dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 25 Dead Souls (25)
The officials were thinking: "Well, what if the new governor hears such a stupid gossip going around in our city, and that alone will make him very angry." The medical inspector suddenly turned pale. :God knows where he would have thought: Maybe "dead serfs" refers to the large numbers of people who died of epidemic fever in hospitals and other places. At that time, no necessary measures were taken to deal with fever. Maybe begging Chikov was an official sent by the Governor's Office to investigate privately... He told the Minister of Civil Affairs about this idea.The head of the Civil Administration retorted that this idea was simply fantastic, but after a while he himself suddenly turned pale, because he asked himself a question: what if the serf Chichikov bought really died?It was he who approved the formalities, and he also acted as Plyushkin's agent. What if this matter got to the new governor?He only privately told one or two people about this fear, and those two were immediately frightened. Fear was more contagious than the plague, and everyone was infected in a second.Everyone begins to unearth in himself sins he never even committed. The meaning of the word "dead serf" is so elusive that everyone wonders whether it refers to the hastily buried corpses—two murders happened here not long ago.The first case was that several Solivichetsk merchants came to the city to go to the market. After finishing their business, they held a banquet to receive their friends - Uskissey Solsk merchants. It is held in the same way as the Germans, with refreshing drinks, punches, perfumes, everything you expect to find.As usual, the banquet ended with a fight.The Solivichetsk merchants killed the Uskese Solsk merchants, leaving scars on their ribs, chests and stomachs, proving that the deceased's fists were incomparably huge.On the victorious side, one man's nose was cut off by the warriors, that is to say, it was smashed flat, and the remaining part was only half a finger high.Afterwards, the merchants admitted their mistake, saying that they had played a little fool.It was rumored that, when they surrendered, they each honored four hundred-rouble notes.However, the case is difficult to understand.As a result of the investigation and interrogation, the young men in Ust-Seysolsk were suffocated to death by gas; later, they were also buried as people who died of gas poisoning.Another homicide case just happened, and the facts of the case are as follows: the state-owned serfs of Liao Village, together with the state-owned serfs of Barrow Village and Haodou Village, killed a county police officer named Drobiyazhkin. Because the county police officer went to their village so often that every time he came it was like having a contagious fever, because the county police officer was a womanizer who took a fancy to the big girls and young wives in the village.However, the details of the case are unknown, although the farmers stated bluntly in their confessions that the county police officer was as aggressive as a tomcat, which made them hard to guard against. He once saw him sneak into a farmer's house and was driven out naked. out.Of course, the county police officer should be reprimanded for his love affair, but the peasants in Liao Village and Haodou Village shouldn't have rebelled, if they were really involved in the murder.But the facts of the case were not clear: the county police officer was found on the road, his uniform or frock coat turned into a rag, and his face no longer recognizable.The case was tried in the local courts for a period of time, and then it came to the provincial high court. The judges discussed it in private, and their opinions were as follows: It is unknown who among the farmers participated in the murder case. We should arrest them all. There are too many people. As for Drobyazhkin, even if he wins the case, he will be dead, and it will do him no good; as for the peasants, they are still alive, and it matters a lot to them whether they win or lose the case; so the case was decided like this : The county police officer oppressed the people in Liao Village and Haodou Village and deserved to be punished; his death was caused by a stroke on his sleigh going home.The matter was handled quite well, but the officials suddenly felt that the current problem might be related to these dead people for some reason.It's really a blessing, and misfortunes never come singly.The officials and gentlemen were already in an embarrassing situation. At this time, the governor received two official documents at the same time.One is as follows: According to confessions and secret reports, a counterfeit banknote maker is currently hiding in the province under various aliases, and must be searched and arrested immediately.The other is an official document from the governor of a neighboring province, saying that a robber escaped fearing the crime. If your province finds suspicious behavior and has neither documents nor passports, you must arrest them immediately.These two official documents made everyone frightened.The original conclusions and guesses were disrupted.Of course, this could not be considered to have anything to do with Chichikov, but after a little thought, everyone remembered that they really did not know who Chichikov was.Chichikov himself was vague about his origins.He said that he was persecuted for his integrity, but this was a little vague, and it was recalled that he even said that many enemies wanted to kill him.So everyone can infer: so, his life is in danger; so, he is wanted; so, he must have done something bad... Who is he?Of course, you can't think that he can make counterfeit banknotes, let alone that he is a robber-he has a very honest appearance; but no matter what he says, who is he?So the officials asked themselves a question that should have been asked at the beginning, that is, in Chapter 1 of this book.Because everyone decided to inquire about the people who bought and sold with him, at least to find out what kind of transaction it was, what he regarded as dead serfs, and to see if he had explained his true intentions to anyone or inadvertently , Have you ever mentioned your true identity to anyone?At first it was Korobochka, but got very little: she said: he gave fifteen rubles, he also bought poultry feathers, and promised to buy other things, and said that he supplied lard to the public, it must be A liar, because there was also a person who claimed to buy poultry feathers and supply lard to the public, but he deceived everyone, and even deceived the wife of the high priest more than 100 rubles.She said a lot, but it was only a few words thrown up and down, and the officials could only think of Korobochka as a confused old woman.Manilov's answer was: he dared to vouch for Pavel Ivanovich forever, just as he vouched for himself, and would be willing to pay for one percent of Pavel Ivanovich's virtues. All the family property, he also squinted and added a few grand remarks about friendship.These few grand arguments are enough to explain his friend's affection, but they can't explain the real problem to the officials.Sobakevich replied that he considered Chichikov to be a good man, and that the serfs he sold to him were carefully selected and in all respects living; They died during the migration, so they can’t blame him, that’s God’s will, and there are many fevers and various fatal diseases, and there are even examples of the death of the whole village.The gentlemen of the bureaucracy also resorted to a less clever method, which is also used occasionally, that is, through the exchanges between servants, they went to check on Chichikov's servants and learned from them that The owner's previous life and some details, but not much was obtained.From Petrushka they could only smell the smell of the bedroom, and from Serivan it was that the master was an official and had worked in the customs office.People of this class have a very queer habit.If you ask him directly about something, he will never remember it, and he will never understand it, or even simply say he doesn't know.It's useless if you ask him, he will talk about it, talk endlessly, and even pull out the detailed plot that you don't want to know.The officials' findings revealed only that they probably had no way of knowing Chichikov's identity, and that Chichikov certainly had something to do with it.Finally, they decided to discuss this issue thoroughly, at least to determine what should be done in the future and how to do it.What method to take to find out who he is: a bad person who should be arrested and locked up as a bad person, or a good person who can conversely lock them up as a bad person.Together they resolved to discuss the matter at the house of the Chief of Police, who, the reader already knows, is the father and benefactor of the town.

The Power of Ten Speculations
Gathered at the home of the city's benevolent father and benefactor, the Chief of Police, already familiar to the reader, the officers had only time to point out to each other how thin they were with all the toil and terror.Indeed, the appointment of the new governor and the receipt of such an important official letter, as well as these rumors that are difficult to distinguish between true and false, all these have indeed left obvious marks on their faces, and the tuxedoes on many people have clearly Gained weight.The effects are so obvious: the head of the civil administration has lost weight, the medical inspector has lost weight, the attorney general has lost weight, and even Semyon Ivanovich, whose last name is never called by anyone—who always wears a Wearing a jeweled ring so often shown to the ladies, even he lost weight.Of course, everywhere there are men of courage who never lose their minds, but there are only a few of them: the postmaster is the only one here.Only he has not changed his usual stable character, and on such occasions he always says: "I know you governors! You may come and go like a revolving lantern, but I, my sir, I am already in this place. It has been sitting steadily for 30 years."

On hearing this, usually other officials would point out: "Of course you're all right, Splechen zy Deutsch, Ivan Andreitch. You're in charge of the post, sending and receiving letters. You're the oldest The problem is that the post office closes half an hour earlier, so that the people who come to handle the business will be in vain; or a businessman sends a letter outside the stipulated time, and you receive a little from him; or the wrong one is sent Mail—anyone can become a saint in this kind of work. But if there is a ghost hanging around your hand every day, and you don’t want to take it, he puts it in your hand, then try it. Of course you don’t Great question, you have only one son, but me, my wife Praskovia Fyodorovna, is so blessed—one a year: either a girl or a boy; if you are in this position, Then, man, it's time to sing a different tune." That's what the officials said, and it's not the author's job to judge whether he can resist the temptation of the devil.At the meeting held, it was evident that what the colloquially calls a backbone was missing.Generally speaking, we seem to be born unworthy of parliamentarism.At all the meetings we have—from village meetings to various academic committees and other committees—it would be a mess without a presiding head.It is hard to say why, it seems that our national character is like this.Gatherings just for the sake of eating and drinking—self-catering parties of all kinds, like clubs and public places, do well;We would start charity parties, incentives, and all kinds of half-deserved conferences like the wind on a whim.Even if the purpose is good, it will not accomplish anything.Maybe it's because we feel satisfied after a little try and think we're done.For example, we set up a charity to help the poor, and as soon as we raised a very handsome sum, we would commemorate the act of kindness with a feast for various dignitaries in the city, which, needless to say, cost half of the contribution; and the remainder would immediately be used to rent a luxurious house for the committee, with both heating and a porter, leaving only five and a half rubles for the poor, and in this On the distribution of the sum of money, not all the committee members could reach a consensus. Every committee member wanted to stuff their relatives into the relief list.But the nature of this meeting is completely different now: it is held because of necessity.The problem is not about the poor or the outsiders, but about each official himself, about a catastrophe that threatens everyone, so there is more unity here, willingly or not, but, even then, the result is a mess.Leaving aside the disagreements that are inevitable in various meetings, the speeches of the participants are often inexplicably indecisive: one of them just said that Chichikov was a counterfeit banknote, and then added himself: "Maybe not "; the other concluded that he was an official of the Governor's Office, but immediately added: "But, who knows, you can't tell from the face."

It was speculated that perhaps he was a robber in disguise, and this was soon met with unanimous disapproval; it was said, not to mention his looks—his looks were docile, and there was nothing in his words that would have shown him to be a thug.After a few minutes of deliberation, the postmaster, perhaps inspired by sudden inspiration or for some other reason, exclaimed unexpectedly: "Gentlemen, do you know who he is?" Shocking power, everyone shouted one word in unison: "Who?"

"He, gentlemen, my gentlemen, is none other than Captain Kopekin!"

Everyone immediately asked in unison: "Who is this Captain Kopeikin?"

"Why," said the postmaster, "don't you all know who Captain Kopekin is?"

Everyone said that they really didn't know who Captain Kopeikin was. "Captain Kopeikin," the postmaster said half a sentence, then stopped and opened the snuffbox.The snuff box was only half opened, and he was afraid that someone next to him would put his finger in it.He would not believe that other people's fingers were clean, and he often even said when opening a snuff box: "Dude, we know that your fingers may have touched somewhere, but snuff is something that needs to be kept clean." After wiping his snuff, he continued: "Captain Kopeikin, if you talk about this, it will be extremely interesting to any writer. In a sense, it is a novel."

Everyone here expressed interest in hearing the story, or, as the postmaster said, a novel of some sort that would be of great interest to a writer.So he began to speak:
The Story of Captain Kopeikin
(End of this chapter)