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Dead Souls

N >> Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol >> Dead Souls




"My God!" cried Madame. "He has gone and spoilt your frockcoat!"

True enough, on glancing downwards, Chichikov saw that the sleeve of
his brand-new garment had indeed suffered a hurt. "If I could catch
you alone, you little devil," he muttered to himself, "I'd shoot you!"

Host, hostess and nurse all ran for eau-de-Cologne, and from three
sides set themselves to rub the spot affected.

"Never mind, never mind; it is nothing," said Chichikov as he strove
to communicate to his features as cheerful an expression as possible.
"What does it matter what a child may spoil during the golden age of
its infancy?"

To himself he remarked: "The little brute! Would it could be devoured
by wolves. It has made only too good a shot, the cussed young
ragamuffin!"

How, after this--after the guest had shown such innocent affection for
the little one, and magnanimously paid for his so doing with a
brand-new suit--could the father remain obdurate? Nevertheless, to
avoid setting a bad example to the countryside, he and Chichikov
agreed to carry through the transaction PRIVATELY, lest, otherwise,
a scandal should arise.

"In return," said Chichikov, "would you mind doing me the following
favour? I desire to mediate in the matter of your difference with the
Brothers Platonov. I believe that you wish to acquire some additional
land? Is not that so?"


[Here there occurs a hiatus in the original.]


Everything in life fulfils its function, and Chichikov's tour in
search of a fortune was carried out so successfully that not a little
money passed into his pockets. The system employed was a good one: he
did not steal, he merely used. And every one of us at times does the
same: one man with regard to Government timber, and another with
regard to a sum belonging to his employer, while a third defrauds his
children for the sake of an actress, and a fourth robs his peasantry
for the sake of smart furniture or a carriage. What can one do when
one is surrounded on every side with roguery, and everywhere there are
insanely expensive restaurants, masked balls, and dances to the music
of gipsy bands? To abstain when every one else is indulging in these
things, and fashion commands, is difficult indeed!

Chichikov was for setting forth again, but the roads had now got into
a bad state, and, in addition, there was in preparation a second
fair--one for the dvoriane only. The former fair had been held for the
sale of horses, cattle, cheese, and other peasant produce, and the
buyers had been merely cattle-jobbers and kulaks; but this time the
function was to be one for the sale of manorial produce which had been
bought up by wholesale dealers at Nizhni Novgorod, and then
transferred hither. To the fair, of course, came those ravishers of
the Russian purse who, in the shape of Frenchmen with pomades and
Frenchwomen with hats, make away with money earned by blood and hard
work, and, like the locusts of Egypt (to use Kostanzhoglo's term) not
only devour their prey, but also dig holes in the ground and leave
behind their eggs.

Although, unfortunately, the occurrence of a bad harvest retained many
landowners at their country houses, the local tchinovniks (whom the
failure of the harvest did NOT touch) proceeded to let themselves
go--as also, to their undoing, did their wives. The reading of books
of the type diffused, in these modern days, for the inoculation of
humanity with a craving for new and superior amenities of life had
caused every one to conceive a passion for experimenting with the
latest luxury; and to meet this want the French wine merchant opened a
new establishment in the shape of a restaurant as had never before
been heard of in the province--a restaurant where supper could be
procured on credit as regarded one-half, and for an unprecedentedly
low sum as regarded the other. This exactly suited both heads of
boards and clerks who were living in hope of being able some day to
resume their bribes-taking from suitors. There also developed a
tendency to compete in the matter of horses and liveried flunkeys;
with the result that despite the damp and snowy weather exceedingly
elegant turnouts took to parading backwards and forwards. Whence these
equipages had come God only knows, but at least they would not have
disgraced St. Petersburg. From within them merchants and attorneys
doffed their caps to ladies, and inquired after their health, and
likewise it became a rare sight to see a bearded man in a rough fur
cap, since every one now went about clean-shaven and with dirty teeth,
after the European fashion.

"Sir, I beg of you to inspect my goods," said a tradesman as Chichikov
was passing his establishment. "Within my doors you will find a large
variety of clothing."

"Have you a cloth of bilberry-coloured check?" inquired the person
addressed.

"I have cloths of the finest kind," replied the tradesman, raising his
cap with one hand, and pointing to his shop with the other. Chichikov
entered, and in a trice the proprietor had dived beneath the counter,
and appeared on the other side of it, with his back to his wares and
his face towards the customer. Leaning forward on the tips of his
fingers, and indicating his merchandise with just the suspicion of a
nod, he requested the gentleman to specify exactly the species of
cloth which he required.

"A cloth with an olive-coloured or a bottle-tinted spot in its
pattern--anything in the nature of bilberry," explained Chichikov.

"That being so, sir, I may say that I am about to show you clothes of
a quality which even our illustrious capitals could not surpass. Hi,
boy! Reach down that roll up there--number 34. No, NOT that one,
fool! Such fellows as you are always too good for your job.
There--hand it to me. This is indeed a nice pattern!"

Unfolding the garment, the tradesman thrust it close to Chichikov's
nose in order that he might not only handle, but also smell it.

"Excellent, but not what I want," pronounced Chichikov. "Formerly I
was in the Custom's Department, and therefore wear none but cloth of
the latest make. What I want is of a ruddier pattern than this--not
exactly a bottle-tinted pattern, but something approaching bilberry."

"I understand, sir. Of course you require only the very newest thing.
A cloth of that kind I DO possess, sir, and though excessive in
price, it is of a quality to match."

Carrying the roll of stuff to the light--even stepping into the street
for the purpose--the shopman unfolded his prize with the words, "A
truly beautiful shade! A cloth of smoked grey, shot with flame colour!"

The material met with the customer's approval, a price was agreed
upon, and with incredible celerity the vendor made up the purchase
into a brown-paper parcel, and stowed it away in Chichikov's koliaska.

At this moment a voice asked to be shown a black frockcoat.

"The devil take me if it isn't Khlobuev!" muttered our hero, turning
his back upon the newcomer. Unfortunately the other had seen him.

"Come, come, Paul Ivanovitch!" he expostulated. "Surely you do not
intend to overlook me? I have been searching for you everywhere, for I
have something important to say to you."

"My dear sir, my very dear sir," said Chichikov as he pressed
Khlobuev's hand, "I can assure you that, had I the necessary leisure,
I should at all times be charmed to converse with you." And mentally
he added: "Would that the Evil One would fly away with you!"

Almost at the same time Murazov, the great landowner, entered the
shop. As he did so our hero hastened to exclaim: "Why, it is Athanasi
Vassilievitch! How ARE you, my very dear sir?"

"Well enough," replied Murazov, removing his cap (Khlobuev and the
shopman had already done the same). "How, may I ask, are YOU?"

"But poorly," replied Chichikov, "for of late I have been troubled
with indigestion, and my sleep is bad. I do not get sufficient
exercise."

However, instead of probing deeper into the subject of Chichikov's
ailments, Murazov turned to Khlobuev.

"I saw you enter the shop," he said, "and therefore followed you, for
I have something important for your ear. Could you spare me a minute
or two?"

"Certainly, certainly," said Khlobuev, and the pair left the shop
together.

"I wonder what is afoot between them," said Chichikov to himself.

"A wise and noble gentleman, Athanasi Vassilievitch!" remarked the
tradesman. Chichikov made no reply save a gesture.

"Paul Ivanovitch, I have been looking for you everywhere," Lienitsin's
voice said from behind him, while again the tradesman hastened to
remove his cap. "Pray come home with me, for I have something to say
to you."

Chichikov scanned the speaker's face, but could make nothing of it.
Paying the tradesman for the cloth, he left the shop.

Meanwhile Murazov had conveyed Khlobuev to his rooms.

"Tell me," he said to his guest, "exactly how your affairs stand. I
take it that, after all, your aunt left you something?"

"It would be difficult to say whether or not my affairs are improved,"
replied Khlobuev. "True, fifty souls and thirty thousand roubles came
to me from Madame Khanasarova, but I had to pay them away to satisfy
my debts. Consequently I am once more destitute. But the important
point is that there was trickery connected with the legacy, and
shameful trickery at that. Yes, though it may surprise you, it is a
fact that that fellow Chichikov--"

"Yes, Semen Semenovitch, but, before you go on to speak of Chichikov,
pray tell me something about yourself, and how much, in your opinion,
would be sufficient to clear you of your difficulties?"

"My difficulties are grievous," replied Khlobuev. "To rid myself of
them, and also to have enough to go on with, I should need to acquire
at least a hundred thousand roubles, if not more. In short, things are
becoming impossible for me."

"And, had you the money, what should you do with it?"

"I should rent a tenement, and devote myself to the education of my
children. Not a thought should I give to myself, for my career is
over, seeing that it is impossible for me to re-enter the Civil
Service and I am good for nothing else."

"Nevertheless, when a man is leading an idle life he is apt to incur
temptations which shun his better-employed brother."

"Yes, but beyond question I am good for nothing, so broken is my
health, and such a martyr I am to dyspepsia."

"But how to you propose to live without working? How can a man like
you exist without a post or a position of any kind? Look around you at
the works of God. Everything has its proper function, and pursues its
proper course. Even a stone can be used for one purpose or another.
How, then, can it be right for a man who is a thinking being to remain
a drone?"

"But I should not be a drone, for I should employ myself with the
education of my children."

"No, Semen Semenovitch--no: THAT you would find the hardest task of
all. For how can a man educate his children who has never even
educated himself? Instruction can be imparted to children only through
the medium of example; and would a life like yours furnish them with a
profitable example--a life which has been spent in idleness and the
playing of cards? No, Semen Semenovitch. You had far better hand your
children over to me. Otherwise they will be ruined. Do not think that
I am jesting. Idleness has wrecked your life, and you must flee from
it. Can a man live with nothing to keep him in place? Even a
journeyman labourer who earns the barest pittance may take an interest
in his occupation."

"Athanasi Vassilievitch, I have tried to overcome myself, but what
further resource lies open to me? Can I who am old and incapable
re-enter the Civil Service and spend year after year at a desk with
youths who are just starting their careers? Moreover, I have lost the
trick of taking bribes; I should only hinder both myself and others;
while, as you know, it is a department which has an established caste
of its own. Therefore, though I have considered, and even attempted to
obtain, every conceivable post, I find myself incompetent for them
all. Only in a monastery should I--"

"Nay, nay. Monasteries, again, are only for those who have worked. To
those who have spent their youth in dissipation such havens say what
the ant said to the dragonfly--namely, 'Go you away, and return to
your dancing.' Yes, even in a monastery do folk toil and toil--they do
not sit playing whist." Murazov looked at Khlobuev, and added: "Semen
Semenovitch, you are deceiving both yourself and me."

Poor Khlobuev could not utter a word in reply, and Murazov began to
feel sorry for him.

"Listen, Semen Semenovitch," he went on. "I know that you say your
prayers, and that you go to church, and that you observe both Matins
and Vespers, and that, though averse to early rising, you leave your
bed at four o'clock in the morning before the household fires have
been lit."

"Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch," said Khlobuev, "that is another matter
altogether. That I do, not for man's sake, but for the sake of Him who
has ordered all things here on earth. Yes, I believe that He at least
can feel compassion for me, that He at least, though I be foul and
lowly, will pardon me and receive me when all men have cast me out,
and my best friend has betrayed me and boasted that he has done it for
a good end."

Khlobuev's face was glowing with emotion, and from the older man's
eyes also a tear had started.

"You will do well to hearken unto Him who is merciful," he said. "But
remember also that, in the eyes of the All-Merciful, honest toil is of
equal merit with a prayer. Therefore take unto yourself whatsoever
task you may, and do it as though you were doing it, not unto man, but
unto God. Even though to your lot there should fall but the cleaning
of a floor, clean that floor as though it were being cleaned for Him
alone. And thence at least this good you will reap: that there will
remain to you no time for what is evil--for card playing, for
feasting, for all the life of this gay world. Are you acquainted with
Ivan Potapitch?"

"Yes, not only am I acquainted with him, but I also greatly respect
him."

"Time was when Ivan Potapitch was a merchant worth half a million
roubles. In everything did he look but for gain, and his affairs
prospered exceedingly, so much so that he was able to send his son to
be educated in France, and to marry his daughter to a General. And
whether in his office or at the Exchange, he would stop any friend
whom he encountered and carry him off to a tavern to drink, and spend
whole days thus employed. But at last he became bankrupt, and God sent
him other misfortunes also. His son! Ah, well! Ivan Potapitch is now
my steward, for he had to begin life over again. Yet once more his
affairs are in order, and, had it been his wish, he could have
restarted in business with a capital of half a million roubles. 'But
no,' he said. 'A steward am I, and a steward will I remain to the end;
for, from being full-stomached and heavy with dropsy, I have become
strong and well.' Not a drop of liquor passes his lips, but only
cabbage soup and gruel. And he prays as none of the rest of us pray,
and he helps the poor as none of the rest of us help them; and to this
he would add yet further charity if his means permitted him to do so."

Poor Khlobuev remained silent, as before.

The elder man took his two hands in his.

"Semen Semenovitch," he said, "you cannot think how much I pity you,
or how much I have had you in my thoughts. Listen to me. In the
monastery there is a recluse who never looks upon a human face. Of all
men whom I know he has the broadest mind, and he breaks not his
silence save to give advice. To him I went and said that I had a
friend (though I did not actually mention your name) who was in great
trouble of soul. Suddenly the recluse interrupted me with the words:
'God's work first, and our own last. There is need for a church to be
built, but no money wherewith to build it. Money must be collected to
that end.' Then he shut to the wicket. I wondered to myself what this
could mean, and concluded that the recluse had been unwilling to
accord me his counsel. Next I repaired to the Archimandrite, and had
scarce reached his door when he inquired of me whether I could commend
to him a man meet to be entrusted with the collection of alms for a
church--a man who should belong to the dvoriane or to the more
lettered merchants, but who would guard the trust as he would guard
the salvation of his soul. On the instant thought I to myself: 'Why
should not the Holy Father appoint my friend Semen Semenovitch? For
the way of suffering would benefit him greatly; and as he passed with
his ledger from landowner to peasant, and from peasant to townsman, he
would learn where folk dwell, and who stands in need of aught, and
thus would become better acquainted with the countryside than folk who
dwell in cities. And, thus become, he would find that his services
were always in demand.' Only of late did the Governor-General say to
me that, could he but be furnished with the name of a secretary who
should know his work not only by the book but also by experience, he
would give him a great sum, since nothing is to be learned by the
former means, and, through it, much confusion arises."

"You confound me, you overwhelm me!" said Khlobuev, staring at his
companion in open-eyed astonishment. "I can scarcely believe that your
words are true, seeing that for such a trust an active, indefatigable
man would be necessary. Moreover, how could I leave my wife and
children unprovided for?"

"Have no fear," said Murazov, "I myself will take them under my care,
as well as procure for the children a tutor. Far better and nobler
were it for you to be travelling with a wallet, and asking alms on
behalf of God, then to be remaining here and asking alms for yourself
alone. Likewise, I will furnish you with a tilt-waggon, so that you
may be saved some of the hardships of the journey, and thus be
preserved in good health. Also, I will give you some money for the
journey, in order that, as you pass on your way, you may give to those
who stand in greater need than their fellows. Thus, if, before giving,
you assure yourself that the recipient of the alms is worthy of the
same, you will do much good; and as you travel you will become
acquainted with all men and sundry, and they will treat you, not as a
tchinovnik to be feared, but as one to whom, as a petitioner on behalf
of the Church, they may unloose their tongues without peril."

"I feel that the scheme is a splendid one, and would gladly bear my
part in it were it not likely to exceed my strength."

"What is there that does NOT exceed your strength?" said Murazov.
"Nothing is wholly proportionate to it--everything surpasses it. Help
from above is necessary: otherwise we are all powerless. Strength
comes of prayer, and of prayer alone. When a man crosses himself, and
cries, 'Lord, have mercy upon me!' he soon stems the current and wins
to the shore. Nor need you take any prolonged thought concerning this
matter. All that you need do is to accept it as a commission sent of
God. The tilt-waggon can be prepared for you immediately; and then, as
soon as you have been to the Archimandrite for your book of accounts
and his blessing, you will be free to start on your journey."

"I submit myself to you, and accept the commission as a divine trust."

And even as Khlobuev spoke he felt renewed vigour and confidence arise
in his soul, and his mind begin to awake to a sense of hopefulness of
eventually being able to put to flight his troubles. And even as it
was, the world seemed to be growing dim to his eyes. . . .

Meanwhile, plea after plea had been presented to the legal
authorities, and daily were relatives whom no one had before heard of
putting in an appearance. Yes, like vultures to a corpse did these
good folk come flocking to the immense property which Madam Khanasarov
had left behind her. Everywhere were heard rumours against Chichikov,
rumours with regard to the validity of the second will, rumours with
regard to will number one, and rumours of larceny and concealment of
funds. Also, there came to hand information with regard both to
Chichikov's purchase of dead souls and to his conniving at contraband
goods during his service in the Customs Department. In short, every
possible item of evidence was exhumed, and the whole of his previous
history investigated. How the authorities had come to suspect and to
ascertain all this God only knows, but the fact remains that there had
fallen into the hands of those authorities information concerning
matters of which Chichikov had believed only himself and the four
walls to be aware. True, for a time these matters remained within the
cognisance of none but the functionaries concerned, and failed to
reach Chichikov's ears; but at length a letter from a confidential
friend gave him reason to think that the fat was about to fall into
the fire. Said the letter briefly: "Dear sir, I beg to advise you that
possibly legal trouble is pending, but that you have no cause for
uneasiness, seeing that everything will be attended to by yours very
truly." Yet, in spite of its tenor, the epistle reassured its
recipient. "What a genius the fellow is!" thought Chichikov to
himself. Next, to complete his satisfaction, his tailor arrived with
the new suit which he had ordered. Not without a certain sense of
pride did our hero inspect the frockcoat of smoked grey shot with
flame colour and look at it from every point of view, and then try on
the breeches--the latter fitting him like a picture, and quite
concealing any deficiencies in the matter of his thighs and calves
(though, when buckled behind, they left his stomach projecting like a
drum). True, the customer remarked that there appeared to be a slight
tightness under the right armpit, but the smiling tailor only rejoined
that that would cause the waist to fit all the better. "Sir," he said
triumphantly, "you may rest assured that the work has been executed
exactly as it ought to have been executed. No one, except in St.
Petersburg, could have done it better." As a matter of fact, the
tailor himself hailed from St. Petersburg, but called himself on his
signboard "Foreign Costumier from London and Paris"--the truth being
that by the use of a double-barrelled flourish of cities superior to
mere "Karlsruhe" and "Copenhagen" he designed to acquire business and
cut out his local rivals.

Chichikov graciously settled the man's account, and, as soon as he had
gone, paraded at leisure, and con amore, and after the manner of an
artist of aesthetic taste, before the mirror. Somehow he seemed to
look better than ever in the suit, for his cheeks had now taken on a
still more interesting air, and his chin an added seductiveness, while
his white collar lent tone to his neck, the blue satin tie heightened
the effect of the collar, the fashionable dickey set off the tie, the
rich satin waistcoat emphasised the dickey, and the
smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour frockcoat, shining like silk,
splendidly rounded off the whole. When he turned to the right he
looked well: when he turned to the left he looked even better. In
short, it was a costume worthy of a Lord Chamberlain or the species of
dandy who shrinks from swearing in the Russian language, but amply
relieves his feelings in the language of France. Next, inclining his
head slightly to one side, our hero endeavoured to pose as though he
were addressing a middle-aged lady of exquisite refinement; and the
result of these efforts was a picture which any artist might have
yearned to portray. Next, his delight led him gracefully to execute a
hop in ballet fashion, so that the wardrobe trembled and a bottle of
eau-de-Cologne came crashing to the floor. Yet even this contretemps
did not upset him; he merely called the offending bottle a fool, and
then debated whom first he should visit in his attractive guise.

Suddenly there resounded through the hall a clatter of spurred heels,
and then the voice of a gendarme saying: "You are commanded to present
yourself before the Governor-General!" Turning round, Chichikov stared
in horror at the spectacle presented; for in the doorway there was
standing an apparition wearing a huge moustache, a helmet surmounted
with a horsehair plume, a pair of crossed shoulder-belts, and a
gigantic sword! A whole army might have been combined into a single
individual! And when Chichikov opened his mouth to speak the
apparition repeated, "You are commanded to present yourself before the
Governor-General," and at the same moment our hero caught sight both
of a second apparition outside the door and of a coach waiting beneath
the window. What was to be done? Nothing whatever was possible. Just
as he stood--in his smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour suit--he had
then and there to enter the vehicle, and, shaking in every limb, and
with a gendarme seated by his side, to start for the residence of the
Governor-General.

And even in the hall of that establishment no time was given him to
pull himself together, for at once an aide-de-camp said: "Go inside
immediately, for the Prince is awaiting you." And as in a dream did
our hero see a vestibule where couriers were being handed dispatches,
and then a salon which he crossed with the thought, "I suppose I am
not to be allowed a trial, but shall be sent straight to Siberia!" And
at the thought his heart started beating in a manner which the most
jealous of lovers could not have rivalled. At length there opened a
door, and before him he saw a study full of portfolios, ledgers, and
dispatch-boxes, with, standing behind them, the gravely menacing
figure of the Prince.

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