanwhile Chichikov knew nothing of these events; for, having contracteda slight chill, coupled with a sore throat, he had decided to keep hisroom for three days; during which time he gargled his throat withmilk and fig juice, consumed the fruit from which the juice had beenextracted, and wore around his neck a poultice of camomile and camphor. Also, to while away the hours, he made new and more detailed lists ofthe souls which he had bought, perused a work by the Duchesse de laValliere [36], rummaged in his portmanteau, looked through variousarticles and papers which he discovered in his dispatch-box, and foundevery one of these occupations tedious. Nor could he understand whynone of his official friends had come to see him and inquire after hishealth, seeing that, not long since, there had been standing in front ofthe inn the drozhkis both of the Postmaster, the Public Prosecutor, andthe President of the Council. He wondered and wondered, and then, witha shrug of his shoulders, fell to pacing the room. At length he feltbetter, and his spirits rose at the prospect of once more going out intothe fresh air; wherefore, having shaved a plentiful growth of hair fromhis face, he dressed with such alacrity as almost to cause a splitin his trousers, sprinkled himself with eau-de-Cologne, and wrappinghimself in warm clothes, and turning up the collar of his coat, salliedforth into the street. His first destination was intended to be theGovernor's mansion, and, as he walked along, certain thoughts concerningthe Governor's daughter would keep whirling through his head, so thatalmost he forgot where he was, and took to smiling and cracking jokes tohimself. 

Arrived at the Governor's entrance, he was about to divest himselfof his scarf when a Swiss footman greeted him with the words, "I amforbidden to admit you. "

"What?" he exclaimed. "You do not know me? Look at me again, and see ifyou do not recognise me. "

"Of course I recognise you, " the footman replied. "I have seen youbefore, but have been ordered to admit any one else rather than MonsieurChichikov. "

"Indeed? And why so?"

"Those are my orders, and they must be obeyed, " said the footman, confronting Chichikov with none of that politeness with which, onformer occasions, he had hastened to divest our hero of his wrappings. Evidently he was of opinion that, since the gentry declined to receivethe 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 soput about was that official by Chichikov's entry that he could not uttertwo consecutive words--he could only murmur some rubbish which left bothhis visitor and himself out of countenance. Chichikov wondered, as heleft 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, theChief of Police, the Vice-Governor, the Postmaster, and others; but ineach case he either failed to be accorded admittance or was receivedso strangely, and with such a measure of constraint and conversationalawkwardness and absence of mind and embarrassment, that he began to fearfor the sanity of his hosts. Again and again did he strive to divinethe cause, but could not do so; so he went wandering aimlessly aboutthe town, without succeeding in making up his mind whether he orthe officials had gone crazy. At length, in a state bordering uponbewilderment, he returned to the inn--to the establishment whence, thatevery afternoon, he had set forth in such exuberance of spirits. Feelingthe need of something to do, he ordered tea, and, still marvelling atthe strangeness of his position, was about to pour out the beverage whenthe door opened and Nozdrev made his appearance. 

"What says the proverb?" he began. "'To see a friend, seven versts isnot too long a round to make. ' I happened to be passing the house, saw alight in your window, and thought to myself: 'Now, suppose I were to runup 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 Ihad wretched stuff for dinner, and it is beginning to lie heavy on mystomach. Also, tell your man to fill me a pipe. Where is your own pipe?"

"I never smoke, " rejoined Chichikov drily. 

"Rubbish! As if I did not know what a chimney-pot you are! What is yourman's name? Hi, Vakhramei! Come here!"

"Petrushka is his name, not Vakhramei. "

"Indeed? But you USED to have a man called Vakhramei, didn't you?"

"No, never. "

"Oh, well. Then it must be Derebin's man I am thinking of. What a luckyfellow that Derebin is! An aunt of his has gone and quarrelled with herson 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 againstfuture contingencies! But why have you been hiding yourself away? Isuppose the reason has been that you go in for abstruse subjects and arefond of reading" (why Nozdrev should have drawn these conclusions no onecould possibly have said--least of all Chichikov himself). "By the way, I can tell you of something that would have found you scope for yoursatirical 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 thingfor him!'" (As a matter of fact, never since the day of his birth hadNozdrev met any one of the name of Perependev. ) "However, my friend, youmust admit that you treated me rather badly the day that we played thatgame 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 feelingagainst you in the town is very strong, for every one believes you to bea forger of currency notes. I myself was sent for and questionedabout you, but I stuck up for you through thick and thin, and toldthe tchinovniks that I had been at school with you, and had known yourfather. In fact, I gave the fellows a knock or two for themselves. "

"You say that I am believed to be a forger?" said Chichikov, startingfrom his seat. 

"Yes, " said Nozdrev. "Why have you gone and frightened everybody as youhave done? Some of our folk are almost out of their minds about it, anddeclare you to be either a brigand in disguise or a spy. Yesterday thePublic Prosecutor even died of it, and is to be buried to-morrow"(this was true in so far as that, on the previous day, the official inquestion had had a fatal stroke--probably induced by the excitement ofthe public meeting). "Of course, _I_ don't suppose you to be anything ofthe kind, but, you see, these fellows are in a blue funk about the newGovernor-General, for they think he will make trouble for them over youraffair. A propos, he is believed to be a man who puts on airs, and turnsup his nose at everything; and if so, he will get on badly with thedvoriane, seeing that fellows of that sort need to be humoured a bit. Yes, my word! Should the new Governor-General shut himself up in hisstudy, and give no balls, there will be the very devil to pay! By theway, Chichikov, that is a risky scheme of yours. "

"What scheme to you mean?" Chichikov asked uneasily. 

"Why, that scheme of carrying off the Governor's daughter. However, totell the truth, I was expecting something of the kind. No sooner didI 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 havemade a poor choice, for I can see nothing in her at all. On the otherhand, the niece of a friend of mine named Bikusov--she IS a girl, and nomistake! A regular what you might call 'miracle in muslin!'"

"What on earth are you talking about?" asked Chichikov with his eyesdistended. "HOW could I carry off the Governor's daughter? What on earthdo you mean?"

"Come, come! What a secretive fellow you are! My only object in havingcome 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 standyou the cost of the wedding, the koliaska, and the relays of horses. Imust have the money even if I die for it. "

Throughout Nozdrev's maunderings Chichikov had been rubbing his eyes toascertain whether or not he was dreaming. What with the charge of beinga forger, the accusation of having schemed an abduction, the death ofthe Public Prosecutor (whatever might have been its cause), and theadvent of a new Governor-General, he felt utterly dismayed. 

"Things having come to their present pass, " he reflected, "I had betternot linger here--I had better be off at once. "

Getting rid of Nozdrev as soon as he could, he sent for Selifan, andordered him to be up at daybreak, in order to clean the britchka and tohave everything ready for a start at six o'clock. Yet, though Selifanreplied, "Very well, Paul Ivanovitch, " he hesitated awhile by the door. Next, Chichikov bid Petrushka get out the dusty portmanteau from underthe bed, and then set to work to cram into it, pell-mell, socks, shirts, collars (both clean and dirty), boot trees, a calendar, and a variety ofother articles. Everything went into the receptacle just as it cameto hand, since his one object was to obviate any possible delay inthe morning's departure. Meanwhile the reluctant Selifan slowly, veryslowly, left the room, as slowly descended the staircase (on eachseparate step of which he left a muddy foot-print), and, finally, haltedto scratch his head. What that scratching may have meant no one couldsay; for, with the Russian populace, such a scratching may mean any oneof a hundred things. 

CHAPTER XI

Nevertheless events did not turn out as Chichikov had intended theyshould. In the first place, he overslept himself. That was check numberone. In the second place, on his rising and inquiring whether thebritchka had been harnessed and everything got ready, he was informedthat neither of those two things had been done. That was check numbertwo. Beside himself with rage, he prepared to give Selifan the wiggingof his life, and, meanwhile, waited impatiently to hear what thedelinquent had got to say in his defence. It goes without saying thatwhen Selifan made his appearance in the doorway he had only the usualexcuses to offer--the sort of excuses usually offered by servants when ahasty departure has become imperatively necessary. 

"Paul Ivanovitch, " he said, "the horses require shoeing. "

"Blockhead!" exclaimed Chichikov. "Why did you not tell me of thatbefore, you damned fool? Was there not time enough for them to be shod?"

"Yes, I suppose there was, " agreed Selifan. "Also one of the wheels isin want of a new tyre, for the roads are so rough that the old tyre isworn through. Also, the body of the britchka is so rickety that probablyit will not last more than a couple of stages. "

"Rascal!" shouted Chichikov, clenching his fists and approaching Selifanin such a manner that, fearing to receive a blow, the man backed anddodged aside. "Do you mean to ruin me, and to break all our bones on theroad, you cursed idiot? For these three weeks past you have been doingnothing at all; yet now, at the last moment, you come here stammeringand playing the fool! Do you think I keep you just to eat and to driveyourself about? You must have known of this before? Did you, or did younot, know it? Answer me at once. "

"Yes, I did know it, " replied Selifan, hanging his head. 

"Then why didn't you tell me about it?"

Selifan had no reply immediately ready, so continued to hang his headwhile quietly saying to himself: "See how well I have managed things! Iknew what was the matter, yet I did not say. "

"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, I--I will give you the bestflogging that ever you had in your life. " Truly Chichikov was almostbeside himself with fury. 

Turning towards the door, as though for the purpose of going andcarrying out his orders, Selifan halted and added:

"That skewbald, barin--you might think it well to sell him, seeing thathe is nothing but a rascal? A horse like that is more of a hindrancethan a help. "

"What? Do you expect me to go NOW to the market-place and sell him?"

"Well, Paul Ivanovitch, he is good for nothing but show, since by naturehe is a most cunning beast. Never in my life have I seen such a horse. "

"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 andfetch a blacksmith, and see that everything is put right within twohours. Otherwise I will take the very hair off your head, and beat youtill you haven't a face left. Be off! Hurry!"

Selifan departed, and Chichikov, his ill-humour vented, threw downupon the floor the poignard which he always took with him as a means ofinstilling respect into whomsoever it might concern, and spent the nextquarter of an hour in disputing with a couple of blacksmiths--men who, as usual, were rascals of the type which, on perceiving that somethingis wanted in a hurry, at once multiplies its terms for providing thesame. Indeed, for all Chichikov's storming and raging as he dubbedthe fellows robbers and extortioners and thieves, he could make noimpression upon the pair, since, true to their character, they declinedto abate their prices, and, even when they had begun their work, spentupon it, not two hours, but five and a half. Meanwhile he had thesatisfaction of experiencing that delightful time with which alltravellers are familiar--namely, the time during which one sits in aroom 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 long-awaited moment when the britchka hadreceived the luggage, the faulty wheel had been fitted with a new tyre, the horses had been re-shod, and the predatory blacksmiths had departedwith their gains. "Thank God!" thought Chichikov as the britchka rolledout of the gates of the inn, and the vehicle began to jolt over thecobblestones. Yet a feeling which he could not altogether have definedfilled his breast as he gazed upon the houses and the streets and thegarden walls which he might never see again. Presently, on turning acorner, the britchka was brought to a halt through the fact that alongthe street there was filing a seemingly endless funeral procession. Leaning forward in his britchka, Chichikov asked Petrushka whoseobsequies the procession represented, and was told that they representedthose of the Public Prosecutor. Disagreeably shocked, our hero hastenedto raise the hood of the vehicle, to draw the curtains across thewindows, and to lean back into a corner. While the britchka remainedthus halted Selifan and Petrushka, their caps doffed, sat watching theprogress of the cortege, after they had received strict instructions notto greet any fellow-servant whom they might recognise. Behind the hearsewalked the whole body of tchinovniks, bare-headed; and though, for amoment or two, Chichikov feared that some of their number might discernhim in his britchka, he need not have disturbed himself, since theirattention was otherwise engaged. In fact, they were not even exchangingthe small talk customary among members of such processions, butthinking exclusively of their own affairs, of the advent of the newGovernor-General, and of the probable manner in which he would take upthe reins of administration. Next came a number of carriages, fromthe windows of which peered the ladies in mourning toilets. Yet themovements of their hands and lips made it evident that they wereindulging in animated conversation--probably about the Governor-General, the balls which he might be expected to give, and their own eternalfripperies and gewgaws. Lastly came a few empty drozhkis. As soon as thelatter had passed, our hero was able to continue on his way. Throwingback the hood of the britchka, he said to himself:

"Ah, good friend, you have lived your life, and now it is over! In thenewspapers they will say of you that you died regretted not only byyour subordinates, but also by humanity at large, as well as that, arespected citizen, a kind father, and a husband beyond reproach, youwent to your grave amid the tears of your widow and orphans. Yet, shouldthose journals be put to it to name any particular circumstance whichjustified this eulogy of you, they would be forced to fall back upon thefact that you grew a pair of exceptionally thick eyebrows!"

With that Chichikov bid Selifan quicken his pace, and concluded: "Afterall, it is as well that I encountered the procession, for they say thatto meet a funeral is lucky. "

Presently the britchka turned into some less frequented streets, linesof wooden fencing of the kind which mark the outskirts of a town beganto file by, the cobblestones came to an end, the macadam of the highroadsucceeded to them, and once more there began on either side of theturnpike a procession of verst stones, road menders, and grey villages;inns with samovars and peasant women and landlords who came running outof yards with seivefuls of oats; pedestrians in worn shoes which, itmight be, had covered eight hundred versts; little towns, bright withbooths for the sale of flour in barrels, boots, small loaves, and othertrifles; heaps of slag; much repaired bridges; expanses of field toright and to left; stout landowners; a mounted soldier bearing a green, iron-clamped box inscribed: "The --th Battery of Artillery"; long stripsof freshly-tilled earth which gleamed green, yellow, and black on theface of the countryside. With it mingled long-drawn singing, glimpses ofelm-tops amid mist, the far-off notes of bells, endless clouds of rocks, and the illimitable line of the horizon. 

Ah, Russia, Russia, from my beautiful home in a strange land I can stillsee you! In you everything is poor and disordered and unhomely; in youthe eye is neither cheered nor dismayed by temerities of nature whicha yet more temerarious art has conquered; in you one beholds no citieswith lofty, many-windowed mansions, lofty as crags, no picturesquetrees, no ivy-clad ruins, no waterfalls with their everlasting spray androar, no beetling precipices which confuse the brain with their stonyimmensity, no vistas of vines and ivy and millions of wild roses andageless lines of blue hills which look almost unreal against the clear, silvery background of the sky. In you everything is flat and open; yourtowns project like points or signals from smooth levels of plain, andnothing whatsoever enchants or deludes the eye. Yet what secret, whatinvincible force draws me to you? Why does there ceaselessly echo andre-echo in my ears the sad song which hovers throughout the length andthe breadth of your borders? What is the burden of that song? Why doesit wail and sob and catch at my heart? What say the notes whichthus painfully caress and embrace my soul, and flit, uttering theirlamentations, around me? What is it you seek of me, O Russia? What isthe hidden bond which subsists between us? Why do you regard me as youdo? Why does everything within you turn upon me eyes full ofyearning? Even at this moment, as I stand dumbly, fixedly, perplexedlycontemplating your vastness, a menacing cloud, charged with gatheringrain, seems to overshadow my head. What is it that your boundlessexpanses presage? Do they not presage that one day there will arise inyou ideas as boundless as yourself? Do they not presage that one day youtoo will know no limits? Do they not presage that one day, when againyou shall have room for their exploits, there will spring to lifethe heroes of old? How the power of your immensity enfolds me, andreverberates through all my being with a wild, strange spell, andflashes in my eyes with an almost supernatural radiance! Yes, a strange, brilliant, unearthly vista indeed do you disclose, O Russia, country ofmine!

"Stop, stop, you fool!" shouted Chichikov to Selifan; and even as hespoke a troika, bound on Government business, came chattering by, anddisappeared in a cloud of dust. To Chichikov's curses at Selifan for nothaving drawn out of the way with more alacrity a rural constable withmoustaches of the length of an arshin added his quota. 

What a curious and attractive, yet also what an unreal, fascinationthe term "highway" connotes! And how interesting for its own sake isa highway! Should the day be a fine one (though chilly) in mellowingautumn, press closer your travelling cloak, and draw down your cap overyour ears, and snuggle cosily, comfortably into a corner of the britchkabefore a last shiver shall course through your limbs, and the ensuingwarmth shall put to flight the autumnal cold and damp. As the horsesgallop on their way, how delightfully will drowsiness come stealing uponyou, and make your eyelids droop! For a while, through your somnolence, you will continue to hear the hard breathing of the team and therumbling of the wheels; but at length, sinking back into your corner, you will relapse into the stage of snoring. And when you awake--behold!you will find that five stages have slipped away, and that the moon isshining, and that you have reached a strange town of churches and oldwooden cupolas and blackened spires and white, half-timbered houses! Andas the moonlight glints hither and thither, almost you will believe thatthe walls and the streets and the pavements of the place are spread withsheets--sheets shot with coal-black shadows which make the wooden roofslook 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. Yetno. In a solitary window a light is flickering where some good burgheris mending his boots, or a baker drawing a batch of dough. O nightand powers of heaven, how perfect is the blackness of your infinitevault--how lofty, how remote its inaccessible depths where it liesspread in an intangible, yet audible, silence! Freshly does the lullingbreath of night blow in your face, until once more you relapse intosnoring oblivion, and your poor neighbour turns angrily in his corner ashe begins to be conscious of your weight. Then again you awake, butthis time to find yourself confronted with only fields and steppes. Everywhere in the ascendant is the desolation of space. But suddenly theciphers on a verst stone leap to the eye! Morning is rising, and on thechill, gradually paling line of the horizon you can see gleaming a faintgold streak. The wind freshens and grows keener, and you snuggle closerin your cloak; yet how glorious is that freshness, and how marvellousthe sleep in which once again you become enfolded! A jolt!--and for thelast time you return to consciousness. By now the sun is high in theheavens, and you hear a voice cry "gently, gently!" as a farm waggonissues from a by-road. Below, enclosed within an ample dike, stretchesa sheet of water which glistens like copper in the sunlight. Beyond, onthe side of a slope, lie some scattered peasants' huts, a manor house, and, flanking the latter, a village church with its cross flashinglike a star. There also comes wafted to your ear the sound of peasants'laughter, while in your inner man you are becoming conscious of anappetite which is not to be withstood. 

Oh long-drawn highway, how excellent you are! How often have I inweariness and despondency set forth upon your length, and found in yousalvation and rest! How often, as I followed your leading, have I beenvisited with wonderful thoughts and poetic dreams and curious, wildimpressions!

At this moment our friend Chichikov also was experiencing visions of anot wholly prosaic nature. Let us peep into his soul and share them. At first he remained unconscious of anything whatsoever, for he was toomuch engaged in making sure that he was really clear of the town; butas soon as he saw that it had completely disappeared, with its mills andfactories and other urban appurtenances, and that even the steeplesof the white stone churches had sunk below the horizon, he turned hisattention to the road, and the town of N. Vanished from his thoughts ascompletely as though he had not seen it since childhood. Again, in itsturn, the road ceased to interest him, and he began to close his eyesand to loll his head against the cushions. Of this let the authortake advantage, in order to speak at length concerning his hero; sincehitherto he (the author) has been prevented from so doing by Nozdrev andballs and ladies and local intrigues--by those thousand trifles whichseem trifles only when they are introduced into a book, but which, inlife, figure as affairs of importance. Let us lay them aside, and betakeourselves to business. 

Whether the character whom I have selected for my hero has pleased myreaders is, of course, exceedingly doubtful. At all events the ladieswill have failed to approve him for the fair sex demands in a heroperfection, and, should there be the least mental or physical stainon him--well, woe betide! Yes, no matter how profoundly the author mayprobe that hero's soul, no matter how clearly he may portray his figureas in a mirror, he will be given no credit for the achievement. Indeed, Chichikov's very stoutness and plenitude of years may have militatedagainst him, for never is a hero pardoned for the former, and themajority of ladies will, in such case, turn away, and mutter tothemselves: "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 forhis principal character, it may be that this story contains themesnever before selected, and that in it there projects the whole boundlesswealth of Russian psychology; that it portrays, as well as Chichikov, the peasant who is gifted with the virtues which God has sent him, andthe marvellous maiden of Russia who has not her like in all the worldfor her beautiful feminine spirituality, the roots of which lie buriedin noble aspirations and boundless self-denial. In fact, compared withthese types, the virtuous of other races seem lifeless, as does aninanimate volume when compared with the living word. Yes, each time thatthere arises in Russia a movement of thought, it becomes clear that themovement sinks deep into the Slavonic nature where it would but haveskimmed the surface of other nations. --But why am I talking like this?Whither am I tending? It is indeed shameful that an author who longago reached man's estate, and was brought up to a course of severeintrospection and sober, solitary self-enlightenment, should give way tosuch jejune wandering from the point. To everything its proper timeand place and turn. As I was saying, it does not lie in me to take avirtuous character for my hero: and I will tell you why. It is becauseit 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 aby-word; it is because the "man of worth" has become converted into ahorse, and there is not a writer but rides him and flogs him, in and outof season; it is because the "man of worth" has been starved until hehas not a shred of his virtue left, and all that remains of his body isbut the ribs and the hide; it is because the "man of worth" is for everbeing smuggled upon the scene; it is because the "man of worth" has atlength forfeited every one's respect. For these reasons do I reaffirmthat it is high time to yoke a rascal to the shafts. Let us yoke thatrascal. 

Our hero's beginnings were both modest and obscure. True, his parentswere dvoriane, but he in no way resembled them. At all events, a short, squab female relative who was present at his birth exclaimed as shelifted up the baby: "He is altogether different from what I had expectedhim to be. He ought to have taken after his maternal grandmother, whereas he has been born, as the proverb has it, 'like not father normother, but like a chance passer-by. '" Thus from the first liferegarded the little Chichikov with sour distaste, and as through a dim, frost-encrusted window. A tiny room with diminutive casements which werenever opened, summer or winter; an invalid father in a dressing-gownlined with lambskin, and with an ailing foot swathed in bandages--a manwho was continually drawing deep breaths, and walking up and down theroom, and spitting into a sandbox; a period of perpetually sitting ona bench with pen in hand and ink on lips and fingers; a period of beingeternally confronted with the copy-book maxim, "Never tell a lie, butobey your superiors, and cherish virtue in your heart;" an everlastingscraping and shuffling of slippers up and down the room; a period ofcontinually hearing a well-known, strident voice exclaim: "So you havebeen playing the fool again!" at times when the child, weary of themortal monotony of his task, had added a superfluous embellishmentto his copy; a period of experiencing the ever-familiar, butever-unpleasant, sensation which ensued upon those words as the boy'sear was painfully twisted between two long fingers bent backwards atthe tips--such is the miserable picture of that youth of which, in laterlife, Chichikov preserved but the faintest of memories! But in thisworld everything is liable to swift and sudden change; and, one day inearly spring, when the rivers had melted, the father set forth withhis little son in a teliezshka [37] drawn by a sorrel steed of the kindknown to horsy folk as a soroka, and having as coachman the diminutivehunchback who, father of the only serf family belonging to the elderChichikov, served as general factotum in the Chichikov establishment. For a day and a half the soroka conveyed them on their way; during whichtime they spent the night at a roadside inn, crossed a river, dined offcold pie and roast mutton, and eventually arrived at the county town. Tothe lad the streets presented a spectacle of unwonted brilliancy, andhe gaped with amazement. Turning into a side alley wherein the mirenecessitated both the most strenuous exertions on the soroka's part andthe 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 coupleof apple-trees in blossom, and a mean, dirty little shed, constitutedthe premises attached to an antiquated-looking villa. Here there liveda relative of the Chichikovs, a wizened old lady who went to market inperson and dried her stockings at the samovar. On seeing the boy, shepatted his cheek and expressed satisfaction at his physique; whereuponthe fact became disclosed that here he was to abide for a while, forthe purpose of attending a local school. After a night's rest his fatherprepared to betake himself homeward again; but no tears marked theparting between him and his son, he merely gave the lad a copper or twoand (a far more important thing) the following injunctions. "See here, my boy. Do your lessons well, do not idle or play the fool, and aboveall things, see that you please your teachers. So long as you observethese rules you will make progress, and surpass your fellows, even ifGod shall have denied you brains, and you should fail in your studies. Also, do not consort overmuch with your comrades, for they will do youno good; but, should you do so, then make friends with the richer ofthem, since one day they may be useful to you. Also, never entertain ortreat 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 isthe most important thing in life. Always a friend or a comrade may failyou, and be the first to desert you in a time of adversity; but neverwill a KOPECK fail you, whatever may be your plight. Nothing in theworld cannot be done, cannot be attained, with the aid of money. " Theseinjunctions given, the father embraced his son, and set forth on hisreturn; and though the son never again beheld his parent, the latter'swords and precepts sank deep into the little Chichikov's soul. 

The next day young Pavlushka made his first attendance at school. But nospecial aptitude in any branch of learning did he display. Rather, hisdistinguishing characteristics were diligence and neatness. On the otherhand, he developed great intelligence as regards the PRACTICAL aspectof life. In a trice he divined and comprehended how things ought tobe worked, and, from that time forth, bore himself towards hisschool-fellows in such a way that, though they frequently gave himpresents, he not only never returned the compliment, but even onoccasions pocketed the gifts for the mere purpose of selling them again. Also, boy though he was, he acquired the art of self-denial. Of thetrifle which his father had given him on parting he spent not a kopeck, but, the same year, actually added to his little store by fashioninga bullfinch of wax, painting it, and selling the same at a handsomeprofit. Next, as time went on, he engaged in other speculations--inparticular, in the scheme of buying up eatables, taking his seat inclass beside boys who had plenty of pocket-money, and, as soon as suchopulent individuals showed signs of failing attention (and, therefore, of growing appetite), tendering them, from beneath the desk, a roll ofpudding or a piece of gingerbread, and charging according to degreeof appetite and size of portion. He also spent a couple of months intraining a mouse, which he kept confined in a little wooden cage in hisbedroom. At length, when the training had reached the point that, at theseveral 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; whereuponhe made himself a purse and then started to fill a second receptacle ofthe 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 thesame connection it may be remarked that his teacher was a man who, aboveall things, loved peace and good behaviour, and simply could notabide clever, witty boys, since he suspected them of laughing at him. Consequently any lad who had once attracted the master's attention witha manifestation of intelligence needed but to shuffle in his place, orunintentionally to twitch an eyebrow, for the said master at once toburst into a rage, to turn the supposed offender out of the room, andto visit him with unmerciful punishment. "Ah, my fine fellow, " he wouldsay, "I'LL cure you of your impudence and want of respect! I know youthrough and through far better than you know yourself, and will takegood care that you have to go down upon your knees and curb yourappetite. " Whereupon the wretched lad would, for no cause of which hewas aware, be forced to wear out his breeches on the floor and go hungryfor days. "Talents and gifts, " the schoolmaster would declare, "are somuch rubbish. I respect only good behaviour, and shall award full marksto those who conduct themselves properly, even if they fail to learn asingle letter of their alphabet: whereas to those in whom I may perceivea tendency to jocularity I shall award nothing, even though they shouldoutdo Solon himself. " For the same reason he had no great love of theauthor Krylov, in that the latter says in one of his Fables: "In myopinion, the more one sings, the better one works;" and often thepedagogue would relate how, in a former school of his, the silence hadbeen such that a fly could be heard buzzing on the wing, and for thespace 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 havetold that there was a soul in the place. Of this mentor young Chichikovspeedily appraised the mentality; wherefore he fashioned his behaviourto correspond with it. Not an eyelid, not an eyebrow, would he stirduring school hours, howsoever many pinches he might receive frombehind; and only when the bell rang would he run to anticipate hisfellows in handing the master the three-cornered cap which thatdignitary customarily sported, and then to be the first to leave theclass-room, and contrive to meet the master not less than two or threetimes 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 highfavour, and, on leaving the establishment, received full marks for everysubject, as well as a diploma and a book inscribed (in gilt letters)"For Exemplary Diligence and the Perfection of Good Conduct. " By thistime he had grown into a fairly good-looking youth of the age when thechin first calls for a razor; and at about the same period his fatherdied, leaving behind him, as his estate, four waistcoats completely wornout, two ancient frockcoats, and a small sum of money. Apparently he hadbeen skilled only in RECOMMENDING the saving of kopecks--not in ACTUALLYPRACTISING the art. Upon that Chichikov sold the old house and itslittle parcel of land for a thousand roubles, and removed, with hisone serf and the serf's family, to the capital, where he set aboutorganising a new establishment and entering the Civil Service. Simultaneously with his doing so, his old schoolmaster lost (throughstupidity or otherwise) the establishment over which he had hithertopresided, and in which he had set so much store by silence and goodbehaviour. Grief drove him to drink, and when nothing was left, evenfor that purpose, he retired--ill, helpless, and starving--into abroken-down, cheerless hovel. But certain of his former pupils--the sameclever, witty lads whom he had once been wont to accuse of impertinenceand evil conduct generally--heard of his pitiable plight, and collectedfor him what money they could, even to the point of selling their ownnecessaries. Only Chichikov, when appealed to, pleaded inability, andcompromised with a contribution of a single piatak [38]: which hisold schoolfellows straightway returned him--full in the face, andaccompanied with a shout of "Oh, you skinflint!" As for the poorschoolmaster, when he heard what his former pupils had done, he buriedhis face in his hands, and the tears gushed from his failing eyes asfrom those of a helpless infant. "God has brought you but to weep overmy death-bed, " he murmured feebly; and added with a profound sigh, onhearing of Chichikov's conduct: "Ah, Pavlushka, how a human being maybecome changed! Once you were a good lad, and gave me no trouble; butnow you are become proud indeed!"

Yet let it not be inferred from this that our hero's character had grownso blase and hard, or his conscience so blunted, as to preclude hisexperiencing 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 gladto assist his old teacher had no great sum been required, or had he notbeen called upon to touch the fund which he had decided should remainintact. In other words, the father's injunction, "Guard and save everykopeck, " had become a hard and fast rule of the son's. Yet the youth hadno particular attachment to money for money's sake; he was not possessedwith the true instinct for hoarding and niggardliness. Rather, beforehis eyes there floated ever a vision of life and its amenities andadvantages--a vision of carriages and an elegantly furnished house andrecherche dinners; and it was in the hope that some day he might attainthese things that he saved every kopeck and, meanwhile, stinted bothhimself and others. Whenever a rich man passed him by in a splendiddrozhki drawn by swift and handsomely-caparisoned horses, he would haltas though deep in thought, and say to himself, like a man awakeningfrom a long sleep: "That gentleman must have been a financier, he has solittle hair on his brow. " In short, everything connected with wealth andplenty produced upon him an ineffaceable impression. Even when he leftschool he took no holiday, so strong in him was the desire to get towork and enter the Civil Service. Yet, for all the encomiums containedin his diploma, he had much ado to procure a nomination to a GovernmentDepartment; and only after a long time was a minor post found for him, at a salary of thirty or fourty roubles a year. Nevertheless, wretchedthough this appointment was, he determined, by strict attention tobusiness, to overcome all obstacles, and to win success. And, indeed, the self-denial, the patience, and the economy which he displayedwere remarkable. From early morn until late at night he would, withindefatigable zeal of body and mind, remain immersed in his sordid taskof copying official documents--never going home, snatching what sleep hecould on tables in the building, and dining with the watchman on duty. Yet all the while he contrived to remain clean and neat, to preservea cheerful expression of countenance, and even to cultivate a certainelegance of movement. In passing, it may be remarked that his fellowtchinovniks were a peculiarly plain, unsightly lot, some of them havingfaces like badly baked bread, swollen cheeks, receding chins, andcracked and blistered upper lips. Indeed, not a man of them washandsome. Also, their tone of voice always contained a note ofsullenness, as though they had a mind to knock some one on the head; andby their frequent sacrifices to Bacchus they showed that even yet thereremains in the Slavonic nature a certain element of paganism. Nay, theDirector's room itself they would invade while still licking their lips, and since their breath was not over-aromatic, the atmosphere of the roomgrew not over-pleasant. Naturally, among such an official staff a manlike Chichikov could not fail to attract attention and remark, since ineverything--in cheerfulness of demeanour, in suavity of voice, andin complete neglect of the use of strong potions--he was the absoluteantithesis 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 ChiefClerk who was a graven image of elderly insensibility and inertia. Always the same, always unapproachable, this functionary could never inhis 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 hisown home from what he was in the office, or showing the least interestin anything whatever, or getting drunk and relapsing into jollity inhis cups, or indulging in that species of wild gaiety which, whenintoxicated, even a burglar affects. No, not a particle of this wasthere in him. Nor, for that matter, was there in him a particle ofanything at all, whether good or bad: which complete negativenessof character produced rather a strange effect. In the same way, hiswizened, marble-like features reminded one of nothing in particular, soprimly proportioned were they. Only the numerous pockmarks and dimpleswith which they were pitted placed him among the number of those overwhose faces, to quote the popular saying, "The Devil has walked by nightto grind peas. " In short, it would seem that no human agency could haveapproached such a man and gained his goodwill. Yet Chichikov made theeffort. As a first step, he took to consulting the other's conveniencein all manner of insignificant trifles--to 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 tableall superfluous sand and tobacco ash; to procuring a new mat for hisinkstand; to looking for his hat--the meanest-looking hat that everthe world beheld--and having it ready for him at the exact moment whenbusiness came to an end; to brushing his back if it happened to becomesmeared with whitewash from a wall. Yet all this passed as unnoticedas though it had never been done. Finally, Chichikov sniffed into hissuperior's family and domestic life, and learnt that he possessed agrown-up daughter on whose face also there had taken place a nocturnal, diabolical grinding of peas. HERE was a quarter whence a fresh attackmight be delivered! After ascertaining what church the daughter attendedon Sundays, our hero took to contriving to meet her in a neat suit and awell-starched dickey: and soon the scheme began to work. The surly ChiefClerk wavered for a while; then ended by inviting Chichikov to tea. Norcould any man in the office have told you how it came about that beforelong Chichikov had removed to the Chief Clerk's house, and become aperson necessary--indeed indispensable--to the household, seeing that hebought 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 ofFebruary (i. E. Before the beginning of Lent) there would take placea wedding. Nay, the surly father even began to agitate with theauthorities on Chichikov's behalf, and so enabled our hero, on a vacancyoccurring, to attain the stool of a Chief Clerk. Apparently this markedthe consummation of Chichikov's relations with his host, for he hastenedstealthily to pack his trunk and, the next day, figured in a freshlodging. Also, he ceased to call the Chief Clerk "Papenka, " or to kisshis hand; and the matter of the wedding came to as abrupt a terminationas though it had never been mooted. Yet also he never failed to presshis 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, "Ah, myfine fellow, you have grown too proud, you have grown too proud. "

The foregoing constituted the most difficult step that our hero had tonegotiate. Thereafter things came with greater ease and swiftersuccess. Everywhere he attracted notice, for he developed withinhimself everything necessary for this world--namely, charm of mannerand bearing, and great diligence in business matters. Armed with theseresources, 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 him--nay, he actually turned it to accountand thereby manifested the Russian resourcefulness which never fails toattain its zenith where extortion is concerned. His method of workingwas the following. As soon as a petitioner or a suitor put his hand intohis pocket, to extract thence the necessary letters of recommendationfor signature, Chichikov would smilingly exclaim as he detained hisinterlocutor'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 rewardsfor doing our work properly. So far as YOUR matter is concerned, you mayrest easy. Everything shall be carried through to-morrow. But may Ihave your address? There is no need to trouble yourself, seeing that thedocuments can easily be brought to you at your residence. " Upon whichthe delighted suitor would return home in raptures, thinking: "Here, atlong last, is the sort of man so badly needed. A man of that kind isa jewel beyond price. " Yet for a day, for two days--nay, even forthree--the suitor would wait in vain so far as any messengers withdocuments were concerned. Then he would repair to the office--to findthat his business had not so much as been entered upon! Lastly, he wouldconfront the "jewel beyond price. " "Oh, pardon me, pardon me!" Chichikovwould exclaim in the politest of tones as he seized and grasped thevisitor's hands. "The truth is that we have SUCH a quantity of businesson hand! But the matter shall be put through to-morrow, and in themeanwhile I am most sorry about it. " And with this would go the mostfascinating of gestures. Yet neither on the morrow, nor on the dayfollowing, nor on the third would documents arrive at the suitor'sabode. Upon that he would take thought as to whether something moreought not to have been done; and, sure enough, on his making inquiry, he would be informed that "something will have to be given to thecopyists. " "Well, there can be no harm in that, " he would reply. "As amatter of fact, I have ready a tchetvertak [39] 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 togrumble at in that? Of the money the copyists will receive a tchetvertakapiece, and the rest will go to the Government. " Upon that thedisillusioned suitor would fly out upon the new order of things broughtabout by the inquiry into illicit fees, and curse both the tchinovniksand their uppish, insolent behaviour. "Once upon a time, " would thesuitor lament, "one DID know what to do. Once one had tipped theDirector a bank-note, one's affair was, so to speak, in the hat. Butnow one has to pay a rouble per copyist after waiting a week becauseotherwise it was impossible to guess how the wind might set! The devilfly away with all 'disinterested' and 'trustworthy' tchinovniks!" Andcertainly the aggrieved suitor had reason to grumble, seeing that, now that bribe-takers had ceased to exist, and Directors had uniformlybecome men of honour and integrity, secretaries and clerks ought notwith impunity to have continued their thievish ways. In time thereopened out to Chichikov a still wider field, for a Commission wasappointed to supervise the erection of a Government building, and, onhis being nominated to that body, he proved himself one of its mostactive members. The Commission got to work without delay, but for aspace of six years had some trouble with the building in question. Either the climate hindered operations or the materials used were of thekind which prevents official edifices from ever rising higher than thebasement. But, meanwhile, OTHER quarters of the town saw arise, for eachmember of the Commission, a handsome house of the NON-official style ofarchitecture. Clearly the foundation afforded by the soil of those partswas better than that where the Government building was still engagedin hanging fire! Likewise the members of the Commission began to lookexceedingly prosperous, and to blossom out into family life; and, forthe first time in his existence, even Chichikov also departed from theiron laws of his self-imposed restraint and inexorable self-denial, andso far mitigated his heretofore asceticism as to show himself a man notaverse to those amenities which, during his youth, he had been capableof renouncing. That is to say, certain superfluities began to make theirappearance in his establishment. He engaged a good cook, took to wearinglinen shirts, bought for himself cloth of a pattern worn by no one elsein the province, figured in checks shot with the brightest of reds andbrowns, fitted himself out with two splendid horses (which he drove witha single pair of reins, added to a ring attachment for the trace horse), developed a habit of washing with a sponge dipped in eau-de-Cologne, andinvested in soaps of the most expensive quality, in order to communicateto his skin a more elegant polish. 

But suddenly there appeared upon the scene a new Director--a militaryman, and a martinet as regarded his hostility to bribe-takers andanything which might be called irregular. On the very day after hisarrival he struck fear into every breast by calling for accounts, discovering hosts of deficits and missing sums, and directing hisattention to the aforesaid fine houses of civilian architecture. Uponthat there ensued a complete reshuffling. Tchinovniks were retiredwholesale, and the houses were sequestrated to the Government, or elseconverted into various pious institutions and schools for soldiers'children. Thus the whole fabric, and especially Chichikov, came crashingto the ground. Particularly did our hero's agreeable face displease thenew Director. Why that was so it is impossible to say, but frequently, in cases of the kind, no reason exists. However, the Director conceiveda mortal dislike to him, and also extended that enmity to the whole ofChichikov's colleagues. But inasmuch as the said Director was a militaryman, he was not fully acquainted with the myriad subtleties of thecivilian mind; wherefore it was not long before, by dint of maintaininga discreet exterior, added to a faculty for humouring all and sundry, a fresh gang of tchinovniks succeeded in restoring him to mildness, andthe General found himself in the hands of greater thieves than before, but thieves whom he did not even suspect, seeing that he believedhimself to have selected men fit and proper, and even ventured toboast of possessing a keen eye for talent. In a trice the tchinovniksconcerned appraised his spirit and character; with the result that theentire sphere over which he ruled became an agency for the detection ofirregularities. Everywhere, and in every case, were those irregularitiespursued as a fisherman pursues a fat sturgeon with a gaff; and to suchan extent did the sport prove successful that almost in no time eachparticipator in the hunt was seen to be in possession of severalthousand roubles of capital. Upon that a large number of the former bandof tchinovniks also became converted to paths of rectitude, and wereallowed to re-enter the Service; but not by hook or by crook couldChichikov worm his way back, even though, incited thereto by sundryitems of paper currency, the General's first secretary and principalbear leader did all he could on our hero's behalf. It seemed that theGeneral was the kind of man who, though easily led by the nose (providedit was done without his knowledge) no sooner got an idea into his headthan it stuck there like a nail, and could not possibly be extracted;and all that the wily secretary succeeded in procuring was the tearingup of a certain dirty fragment of paper--even that being effected onlyby an appeal to the General's compassion, on the score of the unhappyfate which, otherwise, would befall Chichikov's wife and children (who, luckily, had no existence in fact). 

"Well, " said Chichikov to himself, "I have done my best, and noweverything has failed. Lamenting my misfortune won't help me, but onlyaction. " And with that he decided to begin his career anew, and oncemore to arm himself with the weapons of patience and self-denial. Thebetter to effect this, he had, of course to remove to another town. Yetsomehow, for a while, things miscarried. More than once he found himselfforced 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 foundhimself rubbing shoulders with anything but nice companions did notprevent him from preserving intact his innate love of what was decentand seemly, or from cherishing the instinct which led him to hankerafter office fittings of lacquered wood, with neatness and orderlinesseverywhere. Nor did he at any time permit a foul word to creep intohis speech, and would feel hurt even if in the speech of others thereoccurred a scornful reference to anything which pertained to rank anddignity. Also, the reader will be pleased to know that our hero changedhis linen every other day, and in summer, when the weather was veryhot, EVERY day, seeing that the very faintest suspicion of an unpleasantodour offended his fastidiousness. For the same reason it was hiscustom, before being valeted by Petrushka, always to plug his nostrilswith a couple of cloves. In short, there were many occasions when hisnerves suffered rackings as cruel as a young girl's, and so helped toincrease his disgust at having once more to associate with men who setno store by the decencies of life. Yet, though he braced himself to thetask, this period of adversity told upon his health, and he even grew atrifle shabby. More than once, on happening to catch sight of himselfin the mirror, he could not forbear exclaiming: "Holy Mother of God, but what a nasty-looking brute I have become!" and for a long whileafterwards could not with anything like sang-froid contemplate hisreflection. Yet throughout he bore up stoutly and patiently--and endedby being transferred to the Customs Department. It may be said that thedepartment had long constituted the secret goal of his ambition, forhe had noted the foreign elegancies with which its officials alwayscontrived to provide themselves, and had also observed that invariablythey were able to send presents of china and cambric to their sistersand aunts--well, to their lady friends generally. Yes, more than oncehe had said to himself with a sigh: "THAT is the department to which Iought to belong, for, given a town near the frontier, and a sensible setof colleagues, I might be able to fit myself out with excellent linenshirts. " Also, it may be said that most frequently of all had histhoughts turned towards a certain quality of French soap which imparteda 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 onlyin the immediate neighbourhood of the frontier. So, as I say, Chichikovhad long felt a leaning towards the Customs, but for a time had beenrestrained from applying for the same by the various current advantagesof the Building Commission; since rightly he had adjudged the latter toconstitute a bird in the hand, and the former to constitute only a birdin the bush. But now he decided that, come what might, into the Customshe must make his way. And that way he made, and then applied himselfto his new duties with a zeal born of the fact that he realised thatfortune had specially marked him out for a Customs officer. Indeed, such activity, perspicuity, and ubiquity as his had never been seen orthought of. Within four weeks at the most he had so thoroughly got hishand in that he was conversant with Customs procedure in every detail. Not only could he weigh and measure, but also he could divine froman invoice how many arshins of cloth or other material a given piececontained, and then, taking a roll of the latter in his hand, couldspecify at once the number of pounds at which it would tip the scale. Asfor searchings, well, even his colleagues had to admit that he possessedthe nose of a veritable bloodhound, and that it was impossible notto marvel at the patience wherewith he would try every button of thesuspected person, yet preserve, throughout, a deadly politeness and anicy sang-froid which surpass belief. And while the searched were raging, and foaming at the mouth, and feeling that they would give worlds toalter his smiling exterior with a good, resounding slap, he wouldmove not a muscle of his face, nor abate by a jot the urbanity of hisdemeanour, as he murmured, "Do you mind so far incommoding yourself asto stand up?" or "Pray step into the next room, madam, where the wifeof one of our staff will attend you, " or "Pray allow me to slip thispenknife of mine into the lining of your coat" (after which he wouldextract thence shawls and towels with as much nonchalance as hewould have done from his own travelling-trunk). Even his superiorsacknowledged him to be a devil at the job, rather than a human being, soperfect was his instinct for looking into cart-wheels, carriage-poles, horses' ears, and places whither an author ought not to penetrate evenin thought--places whither only a Customs official is permitted to go. The result was that the wretched traveller who had just crossed thefrontier would, within a few minutes, become wholly at sea, and, wipingaway the perspiration, and breaking out into body flushes, would bereduced to crossing himself and muttering, "Well, well, well!" In fact, such a traveller would feel in the position of a schoolboy who, havingbeen summoned to the presence of the headmaster for the ostensiblepurpose of being give an order, has found that he receives, instead, asound flogging. In short, for some time Chichikov made it impossiblefor smugglers to earn a living. In particular, he reduced PolishJewry almost to despair, so invincible, so almost unnatural, was therectitude, the incorruptibility which led him to refrain from convertinghimself into a small capitalist with the aid of confiscated goods andarticles which, "to save excessive clerical labour, " had failed to behanded over to the Government. Also, without saying it goes thatsuch phenomenally zealous and disinterested service attracted generalastonishment, and, eventually, the notice of the authorities; whereuponhe received promotion, and followed that up by mooting a scheme forthe infallible detection of contrabandists, provided that he could befurnished with the necessary authority for carrying out the same. Atonce such authority was accorded him, as also unlimited power to conductevery species of search and investigation. And that was all hewanted. It happened that previously there had been formed a well-foundassociation for smuggling on regular, carefully prepared lines, andthat this daring scheme seemed to promise profit to the extent ofsome millions of money: yet, though he had long had knowledge of it, Chichikov had said to the association's emissaries, when sent to buy himover, "The time is not yet. " But now that he had got all the reins intohis 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, withinthe space of a year, he had acquired what he could not have made duringtwenty years of non-fraudulent service. With similar sagacity he had, during his early days in the department, declined altogether to enterinto relations with the association, for the reason that he had thenbeen a mere cipher, and would have come in for nothing large in the wayof takings; but now--well, now it was another matter altogether, andhe could dictate what terms he liked. Moreover, that the affair mightprogress the more smoothly, he suborned a fellow tchinovnik of the typewhich, 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 readersare familiar with the oft-repeated story of the passage of Spanish sheepacross the frontier in double fleeces which carried between their outerlayers and their inner enough lace of Brabant to sell to the tune ofmillions of roubles; wherefore I will not recount the story again beyondsaying that those journeys took place just when Chichikov had becomehead of the Customs, and that, had he not a hand in the enterprise, notall the Jews in the world could have brought it to success. By the timethat three or four of these ovine invasions had taken place, Chichikovand his accomplice had come to be the possessors of four hundredthousand roubles apiece; while some even aver that the former's gainstotalled half a million, owing to the greater industry which he haddisplayed in the matter. Nor can any one but God say to what a figurethe fortunes of the pair might not eventually have attained, had not anawkward contretemps cut right across their arrangements. That is tosay, for some reason or another the devil so far deprived thesetchinovnik-conspirators of sense as to make them come to words withone another, and then to engage in a quarrel. Beginning with a heatedargument, this quarrel reached the point of Chichikov--who was, possibly, a trifle tipsy--calling his colleague a priest's son; andthough that description of the person so addressed was perfectlyaccurate, he chose to take offence, and to answer Chichikov with thewords (loudly and incisively uttered), "It is YOU who have a priest foryour 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 thetables upon Chichikov with a tu quoque, and then capped that exploitwith the words last quoted, the offended tchinovnik could not remainsatisfied, but went on to send in an anonymous document to theauthorities. On the other hand, some aver that it was over a woman thatthe pair fell out--over a woman who, to quote the phrase then currentamong the staff of the Customs Department, was "as fresh and as strongas the pulp of a turnip, " and that night-birds were hired to assault ourhero in a dark alley, and that the scheme miscarried, and that in anycase both Chichikov and his friend had been deceived, seeing that theperson to whom the lady had really accorded her favours was a certainstaff-captain named Shamsharev. However, only God knows the truth of thematter. Let the inquisitive reader ferret it out for himself. The factremains that a complete exposure of the dealings with the contrabandistsfollowed, and that the two tchinovniks were put to the question, deprived of their property, and made to formulate in writing all thatthey had done. Against this thunderbolt of fortune the State Councillorcould make no headway, and in some retired spot or another sank intooblivion; but Chichikov put a brave face upon the matter, for, inspite of the authorities' best efforts to smell out his gains, he hadcontrived to conceal a portion of them, and also resorted to everysubtle trick of intellect which could possibly be employed by anexperienced man of the world who has a wide knowledge of his fellows. Nothing which could be effected by pleasantness of demeanour, by movingoratory, by clouds of flattery, and by the occasional insertion ofa coin into a palm did he leave undone; with the result that he wasretired with less ignominy than was his companion, and escaped actualtrial on a criminal charge. Yet he issued stripped of all his capital, stripped of his imported effects, stripped of everything. That is tosay, all that remained to him consisted of ten thousand roubles which hehad stored against a rainy day, two dozen linen shirts, a small britchkaof the type used by bachelors, and two serving-men named Selifan andPetrushka. Yes, and an impulse of kindness moved the tchinovniks of theCustoms also to set aside for him a few cakes of the soap which he hadfound so excellent for the freshness of the cheeks. Thus once more ourhero found himself stranded. And what an accumulation of misfortunes haddescended upon his head!--though, true, he termed them "suffering in theService in the cause of Truth. " Certainly one would have thought that, after these buffetings and trials and changes of fortune--after thistaste of the sorrows of life--he and his precious ten thousand roubleswould have withdrawn to some peaceful corner in a provincial town, where, clad in a stuff dressing-gown, he could have sat and listened tothe peasants quarrelling on festival days, or (for the sake of a breathof fresh air) have gone in person to the poulterer's to finger chickensfor 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 tothe strength of his character. In other words, although he had undergonewhat, to the majority of men, would have meant ruin and discouragementand 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 withthe dealings of men; yet he could not forbear courting additionalexperiences. In short, the patience which he displayed was such as tomake the wooden persistency of the German--a persistency merely due tothe slow, lethargic circulation of the Teuton's blood--seem nothing atall, seeing that by nature Chichikov's blood flowed strongly, andthat he had to employ much force of will to curb within himself thoseelements which longed to burst forth and revel in freedom. He thoughtthings over, and, as he did so, a certain spice of reason appeared inhis reflections. 

"How have I come to be what I am?" he said to himself. "Why hasmisfortune 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 beencareful only to take advantage of those who possess more than theirshare. Moreover, I have never gleaned anywhere but where every one elsewas gleaning; and, had I not done so, others would have gleaned in myplace. Why, then, should those others be prospering, and I be sunk aslow as a worm? What am I? What am I good for? How can I, in future, hopeto look any honest father of a family in the face? How shall I escapebeing tortured with the thought that I am cumbering the ground? What, in the years to come, will my children say, save that 'our father was abrute, for he left us nothing to live upon?'"

Here I may remark that we have seen how much thought Chichikov devotedto his future descendants. Indeed, had not there been constantlyrecurring to his mind the insistent question, "What will my childrensay?" he might not have plunged into the affair so deeply. Nevertheless, like a wary cat which glances hither and thither to see whether itsmistress be not coming before it can make off with whatsoever firstfalls to its paw (butter, fat, lard, a duck, or anything else), so ourfuture founder of a family continued, though weeping and bewailinghis 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 brainconstantly working. All that he required was a plan. Once more he pulledhimself together, once more he embarked upon a life of toil, once morehe stinted himself in everything, once more he left clean and decentsurroundings for a dirty, mean existence. In other words, untilsomething better should turn up, he embraced the calling of an ordinaryattorney--a calling which, not then possessed of a civic status, wasjostled on very side, enjoyed little respect at the hands of the minorlegal fry (or, indeed, at its own), and perforce met with universalslights and rudeness. But sheer necessity compelled Chichikov to facethese things. Among commissions entrusted to him was that of placing inthe hands of the Public Trustee several hundred peasants who belongedto a ruined estate. The estate had reached its parlous condition throughcattle disease, through rascally bailiffs, through failures of theharvest, through such epidemic diseases that had killed off the bestworkmen, and, last, but not least, through the senseless conduct of theowner himself, who had furnished a house in Moscow in the latest style, and then squandered his every kopeck, so that nothing was left forhis further maintenance, and it became necessary to mortgage theremains--including the peasants--of the estate. In those days mortgageto the Treasury was an innovation looked upon with reserve, and, asattorney in the matter, Chichikov had first of all to "entertain" everyofficial concerned (we know that, unless that be previously done, unlessa 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 of future attachments, that half of the peasants weredead. 

"And are they entered on the revision lists?" asked the secretary. "Yes, " replied Chichikov. "Then what are you boggling at?" continued theSecretary. "Should one soul die, another will be born, and in time growup to take the first one's place. " Upon that there dawned on our heroone of the most inspired ideas which ever entered the human brain. "Whata simpleton I am!" he thought to himself. "Here am I looking about formy 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 dead--to buy them beforea new revision list shall have been made, the Council of Public Trustmight pay me two hundred roubles apiece for them, and I might findmyself with, say, a capital of two hundred thousand roubles! The presentmoment is particularly propitious, since in various parts of the countrythere has been an epidemic, and, glory be to God, a large number ofsouls have died of it. Nowadays landowners have taken to card-playingand junketting and wasting their money, or to joining the Civil Servicein St. Petersburg; consequently their estates are going to rack andruin, and being managed in any sort of fashion, and succeeding in payingtheir dues with greater difficulty each year. That being so, not a manof the lot but would gladly surrender to me his dead souls rather thancontinue paying the poll-tax; and in this fashion I might make--well, not a few kopecks. Of course there are difficulties, and, to avoidcreating a scandal, I should need to employ plenty of finesse; but manwas given his brain to USE, not to neglect. One good point about thescheme 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 ormortgage peasants without land, but I can easily pretend to be buyingthem only for transferment elsewhere. Land is to be acquired in theprovinces of Taurida and Kherson almost for nothing, provided that oneundertakes subsequently to colonise it; so to Kherson I will 'transfer'them, and long may they live there! And the removal of my dead soulsshall be carried out in the strictest legal form; and if the authoritiesshould want confirmation by testimony, I shall produce a letter signedby my own superintendent of the Khersonian rural police--that is tosay, by myself. Lastly, the supposed village in Kherson shall be calledChichikovoe--better still Pavlovskoe, according to my Christian name. "

In this fashion there germinated in our hero's brain that strange schemefor which the reader may or may not be grateful, but for which theauthor certainly is so, seeing that, had it never occurred to Chichikov, this story would never have seen the light. 

After crossing himself, according to the Russian custom, Chichikov setabout carrying out his enterprise. On pretence of selecting a placewherein to settle, he started forth to inspect various corners of theRussian Empire, but more especially those which had suffered fromsuch unfortunate accidents as failures of the harvest, a high rate ofmortality, or whatsoever else might enable him to purchase souls at thelowest possible rate. But he did not tackle his landowners haphazard: herather selected such of them as seemed more particularly suited to histaste, or with whom he might with the least possible trouble concludeidentical agreements; though, in the first instance, he always tried, bygetting on terms of acquaintanceship--better still, of friendship--withthem, 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 theyhave encountered in these pages have not been altogether to theirliking. 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 mefor a certain dimness and want of clarity in my principal charactersand actors, that will be tantamount to saying that never do the broadtendency and the general scope of a work become immediately apparent. Similarly does the entry to every town--the entry even to the Capitalitself--convey to the traveller such an impression of vagueness thatat first everything looks grey and monotonous, and the lines of smokyfactories and workshops seem never to be coming to an end; but in timethere will begin also to stand out the outlines of six-storied mansions, and of shops and balconies, and wide perspectives of streets, and amedley of steeples, columns, statues, and turrets--the whole framed inrattle and roar and the infinite wonders which the hand and the brain ofmen have conceived. Of the manner in which Chichikov's first purchaseswere made the reader is aware. Subsequently he will see also how theaffair progressed, and with what success or failure our hero met, and how Chichikov was called upon to decide and to overcome even moredifficult problems than the foregoing, and by what colossal forces thelevers of his far-flung tale are moved, and how eventually the horizonwill become extended until everything assumes a grandiose and a lyricaltendency. Yes, many a verst of road remains to be travelled by a partymade up of an elderly gentleman, a britchka of the kind affected bybachelors, a valet named Petrushka, a coachman named Selifan, andthree horses which, from the Assessor to the skewbald, are known to usindividually by name. Again, although I have given a full description ofour hero's exterior (such as it is), I may yet be asked for an inclusivedefinition also of his moral personality. That he is no hero compoundedof virtues and perfections must be already clear. Then WHAT is he? Avillain? Why should we call him a villain? Why should we be so hard upona fellow man? In these days our villains have ceased to exist. Ratherit would be fairer to call him an ACQUIRER. The love of acquisition, thelove of gain, is a fault common to many, and gives rise to many and manya transaction of the kind generally known as "not strictly honourable. "True, such a character contains an element of ugliness, and the samereader who, on his journey through life, would sit at the board of acharacter of this kind, and spend a most agreeable time with him, wouldbe the first to look at him askance if he should appear in the guise ofthe hero of a novel or a play. But wise is the reader who, on meetingsuch a character, scans him carefully, and, instead of shrinking fromhim with distaste, probes him to the springs of his being. The humanpersonality contains nothing which may not, in the twinkling of an eye, become altogether changed--nothing in which, before you can look round, there may not spring to birth some cankerous worm which is destined tosuck thence the essential juice. Yes, it is a common thing to see notonly an overmastering passion, but also a passion of the most pettyorder, arise in a man who was born to better things, and lead him bothto forget his greatest and most sacred obligations, and to see only inthe veriest trifles the Great and the Holy. For human passions are asnumberless as is the sand of the seashore, and go on to become his mostinsistent of masters. Happy, therefore, the man who may choose fromamong the gamut of human passions one which is noble! Hour by hour willthat instinct grow and multiply in its measureless beneficence; hour byhour will it sink deeper and deeper into the infinite paradise of hissoul. But there are passions of which a man cannot rid himself, seeingthat they are born with him at his birth, and he has no power to abjurethem. Higher powers govern those passions, and in them is somethingwhich will call to him, and refuse to be silenced, to the end of hislife. Yes, whether in a guise of darkness, or whether in a guise whichwill become converted into a light to lighten the world, they will andmust attain their consummation on life's field: and in either case theyhave been evoked for man's good. In the same way may the passionwhich drew our Chichikov onwards have been one that was independent ofhimself; in the same way may there have lurked even in his cold essencesomething which will one day cause men to humble themselves in the dustbefore the infinite wisdom of God. 

Yet that folk should be dissatisfied with my hero matters nothing. Whatmatters is the fact that, under different circumstances, their approvalcould have been taken as a foregone conclusion. That is to say, had notthe author pried over-deeply into Chichikov's soul, nor stirred up inits depths what shunned and lay hidden from the light, nor disclosedthose of his hero's thoughts which that hero would have not havedisclosed even to his most intimate friend; had the author, indeed, exhibited Chichikov just as he exhibited himself to the townsmen ofN. And Manilov and the rest; well, then we may rest assured that everyreader would have been delighted with him, and have voted him a mostinteresting person. For it is not nearly so necessary that Chichikovshould figure before the reader as though his form and person wereactually present to the eye as that, on concluding a perusal of thiswork, the reader should be able to return, unharrowed in soul, to thatcult of the card-table which is the solace and delight of all goodRussians. Yes, readers of this book, none of you really care to seehumanity 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 humanlife contains much that is gross and contemptible? Do we not with ourown 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 andattractive, so that we might forget ourselves a little. " In the samefashion does a landowner say to his bailiff: "Why do you come and tellme that the affairs of my estate are in a bad way? I know that withoutYOUR help. Have you nothing else to tell me? Kindly allow me to forgetthe fact, or else to remain in ignorance of it, and I shall be muchobliged to you. " Whereafter the said landowner probably proceeds tospend on his diversion the money which ought to have gone towards therehabilitation of his affairs. 

Possibly the author may also incur censure at the hands of thoseso-called "patriots" who sit quietly in corners, and become capitaliststhrough making fortunes at the expense of others. Yes, let but somethingwhich they conceive to be derogatory to their country occur--forinstance, let there be published some book which voices the bittertruth--and out they will come from their hiding-places like a spiderwhich perceives a fly to be caught in its web. "Is it well to proclaimthis 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 thatkind right? What will foreigners say? Does any one care calmly to sitby and hear himself traduced? Why should you lead foreigners to supposethat all is not well with us, and that we are not patriotic?" Well, tothese sage remarks no answer can really be returned, especially to suchof the above as refer to foreign opinion. But see here. There once livedin a remote corner of Russia two natives of the region indicated. One ofthose natives was a good man named Kifa Mokievitch, and a man of kindlydisposition; a man who went through life in a dressing-gown, and paid noheed to his household, for the reason that his whole being was centredupon the province of speculation, and that, in particular, he waspreoccupied with a philosophical problem usually stated by him thus:"A beast, " he would say, "is born naked. Now, why should that be? Whyshould not a beast be born as a bird is born--that is to say, throughthe process of being hatched from an egg? Nature is beyond theunderstanding, however much one may probe her. " This was the substanceof 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 thefirst named. He was what we Russians call a "hero, " and while hisfather was pondering the parturition of beasts, his, the son's, lusty, twenty-year-old temperament was violently struggling for development. Yet that son could tackle nothing without some accident occurring. Atone moment would he crack some one's fingers in half, and at anotherwould he raise a bump on somebody's nose; so that both at homeand abroad every one and everything--from the serving-maid to theyard-dog--fled on his approach, and even the bed in his bedroom becameshattered to splinters. Such was Mofi Kifovitch; and with it all he hada kindly soul. But herein is not the chief point. "Good sir, good KifaMokievitch, " servants and neighbours would come and say to the father, "what are you going to do about your Moki Kifovitch? We get no rest fromhim, he is so above himself. " "That is only his play, that is only hisplay, " the father would reply. "What else can you expect? It is too latenow to start a quarrel with him, and, moreover, every one would accuseme of harshness. True, he is a little conceited; but, were I to reprovehim in public, the whole thing would become common talk, and folk wouldbegin giving him a dog's name. And if they did that, would not theiropinion touch me also, seeing that I am his father? Also, I am busy withphilosophy, and have no time for such things. Lastly, Moki Kifovitchis my son, and very dear to my heart. " And, beating his breast, KifaMokievitch again asserted that, even though his son should electto continue his pranks, it would not be for HIM, for the father, to proclaim the fact, or to fall out with his offspring. And, thisexpression of paternal feeling uttered, Kifa Mokievitch left MokiKifovitch to his heroic exploits, and himself returned to his belovedsubject of speculation, which now included also the problem, "Supposeelephants were to take to being hatched from eggs, would not theshell of such eggs be of a thickness proof against cannonballs, andnecessitate the invention of some new type of firearm?" Thus at the endof this little story we have these two denizens of a peaceful corner ofRussia looking thence, as from a window, in less terror of doing whatwas scandalous than of having it SAID of them that they were actingscandalously. Yes, the feeling animating our so-called "patriots" is nottrue patriotism at all. Something else lies beneath it. Who, if not anauthor, is to speak aloud the truth? Men like you, my pseudo-patriots, stand in dread of the eye which is able to discern, yet shrink fromusing your own, and prefer, rather, to glance at everything unheedingly. Yes, after laughing heartily over Chichikov's misadventures, and perhapseven commending the author for his dexterity of observation and prettyturn of wit, you will look at yourselves with redoubled pride and aself-satisfied smile, and add: "Well, we agree that in certain parts ofthe provinces there exists strange and ridiculous individuals, as wellas unconscionable rascals. "

Yet which of you, when quiet, and alone, and engaged in solitaryself-communion, would not do well to probe YOUR OWN souls, and to putto YOURSELVES the solemn question, "Is there not in ME an element ofChichikov?" For how should there not be? Which of you is not liable atany moment to be passed in the street by an acquaintance who, nudginghis neighbour, may say of you, with a barely suppressed sneer: "Look!there goes Chichikov! That is Chichikov who has just gone by!"

But here are we talking at the top of our voices whilst all the time ourhero lies slumbering in his britchka! Indeed, his name has been repeatedso often during the recital of his life's history that he must almosthave heard us! And at any time he is an irritable, irascible fellow whenspoken of with disrespect. True, to the reader Chichikov's displeasurecannot matter a jot; but for the author it would mean ruin to quarrelwith his hero, seeing that, arm in arm, Chichikov and he have yet far togo. 

"Tut, tut, tut!" came in a shout from Chichikov. "Hi, Selifan!"

"What is it?" came the reply, uttered with a drawl. 

"What is it? Why, how dare you drive like that? Come! Bestir yourself alittle!"

And indeed, Selifan had long been sitting with half-closed eyes, andhands which bestowed no encouragement upon his somnolent steeds save anoccasional flicking of the reins against their flanks; whilst Petrushkahad lost his cap, and was leaning backwards until his head had come torest against Chichikov's knees--a position which necessitated his beingawakened with a cuff. Selifan also roused himself, and apportioned tothe skewbald a few cuts across the back of a kind which at least had theeffect of inciting that animal to trot; and when, presently, the othertwo horses followed their companion's example, the light britchka movedforwards like a piece of thistledown. Selifan flourished his whip andshouted, "Hi, hi!" as the inequalities of the road jerked him verticallyon his seat; and meanwhile, reclining against the leather cushionsof the vehicle's interior, Chichikov smiled with gratification at thesensation 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, andto let them go, and to cry, "To the devil with the world!"? At suchmoments a great force seems to uplift one as on wings; and one flies, and everything else flies, but contrariwise--both the verst stones, andtraders riding on the shafts of their waggons, and the forest withdark lines of spruce and fir amid which may be heard the axe of thewoodcutter and the croaking of the raven. Yes, out of a dim, remotedistance the road comes towards one, and while nothing save the sky andthe light clouds through which the moon is cleaving her way seem halted, the brief glimpses wherein one can discern nothing clearly have in thema pervading touch of mystery. Ah, troika, troika, swift as a bird, whowas it first invented you? Only among a hardy race of folk can you havecome to birth--only in a land which, though poor and rough, lies spreadover half the world, and spans versts the counting whereof would leaveone with aching eyes. Nor are you a modishly-fashioned vehicle of theroad--a thing of clamps and iron. Rather, you are a vehicle but shapenand 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 manbearded and mittened. See him as he mounts, and flourishes his whip, andbreaks into a long-drawn song! Away like the wind go the horses, andthe wheels, with their spokes, become transparent circles, and theroad seems to quiver beneath them, and a pedestrian, with a cry ofastonishment, halts to watch the vehicle as it flies, flies, flies onits way until it becomes lost on the ultimate horizon--a speck amid acloud of dust!

And you, Russia of mine--are not you also speeding like a troika whichnought can overtake? Is not the road smoking beneath your wheels, andthe bridges thundering as you cross them, and everything being left inthe rear, and the spectators, struck with the portent, halting to wonderwhether you be not a thunderbolt launched from heaven? What does thatawe-inspiring progress of yours foretell? What is the unknown forcewhich lies within your mysterious steeds? Surely the winds themselvesmust abide in their manes, and every vein in their bodies be anear stretched to catch the celestial message which bids them, withiron-girded breasts, and hooves which barely touch the earth asthey gallop, fly forward on a mission of God? Whither, then, areyou speeding, O Russia of mine? Whither? Answer me! But no answercomes--only the weird sound of your collar-bells. Rent into a thousandshreds, the air roars past you, for you are overtaking the whole world, and shall one day force all nations, all empires to stand aside, to giveyou way!

 1841. 

PART II

CHAPTER I

Why do I so persistently paint the poverty, the imperfections of Russianlife, and delve into the remotest depths, the most retired holes andcorners, of our Empire for my subjects? The answer is that there isnothing else to be done when an author's idiosyncrasy happens to inclinehim that way. So again we find ourselves in a retired spot. But what aspot!

Imagine, if you can, a mountain range like a gigantic fortress, withembrasures and bastions which appear to soar a thousand versts towardsthe heights of heaven, and, towering grandly over a boundless expanseof plain, are broken up into precipitous, overhanging limestone cliffs. Here and there those cliffs are seamed with water-courses and gullies, while at other points they are rounded off into spurs of green--spursnow coated with fleece-like tufts of young undergrowth, now studded withthe stumps of felled trees, now covered with timber which has, by somemiracle, escaped the woodman's axe. Also, a river winds awhile betweenits banks, then leaves the meadow land, divides into runlets (allflashing in the sun like fire), plunges, re-united, into the midst of athicket of elder, birth, and pine, and, lastly, speeds triumphantly pastbridges and mills and weirs which seem to be lying in wait for it atevery turn. 

At one particular spot the steep flank of the mountain range is coveredwith billowy verdure of denser growth than the rest; and here the aid ofskilful planting, added to the shelter afforded by a rugged ravine, hasenabled the flora of north and south so to be brought together that, twined about with sinuous hop-tendrils, the oak, the spruce fir, thewild pear, the maple, the cherry, the thorn, and the mountain ash eitherassist or check one another's growth, and everywhere cover the declivitywith their straggling profusion. Also, at the edge of the summit therecan be seen mingling with the green of the trees the red roofs of amanorial homestead, while behind the upper stories of the mansion properand its carved balcony and a great semi-circular window there gleam thetiles and gables of some peasants' huts. Lastly, over this combinationof trees and roofs there rises--overtopping everything with its gilded, sparkling steeple--an old village church. On each of its pinnacles across of carved gilt is stayed with supports of similar gilding anddesign; with the result that from a distance the gilded portionshave the effect of hanging without visible agency in the air. Andthe whole--the three successive tiers of woodland, roofs, and crosseswhole--lies exquisitely mirrored in the river below, where hollowwillows, grotesquely shaped (some of them rooted on the river's banks, and some in the water itself, and all drooping their branches untiltheir leaves have formed a tangle with the water lilies which float onthe surface), seem to be gazing at the marvellous reflection at theirfeet. 

Thus the view from below is beautiful indeed. But the view from aboveis even better. No guest, no visitor, could stand on the balcony of themansion and remain indifferent. So boundless is the panorama revealedthat surprise would cause him to catch at his breath, and exclaim: "Lordof Heaven, but what a prospect!" Beyond meadows studded with spinneysand water-mills lie forests belted with green; while beyond, again, there can be seen showing through the slightly misty air strips ofyellow heath, and, again, wide-rolling forests (as blue as the sea or acloud), and more heath, paler than the first, but still yellow. Finally, on the far horizon a range of chalk-topped hills gleams white, even indull weather, as though it were lightened with perpetual sunshine;and here and there on the dazzling whiteness of its lower slopes someplaster-like, nebulous patches represent far-off villages which lietoo remote for the eye to discern their details. Indeed, only when thesunlight touches a steeple to gold does one realise that each suchpatch is a human settlement. Finally, all is wrapped in an immensity ofsilence which even the far, faint echoes of persons singing in the voidof the plain cannot shatter. 

Even after gazing at the spectacle for a couple of hours or so, thevisitor would still find nothing to say, save: "Lord of Heaven, butwhat a prospect!" Then who is the dweller in, the proprietor of, thismanor--a manor to which, as to an impregnable fortress, entrance cannotbe gained from the side where we have been standing, but only from theother approach, where a few scattered oaks offer hospitable welcome tothe visitor, and then, spreading above him their spacious branches (asin friendly embrace), accompany him to the facade of the mansion whosetop we have been regarding from the reverse aspect, but which now standsfrontwise on to us, and has, on one side of it, a row of peasants' hutswith red tiles and carved gables, and, on the other, the village church, with those glittering golden crosses and gilded open-work charms whichseem to hang suspended in the air? Yes, indeed!--to what fortunateindividual does this corner of the world belong? It belongs to AndreiIvanovitch Tientietnikov, landowner of the canton of Tremalakhan, and, withal, a bachelor of about thirty. 

Should my lady readers ask of me what manner of man is Tientietnikov, and what are his attributes and peculiarities, I should refer themto his neighbours. Of these, a member of the almost extinct tribeof intelligent staff officers on the retired list once summed upTientietnikov in the phrase, "He is an absolute blockhead;" while aGeneral who resided ten versts away was heard to remark that "he is ayoung man who, though not exactly a fool, has at least too much crowdedinto his head. I myself might have been of use to him, for not only doI maintain certain connections with St. Petersburg, but also--" And theGeneral left his sentence unfinished. Thirdly, a captain-superintendentof rural police happened to remark in the course of conversation:"To-morrow I must go and see Tientietnikov about his arrears. " Lastly, a peasant of Tientietnikov's own village, when asked what his barin waslike, returned no answer at all. All of which would appear to show thatTientietnikov was not exactly looked upon with favour. 

To speak dispassionately, however, he was not a bad sort offellow--merely a star-gazer; and since the world contains many watchersof the skies, why should Tientietnikov not have been one of them?However, let me describe in detail a specimen day of his existence--onethat will closely resemble the rest, and then the reader will be enabledto judge of Tientietnikov's character, and how far his life correspondedto the beauties of nature with which he lived surrounded. 

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 thoseeyes were small, the process of rubbing them occupied a very long time, and throughout its continuance there stood waiting by the door hisvalet, Mikhailo, armed with a towel and basin. For one hour, for twohours, 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 thebed. At length, however, Tientietnikov rose, washed himself, donned adressing-gown, and moved into the drawing-room for morning tea, coffee, cocoa, and warm milk; of all of which he partook but sparingly, whilemunching a piece of bread, and scattering tobacco ash with completeinsouciance. Two hours did he sit over this meal, then poured himselfout another cup of the rapidly cooling tea, and walked to the window. This faced the courtyard, and outside it, as usual, there took place thefollowing daily altercation between a serf named Grigory (who purportedto act as butler) and the housekeeper, Perfilievna. 

Grigory. Ah, you nuisance, you good-for-nothing, you had better holdyour stupid tongue. 

Perfilievna. Yes; and don't you wish that I would?

Grigory. What? You so thick with that bailiff of yours, you housekeepingjade!

Perfilievna. Nay, he is as big a thief as you are. Do you think thebarin doesn't know you? And there he is! He must have heard everything!

Grigory. Where?

Perfilievna. There--sitting by the window, and looking at us!

Next, to complete the hubbub, a serf child which had been clouted by itsmother broke out into a bawl, while a borzoi puppy which had happenedto get splashed with boiling water by the cook fell to yelpingvociferously. In short, the place soon became a babel of shouts andsqueals, and, after watching and listening for a time, the barin foundit so impossible to concentrate his mind upon anything that he sent outword that the noise would have to be abated. 

The next item was that, a couple of hours before luncheon time, hewithdrew to his study, to set about employing himself upon a weightywork which was to consider Russia from every point of view: from thepolitical, from the philosophical, and from the religious, as well as toresolve various problems which had arisen to confront the Empire, and todefine clearly the great future to which the country stood ordained. Inshort, it was to be the species of compilation in which the man of theday so much delights. Yet the colossal undertaking had progressed butlittle beyond the sphere of projection, since, after a pen had beengnawed awhile, and a few strokes had been committed to paper, the wholewould be laid aside in favour of the reading of some book; and thatreading would continue also during luncheon and be followed by thelighting of a pipe, the playing of a solitary game of chess, and thedoing of more or less nothing for the rest of the day. 

The foregoing will give the reader a pretty clear idea of the manner inwhich it was possible for this man of thirty-three to waste his time. Clad constantly in slippers and a dressing-gown, Tientietnikov neverwent out, never indulged in any form of dissipation, and never walkedupstairs. Nothing did he care for fresh air, and would bestow not apassing glance upon all those beauties of the countryside which movedvisitors to such ecstatic admiration. From this the reader will see thatAndrei Ivanovitch Tientietnikov belonged to that band of sluggards whomwe 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 typeresulting from untoward circumstances in later life, it is impossible tosay. A better course than to attempt to answer that question would be torecount the story of Tientietnikov's boyhood and upbringing. 

Everything connected with the latter seemed to promise success, for attwelve years of age the boy--keen-witted, but dreamy of temperament, andinclined to delicacy--was sent to an educational establishment presidedover by an exceptional type of master. The idol of his pupils, and theadmiration of his assistants, Alexander Petrovitch was gifted withan extraordinary measure of good sense. How thoroughly he knew thepeculiarities of the Russian of his day! How well he understood boys!How capable he was of drawing them out! Not a practical joker in theschool but, after perpetrating a prank, would voluntarily approach hispreceptor and make to him free confession. True, the preceptor wouldput a stern face upon the matter, yet the culprit would depart with headheld higher, not lower, than before, since in Alexander Petrovitchthere was something which heartened--something which seemed to say to adelinquent: "Forward you! Rise to your feet again, even though you havefallen!" Not lectures on good behaviour was it, therefore, that fellfrom his lips, but rather the injunction, "I want to see intelligence, and nothing else. The boy who devotes his attention to becoming cleverwill never play the fool, for under such circumstances, folly disappearsof itself. " And so folly did, for the boy who failed to strive in thedesired direction incurred the contempt of all his comrades, and evendunces and fools of senior standing did not dare to raise a finger whensaluted by their juniors with opprobrious epithets. Yet "This is toomuch, " certain folk would say to Alexander. "The result will be thatyour students will turn out prigs. " "But no, " he would reply. "Not atall. You see, I make it my principle to keep the incapables for a singleterm only, since that is enough for them; but to the clever ones I allota double course of instruction. " And, true enough, any lad of brains wasretained for this finishing course. Yet he did not repress all boyishplayfulness, since he declared it to be as necessary as a rash to adoctor, inasmuch as it enabled him to diagnose what lay hidden within. 

Consequently, how the boys loved him! Never was there such an attachmentbetween master and pupils. And even later, during the foolish years, when foolish things attract, the measure of affection which AlexanderPetrovitch retained was extraordinary. In fact, to the day of his death, every former pupil would celebrate the birthday of his late master byraising his glass in gratitude to the mentor dead and buried--then closehis eyelids upon the tears which would come trickling through them. Even the slightest word of encouragement from Alexander Petrovitch couldthrow a lad into a transport of tremulous joy, and arouse in him anhonourable emulation of his fellows. Boys of small capacity he didnot long retain in his establishment; whereas those who possessedexceptional talent he put through an extra course of schooling. Thissenior class--a class composed of specially-selected pupils--was a verydifferent affair from what usually obtains in other colleges. Only whena boy had attained its ranks did Alexander demand of him what othermasters indiscreetly require of mere infants--namely the superiorframe of mind which, while never indulging in mockery, can itself bearridicule, and disregard the fool, and keep its temper, and repressitself, and eschew revenge, and calmly, proudly retain its tranquillityof soul. In short, whatever avails to form a boy into a man of assuredcharacter, that did Alexander Petrovitch employ during the pupil'syouth, as well as constantly put him to the test. How well he understoodthe art of life!

Of assistant tutors he kept but few, since most of the necessaryinstruction he imparted in person, and, without pedantic terminologyand inflated diction and views, could so transmit to his listeners theinmost spirit of a lesson that even the youngest present absorbed itsessential elements. Also, of studies he selected none but those whichmay help a boy to become a good citizen; and therefore most of thelectures which he delivered consisted of discourses on what may beawaiting a youth, as well as of such demarcations of life's field thatthe pupil, though seated, as yet, only at the desk, could beforehandbear his part in that field both in thought and spirit. Nor did themaster CONCEAL anything. That is to say, without mincing words, heinvariably set before his hearers the sorrows and the difficulties whichmay confront a man, the trials and the temptations which may besethim. And this he did in terms as though, in every possible calling andcapacity, he himself had experienced the same. Consequently, either thevigorous development of self-respect or the constant stimulus of themaster's eye (which seemed to say to the pupil, "Forward!"--that wordwhich has become so familiar to the contemporary Russian, that wordwhich has worked such wonders upon his sensitive temperament); one orthe other, I repeat, would from the first cause the pupil to tackledifficulties, and only difficulties, and to hunger for prowess onlywhere the path was arduous, and obstacles were many, and it wasnecessary to display the utmost strength of mind. Indeed, few completedthe course of which I have spoken without issuing therefrom reliable, seasoned fighters who could keep their heads in the most embarrassingof official positions, and at times when older and wiser men, distractedwith the annoyances of life, had either abandoned everything or, grownslack and indifferent, had surrendered to the bribe-takers and therascals. In short, no ex-pupil of Alexander Petrovitch ever wavered fromthe right road, but, familiar with life and with men, armed with theweapons of prudence, exerted a powerful influence upon wrongdoers. 

For a long time past the ardent young Tientietnikov's excitable hearthad also beat at the thought that one day he might attain the seniorclass described. And, indeed, what better teacher could he have hadbefall him than its preceptor? Yet just at the moment when he had beentransferred thereto, just at the moment when he had reached the covetedposition, did his instructor come suddenly by his death! This wasindeed a blow for the boy--indeed a terrible initial loss! In his eyeseverything connected with the school seemed to undergo a change--thechief reason being the fact that to the place of the deceased headmasterthere succeeded a certain Thedor Ivanovitch, who at once began toinsist upon certain external rules, and to demand of the boys what oughtrightly to have been demanded only of adults. That is to say, sincethe lads' frank and open demeanour savoured to him only of lackof discipline, he announced (as though in deliberate spite of hispredecessor) that he cared nothing for progress and intellect, but thatheed was to be paid only to good behaviour. Yet, curiously enough, goodbehaviour was just what he never obtained, for every kind of secretprank became the rule; and while, by day, there reigned restraintand conspiracy, by night there began to take place chambering andwantonness. 

Also, certain changes in the curriculum of studies came about, for therewere engaged new teachers who held new views and opinions, and confusedtheir hearers with a multitude of new terms and phrases, and displayedin their exposition of things both logical sequence and a zestfor modern discovery and much warmth of individual bias. Yet theirinstruction, alas! contained no LIFE--in the mouths of those teachers adead language savoured merely of carrion. Thus everything connected withthe school underwent a radical alteration, and respect for authorityand the authorities waned, and tutors and ushers came to be dubbed "OldThedor, " "Crusty, " and the like. And sundry other things began to takeplace--things which necessitated many a penalty and expulsion; until, within a couple of years, no one who had known the school in former dayswould now have recognised it. 

Nevertheless Tientietnikov, a youth of retiring disposition, experiencedno leanings towards the nocturnal orgies of his companions, orgiesduring which the latter used to flirt with damsels before the verywindows of the headmaster's rooms, nor yet towards their mockery ofall that was sacred, simply because fate had cast in their way aninjudicious priest. No, despite its dreaminess, his soul ever rememberedits 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 cometo life, for throughout the time that he was listening to professorswho gesticulated on their chairs he could not help remembering theold preceptor who, invariably cool and calm, had yet known how to makehimself understood. To what subjects, to what lectures, did the boy nothave to listen!--to lectures on medicine, and on philosophy, and on law, and on a version of general history so enlarged that even three yearsfailed to enable the professor to do more than finish the introductionthereto, and also the account of the development of some self-governingtowns in Germany. None of the stuff remained fixed in Tientietnikov'sbrain save as shapeless clots; for though his native intellect could nottell him how instruction ought to be imparted, it at least told him thatTHIS was not the way. And frequently, at such moments he would recallAlexander Petrovitch, and give way to such grief that scarcely did heknow what he was doing. 

But youth is fortunate in the fact that always before it there lies afuture; and in proportion as the time for his leaving school drew nigh, Tientietnikov's heart began to beat higher and higher, and he said tohimself: "This is not life, but only a preparation for life. True lifeis to be found in the Public Service. There at least will there be scopefor activity. " So, bestowing not a glance upon that beautiful corner ofthe world which never failed to strike the guest or chance visitor withamazement, and reverencing not a whit the dust of his ancestors, hefollowed the example of most ambitious men of his class by repairing toSt. Petersburg (whither, as we know, the more spirited youth of Russiafrom every quarter gravitates--there to enter the Public Service, toshine, to obtain promotion, and, in a word, to scale the topmost peaksof that pale, cold, deceptive elevation which is known as society). Butthe real starting-point of Tientietnikov's ambition was the moment whenhis uncle (one State Councillor Onifri Ivanovitch) instilled into himthe maxim that the only means to success in the Service lay in goodhandwriting, and that, without that accomplishment, no one could everhope to become a Minister or Statesman. Thus, with great difficulty, and also with the help of his uncle's influence, young Tientietnikov atlength succeeded in being posted to a Department. On the day that hewas conducted into a splendid, shining hall--a hall fitted with inlaidfloors and lacquered desks as fine as though this were actually theplace where the great ones of the Empire met for discussion of thefortunes of the State; on the day that he saw legions of handsomegentlemen of the quill-driving profession making loud scratchings withpens, and cocking their heads to one side; lastly on the day that hesaw himself also allotted a desk, and requested to copy a document whichappeared purposely to be one of the pettiest possible order (as a matterof fact it related to a sum of three roubles, and had taken half ayear to produce)--well, at that moment a curious, an unwonted sensationseized upon the inexperienced youth, for the gentlemen around himappeared so exactly like a lot of college students. And, the further tocomplete the resemblance, some of them were engaged in reading trashytranslated novels, which they kept hurriedly thrusting between thesheets of their apportioned work whenever the Director appeared, asthough to convey the impression that it was to that work alone that theywere applying themselves. In short, the scene seemed to Tientietnikovstrange, and his former pursuits more important than his present, andhis preparation for the Service preferable to the Service itself. Yes, suddenly he felt a longing for his old school; and as suddenly, and withall the vividness of life, there appeared before his vision the figureof Alexander Petrovitch. He almost burst into tears as he beheld his oldmaster, and the room seemed to swim before his eyes, and the tchinovniksand the desks to become a blur, and his sight to grow dim. Then hethought to himself with an effort: "No, no! I WILL apply myself tomy work, however petty it be at first. " And hardening his heart andrecovering his spirit, he determined then and there to perform hisduties in such a manner as should be an example to the rest. 

But where are compensations to be found? Even in St. Petersburg, despiteits grim and murky exterior, they exist. Yes, even though thirty degreesof keen, cracking frost may have bound the streets, and the family ofthe North Wind be wailing there, and the Snowstorm Witch have heapedhigh the pavements, and be blinding the eyes, and powdering beards andfur collars and the shaggy manes of horses--even THEN there will beshining hospitably through the swirling snowflakes a fourth-floor windowwhere, in a cosy room, and by the light of modest candles, and to thehiss of the samovar, there will be in progress a discussion which warmsthe heart and soul, or else a reading aloud of a brilliant page of oneof those inspired Russian poets with whom God has dowered us, while thebreast of each member of the company is heaving with a rapture unknownunder a noontide sky. 

Gradually, therefore, Tientietnikov grew more at home in the Service. Yet never did it become, for him, the main pursuit, the main objectin life, which he had expected. No, it remained but one of a secondarykind. That is to say, it served merely to divide up his time, and enablehim the more to value his hours of leisure. Nevertheless, just when hisuncle was beginning to flatter himself that his nephew was destined tosucceed in the profession, the said nephew elected to ruin his everyhope. Thus it befell. Tientietnikov's friends (he had many) includedamong their number a couple of fellows of the species known as"embittered. " That is to say, though good-natured souls of thatcuriously restless type which cannot endure injustice, nor anythingwhich it conceives to be such, they were thoroughly unbalanced ofconduct themselves, and, while demanding general agreement withtheir views, treated those of others with the scantiest of ceremony. Nevertheless these two associates exercised upon Tientietnikov--bothby the fire of their eloquence and by the form of their nobledissatisfaction with society--a very strong influence; with the resultthat, through arousing in him an innate tendency to nervous resentment, they led him also to notice trifles which before had escaped hisattention. An instance of this is seen in the fact that he conceivedagainst Thedor Thedorovitch Lienitsin, Director of one of theDepartments which was quartered in the splendid range of offices beforementioned, a dislike which proved the cause of his discerning n theman a host of hitherto unmarked imperfections. Above all things didTientietnikov take it into his head that, when conversing with hissuperiors, Lienitsin became, of the moment, a stick of luscioussweetmeat, but that, when conversing with his inferiors, he approximatedmore to a vinegar cruet. Certain it is that, like all petty-mindedindividuals, Lienitsin made a note of any one who failed to offer hima greeting on festival days, and that he revenged himself upon any onewhose visiting-card had not been handed to his butler. Eventually theyouth's aversion almost attained the point of hysteria; until he feltthat, come what might, he MUST insult the fellow in some fashion. Tothat task he applied himself con amore; and so thoroughly that he metwith complete success. That is to say, he seized on an occasion toaddress Lienitsin in such fashion that the delinquent receivednotice either to apologies or to leave the Service; and when of thesealternatives he chose the latter his uncle came to him, and made aterrified appeal. "For God's sake remember what you are doing!" hecried. "To think that, after beginning your career so well, you shouldabandon it merely for the reason that you have not fallen in with thesort of Director whom you prefer! What do you mean by it, what do youmean by it? Were others to regard things in the same way, the Servicewould find itself without a single individual. Reconsider yourconduct--forego your pride and conceit, and make Lienitsin amends. "

"But, dear Uncle, " the nephew replied, "that is not the point. The pointis, 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 asI 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 ofservice. 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 withanother copyist, it will lose very much by causing three hundred peasantsouls to fail in the payment of their taxes. As I say (how am I to putit?), I am a landowner who has preferred to enter the Public Service. Now, should I employ myself henceforth in conserving, restoring, andimproving the fortunes of the souls whom God has entrusted to my care, and thereby provide the State with three hundred law-abiding, sober, hard-working taxpayers, how will that service of mine rank as inferiorto the service of a department-directing fool like Lienitsin?"

On hearing this speech, the State Councillor could only gape, for hehad not expected Tientietnikov's torrent of words. He reflected a fewmoments, and then murmured:

"Yes, but, but--but how can a man like you retire to rustication inthe country? What society will you get there? Here one meets at leasta general or a prince sometimes; indeed, no matter whom you pass in thestreet, that person represents gas lamps and European civilisation; butin the country, no matter what part of it you are in, not a soul isto be encountered save muzhiks and their women. Why should you go andcondemn yourself to a state of vegetation like that?"

Nevertheless the uncle's expostulations fell upon deaf ears, for alreadythe nephew was beginning to think of his estate as a retreat of a typemore likely to nourish the intellectual faculties and afford the onlyprofitable field of activity. After unearthing one or two modern workson agriculture, therefore, he, two weeks later, found himself inthe neighbourhood of the home where his boyhood had been spent, andapproaching the spot which never failed to enthral the visitor or guest. And in the young man's breast there was beginning to palpitate anew feeling--in the young man's soul there were reawakening old, long-concealed impressions; with the result that many a spot which hadlong been faded from his memory now filled him with interest, and thebeautiful views on the estate found him gazing at them like a newcomer, and with a beating heart. Yes, as the road wound through a narrowravine, and became engulfed in a forest where, both above and below, hesaw three-centuries-old oaks which three men could not have spanned, and where Siberian firs and elms overtopped even the poplars, and ashe asked the peasants to tell him to whom the forest belonged, andthey replied, "To Tientietnikov, " and he issued from the forest, andproceeded on his way through meadows, and past spinneys of elder, andof old and young willows, and arrived in sight of the distant range ofhills, and, crossing by two different bridges the winding river (whichhe left successively to right and to left of him as he did so), he againquestioned some peasants concerning the ownership of the meadows andthe flooded lands, and was again informed that they all belonged toTientietnikov, and then, ascending a rise, reached a tableland where, onone side, lay ungarnered fields of wheat and rye and barley, and, on theother, the country already traversed (but which now showed in shortenedperspective), and then plunged into the shade of some forked, umbrageoustrees which stood scattered over turf and extended to the manor-houseitself, and caught glimpses of the carved huts of the peasants, and ofthe red roofs of the stone manorial outbuildings, and of the glitteringpinnacles of the church, and felt his heart beating, and knew, withoutbeing told by any one, whither he had at length arrived--well, then thefeeling which had been growing within his soul burst forth, and he criedin ecstasy:

"Why have I been a fool so long? Why, seeing that fate has appointedme to be ruler of an earthly paradise, did I prefer to bind myself inservitude as a scribe of lifeless documents? To think that, after I hadbeen nurtured and schooled and stored with all the knowledge necessaryfor the diffusion of good among those under me, and for the improvementof my domain, and for the fulfilment of the manifold duties of alandowner who is at once judge, administrator, and constable of hispeople, I should have entrusted my estate to an ignorant bailiff, andsought to maintain an absentee guardianship over the affairs of serfswhom I have never met, and of whose capabilities and characters I amyet ignorant! To think that I should have deemed true estate-managementinferior to a documentary, fantastical management of provinces which liea thousand versts away, and which my foot has never trod, and where Icould never have effected aught but blunders and irregularities!"

Meanwhile another spectacle was being prepared for him. On learningthat the barin was approaching the mansion, the muzhiks collected onthe verandah in very variety of picturesque dress and tonsure; and whenthese good folk surrounded him, and there arose a resounding shout of"Here is our Foster Father! He has remembered us!" and, in spite ofthemselves, some of the older men and women began weeping as theyrecalled his grandfather and great-grandfather, he himself could notrestrain his tears, but reflected: "How much affection! And in returnfor what? In return for my never having come to see them--in return formy never having taken the least interest in their affairs!" And thenand there he registered a mental vow to share their every task andoccupation. 

So he applied himself to supervising and administering. He reduced theamount of the barstchina [40], he decreased the number of working-daysfor the owner, and he augmented the sum of the peasants' leisure-time. He also dismissed the fool of a bailiff, and took to bearing apersonal hand in everything--to being present in the fields, at thethreshing-floor, at the kilns, at the wharf, at the freighting of bargesand rafts, and at their conveyance down the river: wherefore even thelazy hands began to look to themselves. But this did not last long. Thepeasant is an observant individual, and Tientietnikov's muzhiks soonscented the fact that, though energetic and desirous of doing much, thebarin had no notion how to do it, nor even how to set about it--that, inshort, he spoke by the book rather than out of his personal knowledge. Consequently things resulted, not in master and men failing tounderstand one another, but in their not singing together, in their notproducing the very same note. 

That is to say, it was not long before Tientietnikov noticed that onthe manorial lands, nothing prospered to the extent that it did on thepeasants'. 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 servedout as a reward for the excellence of the labour performed. Yet the ryeon the peasants' land had formed into ear, and the oats had begun toshoot their grain, and the millet had filled before, on the manoriallands, the corn had so much as grown to stalk, or the ears had sproutedin embryo. In short, gradually the barin realised that, in spite offavours conferred, the peasants were playing the rogue with him. Next heresorted to remonstrance, but was met with the reply, "How could we notdo our best for our barin? You yourself saw how well we laboured at theploughing and the sowing, for you gave us mugs of vodka for our pains. "

"Then why have things turned out so badly?" the barin persisted. 

"Who can say? It must be that a grub has eaten the crop from below. Besides, what a summer has it been--never a drop of rain!"

Nevertheless, the barin noted that no grub had eaten the PEASANTS'crops, as well as that the rain had fallen in the most curiousfashion--namely, in patches. It had obliged the muzhiks, but had shed amere sprinkling for the barin. 

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 makingcomplaints of the severity of the barstchina. Indeed, they were terriblefolk! However, Tientietnikov abolished the majority of the tithes oflinen, hedge fruit, mushrooms, and nuts, and also reduced by one-halfother tasks proper to the women, in the hope that they would devotetheir spare time to their own domestic concerns--namely, to sewing andmending, and to making clothes for their husbands, and to increasingthe area of their kitchen gardens. Yet no such result came about. On thecontrary, such a pitch did the idleness, the quarrelsomeness, and theintriguing and caballing of the fair sex attain that their helpmeetswere for ever coming to the barin with a request that he would rid oneor another of his wife, since she had become a nuisance, and to livewith her was impossible. 

Next, hardening his heart, the barin attempted severity. But of whatavail was severity? The peasant woman remained always the peasantwoman, and would come and whine that she was sick and ailing, and keeppitifully hugging to herself the mean and filthy rags which she haddonned for the occasion. And when poor Tientietnikov found himselfunable to say more to her than just, "Get out of my sight, and may theLord go with you!" the next item in the comedy would be that he wouldsee her, even as she was leaving his gates, fall to contending with aneighbour for, say, the possession of a turnip, and dealing out slapsin the face such as even a strong, healthy man could scarcely havecompassed!

Again, amongst other things, Tientietnikov conceived the idea ofestablishing a school for his people; but the scheme resulted in a farcewhich left him in sackcloth and ashes. In the same way he found that, when it came to a question of dispensing justice and of adjustingdisputes, the host of juridical subtleties with which the professors hadprovided him proved absolutely useless. That is to say, the one partylied, and the other party lied, and only the devil could have decidedbetween them. Consequently he himself perceived that a knowledge ofmankind would have availed him more than all the legal refinements andphilosophical maxims in the world could do. He lacked something; andthough he could not divine what it was, the situation brought about wasthe common one of the barin failing to understand the peasant, and thepeasant failing to understand the barin, and both becoming disaffected. In the end, these difficulties so chilled Tientietnikov's enthusiasmthat he took to supervising the labours of the field with greatlydiminished attention. That is to say, no matter whether the scythes weresoftly swishing through the grass, or ricks were being built, or raftswere being loaded, he would allow his eyes to wander from his men, andto fall to gazing at, say, a red-billed, red-legged heron which, afterstrutting along the bank of a stream, would have caught a fish in itsbeak, and be holding it awhile, as though in doubt whether to swallowit. Next he would glance towards the spot where a similar bird, but onenot yet in possession of a fish, was engaged in watching the doings ofits mate. Lastly, with eyebrows knitted, and face turned to scan thezenith, he would drink in the smell of the fields, and fall to listeningto the winged population of the air as from earth and sky alike themanifold music of winged creatures combined in a single harmoniouschorus. In the rye the quail would be calling, and, in the grass, thecorncrake, and over them would be wheeling flocks of twittering linnets. Also, the jacksnipe would be uttering its croak, and the lark executingits roulades where it had become lost in the sunshine, and cranessending forth their trumpet-like challenge as they deployed towards thezenith in triangle-shaped flocks. In fact, the neighbourhood would seemto have become converted into one great concert of melody. O Creator, how fair is Thy world where, in remote, rural seclusion, it lies apartfrom cities and from highways!

But soon even this began to pall upon Tientietnikov, and he ceasedaltogether to visit his fields, or to do aught but shut himself upin his rooms, where he refused to receive even the bailiff when thatfunctionary called with his reports. Again, although, until now, he hadto a certain extent associated with a retired colonel of hussars--a mansaturated with tobacco smoke--and also with a student of pronounced, butimmature, opinions who culled the bulk of his wisdom from contemporarynewspapers and pamphlets, he found, as time went on, that thesecompanions proved as tedious as the rest, and came to think theirconversation superficial, and their European method of comportingthemselves--that is to say, the method of conversing with much slappingof knees and a great deal of bowing and gesticulation--too direct andunadorned. So these and every one else he decided to "drop, " and carriedthis resolution into effect with a certain amount of rudeness. On thenext occasion that Varvar Nikolaievitch Vishnepokromov called to indulgein a free-and-easy symposium on politics, philosophy, literature, morals, and the state of financial affairs in England (he was, in allmatters which admit of superficial discussion, the pleasantest fellowalive, seeing that he was a typical representative both of the retiredfire-eater and of the school of thought which is now becoming therage)--when, I say, this next happened, Tientietnikov merely sent outto say that he was not at home, and then carefully showed himself at thewindow. Host and guest exchanged glances, and, while the one mutteredthrough his teeth "The cur!" the other relieved his feelings with aremark or two on swine. Thus the acquaintance came to an abrupt end, andfrom that time forth no visitor called at the mansion. 

Tientietnikov in no way regretted this, for he could now devote himselfwholly to the projection of a great work on Russia. Of the scale onwhich this composition was conceived the reader is already aware. Thereader also knows how strange, how unsystematic, was the system employedin it. Yet to say that Tientietnikov never awoke from his lethargywould not be altogether true. On the contrary, when the post brought himnewspapers and reviews, and he saw in their printed pages, perhaps, thewell-known name of some former comrade who had succeeded in the greatfield of Public Service, or had conferred upon science and theworld's work some notable contribution, he would succumb to secret andsuppressed grief, and involuntarily there would burst from his soulan expression of aching, voiceless regret that he himself had done solittle. And at these times his existence would seem to him odious andrepellent; at these times there would uprise before him the memory ofhis school days, and the figure of Alexander Petrovitch, as vivid as inlife. And, slowly welling, the tears would course over Tientietnikov'scheeks. 

What meant these repinings? Was there not disclosed in them the secretof his galling spiritual pain--the fact that he had failed to order hislife aright, to confirm the lofty aims with which he had started hiscourse; the fact that, always poorly equipped with experience, hehad failed to attain the better and the higher state, and there tostrengthen himself for the overcoming of hindrances and obstacles; thefact that, dissolving like overheated metal, his bounteous store ofsuperior instincts had failed to take the final tempering; the fact thatthe tutor of his boyhood, a man in a thousand, had prematurely died, andleft to Tientietnikov no one who could restore to him the moralstrength shattered by vacillation and the will power weakened by wantof virility--no one, in short, who could cry hearteningly to his soul"Forward!"--the word for which the Russian of every degree, of everyclass, of every occupation, of every school of thought, is for everhungering. 

Indeed, WHERE is the man who can cry aloud for any of us, in the Russiantongue dear to our soul, the all-compelling command "Forward!"? Who isthere who, knowing the strength and the nature and the inmost depths ofthe Russian genius, can by a single magic incantation divert our idealsto the higher life? Were there such a man, with what tears, with whataffection, would not the grateful sons of Russia repay him! Yet agesucceeds to age, and our callow youth still lies wrapped in shamefulsloth, or strives and struggles to no purpose. God has not yet given usthe man able to sound the call. 

One circumstance which almost aroused Tientietnikov, which almostbrought about a revolution in his character, was the fact that he camevery near to falling in love. Yet even this resulted in nothing. Tenversts away there lived the general whom we have heard expressinghimself in highly uncomplimentary terms concerning Tientietnikov. Hemaintained a General-like establishment, dispensed hospitality (thatis 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, reada certain number of books, and had a daughter--a curious, unfamiliartype, 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 earlychildhood, she had subsequently received instruction at the hands of anEnglish governess who knew not a single word of Russian. Moreover herfather, though excessively fond of her, treated her always as a toy;with the result that, as she grew to years of discretion, she becamewholly wayward and spoilt. Indeed, had any one seen the sudden ragewhich would gather on her beautiful young forehead when she was engagedin a heated dispute with her father, he would have thought her one ofthe most capricious beings in the world. Yet that rage gathered onlywhen she had heard of injustice or harsh treatment, and never becauseshe desired to argue on her own behalf, or to attempt to justify her ownconduct. Also, that anger would disappear as soon as ever she saw anyone whom she had formerly disliked fall upon evil times, and, at hisfirst request for alms would, without consideration or subsequentregret, hand him her purse and its whole contents. Yes, her every actwas strenuous, and when she spoke her whole personality seemed to befollowing hot-foot upon her thought--both her expression of face and herdiction and the movements of her hands. Nay, the very folds of her frockhad a similar appearance of striving; until one would have thoughtthat all her self were flying in pursuit of her words. Nor did she knowreticence: before any one she would disclose her mind, and no forcecould compel her to maintain silence when she desired to speak. Also, her enchanting, peculiar gait--a gait which belonged to her alone--wasso absolutely free and unfettered that every one involuntarily gave herway. Lastly, in her presence churls seemed to become confused and fallto silence, and even the roughest and most outspoken would lose theirheads, and have not a word to say; whereas the shy man would findhimself 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 previousperiod--during the days of some unremembered childhood, when he was athome, and spending a merry evening among a crowd of romping children. And for long afterwards he would feel as though his man's intellect andestate were a burden. 

This was what now befell Tientietnikov; and as it did so a new feelingentered into his soul, and his dreamy life lightened for a moment. 

At first the General used to receive him with hospitable civility, butpermanent concord between them proved impossible; their conversationalways merged into dissension and soreness, seeing that, while theGeneral could not bear to be contradicted or worsted in an argument, Tientietnikov was a man of extreme sensitiveness. True, for thedaughter's sake, the father was for a while deferred to, and thus peacewas maintained; but this lasted only until the time when there arrived, on a visit to the General, two kinswomen of his--the Countess Bordirevand the Princess Uziakin, retired Court dames, but ladies who stillkept up a certain connection with Court circles, and therefore were muchfawned upon by their host. No sooner had they appeared on the scene than(so it seemed to Tientietnikov) the General's attitude towards the youngman became colder--either he ceased to notice him at all or he spoke tohim familiarly, and as to a person having no standing in society. Thisoffended Tientietnikov deeply, and though, when at length he spoke outon the subject, he retained sufficient presence of mind to compress hislips, and to preserve a gentle and courteous tone, his face flushed andhis inner man was boiling. 

"General, " he said, "I thank you for your condescension. By addressingme in the second person singular, you have admitted me to the circleof your most intimate friends. Indeed, were it not that a difference ofyears forbids any familiarity on my part, I should answer you in similarfashion. "

The General sat aghast. At length, rallying his tongue and hisfaculties, he replied that, though he had spoken with a lack ofceremony, he had used the term "thou" merely as an elderly man naturallyemploys it towards a junior (he made no reference to difference ofrank). 

Nevertheless, the acquaintance broke off here, and with it anypossibility of love-making. The light which had shed a momentary gleambefore Tientietnikov's eyes had become extinguished for ever, and uponit there followed a darkness denser than before. Henceforth everythingconduced to evolve the regime which the reader has noted--that regimeof sloth and inaction which converted Tientietnikov's residence into aplace of dirt and neglect. For days at a time would a broom and a heapof dust be left lying in the middle of a room, and trousers tossingabout the salon, and pairs of worn-out braces adorning the what-not nearthe sofa. In short, so mean and untidy did Tientietnikov's mode of lifebecome, that not only his servants, but even his very poultry ceased totreat him with respect. Taking up a pen, he would spend hours in idlysketching houses, huts, waggons, troikas, and flourishes on a piece ofpaper; while at other times, when he had sunk into a reverie, the penwould, all unknowingly, sketch a small head which had delicate features, a pair of quick, penetrating eyes, and a raised coiffure. Then suddenlythe dreamer would perceive, to his surprise, that the pen had executedthe portrait of a maiden whose picture no artist could adequately havepainted; and therewith his despondency would become greater than ever, and, believing that happiness did not exist on earth, he would relapseinto 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 thehousekeeper, but that, on the contrary, the courtyard seemed to smack ofa certain bustle and excitement. This was because through the entrancegates (which the kitchen maid and the scullion had run to open) therewere appearing the noses of three horses--one to the right, one in themiddle, and one to the left, after the fashion of triumphal groups ofstatuary. Above them, on the box seat, were seated a coachman and avalet, while behind, again, there could be discerned a gentleman in ascarf and a fur cap. Only when the equipage had entered the courtyarddid it stand revealed as a light spring britchka. And as it came to ahalt, there leapt on to the verandah of the mansion an individualof respectable exterior, and possessed of the art of moving with theneatness and alertness of a military man. 

Upon this Tientietnikov's heart stood still. He was unused to receivingvisitors, and for the moment conceived the new arrival to be aGovernment official, sent to question him concerning an abortive societyto which he had formerly belonged. (Here the author may interpolate thefact that, in Tientietnikov's early days, the young man had become mixedup in a very absurd affair. That is to say, a couple of philosophersbelonging to a regiment of hussars had, together with an aesthetewho had not yet completed his student's course and a gambler who hadsquandered his all, formed a secret society of philanthropic aims underthe presidency of a certain old rascal of a freemason and the ruinedgambler aforesaid. The scope of the society's work was to be extensive:it was to bring lasting happiness to humanity at large, from the banksof the Thames to the shores of Kamtchatka. But for this much money wasneeded: wherefore from the noble-minded members of the society generouscontributions were demanded, and then forwarded to a destination knownonly to the supreme authorities of the concern. As for Tientietnikov'sadhesion, it was brought about by the two friends already alluded to as"embittered"--good-hearted souls whom the wear and tear of their effortson behalf of science, civilisation, and the future emancipation ofmankind had ended by converting into confirmed drunkards. Perhaps itneed hardly be said that Tientietnikov soon discovered how things stood, and withdrew from the association; but, meanwhile, the latter had hadthe misfortune so to have engaged in dealings not wholly creditableto gentlemen of noble origin as likewise to have become entangled indealings with the police. Consequently, it is not to be wondered atthat, though Tientietnikov had long severed his connection with thesociety and its policy, he still remained uneasy in his mind as to whatmight even yet be the result. )

However, his fears vanished the instant that the guest saluted him withmarked politeness and explained, with many deferential poises of thehead, and in terms at once civil and concise, that for some time pasthe (the newcomer) had been touring the Russian Empire on business andin the pursuit of knowledge, that the Empire abounded in objectsof interest--not to mention a plenitude of manufactures and a greatdiversity of soil, and that, in spite of the fact that he was greatlystruck with the amenities of his host's domain, he would certainlynot have presumed to intrude at such an inconvenient hour but for thecircumstance that the inclement spring weather, added to the state ofthe roads, had necessitated sundry repairs to his carriage at the handsof wheelwrights and blacksmiths. Finally he declared that, even if thislast had NOT happened, he would still have felt unable to deny himselfthe pleasure of offering to his host that meed of homage which was thelatter's due. 

This speech--a speech of fascinating bonhomie--delivered, the guestexecuted a sort of shuffle with a half-boot of patent leather studdedwith buttons of mother-of-pearl, and followed that up by (in spite ofhis pronounced rotundity of figure) stepping backwards with all the elanof an india-rubber ball. 

From this the somewhat reassured Tientietnikov concluded that hisvisitor must be a literary, knowledge-seeking professor who was engagedin roaming the country in search of botanical specimens and fossils;wherefore he hastened to express both his readiness to further thevisitor's objects (whatever they might be) and his personal willingnessto 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 preparations to listen to thenewcomer's discourse on natural history. 

But the newcomer applied himself, rather, to phenomena of the internalworld, saying that his life might be likened to a barque tossed on thecrests of perfidious billows, that in his time he had been fated to playmany parts, and that on more than one occasion his life had stoodin danger at the hands of foes. At the same time, these tidings werecommunicated in a manner calculated to show that the speaker was alsoa man of PRACTICAL capabilities. In conclusion, the visitor took out acambric pocket-handkerchief, and sneezed into it with a vehemence whollynew to Tientietnikov's experience. In fact, the sneeze rather resembledthe note which, at times, the trombone of an orchestra appears to utternot so much from its proper place on the platform as from the immediateneighbourhood of the listener's ear. And as the echoes of the drowsymansion resounded to the report of the explosion there followed upon thesame a wave of perfume, skilfully wafted abroad with a flourish of theeau-de-Cologne-scented handkerchief. 

By this time the reader will have guessed that the visitor was noneother 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, hisfrockcoat had taken on a suggestion of shabbiness, and britchka, coachman, valet, horses, and harness alike had about them a sort ofsecond-hand, worse-for-wear effect. Evidently the Chichikovian financeswere not in the most flourishing of conditions. Nevertheless, the oldexpression of face, the old air of breeding and refinement, remainedunimpaired, and our hero had even improved in the art of walking andturning with grace, and of dexterously crossing one leg over theother when taking a seat. Also, his mildness of diction, his discreetmoderation of word and phrase, survived in, if anything, increasedmeasure, and he bore himself with a skill which caused his tactfulnessto surpass itself in sureness of aplomb. And all these accomplishmentshad their effect further heightened by a snowy immaculateness of collarand dickey, and an absence of dust from his frockcoat, as complete asthough he had just arrived to attend a nameday festival. Lastly, hischeeks and chin were of such neat clean-shavenness that no one but ablind man could have failed to admire their rounded contours. 

From that moment onwards great changes took place in Tientietnikov'sestablishment, and certain of its rooms assumed an unwonted air ofcleanliness and order. The rooms in question were those assigned toChichikov, while one other apartment--a little front chamber openinginto the hall--became permeated with Petrushka's own peculiar smell. But this lasted only for a little while, for presently Petrushka wastransferred to the servants' quarters, a course which ought to have beenadopted in the first instance. 

During the initial days of Chichikov's sojourn, Tientietnikov fearedrather to lose his independence, inasmuch as he thought that hisguest might hamper his movements, and bring about alterations in theestablished routine of the place. But these fears proved groundless, forPaul Ivanovitch displayed an extraordinary aptitude for accommodatinghimself to his new position. To begin with, he encouraged his hostin his philosophical inertia by saying that the latter would helpTientietnikov to become a centenarian. Next, in the matter of a life ofisolation, he hit things off exactly by remarking that such a lifebred in a man a capacity for high thinking. Lastly, as he inspected thelibrary and dilated on books in general, he contrived an opportunity toobserve that literature safeguarded a man from a tendency to waste histime. In short, the few words of which he delivered himself were brief, but invariably to the point. And this discretion of speech was outdoneby his discretion of conduct. That is to say, whether enteringor leaving the room, he never wearied his host with a question ifTientietnikov had the air of being disinclined to talk; and with equalsatisfaction 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 ispossible to live. In general, not many of the type exist in Russia, and, though clever, good-humoured, well-educated men abound, one would behard put to it to find an individual of equable temperament with whomone could share a roof for centuries without a quarrel arising. Anyway, Chichikov is the first of his sort that I have met. "

For his part, Chichikov was only too delighted to reside with aperson so quiet and agreeable as his host. Of a wandering life he wastemporarily weary, and to rest, even for a month, in such a beautifulspot, and in sight of green fields and the slow flowering of spring, waslikely to benefit him also from the hygienic point of view. And, indeed, a more delightful retreat in which to recuperate could not possibly havebeen found. The spring, long retarded by previous cold, had now begunin all its comeliness, and life was rampant. Already, over the firstemerald of the grass, the dandelion was showing yellow, and the red-pinkanemone was hanging its tender head; while the surface of every pondwas a swarm of dancing gnats and midges, and the water-spider was beingjoined in their pursuit by birds which gathered from every quarter tothe vantage-ground of the dry reeds. Every species of creature alsoseemed to be assembling in concourse, and taking stock of one another. Suddenly the earth became populous, the forest had opened its eyes, andthe meadows were lifting up their voice in song. In the same way hadchoral dances begun to be weaved in the village, and everywhere that theeye turned there was merriment. What brightness in the green of nature, what freshness in the air, what singing of birds in the gardens of themansion, what general joy and rapture and exaltation! Particularly inthe village might the shouting and singing have been in honour of awedding!

Chichikov walked hither, thither, and everywhere--a pursuit for whichthere was ample choice and facility. At one time he would direct hissteps along the edge of the flat tableland, and contemplate the depthsbelow, where still there lay sheets of water left by the floods ofwinter, and where the island-like patches of forest showed leaflessboughs; while at another time he would plunge into the thicket andravine country, where nests of birds weighted branches almost to theground, and the sky was darkened with the criss-cross flight of cawingrooks. Again, the drier portions of the meadows could be crossed to theriver wharves, whence the first barges were just beginning to set forthwith pea-meal and barley and wheat, while at the same time one's earwould be caught with the sound of some mill resuming its functions asonce more the water turned the wheel. Chichikov would also walk afieldto watch the early tillage operations of the season, and observe howthe blackness of a new furrow would make its way across the expanse ofgreen, and how the sower, rhythmically striking his hand against thepannier slung across his breast, would scatter his fistfuls of seed withequal distribution, apportioning not a grain too much to one side or tothe other. 

In fact, Chichikov went everywhere. He chatted and talked, now with thebailiff, now with a peasant, now with a miller, and inquired into themanner and nature of everything, and sought information as to how anestate was managed, and at what price corn was selling, and what speciesof grain was best for spring and autumn grinding, and what was the nameof each peasant, and who were his kinsfolk, and where he had bought hiscow, and what he fed his pigs on. Chichikov also made inquiry concerningthe number of peasants who had lately died: but of these there appearedto be few. And suddenly his quick eye discerned that Tientietnikov'sestate was not being worked as it might have been--that much neglect andlistlessness and pilfering and drunkenness was abroad; and on perceivingthis, he thought to himself: "What a fool is that Tientietnikov! Tothink of letting a property like this decay when he might be drawingfrom it an income of fifty thousand roubles a year!"

Also, more than once, while taking these walks, our hero pondered theidea of himself becoming a landowner--not now, of course, but later, when his chief aim should have been achieved, and he had got into hishands the necessary means for living the quiet life of the proprietorof an estate. Yes, and at these times there would include itself in hiscastle-building the figure of a young, fresh, fair-faced maiden of themercantile or other rich grade of society, a woman who could both playand sing. He also dreamed of little descendants who should perpetuatethe name of Chichikov; perhaps a frolicsome little boy and a fair youngdaughter, or possibly, two boys and quite two or three daughters; sothat all should know that he had really lived and had his being, that hehad not merely roamed the world like a spectre or a shadow; so that forhim and his the country should never be put to shame. And from that hewould go on to fancy that a title appended to his rank would not bea bad thing--the title of State Councillor, for instance, which wasdeserving of all honour and respect. Ah, it is a common thing for aman who is taking a solitary walk so to detach himself from the irksomerealities of the present that he is able to stir and to excite and toprovoke his imagination to the conception of things he knows can neverreally come to pass!

Chichikov's servants also found the mansion to their taste, and, liketheir master, speedily made themselves at home in it. In particular didPetrushka make friends with Grigory the butler, although at first thepair showed a tendency to outbrag one another--Petrushka beginningby 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 Petrushkaseeking to recover lost ground by dilating on towns which he HADvisited, and Grigory capping this by naming some town which is not to befound on any map in existence, and then estimating the journeythither as at least thirty thousand versts--a statement which would socompletely flabbergast the henchman of Chichikov's suite that he wouldbe left staring open-mouthed, amid the general laughter of the domesticstaff. However, as I say, the pair ended by swearing eternal friendshipwith one another, and making a practice of resorting to the villagetavern in company. 

For Selifan, however, the place had a charm of a different kind. That isto say, each evening there would take place in the village a singing ofsongs and a weaving of country dances; and so shapely and buxom were themaidens--maidens of a type hard to find in our present-day villages onlarge estates--that he would stand for hours wondering which of them wasthe best. White-necked and white-bosomed, all had great roving eyes, thegait of peacocks, and hair reaching to the waist. And as, with his handsclasping theirs, he glided hither and thither in the dance, or retiredbackwards towards a wall with a row of other young fellows, and then, with them, returned to meet the damsels--all singing in chorus (andlaughing as they sang it), "Boyars, show me my bridegroom!" and dusk wasfalling gently, and from the other side of the river there kept comingfar, faint, plaintive echoes of the melody--well, then our Selifanhardly knew whether he were standing upon his head or his heels. Later, when sleeping and when waking, both at noon and at twilight, he wouldseem still to be holding a pair of white hands, and moving in the dance. 

Chichikov's horses also found nothing of which to disapprove. Yes, both the bay, the Assessor, and the skewbald accounted residence atTientietnikov's a most comfortable affair, and voted the oats excellent, and the arrangement of the stables beyond all cavil. True, on thisoccasion each horse had a stall to himself; yet, by looking over theintervening partition, it was possible always to see one's fellows, and, should a neighbour take it into his head to utter a neigh, to answer itat once. 

As for the errand which had hitherto led Chichikov to travel aboutRussia, he had now decided to move very cautiously and secretly in thematter. In fact, on noticing that Tientietnikov went in absorbedly forreading and for talking philosophy, the visitor said to himself, "No--Ihad better begin at the other end, " and proceeded first to feel his wayamong the servants of the establishment. From them he learnt severalthings, and, in particular, that the barin had been wont to go andcall upon a certain General in the neighbourhood, and that the Generalpossessed a daughter, and that she and Tientietnikov had had an affairof some sort, but that the pair had subsequently parted, and gonetheir several ways. For that matter, Chichikov himself had noticedthat Tientietnikov was in the habit of drawing heads of which eachrepresentation exactly resembled the rest. 

Once, as he sat tapping his silver snuff-box after luncheon, Chichikovremarked:

"One thing you lack, and only one, Andrei Ivanovitch. "

"What is that?" asked his host. 

"A female friend or two, " replied Chichikov. 

Tientietnikov made no rejoinder, and the conversation came temporarilyto an end. 

But Chichikov was not to be discouraged; wherefore, while waiting forsupper and talking on different subjects, he seized an opportunity tointerject:

"Do you know, it would do you no harm to marry. "

As before, Tientietnikov did not reply, and the renewed mention of thesubject seemed to have annoyed him. 

For the third time--it was after supper--Chichikov returned to thecharge by remarking:

"To-day, as I was walking round your property, I could not help thinkingthat marriage would do you a great deal of good. Otherwise you willdevelop into a hypochondriac. "

Whether Chichikov's words now voiced sufficiently the note ofpersuasion, or whether Tientietnikov happened, at the moment, to beunusually disposed to frankness, at all events the young landownersighed, and then responded as he expelled a puff of tobacco smoke:

"To attain anything, Paul Ivanovitch, one needs to have been born undera lucky star. "

And he related to his guest the whole history of his acquaintanceshipand subsequent rupture with the General. 

As Chichikov listened to the recital, and gradually realised that theaffair had arisen merely out of a chance word on the General's part, hewas astounded beyond measure, and gazed at Tientietnikov without knowingwhat to make of him. 

"Andrei Ivanovitch, " he said at length, "what was there to take offenceat?"

"Nothing, as regards the actual words spoken, " replied the other. "Theoffence lay, rather, in the insult conveyed in the General's tone. "Tientietnikov was a kindly and peaceable man, yet his eyes flashed as hesaid this, and his voice vibrated with wounded feeling. 

"Yet, even then, need you have taken it so much amiss?"

"What? Could I have gone on visiting him as before?"

"Certainly. No great harm had been done?"

"I disagree with you. Had he been an old man in a humble station oflife, instead of a proud and swaggering officer, I should not haveminded so much. But, as it was, I could not, and would not, brook hiswords. "

"A curious fellow, this Tientietnikov!" thought Chichikov to himself. 

"A curious fellow, this Chichikov!" was Tientietnikov's inwardreflection. 

"I tell you what, " resumed Chichikov. "To-morrow I myself will go andsee the General. "

"To what purpose?" asked Tientietnikov, with astonishment and distrustin his eyes. 

"To offer him an assurance of my personal respect. "

"A strange fellow, this Chichikov!" reflected Tientietnikov. 

"A strange fellow, this Tientietnikov!" thought Chichikov, and thenadded aloud: "Yes, I will go and see him at ten o'clock to-morrow; butsince my britchka is not yet altogether in travelling order, would yoube so good as to lend me your koliaska for the purpose?"

CHAPTER II

Tientietnikov's good horses covered the ten versts to the General'shouse in a little over half an hour. Descending from the koliaska withfeatures attuned to deference, Chichikov inquired for the master of thehouse, and was at once ushered into his presence. Bowing with headheld respectfully on one side and hands extended like those of a waitercarrying a trayful of teacups, the visitor inclined his whole bodyforward, and said:

"I have deemed it my duty to present myself to your Excellency. I havedeemed it my duty because in my heart I cherish a most profound respectfor the valiant men who, on the field of battle, have proved thesaviours of their country. "

That this preliminary attack did not wholly displease the General wasproved by the fact that, responding with a gracious inclination of thehead, he replied:

"I am glad to make your acquaintance. Pray be so good as to take a seat. In what capacity or capacities have you yourself seen service?"

"Of my service, " said Chichikov, depositing his form, not exactly in thecentre of the chair, but rather on one side of it, and resting a handupon one of its arms, "--of my service the scene was laid, in the firstinstance, in the Treasury; while its further course bore me successivelyinto the employ of the Public Buildings Commission, of the CustomsBoard, and of other Government Offices. But, throughout, my life hasresembled a barque tossed on the crests of perfidious billows. Insuffering I have been swathed and wrapped until I have come to be, asit were, suffering personified; while of the extent to which my lifehas been sought by foes, no words, no colouring, no (if I may so expressit?) 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 ekeout the remainder of my miserable existence, while at the present momentI am enjoying the hospitality of a neighbour of your acquaintance. "

"And who is that?"

"Your neighbour Tientietnikov, your Excellency. "

Upon that the General frowned. 

"Led me add, " put in Chichikov hastily, "that he greatly regrets thaton a former occasion he should have failed to show a proper respectfor--for--"

"For what?" asked the General. 

"For the services to the public which your Excellency has rendered. Indeed, he cannot find words to express his sorrow, but keeps repeatingto himself: 'Would that I had valued at their true worth the men whohave saved our fatherland!'"

"And why should he say that?" asked the mollified General. "I bear himno grudge. In fact, I have never cherished aught but a sincere likingfor him, a sincere esteem, and do not doubt but that, in time, he maybecome a useful member of society. "

"In the words which you have been good enough to utter, " said Chichikovwith a bow, "there is embodied much justice. Yes, Tientietnikov isin very truth a man of worth. Not only does he possess the gift ofeloquence, but also he is a master of the pen. "

"Ah, yes; he DOES write rubbish of some sort, doesn't he? Verses, orsomething of the kind?"

"Not rubbish, your Excellency, but practical stuff. In short, he isinditing a history. "

"A HISTORY? But a history of what?"

"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, orbecause he desired to impart greater importance to the subject whichhe was about to invent, he concluded: "A history of Generals, yourExcellency. "

"Of Generals? Of WHAT Generals?"

"Of Generals generally--of Generals at large. That is to say, and to bemore precise, a history of the Generals of our fatherland. "

By this time Chichikov was floundering badly. Mentally he spat uponhimself and reflected: "Gracious heavens! What rubbish I am talking!"

"Pardon me, " went on his interlocutor, "but I do not quite understandyou. Is Tientietnikov producing a history of a given period, or only ahistory made up of a series of biographies? Also, is he including ALLour Generals, or only those who took part in the campaign of 1812?"

"The latter, your Excellency--only the Generals of 1812, " repliedChichikov. Then he added beneath his breath: "Were I to be killed forit, I could not say what that may be supposed to mean. "

"Then why should he not come and see me in person?" went on hishost. "Possibly I might be able to furnish him with much interestingmaterial?"

"He is afraid to come, your Excellency. "

"Nonsense! Just because of a hasty word or two! I am not that sort ofman at all. In fact, I should be very happy to call upon HIM. "

"Never would he permit that, your Excellency. He would greatly prefer tobe the first to make advances. " And Chichikov added to himself: "What astroke of luck those Generals were! Otherwise, the Lord knows where mytongue might have landed me!"

At this moment the door into the adjoining room opened, and thereappeared in the doorway a girl as fair as a ray of the sun--so fair, indeed, that Chichikov stared at her in amazement. Apparently she hadcome to speak to her father for a moment, but had stopped short onperceiving that there was some one with him. The only fault to befound in her appearance was the fact that she was too thin andfragile-looking. 

"May I introduce you to my little pet?" said the General to Chichikov. "To tell you the truth, I do not know your name. "

"That you should be unacquainted with the name of one who has neverdistinguished himself in the manner of which you yourself can boast isscarcely to be wondered at. " And Chichikov executed one of his sidelong, deferential bows. 

"Well, I should be delighted to know it. "

"It is Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov, your Excellency. " With that wentthe easy bow of a military man and the agile backward movement of anindia-rubber ball. 

"Ulinka, this is Paul Ivanovitch, " said the General, turning to hisdaughter. "He has just told me some interesting news--namely, thatour neighbour Tientietnikov is not altogether the fool we had at firstthought him. On the contrary, he is engaged upon a very importantwork--upon a history of the Russian Generals of 1812. "

"But who ever supposed him to be a fool?" asked the girl quickly. "Whathappened was that you took Vishnepokromov's word--the word of a man whois himself both a fool and a good-for-nothing. "

"Well, well, " said the father after further good-natured dispute on thesubject of Vishnepokromov. "Do you now run away, for I wish to dress forluncheon. And you, sir, " he added to Chichikov, "will you not join us attable?"

Chichikov bowed so low and so long that, by the time that his eyes hadceased to see nothing but his own boots, the General's daughter haddisappeared, and in her place was standing a bewhiskered butler, armedwith a silver soap-dish and a hand-basin. 

"Do you mind if I wash in your presence?" asked the host. 

"By no means, " replied Chichikov. "Pray do whatsoever you please in thatrespect. "

Upon that the General fell to scrubbing himself--incidentally, tosending soapsuds flying in every direction. Meanwhile he seemed sofavourably disposed that Chichikov decided to sound him then and there, more especially since the butler had left the room. 

"May I put to you a problem?" he asked. 

"Certainly, " replied the General. "What is it?"

"It is this, your Excellency. I have a decrepit old uncle who owns threehundred souls and two thousand roubles-worth of other property. Also, except for myself, he possesses not a single heir. Now, although hisinfirm state of health will not permit of his managing his property inperson, he will not allow me either to manage it. And the reason for hisconduct--his very strange conduct--he states as follows: 'I do not knowmy nephew, and very likely he is a spendthrift. If he wishes to show methat 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 mythree hundred souls as well. "

"The man must be an absolute fool, " commented the General. 

"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 toTHEM. "

"The old man must have taken leave of his senses, " remarked the General. "Yet how _I_ can help you I fail to see. "

"Well, I have thought of a plan. If you will hand me over all the deadsouls on your estate--hand them over to me exactly as though they werestill alive, and were purchasable property--I will offer them to the oldman, and then he will leave me his fortune. "

At this point the General burst into a roar of laughter such as few canever have heard. Half-dressed, he subsided into a chair, threw back hishead, and guffawed until he came near to choking. In fact, the houseshook with his merriment, so much so that the butler and his daughtercame running into the room in alarm. 

It was long before he could produce a single articulate word; andeven when he did so (to reassure his daughter and the butler) he keptmomentarily relapsing into spluttering chuckles which made the housering and ring again. 

Chichikov was greatly taken aback. 

"Oh, that uncle!" bellowed the General in paroxysms of mirth. "Oh, thatblessed uncle! WHAT a fool he'll look! Ha, ha, ha! Dead souls offeredhim 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 is to laugh! Heaven send that hedoesn't burst of it!"

"Ha, ha, ha!" broke out the General afresh. "WHAT a donkey the old manmust be! To think of his saying to you: 'You go and fit yourself outwith three hundred souls, and I'll cap them with my own lot'! My word!What a jackass!"

"A jackass, your Excellency?"

"Yes, indeed! And to think of the jest of putting him off with deadsouls! Ha, ha, ha! WHAT wouldn't I give to see you handing him the titledeeds? Who is he? What is he like? Is he very old?"

"He is eighty, your Excellency. "

"But still brisk and able to move about, eh? Surely he must be prettystrong to go on living with his housekeeper like that?"

"Yes. But what does such strength mean? Sand runs away, yourExcellency. "

"The old fool! But is he really such a fool?"

"Yes, your Excellency. "

"And does he go out at all? Does he see company? Can he still holdhimself upright?"

"Yes, but with great difficulty. "

"And has he any teeth left?"

"No more than two at the most. "

"The old jackass! Don't be angry with me, but I must say that, thoughyour uncle, he is also a jackass. "

"Quite so, your Excellency. And though it grieves ME to have to confessthat he is my uncle, what am I to do with him?"

Yet this was not altogether the truth. What would have been a far harderthing for Chichikov to have confessed was the fact that he possessed nouncles at all. 

"I beg of you, your Excellency, " he went on, "to hand me over those, those--"

"Those dead souls, eh? Why, in return for the jest I will give you someland 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!"

And once more the General's guffaws went ringing through the house. 

 [At this point there is a long hiatus in the original. ]

CHAPTER III

"If Colonel Koshkarev should turn out to be as mad as the last one itis a bad look-out, " said Chichikov to himself on opening his eyes amidfields and open country--everything else having disappeared save thevault of heaven and a couple of low-lying clouds. 

"Selifan, " he went on, "did you ask how to get to Colonel Koshkarev's?"

"Yes, Paul Ivanovitch. At least, there was such a clatter around thekoliaska that I could not; but Petrushka asked the coachman. "

"You fool! How often have I told you not to rely on Petrushka? Petrushkais a blockhead, an idiot. Besides, at the present moment I believe himto be drunk. "

"No, you are wrong, barin, " put in the person referred to, turning hishead with a sidelong glance. "After we get down the next hill we shallneed but to keep bending round it. That is all. "

"Yes, and I suppose you'll tell me that sivnkha is the only thing thathas 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 ofthe beauty spots of Europe. " This said, Chichikov added to himself, smoothing his chin: "What a difference between the features of acivilised man of the world and those of a common lacquey!"

Meanwhile the koliaska quickened its pace, and Chichikov once morecaught sight of Tientietnikov's aspen-studded meadows. Undulating gentlyon elastic springs, the vehicle cautiously descended the steep incline, and then proceeded past water-mills, rumbled over a bridge or two, andjolted easily along the rough-set road which traversed the flats. Not amolehill, not a mound jarred the spine. The vehicle was comfort itself. 

Swiftly there flew by clumps of osiers, slender elder trees, andsilver-leaved poplars, their branches brushing against Selifan andPetrushka, and at intervals depriving the valet of his cap. Each timethat this happened, the sullen-faced servitor fell to cursing both thetree responsible for the occurrence and the landowner responsible forthe tree being in existence; yet nothing would induce him thereaftereither to tie on the cap or to steady it with his hand, so complete washis assurance that the accident would never be repeated. Soon to theforegoing trees there became added an occasional birch or spruce fir, while in the dense undergrowth around their roots could be seen the blueiris and the yellow wood-tulip. Gradually the forest grew darker, asthough eventually the obscurity would become complete. Then throughthe trunks and the boughs there began to gleam points of light likeglittering mirrors, and as the number of trees lessened, these pointsgrew larger, until the travellers debouched upon the shore of a lakefour versts or so in circumference, and having on its further marginthe grey, scattered log huts of a peasant village. In the water a greatcommotion was in progress. In the first place, some twenty men, immersedto the knee, to the breast, or to the neck, were dragging a largefishing-net inshore, while, in the second place, there was entangled inthe same, in addition to some fish, a stout man shaped precisely like amelon or a hogshead. Greatly excited, he was shouting at the top of hisvoice: "Let Kosma manage it, you lout of a Denis! Kosma, take the endof the rope from Denis! Don't bear so hard on it, Thoma Bolshoy [41]! Gowhere Thoma Menshov [42] is! Damn it, bring the net to land, will you!"From this it became clear that it was not on his own account that thestout man was worrying. Indeed, he had no need to do so, since his fatwould in any case have prevented him from sinking. Yes, even if hehad turned head over heels in an effort to dive, the water wouldpersistently have borne him up; and the same if, say, a couple of menhad jumped on his back--the only result would have been that he wouldhave become a trifle deeper submerged, and forced to draw breath byspouting bubbles through his nose. No, the cause of his agitation waslest the net should break, and the fish escape: wherefore he was urgingsome additional peasants who were standing on the bank to lay hold ofand to pull at, an extra rope or two. 

"That must be the barin--Colonel Koshkarev, " said Selifan. 

"Why?" asked Chichikov. 

"Because, if you please, his skin is whiter than the rest, and he hasthe 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 Chichikovseated therein, descending the declivity. 

"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 handshading his eyes from the sun, and the other thrown backwards, helooked, in point of pose, like the Medici Venus emerging from her bath. 

"No, " replied Chichikov, raising his cap, and executing a series ofbows. 

"Then thank God for that, " rejoined the gentleman. 

"Why?" asked Chichikov with no little curiosity, and still holding hiscap over his head. 

"Because of THIS. Cast off the net, Thoma Menshov, and pick up thatsturgeon for the gentleman to see. Go and help him, Telepen Kuzma. "

With that the peasants indicated picked up by the head what was averitable monster of a fish. 

"Isn't it a beauty--a sturgeon fresh run from the river?" exclaimed thestout barin. "And now let us be off home. Coachman, you can take thelower 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 myselfshall 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 hadhanging in front of it a variety of nets, for the reason that everyinhabitant of the place was a fisherman. Next, he opened a gate into alarge vegetable enclosure, and thence the koliaska emerged into a squarenear a wooden church, with, showing beyond the latter, the roofs of themanorial homestead. 

"A queer fellow, that Koshkarev!" said Chichikov to himself. 

"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 barinhad dressed himself and overtaken the carriage. With a pair of yellowtrousers he was wearing a grass-green jacket, and his neck was asguiltless of a collar as Cupid's. Also, as he sat sideways in hisdrozhki, his bulk was such that he completely filled the vehicle. Chichikov was about to make some remark or another when the stoutgentleman disappeared; and presently his drozhki re-emerged into view atthe spot where the fish had been drawn to land, and his voice could beheard reiterating exhortations to his serfs. Yet when Chichikov reachedthe verandah of the house he found, to his intense surprise, the stoutgentleman waiting to welcome the visitor. How he had contrived toconvey himself thither passed Chichikov's comprehension. Host and guestembraced three times, according to a bygone custom of Russia. Evidentlythe barin was one of the old school. 

"I bring you, " said Chichikov, "a greeting from his Excellency. "

"From whom?"

"From your relative General Alexander Dmitrievitch. "

"Who is Alexander Dmitrievitch?"

"What? You do not know General Alexander Dmitrievitch Betrishev?"exclaimed Chichikov with a touch of surprise. 

"No, I do not, " replied the gentleman. 

Chichikov's surprise grew to absolute astonishment. 

"How comes that about?" he ejaculated. "I hope that I have the honour ofaddressing Colonel Koshkarev?"

"Your hopes are vain. It is to my house, not to his, that you have come;and I am Peter Petrovitch Pietukh--yes, Peter Petrovitch Pietukh. "

Chichikov, dumbfounded, turned to Selifan and Petrushka. 

"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "I told you to drive to the houseof Colonel Koshkarev, whereas you have brought me to that of PeterPetrovitch Pietukh. "

"All the same, your fellows have done quite right, " put in the gentlemanreferred to. "Do you" (this to Selifan and Petrushka) "go to thekitchen, where they will give you a glassful of vodka apiece. Then putup the horses, and be off to the servants' quarters. "

"I regret the mistake extremely, " said Chichikov. 

"But it is not a mistake. When you have tried the dinner which I have instore for you, just see whether you think IT a mistake. Enter, I beg ofyou. " And, taking Chichikov by the arm, the host conducted him within, where they were met by a couple of youths. 

"Let me introduce my two sons, home for their holidays from theGymnasium [43], " said Pietukh. "Nikolasha, come and entertain ourgood visitor, while you, Aleksasha, follow me. " And with that the hostdisappeared. 

Chichikov turned to Nikolasha, whom he found to be a budding man abouttown, since at first he opened a conversation by stating that, as nogood was to be derived from studying at a provincial institution, he andhis brother desired to remove, rather, to St. Petersburg, the provincesnot being worth living in. 

"I quite understand, " Chichikov thought to himself. "The end of thechapter will be confectioners' assistants and the boulevards. "

"Tell me, " he added aloud, "how does your father's property at presentstand?"

"It is all mortgaged, " put in the father himself as he re-entered theroom. "Yes, it is all mortgaged, every bit of it. "

"What a pity!" thought Chichikov. "At this rate it will not be longbefore 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 theestate seems to me a matter of regret. "

"No, not at all, " replied Pietukh. "In fact, they tell me that it is agood thing to do, and that every one else is doing it. Why should I actdifferently from my neighbours? Moreover, I have had enough of livinghere, and should like to try Moscow--more especially since my sons arealways begging me to give them a metropolitan education. "

"Oh, the fool, the fool!" reflected Chichikov. "He is for throwingup everything and making spendthrifts of his sons. Yet this is a niceproperty, and it is clear that the local peasants are doing well, andthat the family, too, is comfortably off. On the other hand, as soon asever these lads begin their education in restaurants and theatres, thedevil will away with every stick of their substance. For my own part, Icould desire nothing better than this quiet life in the country. "

"Let me guess what is in your mind, " said Pietukh. 

"What, then?" asked Chichikov, rather taken aback. 

"You are thinking to yourself: 'That fool of a Pietukh has asked me todinner, yet not a bite of dinner do I see. ' But wait a little. It willbe ready presently, for it is being cooked as fast as a maiden who hashad her hair cut off plaits herself a new set of tresses. "

"Here comes Platon Mikhalitch, father!" exclaimed Aleksasha, who hadbeen peeping out of the window. 

"Yes, and on a grey horse, " added his brother. 

"Who is Platon Mikhalitch?" inquired Chichikov. 

"A neighbour of ours, and an excellent fellow. "

The next moment Platon Mikhalitch himself entered the room, accompaniedby a sporting dog named Yarb. He was a tall, handsome man, withextremely red hair. As for his companion, it was of the keen-muzzledspecies used for shooting. 

"Have you dined yet?" asked the host. 

"Yes, " replied Platon. 

"Indeed? What do you mean by coming here to laugh at us all? Do I evergo 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 the meal, for I had no appetite. "

"But you should see what I have caught--what sort of a sturgeon fate hasbrought my way! Yes, and what crucians and carp!"

"Really it tires one to hear you. How come you always to be socheerful?"

"And how come YOU always to be so gloomy?" retorted the host. 

"How, you ask? Simply because I am so. "

"The truth is you don't eat enough. Try the plan of making a gooddinner. Weariness of everything is a modern invention. Once upon a timeone never heard of it. "

"Well, boast away, but have you yourself never been tired of things?"

"Never in my life. I do not so much as know whether I should find timeto be tired. In the morning, when one awakes, the cook is waiting, andthe dinner has to be ordered. Then one drinks one's morning tea, andthen the bailiff arrives for HIS orders, and then there is fishing to bedone, and then one's dinner has to be eaten. Next, before one has evenhad a chance to utter a snore, there enters once again the cook, and onehas to order supper; and when she has departed, behold, back she comeswith a request for the following day's dinner! What time does THAT leaveone to be weary of things?"

Throughout this conversation, Chichikov had been taking stock ofthe 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. Neitherpassion nor care nor aught of the nature of agitation or anxiety of mindhad ventured to touch his unsullied face, or to lay a single wrinklethereon. Yet the touch of life which those emotions might have impartedwas wanting. The face was, as it were, dreaming, even though from timeto time an ironical smile disturbed it. 

"I, too, cannot understand, " remarked Chichikov, "how a man of yourappearance can find things wearisome. Of course, if a man is hardpressed for money, or if he has enemies who are lying in wait for hislife (as have certain folk of whom I know), well, then--"

"Believe me when I say, " interrupted the handsome guest, "that, for thesake of a diversion, I should be glad of ANY sort of an anxiety. Wouldthat some enemy would conceive a grudge against me! But no one does so. Everything remains eternally dull. "

"But perhaps you lack a sufficiency of land or souls?"

"Not at all. I and my brother own ten thousand desiatins [44] 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 your male peasants have died ofit?"

"On the contrary, everything is in splendid order, for my brother is thebest of managers. "

"Then to find things wearisome!" exclaimed Chichikov. "It passes mycomprehension. " And he shrugged his shoulders. 

"Well, we will soon put weariness to flight, " interrupted the host. "Aleksasha, do you run helter-skelter to the kitchen, and there tellthe cook to serve the fish pasties. Yes, and where have that gawk of anEmelian and that thief of an Antoshka got to? Why have they not handedround the zakuski?"

At this moment the door opened, and the "gawk" and the "thief" inquestion made their appearance with napkins and a tray--the latterbearing six decanters of variously-coloured beverages. These they placedupon the table, and then ringed them about with glasses and platefulsof every conceivable kind of appetiser. That done, the servants appliedthemselves to bringing in various comestibles under covers, throughwhich could be heard the hissing of hot roast viands. In particulardid the "gawk" and the "thief" work hard at their tasks. As a matterof fact, their appellations had been given them merely to spur them togreater activity, for, in general, the barin was no lover of abuse, but, rather, a kind-hearted man who, like most Russians, could not get onwithout a sharp word or two. That is to say, he needed them for histongue as he need a glass of vodka for his digestion. What else couldyou expect? It was his nature to care for nothing mild. 

To the zakuski succeeded the meal itself, and the host became a perfectglutton on his guests' behalf. Should he notice that a guest had takenbut 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: "Whatis the good of the number 2? God loves a trinity. " Should any onetake three pieces, he would say: "Where do you see a waggon with threewheels? Who builds a three-cornered hut?" Lastly, should any one takefour pieces, he would cap them with a fifth, and add thereto the punningquip, "Na piat opiat [45]". After devouring at least twelve steaksof sturgeon, Chichikov ventured to think to himself, "My host cannotpossibly add to THEM, " but found that he was mistaken, for, without aword, Pietukh heaped upon his plate an enormous portion of spit-roastedveal, and also some kidneys. And what veal it was!

"That calf was fed two years on milk, " he explained. "I cared for itlike my own son. "

"Nevertheless I can eat no more, " said Chichikov. 

"Do you try the veal before you say that you can eat no more. "

"But I could not get it down my throat. There is no room left. "

"If there be no room in a church for a newcomer, the beadle is sent for, and room is very soon made--yes, even though before there was such acrush that an apple couldn't have been dropped between the people. Doyou try the veal, I say. That piece is the titbit of all. "

So Chichikov made the attempt; and in very truth the veal was beyond allpraise, and room was found for it, even though one would have supposedthe feat impossible. 

"Fancy this good fellow removing to St. Petersburg or Moscow!" said theguest to himself. "Why, with a scale of living like this, he would beruined in three years. " For that matter, Pietukh might well have beenruined already, for hospitality can dissipate a fortune in three monthsas easily as it can in three years. 

The host also dispensed the wine with a lavish hand, and what the guestsdid 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 whatdepartment of human accomplishment their bent was turned. When the mealwas 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 hostsubsided into his seat--it was large enough for four--he fell asleep, and his portly presence, converting itself into a sort of blacksmith'sbellows, started to vent, through open mouth and distended nostrils, such sounds as can have greeted the reader's ear but seldom--sounds asof a drum being beaten in combination with the whistling of a flute andthe strident howling of a dog. 

"Listen to him!" said Platon. 

Chichikov smiled. 

"Naturally, on such dinners as that, " continued the other, "our hostdoes NOT find the time dull. And as soon as dinner is ended there canensue sleep. "

"Yes, but, pardon me, I still fail to understand why you should findlife wearisome. There are so many resources against ennui!"

"As for instance?"

"For a young man, dancing, the playing of one or another musicalinstrument, and--well, yes, marriage. "

"Marriage to whom?"

"To some maiden who is both charming and rich. Are there none in theseparts?"

"No. "

"Then, were I you, I should travel, and seek a maiden elsewhere. " And abrilliant idea therewith entered Chichikov's head. "This last resource, "he added, "is the best of all resources against ennui. "

"What resource are you speaking of?"

"Of travel. "

"But whither?"

"Well, should it so please you, you might join me as my companion. " Thissaid, the speaker added to himself as he eyed Platon: "Yes, that wouldsuit me exactly, for then I should have half my expenses paid, and couldcharge him also with the cost of mending the koliaska. "

"And whither should we go?"

"In that respect I am not wholly my own master, as I have business to dofor others as well as for myself. For instance, General Betristchev--anintimate friend and, I might add, a generous benefactor of mine--hascharged me with commissions to certain of his relatives. However, thoughrelatives are relatives, I am travelling likewise on my own account, since I wish to see the world and the whirligig of humanity--which, inspite of what people may say, is as good as a living book or a secondeducation. " As a matter of fact, Chichikov was reflecting, "Yes, theplan is an excellent one. I might even contrive that he should have tobear the whole of our expenses, and that his horses should be used whilemy own should be put out to graze on his farm. "

"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 theestate is in my brother's hands, and my going would cause him noinconvenience. Yes, why should I not do as Chichikov has suggested?"

Then he added aloud:

"Would you come and stay with my brother for a couple of days? Otherwisehe might refuse me his consent. "

"With great pleasure, " said Chichikov. "Or even for three days. "

"Then here is my hand on it. Let us be off at once. " Platon seemedsuddenly to have come to life again. 

"Where are you off to?" put in their host unexpectedly as he rousedhimself and stared in astonishment at the pair. "No, no, my good sirs. Ihave had the wheels removed from your koliaska, Monsieur Chichikov, andhave sent your horse, Platon Mikhalitch, to a grazing ground fifteenversts away. Consequently you must spend the night here, and departto-morrow morning after breakfast. "

What could be done with a man like Pietukh? There was no help for it butto remain. In return, the guests were rewarded with a beautiful springevening, for, to spend the time, the host organised a boating expeditionon the river, and a dozen rowers, with a dozen pairs of oars, conveyedthe party (to the accompaniment of song) across the smooth surface ofthe lake and up a great river with towering banks. From time to time theboat would pass under ropes, stretched across for purposes of fishing, and at each turn of the rippling current new vistas unfolded themselvesas tier upon tier of woodland delighted the eye with a diversity oftimber and foliage. In unison did the rowers ply their sculls, yet itwas though of itself that the skiff shot forward, bird-like, over theglassy surface of the water; while at intervals the broad-shoulderedyoung oarsman who was seated third from the bow would raise, as froma nightingale's throat, the opening staves of a boat song, and then bejoined by five or six more, until the melody had come to pour forth in avolume as free and boundless as Russia herself. And Pietukh, too, wouldgive himself a shake, and help lustily to support the chorus; and evenChichikov felt acutely conscious of the fact that he was a Russian. OnlyPlaton 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 theoars smote a surface which no longer reflected the sky, and darkness hadfallen when they reached the shore, along which lights were twinklingwhere the fisherfolk were boiling live eels for soup. Everything had nowwended its way homeward for the night; the cattle and poultry hadbeen housed, and the herdsmen, standing at the gates of the villagecattle-pens, amid the trailing dust lately raised by their charges, were awaiting the milk-pails and a summons to partake of the eel-broth. Through the dusk came the hum of humankind, and the barking of dogs inother and more distant villages; while, over all, the moon was rising, and the darkened countryside was beginning to glimmer to light againunder her beams. What a glorious picture! Yet no one thought of admiringit. Instead of galloping over the countryside on frisky cobs, Nikolasha and Aleksasha were engaged in dreaming of Moscow, with itsconfectioners' shops and the theatres of which a cadet, newly arrived ona visit from the capital, had just been telling them; while their fatherhad 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 ofanimation visible. "Yes, " he reflected, "some day I, too, will becomelord of such a country place. " And before his mind's eye there arosealso a helpmeet and some little Chichikovs. 

By the time that supper was finished the party had again over-eatenthemselves, and when Chichikov entered the room allotted him for thenight, he lay down upon the bed, and prodded his stomach. "It is astight as a drum, " he said to himself. "Not another titbit of veal couldnow get into it. " Also, circumstances had so brought it about thatnext door to him there was situated his host's apartment; and since theintervening wall was thin, Chichikov could hear every word that wassaid there. At the present moment the master of the house was engaged ingiving the cook orders for what, under the guise of an early breakfast, promised to constitute a veritable dinner. You should have heardPietukh's behests! They would have excited the appetite of a corpse. 

"Yes, " he said, sucking his lips, and drawing a deep breath, "in thefirst place, make a pasty in four divisions. Into one of the divisionsput the sturgeon's cheeks and some viaziga [46], and into anotherdivision some buckwheat porridge, young mushrooms and onions, sweet milk, calves' brains, and anything else that you may findsuitable--anything else that you may have got handy. Also, bake thepastry 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 andflaky, so that it shall not crumble into bits, but melt in the mouthlike the softest snow that ever you heard of. " And as he said thisPietukh fairly smacked his lips. 

"The devil take him!" muttered Chichikov, thrusting his head beneath thebedclothes to avoid hearing more. "The fellow won't give one a chance tosleep. "

Nevertheless he heard through the blankets:

"And garnish the sturgeon with beetroot, smelts, peppered mushrooms, young radishes, carrots, beans, and anything else you like, so as tohave plenty of trimmings. Yes, and put a lump of ice into the pig'sbladder, so as to swell it up. "

Many other dishes did Pietukh order, and nothing was to be heard buthis talk of boiling, roasting, and stewing. Finally, just as mention wasbeing made of a turkey cock, Chichikov fell asleep. 

Next morning the guest's state of repletion had reached the pointof Platon being unable to mount his horse; wherefore the latter wasdispatched homeward with one of Pietukh's grooms, and the two guestsentered Chichikov's koliaska. Even the dog trotted lazily in the rear;for he, too, had over-eaten himself. 

"It has been rather too much of a good thing, " remarked Chichikov as thevehicle issued from the courtyard. 

"Yes, and it vexes me to see the fellow never tire of it, " repliedPlaton. 

"Ah, " thought Chichikov to himself, "if _I_ had an income of seventythousand roubles, as you have, I'd very soon give tiredness one inthe eye! Take Murazov, the tax-farmer--he, again, must be worth tenmillions. What a fortune!"

"Do you mind where we drive?" asked Platon. "I should like first to goand take leave of my sister and my brother-in-law. "

"With pleasure, " said Chichikov. 

"My brother-in-law is the leading landowner hereabouts. At the presentmoment he is drawing an income of two hundred thousand roubles from aproperty which, eight years ago, was producing a bare twenty thousand. "

"Truly a man worthy of the utmost respect! I shall be most interested tomake his acquaintance. To think of it! And what may his family name be?"

"Kostanzhoglo. "

"And his Christian name and patronymic?"

"Constantine Thedorovitch. "

"Constantine Thedorovitch Kostanzhoglo. Yes, it will be a mostinteresting event to make his acquaintance. To know such a man must be awhole education. "

Here Platon set himself to give Selifan some directions as to the way, a necessary proceeding in view of the fact that Selifan could hardlymaintain 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 comment. 

"This is where my brother-in-law's land begins, " said Platon. 

"They give one a change of view. "

And, indeed, from this point the countryside became planted with timber;the rows of trees running as straight as pistol-shots, and having beyondthem, and on higher ground, a second expanse of forest, newly plantedlike the first; while beyond it, again, loomed a third plantation ofolder trees. Next there succeeded a flat piece of the same nature. 

"All this timber, " said Platon, "has grown up within eight or ten yearsat the most; whereas on another man's land it would have taken twenty toattain the same growth. "

"And how has your brother-in-law effected this?"

"You must ask him yourself. He is so excellent a husbandman that nothingever fails with him. You see, he knows the soil, and also knows whatought to be planted beside what, and what kinds of timber are the bestneighbourhood for grain. Again, everything on his estate is made toperform at least three or four different functions. For instance, hemakes his timber not only serve as timber, but also serve as a providerof moisture and shade to a given stretch of land, and then as afertiliser with its fallen leaves. Consequently, when everywhere elsethere is drought, he still has water, and when everywhere else therehas been a failure of the harvest, on his lands it will have proved asuccess. But it is a pity that I know so little about it all as to beunable to explain to you his many expedients. Folk call him a wizard, for he produces so much. Nevertheless, personally I find what he doesuninteresting. "

"Truly an astonishing fellow!" reflected Chichikov with a glance at hiscompanion. "It is sad indeed to see a man so superficial as to be unableto explain matters of this kind. "

At length the manor appeared in sight--an establishment looking almostlike a town, so numerous were the huts where they stood arranged inthree tiers, crowned with three churches, and surrounded with huge ricksand barns. "Yes, " thought Chichikov to himself, "one can see what ajewel of a landowner lives here. " The huts in question were stoutlybuilt and the intervening alleys well laid-out; while, wherever a waggonwas visible, it looked serviceable and more or less new. Also, the localpeasants bore an intelligent look on their faces, the cattle were of thebest possible breed, and even the peasants' pigs belonged to the porcinearistocracy. Clearly there dwelt here peasants who, to quote thesong, were accustomed to "pick up silver by the shovelful. " Nor wereEnglishified gardens and parterres and other conceits in evidence, but, on the contrary, there ran an open view from the manor house to thefarm buildings and the workmen's cots, so that, after the old Russianfashion, the barin should be able to keep an eye upon all that was goingon around him. For the same purpose, the mansion was topped with a talllantern and a superstructure--a device designed, not for ornament, nor for a vantage-spot for the contemplation of the view, but forsupervision of the labourers engaged in distant fields. Lastly, thebrisk, active servants who received the visitors on the verandah werevery different menials from the drunken Petrushka, even though they didnot wear swallow-tailed coats, but only Cossack tchekmenu [47] of bluehomespun cloth. 

The lady of the house also issued on to the verandah. With her face ofthe freshness of "blood and milk" and the brightness of God's daylight, she as nearly resembled Platon as one pea resembles another, save that, whereas he was languid, she was cheerful and full of talk. 

"Good day, brother!" she cried. "How glad I am to see you! Constantineis not at home, but will be back presently. "

"Where is he?"

"Doing business in the village with a party of factors, " replied thelady as she conducted her guests to the drawing-room. 

With no little curiosity did Chichikov gaze at the interior of themansion inhabited by the man who received an annual income of twohundred thousand roubles; for he thought to discern therefrom the natureof its proprietor, even as from a shell one may deduce the species ofoyster or snail which has been its tenant, and has left therein itsimpression. But no such conclusions were to be drawn. The rooms weresimple, and even bare. Not a fresco nor a picture nor a bronze nor aflower nor a china what-not nor a book was there to be seen. In short, everything appeared to show that the proprietor of this abode spent thegreater part of his time, not between four walls, but in the field, andthat 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 wasactually in progress--that, in a word, where those plans were conceived, there they were put into execution. Nor in these rooms could Chichikovdetect the least trace of a feminine hand, beyond the fact thatcertain tables and chairs bore drying-boards whereon were arranged somesprinklings of flower petals. 

"What is all this rubbish for?" asked Platon. 

"It is not rubbish, " replied the lady of the house. "On the contrary, itis the best possible remedy for fever. Last year we cured every one ofour sick peasants with it. Some of the petals I am going to make into anointment, and some into an infusion. You may laugh as much as you likeat my potting and preserving, yet you yourself will be glad of things ofthe kind when you set out on your travels. "

Platon moved to the piano, and began to pick out a note or two. 

"Good Lord, what an ancient instrument!" he exclaimed. "Are you notashamed 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 eight-year-old daughter to educate;and to hand her over to a foreign governess in order that I may haveleisure for my own piano-playing--well, that is a thing which I couldnever bring myself to do. "

"You have become a wearisome sort of person, " commented Platon, andwalked away to the window. "Ah, here comes Constantine, " presently headded. 

Chichikov also glanced out of the window, and saw approaching theverandah a brisk, swarthy-complexioned man of about forty, a man clad ina rough cloth jacket and a velveteen cap. Evidently he was one of thosewho care little for the niceties of dress. With him, bareheaded, therecame a couple of men of a somewhat lower station in life, and allthree were engaged in an animated discussion. One of the barin's twocompanions was a plain peasant, and the other (clad in a blue Siberiansmock) a travelling factor. The fact that the party halted awhile bythe entrance steps made it possible to overhear a portion of theirconversation from within. 

"This is what you peasants had better do, " the barin was saying. "Purchase your release from your present master. I will lend you thenecessary money, and afterwards you can work for me. "

"No, Constantine Thedorovitch, " replied the peasant. "Why should we dothat? Remove us just as we are. You will know how to arrange it, for acleverer gentleman than you is nowhere to be found. The misfortune of usmuzhiks is that we cannot protect ourselves properly. The tavern-keeperssell us such liquor that, before a man knows where he is, a glassful ofit has eaten a hole through his stomach, and made him feel as thoughhe could drink a pail of water. Yes, it knocks a man over before he canlook around. Everywhere temptation lies in wait for the peasant, and heneeds 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 loseour wits, even to the tobacco which they sell us. What are folk likeourselves to do, Constantine Thedorovitch? I tell you it is terriblydifficult for a muzhik to look after himself. "

"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 himthereafter more than is demanded of a peasant anywhere else. That is tosay, first and foremost I make him work. Whether a peasant be workingfor himself or for me, never do I let him waste time. I myself toil likea bullock, and I force my peasants to do the same, for experiencehas taught me that that is the only way to get through life. All themischief in the world comes through lack of employment. Now, do you goand consider the matter, and talk it over with your mir [48]. "

"We have done that already, Constantine Thedorovitch, and our elders'opinion is: 'There is no need for further talk. Every peasant belongingto Constantine Thedorovitch is well off, and hasn't to work for nothing. The priests of his village, too, are men of good heart, whereas ourshave been taken away, and there is no one to bury us. '"

"Nevertheless, do you go and talk the matter over again. "

"We will, barin. "

Here the factor who had been walking on the barin's other side put in aword. 

"Constantine Thedorovitch, " he said, "I beg of you to do as I haverequested. "

"I have told you before, " replied the barin, "that I do not care to playthe huckster. I am not one of those landowners whom fellows of your sortvisit on the very day that the interest on a mortgage is due. Ah, I knowyour fraternity thoroughly, and know that you keep lists of all who havemortgages to repay. But what is there so clever about that? Any man, if you pinch him sufficiently, will surrender you a mortgage athalf-price, --any man, that is to say, except myself, who care nothingfor your money. Were a loan of mine to remain out three years, I shouldnever demand a kopeck of interest on it. "

"Quite so, Constantine Thedorovitch, " replied the factor. "But I amasking this of you more for the purpose of establishing us on a businessfooting than because I desire to win your favour. Prey, therefore, accept this earnest money of three thousand roubles. " And the man drewfrom his breast pocket a dirty roll of bank-notes, which, carelesslyreceiving, Kostanzhoglo thrust, uncounted, into the back pocket of hisovercoat. 

"Hm!" thought Chichikov. "For all he cares, the notes might have been ahandkerchief. "

When Kostanzhoglo appeared at closer quarters--that is to say, in thedoorway of the drawing-room--he struck Chichikov more than ever with theswarthiness of his complexion, the dishevelment of his black, slightlygrizzled locks, the alertness of his eye, and the impression of fierysouthern origin which his whole personality diffused. For he was notwholly a Russian, nor could he himself say precisely who his forefathershad been. Yet, inasmuch as he accounted genealogical research no part ofthe science of estate-management, but a mere superfluity, he looked uponhimself as, to all intents and purposes, a native of Russia, and themore so since the Russian language was the only tongue he knew. 

Platon presented Chichikov, and the pair exchanged greetings. 

"To get rid of my depression, Constantine, " continued Platon, "I amthinking of accompanying our guest on a tour through a few of theprovinces. "

"An excellent idea, " said Kostanzhoglo. "But precisely whither?" headded, turning hospitably to Chichikov. 

"To tell you the truth, " replied that personage with an affableinclination of the head as he smoothed the arm of his chair with hishand, "I am travelling less on my own affairs than on the affairs ofothers. That is to say, General Betristchev, an intimate friend, and, I might add, a generous benefactor, of mine, has charged me withcommissions to some of his relatives. Nevertheless, though relatives arerelatives, I may say that I am travelling on my own account as well, inthat, in addition to possible benefit to my health, I desire to see theworld and the whirligig of humanity, which constitute, so to speak, aliving book, a second course of education. "

"Yes, there is no harm in looking at other corners of the world besidesone's own. "

"You speak truly. There IS no harm in such a proceeding. Thereby one maysee things which one has not before encountered, one may meet men withwhom one has not before come in contact. And with some men of that kinda conversation is as precious a benefit as has been conferred upon meby the present occasion. I come to you, most worthy ConstantineThedorovitch, for instruction, and again for instruction, and beg of youto assuage my thirst with an exposition of the truth as it is. I hungerfor the favour of your words as for manna. "

"But how so? What can _I_ teach you?" exclaimed Kostanzhoglo inconfusion. "I myself was given but the plainest of educations. "

"Nay, most worthy sir, you possess wisdom, and again wisdom. Wisdom onlycan direct the management of a great estate, that can derive asound income from the same, that can acquire wealth of a real, not afictitious, order while also fulfilling the duties of a citizen andthereby earning the respect of the Russian public. All this I pray youto teach me. "

"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 canshow you how things are managed here, and explain to you everything. Then you will see for yourself that no great wisdom is required for thepurpose. "

"Yes, certainly you must stay here, " put in the lady of the house. Then, turning to her brother, she added: "And you too must stay. Why shouldyou be in such a hurry?"

"Very well, " he replied. "But what say YOU, Paul Ivanovitch?"

"I say the same as you, and with much pleasure, " replied Chichikov. "But also I ought to tell you this: that there is a relative of GeneralBetristchev's, a certain Colonel Koshkarev--"

"Yes, we know him; but he is quite mad. "

"As you say, he is mad, and I should not have been intending to visithim, 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 alreadyharnessed. Go to him at once, and return here for tea. "

"An excellent idea!" cried Chichikov, and with that he seized his cap. 

Half an hour's drive sufficed to bring him to the Colonel'sestablishment. The village attached to the manor was in a state of utterconfusion, since in every direction building and repairing operationswere in progress, and the alleys were choked with heaps of lime, bricks, and beams of wood. Also, some of the huts were arranged to resembleoffices, and superscribed in gilt letters "Depot for AgriculturalImplements, " "Chief Office of Accounts, " "Estate Works Committee, ""Normal School for the Education of Colonists, " and so forth. 

Chichikov found the Colonel posted behind a desk and holding a penbetween his teeth. Without an instant's delay the master of theestablishment--who seemed a kindly, approachable man, and accorded tohis visitor a very civil welcome--plunged into a recital of the labourwhich it had cost him to bring the property to its present condition ofaffluence. Then he went on to lament the fact that he could not makehis peasantry understand the incentives to labour which the richesof science and art provide; for instance, he had failed to induce hisfemale serfs to wear corsets, whereas in Germany, where he had residedfor fourteen years, every humble miller's daughter could play the piano. None the less, he said, he meant to peg away until every peasant onthe estate should, as he walked behind the plough, indulge in a regularcourse of reading Franklin's Notes on Electricity, Virgil's Georgics, orsome work on the chemical properties of soil. 

"Good gracious!" mentally exclaimed Chichikov. "Why, I myself have nothad time to finish that book by the Duchesse de la Valliere!"

Much else the Colonel said. In particular did he aver that, providedthe Russian peasant could be induced to array himself in German costume, science would progress, trade increase, and the Golden Age dawn inRussia. 

For a while Chichikov listened with distended eyes. Then he feltconstrained to intimate that with all that he had nothing to do, seeingthat his business was merely to acquire a few souls, and thereafter tohave their purchase confirmed. 

"If I understand you aright, " said the Colonel, "you wish to present aStatement of Plea?"

"Yes, that is so. "

"Then kindly put it into writing, and it shall be forwarded to theOffice for the Reception of Reports and Returns. Thereafter that Officewill consider it, and return it to me, who will, in turn, dispatch it tothe Estate Works Committee, who will, in turn, revise it, and present itto the Administrator, who, jointly with the Secretary, will--"

"Pardon me, " expostulated Chichikov, "but that procedure will take up agreat deal of time. Why need I put the matter into writing at all? It issimply this. I want a few souls which are--well, which are, so to speak, dead. "

"Very good, " commented the Colonel. "Do you write down in your Statementof Plea that the souls which you desire are, 'so to speak, dead. '"

"But what would be the use of my doing so? Though the souls are dead, mypurpose requires that they should be represented as alive. "

"Very good, " again commented the Colonel. "Do you write down in yourStatement that 'it is necessary' (or, should you prefer an alternativephrase, 'it is requested, ' or 'it is desiderated, ' or 'it is prayed, ')'that the souls be represented as alive. ' At all events, WITHOUTdocumentary process of that kind, the matter cannot possibly be carriedthrough. Also, I will appoint a Commissioner to guide you round thevarious 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, halfof a peasant, half of an official. 

"This man, " the Colonel said to Chichikov, "will act as your escort. "

What could be done with a lunatic like Koshkarev? In the end, curiositymoved Chichikov to accompany the Commissioner. The Committee for theReception of Reports and Returns was discovered to have put up itsshutters, and to have locked its doors, for the reason that the Directorof the Committee had been transferred to the newly-formed Committeeof Estate Management, and his successor had been annexed by the sameCommittee. Next, Chichikov and his escort rapped at the doors of theDepartment of Estate Affairs; but that Department's quarters happened tobe in a state of repair, and no one could be made to answer thesummons save a drunken peasant from whom not a word of sense was to beextracted. At length the escort felt himself removed to remark:

"There is a deal of foolishness going on here. Fellows like thatdrunkard lead the barin by the nose, and everything is ruled by theCommittee of Management, which takes men from their proper work, andsets them to do any other it likes. Indeed, only through the Committeedoes ANYTHING get done. "

By this time Chichikov felt that he had seen enough; wherefore hereturned to the Colonel, and informed him that the Office for theReception of Reports and Returns had ceased to exist. At once theColonel flamed to noble rage. Pressing Chichikov's hand in token ofgratitude for the information which the guest had furnished, he tookpaper and pen, and noted eight searching questions under three separateheadings: (1) "Why has the Committee of Management presumed to issueorders to officials not under its jurisdiction?" (2) "Why has the ChiefManager permitted his predecessor, though still in retention of hispost, to follow him to another Department?" and (3) "Why has theCommittee of Estate Affairs suffered the Office for the Reception ofReports and Returns to lapse?"

"Now for a row!" thought Chichikov to himself, and turned to depart; buthis host stopped him, saying:

"I cannot let you go, for, in addition to my honour having becomeinvolved, it behoves me to show my people how the regular, theorganised, administration of an estate may be conducted. Herewith I willhand over the conduct of your affair to a man who is worth all the restof the staff put together, and has had a university education. Also, thebetter to lose no time, may I humbly beg you to step into my library, where you will find notebooks, paper, pens, and everything else thatyou may require. Of these articles pray make full use, for you area gentleman of letters, and it is your and my joint duty to bringenlightenment to all. "

So saying, he ushered his guest into a large room lined from floor toceiling with books and stuffed specimens. The books in questionwere divided into sections--a section on forestry, a section oncattle-breeding, a section on the raising of swine, and a section onhorticulture, together with special journals of the type circulatedmerely for the purposes of reference, and not for general reading. Perceiving that these works were scarcely of a kind calculated to whileaway an idle hour, Chichikov turned to a second bookcase. But to do sowas to fall out of the frying-pan into the fire, for the contents of thesecond bookcase proved to be works on philosophy, while, in particular, six huge volumes confronted him under a label inscribed "A PreparatoryCourse to the Province of Thought, with the Theory of Community ofEffort, Co-operation, and Subsistence, in its Application to a RightUnderstanding of the Organic Principles of a Mutual Division ofSocial Productivity. " Indeed, wheresoever Chichikov looked, every pagepresented to his vision some such words as "phenomenon, " "development, ""abstract, " "contents, " and "synopsis. " "This is not the sort of thingfor me, " he murmured, and turned his attention to a third bookcase, which contained books on the Arts. Extracting a huge tome in which someby no means reticent mythological illustrations were contained, he sethimself to examine these pictures. They were of the kind which pleasesmostly middle-aged bachelors and old men who are accustomed to seekin the ballet and similar frivolities a further spur to their waningpassions. Having concluded his examination, Chichikov had just extractedanother volume of the same species when Colonel Koshkarev returned witha document of some sort and a radiant countenance. 

"Everything has been carried through in due form!" he cried. "The manwhom I mentioned is a genius indeed, and I intend not only to promotehim 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 afew minutes he has put the whole affair in order. "

"May the Lord be thanked for that!" thought Chichikov. Then he settledhimself while the Colonel read aloud:

"'After giving full consideration to the Reference which your Excellencyhas entrusted to me, I have the honour to report as follows:

"'(1) In the Statement of Plea presented by one Paul IvanovitchChichikov, Gentleman, Chevalier, and Collegiate Councillor, therelurks an error, in that an oversight has led the Petitioner to apply toRevisional Souls the term "Dead. " Now, from the context it would appearthat by this term the Petitioner desires to signify Souls ApproachingDeath rather than Souls Actually Deceased: wherefore the term employedbetrays such an empirical instruction in letters as must, beyond doubt, have been confined to the Village School, seeing that in truth the Soulis Deathless. '

"The rascal!" Koshkarev broke off to exclaim delightedly. "He hasgot you there, Monsieur Chichikov. And you will admit that he has asufficiently incisive pen?

"'(2) On this Estate there exist no Unmortgaged Souls whatsoever, whether Approaching Death or Otherwise; for the reason that all Soulsthereon have been pledged not only under a First Deed of Mortgage, butalso (for the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Roubles per Soul) undera Second, --the village of Gurmailovka alone excepted, in that, in consequence of a Suit having been brought against LandownerPriadistchev, and of a caveat having been pronounced by the Land Court, and of such caveat having been published in No. 42 of the Gazette ofMoscow, the said Village has come within the Jurisdiction of the CourtAbove-Mentioned. "

"Why did you not tell me all this before?" cried Chichikov furiously. "Why you have kept me dancing about for nothing?"

"Because it was absolutely necessary that you should view the matterthrough forms of documentary process. This is no jest on my part. Theinexperienced may see things subconsciously, yet is imperative that heshould also see them CONSCIOUSLY. "

But to Chichikov's patience an end had come. Seizing his cap, andcasting all ceremony to the winds, he fled from the house, and rushedthrough the courtyard. As it happened, the man who had driven himthither had, warned by experience, not troubled even to take out thehorses, since he knew that such a proceeding would have entailed notonly the presentation of a Statement of Plea for fodder, but also adelay of twenty-four hours until the Resolution granting the same shouldhave been passed. Nevertheless the Colonel pursued his guest to thegates, and pressed his hand warmly as he thanked him for having enabledhim (the Colonel) thus to exhibit in operation the proper management ofan estate. Also, he begged to state that, under the circumstances, itwas absolutely necessary to keep things moving and circulating, since, otherwise, slackness was apt to supervene, and the working of themachine to grow rusty and feeble; but that, in spite of all, thepresent occasion had inspired him with a happy idea--namely, the ideaof instituting a Committee which should be entitled "The Committee ofSupervision of the Committee of Management, " and which should havefor its function the detection of backsliders among the body firstmentioned. 

It was late when, tired and dissatisfied, Chichikov regainedKostanzhoglo's mansion. Indeed, the candles had long been lit. 

"What has delayed you?" asked the master of the house as Chichikoventered the drawing-room. 

"Yes, what has kept you and the Colonel so long in conversationtogether?" added Platon. 

"This--the fact that never in my life have I come across such animbecile, " was Chichikov's reply. 

"Never mind, " said Kostanzhoglo. "Koshkarev is a most reassuringphenomenon. He is necessary in that in him we see expressed incaricature all the more crying follies of our intellectuals--of theintellectuals who, without first troubling to make themselves acquaintedwith their own country, borrow silliness from abroad. Yet that ishow certain of our landowners are now carrying on. They have set up'offices' and factories and schools and 'commissions, ' and the devilknows what else besides. A fine lot of wiseacres! After the French Warin 1812 they had to reconstruct their affairs: and see how they havedone it! Yet so much worse have they done it than a Frenchman would havedone that any fool of a Peter Petrovitch Pietukh now ranks as a goodlandowner!"

"But he has mortgaged the whole of his estate?" remarked Chichikov. 

"Yes, nowadays everything is being mortgaged, or is going to be. " Thissaid, Kostanzhoglo's temper rose still further. "Out upon your factoriesof hats and candles!" he cried. "Out upon procuring candle-makersfrom London, and then turning landowners into hucksters! To think ofa Russian pomiestchik [49], a member of the noblest of callings, conducting workshops and cotton mills! Why, it is for the wenches oftowns to handle looms for muslin and lace. "

"But you yourself maintain workshops?" remarked Platon. 

"I do; but who established them? They established themselves. Forinstance, wool had accumulated, and since I had nowhere to store it, Ibegan to weave it into cloth--but, mark you, only into good, plain clothof which I can dispose at a cheap rate in the local markets, and whichis needed by peasants, including my own. Again, for six years on enddid 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 tookto boiling it into glue, and cleared forty thousand roubles by theprocess. "

"The devil!" thought Chichikov to himself as he stared at his host. "What a fist this man has for making money!"

"Another reason why I started those factories, " continued Kostanzhoglo, "is that they might give employment to many peasants who would otherwisehave starved. You see, the year happened to have been a lean one--thanksto those same industry-mongering landowners, in that they had neglectedto sow their crops; and now my factories keep growing at the rate ofa factory a year, owing to the circumstance that such quantitiesof remnants and cuttings become so accumulated that, if a man lookscarefully to his management, he will find every sort of rubbish to becapable of bringing in a return--yes, to the point of his having toreject money on the plea that he has no need of it. Yet I do not findthat to do all this I require to build a mansion with facades andpillars!"

"Marvellous!" exclaimed Chichikov. "Beyond all things does it surpriseme that refuse can be so utilised. "

"Yes, and that is what can be done by SIMPLE methods. But nowadays everyone is a mechanic, and wants to open that money chest with an instrumentinstead of simply. For that purpose he hies him to England. Yes, THAT isthe thing to do. What folly!" Kostanzhoglo spat and added: "Yet whenhe returns from abroad he is a hundred times more ignorant than when hewent. "

"Ah, Constantine, " put in his wife anxiously, "you know how bad for youit is to talk like this. "

"Yes, but how am I to help losing my temper? The thing touches me tooclosely, it vexes me too deeply to think that the Russian charactershould be degenerating. For in that character there has dawned a sort ofQuixotism which never used to be there. Yes, no sooner does a man geta little education into his head than he becomes a Don Quixote, andestablishes schools on his estate such as even a madman would never havedreamed of. And from that school there issues a workman who is good fornothing, whether in the country or in the town--a fellow who drinksand is for ever standing on his dignity. Yet still our landowners keeptaking to philanthropy, to converting themselves into philanthropicknights-errant, and spending millions upon senseless hospitals andinstitutions, and so ruining themselves and turning their familiesadrift. Yes, that is all that comes of philanthropy. "

Chichikov's business had nothing to do with the spread of enlightenment, he was but seeking an opportunity to inquire further concerning theputting of refuse to lucrative uses; but Kostanzhoglo would not lethim get a word in edgeways, so irresistibly did the flow of sarcasticcomment pour from the speaker's lips. 

"Yes, " went on Kostanzhoglo, "folk are always scheming to educate thepeasant. But first make him well-off and a good farmer. THEN he willeducate himself fast enough. As things are now, the world has grownstupid to a degree that passes belief. Look at the stuff our present-dayscribblers write! Let any sort of a book be published, and at once youwill see every one making a rush for it. Similarly will you findfolk saying: 'The peasant leads an over-simple life. He ought to befamiliarised with luxuries, and so led to yearn for things above hisstation. ' And the result of such luxuries will be that the peasant willbecome a rag rather than a man, and suffer from the devil only knowswhat diseases, until there will remain in the land not a boy of eighteenwho will not have experienced the whole gamut of them, and found himselfleft with not a tooth in his jaws or a hair on his pate. Yes, that iswhat will come of infecting the peasant with such rubbish. But, thankGod, there is still one healthy class left to us--a class which hasnever taken up with the 'advantages' of which I speak. For that we oughtto be grateful. And since, even yet, the Russian agriculturist remainsthe most respect-worthy man in the land, why should he be touched? Wouldto God every one were an agriculturist!"

"Then you believe agriculture to be the most profitable of occupations?"said Chichikov. 

"The best, at all events--if not the most profitable. 'In the sweatof thy brow shalt thou till the land. ' To quote that requires nogreat wisdom, for the experience of ages has shown us that, in theagricultural calling, man has ever remained more moral, more pure, morenoble than in any other. Of course I do not mean to imply that no othercalling ought to be practised: simply that the calling in question liesat the root of all the rest. However much factories may be establishedprivately or by the law, there will still lie ready to man's hand allthat he needs--he will still require none of those amenities whichare sapping the vitality of our present-day folk, nor any of thoseindustrial establishments which make their profit, and keep themselvesgoing, by causing foolish measures to be adopted which, in the end, are bound to deprave and corrupt our unfortunate masses. I myself amdetermined never to establish any manufacture, however profitable, which will give rise to a demand for 'higher things, ' such as sugarand tobacco--no not if I lose a million by my refusing to do so. Ifcorruption MUST overtake the MIR, it shall not be through my hands. And I think that God will justify me in my resolve. Twenty years haveI lived among the common folk, and I know what will inevitably come ofsuch things. "

"But what surprises me most, " persisted Chichikov, "is that from refuseit should be possible, with good management, to make such an immensityof profit. "

"And as for political economy, " continued Kostanzhoglo, without noticinghim, and with his face charged with bilious sarcasm, "--as for politicaleconomy, it is a fine thing indeed. Just one fool sitting on anotherfool's back, and flogging him along, even though the rider can seeno further than his own nose! Yet into the saddle will that foolclimb--spectacles and all! Oh, the folly, the folly of such things!" Andthe speaker spat derisively. 

"That may be true, " said his wife. "Yet you must not get angry about it. Surely one can speak on such subjects without losing one's temper?"

"As I listen to you, most worthy Constantine Thedorovitch, " Chichikovhastened to remark, "it becomes plain to me that you have penetratedinto the meaning of life, and laid your finger upon the essential rootof the matter. Yet supposing, for a moment, we leave the affairs ofhumanity in general, and turn our attention to a purely individualaffair, 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 thathe may fulfil his bounden obligations as a citizen), he can best setabout it?"

"How he can best set about growing wealthy?" repeated Kostanzhoglo. "Why, --"

"Let us go to supper, " interrupted the lady of the house, rising fromher chair, and moving towards the centre of the room, where she wrappedher shivering young form in a shawl. Chichikov sprang up with thealacrity of a military man, offered her his arm, and escorted her, ason parade, to the dining-room, where awaiting them there was thesoup-toureen. From it the lid had just been removed, and the room wasredolent of the fragrant odour of early spring roots and herbs. Thecompany took their seats, and at once the servants placed theremainder 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 thewhile that he was eating. 

When the soup had been consumed, and glasses of an excellent vintageresembling Hungarian wine had been poured out, Chichikov said to hishost:

"Most worthy sir, allow me once more to direct your attention to thesubject of which we were speaking at the point when the conversationbecame interrupted. You will remember that I was asking you how best aman can set about, proceed in, the matter of growing. .. "

 [Here from the original two pages are missing. ]

. .. "A property for which, had he asked forty thousand, I should stillhave demanded a reduction. "

"Hm!" thought Chichikov; then added aloud: "But why do you not purchaseit yourself?"

"Because to everything there must be assigned a limit. Already myproperty keeps me sufficiently employed. Moreover, I should cause ourlocal dvoriane to begin crying out in chorus that I am exploiting theirextremities, their ruined position, for the purpose of acquiring landfor under its value. Of that I am weary. "

"How readily folk speak evil!" exclaimed Chichikov. 

"Yes, and the amount of evil-speaking in our province surpasses belief. Never will you hear my name mentioned without my being called alsoa miser and a usurer of the worst possible sort; whereas my accusersjustify themselves in everything, and say that, 'though we have wastedour money, we have started a demand for the higher amenities of life, and therefore encouraged industry with our wastefulness, a far betterway of doing things than that practised by Kostanzhoglo, who lives likea pig. '"

"Would _I_ could live in your 'piggish' fashion!" ejaculated Chichikov. 

"And so forth, and so forth. Yet what are the 'higher amenities oflife'? What good can they do to any one? Even if a landowner of theday sets up a library, he never looks at a single book in it, but soonrelapses into card-playing--the usual pursuit. Yet folk call me namessimply because I do not waste my means upon the giving of dinners! Onereason why I do not give such dinners is that they weary me; and anotherreason is that I am not used to them. But come you to my house for thepurpose 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 isthat if you should come to me when you are really in need, and shouldexplain to me openly how you propose to employ my money, and I shouldperceive that you are purposing to use that money wisely, and that youare really likely to profit thereby--well, in that case you would findme ready to lend you all that you might ask without interest at all. "

"That is a thing which it is well to know, " reflected Chichikov. 

"Yes, " repeated Kostanzhoglo, "under those circumstances I should neverrefuse you my assistance. But I do object to throwing my money to thewinds. Pardon me for expressing myself so plainly. To think of lendingmoney to a man who is merely devising a dinner for his mistress, orplanning to furnish his house like a lunatic, or thinking of taking hisparamour to a masked ball or a jubilee in honour of some one who hadbetter never have been born!"

And, spitting, he came near to venting some expression which wouldscarcely have been becoming in the presence of his wife. Over his facethe dark shadow of hypochondria had cast a cloud, and furrows had formedon his brow and temples, and his every gesture bespoke the influence ofa hot, nervous rancour. 

"But allow me once more to direct your attention to the subject of ourrecently interrupted conversation, " persisted Chichikov as he sipped aglass of excellent raspberry wine. "That is to say, supposing I wereto acquire the property which you have been good enough to bring to mynotice, how long would it take me to grow rich?"

"That would depend on yourself, " replied Kostanzhoglo with grimabruptness and evident ill-humour. "You might either grow rich quicklyor you might never grow rich at all. If you made up your mind to growrich, sooner or later you would find yourself a wealthy man. "

"Indeed?" ejaculated Chichikov. 

"Yes, " replied Kostanzhoglo, as sharply as though he were angry withChichikov. "You would merely need to be fond of work: otherwise youwould effect nothing. The main thing is to like looking after yourproperty. Believe me, you would never grow weary of doing so. Peoplewould have it that life in the country is dull; whereas, if I were tospend a single day as it is spent by some folk, with their stupid clubsand their restaurants and their theatres, I should die of ennui. Thefools, the idiots, the generations of blind dullards! But a landownernever finds the days wearisome--he has not the time. In his life not amoment remains unoccupied; it is full to the brim. And with it all goesan endless variety of occupations. And what occupations! Occupationswhich genuinely uplift the soul, seeing that the landowner walks withnature and the seasons of the year, and takes part in, and is intimatewith, everything which is evolved by creation. For let us look at theround of the year's labours. Even before spring has arrived there willhave begun a general watching and a waiting for it, and a preparing forsowing, and an apportioning of crops, and a measuring of seed grain bybyres, and drying of seed, and a dividing of the workers into teams. For everything needs to be examined beforehand, and calculations must bemade 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 beworkable, the spade will begin its task in kitchen and flower garden, and the plough and the harrow their tasks in the field; until everywherethere will be tilling and sowing and planting. And do you understandwhat the sum of that labour will mean? It will mean that the harvest isbeing sown, that the welfare of the world is being sown, that thefood of millions is being put into the earth. And thereafter will comesummer, the season of reaping, endless reaping; for suddenly the cropswill have ripened, and rye-sheaf will be lying heaped upon rye-sheaf, with, elsewhere, stocks of barley, and of oats, and of wheat. Andeverything will be teeming with life, and not a moment will there needto be lost, seeing that, had you even twenty eyes, you would have needfor them all. And after the harvest festivities there will be grain tobe carted to byre or stacked in ricks, and stores to be prepared for thewinter, and storehouses and kilns and cattle-sheds to be cleaned for thesame purpose, and the women to be assigned their tasks, and the totalsof everything to be calculated, so that one may see the value ofwhat has been done. And lastly will come winter, when in everythreshing-floor the flail will be working, and the grain, when threshed, will need to be carried from barn to binn, and the mills require to beseen to, and the estate factories to be inspected, and the workmen'shuts to be visited for the purpose of ascertaining how the muzhik isfaring (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 cheeringto me is labour). And if, in addition, one discerns the end to whicheverything is moving, and the manner in which the things of earth areeverywhere multiplying and multiplying, and bringing forth more and morefruit to one's profiting, I cannot adequately express what takesplace in a man's soul. And that, not because of the growth in hiswealth--money is money and no more--but because he will feel thateverything is the work of his own hands, and that he has been the causeof everything, and its creator, and that from him, as from a magician, there has flowed bounty and goodness for all. In what other calling willyou find such delights in prospect?" As he spoke, Kostanzhoglo raisedhis face, and it became clear that the wrinkles had fled from it, andthat, like the Tsar on the solemn day of his crowning, Kostanzhoglo'swhole form was diffusing light, and his features had in them a gentleradiance. "In all the world, " he repeated, "you will find no joys likethese, for herein man imitates the God who projected creation as thesupreme happiness, and now demands of man that he, too, should act asthe creator of prosperity. Yet there are folk who call such functionstedious!"

Kostanzhoglo's mellifluous periods fell upon Chichikov's ear likethe notes of a bird of paradise. From time to time he gulped, and hissoftened eyes expressed the pleasure which it gave him to listen. 

"Constantine, it is time to leave the table, " said the lady of thehouse, rising from her seat. Every one followed her example, andChichikov once again acted as his hostess's escort--although with lessdexterity of deportment than before, owing to the fact that this timehis thoughts were occupied with more essential matters of procedure. 

"In spite of what you say, " remarked Platon as he walked behind thepair, "I, for my part, find these things wearisome. "

But the master of the house paid no attention to his remark, for he wasreflecting that his guest was no fool, but a man of serious thoughtand speech who did not take things lightly. And, with the thought, Kostanzhoglo grew lighter in soul, as though he had warmed himself withhis own words, and were exulting in the fact that he had found some onecapable of listening to good advice. 

When they had settled themselves in the cosy, candle-lighteddrawing-room, with its balcony and the glass door opening out into thegarden--a door through which the stars could be seen glittering amid theslumbering tops of the trees--Chichikov felt more comfortable than hehad done for many a day past. It was as though, after long journeying, his own roof-tree had received him once more--had received him whenhis quest had been accomplished, when all that he wished for had beengained, when his travelling-staff had been laid aside with the words "Itis finished. " And of this seductive frame of mind the true source hadbeen the eloquent discourse of his hospitable host. Yes, for every manthere exist certain things which, instantly that they are said, seem totouch 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 facewith a man whose burning periods will lead one to forget oneself andthe tracklessness of the route and the discomfort of one's nightlyhalting-places, and the futility of crazes and the falseness of tricksby which one human being deceives another. And at once there will becomeengraven upon one's memory--vividly, and for all time--the evening thusspent. And of that evening one's remembrance will hold true, both as towho was present, and where each such person sat, and what he or she waswearing, and what the walls and the stove and other trifling features ofthe room looked like. 

In the same way did Chichikov note each detail that evening--both theappointments of the agreeable, but not luxuriously furnished, room, andthe good-humoured expression which reigned on the face of the thoughtfulhost, and the design of the curtains, and the amber-mounted pipe smokedby Platon, and the way in which he kept puffing smoke into the fatjowl of the dog Yarb, and the sneeze which, on each such occasion, Yarbvented, and the laughter of the pleasant-faced hostess (though alwaysfollowed by the words "Pray do not tease him any more") and the cheerfulcandle-light, and the cricket chirping in a corner, and the glass door, and the spring night which, laying its elbows upon the tree-tops, andspangled with stars, and vocal with the nightingales which were pouringforth warbled ditties from the recesses of the foliage, kept glancingthrough the door, and regarding the company within. 

"How it delights me to hear your words, good Constantine Thedorovitch!"said Chichikov. "Indeed, nowhere in Russia have I met with a man ofequal intellect. "

Kostanzhoglo smiled, while realising that the compliment was scarcelydeserved. 

"If you want a man of GENUINE intellect, " he said, "I can tell you ofone. He is a man whose boot soles are worth more than my whole body. "

"Who may he be?" asked Chichikov in astonishment. 

"Murazov, our local Commissioner of Taxes. "

"Ah! I have heard of him before, " remarked Chichikov. 

"He is a man who, were he not the director of an estate, might well be adirector of the Empire. And were the Empire under my direction, I shouldat once appoint him my Minister of Finance. "

"I have heard tales beyond belief concerning him--for instance, that hehas acquired ten million roubles. "

"Ten? More than forty. Soon half Russia will be in his hands. "

"You don't say so?" cried Chichikov in amazement. 

"Yes, certainly. The man who has only a hundred thousand roubles to workwith grows rich but slowly, whereas he who has millions at his disposalcan operate over a greater radius, and so back whatsoever he undertakeswith twice or thrice the money which can be brought against him. Consequently his field becomes so spacious that he ends by having norivals. Yes, no one can compete with him, and, whatsoever price he mayfix for a given commodity, at that price it will have to remain, norwill any man be able to outbid it. "

"My God!" muttered Chichikov, crossing himself, and staring atKostanzhoglo with his breath catching in his throat. "The mind cannotgrasp it--it petrifies one's thoughts with awe. You see folk marvellingat what Science has achieved in the matter of investigating the habitsof cowbugs, but to me it is a far more marvellous thing that in thehands of a single mortal there can become accumulated such gigantic sumsof money. But may I ask whether the great fortune of which you speak hasbeen acquired through honest means?"

"Yes; through means of the most irreproachable kind--through the mosthonourable of methods. "

"Yet so improbable does it seem that I can scarcely believe it. Thousands I could understand, but millions--!"

"On the contrary, to make thousands honestly is a far more difficultmatter than to make millions. Millions are easily come by, for amillionaire has no need to resort to crooked ways; the way lies straightbefore him, and he needs but to annex whatsoever he comes across. Norival will spring up to oppose him, for no rival will be sufficientlystrong, 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 oneelse's one. Consequently, what interest will he derive from a thousandroubles? Why, ten or twenty per cent. At the least. "

"And it is beyond measure marvellous that the whole should have startedfrom 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 broughtup to thousands, will never acquire a single kopeck more, for he willhave been set up with the amenities of life in advance, and so nevercome to stand in need of anything. It is necessary to begin from thebeginning rather than from the middle; from a kopeck rather than from arouble; from the bottom rather than from the top. For only thus will aman get to know the men and conditions among which his career will haveto be carved. That is to say, through encountering the rough and thetumble of life, and through learning that every kopeck has to be beatenout with a three-kopeck nail, and through worsting knave after knave, hewill acquire such a degree of perspicuity and wariness that he will errin nothing which he may tackle, and never come to ruin. Believe me, itis 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 meetwith 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, involuntarilyremembering the dead souls. "For of a surety _I_ began with nothing. "

"Constantine, pray allow Paul Ivanovitch to retire to rest, " put inthe lady of the house. "It is high time, and I am sure you have talkedenough. "

"Yes, beyond a doubt you will grow rich, " continued Kostanzhoglo, without heeding his wife. "For towards you there will run rivers andrivers of gold, until you will not know what to do with all your gains. "

As though spellbound, Chichikov sat in an aureate world of ever-growingdreams and fantasies. All his thoughts were in a whirl, and on a carpetof future wealth his tumultuous imagination was weaving golden patterns, while ever in his ears were ringing the words, "towards you there willrun rivers and rivers of gold. "

"Really, Constantine, DO allow Paul Ivanovitch to go to bed. "

"What on earth is the matter?" retorted the master of the householdtestily. "Pray go yourself if you wish to. " Then he stopped short, forthe snoring of Platon was filling the whole room, and also--outrivallingit--that of the dog Yarb. This caused Kostanzhoglo to realise thatbedtime really had arrived; wherefore, after he had shaken Platon outof his slumbers, and bidden Chichikov good night, all dispersed to theirseveral chambers, and became plunged in sleep. 

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 withhis host had made everything clear, had made the possibility ofhis acquiring riches manifest, had made the difficult art of estatemanagement at once easy and understandable; until it would seem asthough particularly was his nature adapted for mastering the art inquestion. All that he would need to do would be to mortgage the deadsouls, and then to set up a genuine establishment. Already hesaw himself acting and administering as Kostanzhoglo had advisedhim--energetically, and through personal oversight, and undertakingnothing new until the old had been thoroughly learned, and viewingeverything with his own eyes, and making himself familiar with eachmember of his peasantry, and abjuring all superfluities, and givinghimself up to hard work and husbandry. Yes, already could he taste thepleasure which would be his when he had built up a complete industrialorganisation, and the springs of the industrial machine were in vigorousworking order, and each had become able to reinforce the other. Labourshould be kept in active operation, and, even as, in a mill, flour comesflowing from grain, so should cash, and yet more cash, come flowing fromevery atom of refuse and remnant. And all the while he could see beforehim the landowner who was one of the leading men in Russia, and for whomhe had conceived such an unbounded respect. Hitherto only for rank orfor opulence had Chichikov respected a man--never for mere intellectualpower; but now he made a first exception in favour of Kostanzhoglo, seeing that he felt that nothing undertaken by his host could possiblycome to naught. And another project which was occupying Chichikov's mindwas the project of purchasing the estate of a certain landowner namedKhlobuev. 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 helpany one who really desired to grow rich); while, as for the remainder, he would either raise the sum by mortgaging the estate or force Khlobuevto wait for it--just to tell him to resort to the courts if such mightbe his pleasure. 

Long did our hero ponder the scheme; until at length the slumber whichhad, these four hours past, been holding the rest of the household inits embraces enfolded also Chichikov, and he sank into oblivion. 

CHAPTER IV

Next day, with Platon and Constantine, Chichikov set forth to interviewKhlobuev, the owner whose estate Constantine had consented to helpChichikov to purchase with a non-interest-bearing, uncovenanted loan often thousand roubles. Naturally, our hero was in the highest of spirits. For the first fifteen versts or so the road led through forest land andtillage belonging to Platon and his brother-in-law; but directly thelimit of these domains was reached, forest land began to be replacedwith swamp, and tillage with waste. Also, the village in Khlobuev'sestate had about it a deserted air, and as for the proprietor himself, he was discovered in a state of drowsy dishevelment, having not longleft his bed. A man of about forty, he had his cravat crooked, hisfrockcoat adorned with a large stain, and one of his boots worn through. Nevertheless he seemed delighted to see his visitors. 

"What?" he exclaimed. "Constantine Thedorovitch and Platon Mikhalitch?Really I must rub my eyes! Never again in this world did I look to seecallers arriving. As a rule, folk avoid me like the devil, for theycannot disabuse their minds of the idea that I am going to ask them fora loan. Yes, it is my own fault, I know, but what would you? To the endwill swine cheat swine. Pray excuse my costume. You will observe that myboots are in holes. But how can I afford to get them mended?"

"Never mind, " said Constantine. "We have come on business only. May Ipresent to you a possible purchaser of your estate, in the person ofPaul Ivanovitch Chichikov?"

"I am indeed glad to meet you!" was Khlobuev's response. "Pray shakehands with me, Paul Ivanovitch. "

Chichikov offered one hand, but not both. 

"I can show you a property worth your attention, " went on the master ofthe estate. "May I ask if you have yet dined?"

"Yes, we have, " put in Constantine, desirous of escaping as soon aspossible. "To save you further trouble, let us go and view the estate atonce. "

"Very well, " replied Khlobuev. "Pray come and inspect my irregularitiesand futilities. You have done well to dine beforehand, for not so muchas a fowl is left in the place, so dire are the extremities to which yousee me reduced. "

Sighing deeply, he took Platon by the arm (it was clear that he didnot look for any sympathy from Constantine) and walked ahead, whileConstantine and Chichikov followed. 

"Things are going hard with me, Platon Mikhalitch, " continued Khlobuev. "How hard you cannot imagine. No money have I, no food, no boots. WereI still young and a bachelor, it would have come easy to me to live onbread and cheese; but when a man is growing old, and has got a wifeand five children, such trials press heavily upon him, and, in spite ofhimself, his spirits sink. "

"But, should you succeed in selling the estate, that would help to putyou right, would it not?" said Platon. 

"How could it do so?" replied Khlobuev with a despairing gesture. "WhatI might get for the property would have to go towards discharging mydebts, and I should find myself left with less than a thousand roublesbesides. "

"Then what do you intend to do?"

"God knows. "

"But is there NOTHING to which you could set your hand in order to clearyourself of your difficulties?"

"How could there be?"

"Well, you might accept a Government post. "

"Become a provincial secretary, you mean? How could I obtain such apost? They would not offer me one of the meanest possible kind. Evensupposing that they did, how could I live on a salary of five hundredroubles--I who have a wife and five children?"

"Then try and obtain a bailiff's post. "

"Who would entrust their property to a man who has squandered his ownestate?"

"Nevertheless, when death and destitution threaten, a man must eitherdo something or starve. Shall I ask my brother to use his influence toprocure you a post?"

"No, no, Platon Mikhalitch, " sighed Khlobuev, gripping the other's hand. "I am no longer serviceable--I am grown old before my time, and findthat liver and rheumatism are paying me for the sins of my youth. Whyshould the Government be put to a loss on my account?--not to speak ofthe fact that for every salaried post there are countless numbers ofapplicants. God forbid that, in order to provide me with a livelihoodfurther burdens should be imposed upon an impoverished public!"

"Such are the results of improvident management!" thought Platon tohimself. "The disease is even worse than my slothfulness. "

Meanwhile Kostanzhoglo, walking by Chichikov's side, was almost takingleave of his senses. 

"Look at it!" he cried with a wave of his hand. "See to whatwretchedness the peasant has become reduced! Should cattle disease come, Khlobuev will have nothing to fall back upon, but will be forced to sellhis all--to leave the peasant without a horse, and therefore without themeans to labour, even though the loss of a single day's work may takeyears of labour to rectify. Meanwhile it is plain that the local peasanthas become a mere dissolute, lazy drunkard. Give a muzhik enough to liveupon for twelve months without working, and you will corrupt him forever, so inured to rags and vagrancy will he grow. And what is the goodof that piece of pasture there--of that piece on the further side ofthose huts? It is a mere flooded tract. Were it mine, I should putit under flax, and clear five thousand roubles, or else sow it withturnips, and clear, perhaps, four thousand. And see how the rye isdrooping, and nearly laid. As for wheat, I am pretty sure that he hasnot sown any. Look, too, at those ravines! Were they mine, they wouldbe standing under timber which even a rook could not top. To think ofwasting such quantities of land! Where land wouldn't bear corn, I shoulddig it up, and plant it with vegetables. What ought to be done is thatKhlobuev ought to take a spade into his own hands, and to set his wifeand children and servants to do the same; and even if they died of theexertion, they would at least die doing their duty, and not throughguzzling at the dinner table. "

This said, Kostanzhoglo spat, and his brow flushed with grimindignation. 

Presently they reached an elevation whence the distant flashing of ariver, with its flood waters and subsidiary streams, caught the eye, while, further off, a portion of General Betristchev's homestead couldbe discerned among the trees, and, over it, a blue, densely wooded hillwhich Chichikov guessed to be the spot where Tientietnikov's mansion wassituated. 

"This is where I should plant timber, " said Chichikov. "And, regardedas a site for a manor house, the situation could scarcely be beaten forbeauty of view. "

"You seem to get great store upon views and beauty, " remarkedKostanzhoglo with reproof in his tone. "Should you pay too muchattention to those things, you might find yourself without crops orview. Utility should be placed first, not beauty. Beauty will come ofitself. Take, for example, towns. The fairest and most beautiful townsare those which have built themselves--those in which each man has builtto suit his own exclusive circumstances and needs; whereas towns whichmen have constructed on regular, string-taut lines are no better thancollections of barracks. Put beauty aside, and look only to what isNECESSARY. "

"Yes, but to me it would always be irksome to have to wait. All the timethat I was doing so I should be hungering to see in front of the me thesort of prospect which I prefer. "

"Come, come! Are you a man of twenty-five--you who have served as atchinovnik in St. Petersburg? Have patience, have patience. For sixyears work, and work hard. Plant, sow, and dig the earth without takinga moment's rest. It will be difficult, I know--yes, 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 toassist in the work seven hundred pairs of hands which you cannot see. Thus everything will be multiplied tenfold. I myself have ceased evento have to lift a finger, for whatsoever needs to be done gets done ofitself. Nature loves patience: always remember that. It is a law givenher of God Himself, who has blessed all those who are strong to endure. "

"To hear your words is to be both encouraged and strengthened, " saidChichikov. To this Kostanzhoglo made no reply, but presently went on:

"And see how that piece of land has been ploughed! To stay here longeris more than I can do. For me, to have to look upon such want oforderliness and foresight is death. Finish your business with Khlobuevwithout me, and whatsoever you do, get this treasure out of that fool'shands as quickly as possible, for he is dishonouring God's gifts. "

And Kostanzhoglo, his face dark with the rage that was seething inhis excitable soul, left Chichikov, and caught up the owner of theestablishment. 

"What, Constantine Thedorovitch?" cried Khlobuev in astonishment. "Justarrived, you are going already?"

"Yes; I cannot help it; urgent business requires me at home. " Andentering his gig, Kostanzhoglo drove rapidly away. Somehow Khlobuevseemed to divine the cause of his sudden departure. 

"It was too much for him, " he remarked. "An agriculturist of thatkind does not like to have to look upon the results of such fecklessmanagement as mine. Would you believe it, Paul Ivanovitch, but this yearI have been unable to sow any wheat! Am I not a fine husbandman? Therewas no seed for the purpose, nor yet anything with which to prepare theground. No, I am not like Constantine Thedorovitch, who, I hear, is aperfect Napoleon in his particular line. Again and again the thoughtoccurs to me, 'Why has so much intellect been put into that head, andonly 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 poorfellows, 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, PaulIvanovitch, for I cannot teach them orderliness and method when I myselflack both. As a matter of fact, I should have given them their freedomlong ago, had there been any use in my doing so; for even I can see thatpeasants must first be afforded the means of earning a livelihood beforethey can live. What they need is a stern, yet just, master who shalllive with them, day in, day out, and set them an example of tirelessenergy. The present-day Russian--I know of it myself--is helplesswithout a driver. Without one he falls asleep, and the mould grows overhim. "

"Yet I cannot understand WHY he should fall asleep and grow mouldy inthat fashion, " said Platon. "Why should he need continual surveillanceto keep him from degenerating into a drunkard and a good-for-nothing?"

"The cause is lack of enlightenment, " said Chichikov. 

"Possibly--only God knows. Yet enlightenment has reached us rightenough. Do we not attend university lectures and everything else thatis befitting? Take my own education. I learnt not only the usual things, but also the art of spending money upon the latest refinement, thelatest amenity--the art of familiarising oneself with whatsoever moneycan buy. How, then, can it be said that I was educated foolishly? Andmy comrades' education was the same. A few of them succeeded in annexingthe cream of things, for the reason that they had the wit to do so, andthe rest spent their time in doing their best to ruin their health andsquander their money. Often I think there is no hope for the present-dayRussian. While desiring to do everything, he accomplishes nothing. Oneday he will scheme to begin a new mode of existence, a new dietary; yetbefore evening he will have so over-eaten himself as to be unable tospeak or do aught but sit staring like an owl. The same with every one. "

"Quite so, " agreed Chichikov with a smile. "'Tis everywhere the samestory. "

"To tell the truth, we are not born to common sense. I doubt whetherRussia has ever produced a really sensible man. For my own part, if Isee my neighbour living a regular life, and making money, and savingit, I begin to distrust him, and to feel certain that in old age, if notbefore, he too will be led astray by the devil--led astray in a moment. Yes, whether or not we be educated, there is something we lack. But whatthat something is passes my understanding. "

On the return journey the prospect was the same as before. Everywherethe same slovenliness, the same disorder, was displaying itselfunadorned: the only difference being that a fresh puddle had formed inthe middle of the village street. This want and neglect was noticeablein the peasants' quarters equally with the quarters of the barin. Inthe village a furious woman in greasy sackcloth was beating a poor youngwench within an ace of her life, and at the same time devoting somethird person to the care of all the devils in hell; further awaya couple of peasants were stoically contemplating the virago--onescratching his rump as he did so, and the other yawning. The same yawnwas discernible in the buildings, for not a roof was there but had agaping hole in it. As he gazed at the scene Platon himself yawned. Patchwas superimposed upon patch, and, in place of a roof, one hut had apiece of wooden fencing, while its crumbling window-frames were stayedwith sticks purloined from the barin's barn. Evidently the systemof upkeep in vogue was the system employed in the case of Trishkin'scoat--the system of cutting up the cuffs and the collar into mendingsfor the elbows. 

"No, I do not admire your way of doing things, " was Chichikov's unspokencomment when the inspection had been concluded and the party hadre-entered the house. Everywhere in the latter the visitors werestruck with the way in which poverty went with glittering, fashionableprofusion. On a writing-table lay a volume of Shakespeare, and, on anoccasional table, a carved ivory back-scratcher. The hostess, too, waselegantly and fashionably attired, and devoted her whole conversationto the town and the local theatre. Lastly, the children--bright, merrylittle things--were well-dressed both as regards boys and girls. Yetfar better would it have been for them if they had been clad in plainstriped smocks, and running about the courtyard like peasant children. Presently a visitor arrived in the shape of a chattering, gossipingwoman; whereupon the hostess carried her off to her own portion of thehouse, and, the children following them, the men found themselves alone. 

"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 Ifind 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 thewhole of the story. That is to say, I will not conceal from you the factthat, out of a hundred souls registered at the last revision, only fiftysurvive, 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 wouldend in the property having to pass en bloc to the legal authorities. For these reasons I am asking only thirty-five thousand roubles for theestate. "

Chichikov (it need hardly be said) started to haggle. 

"Thirty-five thousand?" he cried. "Come, come! Surely you will acceptTWENTY-five thousand?"

This was too much for Platon's conscience. 

"Now, now, Paul Ivanovitch!" he exclaimed. "Take the property at theprice named, and have done with it. The estate is worth at least thatamount--so much so that, should you not be willing to give it, mybrother-in-law and I will club together to effect the purchase. "

"That being so, " said Chichikov, taken aback, "I beg to agree to theprice in question. At the same time, I must ask you to allow me to deferpayment of one-half of the purchase money until a year from now. "

"No, no, Paul Ivanovitch. Under no circumstances could I do that. Payme half now, and the rest in. .. [50] You see, I need the money for theredemption of the mortgage. "

"That places me in a difficulty, " remarked Chichikov. "Ten thousandroubles is all that at the moment I have available. " As a matter offact, this was not true, seeing that, counting also the money which hehad borrowed of Kostanzhoglo, he had at his disposal TWENTY thousand. His real reason for hesitating was that he disliked the idea of makingso large a payment in a lump sum. 

"I must repeat my request, Paul Ivanovitch, " said Khlobuev, "--namely, that you pay me at least fifteen thousand immediately. "

"The odd five thousand _I_ will lend you, " put in Platon to Chichikov. 

"Indeed?" exclaimed Chichikov as he reflected: "So he also lends money!"

In the end Chichikov's dispatch-box was brought from the koliaska, andKhlobuev received thence ten thousand roubles, together with a promisethat the remaining five thousand should be forthcoming on the morrow;though the promise was given only after Chichikov had first proposedthat THREE thousand should be brought on the day named, and the restbe left over for two or three days longer, if not for a still moreprotracted period. The truth was that Paul Ivanovitch hated parting withmoney. No matter how urgent a situation might have been, he would stillhave preferred to pay a sum to-morrow rather than to-day. In otherwords, he acted as we all do, for we all like keeping a petitionerwaiting. "Let him rub his back in the hall for a while, " we say. "Surelyhe can bide his time a little?" Yet of the fact that every hour may beprecious to the poor wretch, and that his business may suffer fromthe delay, we take no account. "Good sir, " we say, "pray come againto-morrow. To-day I have no time to spare you. "

"Where do you intend henceforth to live?" inquired Platon. "Have you anyother property to which you can retire?"

"No, " replied Khlobuev. "I shall remove to the town, where I possessa small villa. That would have been necessary, in any case, for thechildren's sake. You see, they must have instruction in God's word, andalso lessons in music and dancing; and not for love or money can thesethings be procured in the country. 

"Nothing to eat, yet dancing lessons for his children!" reflectedChichikov. 

"An extraordinary man!" was Platon's unspoken comment. 

"However, we must contrive to wet our bargain somehow, " continuedKhlobuev. "Hi, Kirushka! Bring that bottle of champagne. "

"Nothing to eat, yet champagne to drink!" reflected Chichikov. As forPlaton, he did not know WHAT to think. 

In Khlobuev's eyes it was de rigueur that he should provide a guest withchampagne; but, though he had sent to the town for some, he had been metwith a blank refusal to forward even a bottle of kvass on credit. Only the discovery of a French dealer who had recently transferred hisbusiness from St. Petersburg, and opened a connection on a systemof general credit, saved the situation by placing Khlobuev under theobligation of patronising him. 

The company drank three glassfuls apiece, and so grew more cheerful. In particular did Khlobuev expand, and wax full of civility andfriendliness, and scatter witticisms and anecdotes to right and left. What knowledge of men and the world did his utterances display! How welland accurately could he divine things! With what appositeness did hesketch the neighbouring landowners! How clearly he exposed theirfaults and failings! How thoroughly he knew the story of certain ruinedgentry--the story of how, why, and through what cause they had fallenupon evil days! With what comic originality could he describe theirlittle habits and customs!

In short, his guests found themselves charmed with his discourse, andfelt inclined to vote him a man of first-rate intellect. 

"What most surprises me, " said Chichikov, "is how, in view of yourability, you come to be so destitute of means or resources. "

"But I have plenty of both, " said Khlobuev, and with that went on todeliver himself of a perfect avalanche of projects. Yet those projectsproved to be so uncouth, so clumsy, so little the outcome of a knowledgeof men and things, that his hearers could only shrug their shoulders andmentally exclaim: "Good Lord! What a difference between worldly wisdomand the capacity to use it!" In every case the projects in question werebased upon the imperative necessity of at once procuring from somewheretwo hundred--or at least one hundred--thousand roubles. That done (soKhlobuev averred), everything would fall into its proper place, the holes in his pockets would become stopped, his income would bequadrupled, and he would find himself in a position to liquidate hisdebts in full. Nevertheless he ended by saying: "What would you adviseme to do? I fear that the philanthropist who would lend me two hundredthousand roubles or even a hundred thousand, does not exist. It is notGod's will that he should. "

"Good gracious!" inwardly ejaculated Chichikov. "To suppose that Godwould send such a fool two hundred thousand roubles!"

"However, " went on Khlobuev, "I possess an aunt worth three millions--apious old woman who gives freely to churches and monasteries, but findsa difficulty in helping her neighbour. At the same time, she is a ladyof the old school, and worth having a peep at. Her canaries alonenumber four hundred, and, in addition, there is an army of pug-dogs, hangers-on, and servants. Even the youngest of the servants is sixty, but she calls them all 'young fellows, ' and if a guest happens to offendher during dinner, she orders them to leave him out when handing out thedishes. THERE'S a woman for you!"

Platon laughed. 

"And what may her family name be?" asked Chichikov. "And where does shelive?"

"She lives in the county town, and her name is Alexandra IvanovnaKhanasarov. "

"Then why do you not apply to her?" asked Platon earnestly. "It seemsto me that, once she realised the position of your family, she could notpossibly refuse you. "

"Alas! nothing is to be looked for from that quarter, " replied Khlobuev. "My aunt is of a very stubborn disposition--a 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, andto that end has managed to insinuate himself into the circle of herkinsfolk. By the way, " the speaker added, turning to Platon, "would youdo me a favour? Next week I am giving a dinner to the associated guildsof the town. "

Platon stared. He had been unaware that both in our capitals and inour provincial towns there exists a class of men whose lives arean enigma--men who, though they will seem to have exhausted theirsubstance, and to have become enmeshed in debt, will suddenly bereported 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 tobe their host's last fling, and that for a certainty he will be haled toprison on the morrow, ten years or more will elapse, and the rascal willstill be at liberty, even though, in the meanwhile, his debts will haveincreased!

In the same way did the conduct of Khlobuev's menage afford a curiousphenomenon, for one day the house would be the scene of a solemn TeDeum, performed by a priest in vestments, and the next of a stage playperformed 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 abanquet and generous largesse given to a party of artists and sculptors. During these seasons of scarcity (sufficiently severe to have led anyone but Khlobuev to seek suicide by hanging or shooting), the master ofthe house would be preserved from rash action by his strongly religiousdisposition, which, contriving in some curious way to conform with hisirregular mode of life, enabled him to fall back upon reading the livesof saints, ascetics, and others of the type which has risen superior toits misfortunes. And at such times his spirit would become softened, histhoughts full of gentleness, and his eyes wet with tears; he would fallto saying his prayers, and invariably some strange coincidence wouldbring an answer thereto in the shape of an unexpected measure ofassistance. That is to say, some former friend of his would rememberhim, and send him a trifle in the way of money; or else some femalevisitor would be moved by his story to let her impulsive, generous heartproffer him a handsome gift; or else a suit whereof tidings had nevereven reached his ears would end by being decided in his favour. And whenthat happened he would reverently acknowledge the immensity of the mercyof Providence, gratefully tender thanksgiving for the same, and betakehimself again to his irregular mode of existence. 

"Somehow I feel sorry for the man, " said Platon when he and Chichikovhad taken leave of their host, and left the house. 

"Perhaps so, but he is a hopeless prodigal, " replied the other. "Personally I find it impossible to compassionate such fellows. "

And with that the pair ceased to devote another thought to Khlobuev. Inthe case of Platon, this was because he contemplated the fortunes of hisfellows with the lethargic, half-somnolent eye which he turned upon allthe rest of the world; for though the sight of distress of others wouldcause his heart to contract and feel full of sympathy, the impressionthus produced never sank into the depths of his being. Accordingly, before many minutes were over he had ceased to bestow a single thoughtupon his late host. With Chichikov, however, things were different. Whereas Platon had ceased to think of Khlobuev no more than he hadceased to think of himself, Chichikov's mind had strayed elsewhere, for the reason that it had become taken up with grave meditation on thesubject of the purchase just made. Suddenly finding himself no longera fictitious proprietor, but the owner of a real, an actually existing, estate, he became contemplative, and his plans and ideas assumed such aserious vein as imparted to his features an unconsciously important air. 

"Patience and hard work!" he muttered to himself. "The thing will not bedifficult, for with those two requisites I have been familiar from thedays 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 wascapable in my youth?"

However, no matter how he regarded the future, and no matter from whatpoint of view he considered his recent acquisition, he could see nothingbut advantage likely to accrue from the bargain. For one thing, he mightbe able to proceed so that, first the whole of the estate should bemortgaged, and then the better portions of land sold outright. Or hemight so contrive matters as to manage the property for a while(and thus become a landowner like Kostanzhoglo, whose advice, as hisneighbour and his benefactor, he intended always to follow), and then todispose of the property by private treaty (provided he did not wish tocontinue his ownership), and still to retain in his hands the dead andabandoned souls. And another possible coup occurred to his mind. That isto say, he might contrive to withdraw from the district without havingrepaid Kostanzhoglo at all! Truly a splendid idea! Yet it is only fairto say that the idea was not one of Chichikov's own conception. Rather, it had presented itself--mocking, laughing, and winking--unbidden. Yetthe impudent, the wanton thing! Who is the procreator of suddenlyborn ideas of the kind? The thought that he was now a real, an actual, proprietor instead of a fictitious--that he was now a proprietor of realland, real rights of timber and pasture, and real serfs who existed notonly in the imagination, but also in veritable actuality--greatly elatedour hero. So he took to dancing up and down in his seat, to rubbinghis hands together, to winking at himself, to holding his fist, trumpet-wise, 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 hewas not alone, he hastened to moderate his behaviour and endeavoured tostifle the endless flow of his good spirits; with the result that whenPlaton, mistaking certain sounds for utterances addressed to himself, inquired what his companion had said, the latter retained the presenceof mind to reply "Nothing. "

Presently, as Chichikov gazed about him, he saw that for some time pastthe koliaska had been skirting a beautiful wood, and that on either sidethe road was bordered with an edging of birch trees, the tenderly-green, recently-opened leaves of which caused their tall, slender trunks toshow up with the whiteness of a snowdrift. Likewise nightingales werewarbling from the recesses of the foliage, and some wood tulips wereglowing yellow in the grass. Next (and almost before Chichikov hadrealised how he came to be in such a beautiful spot when, but a momentbefore, there had been visible only open fields) there glimmered amongthe trees the stony whiteness of a church, with, on the further sideof it, the intermittent, foliage-buried line of a fence; while from theupper end of a village street there was advancing to meet the vehicle agentleman with a cap on his head, a knotted cudgel in his hands, and aslender-limbed English dog by his side. 

"This is my brother, " said Platon. "Stop, coachman. " And he descendedfrom the koliaska, while Chichikov followed his example. Yarb and thestrange dog saluted one another, and then the active, thin-legged, slender-tongued Azor relinquished his licking of Yarb's blunt jowl, licked Platon's hands instead, and, leaping upon Chichikov, slobberedright into his ear. 

The two brothers embraced. 

"Really, Platon, " said the gentleman (whose name was Vassili), "what doyou mean by treating me like this?"

"How so?" said Platon indifferently. 

"What? For three days past I have seen and heard nothing of you! A groomfrom Pietukh's brought your cob home, and told me you had departed on anexpedition with some barin. At least you might have sent me word as toyour destination and the probable length of your absence. What made youact so? God knows what I have not been wondering!"

"Does it matter?" rejoined Platon. "I forgot to send you word, and wehave been no further than Constantine's (who, with our sister, sends youhis greeting). By the way, may I introduce Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov?"

The pair shook hands with one another. Then, doffing their caps, theyembraced. 

"What sort of man is this Chichikov?" thought Vassili. "As a rule mybrother Platon is not over-nice in his choice of acquaintances. " And, eyeing our hero as narrowly as civility permitted, he saw that hisappearance was that of a perfectly respectable individual. 

Chichikov returned Vassili's scrutiny with a similar observance of thedictates of civility, and perceived that he was shorter than Platon, that his hair was of a darker shade, and that his features, though lesshandsome, contained far more life, animation, and kindliness than didhis brother's. Clearly he indulged in less dreaming, though that was anaspect which Chichikov little regarded. 

"I have made up my mind to go touring our Holy Russia with PaulIvanovitch, " said Platon. "Perhaps it will rid me of my melancholy. "

"What has made you come to such a sudden decision?" asked the perplexedVassili (very nearly he added: "Fancy going travelling with a man whoseacquaintance you have just made, and who may turn out to be a rascalor the devil knows what!" But, in spite of his distrust, he contentedhimself with another covert scrutiny of Chichikov, and this time came tothe conclusion that there was no fault to be found with his exterior). 

The party turned to the right, and entered the gates of an ancientcourtyard attached to an old-fashioned house of a type no longerbuilt--the type which has huge gables supporting a high-pitched roof. In the centre of the courtyard two great lime trees covered half thesurrounding space with shade, while beneath them were ranged a numberof wooden benches, and the whole was encircled with a ring of blossominglilacs and cherry trees which, like a beaded necklace, reinforced thewooden fence, and almost buried it beneath their clusters of leaves andflowers. The house, too, stood almost concealed by this greenery, except that the front door and the windows peered pleasantly through thefoliage, and that here and there between the stems of the trees therecould be caught glimpses of the kitchen regions, the storehouses, andthe cellar. Lastly, around the whole stood a grove, from the recesses ofwhich 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 care-free periodwhen every one lived on good terms with his neighbour, and all wassimple and unsophisticated. Vassili invited Chichikov to seat himself, and the party approached, for that purpose, the benches under the limetrees; after which a youth of about seventeen, and clad in a red shirt, brought decanters containing various kinds of kvass (some of them asthick as syrup, and others hissing like aerated lemonade), deposited thesame upon the table, and, taking up a spade which he had left leaningagainst a tree, moved away towards the garden. The reason of this wasthat in the brothers' household, as in that of Kostanzhoglo, no servantswere kept, since the whole staff were rated as gardeners, and performedthat duty in rotation--Vassili holding that domestic service was not aspecialised calling, but one to which any one might contribute a hand, and therefore one which did not require special menials to be kept forthe purpose. Moreover, he held that the average Russian peasant remainsactive and willing (rather than lazy) only so long as he wears a shirtand a peasant's smock; but that as soon as ever he finds himselfput into a German tailcoat, he becomes awkward, sluggish, indolent, disinclined to change his vest or take a bath, fond of sleeping in hisclothes, 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 clad--the women, in particular, havingtheir head-dresses spangled with gold, and the sleeves of their blousesembroidered after the fashion of a Turkish shawl. 

"You see here the species of kvass for which our house has long beenfamous, " said Vassili to Chichikov. The latter poured himself out aglassful from the first decanter which he lighted upon, and foundthe contents to be linden honey of a kind never tasted by him even inPoland, seeing that it had a sparkle like that of champagne, and also aneffervescence which sent a pleasant spray from the mouth into the nose. 

"Nectar!" he proclaimed. Then he took some from a second decanter. Itproved to be even better than the first. "A beverage of beverages!" heexclaimed. "At your respected brother-in-law's I tasted the finestsyrup which has ever come my way, but here I have tasted the very finestkvass. "

"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 thecountry, and to what places, are you thinking of travelling?"

"To tell the truth, " replied Chichikov, rocking himself to and fro onthe bench, and smoothing his knee with his hand, and gently inclininghis head, "I am travelling less on my own affairs than on the affairs ofothers. That is to say, General Betristchev, an intimate friend, and, I might add, a generous benefactor of mine, has charged me withcommissions to some of his relatives. Nevertheless, though relatives arerelatives, I may say that I am travelling on my own account as well, inthat, in addition to possible benefit to my health, I desire to see theworld and the whirligig of humanity, which constitute, to so speak, aliving book, a second course of education. "

Vassili took thought. "The man speaks floridly, " he reflected, "yet hiswords contain a certain element of truth. " After a moment's silence headded to Platon: "I am beginning to think that the tour might help youto bestir yourself. At present you are in a condition of mental slumber. You have fallen asleep, not so much from weariness or satiety, asthrough a lack of vivid perceptions and impressions. For myself, I amyour complete antithesis. I should be only too glad if I could feel lessacutely, if I could take things less to heart. "

"Emotion has become a disease with you, " said Platon. "You seek your owntroubles, and make your own anxieties. "

"How can you say that when ready-made anxieties greet one at everystep?" exclaimed Vassili. "For example, have you heard of the trickwhich Lienitsin has just played us--of his seizing the piece of vacantland whither our peasants resort for their sports? That piece I wouldnot sell for all the money in the world. It has long been our peasants'play-ground, 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 gladlysacrifice everything else. "

"Lienitsin cannot have known of this, or he would not have seized theland, " 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. PurposelyI sent him word to that affect, yet he has returned me the rudest ofanswers. "

"Then go yourself and explain matters to him. "

"No, I will not do that; he has tried to carry off things with too higha 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 hoodwink and outwit. "

"Would it help you if _I_ were to go?" put in Chichikov. "Pray enlightenme as to the matter. "

Vassili glanced at the speaker, and thought to himself: "What a passionthe 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, heentered the Civil Service in St. Petersburg, then married some one'snatural daughter in that city, and has returned to lord it with a highhand. 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 morethan they look upon St. Petersburg as the Church. "

"Naturally, " said Chichikov. "But tell me more of the particulars of thequarrel. "

"They are these. He needs additional land and, had he not acted as hehas 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 theaffair. Several times have people charged me with similar commissions, and never have they repented of it. General Betristchev is an example. "

"Nevertheless I am ashamed that you should be put to the annoyance ofhaving to converse with such a fellow. "

 [At this point there occurs a long hiatus. ]

"And above all things, such a transaction would need to be carriedthrough in secret, " said Chichikov. "True, the law does not forbid suchthings, but there is always the risk of a scandal. "

"Quite so, quite so, " said Lienitsin with head bent down. 

"Then we agree!" exclaimed Chichikov. "How charming! As I say, mybusiness 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 roubleson each living soul; wherefore I have conceived the idea of relievinglandowners of that distasteful obligation by acquiring dead andabsconded souls who have failed to disappear from the revision list. This enables me at once to perform an act of Christian charity andto remove from the shoulders of our more impoverished proprietors theburden of tax-payment upon souls of the kind specified. Should youyourself care to do business with me, we will draw up a formal purchaseagreement as though the souls in question were still alive. "

"But it would be such a curious arrangement, " muttered Lienitsin, movinghis chair and himself a little further away. "It would be an arrangementwhich, er--er--"

"Would involve you in no scandal whatever, seeing that the affairwould be carried through in secret. Moreover, between friends who arewell-disposed towards one another--"

"Nevertheless--"

Chichikov adopted a firmer and more decided tone. "I repeat that therewould be no scandal, " he said. "The transaction would take place asbetween good friends, and as between friends of mature age, and asbetween friends of good status, and as between friends who know howto keep their own counsel. " And, so saying, he looked his interlocutorfrankly and generously in the eyes. 

Nevertheless Lienitsin's resourcefulness and acumen in business mattersfailed to relieve his mind of a certain perplexity--and the less sosince 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 causingLienitsin's wife to enter the room at that moment, things might haveturned out very differently from what they did. Madame was a pale, thin, insignificant-looking young lady, but none the less a lady who wore herclothes a la St. Petersburg, and cultivated the society of persons whowere unimpeachably comme il faut. Behind her, borne in a nurse's arms, came the first fruits of the love of husband and wife. Adopting hismost telling method of approach (the method accompanied with a sidelonginclination of the head and a sort of hop), Chichikov hastened to greetthe lady from the metropolis, and then the baby. At first the latterstarted to bellow disapproval, but the words "Agoo, agoo, my pet!" addedto a little cracking of the fingers and a sight of a beautiful seal on awatch chain, enabled Chichikov to weedle the infant into his arms; afterwhich he fell to swinging it up and down until he had contrived to raisea smile on its face--a circumstance which greatly delighted the parents, and finally inclined the father in his visitor's favour. Suddenly, however--whether from pleasure or from some other cause--the infantmisbehaved itself!

"My God!" cried Madame. "He has gone and spoilt your frockcoat!"

True enough, on glancing downwards, Chichikov saw that the sleeve ofhis brand-new garment had indeed suffered a hurt. "If I could catch youalone, you little devil, " he muttered to himself, "I'd shoot you!"

Host, hostess and nurse all ran for eau-de-Cologne, and from three sidesset themselves to rub the spot affected. 

"Never mind, never mind; it is nothing, " said Chichikov as he strove tocommunicate to his features as cheerful an expression as possible. "What does it matter what a child may spoil during the golden age of itsinfancy?"

To himself he remarked: "The little brute! Would it could be devoured bywolves. It has made only too good a shot, the cussed young ragamuffin!"

How, after this--after the guest had shown such innocent affection forthe little one, and magnanimously paid for his so doing with a brand-newsuit--could the father remain obdurate? Nevertheless, to avoid setting abad example to the countryside, he and Chichikov agreed to carry throughthe transaction PRIVATELY, lest, otherwise, a scandal should arise. 

"In return, " said Chichikov, "would you mind doing me the followingfavour? I desire to mediate in the matter of your difference with theBrothers Platonov. I believe that you wish to acquire some additionalland? Is not that so?"

 [Here there occurs a hiatus in the original. ]

Everything in life fulfils its function, and Chichikov's tour in searchof a fortune was carried out so successfully that not a little moneypassed into his pockets. The system employed was a good one: he did notsteal, he merely used. And every one of us at times does the same: oneman with regard to Government timber, and another with regard to a sumbelonging to his employer, while a third defrauds his children for thesake of an actress, and a fourth robs his peasantry for the sake ofsmart furniture or a carriage. What can one do when one is surroundedon every side with roguery, and everywhere there are insanely expensiverestaurants, masked balls, and dances to the music of gipsy bands? Toabstain when every one else is indulging in these things, and fashioncommands, is difficult indeed!

Chichikov was for setting forth again, but the roads had now got into abad state, and, in addition, there was in preparation a second fair--onefor the dvoriane only. The former fair had been held for the sale ofhorses, cattle, cheese, and other peasant produce, and the buyers hadbeen merely cattle-jobbers and kulaks; but this time the function wasto be one for the sale of manorial produce which had been bought up bywholesale dealers at Nizhni Novgorod, and then transferred hither. Tothe fair, of course, came those ravishers of the Russian purse who, inthe shape of Frenchmen with pomades and Frenchwomen with hats, make awaywith 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 digholes in the ground and leave behind their eggs. 

Although, unfortunately, the occurrence of a bad harvest retained manylandowners at their country houses, the local tchinovniks (whom thefailure of the harvest did NOT touch) proceeded to let themselves go--asalso, to their undoing, did their wives. The reading of books of thetype diffused, in these modern days, for the inoculation of humanitywith a craving for new and superior amenities of life had caused everyone to conceive a passion for experimenting with the latest luxury; andto meet this want the French wine merchant opened a new establishmentin the shape of a restaurant as had never before been heard of in theprovince--a restaurant where supper could be procured on credit asregarded one-half, and for an unprecedentedly low sum as regarded theother. This exactly suited both heads of boards and clerks who wereliving in hope of being able some day to resume their bribes-taking fromsuitors. There also developed a tendency to compete in the matter ofhorses and liveried flunkeys; with the result that despite the damp andsnowy weather exceedingly elegant turnouts took to parading backwardsand forwards. Whence these equipages had come God only knows, but atleast they would not have disgraced St. Petersburg. From within themmerchants and attorneys doffed their caps to ladies, and inquired aftertheir health, and likewise it became a rare sight to see a bearded manin a rough fur cap, since every one now went about clean-shaven and withdirty teeth, after the European fashion. 

"Sir, I beg of you to inspect my goods, " said a tradesman as Chichikovwas passing his establishment. "Within my doors you will find a largevariety of clothing. "

"Have you a cloth of bilberry-coloured check?" inquired the personaddressed. 

"I have cloths of the finest kind, " replied the tradesman, raising hiscap with one hand, and pointing to his shop with the other. Chichikoventered, 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 hisface towards the customer. Leaning forward on the tips of his fingers, and indicating his merchandise with just the suspicion of a nod, herequested the gentleman to specify exactly the species of cloth which herequired. 

"A cloth with an olive-coloured or a bottle-tinted spot in itspattern--anything in the nature of bilberry, " explained Chichikov. 

"That being so, sir, I may say that I am about to show you clothes of aquality which even our illustrious capitals could not surpass. Hi, boy!Reach down that roll up there--number 34. No, NOT that one, fool! Suchfellows as you are always too good for your job. There--hand it to me. This is indeed a nice pattern!"

Unfolding the garment, the tradesman thrust it close to Chichikov's nosein order that he might not only handle, but also smell it. 

"Excellent, but not what I want, " pronounced Chichikov. "Formerly I wasin the Custom's Department, and therefore wear none but cloth of thelatest make. What I want is of a ruddier pattern than this--not exactlya bottle-tinted pattern, but something approaching bilberry. "

"I understand, sir. Of course you require only the very newest thing. Acloth of that kind I DO possess, sir, and though excessive in price, itis of a quality to match. "

Carrying the roll of stuff to the light--even stepping into the streetfor the purpose--the shopman unfolded his prize with the words, "A trulybeautiful 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 abrown-paper parcel, and stowed it away in Chichikov's koliaska. 

At this moment a voice asked to be shown a black frockcoat. 

"The devil take me if it isn't Khlobuev!" muttered our hero, turning hisback upon the newcomer. Unfortunately the other had seen him. 

"Come, come, Paul Ivanovitch!" he expostulated. "Surely you do notintend to overlook me? I have been searching for you everywhere, for Ihave something important to say to you. "

"My dear sir, my very dear sir, " said Chichikov as he pressed Khlobuev'shand, "I can assure you that, had I the necessary leisure, I shouldat all times be charmed to converse with you. " And mentally he added:"Would that the Evil One would fly away with you!"

Almost at the same time Murazov, the great landowner, entered theshop. As he did so our hero hastened to exclaim: "Why, it is AthanasiVassilievitch! How ARE you, my very dear sir?"

"Well enough, " replied Murazov, removing his cap (Khlobuev and theshopman had already done the same). "How, may I ask, are YOU?"

"But poorly, " replied Chichikov, "for of late I have been troubled withindigestion, and my sleep is bad. I do not get sufficient exercise. "

However, instead of probing deeper into the subject of Chichikov'sailments, Murazov turned to Khlobuev. 

"I saw you enter the shop, " he said, "and therefore followed you, forI have something important for your ear. Could you spare me a minute ortwo?"

"Certainly, certainly, " said Khlobuev, and the pair left the shoptogether. 

"I wonder what is afoot between them, " said Chichikov to himself. 

"A wise and noble gentleman, Athanasi Vassilievitch!" remarked thetradesman. Chichikov made no reply save a gesture. 

"Paul Ivanovitch, I have been looking for you everywhere, " Lienitsin'svoice said from behind him, while again the tradesman hastened to removehis cap. "Pray come home with me, for I have something to say to you. "

Chichikov scanned the speaker's face, but could make nothing of it. Paying the tradesman for the cloth, he left the shop. 

Meanwhile Murazov had conveyed Khlobuev to his rooms. 

"Tell me, " he said to his guest, "exactly how your affairs stand. I takeit that, after all, your aunt left you something?"

"It would be difficult to say whether or not my affairs are improved, "replied Khlobuev. "True, fifty souls and thirty thousand roubles cameto me from Madame Khanasarova, but I had to pay them away to satisfy mydebts. Consequently I am once more destitute. But the important point isthat there was trickery connected with the legacy, and shameful trickeryat that. Yes, though it may surprise you, it is a fact that that fellowChichikov--"

"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 ofthem, and also to have enough to go on with, I should need to acquireat least a hundred thousand roubles, if not more. In short, things arebecoming impossible for me. "

"And, had you the money, what should you do with it?"

"I should rent a tenement, and devote myself to the education of mychildren. Not a thought should I give to myself, for my career is over, seeing that it is impossible for me to re-enter the Civil Service and Iam good for nothing else. "

"Nevertheless, when a man is leading an idle life he is apt to incurtemptations which shun his better-employed brother. "

"Yes, but beyond question I am good for nothing, so broken is my health, and such a martyr I am to dyspepsia. "

"But how to you propose to live without working? How can a man like youexist without a post or a position of any kind? Look around you at theworks of God. Everything has its proper function, and pursues its propercourse. Even a stone can be used for one purpose or another. How, then, can it be right for a man who is a thinking being to remain a drone?"

"But I should not be a drone, for I should employ myself with theeducation of my children. "

"No, Semen Semenovitch--no: THAT you would find the hardest task ofall. For how can a man educate his children who has never even educatedhimself? Instruction can be imparted to children only through the mediumof example; and would a life like yours furnish them with a profitableexample--a life which has been spent in idleness and the playing ofcards? No, Semen Semenovitch. You had far better hand your children overto 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 manlive with nothing to keep him in place? Even a journeyman labourer whoearns the barest pittance may take an interest in his occupation. "

"Athanasi Vassilievitch, I have tried to overcome myself, but whatfurther resource lies open to me? Can I who am old and incapablere-enter the Civil Service and spend year after year at a desk withyouths who are just starting their careers? Moreover, I have lost thetrick of taking bribes; I should only hinder both myself and others;while, as you know, it is a department which has an established casteof its own. Therefore, though I have considered, and even attempted toobtain, every conceivable post, I find myself incompetent for them all. Only in a monastery should I--"

"Nay, nay. Monasteries, again, are only for those who have worked. Tothose who have spent their youth in dissipation such havens say whatthe ant said to the dragonfly--namely, 'Go you away, and return to yourdancing. ' Yes, even in a monastery do folk toil and toil--they donot sit playing whist. " Murazov looked at Khlobuev, and added: "SemenSemenovitch, you are deceiving both yourself and me. "

Poor Khlobuev could not utter a word in reply, and Murazov began to feelsorry for him. 

"Listen, Semen Semenovitch, " he went on. "I know that you say yourprayers, and that you go to church, and that you observe both Matins andVespers, and that, though averse to early rising, you leave your bed atfour o'clock in the morning before the household fires have been lit. "

"Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch, " said Khlobuev, "that is another matteraltogether. That I do, not for man's sake, but for the sake of Him whohas ordered all things here on earth. Yes, I believe that He at leastcan feel compassion for me, that He at least, though I be foul andlowly, will pardon me and receive me when all men have cast me out, andmy best friend has betrayed me and boasted that he has done it for agood end. "

Khlobuev's face was glowing with emotion, and from the older man's eyesalso a tear had started. 

"You will do well to hearken unto Him who is merciful, " he said. "Butremember also that, in the eyes of the All-Merciful, honest toil is ofequal merit with a prayer. Therefore take unto yourself whatsoever taskyou may, and do it as though you were doing it, not unto man, but untoGod. Even though to your lot there should fall but the cleaning of afloor, 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 toyou no time for what is evil--for card playing, for feasting, for allthe life of this gay world. Are you acquainted with Ivan Potapitch?"

"Yes, not only am I acquainted with him, but I also greatly respecthim. "

"Time was when Ivan Potapitch was a merchant worth half a millionroubles. In everything did he look but for gain, and his affairsprospered exceedingly, so much so that he was able to send his son to beeducated in France, and to marry his daughter to a General. And whetherin his office or at the Exchange, he would stop any friend whom heencountered and carry him off to a tavern to drink, and spend whole daysthus employed. But at last he became bankrupt, and God sent him othermisfortunes 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 inorder, and, had it been his wish, he could have restarted in businesswith a capital of half a million roubles. 'But no, ' he said. 'Asteward am I, and a steward will I remain to the end; for, from beingfull-stomached 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 asnone of the rest of us help them; and to this he would add yet furthercharity if his means permitted him to do so. "

Poor Khlobuev remained silent, as before. 

The elder man took his two hands in his. 

"Semen Semenovitch, " he said, "you cannot think how much I pity you, orhow much I have had you in my thoughts. Listen to me. In the monasterythere is a recluse who never looks upon a human face. Of all men whomI know he has the broadest mind, and he breaks not his silence save togive advice. To him I went and said that I had a friend (though Idid 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 moneywherewith to build it. Money must be collected to that end. ' Then heshut to the wicket. I wondered to myself what this could mean, andconcluded that the recluse had been unwilling to accord me his counsel. Next I repaired to the Archimandrite, and had scarce reached his doorwhen he inquired of me whether I could commend to him a man meet to beentrusted with the collection of alms for a church--a man who shouldbelong to the dvoriane or to the more lettered merchants, but who wouldguard the trust as he would guard the salvation of his soul. On theinstant thought I to myself: 'Why should not the Holy Father appointmy friend Semen Semenovitch? For the way of suffering would benefit himgreatly; and as he passed with his ledger from landowner to peasant, and from peasant to townsman, he would learn where folk dwell, and whostands in need of aught, and thus would become better acquainted withthe countryside than folk who dwell in cities. And, thus become, hewould find that his services were always in demand. ' Only of late didthe Governor-General say to me that, could he but be furnished with thename of a secretary who should know his work not only by the book butalso by experience, he would give him a great sum, since nothing is tobe learned by the former means, and, through it, much confusion arises. "

"You confound me, you overwhelm me!" said Khlobuev, staring at hiscompanion in open-eyed astonishment. "I can scarcely believe that yourwords are true, seeing that for such a trust an active, indefatigableman would be necessary. Moreover, how could I leave my wife and childrenunprovided for?"

"Have no fear, " said Murazov, "I myself will take them under my care, aswell as procure for the children a tutor. Far better and nobler wereit for you to be travelling with a wallet, and asking alms on behalfof God, then to be remaining here and asking alms for yourself alone. Likewise, I will furnish you with a tilt-waggon, so that you may besaved some of the hardships of the journey, and thus be preserved ingood health. Also, I will give you some money for the journey, inorder that, as you pass on your way, you may give to those who standin greater need than their fellows. Thus, if, before giving, you assureyourself that the recipient of the alms is worthy of the same, you willdo much good; and as you travel you will become acquainted with all menand sundry, and they will treat you, not as a tchinovnik to be feared, but as one to whom, as a petitioner on behalf of the Church, they mayunloose their tongues without peril. "

"I feel that the scheme is a splendid one, and would gladly bear my partin it were it not likely to exceed my strength. "

"What is there that does NOT exceed your strength?" said Murazov. "Nothing is wholly proportionate to it--everything surpasses it. Helpfrom above is necessary: otherwise we are all powerless. Strength comesof 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 theshore. 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. Thetilt-waggon can be prepared for you immediately; and then, as soon asyou have been to the Archimandrite for your book of accounts and hisblessing, you will be free to start on your journey. "

"I submit myself to you, and accept the commission as a divine trust. "

And even as Khlobuev spoke he felt renewed vigour and confidence arisein his soul, and his mind begin to awake to a sense of hopefulness ofeventually being able to put to flight his troubles. And even as it was, the world seemed to be growing dim to his eyes. .. . 

Meanwhile, plea after plea had been presented to the legal authorities, and daily were relatives whom no one had before heard of putting inan appearance. Yes, like vultures to a corpse did these good folk comeflocking to the immense property which Madam Khanasarov had left behindher. Everywhere were heard rumours against Chichikov, rumours withregard to the validity of the second will, rumours with regard to willnumber one, and rumours of larceny and concealment of funds. Also, therecame to hand information with regard both to Chichikov's purchase ofdead souls and to his conniving at contraband goods during his servicein the Customs Department. In short, every possible item of evidencewas exhumed, and the whole of his previous history investigated. Howthe authorities had come to suspect and to ascertain all this God onlyknows, but the fact remains that there had fallen into the hands ofthose authorities information concerning matters of which Chichikov hadbelieved only himself and the four walls to be aware. True, for atime these matters remained within the cognisance of none but thefunctionaries concerned, and failed to reach Chichikov's ears; but atlength a letter from a confidential friend gave him reason to think thatthe fat was about to fall into the fire. Said the letter briefly: "Dearsir, I beg to advise you that possibly legal trouble is pending, butthat you have no cause for uneasiness, seeing that everything willbe attended to by yours very truly. " Yet, in spite of its tenor, theepistle reassured its recipient. "What a genius the fellow is!" thoughtChichikov to himself. Next, to complete his satisfaction, his tailorarrived with the new suit which he had ordered. Not without a certainsense of pride did our hero inspect the frockcoat of smoked grey shotwith flame colour and look at it from every point of view, and thentry on the breeches--the latter fitting him like a picture, and quiteconcealing any deficiencies in the matter of his thighs and calves(though, when buckled behind, they left his stomach projecting like adrum). True, the customer remarked that there appeared to be a slighttightness under the right armpit, but the smiling tailor only rejoinedthat that would cause the waist to fit all the better. "Sir, " he saidtriumphantly, "you may rest assured that the work has been executedexactly as it ought to have been executed. No one, except in St. Petersburg, could have done it better. " As a matter of fact, the tailorhimself hailed from St. Petersburg, but called himself on his signboard"Foreign Costumier from London and Paris"--the truth being that bythe use of a double-barrelled flourish of cities superior to mere"Karlsruhe" and "Copenhagen" he designed to acquire business and cut outhis local rivals. 

Chichikov graciously settled the man's account, and, as soon as he hadgone, paraded at leisure, and con amore, and after the manner of anartist of aesthetic taste, before the mirror. Somehow he seemed to lookbetter than ever in the suit, for his cheeks had now taken on a stillmore interesting air, and his chin an added seductiveness, while hiswhite collar lent tone to his neck, the blue satin tie heightened theeffect of the collar, the fashionable dickey set off the tie, the rich satin waistcoat emphasised the dickey, and thesmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour frockcoat, shining like silk, splendidly rounded off the whole. When he turned to the right he lookedwell: when he turned to the left he looked even better. In short, itwas a costume worthy of a Lord Chamberlain or the species of dandy whoshrinks from swearing in the Russian language, but amply relieves hisfeelings in the language of France. Next, inclining his head slightlyto one side, our hero endeavoured to pose as though he were addressinga middle-aged lady of exquisite refinement; and the result of theseefforts 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 eau-de-Cologne camecrashing to the floor. Yet even this contretemps did not upset him; hemerely called the offending bottle a fool, and then debated whom firsthe 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 presentyourself before the Governor-General!" Turning round, Chichikov staredin horror at the spectacle presented; for in the doorway there wasstanding an apparition wearing a huge moustache, a helmet surmountedwith a horsehair plume, a pair of crossed shoulder-belts, and a giganticsword! 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 Governor-General, "and at the same moment our hero caught sight both of a second apparitionoutside the door and of a coach waiting beneath the window. What wasto be done? Nothing whatever was possible. Just as he stood--in hissmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour suit--he had then and there to enterthe vehicle, and, shaking in every limb, and with a gendarme seated byhis side, to start for the residence of the Governor-General. 

And even in the hall of that establishment no time was given him topull himself together, for at once an aide-de-camp said: "Go insideimmediately, for the Prince is awaiting you. " And as in a dream did ourhero see a vestibule where couriers were being handed dispatches, andthen a salon which he crossed with the thought, "I suppose I am not tobe allowed a trial, but shall be sent straight to Siberia!" And at thethought his heart started beating in a manner which the most jealousof lovers could not have rivalled. At length there opened a door, and before him he saw a study full of portfolios, ledgers, anddispatch-boxes, with, standing behind them, the gravely menacing figureof the Prince. 

"There stands my executioner, " thought Chichikov to himself. "He isabout to tear me to pieces as a wolf tears a lamb. "

Indeed, the Prince's lips were simply quivering with rage. 

"Once before did I spare you, " he said, "and allow you to remain in thetown when you ought to have been in prison: yet your only return formy clemency has been to revert to a career of fraud--and of fraud asdishonourable as ever a man engaged in. "

"To what dishonourable fraud do you refer, your Highness?" askedChichikov, trembling from head to foot. 

The Prince approached, and looked him straight in the eyes. 

"Let me tell you, " he said, "that the woman whom you induced to witnessa certain will has been arrested, and that you will be confronted withher. "

The world seemed suddenly to grow dim before Chichikov's sight. 

"Your Highness, " he gasped, "I will tell you the whole truth, andnothing but the truth. I am guilty--yes, I am guilty; but I am not soguilty as you think, for I was led away by rascals. "

"That any one can have led you away is impossible, " retorted the Prince. "Recorded against your name there stand more felonies than even the mosthardened liar could have invented. I believe that never in your lifehave you done a deed not innately dishonourable--that not a kopeck haveyou ever obtained by aught but shameful methods of trickery and theft, the penalty for which is Siberia and the knut. But enough of this! Fromthis room you will be conveyed to prison, where, with other rogues andthieves, you will be confined until your trial may come on. And thisis lenient treatment on my part, for you are worse, far worse, than thefelons who will be your companions. THEY are but poor men in smocks andsheepskins, whereas YOU--" Without concluding his words, the Prince shota glance at Chichikov's smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour apparel. 

Then he touched a bell. 

"Your Highness, " cried Chichikov, "have mercy upon me! You are thefather of a family! Spare me for the sake of my aged mother!"

"Rubbish!" exclaimed the Prince. "Even as before you besought me for thesake of a wife and children whom you did not even possess, so now youwould speak to me of an aged mother!"

"Your Highness, " protested Chichikov, "though I am a wretch and thelowest of rascals, and though it is true that I lied when I toldyou that I possessed a wife and children, I swear that, as God is mywitness, it has always been my DESIRE to possess a wife, and to fulfilall the duties of a man and a citizen, and to earn the respect of myfellows and the authorities. But what could be done against the forceof circumstances? By hook or by crook I have ever been forced to wina living, though confronted at every step by wiles and temptations andtraitorous enemies and despoilers. So much has this been so that mylife has, throughout, resembled a barque tossed by tempestuous waves, a barque driven at the mercy of the winds. Ah, I am only a man, yourHighness!"

And in a moment the tears had gushed in torrents from his eyes, and hehad fallen forward at the Prince's feet--fallen forward just as hewas, in his smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour frockcoat, his velvetwaistcoat, his satin tie, and his exquisitely fitting breeches, whilefrom his neatly brushed pate, as again and again he struck his handagainst his forehead, there came an odorous whiff of best-qualityeau-de-Cologne. 

"Away with him!" exclaimed the Prince to the gendarme who had justentered. "Summon the escort to remove him. "

"Your Highness!" Chichikov cried again as he clasped the Prince's knees;but, shuddering all over, and struggling to free himself, the Princerepeated his order for the prisoner's removal. 

"Your Highness, I say that I will not leave this room until you haveaccorded me mercy!" cried Chichikov as he clung to the Prince's leg withsuch tenacity that, frockcoat and all, he began to be dragged along thefloor. 

"Away with him, I say!" once more the Prince exclaimed with the sort ofindefinable aversion which one feels at the sight of a repulsiveinsect which he cannot summon up the courage to crush with his boot. Soconvulsively 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 him--pale, dishevelled, and in that strange, half-conscious condition into which a man sinks when he sees beforehim only the dark, terrible figure of death, the phantom which is soabhorrent to all our natures--from the building. But on the thresholdthe party came face to face with Murazov, and in Chichikov's heartthe circumstance revived a ray of hope. Wresting himself with almostsupernatural strength from the grasp of the escorting gendarmes, hethrew himself at the feet of the horror-stricken old man. 

"Paul Ivanovitch, " Murazov exclaimed, "what has happened to you?"

"Save me!" gasped Chichikov. "They are taking me away to prison anddeath!"

Yet almost as he spoke the gendarmes seized him again, and hurried himaway so swiftly that Murazov's reply escaped his ears. 

A damp, mouldy cell which reeked of soldiers' boots and leggings, anunvarnished table, two sorry chairs, a window closed with a grating, acrazy stove which, while letting the smoke emerge through its cracks, gave out no heat--such was the den to which the man who had just begunto taste the sweets of life, and to attract the attention of his fellowswith his new suit of smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour, now foundhimself consigned. Not even necessaries had he been allowed to bringaway with him, nor his dispatch-box which contained all his booty. No, with the indenture deeds of the dead souls, it was lodged in the handsof a tchinovnik; and as he thought of these things Chichikov rolledabout the floor, and felt the cankerous worm of remorse seize upon andgnaw at his heart, and bite its way ever further and further into thatheart so defenceless against its ravages, until he made up his mindthat, should he have to suffer another twenty-four hours of this misery, there would no longer be a Chichikov in the world. Yet over him, as overevery one, there hung poised the All-Saving Hand; and, an hour after hisarrival at the prison, the doors of the gaol opened to admit Murazov. 

Compared with poor Chichikov's sense of relief when the old man enteredhis cell, even the pleasure experienced by a thirsty, dusty travellerwhen he is given a drink of clear spring water to cool his dry, parchedthroat fades into insignificance. 

"Ah, my deliverer!" he cried as he rose from the floor, where he hadbeen grovelling in heartrending paroxysms of grief. Seizing the oldman's hand, he kissed it and pressed it to his bosom. Then, burstinginto tears, he added: "God Himself will reward you for having come tovisit an unfortunate wretch!"

Murazov looked at him sorrowfully, and said no more than "Ah, PaulIvanovitch, Paul Ivanovitch! What has happened?"

"What has happened?" cried Chichikov. "I have been ruined by an accursedwoman. That was because I could not do things in moderation--I waspowerless to stop myself in time, Satan tempted me, and drove me frommy senses, and bereft me of human prudence. Yes, truly I have sinned, Ihave sinned! Yet how came I so to sin? To think that a dvorianin--yes, a dvorianin--should be thrown into prison without process or trial! Irepeat, a dvorianin! Why was I not given time to go home and collect myeffects? Whereas now they are left with no one to look after them! Mydispatch-box, my dispatch-box! It contained my whole property, all thatmy heart's blood and years of toil and want have been needed to acquire. And now everything will be stolen, Athanasi Vassilievitch--everythingwill be taken from me! My God!"

And, unable to stand against the torrent of grief which came rushingover his heart once more, he sobbed aloud in tones which penetrated eventhe thickness of the prison walls, and made dull echoes awake behindthem. Then, tearing off his satin tie, and seizing by the collar, thesmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour frockcoat, he stripped the latterfrom his shoulders. 

"Ah, Paul Ivanovitch, " said the old man, "how even now the propertywhich you have acquired is blinding your eyes, and causing you to failto realise your terrible position!"

"Yes, my good friend and benefactor, " wailed poor Chichikovdespairingly, and clasping Murazov by the knees. "Yet save me if youcan! 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 howevermuch I might try to do so, I could not help you as you desire; for it isto the power of an inexorable law, and not to the authority of any oneman, that you have rendered yourself subject. "

"Satan tempted me, and has ended by making of me an outcast from thehuman race!" Chichikov beat his head against the wall and struck thetable with his fist until the blood spurted from his hand. Yet neitherhis head nor his hand seemed to be conscious of the least pain. 

"Calm yourself, Paul Ivanovitch, " said Murazov. "Calm yourself, andconsider how best you can make your peace with God. Think of yourmiserable soul, and not of the judgment of man. "

"I will, Athanasi Vassilievitch, I will. But what a fate is mine! Didever such a fate befall a man? To think of all the patience with whichI have gathered my kopecks, of all the toil and trouble which I haveendured! Yet what I have done has not been done with the intention ofrobbing any one, nor of cheating the Treasury. Why, then, did I gatherthose kopecks? I gathered them to the end that one day I might be ableto live in plenty, and also to have something to leave to the wifeand children whom, for the benefit and welfare of my country, I hopedeventually to win and maintain. That was why I gathered those kopecks. True, I worked by devious methods--that I fully admit; but what elsecould I do? And even devious methods I employed only when I saw that thestraight road would not serve my purpose so well as a crooked. Moreover, as I toiled, the appetite for those methods grew upon me. Yet whatI took I took only from the rich; whereas villains exist who, whiledrawing thousands a year from the Treasury, despoil the poor, and takefrom the man with nothing even that which he has. Is it not the crueltyof fate, therefore, that, just when I was beginning to reap the harvestof my toil--to touch it, so to speak, with the tip of one finger--thereshould have arisen a sudden storm which has sent my barque to pieces ona rock? My capital had nearly reached the sum of three hundred thousandroubles, and a three-storied house was as good as mine, and twice overI could have bought a country estate. Why, then, should such a tempesthave burst upon me? Why should I have sustained such a blow? Was not mylife already like a barque tossed to and fro by the billows? Whereis Heaven's justice--where is the reward for all my patience, for myboundless perseverance? Three times did I have to begin life afresh, andeach time that I lost my all I began with a single kopeck at a momentwhen other men would have given themselves up to despair and drink. Howmuch did I not have to overcome. How much did I not have to bear! Everykopeck 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 'forgedwith a nail worth three kopecks' as the proverb has it. With such anail--with the nail of an iron, unwearying perseverance--did _I_ forgemy kopecks. "

Convulsively sobbing with a grief which he could not repress, Chichikovsank upon a chair, tore from his shoulders the last ragged, trailingremnants of his frockcoat, and hurled them from him. Then, thrusting hisfingers into the hair which he had once been so careful to preserve, hepulled it out by handfuls at a time, as though he hoped through physicalpain to deaden the mental agony which he was suffering. 

Meanwhile Murazov sat gazing in silence at the unwonted spectacle ofa man who had lately been mincing with the gait of a worldling or amilitary fop now writhing in dishevelment and despair as he poured outupon the hostile forces by which human ingenuity so often finds itselfoutwitted a flood of invective. 

"Paul Ivanovitch, Paul Ivanovitch, " at length said Murazov, "whatcould not each of us rise to be did we but devote to good ends the samemeasure of energy and of patience which we bestow upon unworthy objects!How much good would not you yourself have effected! Yet I do not grieveso much for the fact that you have sinned against your fellow as Igrieve for the fact that you have sinned against yourself and the richstore of gifts and opportunities which has been committed to your care. Though originally destined to rise, you have wandered from the path andfallen. "

"Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch, " cried poor Chichikov, clasping his friendshands, "I swear to you that, if you would but restore me my freedom, andrecover for me my lost property, I would lead a different life from thistime forth. Save me, you who alone can work my deliverance! Save me!"

"How can I do that? So to do I should need to procure the setting asideof a law. Again, even if I were to make the attempt, the Prince is astrict administrator, and would refuse on any consideration to releaseyou. "

"Yes, but for you all things are possible. It is not the law thattroubles me: with that I could find a means to deal. It is the fact thatfor no offence at all I have been cast into prison, and treated likea dog, and deprived of my papers and dispatch-box and all my property. Save me if you can. "

Again clasping the old man's knees, he bedewed them with his tears. 

"Paul Ivanovitch, " said Murazov, shaking his head, "how that propertyof yours still seals your eyes and ears, so that you cannot so much aslisten to the promptings of your own soul!"

"Ah, I will think of my soul, too, if only you will save me. "

"Paul Ivanovitch, " the old man began again, and then stopped. For alittle while there was a pause. 

"Paul Ivanovitch, " at length he went on, "to save you does not liewithin 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 youreventual release. Whether or not I shall succeed I do not know; but Iwill make the attempt. And should I, contrary to my expectations, provesuccessful, I beg of you, in return for these my efforts, to renounceall thought of benefit from the property which you have acquired. Sincerely do I assure you that, were I myself to be deprived of myproperty (and my property greatly exceeds yours in magnitude), I shouldnot shed a single tear. It is not the property of which men can depriveus that matters, but the property of which no one on earth can depriveor despoil us. You are a man who has seen something of life--to useyour own words, you have been a barque tossed hither and thither bytempestuous waves: yet still will there be left to you a remnant ofsubstance on which to live, and therefore I beseech you to settle downin some quiet nook where there is a church, and where none but plain, good-hearted folk abide. Or, should you feel a yearning to leave behindyou posterity, take in marriage a good woman who shall bring you, not money, but an aptitude for simple, modest domestic life. Butthis life--the life of turmoil, with its longings and itstemptations--forget, and let it forget YOU; for there is no peace init. See for yourself how, at every step, it brings one but hatred andtreachery and deceit. "

"Indeed, yes!" agreed the repentant Chichikov. "Gladly will I do as youwish, 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, thetempter Satan himself, has beguiled me and led me from the right path. "

Suddenly there had recurred to Chichikov long-unknown, long-unfamiliarfeelings. Something seemed to be striving to come to life again inhim--something dim and remote, something which had been crushed out ofhis boyhood by the dreary, deadening education of his youthful days, byhis desolate home, by his subsequent lack of family ties, by the povertyand niggardliness of his early impressions, by the grim eye of fate--aneye which had always seemed to be regarding him as through a misty, mournful, frost-encrusted window-pane, and to be mocking at hisstruggles for freedom. And as these feelings came back to the penitenta groan burst from his lips, and, covering his face with his hands, hemoaned: "It is all true, it is all true!"

"Of little avail are knowledge of the world and experience of men unlessbased upon a secure foundation, " observed Murazov. "Though you havefallen, Paul Ivanovitch, awake to better things, for as yet there istime. "

"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 uponme that I am powerless, that I have strayed too far ever to be able todo as you bid me. The fact that I have become what I am is due to myearly schooling; for, though my father taught me moral lessons, and beatme, and set me to copy maxims into a book, he himself stole land fromhis neighbours, and forced me to help him. I have even known him tobring an unjust suit, and defraud the orphan whose guardian he was!Consequently I know and feel that, though my life has been differentfrom his, I do not hate roguery as I ought to hate it, and that mynature is coarse, and that in me there is no real love for what is good, no real spark of that beautiful instinct for well-doing which becomesa second nature, a settled habit. Also, never do I yearn to strive forwhat is right as I yearn to acquire property. This is no more than thetruth. What else could I do but confess it?"

The old man sighed. 

"Paul Ivanovitch, " he said, "I know that you possess will-power, andthat you possess also perseverance. A medicine may be bitter, yet thepatient will gladly take it when assured that only by its means can herecover. Therefore, if it really be that you have no genuine love fordoing good, do good by FORCING yourself to do so. Thus you will benefityourself even more than you will benefit him for whose sake the actis performed. Only force yourself to do good just once and again, and, behold, you will suddenly conceive the TRUE love for well-doing. Thatis so, believe me. 'A kingdom is to be won only by striving, ' says theproverb. That is to say, things are to be attained only by putting forthone's whole strength, since nothing short of one's whole strength willbring one to the desired goal. Paul Ivanovitch, within you there is asource of strength denied to many another man. I refer to the strengthof an iron perseverance. Cannot THAT help you to overcome? Most men areweak and lack will-power, whereas I believe that you possess the powerto act a hero's part. "

Sinking deep into Chichikov's heart, these words would seem to havearoused in it a faint stirring of ambition, so much so that, if it wasnot fortitude which shone in his eyes, at all events it was somethingvirile, and of much the same nature. 

"Athanasi Vassilievitch, " he said firmly, "if you will but petitionfor my release, as well as for permission for me to leave here with aportion of my property, I swear to you on my word of honour that I willbegin a new life, and buy a country estate, and become the head of ahousehold, and save money, nor for myself, but for others, and do goodeverywhere, and to the best of my ability, and forget alike myself andthe feasting and debauchery of town life, and lead, instead, a plain, sober existence. "

"In that resolve may God strengthen you!" cried the old man withunbounded joy. "And I, for my part, will do my utmost to procureyour release. And though God alone knows whether my efforts will besuccessful, at all events I hope to bring about a mitigation of yoursentence. Come, let me embrace you! How you have filled my heart withgladness! With God's help, I will now go to the Prince. "

And the next moment Chichikov found himself alone. His whole nature feltshaken and softened, even as, when the bellows have fanned the furnaceto a sufficient heat, a plate compounded even of the hardest and mostfire-resisting metal dissolves, glows, and turns to the liquefied state. 

"I myself can feel but little, " he reflected, "but I intend to use myevery 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 myselfam but an indifferent Christian, but I intend to strive never to yieldto temptation, but to work hard, and to till my land with the sweat ofmy brow, and to engage only in honourable pursuits, and to influence myfellows 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 andintelligent and steadfast. The only thing is to make up my mind to it. "

Thus Chichikov pondered; and as he did so his half-awakened energies ofsoul touched upon something. That is to say, dimly his instinctdivined that every man has a duty to perform, and that that duty maybe performed here, there, and everywhere, and no matter what thecircumstances and the emotions and the difficulties which compass a manabout. And with such clearness did Chichikov mentally picture to himselfthe life of grateful toil which lies removed from the bustle of townsand the temptations which man, forgetful of the obligation of labour, has invented to beguile an hour of idleness that almost our hero forgothis unpleasant position, and even felt ready to thank Providence forthe calamity which had befallen him, provided that it should end in hisbeing released, and in his receiving back a portion of his property. 

Presently the massive door of the cell opened to admit a tchinovniknamed Samosvitov, a robust, sensual individual who was reputed by hiscomrades to be something of a rake. Had he served in the army, hewould have done wonders, for he would have stormed any point, howeverdangerous and inaccessible, and captured cannon under the very nosesof the foe; but, as it was, the lack of a more warlike field for hisenergies caused him to devote the latter principally to dissipation. Nevertheless he enjoyed great popularity, for he was loyal to the pointthat, once his word had been given, nothing would ever make him breakit. At the same time, some reason or another led him to regard hissuperiors in the light of a hostile battery which, come what might, hemust breach at any weak or unguarded spot or gap which might be capableof being utilised for the purpose. 

"We have all heard of your plight, " he began as soon as the door hadbeen safely closed behind him. "Yes, every one has heard of it. Butnever mind. Things will yet come right. We will do our very best foryou, and act as your humble servants in everything. Thirty thousandroubles is our price--no more. "

"Indeed?" said Chichikov. "And, for that, shall I be completelyexonerated?"

"Yes, completely, and also given some compensation for your loss oftime. "

"And how much am I to pay in return, you say?"

"Thirty thousand roubles, to be divided among ourselves, theGovernor-General's staff, and the Governor-General's secretary. "

"But how is even that to be managed, for all my effects, including mydispatch-box, will have been sealed up and taken away for examination?"

"In an hour's time they will be within your hands again, " saidSamosvitov. "Shall we shake hands over the bargain?"

Chichikov did so with a beating heart, for he could scarcely believe hisears. 

"For the present, then, farewell, " concluded Samosvitov. "I haveinstructed a certain mutual friend that the important points are silenceand presence of mind. "

"Hm!" thought Chichikov. "It is to my lawyer that he is referring. "

Even when Samosvitov had departed the prisoner found it difficult tocredit all that had been said. Yet not an hour had elapsed before amessenger arrived with his dispatch-box and the papers and money thereinpractically undisturbed and intact! Later it came out that Samosvitovhad assumed complete authority in the matter. First, he had rebuked thegendarmes guarding Chichikov's effects for lack of vigilance, and thensent word to the Superintendent that additional men were required forthe purpose; after which he had taken the dispatch-box into his owncharge, removed from it every paper which could possibly compromiseChichikov, sealed up the rest in a packet, and ordered a gendarme toconvey the whole to their owner on the pretence of forwarding him sundrygarments necessary for the night. In the result Chichikov received notonly his papers, but also some warm clothing for his hypersensitivelimbs. Such a swift recovery of his treasures delighted him beyondexpression, and, gathering new hope, he began once more to dream of suchallurements as theatre-going and the ballet girl after whom he had forsome time past been dangling. Gradually did the country estate and thesimple life begin to recede into the distance: gradually did the townhouse and the life of gaiety begin to loom larger and larger in theforeground. Oh, life, life!

Meanwhile in Government offices and chancellories there had been seton foot a boundless volume of work. Clerical pens slaved, and brainsskilled in legal casus toiled; for each official had the artist's likingfor the curved line in preference to the straight. And all the while, like a hidden magician, Chichikov's lawyer imparted driving power tothat machine which caught up a man into its mechanism before he couldeven look round. And the complexity of it increased and increased, forSamosvitov surpassed himself in importance and daring. On learningof the place of confinement of the woman who had been arrested, hepresented himself at the doors, and passed so well for a smart youngofficer of gendarmery that the sentry saluted and sprang to attention. 

"Have you been on duty long?" asked Samosvitov. 

"Since this morning, your Excellency. "

"And shall you soon be relieved?"

"In three hours from now, your Excellency. "

"Presently I shall want you, so I will instruct your officer to have yourelieved at once. "

"Very good, your Excellency. "

Hastening home, thereafter, at top speed, and donning the uniform ofa gendarme, with a false moustache and a pair of false whiskers--anensemble in which the devil himself would not have known him, Samosvitovthen 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 sortwith himself. The next step was to hurry back to the prison where theoriginal woman had been interned, and there to intimate to the sentrythat he, Samosvitov (with whiskers and rifle complete), had been sentto relieve the said sentry at his post--a proceeding which, of course, enabled the newly-arrived relief to ensure, while performing hisself-assumed turn of duty, that for the woman lying under arrest thereshould be substituted the woman recently recruited to the plot, and thatthe former should then be conveyed to a place of concealment where shewas highly unlikely to be discovered. 

Meanwhile, Samosvitov's feats in the military sphere were being rivalledby the wonders worked by Chichikov's lawyer in the civilian field ofaction. As a first step, the lawyer caused it to be intimated to thelocal Governor that the Public Prosecutor was engaged in drawing up areport to his, the local Governor's, detriment; whereafter the lawyercaused it to be intimated also to the Chief of Gendarmery that a certainconfidential official was engaged in doing the same by HIM; whereafter, again, the lawyer confided to the confidential official in questionthat, owing to the documentary exertions of an official of a stillmore confidential nature than the first, he (the confidential officialfirst-mentioned) was in a fair way to find himself in the same boat asboth the local Governor and the Chief of Gendarmery: with the resultthat the whole trio were reduced to a frame of mind in which they wereonly too glad to turn to him (Samosvitov) for advice. The ultimate andfarcical upshot was that report came crowding upon report, and that suchalleged doings were brought to light as the sun had never before beheld. In fact, the documents in question employed anything and everything asmaterial, even to announcing that such and such an individual had anillegitimate son, that such and such another kept a paid mistress, andthat such and such a third was troubled with a gadabout wife; wherebythere became interwoven with and welded into Chichikov's past historyand the story of the dead souls such a crop of scandals and innuendoesthat by no manner of means could any mortal decide to which of theserubbishy romances to award the palm, since all them presented an equalclaim to that honour. Naturally, when, at length, the dossier reachedthe Governor-General himself it simply flabbergasted the poor man; andeven the exceptionally clever and energetic secretary to whom he deputedthe making of an abstract of the same very nearly lost his reason withthe strain of attempting to lay hold of the tangled end of the skein. Ithappened that just at that time the Prince had several other importantaffairs on hand, and affairs of a very unpleasant nature. That is tosay, famine had made its appearance in one portion of the province, andthe tchinovniks sent to distribute food to the people had done theirwork badly; in another portion of the province certain Raskolniki [51]were in a state of ferment, owing to the spreading of a report thanan Antichrist had arisen who would not even let the dead rest, but waspurchasing them wholesale--wherefore the said Raskolniki were summoningfolk to prayer and repentance, and, under cover of capturing theAntichrist in question, were bludgeoning non-Antichrists in batches;lastly, the peasants of a third portion of the province had risenagainst the local landowners and superintendents of police, for thereason that certain rascals had started a rumour that the time was comewhen the peasants themselves were to become landowners, and to wearfrockcoats, while the landowners in being were about to revert to thepeasant state, and to take their own wares to market; wherefore one ofthe local volosts[52], oblivious of the fact that an order of thingsof that kind would lead to a superfluity alike of landowners andof superintendents of police, had refused to pay its taxes, andnecessitated recourse to forcible measures. Hence it was in a moodof the greatest possible despondency that the poor Prince was sittingplunged when word was brought to him that the old man who had gone bailfor Chichikov was waiting to see him. 

"Show him in, " said the Prince; and the old man entered. 

"A fine fellow your Chichikov!" began the Prince angrily. "You defendedhim, and went bail for him, even though he had been up to business whicheven the lowest thief would not have touched!"

"Pardon me, your Highness; I do not understand to what you arereferring. "

"I am referring to the matter of the fraudulent will. The fellow oughtto have been given a public flogging for it. "

"Although to exculpate Chichikov is not my intention, might I askyou whether you do not think the case is non-proven? At all events, sufficient evidence against him is still lacking. "

"What? We have as chief witness the woman who personated the deceased, and I will have her interrogated in your presence. "

Touching a bell, the Prince ordered her to be sent for. 

"It is a most disgraceful affair, " he went on; "and, ashamed though I amto have to say it, some of our leading tchinovniks, including the localGovernor himself, have become implicated in the matter. Yet you tell methat this Chichikov ought not to be confined among thieves and rascals!"Clearly the Governor-General's wrath was very great indeed. 

"Your Highness, " said Murazov, "the Governor of the town is one of theheirs under the will: wherefore he has a certain right to intervene. Also, the fact that extraneous persons have meddled in the matter isonly what is to be expected from human nature. A rich woman dies, andno exact, regular disposition of her property is made. Hence there comesflocking from every side a cloud of fortune hunters. What else could oneexpect? Such is human nature. "

"Yes, but why should such persons go and commit fraud?" asked thePrince irritably. "I feel as though not a single honest tchinovnik wereavailable--as though every one of them were a rogue. "

"Your Highness, which of us is altogether beyond reproach? Thetchinovniks of our town are human beings, and no more. Some of them aremen of worth, and nearly all of them men skilled in business--thoughalso, unfortunately, largely inter-related. "

"Now, tell me this, Athanasi Vassilievitch, " said the Prince, "for youare about the only honest man of my acquaintance. What has inspired inyou such a penchant for defending rascals?"

"This, " replied Murazov. "Take any man you like of the persons whom youthus term rascals. That man none the less remains a human being. Thatbeing so, how can one refuse to defend him when all the time oneknows that half his errors have been committed through ignorance andstupidity? Each of us commits faults with every step that we take;each of us entails unhappiness upon others with every breath that wedraw--and that although we may have no evil intention whatever in ourminds. Your Highness himself has, before now, committed an injustice ofthe gravest nature. "

"_I_ have?" cried the Prince, taken aback by this unexpected turn givento the conversation. 

Murazov remained silent for a moment, as though he were debatingsomething in his thoughts. Then he said:

"Nevertheless it is as I say. You committed the injustice in the case ofthe lad Dierpiennikov. "

"What, Athanasi Vassilievitch? The fellow had infringed one of theFundamental Laws! He had been found guilty of treason!"

"I am not seeking to justify him; I am only asking you whether you thinkit right that an inexperienced youth who had been tempted and led awayby others should have received the same sentence as the man whohad taken the chief part in the affair. That is to say, althoughDierpiennikov and the man Voron-Drianni received an equal measure ofpunishment, their CRIMINALITY was not equal. "

"If, " exclaimed the Prince excitedly, "you know anything furtherconcerning the case, for God's sake tell it me at once. Only the otherday did I forward a recommendation that St. Petersburg should remit aportion of the sentence. "

"Your Highness, " replied Murazov, "I do not mean that I know ofanything which does not lie also within your own cognisance, though onecircumstance there was which might have told in the lad's favour had henot refused to admit it, lest another should suffer injury. All thatI have in my mind is this. On that occasion were you not a littleover-hasty in coming to a conclusion? You will understand, of course, that I am judging only according to my own poor lights, and for thereason that on more than one occasion you have urged me to be frank. Inthe days when I myself acted as a chief of gendarmery I came in contactwith a great number of accused--some of them bad, some of them good; andin each case I found it well also to consider a man's past career, forthe reason that, unless one views things calmly, instead of at oncedecrying a man, he is apt to take alarm, and to make it impossiblethereafter to get any real confession from him. If, on the other hand, you question a man as friend might question friend, the result will bethat straightway he will tell you everything, nor ask for mitigation ofhis penalty, nor bear you the least malice, in that he will understandthat it is not you who have punished him, but the law. "

The Prince relapsed into thought; until presently there entered a youngtchinovnik. Portfolio in hand, this official stood waiting respectfully. Care and hard work had already imprinted their insignia upon his freshyoung face; for evidently he had not been in the Service for nothing. Asa matter of fact, his greatest joy was to labour at a tangled case, andsuccessfully to unravel it. 

 [At this point a long hiatus occurs in the original. ]

"I will send corn to the localities where famine is worst, " saidMurazov, "for I understand that sort of work better than do thetchinovniks, 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 theRaskolniki. They are more likely to listen to a plain man than to anofficial. God knows whether I shall succeed in calming them, but atleast no tchinovnik could do so, for officials of the kind merely drawup reports and lose their way among their own documents--with the resultthat nothing comes of it. Nor will I accept from you any money for thesepurposes, since I am ashamed to devote as much as a thought to my ownpocket at a time when men are dying of hunger. I have a large stock ofgrain lying in my granaries; in addition to which, I have sent orders toSiberia that a new consignment shall be forwarded me before the comingsummer. "

"Of a surety will God reward you for your services, AthanasiVassilievitch! Not another word will I say to you on the subject, foryou yourself feel that any words from me would be inadequate. Yet tellme one thing: I refer to the case of which you know. Have I the right topass over the case? Also, would it be just and honourable on my part tolet the offending tchinovniks go unpunished?"

"Your Highness, it is impossible to return a definite answer to thosetwo questions: and the more so because many rascals are at heart men ofrectitude. Human problems are difficult things to solve. Sometimes a manmay be drawn into a vicious circle, so that, having once entered it, heceases to be himself. "

"But what would the tchinovniks say if I allowed the case to be passedover? Would not some of them turn up their noses at me, and declarethat they have effected my intimidation? Surely they would be the lastpersons in the world to respect me for my action?"

"Your Highness, I think this: that your best course would be to callthem together, and to inform them that you know everything, and toexplain to them your personal attitude (exactly as you have explainedit to me), and to end by at once requesting their advice and askingthem what each of them would have done had he been placed in similarcircumstances. "

"What? You think that those tchinovniks would be so accessible to loftymotives that they would cease thereafter to be venal and meticulous? Ishould be laughed at for my pains. "

"I think not, your Highness. Even the baser section of humanitypossesses a certain sense of equity. Your wisest plan, your Highness, would be to conceal nothing and to speak to them as you have just spokento me. If, at present, they imagine you to be ambitious and proudand unapproachable and self-assured, your action would afford theman opportunity of seeing how the case really stands. Why should youhesitate? You would but be exercising your undoubted right. Speak tothem as though delivering not a message of your own, but a message fromGod. "

"I will think it over, " the Prince said musingly, "and meanwhile I thankyou from my heart for your good advice. "

"Also, I should order Chichikov to leave the town, " suggested Murazov. 

"Yes, I will do so. Tell him from me that he is to depart hence asquickly as possible, and that the further he should remove himself, thebetter it will be for him. Also, tell him that it is only owing to yourefforts that he has received a pardon at my hands. "

Murazov bowed, and proceeded from the Prince's presence to that ofChichikov. He found the prisoner cheerfully enjoying a hearty dinnerwhich, under hot covers, had been brought him from an exceedinglyexcellent kitchen. But almost the first words which he uttered showedMurazov that the prisoner had been having dealings with the army ofbribe-takers; as also that in those transactions his lawyer had playedthe principal part. 

"Listen, Paul Ivanovitch, " the old man said. "I bring you your freedom, but only on this condition--that you depart out of the town forthwith. Therefore gather together your effects, and waste not a moment, lestworse befall you. Also, of all that a certain person has contrived todo on your behalf I am aware; wherefore let me tell you, as betweenourselves, that should the conspiracy come to light, nothing on earthcan save him, and in his fall he will involve others rather then be leftunaccompanied in the lurch, and not see the guilt shared. How is it thatwhen I left you recently you were in a better frame of mind than you arenow? I beg of you not to trifle with the matter. Ah me! what boots thatwealth for which men dispute and cut one another's throats? Do theythink that it is possible to prosper in this world without thinking ofthe world to come? Believe me when I say that, until a man shall haverenounced all that leads humanity to contend without giving a thought tothe ordering of spiritual wealth, he will never set his temporal goodseither upon a satisfactory foundation. Yes, even as times of want andscarcity may come upon nations, so may they come upon individuals. Nomatter what may be said to the contrary, the body can never dispensewith 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 livingone, regain, with God's help, the better road? I too am leaving the townto-morrow. Hasten, therefore, lest, bereft of my assistance, you meetwith some dire misfortune. "

And the old man departed, leaving Chichikov plunged in thought. Oncemore had the gravity of life begun to loom large before him. 

"Yes, Murazov was right, " he said to himself. "It is time that I weremoving. "

Leaving the prison--a warder carrying his effects in his wake--he foundSelifan and Petrushka overjoyed at seeing their master once more atliberty. 

"Well, good fellows?" he said kindly. "And now we must pack and be off. "

"True, true, Paul Ivanovitch, " agreed Selifan. "And by this time theroads will have become firmer, for much snow has fallen. Yes, high timeis it that we were clear of the town. So weary of it am I that the sightof it hurts my eyes. "

"Go to the coachbuilder's, " commanded Chichikov, "and havesledge-runners fitted to the koliaska. "

Chichikov then made his way into the town--though not with the object ofpaying farewell visits (in view of recent events, that might have givenrise to some awkwardness), but for the purpose of paying an unobtrusivecall at the shop where he had obtained the cloth for his latestsuit. There he now purchased four more arshins of the samesmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour material as he had had before, withthe intention of having it made up by the tailor who had fashioned theprevious costume; and by promising double remuneration he induced thetailor 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 wholeready by break of day. True, the goods were delivered a trifle afterthe appointed hour, yet the following morning saw the coat and breechescompleted; and while the horses were being put to, Chichikov tried onthe clothes, and found them equal to the previous creation, even thoughduring the process he caught sight of a bald patch on his head, and wasled 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 nolonger was he the old Chichikov--he was only a ruin of what he had been, and his frame of mind might have been compared to a building recentlypulled down to make room for a new one, while the new one had not yetbeen erected owing to the non-receipt of the plans from the architect. Murazov, too, had departed, but at an earlier hour, and in a tilt-waggonwith Ivan Potapitch. 

An hour later the Governor-General issued to all and sundry officialsa 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 hisresidence, and there awaited--not without a certain measure oftrepidation and of searching of heart--the Governor-General's entry. When that took place he looked neither clear nor dull. Yet his bearingwas proud, and his step assured. The tchinovniks bowed--some of them tothe waist, and he answered their salutations with a slight inclinationof the head. Then he spoke as follows:

"Since I am about to pay a visit to St. Petersburg, I have thought itright to meet you, and to explain to you privately my reasons for doingso. An affair of a most scandalous character has taken place in ourmidst. To what affair I am referring I think most of those present willguess. Now, an automatic process has led to that affair bringing aboutthe discovery of other matters. Those matters are no less dishonourablethan the primary one; and to that I regret to have to add that therestand involved in them certain persons whom I had hitherto believedto be honourable. Of the object aimed at by those who have complicatedmatters to the point of making their resolution almost impossible byordinary methods I am aware; as also I am aware of the identity of theringleader, despite the skill with which he has sought to conceal hisshare in the scandal. But the principal point is, that I propose todecide these matters, not by formal documentary process, but by themore summary process of court-martial, and that I hope, when thecircumstances have been laid before his Imperial Majesty, to receivefrom him authority to adopt the course which I have mentioned. For Iconceive that when it has become impossible to resolve a case by civilmeans, and some of the necessary documents have been burnt, and attemptshave been made (both through the adduction of an excess of false andextraneous evidence and through the framing of fictitious reports)to cloud an already sufficiently obscure investigation with an addedmeasure of complexity, --when all these circumstances have arisen, Iconceive that the only possible tribunal to deal with them is a militarytribunal. But on that point I should like your opinion. "

The Prince paused for a moment or two, as though awaiting a reply; butnone came, seeing that every man had his eyes bent upon the floor, andmany of the audience had turned white in the face. 

"Then, " he went on, "I may say that I am aware also of a matter whichthose who have carried it through believe to lie only within thecognisance of themselves. The particulars of that matter will not be setforth in documentary form, but only through process of myself acting asplaintiff and petitioner, and producing none but ocular evidence. "

Among the throng of tchinovniks some one gave a start, and therebycaused others of the more apprehensive sort to fall to trembling intheir shoes. 

"Without saying does it go that the prime conspirators ought to undergodeprivation of rank and property, and that the remainder ought to bedismissed from their posts; for though that course would cause a certainproportion of the innocent to suffer with the guilty, there would seemto be no other course available, seeing that the affair is one ofthe 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 dismissedofficials, as well as that others hitherto considered honourable willlose their reputation, and others entrusted with new responsibilitieswill continue to cheat and betray their trust, --although all this isknown to me, I still have no choice but to satisfy the claims of justiceby proceeding to take stern measures. I am also aware that I shall beaccused of undue severity; but, lastly, I am aware that it is my duty toput aside all personal feeling, and to act as the unconscious instrumentof 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 other kind of emotion had been visibleon his features. 

"Nevertheless, " he went on, "the very man in whose hands the fate ofso many now lies, the very man whom no prayer for mercy could ever haveinfluenced, himself desires to make a request of you. Should you grantthat request, all will be forgotten and blotted out and pardoned, forI myself will intercede with the Throne on your behalf. That request isthis. I know that by no manner of means, by no preventive measures, andby no penalties will dishonesty ever be completely extirpated from ourmidst, for the reason that its roots have struck too deep, and thatthe dishonourable traffic in bribes has become a necessity to, even themainstay 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 aloudfor saviours, and it is the duty of every citizen to contribute and tosacrifice his all, I feel that I cannot but issue an appeal to every manin 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 hisfellow? It may be to ME the greatest culpability should be assigned, inthat at first I may have adopted towards you too reserved an attitude, that I may have been over-hasty in repelling those who desired but toserve me, even though of their services I did not actually stand inneed. 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 thecoldness of my attitude, but would have sacrificed their feelings andtheir personality to their superior convictions. For hardly can itbe that I failed to note their overtures and the loftiness of theirmotives, or that I would not have accepted any wise and useful adviceproffered. At the same time, it is for a subordinate to adapt himself tothe tone of his superior, rather than for a superior to adapt himself tothe tone of his subordinate. Such a course is at once more regularand more smooth of working, since a corps of subordinates has but onedirector, whereas a director may have a hundred subordinates. But let usput aside the question of comparative culpability. The important pointis, that before us all lies the duty of rescuing our fatherland. Ourfatherland is suffering, not from the incursion of a score of alientongues, but from our own acts, in that, in addition to the lawfuladministration, there has grown up a second administration possessed ofinfinitely greater powers than the system established by law. And thatsecond administration has established its conditions, fixed its tariffof prices, and published that tariff abroad; nor could any ruler, eventhough the wisest of legislators and administrators, do more to correctthe evil than limit it in the conduct of his more venal tchinovniks bysetting over them, as their supervisors, men of superior rectitude. No, until each of us shall come to feel that, just as arms were taken upduring the period of the upheaval of nations, so now each of us mustmake a stand against dishonesty, all remedies will end in failure. As aRussian, therefore--as one bound to you by consanguinity and identity ofblood--I make to you my appeal. I make it to those of you who understandwherein lies nobility of thought. I invite those men to remember theduty which confronts us, whatsoever our respective stations; I invitethem to observe more closely their duty, and to keep more constantly inmind their obligations of holding true to their country, in that beforeus the future looms dark, and that we can scarcely. .. . "

 *****

 [Here the manuscript of the original comes abruptly to an end. ]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Essays on Russian Novelists. Macmillan. ]

[Footnote 2: Ideals and Realities in Russian Literature. Duckworth and Co. ]

[Footnote 3: This is generally referred to in the Russian criticisms of Gogolas a quotation from Jeremiah. It appears upon investigation, however, that it actually occurs only in the Slavonic version from the Greek, andnot in the Russian translation made direct from the Hebrew. ]

[Footnote 4: An urn for brewing honey tea. ]

[Footnote 5: An urn for brewing ordinary tea. ]

[Footnote 6: A German dramatist (1761-1819) who also filled sundry posts in theservice of the Russian Government. ]

[Footnote 7: Priest's wife. ]

[Footnote 8: In this case the term General refers to a civil grade equivalentto the military rank of the same title. ]

[Footnote 9: An annual tax upon peasants, payment of which secured to the payerthe right of removal. ]

[Footnote 10: Cabbage soup. ]

[Footnote 11: Three horses harnessed abreast. ]

[Footnote 12: A member of the gentry class. ]

[Footnote 13: Pieces equal in value to twenty-five kopecks (a quarter of arouble). ]

[Footnote 14: A Russian general who, in 1812, stoutly opposed Napoleon at thebattle of Borodino. ]

[Footnote 15: The late eighteenth century. ]

[Footnote 16: Forty Russian pounds. ]

[Footnote 17: To serve as blotting-paper. ]

[Footnote 18: A liquor distilled from fermented bread crusts or sour fruit. ]

[Footnote 19: That is to say, a distinctively Russian name. ]

[Footnote 20: A jeering appellation which owes its origin to the fact thatcertain Russians cherish a prejudice against the initial character ofthe word--namely, the Greek theta, or TH. ]

[Footnote 21: The great Russian general who, after winning fame in the SevenYears' War, met with disaster when attempting to assist the Austriansagainst the French in 1799. ]

[Footnote 22: A kind of large gnat. ]

[Footnote 23: A copper coin worth five kopecks. ]

[Footnote 24: A Russian general who fought against Napoleon, and was mortallywounded at Borodino. ]

[Footnote 25: Literally, "nursemaid. "]

[Footnote 26: Village factor or usurer. ]

[Footnote 27: Subordinate government officials. ]

[Footnote 28: Nevertheless Chichikov would appear to have erred, since mostpeople would make the sum amount to twenty-three roubles, forty kopecks. If so, Chichikov cheated himself of one rouble, fifty-six kopecks. ]

[Footnote 29: The names Kariakin and Volokita might, perhaps, be translated as"Gallant" and "Loafer. "]

[Footnote 30: Tradesman or citizen. ]

[Footnote 31: The game of knucklebones. ]

[Footnote 32: A sort of low, four-wheeled carriage. ]

[Footnote 33: The system by which, in annual rotation, two-thirds of a givenarea are cultivated, while the remaining third is left fallow. ]

[Footnote 34: Public Prosecutor. ]

[Footnote 35: To reproduce this story with a raciness worthy of the Russianoriginal is practically impossible. The translator has not attempted thetask. ]

[Footnote 36: One of the mistresses of Louis XIV. Of France. In 1680 she wrote abook called Reflexions sur la Misericorde de Dieu, par une DamePenitente. ]

[Footnote 37: Four-wheeled open carriage. ]

[Footnote 38: Silver five kopeck piece. ]

[Footnote 39: A silver quarter rouble. ]

[Footnote 40: In the days of serfdom, the rate of forced labour--so many hoursor so many days per week--which the serf had to perform for hisproprietor. ]

[Footnote 41: The Elder. ]

[Footnote 42: The Younger. ]

[Footnote 43: Secondary School. ]

[Footnote 44: The desiatin = 2. 86 English acres. ]

[Footnote 45: "One more makes five. "]

[Footnote 46: Dried spinal marrow of the sturgeon. ]

[Footnote 47: Long, belted Tartar blouses. ]

[Footnote 48: Village commune. ]

[Footnote 49: Landowner. ]

[Footnote 50: Here, in the original, a word is missing. ]

[Footnote 51: Dissenters or Old Believers: i. E. Members of the sect whichrefused to accept the revised version of the Church Service Bookspromulgated by the Patriarch Nikon in 1665. ]

[Footnote 52: Fiscal districts. ]