A nobleman Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrived in the provincial town of N. Having settled in the city hotel, he inquired in detail about the local prominent persons, especially interested in how many peasants had souls.

In the following days, Chichikov made visits to all the main city officials. He also attended a party at the governor's, where he met the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. A man very clever in getting around, Chichikov made a "pleasant" impression on everyone. (See The image of Chichikov - briefly, Chichikov in Dead Souls, Description of Chichikov.)

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 1 - a summary. You can read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Chichikov

Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 2 - in brief

A few days later, Chichikov postponed his visits to the countryside and first of all visited the Manilov estate. The sugary Manilov claimed enlightened humanity, European education and loved to build fantastic projects, such as the construction of a huge bridge across his pond, from where Moscow could be seen during tea drinking. But, mired in dreams, he never realized them, being completely impractical and mismanagement. (See Description of Manilov, his estate and dinner with him.)

Accepting Chichikov, Manilov demonstrated refined courtesy. But in a private conversation, Chichikov made him an unexpected and strange offer: to buy from him for a small amount the recently deceased peasants (who were listed as alive on paper until the next financial audit). Manilov was extremely surprised by this, but out of courtesy he could not refuse the guest.

For more details, see Gogol's separate article "Dead Souls", Chapter 2 - a summary of the full text of this chapter.

Manilov

Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 3 - in brief

From Manilov, Chichikov thought to go to Sobakevich, but the drunken coachman Selifan drove him in a completely different direction. Having got into a thunderstorm, the travelers barely reached a village - and found a lodging for the night with the landowner Korobochka there.

The widow Korobochka was a rustic and greedy old woman. (See Description of Korobochka, her estate and dinner at her place.) The next morning, over tea, Chichikov made her the same proposal as before to Manilov. The box at first goggled, but then calmed down, most of all caring about how not to make too much money when selling the dead. She even began to refuse Chichikov, intending first to "apply to the prices of other merchants." But her dodgy guest passed himself off as a government contractor and promised to buy flour, cereals, bacon and feathers from Korobochka in bulk. In anticipation of such a lucrative deal, Korobochka agreed to sell the dead souls.

For more details see a separate article by Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 3 - a summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 4 - in brief

After leaving Korobochka, Chichikov stopped for lunch at a roadside inn and met the landowner Nozdrev there, whom he had previously met at a party at the governor's. The incorrigible boozer, reveler, liar and sharper Nozdryov (see his description) returned from the fair, having completely lost there in cards. He invited Chichikov to his estate. He agreed to go there, hoping that the broken-hearted Nozdryov would give him dead souls for free.

On his estate, Nozdryov took Chichikov around the stables and kennels for a long time, assuring that his horses and dogs cost many thousands of rubles. When the guest started talking about dead souls, Nozdryov suggested playing cards on them and immediately took out a deck. Having thoroughly suspected that she was speckled, Chichikov refused.

The next morning, Nozdryov suggested playing the dead peasants not at cards, but at checkers, where cheating is impossible. Chichikov agreed, but during the game, Nozdryov began to move several checkers at once with the cuffs of his robe in one move. Chichikov protested. In response, Nozdryov called two hefty serfs and ordered them to beat the guest. Chichikov barely managed to escape unscathed thanks to the arrival of the police captain: he brought Nozdrev a summons to court for an insult inflicted on the landlord Maksimov in a drunken state.

For more details, see a separate article by Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 4 - a summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Adventures of Chichikov (Nozdrev). An excerpt of the cartoon based on the plot of "Dead Souls" by Gogol

Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 5 - in brief

Having galloped away at full speed from Nozdrev, Chichikov finally reached the Sobakevich estate - a man who, in character, was the opposite of Manilov. Sobakevich deeply despised hovering in the clouds and was guided in everything only by material benefits. (See Portrait of Sobakevich, Description of the estate and the interior of Sobakevich's house.)

Explaining human actions by one desire for selfish gain, rejecting all idealism, Sobakevich certified city officials as swindlers, robbers and Christ-sellers. In figure and posture, he resembled a medium-sized bear. At the table, Sobakevich neglected the less nutritious overseas delicacies, dined on simple dishes, but devoured them in huge chunks. (See Lunch at Sobakevich's.)

Unlike others, the practical Sobakevich was not at all surprised at Chichikov's request to sell dead souls. However, he broke an exorbitant price for them - 100 rubles each, explaining it by the fact that his peasants, although dead, were “selected goods”, for they used to be excellent craftsmen and laborers. Chichikov scoffed at such an argument, but Sobakevich only after a long bargain lowered the price to two rubles and a half per capita. (See the text of the scene of their bargaining.)

Sobakevich

In a conversation with Chichikov, Sobakevich let slip that an unusually stingy landowner Plyushkin lives not far from him and that this owner has more than a thousand peasants who are dying like flies. After leaving Sobakevich, Chichikov immediately found out the way to Plyushkin.

For more details see a separate article by Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 5 - a summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 6 - in brief

Plyushkin

Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 7 - in brief

Returning to the provincial town of N, Chichikov took up the final design of the merchant fortresses in the state chancellery. This chamber was located in the main city square. Inside it, many officials diligently pored over papers. The noise of their feathers sounded like a few wagons with brushwood passing through a forest littered with withered leaves. To speed up the case, Chichikov had to bribe the clerk Ivan Antonovich with a long nose, colloquially called a jug snout.

Manilov and Sobakevich arrived to sign the merchants themselves, while the rest of the sellers acted through attorneys. Not knowing that all the peasants bought by Chichikov were dead, the chairman of the chamber asked what land he intended to settle them on. Chichikov lied about his alleged estate in the Kherson province.

To "inject" the purchase, everyone went to the chief of police. Among the city fathers, he was known for a miracle worker: he had only to blink, passing by the fish row or cellar, and the merchants themselves carried snacks in great abundance. At a noisy feast, Sobakevich especially distinguished himself: while the other guests were drinking, in a quarter of an hour he secretly pissed himself to the bones of a huge sturgeon, and then pretended that he had nothing to do with it.

For more details see a separate article by Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 7 - a summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 8 - in brief

Chichikov bought dead souls from landlords for a penny, but on the paper, the merchants indicated that he had paid about a hundred thousand for everyone. Such a large purchase caused the liveliest rumors in the city. The rumor that Chichikov is a millionaire raised him strongly in all eyes. In the opinion of the ladies, he became a real hero, and they even began to find in his appearance something similar to Mars.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 9 - briefly

At first, Nozdryov's words were considered intoxicating nonsense. However, soon the news of the purchase of the dead by Chichikov was confirmed by Korobochka, who came to the city to find out if she had made a bargain in her deal with him. The wife of the local archpriest conveyed the story of Korobochka to one well-known in the city world nice lady, and she - to her friend - a lady pleasant in all respects... From these two ladies, the rumor spread to everyone else.

The whole city was lost in conjectures: why did Chichikov buy dead souls? In the female half of society, inclined to frivolous romance, a strange thought arose that he wanted to cover up the preparations for the abduction of the governor's daughter. More down-to-earth male officials wondered if there was a strange newcomer - an inspector sent to their province for investigation due to official omissions, and "dead souls" - some conventional phrase, whose meaning is known only to Chichikov himself and the higher authorities. Perplexity reached true awe when the governor received two papers from above, informing that a well-known counterfeiter and a dangerous fugitive robber might be in their area.

For more details see a separate article by Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 9 - a summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 10 - briefly

The city fathers gathered for a meeting with the chief of police to decide who Chichikov was and what to do with him. The most daring hypotheses were put forward here. Some considered Chichikov as a forger of banknotes, others as an investigator who would soon arrest them all, and still others as a murderer. There was even an opinion that he was Napoleon in disguise, released by the British from the island of St. Helena, and the postmaster saw in Chichikov Captain Kopeikin, an invalid in the war against the French, who did not receive a pension from the authorities for his injury and took revenge on them with the help of a gang of robbers recruited in the Ryazan forests.

Remembering that Nozdryov was the first to speak about the dead souls, they decided to send for him. But this famous liar, having come to the meeting, began to confirm all assumptions at once. He said that Chichikov had previously kept two million counterfeit money and that he even managed to elude the police who surrounded the house with them. According to Nozdrev, Chichikov really wanted to kidnap the governor's daughter, prepared horses at all stations and bribed a priest - Father Sidor in the village of Trukhmachevka - for a secret wedding for 75 rubles.

Realizing that Nozdryov was carrying game, those present drove him away. He went to Chichikov, who was ill and did not know anything about the city's rumors. Nozdryov "out of friendship" told Chichikov: in the city everyone considers him a counterfeiter and an extremely dangerous person. Shaken, Chichikov decided to leave in a hurry early in the morning.

For more details, see individual articles by Gogol "Dead Souls", Chapter 10 - a summary and Gogol "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin" - a summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 11 - briefly

The next day, Chichikov almost fled from the city N. His chaise rolled along the high road, and during this journey Gogol told the readers the story of his hero's life and finally explained for what purpose he acquired dead souls.

Chichikov's parents were nobles, but very poor. As a young boy, he was taken from the village to the city and sent to a school. (See Chichikov's childhood.) The father finally gave his son advice to please the bosses and save a penny.

Chichikov always followed this parental instruction. He did not have brilliant talents, but constantly currying favor with teachers - and graduated from school with an excellent certificate. Self-interest, a thirst to break out of the poor into wealthy people were the main properties of his soul. After school, Chichikov entered the lowest official position, achieved a promotion, promising to marry the ugly daughter of his boss, but deceived him. By means of lies and hypocrisy, Chichikov twice reached prominent official posts, but the first time he plundered money assigned to government construction, and the second time he acted as the patron saint of a gang of smugglers. In both cases, he was exposed and barely escaped prison. (See Chichikov's career.)

He had to be content with the position of a judicial attorney. At that time, loans on the mortgage of landowners' estates to the treasury spread. While doing one such case, Chichikov suddenly found out that the deceased serfs were listed alive on paper until the next financial audit, which took place in Russia only once every few years. When pledging estates, the nobles received from the treasury sums according to the number of their peasant souls - 200 rubles per person. Chichikov came up with the idea of ​​traveling around the provinces, buying up dead peasant souls for a penny, but not yet marked as such in the revision, then pledging them in bulk - and so get a rich jackpot ...

DEAD SOULS

Volume 1

CHAPTER 1

A chaise drove into the gates of the hotel in the provincial town of NN, in which sits the gentleman “not handsome, but not bad-looking, not too fat, not too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but not so that he is too young. " This gentleman is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. At the hotel, he eats a hearty lunch. The author describes the provincial town: “The houses were one, two and one and a half floors, with a perpetual mezzanine, very beautiful, according to the provincial architects.

In places these houses seemed lost among the wide, like a field, streets and endless wooden fences; in places they huddled together, and here there was noticeable more movement of the people and liveliness. There were signs almost washed away by the rain with pretzels and boots, here and there painted blue trousers and the signature of some Arshavsky tailor; where is a store with caps, caps and the inscription: "Foreigner Vasily Fedorov" ... More often than not, one could see the darkened two-headed state eagles, which have now been replaced by the laconic inscription: "Drinking house". The pavement was not good everywhere. "

Chichikov pays visits to city officials - the governor, the vice-governor, the chairman of the chamber * the prosecutor, the chief of police, as well as the inspector of the medical council, the city architect. Chichikov everywhere and with everyone, with the help of flattery, builds excellent relationships, enters into trust in each of those whom he visited. Each of the officials invites Pavel Ivanovich to visit him, although little is known about him.

Chichikov attended the governor's ball, where “he somehow knew how to find himself in everything and showed himself an experienced socialite. Whatever the conversation was about, he always knew how to support him: whether it was about a horse factory, he also talked about a horse factory; whether they talked about good dogs, and here he reported very sensible remarks; whether they interpreted the investigation carried out by the treasury chamber - he showed that he was also not unaware of the judicial tricks; was there any reasoning about the billiard game - and in the billiard game he did not miss; whether they talked about virtue, and about virtue he reasoned very well, even with tears in his eyes; about making hot wine, and in hot wine he knew Tzrok; about customs overseers and officials, and about them he judged as if he himself were both an official and an overseer. But it is remarkable that he knew how to clothe all this with some kind of degree, knew how to behave well. He spoke neither loudly nor softly, but absolutely as he should. " At the ball he met the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich, whom he also managed to win over. Chichikov finds out in what condition their estates are and how many peasants they have. Manilov and Sobakevich invite Chichikov to their estate. While visiting the chief of police, Chichikov meets the landowner Nozdrev, "a man of about thirty, a broken-hearted fellow."

CHAPTER 2

Chichikov has two servants - the coachman Selifan and the footman Petrushka. The latter reads a lot and everything in a row, while he is not occupied with what he read, but folding letters into words. In addition, Parsley has a "special smell" as it very rarely goes to the bathhouse.

Chichikov goes to the Manilov estate. For a long time he cannot find his estate. “The village of Manilovka could lure few people with its location. The master's house stood alone in the Jura, that is, on an elevation, open to all the winds that one could think of to blow; the slope of the mountain on which he stood was clad in clipped sod. On it were scattered in English two or three flower beds with bushes of lilacs and yellow acacias; five or six birches in small clumps in some places raised their small-leaved thin peaks. Under two of them was a gazebo with a flat green dome, wooden blue columns and the inscription: "Temple of Solitary Meditation"; lower there is a pond covered with greenery, which, however, is not a wonder in the English gardens of Russian landowners. At the foot of this elevation, and partly along the very slope, gray log huts were darkened up and down ... "Manilov is glad of the arrival of the guest. The author describes the landowner and his household: “He was a prominent person; his features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have been overly imparted to sugar; in his methods and turns there was something ingratiating in his disposition and acquaintance. He smiled alluringly, was blond, with blue eyes. In the first minute of a conversation with him you cannot but say: "What a nice and kind person!" In the next minute you won't say anything, but in the third you will say: "The devil knows what this is!" - and you will move away; if you don’t leave, you will feel mortal boredom. You won't get any living or even arrogant word from him, which you can hear from almost everyone, if you touch the object that is bullying him ... You cannot say that he was engaged in farming, he never even went to the fields, the farming went somehow by itself. .. Sometimes, looking from the porch to the courtyard and the pond, he said how good it would be if suddenly an underground passage was made from the house or a stone bridge was built across the pond, on which there would be shops on both sides, and that in merchants sat there and sold various small goods needed for the peasants ... All these projects ended with only one word. There was always some book in his office, bookmarked on page fourteen, which he had been reading constantly for two years. Something was always lacking in his house: in the drawing-room there was fine furniture, covered with a dandy silk fabric, which, I suppose, was very expensive; but two armchairs lacked it, and the armchairs were simply covered with matting ... In the evening, a very dandy candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces, with a nacreous mother-of-pearl shield was served on the table, and next to it was put some kind of simple brass invalid, lame, curled up on the side and covered in fat, although neither the owner, nor the mistress, nor the servant noticed this. "

Manilov's wife is very suitable for him in character. There is no order in the house, since she does not watch over anything. She is well brought up, she was brought up in a boarding school, “and in boarding schools, as you know, three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: French, which is necessary for the happiness of family life, the piano, to compose pleasant moments for her spouse, and, finally, the household part itself: knitting wallets and other surprises. "

Manilov and Chichikov show an exaggerated courtesy towards each other, which leads them to the point that they both squeeze through the same doors at the same time. The Manilovs invite Chichikov to dinner, at which both Manilov's sons are present: Themistoclus and Alcides. The first has a runny nose, he bites his brother's ear. Alcides, swallowing tears, all smeared with fat, eats a leg of lamb.

At the end of lunch, Manilov and Chichikov go to the owner's office, where they have a business conversation. Chichikov asks Manilov for revision tales - a detailed register of peasants who died after the last census. He wants to buy dead souls. Manilov is amazed. Chichikov convinces him that everything will happen in accordance with the law, that the tax will be paid. Manilov finally calms down and gives away dead souls for free, believing that he has done Chichikov a huge service. Chichikov leaves, and Manilov indulges in dreams, in which he reaches the point that for their strong friendship with Chichikov the tsar will grant both of them the rank of general.

CHAPTER 3

Chichikov is poisoned at Sobakevich's estate, but gets caught in heavy rain, gets lost on the road. His chaise rolls over and falls into the mud. Nearby is the estate of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, where Chichikov comes. He walks into a room that “was hung with old striped wallpaper; pictures with some kind of birds; between the windows there are antique small mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves; behind every mirror were either a letter, or an old deck of cards, or a stocking; wall clock with painted flowers on the dial ... it was impossible to notice anything more ... A minute later, the hostess entered, an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners, who are crying for crop failures, losses and keep their heads a little to one side, and meanwhile they are gaining a little money in variegated bags, placed on the drawers of dressers ... "

Korobochka leaves Chichikov to spend the night in his house. In the morning Chichikov starts a conversation with her about selling dead souls. The little box cannot understand what they are for, and offers to buy honey or hemp from her. She is constantly afraid to sell too cheap. Chichikov manages to convince her to agree to the deal only after he tells the truth about himself - that he is conducting government contracts, promises to buy both honey and hemp from her in the future. Korobochka believes what was said. Trading has been going on for a long time, after which the deal took place. Chichikov keeps the papers in a box, which consists of many compartments and has a secret drawer for money.

CHAPTER 4

Chichikov stops at a tavern, to which Nozdryov's chaise soon drives up. Nozdryov is “of average height, a very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, and whiskers black as pitch. He was fresh as blood and milk; health seemed to sprinkle from his face. " With a very satisfied look, he said that he had lost, and that he had lost not only his own money,

I but also the money of his son-in-law Mizhuyev, who is present right there. Nozdryov invites Chichikov to his place, promises a delicious treat. He himself drinks in a tavern at the expense of his son-in-law. The author characterizes Nozdrev ^ as a "broken-hearted fellow", from that breed of people who, "even in childhood and at school, are reputed to be good comrades and, for all that, there are scales that are painfully beaten ... you are "you". Friendship will be established, it seems, forever: but it almost always happens that the friend will fight with them that evening at a friendly feast. They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, prominent people. At thirty-five, Nozdryov was as perfect as he was at eighteen and twenty: a hunter to take a walk. His marriage did not change him in the least, especially since his wife soon went to the next world, leaving two children, whom he absolutely did not need ... He could not sit at home for more than a day. A sensitive nose heard him for several tens of miles, where there was a fair with all sorts of congresses and balls; he was already there in an instant, arguing and causing confusion at the green table, for he had, like everyone else, a passion for cards ... Nozdryov was in some respects a historical person. Not a single meeting he attended was complete without history. Some story certainly happened: either the gendarmes would lead him out of the hall under the arms, or they were forced to push out their own friends ... And he would lie completely unnecessarily: he would suddenly tell that he had a horse of some kind of blue or pink wool, and all that nonsense, so that the listeners finally all leave, saying: "Well, brother, you seem to have already started pouring bullets."

Nozdryov refers to those people who have "a passion to shit on their neighbors, sometimes for no reason at all." His favorite pastime was to exchange things and lose money and property. Arriving at Nozdryov's estate, Chichikov sees an unprepossessing stallion, about which Nozdryov says that he paid ten thousand for him. He shows the kennel where the questionable breed of dog is kept. Nozdryov is a master of lies. He tells that fish of extraordinary sizes are found in his pond, that his Turkish daggers bear the mark of the famous master. The dinner to which this landowner Chichikov was invited is bad.

Chichikov begins business negotiations, while saying that he needs dead souls for a profitable marriage, so that the bride's parents believe that he is a wealthy man. Nozdryov is going to donate dead souls and, in addition, is trying to sell a stallion, a mare, a barrel organ, and so on. Chichikov flatly refuses. Nozdryov invites him to play cards, which Chichikov also refuses. For this refusal, Nozdryov orders to feed Chichikov's horse not oats, but hay, to which the guest is offended. Nozdryov, on the other hand, does not feel uncomfortable, and in a chime, as if nothing had happened, he invites Chichikov to play checkers. He rashly agrees. The landowner begins to cheat. Chichikov accuses him of this, Nozdryov climbs to fight, calls the servants and orders to beat the guest. Suddenly, a police captain appears, who arrests Nozdryov for insulting landowner Maksimov in a drunken state. Nozdryov refuses everything, says that he does not know any Maximov. Chichikov quickly leaves.

CHAPTER 5

Through Selifan's fault, Chichikov's chaise collides with another chaise, in which two ladies are traveling - an elderly and sixteen-year-old very beautiful girl. The peasants gathered from the village separate the horses. Chichikov is shocked by the beauty of the young girl, and after the carts have left, he thinks about her for a long time. The traveler drives up to the village of Mikhail Semenovich Sobakevich. “A wooden house with a mezzanine, a red roof and dark or, better, wild walls, is a house like the ones they build here for military settlements and German colonists. It was noticeable that during its construction the architect was incessantly struggling with the taste of the owner. The architect was a pedant and wanted symmetry, the owner - convenience and, as you can see, as a result of that he boarded up all the corresponding windows on one side and screwed in place one small one, which was probably needed for a dark closet. The pediment also did not fall in the middle of the house, no matter how the architect struggled, because the owner ordered one column to be thrown out from the side, and therefore there were not four columns, as was appointed, but only three. The courtyard was surrounded by a strong and inordinately thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be fussing a lot about strength. In the stables, sheds and kitchens, full-weight and thick logs were used, determined to stand for centuries. The village huts of the peasants were also cut down to a wonder: there were no brick walls, carved patterns and other undertakings, but everything was fitted tightly and properly. Even the well was finished in such a sturdy oak that goes only to mills and ships. In a word, everything he looked at was stubborn, without hesitation, in some kind of strong and awkward order. "

The owner himself seems to Chichikov like a bear. “To complete the resemblance, the dress coat on him was completely bearish, the sleeves were long, the pantaloons were long, he stepped with his feet at random and sideways and stepped incessantly on other people's legs. The complexion was red-hot, hot, which happens on a copper penny ... "

Sobakevich had a manner of speaking bluntly about everything. About the governor, he says that he is "the first robber in the world," and the chief of police is a "swindler." Sobakevich eats a lot at lunch. He tells the guest about his neighbor Plyushkin, a very stingy man who owns eight hundred peasants.

Chichikov says that he wants to buy dead souls, which Sobakevich is not surprised, but immediately starts trading. He promises to sell 100 rudders for each dead soul, while he says that the dead were real masters. They trade for a long time. In the end, they converge on three rubles apiece, while drawing up a document, since each fears dishonesty on the part of the other. Sobakevich offers to buy dead female souls at a cheaper price, but Chichikov refuses, although later it turns out that the landowner did write one woman in the bill of sale. Chichikov is leaving. On the way he asks the peasant how to get to Plyushkin. The chapter ends with a lyrical digression about the Russian language. “The Russian people are expressing themselves strongly! and if he rewards someone with a word, then it will go to his family and posterity, he will drag him with him to the service, and to retirement, and to Petersburg, and to the end of the world ... ... And where is it aptly everything that came out of the depths of Russia, where there are no German, no Chukhons, or any other tribes, and everything is a nugget, a lively and lively Russian mind that does not go into your pocket for a word, does not incubate it , like a hen of chickens, but it slips right away, like a passport to an eternal sock, and there is nothing to add later, what kind of nose or lips you have - you are outlined in one line from head to toe! Just as a myriad of churches, monasteries with domes, heads, crosses are scattered over holy, pious Russia, so a myriad of tribes, generations, peoples crowd, dazzle and rush across the face of the earth. And every nation, bearing in itself a guarantee of strength, full of the creative abilities of the soul, its bright peculiarity and other gifts of the leg, each has distinguished itself in its own way with its own word, which, expressing any object, reflects in its expression a part of its own character. The word of the Briton will respond to the knowledge of heart and the wise knowledge of life; the short-lived word of the Frenchman will flash and scatter with an easy dandy; the German will intricately come up with his own, not accessible to everyone, cleverly thin word; but there is no word that would be so ambitious, so boldly that would burst out from under the very heart, so boil and lively, like a well-spoken Russian word. "

CHAPTER 6

The chapter begins with a lyrical digression about travel. “Before, long ago, in the years of my youth, in the years of my childhood that irrevocably flashed, it was fun for me to drive up to an unfamiliar place for the first time: it didn't matter whether it was a village, a poor county town, a village, a suburb, - I discovered a lot of curious mute a childish curious look. Every building, everything that only bore the imprint of some noticeable peculiarity — everything stopped me and amazed me ... Now I indifferently drive up to every unfamiliar village and look with indifference at its vulgar appearance; my chilled gaze is uncomfortable, I'm not funny, and what would have awakened in previous years a lively movement in the face, laughter and incessant speech, now slips by, and my motionless lips keep indifferent silence. Oh my youth! oh my freshness! "

Chichikov goes to Plyushkin's estate, for a long time he cannot find the master's house. Finally he finds a "strange castle" that looks like a "decrepit invalid". “In some places it was one floor, in other places it was two; on the dark roof, which not everywhere reliably protected his old age, two gazebos protruded, one opposite the other, both already shaken, deprived of the paint that had once covered them. The walls of the house were whitewashed in places with a naked plaster lattice and, as you can see, suffered a lot from all kinds of bad weather, rains, whirlwinds and autumn changes. Of the windows, only two were open, the rest were shuttered or even planked. These two windows, for their part, were also partially blind; one of them had a dark glued triangle made of blue sugar paper. " Chichikov meets a person of indeterminate gender (he cannot understand whether it is "a man or a woman"). He decides that this is the housekeeper, but then it turns out that this is the wealthy landowner Stepan Plyushkin. The author talks about how Plyushkin came to such a life. In the past, he was a thrifty landowner, he had a wife, who was famous for hospitality, and three children. But after the death of his wife "Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy." He cursed his daughter, as she fled and married an officer of the cavalry regiment. The youngest daughter died, and the son, instead of studying, decided to join the military. Every year Plyushkin became more and more stingy. Very soon the merchants stopped taking goods from him, since they could not bargain with the landowner. All his goods - hay, wheat, flour, canvases - everything rotted away. Plyushkin saved everything, while picking up other people's things that he did not need at all. His avarice knew no bounds: for the entire courtyard of Plyushkin - only boots, he keeps a biscuit for several months, he knows exactly how much liqueur he has in a decanter, since he makes marks. When Chichikov tells him what he has come for, Plyushkin is very happy. Offers the guest to buy not only dead souls, but also fugitive peasants. Traded. He hides the received money in a box. It is clear that he will never use this money, like others. Chichikov leaves, to the great joy of the owner, refusing the treat. Returns to the hotel.

CHAPTER 7

The story begins with a lyrical digression about two types of writers. “Happy is the writer who, past boring, disgusting characters, striking with his sad reality, approaches characters that show the high dignity of a person who, from the great pool of daily rotating images, has chosen a few exceptions, who never changed the lofty structure of his lyre, did not descend from his peaks to his poor, insignificant fellows, and, without touching the ground, he was completely plunged into his exalted images, far from her, exalted from her ... indifferent eyes do not see - all the terrible, stunning little things that have entangled our life, all the depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters with which our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring road teems, and by the strong force of an inexorable incisor that dares to expose them prominently and brightly on eyes of the people! He cannot gather the applause of the people, he cannot ripen the grateful tears and the unanimous delight of the souls agitated by him ... Without division, without an answer, without participation, like a familyless traveler, he will be left alone in the middle of the road. His field is harsh, and he will bitterly feel his loneliness. "

After all the registered merchants, Chichikov becomes the owner of four hundred dead souls. He reflects on who these people were during their lifetime. Leaving the hotel on the street, Chichikov meets Manilov. They go together to make the bill of sale. In the office, Chichikov bribes the official Ivan Antonovich Kuvshinnoye Snout to speed up the process. However, the bribe-giving occurs imperceptibly - the official covers the banknote with a book, and it seems to disappear. The chief has Sobakevich. Chichikov agrees that the bill of sale will be completed within a day, since he supposedly needs to leave urgently. He gives the chairman a letter from Plyushkin, in which he asks him to be an attorney in his case, to which the chairman gladly agrees.

The documents are drawn up in the presence of witnesses, Chichikov pays only half of the duty to the treasury, while the other half “was attributed in some incomprehensible way to the account of another applicant”. After a successful deal, everyone goes to dinner with the chief of police, during which Sobakevich alone eats a huge sturgeon. The tipsy guests ask Chichikov to stay and decide to marry him. Chichikov informs the audience that he is buying peasants for withdrawal to the Kherson province, where he has already acquired the estate. He himself believes in what he says. Parsley and Se-lifan, after they sent the drunken owner to the hotel, go for a walk to the tavern.

CHAPTER 8

Residents of the city are discussing what Chichikov bought. Everyone tries to offer him help in getting the peasants to their place. Among the proposed - a convoy, a police captain to pacify a possible revolt, the education of the serfs. A description of the city dwellers follows: “they were all kind people, living in harmony with each other, treated in a completely friendly manner, and their conversations bore the stamp of some special innocence and brevity:“ Dear friend Ilya Ilyich ”,“ Listen, brother, Antipator Zakharievich! "... To the postmaster, whose name was Ivan Andreevich, they always added:" Shprechen zadeich, Ivan Andreich? " - in a word, everything was very familial. Many were not without education: the chairman of the chamber knew by heart Zhukovsky's "Lyudmila", which was still not a simple piece of news at that time ... "Eckartshausen, of which he made very long extracts ... he was a witty, flamboyant in words and loved, as he put it, to equip his speech. Others were also more or less enlightened people: some had read Karamzin, some “Moskovskiye Vedomosti”, some had not even read anything at all ... As for the plausibility, it is already known that they were all reliable consumptive people, there was no one between them. They were all of the kind that the wives, in tender conversations taking place in solitude, gave names: egg-pods, fatty, paunchy, nigella, kiki, zhuzhu, and so on. But in general, they were kind people, full of hospitality, and a person who tasted bread with them or sat an evening at whist was already becoming something close ... "

City ladies were “what they call presentable, and in this respect they could be safely set as an example to everyone else ... They dressed with great taste, rode around the city in carriages, as prescribed by the latest fashion, a footman swayed from behind, and livery in gold braid ... In the morals of the ladies of the city N. were strict, filled with noble indignation against everything that was vicious and all temptations, they executed all weaknesses without mercy ... It must also be said that the ladies of the city of N., like many St. Petersburg ladies, were distinguished by their extraordinary caution and decency in words and expressions. They never said: "I blew my nose," "I was sweating," "I spat," but they said: "I lightened my nose," "I got along with a handkerchief." In no case was it possible to say: "This glass or this plate stinks." And it was not even possible to say anything that would give a hint of this, but instead they said: "This glass is not behaving well" or something like that. To further ennoble the Russian language, almost half of the words were completely thrown out of the conversation, and therefore very often it was necessary to resort to the French language, but there, in French, it is another matter: there were allowed such words that were much harsher than those mentioned. "

All the ladies of the city are delighted with Chichikov, one of them even sent him a love letter. Chichikov is invited to the governor's ball. Before the ball, he spins in front of the mirror for a long time. At the ball, he is in the spotlight, trying to understand who the author of the letter is. The governor's wife introduces Chichikov to her daughter - the very girl he saw in the chaise. He almost falls in love with her, but she misses his company. Other ladies are outraged that all the attention of Chichikov goes to the daughter of the governor. Suddenly, Nozdryov appears, who tells the governor about how Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from him. The news spreads quickly, while the ladies convey it as if they do not believe it, since everyone knows Nozdryov's reputation. Korobochka arrives in the city at night, who is interested in the prices of dead souls - she is afraid that she has sold out.

CHAPTER 9

The chapter describes the visit of a "pleasant lady" to "a lady pleasant in all respects." Her visit falls an hour earlier than the usual time for visits in the city - she is in a hurry to tell the news she has heard. The lady tells her friend that Chichikov is a disguised robber, that she demanded that Korobochka sell him the dead peasants. The ladies decide that dead souls are just an excuse, in fact, Chichikov is going to take away the governor's daughter. They discuss the behavior of the girl, herself, recognize her as unattractive, mannered. The husband of the mistress of the house appears - the prosecutor, to whom the ladies tell the news, which confuses him.

The men of the city are discussing the purchase of Chichikov, the women are discussing the abduction of the governor's daughter. The story is replenished with details, they decide that Chichikov has an accomplice, and this accomplice is probably Nozdryov. Chichikov is credited with organizing a riot of peasants in Borovki, Zadi-railovo-identity, during which assessor Drobyazhkin was killed. In addition, the governor receives news that the robber has escaped and a counterfeiter has appeared in the province. The suspicion arises that one of these persons is Chichikov. The public no one can decide what to do.

CHAPTER 10

Officials are so worried about the current situation that many are even losing weight from grief. Collect a meeting from the chief of police. The chief of police decides that Chichikov is a disguised captain Kopeikin, an invalid without an arm and a leg, a hero of the war of 1812. Kopeikin, after returning from the front, received nothing from his father. He goes to Petersburg to seek the truth from the sovereign. But the king is not in the capital. Kopeikin goes to the nobleman, the head of the commission, an audience with whom he has been waiting for a long time in the waiting room. The general promises help, offers to stop by one of these days. But next time he says that he cannot do anything without the special permission of the king. Captain Kopeikin is running out of money, and the doorman will no longer let him see the general. He suffers many hardships, eventually breaks through to an appointment with the general, says that he cannot wait any longer. The general very rudely drives him out, sends him out of Petersburg at public expense. After some time, a gang of robbers led by Kopeikin appears in the Ryazan forests.

Other officials nevertheless decide that Chichikov is not Kopeikin, since his arms and legs are intact. It has been suggested that Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise. Everyone decides that it is necessary to interrogate Nozdryov, despite the fact that he is a famous liar. Nozdrev says that he sold Chichikov several thousand worth of dead souls, and that even at the time when he was studying with Chichikov at school, he was already a counterfeiter and a spy, that he was going to kidnap the governor's daughter and Nozdryov himself helped him. Nozdryov realizes that in his tales he has gone too far, and possible problems frighten him. But the unexpected happens - the prosecutor dies. Chichikov does not know anything about what is happening, since he is ill. Three days later, leaving the house, he discovers that he is either not accepted anywhere, or is received in some strange way. Nozdryov informs him that the city considers him a counterfeiter, that he was going to kidnap the governor's daughter, that the prosecutor died through his fault. Chichikov orders to pack things.

CHAPTER 11

In the morning Chichikov cannot leave the city for a long time - he overslept, the chaise was not laid, the horses were not shod. It turns out to leave only in the late afternoon. On the way, Chichikov meets a funeral procession - the prosecutor is buried. All the officials follow the coffin, each of whom thinks about the new governor-general and his relationship with him. Chichikov leaves the city. Further - a lyrical digression about Russia. “Rus! Russia! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful far away I see you: poor, scattered and uncomfortable in you; the daring divas of nature, crowned with daring divas of art, cities with multi-window high palaces that have grown into cliffs, picturesque trees and ivy that have grown into houses, in the noise and in the eternal dust of waterfalls, will not amuse, will not frighten the eyes; the head will not tilt back to look at the boulders piling up endlessly above her and in the height; will not flash through the dark arches thrown one on top of the other, entangled with grape twigs, ivy and countless millions of wild roses, will not flash through them in the distance the eternal lines of shining mountains rushing into the silver clear skies ... But what incomprehensible secret power attracts you? Why is your melancholy song, rushing along your entire length and breadth, from sea to sea, heard and heard ceaselessly in your ears? What's in her, in this song? What calls, and weeps, and grabs the heart? What sounds painfully kiss, and strive into the soul, and curl around my heart? Russia! what do you want from me? what incomprehensible connection lurks between us? Why do you look like that, and why has everything that is in you turned eyes full of expectation on me? .. And the mighty space envelopes me menacingly, reflecting in my depths with a terrible force; unnatural power lit up my eyes: y! what a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth! Russia! .. "

The author talks about the hero of the work and about the origin of Chichikov. His parents are nobles, but he is not like them. Chichikov's father sent his son to the city to an old relative so that he could enter the school. The father gave his son parting words, which he strictly followed in life - to please the authorities, to hang out only with the rich, not to share with anyone, to save money. There were no special talents behind him, but he had a "practical mind." Chichikov knew how to make money as a boy - he sold treats, showed a trained mouse for money. He pleased the teachers, the authorities, and therefore graduated from school with a gold certificate. His father dies, and Chichikov, having sold his father's house, enters the service. Chichikov serves, in everything trying to please his superiors, even caring for his ugly daughter, hinting at a wedding. Gets promotions and doesn't get married. Soon Chichikov entered the commission for the construction of a government building, but the building, for which a lot of money was allocated, is being built only on paper. Chichikov's new boss hated the subordinate, and he had to start all over again. He enters the service at customs, where his ability to search is discovered. He is promoted, and Chichikov presents a project to catch smugglers, with whom at the same time he manages to collude and get a lot of money from them. But Chichikov quarrels with a comrade with whom he shared, and both are brought to justice. Chichikov manages to save part of the money, starts everything from scratch as an attorney. He comes up with the idea of ​​buying dead souls, which in the future can be put in a bank under the guise of living, and, having received a loan, hide.

The author reflects on how readers can relate to Chichikov, recalls the parable of Kif Mokievich and Mokiy Kifovich, son and father. The father's being is turned in a speculative direction, while the son is rowdy. They ask Kifa Mokievich to calm his son down, but he does not want to interfere in anything: “If he remains a dog, then let them not learn about it from me, even if I didn’t betray him.”

In the finale of the poem, the chaise quickly drives along the road. "And what Russian doesn't like driving fast?" “Eh, three! bird three, who invented you? To know, you could only be born with a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, and evenly scattered about half the world, and go count miles until it hits you in your eyes. And not a cunning, it seems, a road projectile, not with an iron screw, but hastily, alive with one ax and a hammer, equipped and assembled you by a smart Yaroslavl man. The coachman is not wearing German jackboots: beard and mittens, and the devil knows what; but he got up, and swung, and began to sing a song - the horses like a whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed into one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and a pedestrian who stopped screaming in fright - and there she rushed, rushed, rushed! .. And you can already see in the distance, like something dusty and drills the air.

Aren't you, Russia, that a brisk, unattainable troika, rushing? The road smokes under you, bridges thunder, everything lags behind and remains behind. The beholder, struck by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown down from the sky? what does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power is contained in these horses unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are there whirlwinds in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes! .. Russia, where are you rushing? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. The bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; air ripped into pieces thunders and becomes the wind; everything that is on the ground flies by,
and, looking sideways, look back and give her way to other peoples and states. "

In a letter to Zhukovsky, Gogol writes that his main task in the poem is to depict "all of Russia." The poem is written in the form of a journey, and separate fragments of the life of Russia are combined into a common whole. One of Gogol's main tasks in Dead Souls is to show typical characters in typical circumstances, that is, to reliably reflect modernity - the period of the crisis of serfdom in Russia. The key orientation in the depiction of landowners is satirical description, social typification, and critical orientation. The life of the ruling class and the peasants was given by Gogol without idealization, realistically.