dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 23 Dead Souls (23)
It must be pointed out that the lovely wife in every aspect is a materialist to some extent, accustomed to negation and doubt, and she wants to overthrow many things in life.So the lovely lady explained to her the reason of never being fancy, and then she also shouted: "Ah, congratulations to you: it is no longer fashionable to pleat clothes."

"Who says it's out of fashion?"

"It's very fashionable around the dog's teeth."

"Yo, dog teeth are not pretty!"

"Dog's teeth, dog's teeth: dog's teeth on shawls, dog's teeth on sleeves, dog's teeth on epaulettes, dog's teeth under skirts, dog's teeth everywhere."

"Sophia Ivanovna, it doesn't look very pretty with dog teeth."

"It's beautiful, Anna Grigoryevna, it's very beautiful; it's double-stitched, with wide shoulders, and the top... then you'll be amazed, then you'll have to say... well , just marvel: just imagine that the top is longer, with a protruding breast, and the front gussets are bulging high; the skirt is gathered around, like an ancient whalebone skirt, with With a little cotton, it looks like a beautiful woman, full of grace and luxury."

"Hey, to be honest, this is really outrageous!" The lovely wife shook her head in a solemn gesture of disapproval. "Yes, indeed, this is indeed too that." The generally lovely lady replied. "Please go ahead, I will not follow this fashion no matter what."

"Me too...Really, I can't even imagine how fashionable people are sometimes...It's outrageous! I asked my sister for a cut dress just for fun; my maid Mei Lanniang has already started cutting."

"Do you look like a tailor?"

The lovely wife in every respect yelled, showing her envy without a doubt. "Yes, it was brought by my sister."

"My dear, for God's sake, let me see."

"Oh, I've promised Praskovya Fyodorovna. Let's wait until she has used it."

"Praskovia Fyodorovna has used it. Who would want to wear something like that again? You're making the mistake of treating outsiders more than family."

"She is also my cousin."

"The devil knows what kind of cousin she is: she's only your husband's cousin... Well, Sophia Ivanovna, I don't want to hear about it; you're trying to make things difficult for me... It seems that I I have bored you, and it seems that you are about to break up with me."

Poor Sophia Ivanovna simply did not know what to do.She was in a dilemma.This is the fate of casual boasting!She wanted to prick her big tongue with a needle. "Well, how's our charmer doing?" said the lovely lady in every way. "Oh, my God! Why am I just sitting there like this in front of you! It's so funny! Anna Grigorievna, don't you know what news I have for you?" The female guest was full of breath, and her words were like a group of kites that were about to swarm out. Only an unreasonable person like her best friend would have the heart to interrupt her. "No matter how much you praise him, how much you flatter him," she was obviously more articulate than usual, "I will say it without reservation, even in front of him, he is a lowly man , humble, humble, humble!"

"Listen to me first, I want to tell you..."

"Everyone says he is beautiful, but he is not beautiful at all, not at all, and his nose... is the most annoying nose."

"Wait, let me tell you... My dear Anna Grigorievna, listen to me! It's an anecdote, do you understand, anecdote, Sknapelle Istoar."

The female guest spoke in a tone almost pleading with a look of despair.What I want to say here is that there are many foreign words in the words of the two wives, and sometimes they simply say some long French sentences.Although the author is full of respect for the salvation brought by the French language to Russia, and although the author is used to expressing emotions in French at all times in our upper class (of course out of deep patriotic feelings), he will not be rash after all. He casually wrote sentences from a foreign language into his own Russian novel.So, let's write it down in Russian. "What strange news?"

"Oh, my dear Anna Grigoryevna, if only you could imagine what I was in! Just imagine: today the High Priest's wife - the High Priest's wife is Father Kirill's wife - —come to my house, and guess what our charming guest is like?"

"Why, is he also flirting with the high priest's wife?"

"Well, Anna Grigoryevna, if it's all about flirting, it's nothing; let's hear what the high priest's wife said. She said that the landlady Korobochka was terrified. , went to her house with a pale face, what to say, you listen to me, it is like a legend: in the middle of the night, the family members are all asleep, suddenly there is a terrible knock on the door, it is simply too scary, to ask It's as scary as it is; someone shouted: 'Open the door, open the door, or break the door!' Do you think it's scary? Do you still think our charming spirit is still charming?"

"Who is Korobochka? Young and pretty?"

"Where, it's an old woman!"

"Oh, that's wonderful! He's flirting with an old woman. Well, we ladies have good eyes to fall in love with such a man."

"Not so, Anna Grigorievna, not as you imagined. You can imagine that a man in armor like Rinaldo Rinaldini broke in. , said: "Sell me all the dead serfs." Korobochka's refusal was very reasonable, she said: "No, because they are dead." The man said: "No, they are not dead Yes, they are dead or not, only I know; they are not dead, not dead!' In a word, shouting, terrified: the whole village came out, the children cried, the adults yelled, and the adults shouted. A gibberish, oh, it's Orel, Orel, Orel! Anna Grigoryevna, you can't see how frightened I am by these words. My maid, Ma Shka said to me: 'My dear lady, look in the mirror: you are pale.' I said: 'I don't care about the mirror, I'll tell Anna Grigorievna at once.' I immediately Ordered to harness. Andryushka the coachman asked me where I was going, and I couldn't say anything, but just stared at him like a fool; I thought he must think I was crazy. Oh, Anna G. Ligolyevna! You can't imagine how frightened I was!"

"It's strange," said the lovely lady in every way, "what can these dead serfs do? To tell the truth, I have no idea at all, and this is the second time I've heard of dead serfs. .My husband also said that Nozdryov was spreading rumors. I don't think it's all groundless."

"Anna Grigoryevna, imagine what I must have been like when I heard these words. Korobochka said: 'Now I don't know what to do.' She said, 'At that time he Made me sign a fake deed and threw me a fifteen-ruble note.' She said: 'I'm a helpless widow who can't do anything and doesn't know anything...' What a thing What an anecdote! If only you could imagine my shock."

"However, believe it or not, it's not just about dead serfs, there are other thoughts hidden here."

"To tell you the truth, that's how I see it too," said the generally lovely lady, not without surprise, and eager to know what attempt was being concealed here.She even raised her voice and asked, "What do you think might be hidden here?"

"What do you think?"

"My take? Honestly, I'm totally freaked out."

"It's just that I still want to hear your thoughts on this issue."

But the average lovely lady can't say anything.She will only be shocked, and it would be a bit difficult for her to have a pertinent opinion, so she needs delicate friendship and other people's ideas more than anyone else. "Well, then, listen to me, what's the matter with the dead serfs?" said the lovely lady in every way, and the lady listened attentively: her ears opened naturally. , her body was lifted slightly, almost leaving the sofa. Although her body was quite heavy, it suddenly became lighter, as light as a feather, and could fly into the air when blowing.It is like a Russian landowner who likes hunting with hounds rode to the back of the woods, and saw a rabbit was about to be driven out of the woods by his entourage. At this moment, he raised his whip and sat down. The horses held their breath and remained motionless, like a ball of gunpowder about to be ignited, staring at the confused front, as soon as they saw the little beast, they would not let go, no matter how the wind and snow were raging, no matter how the snowflakes fluttered on the ground. His mouth, his eyes, his beard, his eyebrows and the sea dragon cap. "Dead serfs..." said the lovely wife in every way. "How is it, how is it?" the female guest asked nervously. "Damn serf!..."

"Ouch, for God's sake, don't keep it up!"

"This is just a false move to deceive others. The real intention is: he wants to abduct the governor's daughter."

The conclusion was indeed remarkable in every respect, and completely unexpected.The ordinary lovely lady was completely stunned, her face was as pale as a dead person, and the shock was no small matter. "Oh, my God!" she screamed at last, clapping her hands together. "I never thought of that."

"As for me, I'll know what's going on when you open your mouth," replied the lovely lady in every way, "but Miss Prefect went to an aristocratic boarding school, Anna Grigory. Yevna! That's really Xianshu!"

"Xianshu, what! I heard her say something, and I honestly don't have the courage to repeat it."

"You know, Anna Grigorievna, that it pains me to see such a decline in morality."

"But the men are crazy about her. The way I see it, to be honest, I don't see anything about her .

"Oh, my dear Anna Grigorievna, she is a plaster cast, with no expression on her face."

"Oh, she's a poser! So much a poser! My God, she's such a poser! I don't know who taught it to me, but I never saw a woman like her before."

"My dear, she is as pale as a plaster cast."

"Oh, don't tell me, Sophia Ivanovna: she's trying to paint her face."

"Oh, what are you talking about, Anna Grigorievna, her face is like chalk, chalk, downright chalk."

"Honey, I was sitting next to her at that time: the rouge on her face was as thick as a finger, falling down piece by piece like peeling wall skin. It was taught by her mother. Her mother is like a vixen. In the future, her daughter will Better than mother."

"All right, all right, you can swear and swear whatever you want, if there is even a speck of rouge on her face, even if there is a shadow of rouge, I would rather lose my child, husband and all the family property immediately!"

"Oh, what nonsense are you talking about, Sofya Ivanovna!" said the lovely lady in every way, clapping her hands.

"Oh, what's the matter with you today, Anna Grigorievna! I'm astonished!" said the generally lovely lady, clapping her hands together.The reader need not be surprised that two wives have very different opinions about the same thing seen at about the same time.There are indeed many things in the world that are pure white to one lady, but red to another, as red as lingonberries. "I can give one more proof that she was pale," went on the generally lovely lady, "I distinctly remember sitting next to Manilov and saying to him: 'Look at that. How pale she is!' Really, only our sightless men here can be captivated by her. But our charmer . I can't imagine, Anna Grigorievna, how annoying he is to me."

"Yes, but there are some wives who are attracted to him."

"Are you talking about me, Anna Grigorievna? You may say so, never, never!"

"I'm not talking about you. It seems that there is no one else but you."

"Never, ever, Anna Grigorievna! Allow me to remind you that I know myself well; some wives pretend to be icy, that's why they secretly think of it."

"I'm sorry, Sophia Ivanovna! Allow me to say that I've never been guilty of anything like that. Others may be like that, but I never will, and allow me to show you that. "

"Why should you worry about it? There were some other wives present at that time, and some people went to snatch the chair by the door in order to sit closer to him."

These words of a lovely lady would have inevitably caused a storm; but, strangely enough, the two ladies suddenly quieted down, and nothing happened.The lovely lady in every way remembered that the fashionable clothes were not yet in hand, and the generally lovely lady realized that she had not heard enough details about the discovery of her relatives and friends; peace came so suddenly.Also, it cannot be said that the two wives naturally liked embarrassment.There is no vicious talent in their characters, just such a small desire to sting the other party unconsciously and very naturally in the conversation; that is to say, they all have a A small hobby, I like to say a few words of strength to the other party by the way: "Just listen!" "Just use it!"... In fact, both men and women have different desires what. "However, I don't understand," exclaimed the lovely lady, "how an outsider, Chichikov, dared to commit such a daring act. Could there be any accomplices here?"

"Do you think there will be no accomplices?"

"Who do you think can help him?"

"Just Nozdryov, he'll do it."

"Can Nozdryov really know that?"

"What's wrong? He's capable of such a thing. You know, he could sell his own father, or better yet, he could bet on him."

"Oh, my God, what interesting things I heard from you! I never would have thought that Nozdryov would be involved in this matter!"

"I've always thought so."

"What a wonder! Do you remember that when Chichikov first came to us, who would have thought that he could do such strange things in our high society. Oh, Anna Grigoriev Na, you really can't imagine how shocked I was! If it wasn't for your care and friendship... I would have been scared to death... I would have been unable to run away! My maid saw me turning pale, like A dead person said: "My dear lady, you are as pale as a dead person." I said: "I don't care about these things now." So that's what happened! And Nozdryov It's in it, I never thought of it!"

Generally, a lovely wife would like to find out more detailed details about the abduction, such as the time of abduction, but her wish is too extravagant.The lovely lady in every way said flat out that she didn't know.She couldn't tell a lie; guessing—that was another matter, and even guessing had to be based on inner conviction.Once she is sure of her inner conviction, she will stick to her opinion. If some smooth-talking lawyer wants to try to compete with her, then he will definitely understand what inner conviction is.It is not surprising that the two ladies finally accepted as fact what they had originally proposed as mere speculation.Our buddies are, as we call ourselves, brilliant geniuses, but they generally do things as well, just as our scholars work on problems.Scholars are also very humble when they start to study the problem. At the beginning, they just ask the most humble question. Does a certain country name come from there and use it from that corner?Or is this document from a later era?No more: Can this nation be considered to be a certain nation?So he immediately turned to these or other ancient books, looking for answers, and as soon as he found some hint or what he thought was a hint, he emboldened himself, stopped paying attention to the ancient writers, and turned to them. Asking all kinds of questions, and even answering them for them himself, forgetting that he had only made a small hypothesis at the beginning; he already felt that he had seen things, it was clear So the final conclusion is: "This is the truth of the matter, this nation is a certain nation, and things should be discussed from this point of view!"

(End of this chapter)