dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 32 Dead Souls (32)
Having made the sign of the cross according to the Russian custom, Chichikov began his plan.Under the pretext of choosing a place to live and other reasons, he began to live in some corners of our country—mostly the places where disasters, harvest failures, deaths, etc. were the most painful, that is to say, where the serfs could be bought most easily and cheaply. wander around.He carefully found a few reliable landlords, and chose people who were more similar to himself or people who were easier to make such a deal, and tried to get acquainted with them, so that they had a good impression, so that they could be killed without spending money. serf.Therefore, if some of the characters that have appeared so far are not to the reader's taste, the reader should not blame the author; this is Chichikov's fault, here he is the master, and we have to follow him wherever he wants to go. Where are you going.From our side, if reprimanded for the ugliness and paleness of characters and characters, we can only say that when one never sees things in their full grandeur at first, one enters a city, even the capital Anyway, the scenery at the beginning was dull and dull, everything was gray and monotonous: at first there were endless factories of all kinds blackened by thick smoke, and only after that could there be corners and signboards of six-story buildings. , shops, broad avenues, clock towers, steeples, columns, sculptures, and everything that is astonishingly created by the city's splendor, bustle, noise, and human hands and brains.Readers have already seen how the first few businesses were carried out; what will happen later, what kind of successes and setbacks the protagonist will encounter, how he will overcome greater obstacles, and how some magnificent images will appear. Readers will naturally see how the hidden groove of this magnificent novel will start, how its scope will expand, and what kind of majestic lyric torrent it will have.This party consists of a middle-aged gentleman, a bachelor's buggy, followed by Petrushka, Selifan the coachman, and three horses already familiar to the reader: the bay horse, the tax collector, and the cunning piebald horse. There are many unfinished business.In this way, the ins and outs of our protagonist are all shown to the readers!

But maybe someone will ask to give him a conclusive appraisal in one sentence, explaining what kind of person he is in terms of morality?He has a lot of flaws, it's obvious.Who is he?If he's not a hero, then he's a villain?How could it be a villain?Why accuse him of this to others?There are no more villains in our country now, some are kind-hearted and lovable good people, and those who would let themselves be slapped in the face and would rather be ridiculed by everyone may still find two or three now, and Even such a man is talking about morality now.It would be fairest to call him the treasurer of profit.Seeking profit is the root of all sin; and because of it comes what the world calls "not very clean."It is true that there is already something distasteful about this character, and some readers in their own lives will be friendly with this kind of person, will eat and drink with him, and pass the time with him happily, but once he becomes If he misses the hero of a play or novel, the reader squints at him.But smart readers don't dislike any character, but want to conduct an original research on him and examine everything about him with an inquiring eye.Everything in man changes rapidly: soon a terrible maggot grows in his heart, which sucks all the fat out of man.This has happened more than once: in a man who was born to build great things, not only strong passions, but sometimes small selfish desires, make him forget the great and sacred duties, and put some Insignificant things are mistaken for great and sacred deeds.Man's desires are as innumerable as the grains of sand on the seashore, and varied, and all these desires, whether base or sublime, are at first at the mercy of man, but later become terrible masters of him.Happy is the man who chooses the highest of all desires; his happiness increases every moment, and he enters deeper and deeper into the vast heaven of his soul.But some desires are not chosen by people.They are inherent in man, and he cannot get rid of them.They are arranged by God, including those things that are always calling and will not be silent in a person's life.This desire is bound to manifest itself in the world: whether in a melancholy figure or as a fleeting phenomenon of light that shouts to the world, they are called out for the benefit of people and understanding.Perhaps in this Chichikov too there was a desire to attract him without being dominated by him, in Chichikov's icy being there was a desire to reduce man to ashes and bring him to his knees before the wisdom of heaven. thing.Why this image appears in the novel that is currently published is still a secret for the time being.But what makes the author miserable is not that the readers don't like this hero, but that there is always an indelible belief in the author's heart: this hero, this Chichikov, will be loved by the readers.If the author didn't pry into his heart more deeply, if he didn't dig out the dark things deep in his heart, if he didn't expose his secret thoughts that he refused to tell anyone, but only showed him as As the whole city—Manilov and others—saw, he was a funny man in everyone's mind.There is no need to let his face, to make his whole image come alive before people's eyes; then after reading this novel, there will be no shock to the soul, and you can go back to the card table that comforted the whole of Russia. .Yes, my dear readers, you do not wish to see human misery unfolded.You will say: why write this?Don't we ourselves know that there are many mean and stupid things in life?We could have often seen something that was definitely not pleasing to the eye.Now let's show us something nice and happy.Better let us forget our troubles! " "My boy, why do you tell me that the manor is badly managed?" The landlord said to the housekeeper, "brother, I know this even if I don't say it. Don't you have anything else to say?"Let me forget him, forget this, and I shall be happy. In this way, the money that could have salvaged some of the family business was used to buy all kinds of things that I would not want to leave. The huge source of wealth that I might have discovered by accident flashed in my mind, but I fell asleep in a daze; The farm was about to be sold, and the landowner was still in a daze, content with whatever was going on, sinking down to a level that he himself would have been terrified of.

The author will also be criticized by those patriots.These so-called patriots sit firmly in their positions, doing irrelevant things, accumulating money, and basing their happiness on the sacrifices of others; Some thing about the motherland, some book is published that occasionally tells a few truths and reveals the truth, and they will rush out of the corner like a spider seeing a fly that has bumped into a cobweb, shouting Shouting: "Is it okay to make this public and publicize it? Is it okay to write about our affairs here? What will foreigners say? Can you be happy to hear bad comments about yourself? Do you think this Doesn’t it hurt? Don’t you think we are not patriots?” I have to admit that I am speechless when confronted with such high-level accusations, especially those who worry about foreigners’ opinions. .In a remote place in Russia there are two people like this.One is the father, Kifa Mokiyevich, who is a leisurely and peaceful person all day long.He never asks about family matters, and spends his days exploring what he calls philosophical and speculative issues.As he walked up and down the room, he said: "For example, beasts are born naked. Why must they be naked? Why don't they be like birds? Why can't they hatch from eggs? Really. It’s a bit esoteric: the more you study the natural world, the more confusing it becomes!” Kifa Mokiyevich was thinking about it every day.But the main problem is not here.His biological son, Morki Kifavich.He was one of those men who are called Hercules in Russia.While his father was studying the survival of wild beasts, the strength of this broad-shouldered 20-year-old was about to show off.He was clumsy at everything: he broke one man's hand, or another man had a bump on his nose.From my own house to the neighbor's house, from the girl to the watchdog, everyone who sees him has to avoid him; the bed in his own bedroom is often torn to pieces by him.Morki Kifavich was such a man, but he had a good heart.But the point of the problem is not here.The main thing was that the servants of their own and other families said to his father: "Sir, please do me a favor, what's the matter with Master Moki Kifavitch? He's driving everyone to hell!"

Whenever my father heard this, he always said: "Yes, he is naughty, he is naughty, but what can be done about it: it is too late to beat him, and people will accuse me of being cruel; he is a self-respecting person. If you scold him, he will restrain himself, but the matter is publicized, bad! Even if he goes to the dog market, the people there will scold him. Really, don’t you think I won’t be heartbroken? Am I not a father? I study philosophy, and sometimes I'm busy, but isn't that my father? No, I'm my father! I'm my father, damn it, I'm my father! Look at my Morki Kifavich sitting there pissed off! At this point, he punched himself hard in the chest, and Kifa Mokiyevich became agitated. "Even if he's a dog, that's not for people to hear from me, and that's not for me to betray him." After he had dealt with his father's feelings, he let Morki Kifavich go on his way. The great achievements of Hercules are gone, and he turned back to his studies. This time he raised a question like this: "If elephants lay eggs, the eggshells should be thick enough that cannons can't move them. You have to think about it." Come up with a new firearm."

At the end of the book, the two inhabitants of the quiet corner seem to have suddenly poked their heads out of a small window, in order to humbly answer the accusations of some enthusiastic patriots.These patriots are quietly studying philosophy or enriching themselves with public money embezzled from the country they love when the time is not right, wondering how to do bad things and keep people from talking about them.No, it wasn't patriotism and patriotic feelings that made them point the finger.There are ulterior motives behind this.Why don't you say something?Who is to speak the holy truth but the author?You will be afraid of deep and probing gazes, and you yourself will be afraid of looking at everything in this world with sharp eyes. You like to look at everything superficially with thoughtless eyes.You will even laugh at Chichikov from the bottom of your heart, and perhaps even praise the author, saying: "He has grasped something very skillfully, he must be a happy man!" After finishing speaking, you will feel proud, Will smile smugly, and go on: "You know, there are some very queer people in some provinces, and they're not bad at all!" Ask yourself, ask yourself this unanswerable question in the depths of your soul: "Is there no shadow of Chichikov in me?" Yes, I must have never asked!

If he passed by this person who he knew was not too big but not too young, he would immediately stab the person next to him, almost laughing, and said to him: "Look, look, beg Kov, Chichikov has passed!" Then, like a child, forgetting to be respectable for his office and age, he ran after the man, shouting "Chichikov! Chichikov ! Chichikov!" laughed at him.However, we were talking a little too loudly and we told his stories while he was sleeping, forgetting that now that he was awake he could easily hear his name being repeated over and over again.This man is very angry, and he will be offended to hear others talk about him in a mean way.Whether he gets angry or not has little to do with the readers, but as for the author, one should not quarrel with him anyway: the author has a long way to go with him; there are still two volumes to be written in this book—— This is no small matter. "Hello, what's the matter with you?" Chichikov asked Serivan. "you?"

"What's the matter?" Xie Lifan asked slowly.

"What's the matter? You fool! How do you drive the cart? Hey, drive the cattle!"

Selifan had already squinted his eyes long ago, and only occasionally shook the reins in his sleep to remind the dozing horses; Petrushka's hat fell somewhere, and he fell on his back, with his head resting on the beggar's head. Chichikov had no choice but to give him a chestnut.Xie Lifan cheered up, and whipped the piebald horse's back a few times, and the beaten piebald horse started to run slowly.Selifan shook his whip at all three horses, and uttered a thin singing voice: "Don't be afraid!" The three horses galloped, and the carriage flew forward like feathers.For a while, he drove over the low hills, and for a while over the hills (there are hills everywhere on this slightly downhill road), Xie Lifan tilted his body with the uphill and downhill, shook his whip, and shouted "Drive, drive!" !" Chichikov was leaning on the leather cushion, smiling, because he liked to run fast.What Russian doesn't like it?Russians love to have fun and be wild from the bottom of their hearts, and sometimes they add a sentence "It's all right!" Of course they like to gallop.Speeding can make people have a strange feeling of excitement, how can people not like it?It’s like a divine bird puts you on its wings, and you are flying. Before you can see the shape, everything is flying: road signs are flying, businessmen driving in carriages are flying, and the dark spruce forest on both sides is flying. And the pine forest and the sound of axes and birds singing in the forest are flying, the road stretching into the distance is flying, everything flies past, it seems that only the sky above the head, the light clouds, and the A crescent moon emerging from the clouds.Hey, troika!Bird-like troika, who created you?It seems that you can only be born among brave and wise people, born in this vast and flat land that does not like child's play and occupies half of the earth. What is dazzling is the countless milestones that fly in front of you.This traveling tool does not look delicate, and there is not a single iron screw in the whole body. It was put together by a hardworking farmer in Yaroslavl with an ax and a chisel.The coachman had no German boots either: he had only a beard and a pair of big gloves, and no one knew what was sitting under him, and he got up, shook his whip, and sang—a horse like A rushing gust of wind, the spokes turned into a round wheel, the road trembled occasionally, and from time to time a walker would stop and exclaim!
Watch it fly, fly, keep flying!Looking from a distance, I saw something dragging a long tail and flying into the distance like lightning.Russia, are you not flying like this intrepid and unstoppable troika?Under your feet, the road is smoking, the bridge is roaring, everything is left behind, fleeting.A man who saw it was amazed by this miracle of God: Is this the lightning from the sky that came on the way?What does this mind-blowing movement mean?What kind of magical power is hidden in the horse that the world has never seen?Ah, steed, steed, what a marvelous steed!

Is your mane the embodiment of the wind?
Are all your veins sensitive ears?
As soon as you heard the familiar singing voice, you immediately straightened up your bronze-like chests in harmony, barely touched the ground, turned into straight lines, and flew up in the air. The brave troika was speeding forward! ...Russia, answer me, where are you going?

You didn't answer.From there came a sweet sound; the air was pierced and whistling, and turned into a swift wind; and all the earth flew by, and other peoples and nations stepped aside to make way for it.

a lost student

Why must it be necessary to bring some backcountry characters from the far corners of our country to show the vices and sad flaws in our lives?Is there any way, the author has this kind of habit, he himself has flaws, he can do nothing but discover some characters in the backcountry to express the bad habits and flaws in our life.Look, now we're back in the backcountry again, in a remote corner again.

It's just that this is such a beautiful backcountry, remote corner!

(End of this chapter)