The work of N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls" was written in the second half of the 19th century. In this article you can read the first volume of the poem "Dead Souls", which consists of 11 chapters.

Heroes of the work

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - the main character, travels around Russia to find dead souls, knows how to find an approach to any person.

Manilov - young landowner. Lives with his children and wife.

Box - aged woman, widow. Lives in a small village, sells various products and furs in the market.

Nozdryov - a landowner who often plays cards and tells various tall tales and stories.

Plushkin - a strange man who lives alone.

Sobakevich - the landowner, everywhere tries to find great profit for himself.

Selifan - the coachman and servant of Chichikov. A lover of drinking once again.

The content of the poem "Dead Souls" by chapters briefly

Chapter 1

Chichikov, along with the servants, arrives in the city. The man moved into an ordinary hotel. During lunch, the protagonist asks the innkeeper about everything that happens in the city, so he gets useful information about influential officials and famous landowners. At the governor's reception, Chichikov personally meets most of the landlords. The landowners Sobakevich and Manilov say they would like the hero to visit them. So for several days Chichikov comes to the vice-governor, the prosecutor and the farmer. The city begins to have a positive attitude towards the protagonist.

Chapter 2

A week later, the main character goes to Manilov in the village of Manilovka. Chichikov forgive Manilov so that he sells him dead souls - dead peasants who are written on paper. The naive and accommodating Manilov gives the hero dead souls for free.

Chapter 3

Chichikov then goes to Sobakevich, but loses his way. He goes to spend the night with the landowner Korobochka. After sleeping, already in the morning Chichikov talks with the old woman and persuades her to sell her dead souls.

Chapter 4

Chichikov decides to stop by a tavern on his way. He meets the landowner Nozdryov. The gambler was too open and friendly, but his games often ended in fights. The main character wanted to buy dead souls from him, but Nozdryov said that he could play checkers for the souls. This fight almost ended in a fight, so Chichikov decided to retire. Pavel Ivanovich thought for a long time that he had trusted Nozdryov in vain.

Chapter 5

The main character comes to Sobakevich. He was a fairly large man, he agreed to sell dead souls to Chichikov and even filled them with a price. The men decided to make a deal after some time in the city.

Chapter 6

Chichikov arrives in the village of Plyushkin. The estate was very miserable in appearance, and the magnate himself was too stingy. Plyushkin sold the dead souls to Chichikov with joy and considered the protagonist a fool.

Chapter 7

In the morning, Chichikov goes to the ward to draw up documents for the peasants. On the way he meets Manilov. In the ward they meet Sobakevich, the chairman of the ward helps the protagonist quickly complete the paperwork. After the deal, they all go together to the postmaster to celebrate this event.

Chapter 8

The news about Pavel Ivanovich's purchases spread throughout the city. Everyone thought that he was a very rich man, but they had no idea what kind of souls he actually buys. At the ball, Nozdryov decides to betray Chichikov and shouted about his secret.

Chapter 9

The landowner Korobochka arrives in the city and confirms the purchase of the dead souls of the protagonist. Rumors are spreading around the city that Chichikov wants to kidnap the governor's daughter.

Chapter 10

The officials get together and raise various suspicions about who Chichikov is. The postmaster puts forward his version that the main character is Kopeikin from his own story "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin". Suddenly, due to excessive stress, the prosecutor dies. Chichikov himself has been ill for three days with a cold, he comes to the governor, but he is not even allowed into the house. Nozdryov tells the main character about the rumors that are circulating around the city, so Chichikov decides to leave the city in the morning.

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Detailed summary of dead souls

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Detailed content of "Dead Souls" by chapter

Chapter first

"In ina company of a hotel in the provincial city of NN moved in, a rather beautiful spring-loaded small britzka in which bachelors ride. "In the britzka sat a gentleman of pleasant appearance, not too fat, but not too thin, not handsome, but not bad-looking, one cannot say that he was old, but he was not too young either. The britzka drove up to the hotel. It was a very long two-story building with the lower floor unplastered and the upper one painted with eternal yellow paint. Below there were benches, in one of the windows there was a sbitennik with a red copper samovar. The guest was greeted and led to show him "peace", usual for hotels of this kind, "where for two rubles a day, travelers get ... a room with cockroaches peeking out from everywhere like prunes ..." Following the master, his servants appear - the coachman Selifan , a short man in a sheepskin coat, and the footman Petrushka, a fellow about thirty, with somewhat large lips and nose.

Chapter second

After spending more than a week in the city, Pavel Ivanovich finally decided to pay visits to Manilov and Sobakevich. As soon as Chichikov left the city, accompanied by Selifan and Petrushka, the usual picture appeared: bumps, bad roads, burnt pine trunks, village houses covered with gray roofs, yawning peasants, women with fat faces, and so on.Manilov, inviting Chichikov to his place, told him that his village was fifteen versts from the city, but that a sixteenth verst had already passed, and there was no village. Pavel Ivanovich was a quick-witted man, and he remembered that if you are invited to a house fifteen miles away, it means that you will have to travel all thirty.But here is the village of Manilovka. Few guests could she lure to her. The master's house stood to the south, open to all winds; the hill on which he stood was covered with turf. Two or three flowerbeds with acacia, five or six thin birches, a wooden arbor and a pond completed this picture. Chichikov began to count and counted more than two hundred peasant huts. On the porch of the manor house, its owner had long been standing and, putting his hand to his eyes, tried to make out the man driving up in the carriage. As the chaise approached, Manilov's face changed: his eyes became more cheerful, and his smile became wider. He was very glad to see Chichikov and took him to him.What kind of person was Manilov? It is difficult to characterize it. He was, as they say, neither one nor the other - neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan. Manilov was a pleasant man, but too much sugar was added to this pleasantness. When the conversation with him was just beginning, at first the interlocutor thought: "What a pleasant and kind person!", but after a minute I wanted to say: "The devil knows what it is!" Manilov did not take care of the house, he also did not take care of the household, he never even went to the fields. For the most part, he thought, pondered. About what? - no one knows. When the clerk came to him with proposals for housekeeping, saying that it would be necessary to do this and that, Manilov usually answered: "Yes, not bad." If a peasant came to the master and asked to leave in order to earn quitrent, then Manilov immediately let him go. It never even occurred to him that the peasant was going to drink. Sometimes he came up with different projects, for example, he dreamed of building a stone bridge across the pond, on which there would be shops, merchants would sit in the shops and sell various goods. He had beautiful furniture in the house, but two armchairs were not upholstered in silk, and the owner had been telling guests for two years that they were not finished. There was no furniture in one room at all. On the table next to the dandy one stood a lame and greasy candlestick, but no one noticed this. Manilov was very pleased with his wife, because she was "to match" him. In the course of a long enough life together, the spouses both did nothing but imprint long kisses on each other. Many questions could arise from a sane guest: why is the pantry empty and so much and stupidly cooked in the kitchen? Why does the housekeeper steal and the servants are always drunk and unclean? Why is the mourner sleeping or frankly lounging? But these are all questions of a low quality, and the mistress of the house is well brought up and will never stoop to them. At dinner, Manilov and the guest spoke compliments to each other, as well as various pleasant things about city officials. Manilov's children, Alkid and Themistoclus, demonstrated their knowledge of geography.After dinner, a conversation took place directly about the case. Pavel Ivanovich informs Manilov that he wants to buy souls from him, which, according to the latest revision tale, are listed as alive, but in fact have long since died. Manilov is at a loss, but Chichikov manages to persuade him into a deal. Since the owner is a person who tries to be pleasant, he takes upon himself the execution of the purchase fortress. To register the bill of sale, Chichikov and Manilov agree to meet in the city, and Pavel Ivanovich finally leaves this house. Manilov sits down in an armchair and, smoking his pipe, ponders the events of today, rejoices that fate has brought him together with such a pleasant person. But Chichikov's strange request to sell him dead souls interrupted his former dreams. Thoughts about this request did not boil in his head, and therefore he sat on the porch for a long time and smoked a pipe until dinner.

Chapter third

Chichikov, meanwhile, was driving along the high road, hoping that Selifan would soon bring him to Sobakevich's estate. Selifan was drunk and, therefore, did not follow the road. The first drops dripped from the sky, and soon a real long torrential rain charged. Chichikov's chaise had completely lost its way, it was getting dark, and it was no longer clear what to do, when a dog barking was heard. Soon Selifan was already knocking on the gate of the house of a certain landowner, who let them spend the night.From the inside, the rooms of the landowner's house were pasted over with old wallpaper, pictures with some birds and huge mirrors hung on the walls. For each such mirror, either an old deck of cards, or a stocking, or a letter was stuffed. The hostess turned out to be an elderly woman, one of those landowning mothers who are constantly crying about crop failures and lack of money, while they themselves are gradually saving money in bundles and bags.Chichikov stays overnight. Waking up, he looks out the window at the landowner's household and the village in which he found himself. The window overlooks the chicken coop and the fence. Behind the fence are spacious beds with vegetables. All plantings in the garden are thought out, in some places several apple trees grow to protect against birds, stuffed animals with outstretched arms are poked from them, on one of these scarecrows was the cap of the hostess herself. The appearance of peasant houses showed "the contentment of their inhabitants." The boarding on the roofs was new everywhere, nowhere was the rickety gate to be seen, and here and there Chichikov saw a new spare cart parked.Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka (that was the name of the landowner) invited him to have breakfast. With her, Chichikov behaved much more freely in conversation. He stated his request regarding the purchase of dead souls, but he soon regretted it, since his request aroused the bewilderment of the hostess. Then Korobochka began to offer, in addition to dead souls, hemp, flax, and so on, down to bird feathers. Finally, an agreement was reached, but the old woman was always afraid that she had sold too cheap. For her, dead souls turned out to be the same commodity as everything produced on the farm. Then Chichikov was fed with pies, donuts and shanezhki, and a promise was taken from him to buy pork fat and bird feathers in the fall. Pavel Ivanovich hurried to leave this house - Nastasya Petrovna was very difficult in conversation. The landowner gave him a girl to accompany him, and she showed him how to get out onto the high road. Having released the girl, Chichikov decided to stop by a tavern that stood in the way.

Chapter fourth

Just like the hotel, it was an ordinary tavern for all county roads. The traveler was served a traditional pig with horseradish, and, as usual, the guest asked the hostess about everything in the world - from how long she had run the tavern to questions about the condition of the landowners living nearby. During a conversation with the hostess, the sound of the wheels of the approaching carriage was heard. Two men came out of it: blond, tall, and, shorter than him, dark-haired. At first, a blond-haired man appeared in the tavern, followed by him, taking off his cap, his companion. He was a fellow of medium height, very not badly built, with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, sideburns as black as pitch, and all fresh as blood and milk. Chichikov recognized in him his new acquaintance Nozdryov.The type of this person is probably known to everyone. People of this kind are known at school as good comrades, but at the same time they are often beaten. Their face is clean, open, you will not have time to get to know each other, after a while they say “you” to you. Friendship will be made, it would seem, forever, but it happens that after a while they fight with a new friend at a feast. They are always talkers, revelers, scorchers and, for all that, desperate liars.By the age of thirty, life had not changed Nozdryov at all, he remained the same as he was at eighteen and at twenty. Marriage did not affect him in any way, especially since the wife soon went to the other world, leaving her husband two children who he did not need at all. Nozdryov had a passion for the card game, but, being dishonest and dishonest in the game, he often brought his partners to assault, leaving two sideburns with one, liquid. However, after a while he met with people who beat him, as if nothing had happened. And his friends, oddly enough, also behaved as if nothing had happened. Nozdryov was a historical man; he was everywhere and always got into history. It was impossible for anything to get along with him on a short footing, and even more so to open his soul - he would shit into it, and compose such a fable about a person who trusted him that it would be difficult to prove the opposite. After some time, he took the same person at a friendly meeting by the buttonhole and said: "After all, you are such a scoundrel, you will never come to me." Another passion of Nozdryov was the exchange - anything became its subject, from a horse to the smallest things. Nozdryov invites Chichikov to his village, and he agrees. While waiting for dinner, Nozdryov, accompanied by his son-in-law, arranges a tour of the village for his guest, while boasting to everyone right and left. His extraordinary stallion, for which he allegedly paid ten thousand, in fact is not worth even a thousand, the field that completes his possessions turns out to be a swamp, and for some reason the inscription "Master Savely Sibiryakov" is on the Turkish dagger, which the guests are looking at while waiting for dinner. Lunch leaves much to be desired - something was not cooked, but something was burnt. The cook, apparently, was guided by inspiration and put the first thing that came to hand. There was nothing to say about wine - from the mountain ash it smelled of fuselage, and Madeira turned out to be diluted with rum.After dinner, Chichikov nevertheless decided to present to Nozdryov a request for the purchase of dead souls. It ended with Chichikov and Nozdryov completely quarreling, after which the guest went to bed. He slept horribly, waking up and meeting the owner the next morning was just as unpleasant. Chichikov was already scolding himself for having trusted Nozdryov. Now Pavel Ivanovich was offered to play checkers for dead souls: in case of winning, Chichikov would have got the souls for free. The game of checkers was accompanied by Nozdrev's cheating and almost ended in a fight. Fate saved Chichikov from such a turn of events - a police captain came to Nozdrev to inform the brawler that he was on trial until the end of the investigation, because he insulted the landowner Maksimov while drunk. Chichikov, without waiting for the end of the conversation, ran out onto the porch and ordered Selifan to drive the horses at full speed.

Chapter fifth

Thinking about everything that had happened, Chichikov rode in his carriage along the road. A collision with another carriage jolted him a little - in it sat a lovely young girl with an elderly woman accompanying her. After they parted, Chichikov thought for a long time about the stranger he met. At last the village of Sobakevich appeared. The traveler's thoughts turned to their constant subject.The village was quite large, it was surrounded by two forests: pine and birch. In the middle one could see the master's house: wooden, with a mezzanine, a red roof and gray, one might even say wild, walls. It was evident that during its construction the taste of the architect was constantly struggling with the taste of the owner. The architect wanted beauty and symmetry, and the owner wanted convenience. On one side, the windows were boarded up, and instead of them, one window was checked, apparently needed for a closet. The pediment did not fall in the middle of the house, since the owner ordered to remove one column, of which there were not four, but three. In everything one could feel the efforts of the owner about the strength of his buildings. Very strong logs were used for stables, sheds and kitchens, peasant huts were also cut down firmly, firmly and very carefully. Even the well was lined with very strong oak. Driving up to the porch, Chichikov noticed faces looking out the window. The footman went out to meet him.When looking at Sobakevich, it immediately suggested: a bear! perfect bear! And indeed, his appearance was similar to that of a bear. A big, strong man, he always stepped at random, because of which he constantly stepped on someone's feet. Even his tailcoat was bear-colored. To top it off, the owner's name was Mikhail Semenovich. He almost did not turn his neck, he held his head down rather than up, and rarely looked at his interlocutor, and if he managed to do this, then his eyes fell on the corner of the stove or at the door. Since Sobakevich himself was a healthy and strong man, he wanted to be surrounded by the same strong objects. His furniture was heavy and pot-bellied, and portraits of strong, healthy men hung on the walls. Even the thrush in the cage looked very much like Sobakevich. In a word, it seemed that every object in the house said: "And I also look like Sobakevich."Before dinner, Chichikov tried to strike up a conversation by talking flatteringly about the local officials. Sobakevich answered that "these are all swindlers. The whole city is like that: a swindler sits on a swindler and drives a swindler." By chance, Chichikov learns about Sobakevich's neighbor - a certain Plyushkin, who has eight hundred peasants who are dying like flies.After a hearty and plentiful dinner, Sobakevich and Chichikov rest. Chichikov decides to state his request for the purchase of dead souls. Sobakevich is not surprised at anything and attentively listens to his guest, who began the conversation from afar, gradually leading to the subject of the conversation. Sobakevich understands that Chichikov needs dead souls for something, so the bargaining begins with a fabulous price - one hundred rubles apiece. Mikhailo Semenovich talks about the virtues of the dead peasants as if the peasants were alive. Chichikov is at a loss: what kind of conversation can there be about the merits of dead peasants? In the end, they agreed on two rubles and a half for one soul. Sobakevich receives a deposit, he and Chichikov agree to meet in the city to make a deal, and Pavel Ivanovich leaves. Having reached the end of the village, Chichikov called a peasant and asked how to get to Plyushkin, who feeds people badly (it was impossible to ask otherwise, because the peasant did not know the name of the neighboring master). "Ah, patched, patched!" cried the peasant, and pointed the way.

Here is a summary of the 1st chapter of the work "Dead Souls" by N.V. Gogol.

A very brief summary of "Dead Souls" can be found, and the one below is quite detailed.

Chapter 1 - summary.

A small chaise with a middle-aged gentleman of good appearance, not fat, but not thin, drove into the provincial town of NN. The arrival made no impression on the inhabitants of the city. The visitor stopped at a local tavern. During dinner, a new visitor asked the servant in the most detailed way, who used to run this institution, and who now, how much income and what kind of owner. Then the visitor found out who is the governor in the city, who is the chairman of the chamber, who is the prosecutor, that is: “ did not miss a single significant official ».

Portrait of Chichikov

In addition to the city authorities, the visitor was interested in all the large landowners, as well as the general state of the region: whether there were any epidemics in the province or general famine. After dinner and a long rest, the gentleman wrote down his rank, first and last name on a piece of paper to report to the police. Going down the stairs, the sexton read: Collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, landowner, according to his needs ».

The next day Chichikov devoted visits to all city officials. He testified his respect even to the inspector of the medical board and the city architect.

Pavel Ivanovich showed himself to be a good psychologist, since in almost every house he left the most favorable impressions about himself - “ very skillfully knew how to flatter everyone ". At the same time, Chichikov avoided talking about himself, but if the conversation turned to his person, he got off with general phrases and somewhat bookish turns. The visitor began to receive invitations to the houses of officials. The first was an invitation to the governor. Getting ready, Chichikov very carefully put himself in order.

During the reception, the guest of the city managed to show himself to be a skillful interlocutor, he successfully made a compliment to the governor's wife.

The male society was divided into two parts. The thin men followed the ladies and danced, while the thick men mostly concentrated at the gaming tables. Chichikov joined the latter. Here he met most of his old acquaintances. Pavel Ivanovich also met the wealthy landowners Manilov and Sobakevich, about whom he immediately made inquiries from the chairman and postmaster. Chichikov quickly charmed both and received two invitations to visit.

The next day the newcomer went to the chief of police, where from three o'clock in the afternoon they played whist until two in the morning. There Chichikov met Nozdrev, " a broken fellow, who, after three or four words, you began to say to him ". In turn, Chichikov visited all the officials, and a good opinion developed about him in the city. He could show a secular person in any situation. Whatever the conversation turned to, Chichikov was able to support it. Furthermore, " he knew how to clothe all this with some kind of gravity, knew how to behave well ».

Everyone was pleased with the arrival of a decent person. Even Sobakevich, who in general was rarely satisfied with his surroundings, recognized Pavel Ivanovich " the nicest person ". This opinion in the city persisted until one strange circumstance led the inhabitants of the city of NN into bewilderment.

HISTORY OF CREATION

⦁ 1935 - the beginning of work on the poem. The idea was put forward by Pushkin, who witnessed the fraud with "dead souls" during his exile. As conceived by N.V. Gogol, the poem was supposed to have three volumes, repeating the structure of Dante's Divine Comedy. Work on the first volume lasted 7 years (1835-1842).
⦁ 1840 - the beginning of work on the second volume of the poem. By 1845, N.V. Gogol had already prepared several options for continuing the poem. In the same year, the writer burned the second part of "Dead Souls", explaining the reason for his act as follows: "The appearance of the second volume in the form in which it was would do more harm than good"

PROBLEMS

Socio-public - the image of Russia of that time;
⦁ moral - showing spiritually dead people - landowners and officials;
⦁ philosophical - what is the meaning of human life.

COMPOSITION AND PLOT

The work traces three intertwining storylines associated with one hero - Chichikov:
⦁ adventures of Chichikov;
⦁ biographies of landowners;
⦁ activities of city officials.
The sequence of events makes a lot of sense: N.V. Gogol sought to reveal in his heroes an ever greater loss of human qualities, the death of their souls.

The composition of the poem is distinguished by clarity and clarity: all parts are interconnected by the plot-forming hero Chichikov, who travels with the goal of getting a million.

exposition
Chapter 1. Chichikov's arrival in the provincial town of N, his acquaintance with officials, the governor and the prosecutor.

tie
Chapters 2-6. Chichikov's trip to the landlords Manilov, Korobochka, Nozdrev, Sobakevich, Plyushkin, buying up "dead souls".

climax
Chapters 7-9. The return of Chichikov to the city, the execution of the bill of sale. Ball at the Governor's. Exposing Chichikov the Emilpionist.

"The Tale of Captain Kopeikin"
Chapter 10

denouement
Chapter 11. Chichikov's departure from the city. The story of the author about the life of the hero.

IDEA AND THEMATIC CONTENT

⦁ Topics: the present and future of Russia, the shortcomings, vices and weaknesses of the Russian people, the terrible degradation of the soul.
⦁ Idea: the author tells that people should look at their own vulgarity and become disgusted with it; human souls have become dead, therefore, pointing to vices, the writer wants to bring people back to life. In the necrosis of the souls of the characters - landowners, officials, Chichikov - N.V. Gogol sees the tragic mortification of mankind, the dull movement of history in a vicious circle. The work sounds a hymn to the homeland and people, the hallmark of which is diligence: masters with golden hands became famous for their inventions and creativity. The Russian peasant is always "rich in invention."

GENRE UNIQUENESS

⦁ It is impossible to accurately define the genre of the work: it is both a socio-psychological and adventurous-picaresque novel (the hero is a swindler), at the same time a lyric poem and satire.
⦁ Lyrics in the poem: lyrical digressions about the meaning of life, the fate of Russia, creativity, assessment of the actions of heroes, description of nature and image of the people.
⦁ Epos in a poem: plot, wide coverage of reality, many characters

ARTISTIC FEATURES

⦁ Gradation: the characters are drawn according to the principle one is worse than the other.
⦁ A certain sequence in the description of the landlords: the estate, the courtyard, the interior of the house, the portrait and the author's description, relations with Chichikov, the home environment, the dinner scene.
⦁ Detailing when describing the nature and life of the landowners: for example, Manilov has “eyes as sweet as sugar”; on the table lies a book, "marked on the fourteenth page, which he has been reading for two years."
⦁ Social typing: generalized images of their class.
⦁ Individualization of characters through zoological motifs: Manilov the cat, Sobakevich the bear, Korobochka is a bird, Nozdryov is a dog, Plyushkin is a mouse.

ARTISTIC MEDIA

⦁ Speech characteristics of heroes: for example, in Manilov's speech there are a lot of introductory words and sentences, he speaks pretentiously, he does not finish the phrase; Nozdryov's speech contains a lot of swear words and jargon.
⦁ Proverbs and sayings: “for a friend, seven miles is not a village” (Nozdrev); “a woman is like a bag: what they put in, they carry” (residents of the city of NN); “no matter how you fight with a bull, you can’t get milk from him” (author); “people are so-so, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan” (about Manilov); “I’m looking for mittens, but both are behind my belt!” (Chichikov); "hooked - dragged, broke - do not ask" (Chichikov); “Crying does not help grief, we need to do the job” (Chichikov); “with a dead body, at least support the fence” (Chichikov about “dead souls”): “it’s wrongly tailored, but tightly sewn” (Chichikov about Sobakevich); “the forty Jacob confirmed one thing about everyone” (Sobakevich about Chichikov); “There is no law on tastes: who loves the priest, and who is a hit” (Sobakevich).
⦁ The solemnity of comparisons, high style, combined with original speech, create a sublimely ironic manner of narration that serves to debunk the base, vulgar world of the owners.
⦁ Authentic folk language. The forms of colloquial, bookish and written business speech are harmoniously woven into the fabric of the narrative. Rhetorical questions and exclamations, the use of Slavicisms, archaisms, sonorous epithets create a certain structure of speech. When describing landowners' estates and their owners, vocabulary is used that is characteristic of everyday speech. The image of the bureaucratic world is saturated with vocabulary characteristic of the depicted environment.

A certain gentleman arrives in the provincial town of NN and stays at a hotel. With him is his coachman Selifan and footman Petrushka. The gentleman is registered as collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, who travels "according to his own needs."

While he was served the usual food for taverns in provincial towns, he asked the servants about local officials and landowners “with extreme precision”. Then the gentleman walks around the city, which, like other provincial cities, turns out to be very ugly. The next day he pays visits to city officials, starting with the governor, and knows how to flatter everyone. About himself, Chichikov modestly says that he is "the worm of this world" and that he "suffered in the service for the truth."

Attends Chichikov and the governor's ball. There he sees men of two kinds - thin, who only curl around the ladies, and the same as Chichikov himself, that is, not "too fat, but not thin either." The latter are honorary city officials, very solid people who sit firmly in official places, making themselves solid fortunes. At the ball, unlike the thin ones, they indulge in a "sensible" occupation - they play cards. Among the officials are the prosecutor, the postmaster and others.

Here Chichikov met the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. The next day, at a dinner at the police chief, Chichikov meets the landowner Nozdrev, whom the police chief and the prosecutor are closely watching while playing cards. Both officials and landowners liked Chichikov very much, and Manilov and Sobakevich invited him to visit.

Soon Chichikov goes to the landowners who invited him. Manilovka is hard to find. The owner is a person who at first likes, but then immediately wants to move away from him, because mortal boredom comes from him. Manilov and his wife live happily, they give each other beaded cases for toothpicks, treat each other with candy or an apple.

They are not engaged in housekeeping: this is a low subject. The sons of the Manilovs are called Themisgoclus and Alkid. The father admires the abilities of the first son, who pays attention to every insect and already at the age of seven he knows that there are such cities as Paris, St. Petersburg and Moscow. Manilov spends time in dreams, as evidenced by the gazebo called "Temple of Solitary Reflection."

In a conversation with Chichikov, the spouses admire all the officials of the city and their wives. Chichikov willingly agrees with them. After dinner, Manilov talks with the guest about the subject he occupies: Chichikov wants to buy the dead peasants.

Manilov is extremely surprised, but Chichikov says that they are acting according to the law: in the revision tale, the peasants are listed as alive. Having calmed Manilov's fears about the "further views" of Russia, Chichikov wants to agree on a price, but Manilov, who is looking for beauty and nobility in everything, gives Chichikov peasants and is ready to draw up a bill of sale at his own expense. Satisfied Chichikov hurries to Sobakevich.

On the way, Chichikov is immersed in pleasant thoughts and assumptions. Selifan, satisfied with the reception of the Manilov household and having a bit of a "snack", talks good-naturedly with the horses, telling the chubar horse, which is badly lucky, that one must live in truth.

Carried away, Selifan forgets that he must turn off at the third turn. It begins to rain heavily, and Selifan, coming to his senses, rushes along the first cross road. In the darkness, the britzka hits a harrowed field, Selifan, turning, overturns it, and Chichikov falls into the mud.

Fortunately, a dog barking is heard nearby, Selifan directs the horses towards the village, and soon the britzka stops at the house of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, to whom Chichikov asks to spend the night. The hostess notices that Chichikov is dirty, "like a hog." Korobochka is one of the “small landowners” who “cry for crop failures, while hiding money themselves.

In the morning, Chichikov examines Korobochki's estate from the window: there is a chicken coop almost next to the low house, chickens roam under the window. The pig, which has appeared with its family, eats the chicken. Behind the chicken coop there are gardens with stuffed animals, one of which is wearing Korobochka's cap, behind the gardens are peasant huts.

The conversation about dead souls is difficult with Korobochka: she is afraid to sell too cheap. To Chichikov, he says nonsense to all arguments, such as the fact that the dead, perhaps, will still be useful in the household. Exhausted by the conversation with the "cursed old woman" and wiping his forehead, Chichikov calls her "club-headed" to himself.

Only by banging his chair on the floor and remembering the devil does Chichikov cope with the landowner. Souls are bought, Chichikov has a wonderful snack at Korobochka and leaves, returning to the road from which he strayed.

Soon Chichikov stops at a tavern to refresh himself. Nozdryov also comes there, who at the fair "blew his ass", losing four horses. He is accompanied by some friend whom he introduces as his son-in-law Mizhuev.

He constantly contradicts Nozdryov, who, obviously exaggerating, claims that he can drink seventeen bottles of champagne. Nozdryov invites Chichikov to go to him, and Chichikov, thinking that since Nozdryov "lost" he will sell the peasants, he agrees.

The narrator characterizes Nozdryov as a person who does not change at all and who has a "passion to spoil his neighbor."

On the estate, Nozdryov shows his pride - dogs, then demonstrates a broken mill, leading guests across a field covered with bumps and water. Nozdryov says that everything that the guests see even on the other side of the border separating the estate belongs to him. Mizhuev still contradicts.

The treat at dinner is such that it seems that the chef puts everything that comes to hand into the dish. Chichikov notices that Nozdryov is intensively serving the guests with wine, although he himself drinks little.

Mizhuev leaves, citing his wife; Nozdryov scolds him with a "fetyuk". Chichikov asks Nozdryov to transfer the dead peasants in his name, but he wants to know why Chichikov needs it. He dodges, Nozdryov calls him a swindler. Chichikov asks to sell the peasants. Nozdryov is trying to force Chichikov to buy from him either a stallion, or a brown mare, or dogs with increased “side-to-side ribs”.

Then Nozdryov is ready to give everything he offered, plus dead souls, for a britzka. Chichikov refuses everything, Nozdryov calls him Fetyuk and Sobakevich. Trading resumes in the morning. Chichikov agrees to play checkers for souls.

Nozdryov cheats, Chichikov refuses to play, and Nozdryov is going to beat him, calling for help two hefty serf fools. Chichikov is saved by the appearance of the police captain, who came to inform Nozdryov that he is on trial because of the intoxication of a certain landowner Maksimov with rods by him in a drunken state. Chichikov orders Selifan to rush at full speed.

On the way to Sobakevich, the unforeseen happens: Chichikov's carriage runs into Chichikov's carriage, which is coming towards him. A sixteen-year-old blonde sits in a stroller. While the gathered peasants are trying to move the horses, Chichikov thinks how good the blonde is, and also that if they gave her a dowry, then this would be the happiness of a “decent person”.

The village of Sobakevich, where Chichikov soon arrives, shows in the owner a person who cares about strength: everything around is “in some kind of strong and clumsy order.” When Chichikov drives up, two faces look out of the window: one looks like a cucumber, the second looks like a pumpkin. The first is feminine, as it is wearing a cap. These are the faces of Sobakevich and his wife. The owner meets the guest on the porch, and Chichikov sees that he looks like a "medium-sized bear."

The conversation begins with Chichikov praising city officials. Sobakevich calls them all Christ-sellers, about the governor he says that he is a robber and "will kill him for a penny." The conversation about dead souls turns into a real bargain: Sobakevich tries to sell the souls at the highest possible price.

The bargaining ends in mutual benefit, and Chichikov, having learned from Sobakevich that the neighboring landowner, the miser Plyushkin, people are dying like flies, goes to him. Asking the peasants for directions to Plyushkin, Chichikov hears from them some very funny nickname given to the miser by the peasants. In connection with this, the narrator praises the Russian mind and the living Russian word.

The narrator recalls with regret his lost youth, when everything attracted him, it was interesting, nothing left him indifferent.

The village of Plyushkin and his house are distinguished by some special dilapidation. The manor's house looks like an old invalid, only two windows are open, but even they are “sighted:. Behind the house is a neglected but picturesque garden. Two village churches are visible, just as neglected. All around rotting master's bread.

The place seems to be dead. Near the house, Chichikov notices a strange-looking figure and cannot determine whether it is a woman or a man. The figure scolds some peasant with "scandalous words", and Chichikov decides that this is most likely the housekeeper. However, he notices that the “housekeeper” has a chin similar to an “iron wire comb”.

It turns out that in front of Chichikov is the owner himself, the richest landowner Plyushkin. There is a terrible mess in his house: there are a lot of small pieces of paper on the bureau, a dried lemon, and so on. At the same time, there are good things in the house: a bureau with mother-of-pearl mosaics, a book in a red cover.

The narrator tells the story of Plyushkin: he used to be a good, “thrifty” owner, distinguished by “wise stinginess”, he had a family: a hospitable wife, daughters and son. But Plyushkin could not stand the test: his wife died, one daughter ran away from home with an officer, his son became a military man, whom the landowner did not like, the second daughter died. Gradually, Plyushkin became more and more stingy and finally turned into "some kind of hole in humanity."

In a lyrical digression, the narrator urges readers not to leave all “human movements” on the path of life, otherwise nothing human will remain on their faces by old age.

Chichikov quickly finds an approach to Plyushkin, saying that he wants to relieve the old man of the obligation to pay taxes for the dead peasants. Plyushkin also has runaway peasants, whom Chichikov also buys.

The landowner calls Chichikov a benefactor and is even going to treat him to a "liquor" in which boogers have appeared. Chichikov refuses, and Plyushkin praises in him a man of "good society." To draw up a bill of sale, Plyushkin must find an attorney in the city, and the landowner recalls the chairman of the chamber, with whom he once studied together. At this moment, a semblance of human feeling flickers on his wooden face. Satisfied with the success of Plyushkin and his voyage in general, Chichikov returns to the city.

In a lyrical digression, the narrator says how easy the life of a writer who portrays a wonderful life, and how harsh the field of one who shows the truth. But he is distracted from sad thoughts and calls "on the road" to see what the hero is doing.

Chichikov begins in the morning to draw up lists of serfs. He imagines the fate of the peasants. Here is Abakum Fyrov, one of Plyushkin's fugitives. Perhaps he became a burlak. Chichikov colorfully imagines how, having finished his hard campaign, the barge gang is having fun in a noisy square. This is how every Russian thinks, imagining "the revelry of a wide life."

After pausing to read the papers, Chichikov hurries to the civil chamber to draw up the bill of sale. On the way he meets Manilov, who brought him a list of peasants tied with an elegant pink ribbon.

In the government office, Chichikov, in order to get to the chairman of the chamber, gives a bribe to an official. The chairman of the chamber, having learned from Sobakevich, who was already present, that Chichikov had bought many peasants, congratulated him, decorated the fortress in such a way that Chichikov paid the smallest amount, and the rest of the money was written off to someone else.

After the paperwork is completed, all those present go to celebrate Chichikov's success with the chief of police, since he can set a luxurious table at any moment: he easily robs merchants.

Chichikov lingers in the city, although he planned to leave immediately after the purchase of the fortress. The city learned that he was a “millionaire”, so they “fell in love even more sincerely” than before. Residents of the city persuade Chichikov to stay for another week or two. All the city ladies are in love with him, he receives a letter with a declaration of love.

At the governor's ball, Chichikov tries to guess the "writer of the letter". The narrator, with obvious caustic irony, admires the ladies of the city of N.

Chichikov, thinking of the ladies, calls them "the haberdashery half of the human race." The author notes that in Russia it is rare to hear a normal Russian word from readers of high society: out of patriotism, they can build themselves a “Russian-style hut”, but they will not speak their native language.

At the ball, Chichikov meets a young blonde woman whose stroller he collided with on the road: she turns out to be the governor's daughter. He forgets about the ladies. Those are offended, utter caustic and caustic remarks against the young beauty.

Unexpectedly, Nozdryov appears at the ball, who wants to imprint a kiss on Chichikov's cheek and at the same time reveals Chichikov's secret about dead souls. Little is believed in Nozdryov, but his words are noticed. At night, Korobochka comes to the city, who wants to know how much dead souls are now.

One of the ladies of the city N hurries to another to tell the news that the landowner Korobochka told the archpriest: Chichikov arrived at night and demanded to sell the dead souls.

The narrator prefers not to reveal the names of the ladies so that touchy readers do not get angry with him. Therefore, he calls one "lady, pleasant in all respects," and the other - "just a pleasant lady." First, the ladies discuss the "fun satin" of one of the ladies' outfits, argue about the scallops that should come into fashion, then move on to the main event.

Chichikov in the story of one lady looks like a robber who, armed to the teeth, broke into Korobochka, threatening to break down the gate. The other lady decides that Korobochka is probably young and pretty.

Upon learning that she is an old woman, this lady says that Chichikov “took to the old woman,” and speaks with contempt of the tastes of the city ladies who have fallen in love with him. She demonstrates excellent "logic", deciding that Chichikov wanted to kidnap the governor's daughter, and invented dead souls as a distraction.

Men learn about Chichikov's enterprise from the ladies. They do not believe in the kidnapping of the governor's daughter, but they are very excited about the appointment of a new governor-general and think that Chichikov would not be an official from his office.

Officials in fear begin to recall their sins. They are trying to find out something about Chichikov from Manilov, but he says that he is ready to vouch for Pavel Ivanovich and would dream of having at least a hundredth of his remarkable qualities.

Sobakevich, who is also rushed by frightened officials, claims that he sold the people alive, which, however, may die during the resettlement.

Frightened to death officials gather at the chief of police to understand who Chichikov is. They talk about their sins, envying the postmaster in this situation: in his not very high position, everyone "will be a saint."

About Chichikov, it is suggested that he may be a “doer of state banknotes”, or maybe “not a doer”. Everyone especially takes up arms against the assumption that Chichikov is a robber: after all, he has a well-intentioned appearance, like all officials, and “violent deeds” are not visible. The postmaster assumes that Chichikov is a certain Captain Kopeikin.

Followed by an inserted "poem" About Captain Kopeikin. He is a hero of the war of 1812, where he lost an arm and a leg, was left without a livelihood. The soldier went to Petersburg to ask the sovereign for a pension. Went to an influential nobleman to make a request. There were a lot of petitioners in the waiting room of a luxurious house. About four hours later, a nobleman finally came out, who graciously walked around everyone.

He told Kopeikin to come and see him the other day. The soldier is delighted: I am sure that the issue has already been resolved and today or tomorrow he will receive a pension. However, he had to go to the nobleman more than once: he said that the sovereign was away, and he could not decide anything without him. Very soon he got tired of visiting the importunate crippled soldier, and Kopeikii himself once said rather “rudely” that he would not leave until he received a resolution.

The minister, outraged that he was being torn away from state affairs, ordered Kopeikin to be taken to his city and advised him to look for a livelihood himself. Two months later, a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests, whose chieftain, in all likelihood, was Kopeikin.

After listening to the postmaster's story, officials noticed that Kopeikin, unlike Chichikov, had no arms and legs. Other officials also "did not lose face": they suggested that Chichikov was Napoleon in disguise, who had made his way to Russia. Not believing this much, everyone thought to themselves that Chichikov outwardly looked very much like Napoleon, who was also not fat, but not thin either.

So without understanding anything, the officials decided to ask Nozdrev about Chichikov. Nozdryov confirmed that Chichikov was a spy, "a banknote maker", that he was going to take away the governor's daughter. Rumors and gossip most of all turned out to be agitated by the prosecutor, who died of fear.

Chichikov is no longer accepted in the city, and Nozdryov, who appears to him, tells what they say about him, and at the same time adds that he is ready to help him in kidnapping the governor's daughter. Chichikov decides to leave the city the next morning.

Chichikov fails to leave the city early: he himself woke up later than he wanted, and, in addition, Selifan reports that horses need to be shod and the wheel of the britzka needs to be repaired. Chichikov, scolding Selifan, calls the blacksmiths, who, firstly, raise the price six times more, and secondly, they fumble for two hours longer.

Finally Chichikov got ready. The last thing he sees in the city is the prosecutor's funeral. The brichka leaves the city, boundless fields open up, and the narrator turns to Russia. In a lyrical digression, he speaks of the incomprehensible connection that lurks between him and Russia.

The author already sees the great future of Russia: here, in the open, there will definitely be a hero, a great idea will be born. But at this moment, the narrator’s dreams are interrupted by Chichikov’s cry to Selifan: “Hold it, hold it, fools (Selifan almost ran into a britzka rushing towards him).

Chichikov falls asleep on the road, and the narrator notices that he did not take a virtuous person as a hero, since he does not exist, but there is such a person as Chichikov, a scoundrel who needs to be "hooked up".

The narrator tells the biography of the hero. Chichikov was born into a seedy noble family; Once, the father took his son to the city to study and ordered him to save and save money: any friend will cheat, but he will never sell a penny. During his stay at school, Chichikov was able to increase the money given to him by his father: for example, seeing that a friend was very hungry, he showed him something edible, teasing and forcing him to buy.

The teacher, who did not tolerate capable but cheerful students, favored the quiet, well-behaved Pavlusha Chichikov, who knew how to serve. Then, when the teacher was expelled from work and he began to drink out of grief, all the former students collected money and came to him, while Pavlush's favorite got off with giving a nickel. In the service, as in teaching, Chichikov showed tremendous ingenuity.

At first he fell under the command of an old clerk, a man of stony insensitivity, and no amount of subservience brought Chichikov any result: he remained in the same position. But when he learned that the stern clerk had a daughter, an old maid, Chichikov played the part of the groom.

Having received the desired position, Chichikov, of course, left the "bride". However, on the hero's path to the goal, not everything was so smooth. For example, he was expelled from the commission for state construction by a new boss - an enemy of bribes and lies. Profitable service at customs ended as a result of a trifling quarrel between Chichikov and his partner, that is, an accomplice who wrote a denunciation against him.

Grieving over the injustice of fate that befell him (after all, Chichikov says, he didn’t rob anyone, he took where “everyone would take”), he starts a scam with the purchase of dead souls. Finishing the story of Chichikov, the narrator suggests that readers will not see Chichikov in themselves, seeing him in someone else, and encourages them, imbued with Christian humility, to think about their unrighteous life. He also says that he writes the truth, which cannot be shamefully concealed from a feeling of false patriotism.

Chichikov wakes up, orders Selifan to drive faster, and now the britzka is rushing along the road. "What Russian doesn't like to drive fast?" the narrator asks. He represents all of Russia in the form of a troika bird, which rushes forward, "inspired by God", and all states give way to it.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHICHIKOV

An adventurer who does not disdain any means for his enrichment;
an official who amassed capital by bribery and embezzlement;
the main goal of the hero is acquisition;
a new type of people formed as a result of the development of capitalist relations, a representative of the emerging bourgeoisie

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BOX

⦁ name means thrift, distrust, stupidity;
⦁ landowner-accumulator, puts money in a bag;
⦁ owns a subsistence economy and trades everything that is available in it;
⦁ afraid to sell too cheap: suddenly “dead souls” will come in handy;
⦁ personifies stubbornness, narrow-mindedness: “Another and respectable person, but in reality a perfect Box comes out. As he hacked something into his head, then nothing can overpower him ... "

CHARACTERISTICS OF MANILOV

Name from the verbs "to lure", "to lure";
the landowner-squanderer, his inactivity leads to complete ruin;
. a person “so-so, neither this nor that, neither in the city of Bogdan, nor in the village of Selifan”;
gave the peasants away for free;
manilovism - a tendency to pseudo-philosophizing, unwillingness to translate dreams into reality; this is the first stage of deadness of the soul

4.4 / 5. 5

VOLUME ONE

The proposed history, as will become clear from what follows, took place somewhat shortly after the "glorious expulsion of the French." A collegiate adviser arrives in the provincial city of NN Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov(he is not old and not too young, not fat and not thin, his appearance is rather pleasant and somewhat rounded) and settles in a hotel. He makes a lot of questions to the tavern servant - both regarding the owner and income of the tavern, and revealing the solidity of it: about city officials, the most significant landowners, asks about the state of the region and whether there were "what diseases in their province, epidemic fevers" and other similar adversity.

Having gone on visits, the visitor discovers extraordinary activity (visiting everyone, from the governor to the inspector of the medical board) and courtesy, for he knows how to say something pleasant to everyone. About himself, he speaks somehow vaguely (that he “experienced a lot in his lifetime, endured in the service for the truth, had many enemies who even attempted on his life,” and now he is looking for a place to live). At the governor's house party, he manages to gain general favor and, among other things, make acquaintance with the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. In the following days, he dined with the chief of police (where he met the landowner Nozdryov), visited the chairman of the chamber and the vice-governor, the farmer and the prosecutor, and went to the Manilov estate (which, however, was preceded by a fair author's digression, where, justified by love for detail, the author certifies in detail Petrushka, the visitor's servant: his passion for "the process of reading itself" and the ability to carry with him a special smell, "responding somewhat to residential peace").

Having traveled, against the promised, not fifteen, but all thirty miles, Chichikov falls into Manilovka, into the arms of an affectionate owner. House Manilova, standing in a jura, surrounded by several English-style flower beds and a gazebo with the inscription "Temple of Solitary Reflection", could characterize the owner, who was "neither this nor that", not weighed down by any passions, only unnecessarily cloying. After Manilov's confessions that Chichikov's visit was "a May day, a name day of the heart", and a dinner in the company of the hostess and two sons, Themistoclus and Alkid, Chichikov discovers the reason for his arrival: he would like to acquire peasants who have died, but have not yet been declared as such in the revision help, having issued everything in a legal way, as if on the living (“the law - I am dumb before the law”). The first fright and bewilderment are replaced by the perfect disposition of the kind host, and, having made a deal, Chichikov leaves for Sobakevich, and Manilov indulges in dreams of Chichikov's life in the neighborhood across the river, of the construction of a bridge, of a house with such a belvedere that Moscow is visible from there, and of their friendship, having learned about which the sovereign would grant them generals. Chichikov's coachman Selifan, much favored by Manilov's yard people, in conversations with his horses misses the right turn and, at the sound of a downpour, knocks the master over into the mud. In the dark, they find lodging for the night at Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, a somewhat timid landowner, with whom Chichikov also begins to trade in the morning. dead souls. Explaining that he himself would now pay taxes for them, cursing the old woman’s stupidity, promising to buy both hemp and lard, but another time, Chichikov buys souls from her for fifteen rubles, receives a detailed list of them (in which Pyotr Savelyev is especially struck by Disrespect -Trough) and, having eaten an unleavened egg pie, pancakes, pies and other things, departs, leaving the hostess in great concern as to whether she had sold too cheap.

Having driven out onto the main road to the tavern, Chichikov stops for a bite to eat; the author provides some enterprises with a lengthy discourse on the properties of the appetite of middle-class gentlemen. Here Nozdryov meets him, returning from the fair in the britzka of his son-in-law Mizhuev, for he lost everything with his horses and even the watch chain. Describing the charms of the fair, the drinking qualities of dragoon officers, a certain Kuvshinnikov, a great lover of "to use about strawberries" and, finally, presenting a puppy, "a real face", Nozdryov takes Chichikov (thinking to get hold of here too) to himself, taking away his son-in-law, who is resisting. Having described Nozdryov, “in some respects a historical person” (for wherever he was, there was history), his possessions, the unpretentiousness of dinner with an abundance, however, drinks of dubious quality, the author sends his son-in-law to his wife (Nozdryov admonishes him with abuse and a word “fetyuk”), and Chichikova is forced to turn to her subject; but he can neither beg nor buy souls: Nozdryov offers to exchange them, take them in addition to the stallion or make a bet in a card game, finally scolds, quarrels, and they part for the night. Persuasion resumes in the morning, and, having agreed to play checkers, Chichikov notices that Nozdryov is shamelessly cheating. Chichikov, whom the owner and the servants are already trying to beat, manages to escape in view of the appearance of the police captain, who announces that Nozdryov is on trial. On the road, Chichikov's carriage collides with a certain carriage, and while the onlookers who come running are breeding tangled horses, Chichikov admires the sixteen-year-old young lady, indulges in reasoning about her and dreams of family life. A visit to Sobakevich in his strong, like himself, estate is accompanied by a thorough dinner, a discussion of city officials, who, according to the owner, are all swindlers (one prosecutor is a decent person, “and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig”), and is crowned with an interesting guest deal. Not at all frightened by the strangeness of the object, Sobakevich bargains, characterizes the favorable qualities of each serf, provides Chichikov with a detailed list and forces him to give a deposit.

Way Chichikov to the neighboring landowner Plyushkin, mentioned by Sobakevich, is interrupted by a conversation with a peasant who gave Plyushkin an apt, but not too printed nickname, and by the author's lyrical reflection on his former love for unfamiliar places and the indifference that has now appeared. Plyushkin, this "hole in humanity", Chichikov at first takes for a housekeeper or a beggar, whose place is on the porch. His most important feature is his amazing stinginess, and he even carries the old sole of his boot into a heap heaped in the master's chambers. Having shown the profitability of his proposal (namely, that he would take over the taxes for the dead and runaway peasants), Chichikov fully succeeds in his enterprise and, refusing tea with cracker, provided with a letter to the chairman of the chamber, departs in the most cheerful mood.

While Chichikov is sleeping in the hotel, the author reflects with sadness on the meanness of the objects he paints. Meanwhile, pleased Chichikov, waking up, composes merchant's fortresses, studies the lists of acquired peasants, reflects on their alleged fate, and finally goes to the civil chamber in order to conclude the case as soon as possible. Manilov, met at the gates of the hotel, accompanies him. Then follows a description of the official place, Chichikov's first ordeals and a bribe to a certain jug snout, until he enters the chairman's apartment, where, by the way, he also finds Sobakevich. The chairman agrees to be Plyushkin's attorney, and at the same time speeds up other transactions. The acquisition of Chichikov is discussed, with land or for withdrawal he bought peasants and in what places. Having found out that they were sent to the Kherson province, having discussed the properties of the sold peasants (here the chairman remembered that the coachman Mikheev seemed to have died, but Sobakevich assured that he was still alive and “became healthier than before”), they finish with champagne, they go to the chief of police, “father and a philanthropist in the city” (whose habits are immediately outlined), where they drink to the health of the new Kherson landowner, become completely excited, force Chichikov to stay and attempt to marry him.

Chichikov's purchases make a splash in the city, a rumor is circulating that he is a millionaire. Ladies are crazy about him. Several times trying to describe the ladies, the author becomes shy and retreats. On the eve of the governor's ball, Chichikov even receives a love letter, though unsigned. Having used, as usual, a lot of time on the toilet and being satisfied with the result, Chichikov goes to the ball, where he passes from one embrace to another. The ladies, among whom he is trying to find the sender of the letter, even quarrel, challenging his attention. But when the governor's wife approaches him, he forgets everything, for she is accompanied by her daughter ("Institute, just released"), a sixteen-year-old blonde, whose carriage he encountered on the road. He loses the favor of the ladies, because he starts a conversation with a fascinating blonde, scandalously neglecting the rest. To complete the trouble, Nozdryov appears and loudly asks if Chichikov has bought a lot of the dead. And although Nozdryov is obviously drunk and the embarrassed society is gradually distracted, Chichikov is not given a whist or the subsequent dinner, and he leaves upset.

At this time, a tarantass enters the city with the landowner Korobochka, whose growing anxiety forced her to come in order to still find out at what price dead Souls. The next morning, this news becomes the property of a certain pleasant lady, and she hurries to tell it to another, pleasant in all respects, the story is overgrown with amazing details (Chichikov, armed to the teeth, breaks into Korobochka at dead midnight, demands the souls that have died, inspires terrible fear - “ the whole village has come running, the children are crying, everyone is screaming. Her friend concludes that dead Souls only a cover, and Chichikov wants to take away the governor's daughter. After discussing the details of this enterprise, Nozdryov's undoubted participation in it and the qualities of the governor's daughter, both ladies dedicate the prosecutor to everything and set off to rebel the city.

In a short time, the city seethes, to which is added the news of the appointment of a new governor-general, as well as information about the papers received: about the fake banknote maker who showed up in the province, and about the robber who fled from legal persecution. Trying to understand who Chichikov is, they recall that he was certified very vaguely and even spoke about those who attempted on his life. The postmaster's statement that Chichikov, in his opinion, is Captain Kopeikin, who took up arms against the injustice of the world and became a robber, is rejected, since it follows from the entertaining postmaster's story that the captain is missing an arm and leg, and Chichikov is whole. An assumption arises whether Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise, and many begin to find a certain similarity, especially in profile. Inquiries from Korobochka, Manilov and Sobakevich do not yield results, and Nozdryov only multiplies the confusion, declaring that Chichikov is definitely a spy, a fake banknote maker and had an undoubted intention to take away the governor's daughter, in which Nozdryov undertook to help him (each of the versions was accompanied by detailed details up to the name priest who took up the wedding). All these rumors have a tremendous effect on the prosecutor, he has a stroke, and he dies.

Chichikov himself, sitting in the hotel with a slight cold, is surprised that none of the officials visits him. Finally, having gone on visits, he discovers that they do not receive him at the governor's, and in other places they fearfully shun him. Nozdryov, visiting him at the hotel, among the general noise he made, partly clarifies the situation by announcing that he agrees to hasten the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. The next day, Chichikov hurriedly leaves, but is stopped by a funeral procession and forced to contemplate the whole world of bureaucracy flowing behind the coffin of the prosecutor Brichka leaves the city, and the open spaces on both sides of it evoke sad and encouraging thoughts about Russia, the road, and then only sad about their chosen hero. Concluding that it is time for the virtuous hero to give rest, but, on the contrary, to hide the scoundrel, the author sets out the life story of Pavel Ivanovich, his childhood, training in classes where he already showed a practical mind, his relationship with his comrades and teacher, his service later in the state chamber, some commission for the construction of a government building, where for the first time he gave vent to some of his weaknesses, his subsequent departure to other, not so profitable places, transfer to the customs service, where, showing honesty and incorruptibility almost unnatural, he made a lot of money in collusion with smugglers, went bankrupt, but dodged the criminal court, although he was forced to resign. He became a confidant, and during the fuss about the pledge of the peasants, he put together a plan in his head, began to go around the expanses of Russia, in order to buy dead souls and put them in the treasury as living, get money, buy, perhaps, a village and provide future offspring.

Having again complained about the properties of his hero’s nature and partly justified him, having found him the name of “owner, acquirer”, the author is distracted by the urged running of horses, the similarity of the flying troika with rushing Russia and the ringing of a bell completes the first volume.

VOLUME TWO

It opens with a description of the nature that makes up the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls "the smoker of the sky." The story of the stupidity of his pastime is followed by the story of a life inspired by hopes at the very beginning, overshadowed by the pettiness of service and troubles afterwards; he retires, intending to improve the estate, reads books, takes care of the peasant, but without experience, sometimes just human, this does not give the expected results, the peasant is idle, Tentetnikov gives up. He breaks off acquaintances with his neighbors, offended by the treatment of General Betrishchev, stops visiting him, although he cannot forget his daughter Ulinka. In a word, without someone who would tell him an invigorating “forward!”, He completely turns sour.

Chichikov comes to him, apologizing for a breakdown in the carriage, curiosity and a desire to pay respect. Having won the favor of the owner with his amazing ability to adapt to anyone, Chichikov, having lived with him for a while, goes to the general, to whom he spins a story about an absurd uncle and, as usual, begs for the dead. On the laughing general, the poem fails, and we find Chichikov heading towards Colonel Koshkarev. Against expectation, he gets to Pyotr Petrovich Petukh, whom at first he finds completely naked, carried away by the hunt for sturgeon. At the Rooster, having nothing to get hold of, for the estate is mortgaged, he only overeats terribly, gets acquainted with the bored landowner Platonov and, having incited him to travel together in Russia, goes to Konstantin Fedorovich Kostanzhoglo, married to Platonov's sister. He talks about the ways of managing, by which he increased the income from the estate dozens of times, and Chichikov is terribly inspired.

Very promptly, he visits Colonel Koshkarev, who has divided his village into committees, expeditions and departments and has arranged a perfect paper production in the mortgaged estate, as it turns out. Returning, he listens to the curses of the bilious Costanjoglo to factories and manufactories that corrupt the peasant, to the absurd desire of the peasant to enlighten, and to his neighbor Khlobuev, who has run a hefty estate and is now lowering it for nothing. Having experienced tenderness and even a craving for honest work, after listening to the story of the farmer Murazov, who made forty millions in an impeccable way, Chichikov the next day, accompanied by Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, goes to Khlobuev, observes the unrest and debauchery of his household in the neighborhood of a governess for children, dressed in fashion wife and other traces of ridiculous luxury. Having borrowed money from Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, he gives a deposit for the estate, intending to buy it, and goes to the Platonov estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who effectively manages the economy. Then he suddenly appears at their neighbor Lenitsyn, obviously a rogue, wins his sympathy with his skillfully tickling a child and receives dead souls.

After many seizures in the manuscript, Chichikov is found already in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric of a lingonberry color so dear to him with a spark. He runs into Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he cheated, either depriving him, or almost depriving him of his inheritance by some kind of forgery. Khlobuev, who missed him, is taken away by Murazov, who convinces Khlobuev of the need to work and determines for him to raise funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations against Chichikov are being discovered both about forgery and about dead souls. The tailor brings a new coat. Suddenly, a gendarme appears, dragging smart Chichikov to the governor-general, "angry as anger itself." Here all his atrocities become apparent, and he, kissing the general's boot, plunges into the prison. In a dark closet, tearing his hair and coat tails, mourning the loss of a box of papers, Murazov finds Chichikov, awakens in him with simple virtuous words the desire to live honestly and goes to soften the governor general. At that time, officials who want to harm their wise superiors and receive a bribe from Chichikov deliver a box to him, kidnap an important witness and write many denunciations in order to completely confuse the matter. Unrest breaks out in the province itself, greatly worrying the governor-general. However, Murazov knows how to feel the sensitive strings of his soul and give him the right advice, which the Governor-General, having released Chichikov, is already going to use, as "the manuscript breaks off."