dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 29 Dead Souls (29)
Everything on the road is so beautiful: the clear sky, the cold wind, the autumn leaves... Wrap up the traveling cloak tightly, pull the hat over your ears, and snuggle up comfortably in the corner of the carriage!Even though he had just shivered, he now felt a comfortable warmth.The horse is galloping... Oneiroi lurks beside you to tempt you, his eyes are already dimmed with drowsiness; in your sleep, when you hear someone singing "Not Snow White", the sound of the snorting of the horse and the rumbling of the wheels, you Squeeze on top of your companion and snore.Waking up: five posthouses past; moonlight, strange city, church with its dark spiers and old wooden cupolas, dark wooden houses and white stone houses.The white moonlight fell on every place: the walls, roads, and streets seemed to be covered with a square of white gauze; patches of ink-like shadows obliquely covered the moonlight; Metal, shining, silent—all asleep.Only an occasional light peeped in a little window somewhere; was the shoemaker sewing boots, or the baker baking bread,--whatever were they doing?Ah, night!Oh my god!What an enchanting view of the night sky!Oh, the air; oh, the far and high sky, boundless in the unreachable vault, clear sky! ... The breath of the cold night brushed your sleepy eyes refreshingly again, urging you to sleep, so you fell asleep again and snored; the poor traveling companion you squeezed into a corner was squeezed to death. Unable to bear it, he turned over angrily.You wake up and take a look—there are fields and grasslands in front of you again. Looking up from a distance, there is nothing to hide or block.A milestone is approaching; morning is approaching; a faint golden glow appears in the white cold weather; the wind is cooler and more piercing: wrap the cloak tighter!
……

How pleasantly cold!Let you return to dreamland beautifully!The car jolts—you wake up again.The sun has risen to the middle of the sky, and you suddenly hear someone shouting: "Slow down! Slow down!"

It turned out that the car was going down a steep slope, and there was a wide embankment under the slope. The wide and clear pool of water shone brightly in the sun, like a big copper plate; the hillside was full of disorderly farmhouses; the cross on the church in the nearby village was shining , like a shining star; the farmer is nagging his unbearable hunger... God!Painful way, how wonderful you are sometimes!How many times have I caught you like a drowning man in agony, and every time you have graciously saved me!How many wonderful ideas and poetic longings have been produced in you, and how many good memories have been left for people! ... At this time our friend Chichikov felt not all ordinary longing.Let's take a look at his performance.At first, he just looked back, feeling nothing, wanting to confirm whether he had really left N City.When he saw that the city of N had already disappeared behind him, the mill, the blacksmith shop, everything in the city was gone, and even the white spiers of the stone church had already disappeared into the horizon, so he concentrated on admiring the scenery along the way. , Looking to the right for a while, looking to the left for a while, N City has been blurred in his memory, as if he had been there a long time ago in his childhood.The scenery along the way finally couldn't arouse his interest, so he narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned on the cushion.The author must admit that this actually pleased him, because at last he had the opportunity to talk about the protagonist of the book; so far, the author has been constantly interrupted, as the reader sees, now Nozdryov, now The ball, the ladies for a while, the gossip spreading all over the city of N for a while, and innumerable trifles—those trifles, while they are happening, are regarded as particularly important events and are only written in the book. It makes people feel like it has become a trivial matter.But for now, let's cut the babble and get down to business.The author actually doubts whether the protagonist he chooses will be welcomed by readers.But one thing is certain, Chichikov will not be welcomed by the ladies, because the ladies demand that the protagonist must be perfect, if there is any defect in his heart or appearance, it will be over!

No matter how deeply the author digs into his heart, no matter how clear his image is in a mirror, the ladies will never think him of any value.Chichikov's obesity and his middle age have many disadvantages: the protagonist's obesity will never be tolerated, and most of the wives will turn around and say: "Bah! How ugly!" Cough!The author knows all this; yet he cannot find a perfect man to be the protagonist.But... maybe in this novel there will be other hitherto unplucked strings, a great husband with natural virtue or a wisdom and beauty with all the feminine virtues, nobility and devotion that the world has never had The Russian girls come to present us countless treasures of the Russian spirit.All kinds of perfect characters of other nations will lose their luster in front of them, just like books die in the presence of living languages!The Russian spirit will be revealed... The reader will see how what flies over the skies of other peoples will take root in the nature of the Slavs... But why all this afterwords?The author has done careful thinking and precocious and strict introspection, and it would be disrespectful to be carried away like a teenager.Everything has to be done in sequence, location, and timing!However, the perfect person was not chosen as the protagonist after all.You can even talk about why you didn't choose him.For the word "good and perfect man" has become an empty phrase on people's lips; because it is time for the poor good man to rest; the good and perfect man has long since become a horse, and there is not a writer who does not ride and drives him with whips and whatever comes at hand; for the perfect good man is wrought to nothing but a sliver of flesh, and virtue is long gone; for the perfect good man is hypocritically called; Respect good people who are flawless.No, it's time for the bad guys to pull the load, too.Well, let's let the bad guys pull the cart!
Our hero's origins are modest, and certainly not too humble.His parents were aristocrats, and although the title of nobility is hereditary or earned, only God knows.He didn't look like his parents, at least a relative who was there when he was born—a thin old lady often called an ugly woman—caught him in his arms and exclaimed: "Looks like me." It’s completely different! It’s okay to be like grandma, but he was born like the saying goes: ‘Not like a father or a mother, but like a passing boy.’” His initial appearance of life seemed to be revealed through a confused Seeing it through the dark, snow-covered window is a bit sad: he had no companions and friends in his childhood!A few small windows in a small house are closed in winter and summer. The father is a sick man. He walks around the room barefoot wearing a pair of woven slippers and wearing a long coat lined with lambskin. He spits in the spittoon in the corner; he himself is always sitting at the table holding a pen, his fingers and even his lips are covered with ink, and in front of him is usually a copybook with the words "Don't lie, respect your elders, and be kind"; There was always the sound of slippers rubbing against the ground in the room, and whenever he was bored with the monotonous homework and added a little hook or tail to a letter, he would always hear a majestic and familiar voice: "Naughty again! ’ And then the ear would be sorely pinched by the long fingers coming from behind, and it would leave him with an ever-familiar, always unpleasant feeling: such was the poor scene in the vague memory of childhood.But everything in life changed rapidly and vividly: in early spring when the river was flooded, on a sunny morning, the father led his son in a carriage and left the house. The little hunchbacked old man was the head of Chichikov's father's only family of serfs, and he assumed almost all the duties of Chichikov's family by himself.The tawny horse pulled them along for a few days.They ate and slept, waded across the river, and arrived at a city on the morning of the third day.The bustling appearance of the city suddenly appeared in front of the child, which left the child dumbstruck, unable to keep his mouth shut for a few minutes.Then the tawny horse pulled the wagon down a big hole, into a little alley that sloped down and was full of dirt.The brown and yellow zebra struggled hard in the muddy water, and it took a long time for the hunchback and the master to pull the car into a small courtyard.The small courtyard is located on the hillside, in the courtyard there is an old small house, in front of the house there are two flowering apple trees, behind the house there is a small garden with short and small trees of peppercorns and elderberries , there is a wooden pavilion deep in the shade, and the small windows on the pavilion are already pitch black.An old woman living in the small courtyard is their relative.Although the old woman was very old, she still went to the market every morning, and when she came back, she baked her socks by the samovar.The old woman touched the child's face and looked at his chubby appearance.The children live here and go to the municipal school every day.Father stayed overnight and left the next day.When they parted, his father didn't cry, he only gave him half a ruble copper coin to buy snacks, and of course the most important thing was the earnest teaching: "Remember, Pavel, study hard, don't go wild, don't mess around , the most important thing is to please the teacher. If you can please the teacher, even if you are not talented and do not study well, you will still be smooth sailing and overwhelm everyone. Don’t socialize with your classmates, it will not let you do good things; if you need to socialize, Also pay to those who have money, in case something happens, they will be useful to you. Remember not to invite others to eat, it is better to let others treat you, the most important thing is to save money; money is the most reliable thing in this world .Classmates or friends will lie to you, and they will abandon you first when encountering disasters, but money will not abandon you, no matter what disasters you encounter. Money can make ghosts turn mills, and money can do things.” After finishing this teaching , the father broke up with his son, and let the brown and yellow horse pull him home again.After that, the son never saw his father again, but his father's teachings were deeply rooted in his heart.

Little Pavel went to school the next day.He has no special talent for any subject, and his greatest strength is neatness and diligence.But he was clever in another way, that is, in his dealings with people.He suddenly became more humane: when it came to dealing with his classmates, he really managed to get them to invite him, and not only did he never invite others, but sometimes he even hid the food they gave him and sold it to them later.As early as a child, he learned to restrain his various desires.He didn't touch the half ruble his father gave him. On the contrary, he made a lot of money that year, which shows his extraordinary business skills: he made birds with wax, painted them, and sold them at a very reasonable price. sell.For a while he also engaged in some other speculative activities, such as buying some food in the market and taking it to the classroom to sit next to those rich classmates. Just pretending to have no intention of passing him a little honey biscuit or bread secretly from under the stool to arouse the other person's appetite, and then ask the price according to the intensity of the appetite.For two months, he didn't rest at home, and kept playing with a mouse in a small wooden cage. Finally, he made the mouse stand up, lie down and stand up according to the command. This mouse was also sold very well. cost-effective.When he had saved five rubles, he sewed up the little bag and put it in another bag.In his attitude towards the teacher, he has a smarter approach.When sitting in the seat, no one can match his honesty.We must point out that the teacher was a very quiet and well-behaved person, and he could not tolerate bright and clever children, because he felt that they would definitely make fun of him.The mere movement of a child whom he thought was clever, or the inadvertent raising of an eyebrow, made him angry.He would throw the child out of the classroom and severely punish him.He said: "Brother, I want to get rid of your arrogance and arrogance! I have seen you through a long time ago, and I know yourself better than you. You go and kneel for me! You have to starve me for a while!" Poor child I don't know why I was fined to kneel for a day and a night without eating.

"Talent and talent? It doesn't matter." The teacher said, "I only look at character. As long as a student has good character, even if he doesn't know anything, I will give him full marks in every subject. If I look at I won’t give a penny to anyone who is naughty and joking, even if he has learned a lot!” The teacher didn’t like what Krylov said in a fable, “In my opinion, it’s okay to drink, as long as you know how to do it.” , he always happily talked about how quiet the school he taught in the past was. He said that the school was so quiet that flies could be heard flying. Before the ringing, you couldn't even tell if there were any students in the classroom.Chichikov suddenly understood the teacher's spirit and understood what he should do.In class, no matter how the classmates behind him teased him, his eyes and eyebrows did not move; when the bell rang, he immediately ran up to pass the hood to the teacher (the teacher was wearing a hood at the time); , so he was the first to walk out of the classroom, tried his best to meet him three or four times on the road, and took off his hat and saluted every time he met.Things were a complete success.During his school days, he has always occupied No.1. When he graduated, he achieved excellent results in all subjects, and got a diploma and a certificate of merit with "excellent in character and learning, worthy of a model" written in gold letters.By the time he graduated, he was a good-looking, likable lad who needed a lot of shaving.At this time his father died.Four tattered cashmere coats and two old coats with lambskin linings were left behind, with a pitiful amount of cash.It seems that my father is just persuading others to save money and is not demanding of himself.Chichikov soon sold the dilapidated ancestral house and the barren land for a thousand rubles, and let the serf move into the city, planning to find a job in the city and settle down.Just at this time, the teacher who likes to be quiet and well-behaved was kicked out of the school because of stupidity or some fault.The teacher was poor, drank, and ended up running out of money.In the end, he was poor and sick, lonely and helpless, and fell into a cold, abandoned house.His former pupils, whom he regarded as arrogant and presumptuous because of their ingenuity, immediately donated money to him when they learned of his situation, and even sold many useful things; but Chichikov said that he had no money. , only five kopecks were given, and the students threw it back, saying, "Oh, you miser!" The poor teacher covered his face with his hands and wept bitterly when he heard what these students had done in the past: Tears welled up, like a weak and bullied child. "I'm about to die in bed, and God wants me to cry." He said in a weak voice, sighed deeply, and after hearing about Chichikov's behavior, he immediately added: "Cough Pavel! Look, how fickle people are! How well-mannered he used to be, how calm and honest he was! He lied to me, he lied to me deeply..."

It cannot be said that our protagonist is born with a cold heart, and his emotions are numb to the point where he does not know pity or sympathy; he has compassion and sympathy, and he is even willing to help others, but he never takes large donations and uses his own money. The money that was decided not to use.It can also be said that his father's teachings about "saving money" worked, but he did not love money for the sake of loving money; it was not stinginess and stinginess that dominated him.It is not in his nature to be stingy and stingy. What he yearns for is a life of wealth and comfort: carriages, well-furnished houses, delicious food—this is what often comes to mind.In order to be able to enjoy all of this one day, the purpose of his saving money is for this, but then he will be reluctant to spend it on himself or on others.Seeing a rich man gallop by in a handsome carriage with a richly harnessed horse, he would stand there silently for a long while, as if waking from a dream, and say, "He was He's just a clerk, and his hair is only cut around his head and the bottom circle is cut off."

(End of this chapter)