dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 1 Dead Souls (1)
Dead Souls
(Russian) Gogol

Translated by Xu Zhixian
A good guest is coming

A beautiful light carriage drove into the yard of a hotel in N City, the capital of the province. Although the carriage was not big, it was equipped with a spring chassis.Most of the people who ride this kind of car are bachelors, such as retired lieutenant colonels, captains, landlords with a family of more than a hundred serfs, etc. Generally speaking, they can be regarded as middle-class gentlemen.The gentleman sitting in the carriage, although not a handsome man, was handsome; he was neither thin nor fat, neither young nor old.His presence did not cause any unusual changes in the city, and there was no discussion at all. There was only a discussion between two Russian peasants at the door of the tavern opposite the hotel, but it was not so much that they were talking about the passengers in the carriage. It was the carriage that was being discussed.One of them said to the other: "Hey, look at that wheel! If you go to Moscow, can you pull this wheel?" The other said: "Yes." "If you go to Kazan, you see, Can you pull it?" "You can't go to Kazan," answered the other.That's all they talk about.Also, when the carriage approached the hotel, a young man came across.The young man wore short white-striped trousers, a tailcoat that was designed to imitate fashion, with a corset showing, and a bronze brooch in the shape of a small pistol from Tula fastened to his shirt.The young man glanced sideways at the carriage, then covered the hat that was almost blown away by the wind with his hands, and walked over quickly.

When the carriage drove into the yard, it was greeted by a hotel servant, or, as Russian inns usually say, a clerk, who usually moved swiftly and circled you so dizzily that even his I can't see what the face looks like.The clerk came hastily out with a towel in one hand, his tall body wrapped in a long woolen frock coat, the back of which was so high that it almost covered the back of his head.Pushing back his hair, he deftly led the gentleman upstairs, through a wooden corridor, and showed the gentleman to his God-given bedroom.Bedrooms are known to everyone, that is to say, in hotels of the kind common in provincial capitals, where travelers can get such a comfortable room for two rubles a day and night.Every corner of the room is full of cockroaches poking around like dried dates. There is a door leading to the next room, which is often blocked by a chest of drawers. A neighbor who lives in the next room, although a taciturn, A quiet person, but very curious, eager to find out all kinds of details about the newcomer next door.The appearance of the hotel matches its interior: a long two-story building, the ground floor is not plastered, showing dark red bricks, some dirty red bricks, the color has become dark and black after several cold and heat; the upper floor is plastered in the same way. in yellow; downstairs are little stalls selling horse yokes, ropes, or sheepskins, and in one of the corner stalls, or rather in a window, sits a peddler of hot honey water, a copper samovar At his feet, the peddler's face was as red as the samovar, and if it hadn't been for the black beard on one samovar, one would have thought there were two samovars in the window from a height.

As the new gentleman inspected his room, his luggage was brought in: first a slightly worn white leather suitcase that showed more than one long journey.The suitcases were carried by Serivan, the coachman, and Petrushka, the footman. Serivan, the short coachman, wore a light leather jacket; The dress was obviously given to him by the master when he was worn out. This young man looked a bit stern, with two thick lips and a big nose.After the white leather case was brought in a small mahogany chest with birch inlays, some pairs of boot-trees, and a roast chicken wrapped in blue paper.Having brought all these things in, Selifan the coachman went to the stables to tend the horses, and Petrushka, the footman, who had arranged his lodging in the narrow passage like a dark hole, had already brought in one of his coats, and at the same time He also brought with him a peculiar smell, which stained the bag containing the various clothes for the servants that was brought in afterward.In this passage he placed a narrow three-legged bed against the wall, and put on it what looked like a very small cushion which he had obtained from the innkeeper, which was hard and flat, like a cake of dead flour, The greasiness on top may have caught up with the fritters too.

While the servants were busy settling down, the master walked into the hall.What the lobby of this kind of hotel looks like—every traveler knows it very well: the same walls are painted with varnish. The backs of the merchants are rubbed brightly, because local merchants often come here in small groups to drink two pots of tea during the market trading days; the same smoked black ceiling; the same quilts with glass pendants hanging The smoky blackened chandelier, the glass pendants danced as the handman skilfully ran across the battered linoleum floor with stacks of teacups and tea trays stacked like birds falling on the seashore The walls are also covered with oil paintings, all of which are commonly seen in hotels, the difference is that the pair of breasts of the fairy in the painting here are so big, presumably the readers have never seen passed.However, this kind of deformed and exaggerated technique is rare in various historical paintings. I don’t know when and who brought this kind of historical paintings to our Russia. Sometimes even some art-loving dignitaries listen to them. The coachman's suggestion was purchased from Italy.The new gentleman took off his hat and took off a colorful scarf from around his neck. For married people, this kind of scarf is woven by the wife herself, and she will teach me how to wear it in a beautiful way while weaving. As for the bachelor's scarf, no one knows who wove it, and I have never worn such a scarf.The gentleman took off his scarf and ordered lunch.The clerk brought him all the usual dishes in the hotel, such as vegetable soup puff pastry, which had been reserved for travelers for weeks, ox brains with green peas, sausages and stewed cabbage, fat roast hen, pickled cucumbers and random dishes. Call for shortbread desserts.While serving him these hot dishes and cold dishes, he let the servants or the waiters answer his various questions: who was the owner of this inn, who is it now, and how much money does it have? When asked whether the shopkeeper is a big villain, the clerk replied as usual: "Oh, sir, that is a big liar." In civilized Russia, as in civilized Europe, there are so many distinguished guests who have to eat at dinner. You have to chat with the buddy for a while, otherwise you won't be able to eat, and sometimes you even have to make jokes about the buddy.However, the questions our gentleman asked were not all frivolous questions: he asked in great detail who the governor of this place is, who is the head of civil affairs, and who is the chief prosecutor... In short, he did not miss any important But what concerned him most about the well-known landowners was how many serfs each of them had, how far they lived, what tempers they had, how often they came to the city—he asked them all.He was also very interested in what was going on in the area: whether there had been any plagues—deadly malaria, smallpox, etc., and his earnestness showed that he was more than simply curious.The guest was very well behaved, and he was blowing his nose so loudly, I don't know how he did it, but his nose was like a trumpet.This unique advantage has won the respect of the hotel clerk. Every time the clerk heard the sound of the "horn", he would shake his hair, stand up respectfully, and ask with his head bowed: "Is there anything I can do for you?"When the meal was over, the guest ordered a cup of coffee, leaned back on the sofa, and stuffed a cushion behind him (the cushions in Russian hotels are not filled with elastic wool, but a material as hard as bricks). same thing).Afterwards, he yawned and ordered the clerk to take him back to his room, and he fell asleep when he got back to the room. It was two hours after he got enough sleep. Then he responded to the clerk's request and wrote down his official title and name. On a piece of paper for the hotel to declare to the police station.As he descended the stairs, the clerk with the paper secretly read the biography of our guest: "Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, sixth-rank official, landowner, traveling on private business." When the note was written, our Mr. Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov was already out in the streets.He seemed quite satisfied with the city, which he found to be comparable to the other provincial capitals:

The yellow paint on the brick houses is extremely bright and eye-catching, and the dull gray paint on the wooden houses. The houses have one, two, and one and a half floors, and there is an attic that the provincial architects think is very beautiful; In the layout of the whole city, the houses in some places are isolated, as if they were thrown in the middle of the wilderness-like wide streets and the endless wooden courtyard walls; .When you look up, you can see various signboards that have been washed away by the rain, and you can also tell whether they are painted with bread rolls or big leather boots. There is a pair of blue trousers painted on one signboard, and it says "Warsaw Tailor Shop" on another, there were caps and hats, with the inscription "Vasili Fyodorov, a foreign merchant"; and on another, a billiard table with two players playing it, both Dressed in tuxedos, the kind of frock coats worn by bigwigs who go on stage to meet actors after the last act at the theater, the two are pictured taking aim with pool cues, arms slightly drawn back, legs bent, as if they had just done Complete a dance move of bouncing in the air.Under the painting, it is written that "the billiard room is here"; some simply set up a few tables on the street, selling hazelnuts, soap, and honey cakes similar to soap bars; Fat Fish With A Fork.The most common one is the black-colored double-headed eagle national emblem, which has now been replaced by the simple word "tavern".The pavement looks bad everywhere from years of disrepair.He also went to the garden of the city. There were only a few thin, half-dead trees in the garden. The trees were all supported by tripods, and the tripods were beautifully painted with green paint.Although these small trees are not as tall as the reeds, when describing the festive scene of this city in the newspaper, they said: "Thanks to the care of the mayor of our city, our city enjoys a beautiful garden with dense foliage and towering trees. In the hot summer, it is really a refreshing and pleasant place.” He also said: “The citizens are full of gratitude for the kindness of the mayor, and they are grateful for the tears in their hearts. This situation is very touching.”

Our gentleman also inquired in detail from the guards about the shortcuts to the city council, government agencies, and the governor's mansion, and went to see the river in the city center. A poster on the road was torn off.At this time, a not-so-ugly lady passed by on the opposite boardwalk, followed by a house boy in a servant's uniform, carrying a package in his hand.He stared at the lady intently for a long time, and after looking at it, he also looked around everything around, as if he wanted to remember the scene here, and then turned back to the hotel. The hotel clerk helped him up the stairs and into his room.After drinking his tea, he sat down at the table, ordered someone to bring him a candle, took out the poster from his pocket, leaned close to the candlelight, squinted his eyes, and began to read.It's a pity that there are not many attractive things on the poster: Mr. Kochub's play is being performed, Popleovin is playing Laura, Ms. Jablova is playing Cora, and the other characters are even less noteworthy; but he still reads carefully. After finishing the list of actors, he even read the ticket price of the pool seat, and he also knew that the poster was printed by the provincial government printing factory; after that, he turned the poster over to see what else was on the back, but unfortunately he didn't get it. So he rubbed his eyes, folded the posters carefully, and put them in his little mahogany box. This was his habit, and he put everything in that little box.Finally, he ate a plate of cold beef, drank a bottle of steaming kvass, and ended the day with a thunderous snoring, as they say in some parts of vast Russia.

The next day was devoted to visits.Our gentleman went out and called on all the dignitaries in town.He first went to see the governor, who, like Mr. Chichikov, was neither fat nor thin, had the Order of Anna around his neck, and was rumored to have been awarded a star; but he was a good-hearted man. Some people even embroider on the see-through yarn by themselves.After that, he went to meet the deputy governor, and then the chief prosecutor, the chief of civil affairs, the chief of police, the taxpayer, the supervisor of government-run factories... It is a pity that we cannot mention all the powerful people one by one However, it suffices to point out that our gentleman made an extraordinary visit: he even went to pay homage to the health inspector and the town planner.At last he sat for a long time in the carriage thinking who else should call, but there were no other officials in town.While talking to these dignitaries, our Mr. Chichikov subtly praised everyone.He casually mentioned to the governor that entering his province was like entering heaven, where the straight roads spread out like velvet, and that those heads of government who were good at choosing wise officials deserved great attention. commended.He said something flattering about the sentinels when he called on the chief of police.And when talking with the deputy governor and the civil affairs chief, although he knew they were only fifth-rank officials, he made two mistakes on purpose and called them "adults", which made the two officials very happy.As a result of this day's meeting, the governor invited him to a family evening party that day, and other officials also extended invitations to him, some invited him to lunch, some invited him to play Boston cards, and some invited him to their homes Have refreshments.

Our gentleman talked about himself as little as possible, and when he did, he talked in a few vague words, and his tone was as humble as dust.During these visits, his words were more or less literary, saying that he was an insignificant maggot in the world, not worthy of your attention, but he was used to seeing all kinds of things in the world, and he suffered setbacks in his official career because he was serious about serving the public. His enemies were so ready to kill him, and now he longed to live in peace, traveling from place to place in search of a place to live.When he arrived in the city, he thought he had to pay respects to the local officials.That's all the townspeople have heard from our gentleman.

Our gentleman had spent more than two hours preparing for his appearance at the Governor's family evening, with a care and attention to grooming such as had never been seen in a gentleman in this town.As soon as he woke up from his afternoon nap, he ordered the worker to fetch water to wash his hands, put soap on his cheeks, put his tongue against his cheeks, and scrub his cheeks repeatedly, then asked the hotel clerk for a handkerchief, and twisted his praised trumpet twice at the clerk Nose, starting from the base of the ears, I wiped the fat cheeks back and forth, then put on the bra in the mirror, and plucked two nose hairs protruding from the nostrils, and then put on a crimson tuxedo with florets.When he was dressed, he got into his carriage and drove down the broad street to the governor's residence.In the street there were only faint lights cast occasionally from the windows, but the governor's residence was brightly lit, as if holding a large ball; many lighted carriages were parked at the gate, and two gendarmes stood at the gate, far away. The sound of the leading drivers driving the horses can be heard everywhere. In a word, there is everything in the glamor and excitement.As soon as he entered the hall, Chichikov had to close his eyes because the candles, lights, and ladies' dresses were too bright and dazzling.Everything here is so dazzling.The black tuxedo floated all over the hall, now and then here and there, like a swarm of flies flying around a loaf of sugar on a hot July summer day, while the old housekeeper spread the big candy in front of the open window. The children next to them excitedly watched the butler's thin arms swinging the hammer up and down, while the flies swarmed in the air, taking advantage of the breeze and taking advantage of the glare of the lights to bully the housekeeper's old eyes. , Gathering blatantly on the sweet and delicious candies, sometimes in pairs, sometimes in gangs.In fact, in the summer when the food is abundant, the delicacies are spread everywhere, so that the flies are already full of food. The flies are not here to eat this delicious meal, but just to show their faces and show themselves. They wanton on the sugar cubes Flying, falling down and walking around occasionally, greeting each other with front or back legs, or scratching their fat bodies under their wings with their paws, or stretching out their front paws to rub their heads, then turn around and fly away, and when they come back Must bring with it a new swarm of nasty flies.

(End of this chapter)