dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 27 Dead Souls (27)
Of course, the officials did not believe this speculation.But they also thought about it for a while, and they all thought about this question in their hearts, and they all agreed that Chichikov's face looked like Napoleon in the portrait when viewed from the side.The chief of police had seen Napoleon himself because he had participated in the War of 14. He could only admit that Napoleon was no taller than Chichikov, and his body was not too fat, but not necessarily thin.Maybe some friends will feel that all this is untrue, and the author is willing to agree with them, thinking that all this is false; but unfortunately, the fact is just like what I said, and what is even more surprising is This provincial capital is actually not in a backcountry with no information, on the contrary, it is very close to Petersburg and Moscow.Remember, of course, that all this happened after we had honorably driven out the French.At this time, our landlords, officials, merchants, shopkeepers, and every literate and even illiterate person have become political fans for at least eight full years. Both "Moscow News" and "Son of the Fatherland" were circulated desperately by everyone. It is an exaggeration to say that when they reached the last reader, they often turned into torn papers, which were useless.After meeting people, they no longer ask each other: "Dad, how much does a bucket of oats sell for? How did the snow fall yesterday?" Instead, they ask each other: "What news is in the newspaper today? Has Napoleon been released from the island again?" Come out?" The merchants were particularly worried about this matter, and they believed the prophet's prophecy completely, without considering that the prophet had been imprisoned for three years; no one knew where the prophet came from, He wore bark shoes on his feet and a bare leather jacket that had no hair on his body. His body exuded a strong stench. He once prophesied that Napoleon would not believe in Christ. Inside the six high walls, but he will break free from the chains and rule the world in the future.The Prophet, too, was caught and thrown in prison for this prophecy, but he did the trick, and completely disturbed the hearts of the merchants.For a long time after that, merchants talked about Christ even when their business was most profitable, when they went to the tavern to celebrate the success of their business.This caused many officials and self-proclaimed nobles to think about this question involuntarily. They were infected by the mysticism that was fashionable at the time, and they even figured out some special meaning from the letters of the name "Napoleon". What's more, the mysterious number [-] in "Revelation" was even found in these letters.It is not unreasonable, therefore, for the officials to reflect on this spontaneously; but the officials immediately wake up to the feeling that they have gone too far, which is not the case at all.They thought it over, talked and talked, and finally decided that it would be better to ask Nozdryov more carefully.Because he was the first to disclose the secret of Chichikov’s purchase of dead serfs, and it is said that he also had some kind of close relationship with Chichikov, so there is no doubt that he would know some of Chichikov’s background, So it was finally decided to hear what Nozdryov had to say.These officials and gentlemen and other people with various titles are strange people. They know that Nozdryov is a habit of telling lies, and every word and every little thing he says cannot be believed, but But he still decided to ask him.People's hearts are really unpredictable!He does not believe in God, but he can believe that if the bridge of the nose itches, he will surely die; instead of reading the works of poets with clear, harmonious structure and high virtue and wisdom, he wants to read the nonsense and perverseness of some madman. What a wonderful thing, and he would like to cry: "Look, this is the real insight into the secrets of the soul!" He always regarded the doctor as a useless thing, and the result was to find a witch to cast spells or spit on when he was sick. Come to treat yourself, or else, find some messy things to boil and drink in an ingenious way.God knows how he could have thought these rotten things could cure him.Of course, it is understandable that officials are in a difficult situation.It is said that a drowning man will hold on to a straw given to him, because he cannot think rationally at the moment, and it is only strong enough to hold a fly, and he, even if it does not weigh five poods, will have Four poods are heavy.But at this moment, he has lost his mind and is staring at the straw.So did our officers, who finally caught Nozdryov.The police chief immediately wrote a note to Nozdryov asking him to come and meet him that evening.The rosy-cheeked and lean police chief in riding boots immediately ran to Nozdryov's house with his sword in his hand.Nozdryov was engaged in something important: he had not left the house for four days, no one was allowed in, food was delivered only through a small window—in a word, he was even tired and thin, and his face was pale. green.This work requires special care. It is to pick out two decks out of dozens of cards. These two decks must have the most accurate marks and be as reliable as the most reliable friends.It will take at least another two weeks for the job to be successful.During this period, Porfiry had to brush the belly button of the Milanese puppy with a special small brush every day, and bathed it with soap three times a day.

Nozdryov was very angry at being interrupted from his rigorous work.At first he told the chief of the police station to go away, but after reading the note from the chief of police, he knew that he could make some extra money-after there was a novice in tonight's game, he quickly calmed down, locked the door in a hurry, put on some clothes and went Ben they are coming.Nozdryov's statements, proofs, and conjectures were quite different from those of the officials, and he refuted some of their last conjectures.Nozdryov had no doubts at all.He had as much firmness and confidence as there was indecision in their speculations.He didn't even bother to answer the question, he declared that Chichikov bought dead serfs for thousands of rubles and he sold them to him because he couldn't see any reason not to sell them.Asked if Chichikov was a spy, if he was trying his best to find out something, he replied yes, because as early as in elementary school (with which he was classmates), he was called an informer, and classmates—he was also among them. Nozdryov—had taught him a lesson, so that later he had to put 240 leeches on his temples alone to reduce the swelling—Nozdryov wanted to say forty, but he didn't know why. Blunted into 240.Asked him if Chichikov made counterfeit banknotes, he said he did, and even told a story to prove how powerful Chichikov was: relevant authorities discovered that Chichikov had 200 million counterfeit banknotes in his home. He sealed his house and sent guards, each door was guarded by two soldiers, but Chichikov exchanged the fake banknotes overnight, and when he lifted the seal the next day, he saw that they were all genuine. banknote.Asked if Chichikov really wanted to abduct the governor's daughter, and whether he, Nozdryov, had promised to help him and took part in it, he replied that he had, and that without Nozdryov, he would have done nothing. Nothing.Having said that, he came to his senses, and felt that this matter could not be fabricated, and it would bring disaster to himself, but he couldn't control his tongue anymore.This is really difficult, because such tempting thoughts flowed naturally, and it would be impossible to say anything—even the village where the church where the wedding was going to be held had a name, Trukhmachevka , the priest's name is Sidor, and the wedding fee is 75 rubles. If it hadn't been for him, Nozdryov threatened the priest to report that he officiated the wedding ceremony for the grain merchant Mikhail and the child's godmother, and that the priest made them Use his carriage, and even prepare replacement horses for them at various post stations, otherwise, even if the money is paid, the priest will not do it.So much detail was given that Nozdryov was on the verge of saying the coachman's name.The officials wanted to mention Napoleon, but they didn't bother to mention it, because Nozdryov's nonsense was not only not true at all, it was nothing at all, and the officials walked away with a sigh; only the police chief Still listening patiently, thinking maybe there might be something to say next, but at last he waved his hand too, and said, "God knows what it is!" No matter how hard I try, the milk won't come out.As a result, the mood of the officials became even worse, and finally they came to the conclusion that Chichikov's origins could not be found out no matter what.They only understand one thing, and that is the nature of human beings: how smart, intelligent, and subtle he is when the problem concerns only others and not himself; opinion!People will exclaim: "What a wise mind! What a straight character!" But when this smart mind meets a disaster, and he himself falls into trouble, the character disappears, and the straight man becomes a poor coward, completely at a loss. Over time, he became a weak child, or, as Nozdryov said, a wimp.

Somehow the talk, opinion, and hearsay had a huge impact on the poor Attorney General.The impact was so severe that he thought about it after returning home, and finally died inexplicably.I don't know if it was because of a stroke or some other illness, but he suddenly fell down while sitting on a chair.In such cases the people clapped their hands as usual, shouted: "My God!" and sent for a doctor to bleed them, but they saw that the Attorney-General was left with only a soulless carcass.At this time, it was sadly discovered that the dead man had a soul, but because of his humility, he never revealed it.Still, death is just as frightening when it happens to someone small as it is when it happens to someone big: he had walked, played sports, entertained, signed various documents and appeared before officials with bushy eyebrows and a blinking left eye. In the middle, but now he is lying motionless on the mortuary table, his blinking left eye is tightly closed, but a thick eyebrow is still slightly raised, as if to ask something.What did he ask, why he died or why he lived, but only God knows.However, this is unreasonable!This will never happen!Even children can understand what's going on, but the officials are so confused as to scare themselves by making up such nonsense.

This is impossible!Many readers will say this, point out that the author's writing is unreasonable, or call these officials fools. People use the word "fools" very generously. They will use this word to refer to the people around them every day. ten times.If one of a person's ten fingers is stupid, he will be regarded as a fool despite the nine good ones.Of course it is easy for the reader to comment in his quiet corner and high above the sky, because he is condescending and has a clear view of everything below, but the people below can only see the things around him.Otherwise, there are centuries in human history that could be written off as useless.Humanity has also gone astray many times, as if even small children don't do that anymore.How many difficult, long, rugged, and desolate paths have been traversed by mankind in order to obtain eternal truths!Before them there was a flat avenue, as straight as the avenue before the palace, flatter and wider than all other roads, full of sunshine by day and brightly lit by night; but people missed this in the dark night. road.How many times have they been led astray, though they have been inspired by heaven, and have gone into the pathless wilderness again on a clear day, cast mist in each other's eyes, staggered with the will-o'-the-wisp, until they approached the abyss, Only then did they ask each other in a terrified mood: What to do, where is the way?The present generation sees everything clearly, and wonders at the misguidedness of their forefathers, laughs at them for being unintelligent, fails to see that this chronicle was written by fire from heaven, and that every letter in it Cry out loud, warn everywhere, warn them—the present generation; but the present generation laughs, and proudly begins new perplexities, which posterity will laugh at in the same way.

Chichikov knew nothing of all this.As God had planned, he had a cold at this time—a gum abscess, combined with a minor laryngitis—which the climate of many provincial capitals of our country graciously bestows on people.In order not to die without offspring, he decided to stay in the house for two or three days.These days, he constantly rinses his mouth with milk soaked in figs, eats the figs, and wears a small bag of chamomile and camphor on his cheek.To pass the time he made several new rosters of serfs, and read the volume "Marquise de Lavaliere," which he found in his suitcase, and read all the contents and papers in the little mahogany box. One time, some pieces of paper were even read over again, all of which made him feel very boring.He could not understand why the city officials hadn't come to visit him, when only a few days ago there were always carriages parked in front of the inn—either the Postmaster's carriage, or the Attorney General's carriage, or the Home Office. Long carriage.He wondered about it, but only shrugged as he walked around the house.He finally felt better.It is indescribable how happy he was when he found he could get out into the fresh air.Without hesitation, he immediately washed up, opened the small box, poured a cup of hot water, took out a small brush and soap, and was about to start shaving.This matter should have been carried out long ago. He stroked his beard, looked in the mirror, and exclaimed to himself: "Oh, it's all grown into a forest!" Pretty lush crops.After shaving, he dressed in such a haste that he almost pulled his legs out of his trousers.At last he was properly dressed, perfumed, wrapped up warmly, and even his cheeks were wrapped up as a precaution, and then he went out.He seemed to be recovering from a long illness, and felt that going out was like a holiday.Everything that came before him looked so beautiful, even the houses and the farmers who came and went were beautiful in his eyes, although the farmers looked angry, and some of them even slapped their accomplices.The first person he wants to visit is the governor.Along the way he had a lot of thoughts: the image of the blonde kept turning in his mind, and he began to think wildly, so he laughed at himself.It was with this mood that he reached the gates of the governor's mansion.He was about to take off his coat when he entered the hall, but the porter came over and said something unexpected, which shocked him greatly: "Order not to receive!"

"What's the matter, you, you didn't recognize me, did you? Take a good look at my face!" Chichikov said to the porter, "How can you not recognize me? It's not the first time I've seen you."

The concierge said, "I just ordered you not to be let in. Others are fine."

"Strange! Why? What is the reason?"

"That's what I was ordered to do, that's the only way to do it." The porter added another "yes" after he finished speaking, and then he became more presumptuous in front of him, and the enthusiasm that used to be solicitous to help him take off his coat was gone.He looked at Chichikov and thought to himself: "Hmph! If the master won't let you come, then you are nothing special, and you are nothing but a piece of trash!"

Chichikov muttered "I don't know why", and immediately turned to visit the Director of Civil Affairs.The Director of Civil Affairs saw him very embarrassed, and couldn't say a complete sentence, so incoherent that both of them were quite embarrassed in the end.On the way out of his house, Chichikov thought hard about the Minister of Civil Affairs and what he meant, but in the end he could not understand anything.Then he visited others: the police chief, the deputy governor, and the postmaster.Some of them didn't see him at all, and some of them did, but their speech was so unnatural and incomprehensible, so panicked, so incoherent, that he doubted whether their minds were normal.He also tried to visit a few other people, at least to find out the reason, but he couldn't find out what the reason was.He wandered the streets like sleepwalking, unable to judge: Is he crazy, or are the officials stupid, is this in a dream, or is reality more blurred than a dream?He came back to the hotel very late, it was getting dark, and he was in a good mood when he went out from the hotel.In order to relieve his depression, he asked for refreshments.He was pouring himself tea while he was thinking, wondering what had happened to him, when suddenly his door was opened, and Nozdryov was standing before him. "As the saying goes: 'Visiting friends is not afraid of long detours!'" He said while taking off his hat, "I passed by here and saw the light on the window, so I wanted to take a look. You must not be asleep. Ah! There is tea on the table, Well, I'd love to have a drink. I've had some messes for lunch today, and I think my stomach is starting to churn now. Get me a pouch! Where's your pipe?"

"I don't smoke a pipe," Chichikov replied coldly. "You lied as if I didn't know you were a smoker. Hey! What's the name of your servant. Hey, Vahrameh, come!"

"His name is not Vahrame, but Petrushka."

"What? Your servant's name was Wahrameh."

"I never had a servant named Wahrameh."

(End of this chapter)