Dead Souls

Dead Souls Page 17

by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol

  CHAPTER IV

  Next day, with Platon and Constantine, Chichikov set forth to interviewKhlobuev, the owner whose estate Constantine had consented to helpChichikov to purchase with a non-interest-bearing, uncovenanted loan often thousand roubles. Naturally, our hero was in the highest of spirits.For the first fifteen versts or so the road led through forest land andtillage belonging to Platon and his brother-in-law; but directly thelimit of these domains was reached, forest land began to be replacedwith swamp, and tillage with waste. Also, the village in Khlobuev'sestate had about it a deserted air, and as for the proprietor himself,he was discovered in a state of drowsy dishevelment, having not longleft his bed. A man of about forty, he had his cravat crooked, hisfrockcoat adorned with a large stain, and one of his boots worn through.Nevertheless he seemed delighted to see his visitors.

  "What?" he exclaimed. "Constantine Thedorovitch and Platon Mikhalitch?Really I must rub my eyes! Never again in this world did I look to seecallers arriving. As a rule, folk avoid me like the devil, for theycannot disabuse their minds of the idea that I am going to ask them fora loan. Yes, it is my own fault, I know, but what would you? To the endwill swine cheat swine. Pray excuse my costume. You will observe that myboots are in holes. But how can I afford to get them mended?"

  "Never mind," said Constantine. "We have come on business only. May Ipresent to you a possible purchaser of your estate, in the person ofPaul Ivanovitch Chichikov?"

  "I am indeed glad to meet you!" was Khlobuev's response. "Pray shakehands with me, Paul Ivanovitch."

  Chichikov offered one hand, but not both.

  "I can show you a property worth your attention," went on the master ofthe estate. "May I ask if you have yet dined?"

  "Yes, we have," put in Constantine, desirous of escaping as soon aspossible. "To save you further trouble, let us go and view the estate atonce."

  "Very well," replied Khlobuev. "Pray come and inspect my irregularitiesand futilities. You have done well to dine beforehand, for not so muchas a fowl is left in the place, so dire are the extremities to which yousee me reduced."

  Sighing deeply, he took Platon by the arm (it was clear that he didnot look for any sympathy from Constantine) and walked ahead, whileConstantine and Chichikov followed.

  "Things are going hard with me, Platon Mikhalitch," continued Khlobuev."How hard you cannot imagine. No money have I, no food, no boots. WereI still young and a bachelor, it would have come easy to me to live onbread and cheese; but when a man is growing old, and has got a wifeand five children, such trials press heavily upon him, and, in spite ofhimself, his spirits sink."

  "But, should you succeed in selling the estate, that would help to putyou right, would it not?" said Platon.

  "How could it do so?" replied Khlobuev with a despairing gesture. "WhatI might get for the property would have to go towards discharging mydebts, and I should find myself left with less than a thousand roublesbesides."

  "Then what do you intend to do?"

  "God knows."

  "But is there NOTHING to which you could set your hand in order to clearyourself of your difficulties?"

  "How could there be?"

  "Well, you might accept a Government post."

  "Become a provincial secretary, you mean? How could I obtain such apost? They would not offer me one of the meanest possible kind. Evensupposing that they did, how could I live on a salary of five hundredroubles--I who have a wife and five children?"

  "Then try and obtain a bailiff's post."

  "Who would entrust their property to a man who has squandered his ownestate?"

  "Nevertheless, when death and destitution threaten, a man must eitherdo something or starve. Shall I ask my brother to use his influence toprocure you a post?"

  "No, no, Platon Mikhalitch," sighed Khlobuev, gripping the other's hand."I am no longer serviceable--I am grown old before my time, and findthat liver and rheumatism are paying me for the sins of my youth. Whyshould the Government be put to a loss on my account?--not to speak ofthe fact that for every salaried post there are countless numbers ofapplicants. God forbid that, in order to provide me with a livelihoodfurther burdens should be imposed upon an impoverished public!"

  "Such are the results of improvident management!" thought Platon tohimself. "The disease is even worse than my slothfulness."

  Meanwhile Kostanzhoglo, walking by Chichikov's side, was almost takingleave of his senses.

  "Look at it!" he cried with a wave of his hand. "See to whatwretchedness the peasant has become reduced! Should cattle disease come,Khlobuev will have nothing to fall back upon, but will be forced to sellhis all--to leave the peasant without a horse, and therefore without themeans to labour, even though the loss of a single day's work may takeyears of labour to rectify. Meanwhile it is plain that the local peasanthas become a mere dissolute, lazy drunkard. Give a muzhik enough to liveupon for twelve months without working, and you will corrupt him forever, so inured to rags and vagrancy will he grow. And what is the goodof that piece of pasture there--of that piece on the further side ofthose huts? It is a mere flooded tract. Were it mine, I should putit under flax, and clear five thousand roubles, or else sow it withturnips, and clear, perhaps, four thousand. And see how the rye isdrooping, and nearly laid. As for wheat, I am pretty sure that he hasnot sown any. Look, too, at those ravines! Were they mine, they wouldbe standing under timber which even a rook could not top. To think ofwasting such quantities of land! Where land wouldn't bear corn, I shoulddig it up, and plant it with vegetables. What ought to be done is thatKhlobuev ought to take a spade into his own hands, and to set his wifeand children and servants to do the same; and even if they died of theexertion, they would at least die doing their duty, and not throughguzzling at the dinner table."

  This said, Kostanzhoglo spat, and his brow flushed with grimindignation.

  Presently they reached an elevation whence the distant flashing of ariver, with its flood waters and subsidiary streams, caught the eye,while, further off, a portion of General Betristchev's homestead couldbe discerned among the trees, and, over it, a blue, densely wooded hillwhich Chichikov guessed to be the spot where Tientietnikov's mansion wassituated.

  "This is where I should plant timber," said Chichikov. "And, regardedas a site for a manor house, the situation could scarcely be beaten forbeauty of view."

  "You seem to get great store upon views and beauty," remarkedKostanzhoglo with reproof in his tone. "Should you pay too muchattention to those things, you might find yourself without crops orview. Utility should be placed first, not beauty. Beauty will come ofitself. Take, for example, towns. The fairest and most beautiful townsare those which have built themselves--those in which each man has builtto suit his own exclusive circumstances and needs; whereas towns whichmen have constructed on regular, string-taut lines are no better thancollections of barracks. Put beauty aside, and look only to what isNECESSARY."

  "Yes, but to me it would always be irksome to have to wait. All the timethat I was doing so I should be hungering to see in front of me thesort of prospect which I prefer."

  "Come, come! Are you a man of twenty-five--you who have served as atchinovnik in St. Petersburg? Have patience, have patience. For sixyears work, and work hard. Plant, sow, and dig the earth without takinga moment's rest. It will be difficult, I know--yes, difficult indeed;but at the end of that time, if you have thoroughly stirred the soil,the land will begin to help you as nothing else can do. That is to say,over and above your seventy or so pairs of hands, there will begin toassist in the work seven hundred pairs of hands which you cannot see.Thus everything will be multiplied tenfold. I myself have ceased evento have to lift a finger, for whatsoever needs to be done gets done ofitself. Nature loves patience: always remember that. It is a law givenher of God Himself, who has blessed all those who are strong to endure."

  "To hear your words is to be both encouraged and strengthened," saidChichikov. To this Kostanzhoglo made no reply, but presently went on:

  "And see how that pi
ece of land has been ploughed! To stay here longeris more than I can do. For me, to have to look upon such want oforderliness and foresight is death. Finish your business with Khlobuevwithout me, and whatsoever you do, get this treasure out of that fool'shands as quickly as possible, for he is dishonouring God's gifts."

  And Kostanzhoglo, his face dark with the rage that was seething inhis excitable soul, left Chichikov, and caught up the owner of theestablishment.

  "What, Constantine Thedorovitch?" cried Khlobuev in astonishment. "Justarrived, you are going already?"

  "Yes; I cannot help it; urgent business requires me at home." Andentering his gig, Kostanzhoglo drove rapidly away. Somehow Khlobuevseemed to divine the cause of his sudden departure.

  "It was too much for him," he remarked. "An agriculturist of thatkind does not like to have to look upon the results of such fecklessmanagement as mine. Would you believe it, Paul Ivanovitch, but this yearI have been unable to sow any wheat! Am I not a fine husbandman? Therewas no seed for the purpose, nor yet anything with which to prepare theground. No, I am not like Constantine Thedorovitch, who, I hear, is aperfect Napoleon in his particular line. Again and again the thoughtoccurs to me, 'Why has so much intellect been put into that head, andonly a drop or two into my own dull pate?' Take care of that puddle,gentlemen. I have told my peasants to lay down planks for the spring,but they have not done so. Nevertheless my heart aches for the poorfellows, for they need a good example, and what sort of an example am I?How am _I_ to give them orders? Pray take them under your charge, PaulIvanovitch, for I cannot teach them orderliness and method when I myselflack both. As a matter of fact, I should have given them their freedomlong ago, had there been any use in my doing so; for even I can see thatpeasants must first be afforded the means of earning a livelihood beforethey can live. What they need is a stern, yet just, master who shalllive with them, day in, day out, and set them an example of tirelessenergy. The present-day Russian--I know of it myself--is helplesswithout a driver. Without one he falls asleep, and the mould grows overhim."

  "Yet I cannot understand WHY he should fall asleep and grow mouldy inthat fashion," said Platon. "Why should he need continual surveillanceto keep him from degenerating into a drunkard and a good-for-nothing?"

  "The cause is lack of enlightenment," said Chichikov.

  "Possibly--only God knows. Yet enlightenment has reached us rightenough. Do we not attend university lectures and everything else thatis befitting? Take my own education. I learnt not only the usual things,but also the art of spending money upon the latest refinement, thelatest amenity--the art of familiarising oneself with whatsoever moneycan buy. How, then, can it be said that I was educated foolishly? Andmy comrades' education was the same. A few of them succeeded in annexingthe cream of things, for the reason that they had the wit to do so, andthe rest spent their time in doing their best to ruin their health andsquander their money. Often I think there is no hope for the present-dayRussian. While desiring to do everything, he accomplishes nothing. Oneday he will scheme to begin a new mode of existence, a new dietary; yetbefore evening he will have so over-eaten himself as to be unable tospeak or do aught but sit staring like an owl. The same with every one."

  "Quite so," agreed Chichikov with a smile. "'Tis everywhere the samestory."

  "To tell the truth, we are not born to common sense. I doubt whetherRussia has ever produced a really sensible man. For my own part, if Isee my neighbour living a regular life, and making money, and savingit, I begin to distrust him, and to feel certain that in old age, if notbefore, he too will be led astray by the devil--led astray in a moment.Yes, whether or not we be educated, there is something we lack. But whatthat something is passes my understanding."

  On the return journey the prospect was the same as before. Everywherethe same slovenliness, the same disorder, was displaying itselfunadorned: the only difference being that a fresh puddle had formed inthe middle of the village street. This want and neglect was noticeablein the peasants' quarters equally with the quarters of the barin. Inthe village a furious woman in greasy sackcloth was beating a poor youngwench within an ace of her life, and at the same time devoting somethird person to the care of all the devils in hell; further awaya couple of peasants were stoically contemplating the virago--onescratching his rump as he did so, and the other yawning. The same yawnwas discernible in the buildings, for not a roof was there but had agaping hole in it. As he gazed at the scene Platon himself yawned. Patchwas superimposed upon patch, and, in place of a roof, one hut had apiece of wooden fencing, while its crumbling window-frames were stayedwith sticks purloined from the barin's barn. Evidently the systemof upkeep in vogue was the system employed in the case of Trishkin'scoat--the system of cutting up the cuffs and the collar into mendingsfor the elbows.

  "No, I do not admire your way of doing things," was Chichikov's unspokencomment when the inspection had been concluded and the party hadre-entered the house. Everywhere in the latter the visitors werestruck with the way in which poverty went with glittering, fashionableprofusion. On a writing-table lay a volume of Shakespeare, and, on anoccasional table, a carved ivory back-scratcher. The hostess, too, waselegantly and fashionably attired, and devoted her whole conversationto the town and the local theatre. Lastly, the children--bright, merrylittle things--were well-dressed both as regards boys and girls. Yetfar better would it have been for them if they had been clad in plainstriped smocks, and running about the courtyard like peasant children.Presently a visitor arrived in the shape of a chattering, gossipingwoman; whereupon the hostess carried her off to her own portion of thehouse, and, the children following them, the men found themselves alone.

  "How much do you want for the property?" asked Chichikov of Khlobuev."I am afraid I must request you to name the lowest possible sum, since Ifind the estate in a far worse condition than I had expected to do."

  "Yes, it IS in a terrible state," agreed Khlobuev. "Nor is that thewhole of the story. That is to say, I will not conceal from you the factthat, out of a hundred souls registered at the last revision, only fiftysurvive, so terrible have been the ravages of cholera. And of these,again, some have absconded; wherefore they too must be reckoned as dead,seeing that, were one to enter process against them, the costs wouldend in the property having to pass en bloc to the legal authorities.For these reasons I am asking only thirty-five thousand roubles for theestate."

  Chichikov (it need hardly be said) started to haggle.

  "Thirty-five thousand?" he cried. "Come, come! Surely you will acceptTWENTY-five thousand?"

  This was too much for Platon's conscience.

  "Now, now, Paul Ivanovitch!" he exclaimed. "Take the property at theprice named, and have done with it. The estate is worth at least thatamount--so much so that, should you not be willing to give it, mybrother-in-law and I will club together to effect the purchase."

  "That being so," said Chichikov, taken aback, "I beg to agree to theprice in question. At the same time, I must ask you to allow me to deferpayment of one-half of the purchase money until a year from now."

  "No, no, Paul Ivanovitch. Under no circumstances could I do that. Payme half now, and the rest in... [50] You see, I need the money for theredemption of the mortgage."

  "That places me in a difficulty," remarked Chichikov. "Ten thousandroubles is all that at the moment I have available." As a matter offact, this was not true, seeing that, counting also the money which hehad borrowed of Kostanzhoglo, he had at his disposal TWENTY thousand.His real reason for hesitating was that he disliked the idea of makingso large a payment in a lump sum.

  "I must repeat my request, Paul Ivanovitch," said Khlobuev, "--namely,that you pay me at least fifteen thousand immediately."

  "The odd five thousand _I_ will lend you," put in Platon to Chichikov.

  "Indeed!" exclaimed Chichikov as he reflected: "So he also lends money!"

  In the end Chichikov's dispatch-box was brought from the koliaska, andKhlobuev received thence ten thousand roubles, together with a promisethat the re
maining five thousand should be forthcoming on the morrow;though the promise was given only after Chichikov had first proposedthat THREE thousand should be brought on the day named, and the restbe left over for two or three days longer, if not for a still moreprotracted period. The truth was that Paul Ivanovitch hated parting withmoney. No matter how urgent a situation might have been, he would stillhave preferred to pay a sum to-morrow rather than to-day. In otherwords, he acted as we all do, for we all like keeping a petitionerwaiting. "Let him rub his back in the hall for a while," we say. "Surelyhe can bide his time a little?" Yet of the fact that every hour may beprecious to the poor wretch, and that his business may suffer fromthe delay, we take no account. "Good sir," we say, "pray come againto-morrow. To-day I have no time to spare you."

  "Where do you intend henceforth to live?" inquired Platon. "Have you anyother property to which you can retire?"

  "No," replied Khlobuev. "I shall remove to the town, where I possessa small villa. That would have been necessary, in any case, for thechildren's sake. You see, they must have instruction in God's word, andalso lessons in music and dancing; and not for love or money can thesethings be procured in the country.

  "Nothing to eat, yet dancing lessons for his children!" reflectedChichikov.

  "An extraordinary man!" was Platon's unspoken comment.

  "However, we must contrive to wet our bargain somehow," continuedKhlobuev. "Hi, Kirushka! Bring that bottle of champagne."

  "Nothing to eat, yet champagne to drink!" reflected Chichikov. As forPlaton, he did not know WHAT to think.

  In Khlobuev's eyes it was de rigueur that he should provide a guest withchampagne; but, though he had sent to the town for some, he had been metwith a blank refusal to forward even a bottle of kvass on credit.Only the discovery of a French dealer who had recently transferred hisbusiness from St. Petersburg, and opened a connection on a systemof general credit, saved the situation by placing Khlobuev under theobligation of patronising him.

  The company drank three glassfuls apiece, and so grew more cheerful.In particular did Khlobuev expand, and wax full of civility andfriendliness, and scatter witticisms and anecdotes to right and left.What knowledge of men and the world did his utterances display! How welland accurately could he divine things! With what appositeness did hesketch the neighbouring landowners! How clearly he exposed theirfaults and failings! How thoroughly he knew the story of certain ruinedgentry--the story of how, why, and through what cause they had fallenupon evil days! With what comic originality could he describe theirlittle habits and customs!

  In short, his guests found themselves charmed with his discourse, andfelt inclined to vote him a man of first-rate intellect.

  "What most surprises me," said Chichikov, "is how, in view of yourability, you come to be so destitute of means or resources."

  "But I have plenty of both," said Khlobuev, and with that went on todeliver himself of a perfect avalanche of projects. Yet those projectsproved to be so uncouth, so clumsy, so little the outcome of a knowledgeof men and things, that his hearers could only shrug their shoulders andmentally exclaim: "Good Lord! What a difference between worldly wisdomand the capacity to use it!" In every case the projects in question werebased upon the imperative necessity of at once procuring from somewheretwo hundred--or at least one hundred--thousand roubles. That done (soKhlobuev averred), everything would fall into its proper place,the holes in his pockets would become stopped, his income would bequadrupled, and he would find himself in a position to liquidate hisdebts in full. Nevertheless he ended by saying: "What would you adviseme to do? I fear that the philanthropist who would lend me two hundredthousand roubles or even a hundred thousand, does not exist. It is notGod's will that he should."

  "Good gracious!" inwardly ejaculated Chichikov. "To suppose that Godwould send such a fool two hundred thousand roubles!"

  "However," went on Khlobuev, "I possess an aunt worth three millions--apious old woman who gives freely to churches and monasteries, but findsa difficulty in helping her neighbour. At the same time, she is a ladyof the old school, and worth having a peep at. Her canaries alonenumber four hundred, and, in addition, there is an army of pug-dogs,hangers-on, and servants. Even the youngest of the servants is sixty,but she calls them all 'young fellows,' and if a guest happens to offendher during dinner, she orders them to leave him out when handing out thedishes. THERE'S a woman for you!"

  Platon laughed.

  "And what may her family name be?" asked Chichikov. "And where does shelive?"

  "She lives in the county town, and her name is Alexandra IvanovnaKhanasarov."

  "Then why do you not apply to her?" asked Platon earnestly. "It seemsto me that, once she realised the position of your family, she could notpossibly refuse you."

  "Alas! nothing is to be looked for from that quarter," replied Khlobuev."My aunt is of a very stubborn disposition--a perfect stone of a woman.Moreover, she has around her a sufficient band of favourites already.In particular is there a fellow who is aiming for a Governorship, andto that end has managed to insinuate himself into the circle of herkinsfolk. By the way," the speaker added, turning to Platon, "would youdo me a favour? Next week I am giving a dinner to the associated guildsof the town."

  Platon stared. He had been unaware that both in our capitals and inour provincial towns there exists a class of men whose lives arean enigma--men who, though they will seem to have exhausted theirsubstance, and to have become enmeshed in debt, will suddenly bereported as in funds, and on the point of giving a dinner! And though,at this dinner, the guests will declare that the festival is bound tobe their host's last fling, and that for a certainty he will be haled toprison on the morrow, ten years or more will elapse, and the rascal willstill be at liberty, even though, in the meanwhile, his debts will haveincreased!

  In the same way did the conduct of Khlobuev's menage afford a curiousphenomenon, for one day the house would be the scene of a solemn TeDeum, performed by a priest in vestments, and the next of a stage playperformed by a troupe of French actors in theatrical costume. Again,one day would see not a morsel of bread in the house, and the next day abanquet and generous largesse given to a party of artists and sculptors.During these seasons of scarcity (sufficiently severe to have led anyone but Khlobuev to seek suicide by hanging or shooting), the master ofthe house would be preserved from rash action by his strongly religiousdisposition, which, contriving in some curious way to conform with hisirregular mode of life, enabled him to fall back upon reading the livesof saints, ascetics, and others of the type which has risen superior toits misfortunes. And at such times his spirit would become softened, histhoughts full of gentleness, and his eyes wet with tears; he would fallto saying his prayers, and invariably some strange coincidence wouldbring an answer thereto in the shape of an unexpected measure ofassistance. That is to say, some former friend of his would rememberhim, and send him a trifle in the way of money; or else some femalevisitor would be moved by his story to let her impulsive, generous heartproffer him a handsome gift; or else a suit whereof tidings had nevereven reached his ears would end by being decided in his favour. And whenthat happened he would reverently acknowledge the immensity of the mercyof Providence, gratefully tender thanksgiving for the same, and betakehimself again to his irregular mode of existence.

  "Somehow I feel sorry for the man," said Platon when he and Chichikovhad taken leave of their host, and left the house.

  "Perhaps so, but he is a hopeless prodigal," replied the other."Personally I find it impossible to compassionate such fellows."

  And with that the pair ceased to devote another thought to Khlobuev. Inthe case of Platon, this was because he contemplated the fortunes of hisfellows with the lethargic, half-somnolent eye which he turned upon allthe rest of the world; for though the sight of distress of others wouldcause his heart to contract and feel full of sympathy, the impressionthus produced never sank into the depths of his being. Accordingly,before many minutes were over he had ceased to bestow a single thoughtupon his late
host. With Chichikov, however, things were different.Whereas Platon had ceased to think of Khlobuev no more than he hadceased to think of himself, Chichikov's mind had strayed elsewhere,for the reason that it had become taken up with grave meditation on thesubject of the purchase just made. Suddenly finding himself no longera fictitious proprietor, but the owner of a real, an actually existing,estate, he became contemplative, and his plans and ideas assumed such aserious vein as imparted to his features an unconsciously important air.

  "Patience and hard work!" he muttered to himself. "The thing will not bedifficult, for with those two requisites I have been familiar from thedays of my swaddling clothes. Yes, no novelty will they be to me. Yet,in middle age, shall I be able to compass the patience whereof I wascapable in my youth?"

  However, no matter how he regarded the future, and no matter from whatpoint of view he considered his recent acquisition, he could see nothingbut advantage likely to accrue from the bargain. For one thing, he mightbe able to proceed so that, first the whole of the estate should bemortgaged, and then the better portions of land sold outright. Or hemight so contrive matters as to manage the property for a while(and thus become a landowner like Kostanzhoglo, whose advice, as hisneighbour and his benefactor, he intended always to follow), and then todispose of the property by private treaty (provided he did not wish tocontinue his ownership), and still to retain in his hands the dead andabandoned souls. And another possible coup occurred to his mind. That isto say, he might contrive to withdraw from the district without havingrepaid Kostanzhoglo at all! Truly a splendid idea! Yet it is only fairto say that the idea was not one of Chichikov's own conception. Rather,it had presented itself--mocking, laughing, and winking--unbidden. Yetthe impudent, the wanton thing! Who is the procreator of suddenlyborn ideas of the kind? The thought that he was now a real, an actual,proprietor instead of a fictitious--that he was now a proprietor of realland, real rights of timber and pasture, and real serfs who existed notonly in the imagination, but also in veritable actuality--greatly elatedour hero. So he took to dancing up and down in his seat, to rubbinghis hands together, to winking at himself, to holding his fist,trumpet-wise, to his mouth (while making believe to execute a march),and even to uttering aloud such encouraging nicknames and phrases as"bulldog" and "little fat capon." Then suddenly recollecting that hewas not alone, he hastened to moderate his behaviour and endeavoured tostifle the endless flow of his good spirits; with the result that whenPlaton, mistaking certain sounds for utterances addressed to himself,inquired what his companion had said, the latter retained the presenceof mind to reply "Nothing."

  Presently, as Chichikov gazed about him, he saw that for some time pastthe koliaska had been skirting a beautiful wood, and that on either sidethe road was bordered with an edging of birch trees, the tenderly-green,recently-opened leaves of which caused their tall, slender trunks toshow up with the whiteness of a snowdrift. Likewise nightingales werewarbling from the recesses of the foliage, and some wood tulips wereglowing yellow in the grass. Next (and almost before Chichikov hadrealised how he came to be in such a beautiful spot when, but a momentbefore, there had been visible only open fields) there glimmered amongthe trees the stony whiteness of a church, with, on the further sideof it, the intermittent, foliage-buried line of a fence; while from theupper end of a village street there was advancing to meet the vehicle agentleman with a cap on his head, a knotted cudgel in his hands, and aslender-limbed English dog by his side.

  "This is my brother," said Platon. "Stop, coachman." And he descendedfrom the koliaska, while Chichikov followed his example. Yarb and thestrange dog saluted one another, and then the active, thin-legged,slender-tongued Azor relinquished his licking of Yarb's blunt jowl,licked Platon's hands instead, and, leaping upon Chichikov, slobberedright into his ear.

  The two brothers embraced.

  "Really, Platon," said the gentleman (whose name was Vassili), "what doyou mean by treating me like this?"

  "How so?" said Platon indifferently.

  "What? For three days past I have seen and heard nothing of you! A groomfrom Pietukh's brought your cob home, and told me you had departed on anexpedition with some barin. At least you might have sent me word as toyour destination and the probable length of your absence. What made youact so? God knows what I have not been wondering!"

  "Does it matter?" rejoined Platon. "I forgot to send you word, and wehave been no further than Constantine's (who, with our sister, sends youhis greeting). By the way, may I introduce Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov?"

  The pair shook hands with one another. Then, doffing their caps, theyembraced.

  "What sort of man is this Chichikov?" thought Vassili. "As a rule mybrother Platon is not over-nice in his choice of acquaintances." And,eyeing our hero as narrowly as civility permitted, he saw that hisappearance was that of a perfectly respectable individual.

  Chichikov returned Vassili's scrutiny with a similar observance of thedictates of civility, and perceived that he was shorter than Platon,that his hair was of a darker shade, and that his features, though lesshandsome, contained far more life, animation, and kindliness than didhis brother's. Clearly he indulged in less dreaming, though that was anaspect which Chichikov little regarded.

  "I have made up my mind to go touring our Holy Russia with PaulIvanovitch," said Platon. "Perhaps it will rid me of my melancholy."

  "What has made you come to such a sudden decision?" asked the perplexedVassili (very nearly he added: "Fancy going travelling with a man whoseacquaintance you have just made, and who may turn out to be a rascalor the devil knows what!" But, in spite of his distrust, he contentedhimself with another covert scrutiny of Chichikov, and this time came tothe conclusion that there was no fault to be found with his exterior).

  The party turned to the right, and entered the gates of an ancientcourtyard attached to an old-fashioned house of a type no longerbuilt--the type which has huge gables supporting a high-pitched roof.In the centre of the courtyard two great lime trees covered half thesurrounding space with shade, while beneath them were ranged a numberof wooden benches, and the whole was encircled with a ring of blossominglilacs and cherry trees which, like a beaded necklace, reinforced thewooden fence, and almost buried it beneath their clusters of leaves andflowers. The house, too, stood almost concealed by this greenery,except that the front door and the windows peered pleasantly through thefoliage, and that here and there between the stems of the trees therecould be caught glimpses of the kitchen regions, the storehouses, andthe cellar. Lastly, around the whole stood a grove, from the recesses ofwhich came the echoing songs of nightingales.

  Involuntarily the place communicated to the soul a sort of quiet,restful feeling, so eloquently did it speak of that care-free periodwhen every one lived on good terms with his neighbour, and all wassimple and unsophisticated. Vassili invited Chichikov to seat himself,and the party approached, for that purpose, the benches under the limetrees; after which a youth of about seventeen, and clad in a red shirt,brought decanters containing various kinds of kvass (some of them asthick as syrup, and others hissing like aerated lemonade), deposited thesame upon the table, and, taking up a spade which he had left leaningagainst a tree, moved away towards the garden. The reason of this wasthat in the brothers' household, as in that of Kostanzhoglo, no servantswere kept, since the whole staff were rated as gardeners, and performedthat duty in rotation--Vassili holding that domestic service was not aspecialised calling, but one to which any one might contribute a hand,and therefore one which did not require special menials to be kept forthe purpose. Moreover, he held that the average Russian peasant remainsactive and willing (rather than lazy) only so long as he wears a shirtand a peasant's smock; but that as soon as ever he finds himselfput into a German tailcoat, he becomes awkward, sluggish, indolent,disinclined to change his vest or take a bath, fond of sleeping in hisclothes, and certain to breed fleas and bugs under the German apparel.And it may be that Vassili was right. At all events, the brothers'peasantry were exceedingly well clad--the wom
en, in particular, havingtheir head-dresses spangled with gold, and the sleeves of their blousesembroidered after the fashion of a Turkish shawl.

  "You see here the species of kvass for which our house has long beenfamous," said Vassili to Chichikov. The latter poured himself out aglassful from the first decanter which he lighted upon, and foundthe contents to be linden honey of a kind never tasted by him even inPoland, seeing that it had a sparkle like that of champagne, and also aneffervescence which sent a pleasant spray from the mouth into the nose.

  "Nectar!" he proclaimed. Then he took some from a second decanter. Itproved to be even better than the first. "A beverage of beverages!" heexclaimed. "At your respected brother-in-law's I tasted the finestsyrup which has ever come my way, but here I have tasted the very finestkvass."

  "Yet the recipe for the syrup also came from here," said Vassili,"seeing that my sister took it with her. By the way, to what part of thecountry, and to what places, are you thinking of travelling?"

  "To tell the truth," replied Chichikov, rocking himself to and fro onthe bench, and smoothing his knee with his hand, and gently inclininghis head, "I am travelling less on my own affairs than on the affairs ofothers. That is to say, General Betristchev, an intimate friend, and,I might add, a generous benefactor of mine, has charged me withcommissions to some of his relatives. Nevertheless, though relatives arerelatives, I may say that I am travelling on my own account as well, inthat, in addition to possible benefit to my health, I desire to see theworld and the whirligig of humanity, which constitute, to so speak, aliving book, a second course of education."

  Vassili took thought. "The man speaks floridly," he reflected, "yet hiswords contain a certain element of truth." After a moment's silence headded to Platon: "I am beginning to think that the tour might help youto bestir yourself. At present you are in a condition of mental slumber.You have fallen asleep, not so much from weariness or satiety, asthrough a lack of vivid perceptions and impressions. For myself, I amyour complete antithesis. I should be only too glad if I could feel lessacutely, if I could take things less to heart."

  "Emotion has become a disease with you," said Platon. "You seek your owntroubles, and make your own anxieties."

  "How can you say that when ready-made anxieties greet one at everystep?" exclaimed Vassili. "For example, have you heard of the trickwhich Lienitsin has just played us--of his seizing the piece of vacantland whither our peasants resort for their sports? That piece I wouldnot sell for all the money in the world. It has long been our peasants'play-ground, and all the traditions of our village are bound up with it.Moreover, for me, old custom is a sacred thing for which I would gladlysacrifice everything else."

  "Lienitsin cannot have known of this, or he would not have seized theland," said Platon. "He is a newcomer, just arrived from St. Petersburg.A few words of explanation ought to meet the case."

  "But he DOES know of what I have stated; he DOES know of it. PurposelyI sent him word to that affect, yet he has returned me the rudest ofanswers."

  "Then go yourself and explain matters to him."

  "No, I will not do that; he has tried to carry off things with too higha hand. But YOU can go if you like."

  "I would certainly go were it not that I scarcely like to interfere.Also, I am a man whom he could easily hoodwink and outwit."

  "Would it help you if _I_ were to go?" put in Chichikov. "Pray enlightenme as to the matter."

  Vassili glanced at the speaker, and thought to himself: "What a passionthe man has for travelling!"

  "Yes, pray give me an idea of the kind of fellow," repeated Chichikov,"and also outline to me the affair."

  "I should be ashamed to trouble you with such an unpleasant commission,"replied Vassili. "He is a man whom I take to be an utter rascal.Originally a member of a family of plain dvoriane in this province, heentered the Civil Service in St. Petersburg, then married some one'snatural daughter in that city, and has returned to lord it with a highhand. I cannot bear the tone he adopts. Our folk are by no means fools.They do not look upon the current fashion as the Tsar's ukaz any morethan they look upon St. Petersburg as the Church."

  "Naturally," said Chichikov. "But tell me more of the particulars of thequarrel."

  "They are these. He needs additional land and, had he not acted as hehas done, I would have given him some land elsewhere for nothing; but,as it is, the pestilent fellow has taken it into his head to--"

  "I think I had better go and have a talk with him. That might settle theaffair. Several times have people charged me with similar commissions,and never have they repented of it. General Betristchev is an example."

  "Nevertheless I am ashamed that you should be put to the annoyance ofhaving to converse with such a fellow."

  [At this point there occurs a long hiatus.]

  "And above all things, such a transaction would need to be carriedthrough in secret," said Chichikov. "True, the law does not forbid suchthings, but there is always the risk of a scandal."

  "Quite so, quite so," said Lienitsin with head bent down.

  "Then we agree!" exclaimed Chichikov. "How charming! As I say, mybusiness is both legal and illegal. Though needing to effect a mortgage,I desire to put no one to the risk of having to pay the two roubleson each living soul; wherefore I have conceived the idea of relievinglandowners of that distasteful obligation by acquiring dead andabsconded souls who have failed to disappear from the revision list.This enables me at once to perform an act of Christian charity andto remove from the shoulders of our more impoverished proprietors theburden of tax-payment upon souls of the kind specified. Should youyourself care to do business with me, we will draw up a formal purchaseagreement as though the souls in question were still alive."

  "But it would be such a curious arrangement," muttered Lienitsin, movinghis chair and himself a little further away. "It would be an arrangementwhich, er--er--"

  "Would involve you in no scandal whatever, seeing that the affairwould be carried through in secret. Moreover, between friends who arewell-disposed towards one another--"

  "Nevertheless--"

  Chichikov adopted a firmer and more decided tone. "I repeat that therewould be no scandal," he said. "The transaction would take place asbetween good friends, and as between friends of mature age, and asbetween friends of good status, and as between friends who know howto keep their own counsel." And, so saying, he looked his interlocutorfrankly and generously in the eyes.

  Nevertheless Lienitsin's resourcefulness and acumen in business mattersfailed to relieve his mind of a certain perplexity--and the less sosince he had contrived to become caught in his own net. Yet, in general,he possessed neither a love for nor a talent for underhand dealings,and, had not fate and circumstances favoured Chichikov by causingLienitsin's wife to enter the room at that moment, things might haveturned out very differently from what they did. Madame was a pale, thin,insignificant-looking young lady, but none the less a lady who wore herclothes a la St. Petersburg, and cultivated the society of persons whowere unimpeachably comme il faut. Behind her, borne in a nurse's arms,came the first fruits of the love of husband and wife. Adopting hismost telling method of approach (the method accompanied with a sidelonginclination of the head and a sort of hop), Chichikov hastened to greetthe lady from the metropolis, and then the baby. At first the latterstarted to bellow disapproval, but the words "Agoo, agoo, my pet!" addedto a little cracking of the fingers and a sight of a beautiful seal on awatch chain, enabled Chichikov to weedle the infant into his arms; afterwhich he fell to swinging it up and down until he had contrived to raisea smile on its face--a circumstance which greatly delighted the parents,and finally inclined the father in his visitor's favour. Suddenly,however--whether from pleasure or from some other cause--the infantmisbehaved itself!

  "My God!" cried Madame. "He has gone and spoilt your frockcoat!"

  True enough, on glancing downwards, Chichikov saw that the sleeve ofhis brand-new garment had indeed suffered a hurt. "If I could catch youalone, you litt
le devil," he muttered to himself, "I'd shoot you!"

  Host, hostess and nurse all ran for eau-de-Cologne, and from three sidesset themselves to rub the spot affected.

  "Never mind, never mind; it is nothing," said Chichikov as he strove tocommunicate to his features as cheerful an expression as possible."What does it matter what a child may spoil during the golden age of itsinfancy?"

  To himself he remarked: "The little brute! Would it could be devoured bywolves. It has made only too good a shot, the cussed young ragamuffin!"

  How, after this--after the guest had shown such innocent affection forthe little one, and magnanimously paid for his so doing with a brand-newsuit--could the father remain obdurate? Nevertheless, to avoid setting abad example to the countryside, he and Chichikov agreed to carry throughthe transaction PRIVATELY, lest, otherwise, a scandal should arise.

  "In return," said Chichikov, "would you mind doing me the followingfavour? I desire to mediate in the matter of your difference with theBrothers Platonov. I believe that you wish to acquire some additionalland? Is not that so?"

  [Here there occurs a hiatus in the original.]

  Everything in life fulfils its function, and Chichikov's tour in searchof a fortune was carried out so successfully that not a little moneypassed into his pockets. The system employed was a good one: he did notsteal, he merely used. And every one of us at times does the same: oneman with regard to Government timber, and another with regard to a sumbelonging to his employer, while a third defrauds his children for thesake of an actress, and a fourth robs his peasantry for the sake ofsmart furniture or a carriage. What can one do when one is surroundedon every side with roguery, and everywhere there are insanely expensiverestaurants, masked balls, and dances to the music of gipsy bands? Toabstain when every one else is indulging in these things, and fashioncommands, is difficult indeed!

  Chichikov was for setting forth again, but the roads had now got into abad state, and, in addition, there was in preparation a second fair--onefor the dvoriane only. The former fair had been held for the sale ofhorses, cattle, cheese, and other peasant produce, and the buyers hadbeen merely cattle-jobbers and kulaks; but this time the function wasto be one for the sale of manorial produce which had been bought up bywholesale dealers at Nizhni Novgorod, and then transferred hither. Tothe fair, of course, came those ravishers of the Russian purse who, inthe shape of Frenchmen with pomades and Frenchwomen with hats, make awaywith money earned by blood and hard work, and, like the locusts of Egypt(to use Kostanzhoglo's term) not only devour their prey, but also digholes in the ground and leave behind their eggs.

  Although, unfortunately, the occurrence of a bad harvest retained manylandowners at their country houses, the local tchinovniks (whom thefailure of the harvest did NOT touch) proceeded to let themselves go--asalso, to their undoing, did their wives. The reading of books of thetype diffused, in these modern days, for the inoculation of humanitywith a craving for new and superior amenities of life had caused everyone to conceive a passion for experimenting with the latest luxury; andto meet this want the French wine merchant opened a new establishmentin the shape of a restaurant as had never before been heard of in theprovince--a restaurant where supper could be procured on credit asregarded one-half, and for an unprecedentedly low sum as regarded theother. This exactly suited both heads of boards and clerks who wereliving in hope of being able some day to resume their bribes-taking fromsuitors. There also developed a tendency to compete in the matter ofhorses and liveried flunkeys; with the result that despite the damp andsnowy weather exceedingly elegant turnouts took to parading backwardsand forwards. Whence these equipages had come God only knows, but atleast they would not have disgraced St. Petersburg. From within themmerchants and attorneys doffed their caps to ladies, and inquired aftertheir health, and likewise it became a rare sight to see a bearded manin a rough fur cap, since every one now went about clean-shaven and withdirty teeth, after the European fashion.

  "Sir, I beg of you to inspect my goods," said a tradesman as Chichikovwas passing his establishment. "Within my doors you will find a largevariety of clothing."

  "Have you a cloth of bilberry-coloured check?" inquired the personaddressed.

  "I have cloths of the finest kind," replied the tradesman, raising hiscap with one hand, and pointing to his shop with the other. Chichikoventered, and in a trice the proprietor had dived beneath the counter,and appeared on the other side of it, with his back to his wares and hisface towards the customer. Leaning forward on the tips of his fingers,and indicating his merchandise with just the suspicion of a nod, herequested the gentleman to specify exactly the species of cloth which herequired.

  "A cloth with an olive-coloured or a bottle-tinted spot in itspattern--anything in the nature of bilberry," explained Chichikov.

  "That being so, sir, I may say that I am about to show you clothes of aquality which even our illustrious capitals could not surpass. Hi, boy!Reach down that roll up there--number 34. No, NOT that one, fool! Suchfellows as you are always too good for your job. There--hand it to me.This is indeed a nice pattern!"

  Unfolding the garment, the tradesman thrust it close to Chichikov's nosein order that he might not only handle, but also smell it.

  "Excellent, but not what I want," pronounced Chichikov. "Formerly I wasin the Custom's Department, and therefore wear none but cloth of thelatest make. What I want is of a ruddier pattern than this--not exactlya bottle-tinted pattern, but something approaching bilberry."

  "I understand, sir. Of course you require only the very newest thing. Acloth of that kind I DO possess, sir, and though excessive in price, itis of a quality to match."

  Carrying the roll of stuff to the light--even stepping into the streetfor the purpose--the shopman unfolded his prize with the words, "A trulybeautiful shade! A cloth of smoked grey, shot with flame colour!"

  The material met with the customer's approval, a price was agreed upon,and with incredible celerity the vendor made up the purchase into abrown-paper parcel, and stowed it away in Chichikov's koliaska.

  At this moment a voice asked to be shown a black frockcoat.

  "The devil take me if it isn't Khlobuev!" muttered our hero, turning hisback upon the newcomer. Unfortunately the other had seen him.

  "Come, come, Paul Ivanovitch!" he expostulated. "Surely you do notintend to overlook me? I have been searching for you everywhere, for Ihave something important to say to you."

  "My dear sir, my very dear sir," said Chichikov as he pressed Khlobuev'shand, "I can assure you that, had I the necessary leisure, I shouldat all times be charmed to converse with you." And mentally he added:"Would that the Evil One would fly away with you!"

  Almost at the same time Murazov, the great landowner, entered theshop. As he did so our hero hastened to exclaim: "Why, it is AthanasiVassilievitch! How ARE you, my very dear sir?"

  "Well enough," replied Murazov, removing his cap (Khlobuev and theshopman had already done the same). "How, may I ask, are YOU?"

  "But poorly," replied Chichikov, "for of late I have been troubled withindigestion, and my sleep is bad. I do not get sufficient exercise."

  However, instead of probing deeper into the subject of Chichikov'sailments, Murazov turned to Khlobuev.

  "I saw you enter the shop," he said, "and therefore followed you, forI have something important for your ear. Could you spare me a minute ortwo?"

  "Certainly, certainly," said Khlobuev, and the pair left the shoptogether.

  "I wonder what is afoot between them," said Chichikov to himself.

  "A wise and noble gentleman, Athanasi Vassilievitch!" remarked thetradesman. Chichikov made no reply save a gesture.

  "Paul Ivanovitch, I have been looking for you everywhere," Lienitsin'svoice said from behind him, while again the tradesman hastened to removehis cap. "Pray come home with me, for I have something to say to you."

  Chichikov scanned the speaker's face, but could make nothing of it.Paying the tradesman for the cloth, he left the shop.

/>   Meanwhile Murazov had conveyed Khlobuev to his rooms.

  "Tell me," he said to his guest, "exactly how your affairs stand. I takeit that, after all, your aunt left you something?"

  "It would be difficult to say whether or not my affairs are improved,"replied Khlobuev. "True, fifty souls and thirty thousand roubles cameto me from Madame Khanasarova, but I had to pay them away to satisfy mydebts. Consequently I am once more destitute. But the important point isthat there was trickery connected with the legacy, and shameful trickeryat that. Yes, though it may surprise you, it is a fact that that fellowChichikov--"

  "Yes, Semen Semenovitch, but, before you go on to speak of Chichikov,pray tell me something about yourself, and how much, in your opinion,would be sufficient to clear you of your difficulties?"

  "My difficulties are grievous," replied Khlobuev. "To rid myself ofthem, and also to have enough to go on with, I should need to acquireat least a hundred thousand roubles, if not more. In short, things arebecoming impossible for me."

  "And, had you the money, what should you do with it?"

  "I should rent a tenement, and devote myself to the education of mychildren. Not a thought should I give to myself, for my career is over,seeing that it is impossible for me to re-enter the Civil Service and Iam good for nothing else."

  "Nevertheless, when a man is leading an idle life he is apt to incurtemptations which shun his better-employed brother."

  "Yes, but beyond question I am good for nothing, so broken is my health,and such a martyr I am to dyspepsia."

  "But how do you propose to live without working? How can a man like youexist without a post or a position of any kind? Look around you at theworks of God. Everything has its proper function, and pursues its propercourse. Even a stone can be used for one purpose or another. How, then,can it be right for a man who is a thinking being to remain a drone?"

  "But I should not be a drone, for I should employ myself with theeducation of my children."

  "No, Semen Semenovitch--no: THAT you would find the hardest task ofall. For how can a man educate his children who has never even educatedhimself? Instruction can be imparted to children only through the mediumof example; and would a life like yours furnish them with a profitableexample--a life which has been spent in idleness and the playing ofcards? No, Semen Semenovitch. You had far better hand your children overto me. Otherwise they will be ruined. Do not think that I am jesting.Idleness has wrecked your life, and you must flee from it. Can a manlive with nothing to keep him in place? Even a journeyman labourer whoearns the barest pittance may take an interest in his occupation."

  "Athanasi Vassilievitch, I have tried to overcome myself, but whatfurther resource lies open to me? Can I who am old and incapablere-enter the Civil Service and spend year after year at a desk withyouths who are just starting their careers? Moreover, I have lost thetrick of taking bribes; I should only hinder both myself and others;while, as you know, it is a department which has an established casteof its own. Therefore, though I have considered, and even attempted toobtain, every conceivable post, I find myself incompetent for them all.Only in a monastery should I--"

  "Nay, nay. Monasteries, again, are only for those who have worked. Tothose who have spent their youth in dissipation such havens say whatthe ant said to the dragonfly--namely, 'Go you away, and return to yourdancing.' Yes, even in a monastery do folk toil and toil--they donot sit playing whist." Murazov looked at Khlobuev, and added: "SemenSemenovitch, you are deceiving both yourself and me."

  Poor Khlobuev could not utter a word in reply, and Murazov began to feelsorry for him.

  "Listen, Semen Semenovitch," he went on. "I know that you say yourprayers, and that you go to church, and that you observe both Matins andVespers, and that, though averse to early rising, you leave your bed atfour o'clock in the morning before the household fires have been lit."

  "Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch," said Khlobuev, "that is another matteraltogether. That I do, not for man's sake, but for the sake of Him whohas ordered all things here on earth. Yes, I believe that He at leastcan feel compassion for me, that He at least, though I be foul andlowly, will pardon me and receive me when all men have cast me out, andmy best friend has betrayed me and boasted that he has done it for agood end."

  Khlobuev's face was glowing with emotion, and from the older man's eyesalso a tear had started.

  "You will do well to hearken unto Him who is merciful," he said. "Butremember also that, in the eyes of the All-Merciful, honest toil is ofequal merit with a prayer. Therefore take unto yourself whatsoever taskyou may, and do it as though you were doing it, not unto man, but untoGod. Even though to your lot there should fall but the cleaning of afloor, clean that floor as though it were being cleaned for Him alone.And thence at least this good you will reap: that there will remain toyou no time for what is evil--for card playing, for feasting, for allthe life of this gay world. Are you acquainted with Ivan Potapitch?"

  "Yes, not only am I acquainted with him, but I also greatly respecthim."

  "Time was when Ivan Potapitch was a merchant worth half a millionroubles. In everything did he look but for gain, and his affairsprospered exceedingly, so much so that he was able to send his son to beeducated in France, and to marry his daughter to a General. And whetherin his office or at the Exchange, he would stop any friend whom heencountered and carry him off to a tavern to drink, and spend whole daysthus employed. But at last he became bankrupt, and God sent him othermisfortunes also. His son! Ah, well! Ivan Potapitch is now my steward,for he had to begin life over again. Yet once more his affairs are inorder, and, had it been his wish, he could have restarted in businesswith a capital of half a million roubles. 'But no,' he said. 'Asteward am I, and a steward will I remain to the end; for, from beingfull-stomached and heavy with dropsy, I have become strong and well.'Not a drop of liquor passes his lips, but only cabbage soup and gruel.And he prays as none of the rest of us pray, and he helps the poor asnone of the rest of us help them; and to this he would add yet furthercharity if his means permitted him to do so."

  Poor Khlobuev remained silent, as before.

  The elder man took his two hands in his.

  "Semen Semenovitch," he said, "you cannot think how much I pity you, orhow much I have had you in my thoughts. Listen to me. In the monasterythere is a recluse who never looks upon a human face. Of all men whomI know he has the broadest mind, and he breaks not his silence save togive advice. To him I went and said that I had a friend (though Idid not actually mention your name) who was in great trouble of soul.Suddenly the recluse interrupted me with the words: 'God's work first,and our own last. There is need for a church to be built, but no moneywherewith to build it. Money must be collected to that end.' Then heshut to the wicket. I wondered to myself what this could mean, andconcluded that the recluse had been unwilling to accord me his counsel.Next I repaired to the Archimandrite, and had scarce reached his doorwhen he inquired of me whether I could commend to him a man meet to beentrusted with the collection of alms for a church--a man who shouldbelong to the dvoriane or to the more lettered merchants, but who wouldguard the trust as he would guard the salvation of his soul. On theinstant thought I to myself: 'Why should not the Holy Father appointmy friend Semen Semenovitch? For the way of suffering would benefit himgreatly; and as he passed with his ledger from landowner to peasant,and from peasant to townsman, he would learn where folk dwell, and whostands in need of aught, and thus would become better acquainted withthe countryside than folk who dwell in cities. And, thus become, hewould find that his services were always in demand.' Only of late didthe Governor-General say to me that, could he but be furnished with thename of a secretary who should know his work not only by the book butalso by experience, he would give him a great sum, since nothing is tobe learned by the former means, and, through it, much confusion arises."

  "You confound me, you overwhelm me!" said Khlobuev, staring at hiscompanion in open-eyed astonishment. "I can scarcely believe that yourwords are true, seeing that for such a tru
st an active, indefatigableman would be necessary. Moreover, how could I leave my wife and childrenunprovided for?"

  "Have no fear," said Murazov, "I myself will take them under my care, aswell as procure for the children a tutor. Far better and nobler wereit for you to be travelling with a wallet, and asking alms on behalfof God, then to be remaining here and asking alms for yourself alone.Likewise, I will furnish you with a tilt-waggon, so that you may besaved some of the hardships of the journey, and thus be preserved ingood health. Also, I will give you some money for the journey, inorder that, as you pass on your way, you may give to those who standin greater need than their fellows. Thus, if, before giving, you assureyourself that the recipient of the alms is worthy of the same, you willdo much good; and as you travel you will become acquainted with all menand sundry, and they will treat you, not as a tchinovnik to be feared,but as one to whom, as a petitioner on behalf of the Church, they mayunloose their tongues without peril."

  "I feel that the scheme is a splendid one, and would gladly bear my partin it were it not likely to exceed my strength."

  "What is there that does NOT exceed your strength?" said Murazov."Nothing is wholly proportionate to it--everything surpasses it. Helpfrom above is necessary: otherwise we are all powerless. Strength comesof prayer, and of prayer alone. When a man crosses himself, and cries,'Lord, have mercy upon me!' he soon stems the current and wins to theshore. Nor need you take any prolonged thought concerning this matter.All that you need do is to accept it as a commission sent of God. Thetilt-waggon can be prepared for you immediately; and then, as soon asyou have been to the Archimandrite for your book of accounts and hisblessing, you will be free to start on your journey."

  "I submit myself to you, and accept the commission as a divine trust."

  And even as Khlobuev spoke he felt renewed vigour and confidence arisein his soul, and his mind begin to awake to a sense of hopefulness ofeventually being able to put to flight his troubles. And even as it was,the world seemed to be growing dim to his eyes....

  Meanwhile, plea after plea had been presented to the legal authorities,and daily were relatives whom no one had before heard of putting inan appearance. Yes, like vultures to a corpse did these good folk comeflocking to the immense property which Madam Khanasarov had left behindher. Everywhere were heard rumours against Chichikov, rumours withregard to the validity of the second will, rumours with regard to willnumber one, and rumours of larceny and concealment of funds. Also, therecame to hand information with regard both to Chichikov's purchase ofdead souls and to his conniving at contraband goods during his servicein the Customs Department. In short, every possible item of evidencewas exhumed, and the whole of his previous history investigated. Howthe authorities had come to suspect and to ascertain all this God onlyknows, but the fact remains that there had fallen into the hands ofthose authorities information concerning matters of which Chichikov hadbelieved only himself and the four walls to be aware. True, for atime these matters remained within the cognisance of none but thefunctionaries concerned, and failed to reach Chichikov's ears; but atlength a letter from a confidential friend gave him reason to think thatthe fat was about to fall into the fire. Said the letter briefly: "Dearsir, I beg to advise you that possibly legal trouble is pending, butthat you have no cause for uneasiness, seeing that everything willbe attended to by yours very truly." Yet, in spite of its tenor, theepistle reassured its recipient. "What a genius the fellow is!" thoughtChichikov to himself. Next, to complete his satisfaction, his tailorarrived with the new suit which he had ordered. Not without a certainsense of pride did our hero inspect the frockcoat of smoked grey shotwith flame colour and look at it from every point of view, and thentry on the breeches--the latter fitting him like a picture, and quiteconcealing any deficiencies in the matter of his thighs and calves(though, when buckled behind, they left his stomach projecting like adrum). True, the customer remarked that there appeared to be a slighttightness under the right armpit, but the smiling tailor only rejoinedthat that would cause the waist to fit all the better. "Sir," he saidtriumphantly, "you may rest assured that the work has been executedexactly as it ought to have been executed. No one, except in St.Petersburg, could have done it better." As a matter of fact, the tailorhimself hailed from St. Petersburg, but called himself on his signboard"Foreign Costumier from London and Paris"--the truth being that bythe use of a double-barrelled flourish of cities superior to mere"Karlsruhe" and "Copenhagen" he designed to acquire business and cut outhis local rivals.

  Chichikov graciously settled the man's account, and, as soon as he hadgone, paraded at leisure, and con amore, and after the manner of anartist of aesthetic taste, before the mirror. Somehow he seemed to lookbetter than ever in the suit, for his cheeks had now taken on a stillmore interesting air, and his chin an added seductiveness, while hiswhite collar lent tone to his neck, the blue satin tie heightened theeffect of the collar, the fashionable dickey set off the tie,the rich satin waistcoat emphasised the dickey, and thesmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour frockcoat, shining like silk,splendidly rounded off the whole. When he turned to the right he lookedwell: when he turned to the left he looked even better. In short, itwas a costume worthy of a Lord Chamberlain or the species of dandy whoshrinks from swearing in the Russian language, but amply relieves hisfeelings in the language of France. Next, inclining his head slightlyto one side, our hero endeavoured to pose as though he were addressinga middle-aged lady of exquisite refinement; and the result of theseefforts was a picture which any artist might have yearned to portray.Next, his delight led him gracefully to execute a hop in ballet fashion,so that the wardrobe trembled and a bottle of eau-de-Cologne camecrashing to the floor. Yet even this contretemps did not upset him; hemerely called the offending bottle a fool, and then debated whom firsthe should visit in his attractive guise.

  Suddenly there resounded through the hall a clatter of spurred heels,and then the voice of a gendarme saying: "You are commanded to presentyourself before the Governor-General!" Turning round, Chichikov staredin horror at the spectacle presented; for in the doorway there wasstanding an apparition wearing a huge moustache, a helmet surmountedwith a horsehair plume, a pair of crossed shoulder-belts, and a giganticsword! A whole army might have been combined into a single individual!And when Chichikov opened his mouth to speak the apparition repeated,"You are commanded to present yourself before the Governor-General,"and at the same moment our hero caught sight both of a second apparitionoutside the door and of a coach waiting beneath the window. What wasto be done? Nothing whatever was possible. Just as he stood--in hissmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour suit--he had then and there to enterthe vehicle, and, shaking in every limb, and with a gendarme seated byhis side, to start for the residence of the Governor-General.

  And even in the hall of that establishment no time was given him topull himself together, for at once an aide-de-camp said: "Go insideimmediately, for the Prince is awaiting you." And as in a dream did ourhero see a vestibule where couriers were being handed dispatches, andthen a salon which he crossed with the thought, "I suppose I am not tobe allowed a trial, but shall be sent straight to Siberia!" And at thethought his heart started beating in a manner which the most jealousof lovers could not have rivalled. At length there opened a door,and before him he saw a study full of portfolios, ledgers, anddispatch-boxes, with, standing behind them, the gravely menacing figureof the Prince.

  "There stands my executioner," thought Chichikov to himself. "He isabout to tear me to pieces as a wolf tears a lamb."

  Indeed, the Prince's lips were simply quivering with rage.

  "Once before did I spare you," he said, "and allow you to remain in thetown when you ought to have been in prison: yet your only return formy clemency has been to revert to a career of fraud--and of fraud asdishonourable as ever a man engaged in."

  "To what dishonourable fraud do you refer, your Highness?" askedChichikov, trembling from head to foot.

  The Prince approached, and looked him straight in the eyes.

>   "Let me tell you," he said, "that the woman whom you induced to witnessa certain will has been arrested, and that you will be confronted withher."

  The world seemed suddenly to grow dim before Chichikov's sight.

  "Your Highness," he gasped, "I will tell you the whole truth, andnothing but the truth. I am guilty--yes, I am guilty; but I am not soguilty as you think, for I was led away by rascals."

  "That any one can have led you away is impossible," retorted the Prince."Recorded against your name there stand more felonies than even the mosthardened liar could have invented. I believe that never in your lifehave you done a deed not innately dishonourable--that not a kopeck haveyou ever obtained by aught but shameful methods of trickery and theft,the penalty for which is Siberia and the knut. But enough of this! Fromthis room you will be conveyed to prison, where, with other rogues andthieves, you will be confined until your trial may come on. And thisis lenient treatment on my part, for you are worse, far worse, than thefelons who will be your companions. THEY are but poor men in smocks andsheepskins, whereas YOU--" Without concluding his words, the Prince shota glance at Chichikov's smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour apparel.

  Then he touched a bell.

  "Your Highness," cried Chichikov, "have mercy upon me! You are thefather of a family! Spare me for the sake of my aged mother!"

  "Rubbish!" exclaimed the Prince. "Even as before you besought me for thesake of a wife and children whom you did not even possess, so now youwould speak to me of an aged mother!"

  "Your Highness," protested Chichikov, "though I am a wretch and thelowest of rascals, and though it is true that I lied when I toldyou that I possessed a wife and children, I swear that, as God is mywitness, it has always been my DESIRE to possess a wife, and to fulfilall the duties of a man and a citizen, and to earn the respect of myfellows and the authorities. But what could be done against the forceof circumstances? By hook or by crook I have ever been forced to wina living, though confronted at every step by wiles and temptations andtraitorous enemies and despoilers. So much has this been so that mylife has, throughout, resembled a barque tossed by tempestuous waves,a barque driven at the mercy of the winds. Ah, I am only a man, yourHighness!"

  And in a moment the tears had gushed in torrents from his eyes, and hehad fallen forward at the Prince's feet--fallen forward just as hewas, in his smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour frockcoat, his velvetwaistcoat, his satin tie, and his exquisitely fitting breeches, whilefrom his neatly brushed pate, as again and again he struck his handagainst his forehead, there came an odorous whiff of best-qualityeau-de-Cologne.

  "Away with him!" exclaimed the Prince to the gendarme who had justentered. "Summon the escort to remove him."

  "Your Highness!" Chichikov cried again as he clasped the Prince's knees;but, shuddering all over, and struggling to free himself, the Princerepeated his order for the prisoner's removal.

  "Your Highness, I say that I will not leave this room until you haveaccorded me mercy!" cried Chichikov as he clung to the Prince's leg withsuch tenacity that, frockcoat and all, he began to be dragged along thefloor.

  "Away with him, I say!" once more the Prince exclaimed with the sort ofindefinable aversion which one feels at the sight of a repulsiveinsect which he cannot summon up the courage to crush with his boot. Soconvulsively did the Prince shudder that Chichikov, clinging to his leg,received a kick on the nose. Yet still the prisoner retained his hold;until at length a couple of burly gendarmes tore him away and,grasping his arms, hurried him--pale, dishevelled, and in that strange,half-conscious condition into which a man sinks when he sees beforehim only the dark, terrible figure of death, the phantom which is soabhorrent to all our natures--from the building. But on the thresholdthe party came face to face with Murazov, and in Chichikov's heartthe circumstance revived a ray of hope. Wresting himself with almostsupernatural strength from the grasp of the escorting gendarmes, hethrew himself at the feet of the horror-stricken old man.

  "Paul Ivanovitch," Murazov exclaimed, "what has happened to you?"

  "Save me!" gasped Chichikov. "They are taking me away to prison anddeath!"

  Yet almost as he spoke the gendarmes seized him again, and hurried himaway so swiftly that Murazov's reply escaped his ears.

  A damp, mouldy cell which reeked of soldiers' boots and leggings, anunvarnished table, two sorry chairs, a window closed with a grating, acrazy stove which, while letting the smoke emerge through its cracks,gave out no heat--such was the den to which the man who had just begunto taste the sweets of life, and to attract the attention of his fellowswith his new suit of smoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour, now foundhimself consigned. Not even necessaries had he been allowed to bringaway with him, nor his dispatch-box which contained all his booty. No,with the indenture deeds of the dead souls, it was lodged in the handsof a tchinovnik; and as he thought of these things Chichikov rolledabout the floor, and felt the cankerous worm of remorse seize upon andgnaw at his heart, and bite its way ever further and further into thatheart so defenceless against its ravages, until he made up his mindthat, should he have to suffer another twenty-four hours of this misery,there would no longer be a Chichikov in the world. Yet over him, as overevery one, there hung poised the All-Saving Hand; and, an hour after hisarrival at the prison, the doors of the gaol opened to admit Murazov.

  Compared with poor Chichikov's sense of relief when the old man enteredhis cell, even the pleasure experienced by a thirsty, dusty travellerwhen he is given a drink of clear spring water to cool his dry, parchedthroat fades into insignificance.

  "Ah, my deliverer!" he cried as he rose from the floor, where he hadbeen grovelling in heartrending paroxysms of grief. Seizing the oldman's hand, he kissed it and pressed it to his bosom. Then, burstinginto tears, he added: "God Himself will reward you for having come tovisit an unfortunate wretch!"

  Murazov looked at him sorrowfully, and said no more than "Ah, PaulIvanovitch, Paul Ivanovitch! What has happened?"

  "What has happened?" cried Chichikov. "I have been ruined by an accursedwoman. That was because I could not do things in moderation--I waspowerless to stop myself in time, Satan tempted me, and drove me frommy senses, and bereft me of human prudence. Yes, truly I have sinned, Ihave sinned! Yet how came I so to sin? To think that a dvorianin--yes,a dvorianin--should be thrown into prison without process or trial! Irepeat, a dvorianin! Why was I not given time to go home and collect myeffects? Whereas now they are left with no one to look after them! Mydispatch-box, my dispatch-box! It contained my whole property, all thatmy heart's blood and years of toil and want have been needed to acquire.And now everything will be stolen, Athanasi Vassilievitch--everythingwill be taken from me! My God!"

  And, unable to stand against the torrent of grief which came rushingover his heart once more, he sobbed aloud in tones which penetrated eventhe thickness of the prison walls, and made dull echoes awake behindthem. Then, tearing off his satin tie, and seizing by the collar, thesmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour frockcoat, he stripped the latterfrom his shoulders.

  "Ah, Paul Ivanovitch," said the old man, "how even now the propertywhich you have acquired is blinding your eyes, and causing you to failto realise your terrible position!"

  "Yes, my good friend and benefactor," wailed poor Chichikovdespairingly, and clasping Murazov by the knees. "Yet save me if youcan! The Prince is fond of you, and would do anything for your sake."

  "No, Paul Ivanovitch; however much I might wish to save you, and howevermuch I might try to do so, I could not help you as you desire; for it isto the power of an inexorable law, and not to the authority of any oneman, that you have rendered yourself subject."

  "Satan tempted me, and has ended by making of me an outcast from thehuman race!" Chichikov beat his head against the wall and struck thetable with his fist until the blood spurted from his hand. Yet neitherhis head nor his hand seemed to be conscious of the least pain.

  "Calm yourself, Paul Ivanovitch," said Murazov. "Calm yourself, andconsider how best you can make your peac
e with God. Think of yourmiserable soul, and not of the judgment of man."

  "I will, Athanasi Vassilievitch, I will. But what a fate is mine! Didever such a fate befall a man? To think of all the patience with whichI have gathered my kopecks, of all the toil and trouble which I haveendured! Yet what I have done has not been done with the intention ofrobbing any one, nor of cheating the Treasury. Why, then, did I gatherthose kopecks? I gathered them to the end that one day I might be ableto live in plenty, and also to have something to leave to the wifeand children whom, for the benefit and welfare of my country, I hopedeventually to win and maintain. That was why I gathered those kopecks.True, I worked by devious methods--that I fully admit; but what elsecould I do? And even devious methods I employed only when I saw that thestraight road would not serve my purpose so well as a crooked. Moreover,as I toiled, the appetite for those methods grew upon me. Yet whatI took I took only from the rich; whereas villains exist who, whiledrawing thousands a year from the Treasury, despoil the poor, and takefrom the man with nothing even that which he has. Is it not the crueltyof fate, therefore, that, just when I was beginning to reap the harvestof my toil--to touch it, so to speak, with the tip of one finger--thereshould have arisen a sudden storm which has sent my barque to pieces ona rock? My capital had nearly reached the sum of three hundred thousandroubles, and a three-storied house was as good as mine, and twice overI could have bought a country estate. Why, then, should such a tempesthave burst upon me? Why should I have sustained such a blow? Was not mylife already like a barque tossed to and fro by the billows? Whereis Heaven's justice--where is the reward for all my patience, for myboundless perseverance? Three times did I have to begin life afresh, andeach time that I lost my all I began with a single kopeck at a momentwhen other men would have given themselves up to despair and drink. Howmuch did I not have to overcome. How much did I not have to bear! Everykopeck which I gained I had to make with my whole strength; for though,to others, wealth may come easily, every coin of mine had to be 'forgedwith a nail worth three kopecks' as the proverb has it. With such anail--with the nail of an iron, unwearying perseverance--did _I_ forgemy kopecks."

  Convulsively sobbing with a grief which he could not repress, Chichikovsank upon a chair, tore from his shoulders the last ragged, trailingremnants of his frockcoat, and hurled them from him. Then, thrusting hisfingers into the hair which he had once been so careful to preserve, hepulled it out by handfuls at a time, as though he hoped through physicalpain to deaden the mental agony which he was suffering.

  Meanwhile Murazov sat gazing in silence at the unwonted spectacle ofa man who had lately been mincing with the gait of a worldling or amilitary fop now writhing in dishevelment and despair as he poured outupon the hostile forces by which human ingenuity so often finds itselfoutwitted a flood of invective.

  "Paul Ivanovitch, Paul Ivanovitch," at length said Murazov, "whatcould not each of us rise to be did we but devote to good ends the samemeasure of energy and of patience which we bestow upon unworthy objects!How much good would not you yourself have effected! Yet I do not grieveso much for the fact that you have sinned against your fellow as Igrieve for the fact that you have sinned against yourself and the richstore of gifts and opportunities which has been committed to your care.Though originally destined to rise, you have wandered from the path andfallen."

  "Ah, Athanasi Vassilievitch," cried poor Chichikov, clasping his friend'shands, "I swear to you that, if you would but restore me my freedom, andrecover for me my lost property, I would lead a different life from thistime forth. Save me, you who alone can work my deliverance! Save me!"

  "How can I do that? So to do I should need to procure the setting asideof a law. Again, even if I were to make the attempt, the Prince is astrict administrator, and would refuse on any consideration to releaseyou."

  "Yes, but for you all things are possible. It is not the law thattroubles me: with that I could find a means to deal. It is the fact thatfor no offence at all I have been cast into prison, and treated likea dog, and deprived of my papers and dispatch-box and all my property.Save me if you can."

  Again clasping the old man's knees, he bedewed them with his tears.

  "Paul Ivanovitch," said Murazov, shaking his head, "how that propertyof yours still seals your eyes and ears, so that you cannot so much aslisten to the promptings of your own soul!"

  "Ah, I will think of my soul, too, if only you will save me."

  "Paul Ivanovitch," the old man began again, and then stopped. For alittle while there was a pause.

  "Paul Ivanovitch," at length he went on, "to save you does not liewithin my power. Surely you yourself see that? But, so far as I can,I will endeavour to, at all events, lighten your lot and procure youreventual release. Whether or not I shall succeed I do not know; but Iwill make the attempt. And should I, contrary to my expectations, provesuccessful, I beg of you, in return for these my efforts, to renounceall thought of benefit from the property which you have acquired.Sincerely do I assure you that, were I myself to be deprived of myproperty (and my property greatly exceeds yours in magnitude), I shouldnot shed a single tear. It is not the property of which men can depriveus that matters, but the property of which no one on earth can depriveor despoil us. You are a man who has seen something of life--to useyour own words, you have been a barque tossed hither and thither bytempestuous waves: yet still will there be left to you a remnant ofsubstance on which to live, and therefore I beseech you to settle downin some quiet nook where there is a church, and where none but plain,good-hearted folk abide. Or, should you feel a yearning to leave behindyou posterity, take in marriage a good woman who shall bring you,not money, but an aptitude for simple, modest domestic life. Butthis life--the life of turmoil, with its longings and itstemptations--forget, and let it forget YOU; for there is no peace init. See for yourself how, at every step, it brings one but hatred andtreachery and deceit."

  "Indeed, yes!" agreed the repentant Chichikov. "Gladly will I do as youwish, since for many a day past have I been longing to amend my life,and to engage in husbandry, and to reorder my affairs. A demon, thetempter Satan himself, has beguiled me and led me from the right path."

  Suddenly there had recurred to Chichikov long-unknown, long-unfamiliarfeelings. Something seemed to be striving to come to life again inhim--something dim and remote, something which had been crushed out ofhis boyhood by the dreary, deadening education of his youthful days, byhis desolate home, by his subsequent lack of family ties, by the povertyand niggardliness of his early impressions, by the grim eye of fate--aneye which had always seemed to be regarding him as through a misty,mournful, frost-encrusted window-pane, and to be mocking at hisstruggles for freedom. And as these feelings came back to the penitenta groan burst from his lips, and, covering his face with his hands, hemoaned: "It is all true, it is all true!"

  "Of little avail are knowledge of the world and experience of men unlessbased upon a secure foundation," observed Murazov. "Though you havefallen, Paul Ivanovitch, awake to better things, for as yet there istime."

  "No, no!" groaned Chichikov in a voice which made Murazov's heart bleed."It is too late, too late. More and more is the conviction gaining uponme that I am powerless, that I have strayed too far ever to be able todo as you bid me. The fact that I have become what I am is due to myearly schooling; for, though my father taught me moral lessons, and beatme, and set me to copy maxims into a book, he himself stole land fromhis neighbours, and forced me to help him. I have even known him tobring an unjust suit, and defraud the orphan whose guardian he was!Consequently I know and feel that, though my life has been differentfrom his, I do not hate roguery as I ought to hate it, and that mynature is coarse, and that in me there is no real love for what is good,no real spark of that beautiful instinct for well-doing which becomesa second nature, a settled habit. Also, never do I yearn to strive forwhat is right as I yearn to acquire property. This is no more than thetruth. What else could I do but confess it?"

  The old man sighed.

  "Paul I
vanovitch," he said, "I know that you possess will-power, andthat you possess also perseverance. A medicine may be bitter, yet thepatient will gladly take it when assured that only by its means can herecover. Therefore, if it really be that you have no genuine love fordoing good, do good by FORCING yourself to do so. Thus you will benefityourself even more than you will benefit him for whose sake the actis performed. Only force yourself to do good just once and again, and,behold, you will suddenly conceive the TRUE love for well-doing. Thatis so, believe me. 'A kingdom is to be won only by striving,' says theproverb. That is to say, things are to be attained only by putting forthone's whole strength, since nothing short of one's whole strength willbring one to the desired goal. Paul Ivanovitch, within you there is asource of strength denied to many another man. I refer to the strengthof an iron perseverance. Cannot THAT help you to overcome? Most men areweak and lack will-power, whereas I believe that you possess the powerto act a hero's part."

  Sinking deep into Chichikov's heart, these words would seem to havearoused in it a faint stirring of ambition, so much so that, if it wasnot fortitude which shone in his eyes, at all events it was somethingvirile, and of much the same nature.

  "Athanasi Vassilievitch," he said firmly, "if you will but petitionfor my release, as well as for permission for me to leave here with aportion of my property, I swear to you on my word of honour that I willbegin a new life, and buy a country estate, and become the head of ahousehold, and save money, not for myself, but for others, and do goodeverywhere, and to the best of my ability, and forget alike myself andthe feasting and debauchery of town life, and lead, instead, a plain,sober existence."

  "In that resolve may God strengthen you!" cried the old man withunbounded joy. "And I, for my part, will do my utmost to procureyour release. And though God alone knows whether my efforts will besuccessful, at all events I hope to bring about a mitigation of yoursentence. Come, let me embrace you! How you have filled my heart withgladness! With God's help, I will now go to the Prince."

  And the next moment Chichikov found himself alone. His whole nature feltshaken and softened, even as, when the bellows have fanned the furnaceto a sufficient heat, a plate compounded even of the hardest and mostfire-resisting metal dissolves, glows, and turns to the liquefied state.

  "I myself can feel but little," he reflected, "but I intend to use myevery faculty to help others to feel. I myself am but bad and worthless,but I intend to do my utmost to set others on the right road. I myselfam but an indifferent Christian, but I intend to strive never to yieldto temptation, but to work hard, and to till my land with the sweat ofmy brow, and to engage only in honourable pursuits, and to influence myfellows in the same direction. For, after all, am I so very useless?At least I could maintain a household, for I am frugal and active andintelligent and steadfast. The only thing is to make up my mind to it."

  Thus Chichikov pondered; and as he did so his half-awakened energies ofsoul touched upon something. That is to say, dimly his instinctdivined that every man has a duty to perform, and that that duty maybe performed here, there, and everywhere, and no matter what thecircumstances and the emotions and the difficulties which compass a manabout. And with such clearness did Chichikov mentally picture to himselfthe life of grateful toil which lies removed from the bustle of townsand the temptations which man, forgetful of the obligation of labour,has invented to beguile an hour of idleness that almost our hero forgothis unpleasant position, and even felt ready to thank Providence forthe calamity which had befallen him, provided that it should end in hisbeing released, and in his receiving back a portion of his property.

  Presently the massive door of the cell opened to admit a tchinovniknamed Samosvitov, a robust, sensual individual who was reputed by hiscomrades to be something of a rake. Had he served in the army, hewould have done wonders, for he would have stormed any point, howeverdangerous and inaccessible, and captured cannon under the very nosesof the foe; but, as it was, the lack of a more warlike field for hisenergies caused him to devote the latter principally to dissipation.Nevertheless he enjoyed great popularity, for he was loyal to the pointthat, once his word had been given, nothing would ever make him breakit. At the same time, some reason or another led him to regard hissuperiors in the light of a hostile battery which, come what might, hemust breach at any weak or unguarded spot or gap which might be capableof being utilised for the purpose.

  "We have all heard of your plight," he began as soon as the door hadbeen safely closed behind him. "Yes, every one has heard of it. Butnever mind. Things will yet come right. We will do our very best foryou, and act as your humble servants in everything. Thirty thousandroubles is our price--no more."

  "Indeed!" said Chichikov. "And, for that, shall I be completelyexonerated?"

  "Yes, completely, and also given some compensation for your loss oftime."

  "And how much am I to pay in return, you say?"

  "Thirty thousand roubles, to be divided among ourselves, theGovernor-General's staff, and the Governor-General's secretary."

  "But how is even that to be managed, for all my effects, including mydispatch-box, will have been sealed up and taken away for examination?"

  "In an hour's time they will be within your hands again," saidSamosvitov. "Shall we shake hands over the bargain?"

  Chichikov did so with a beating heart, for he could scarcely believe hisears.

  "For the present, then, farewell," concluded Samosvitov. "I haveinstructed a certain mutual friend that the important points are silenceand presence of mind."

  "Hm!" thought Chichikov. "It is to my lawyer that he is referring."

  Even when Samosvitov had departed the prisoner found it difficult tocredit all that had been said. Yet not an hour had elapsed before amessenger arrived with his dispatch-box and the papers and money thereinpractically undisturbed and intact! Later it came out that Samosvitovhad assumed complete authority in the matter. First, he had rebuked thegendarmes guarding Chichikov's effects for lack of vigilance, and thensent word to the Superintendent that additional men were required forthe purpose; after which he had taken the dispatch-box into his owncharge, removed from it every paper which could possibly compromiseChichikov, sealed up the rest in a packet, and ordered a gendarme toconvey the whole to their owner on the pretence of forwarding him sundrygarments necessary for the night. In the result Chichikov received notonly his papers, but also some warm clothing for his hypersensitivelimbs. Such a swift recovery of his treasures delighted him beyondexpression, and, gathering new hope, he began once more to dream of suchallurements as theatre-going and the ballet girl after whom he had forsome time past been dangling. Gradually did the country estate and thesimple life begin to recede into the distance: gradually did the townhouse and the life of gaiety begin to loom larger and larger in theforeground. Oh, life, life!

  Meanwhile in Government offices and chancellories there had been seton foot a boundless volume of work. Clerical pens slaved, and brainsskilled in legal casus toiled; for each official had the artist's likingfor the curved line in preference to the straight. And all the while,like a hidden magician, Chichikov's lawyer imparted driving power tothat machine which caught up a man into its mechanism before he couldeven look round. And the complexity of it increased and increased, forSamosvitov surpassed himself in importance and daring. On learningof the place of confinement of the woman who had been arrested, hepresented himself at the doors, and passed so well for a smart youngofficer of gendarmery that the sentry saluted and sprang to attention.

  "Have you been on duty long?" asked Samosvitov.

  "Since this morning, your Excellency."

  "And shall you soon be relieved?"

  "In three hours from now, your Excellency."

  "Presently I shall want you, so I will instruct your officer to have yourelieved at once."

  "Very good, your Excellency."

  Hastening home, thereafter, at top speed, and donning the uniform ofa gendarme, with a false moustache and a pair of false whiskers--anensemble in wh
ich the devil himself would not have known him, Samosvitovthen made for the gaol where Chichikov was confined, and, en route,impressed into the service the first street woman whom he encountered,and handed her over to the care of two young fellows of like sortwith himself. The next step was to hurry back to the prison where theoriginal woman had been interned, and there to intimate to the sentrythat he, Samosvitov (with whiskers and rifle complete), had been sentto relieve the said sentry at his post--a proceeding which, of course,enabled the newly-arrived relief to ensure, while performing hisself-assumed turn of duty, that for the woman lying under arrest thereshould be substituted the woman recently recruited to the plot, and thatthe former should then be conveyed to a place of concealment where shewas highly unlikely to be discovered.

  Meanwhile, Samosvitov's feats in the military sphere were being rivalledby the wonders worked by Chichikov's lawyer in the civilian field ofaction. As a first step, the lawyer caused it to be intimated to thelocal Governor that the Public Prosecutor was engaged in drawing up areport to his, the local Governor's, detriment; whereafter the lawyercaused it to be intimated also to the Chief of Gendarmery that a certainconfidential official was engaged in doing the same by HIM; whereafter,again, the lawyer confided to the confidential official in questionthat, owing to the documentary exertions of an official of a stillmore confidential nature than the first, he (the confidential officialfirst-mentioned) was in a fair way to find himself in the same boat asboth the local Governor and the Chief of Gendarmery: with the resultthat the whole trio were reduced to a frame of mind in which they wereonly too glad to turn to him (Samosvitov) for advice. The ultimate andfarcical upshot was that report came crowding upon report, and that suchalleged doings were brought to light as the sun had never before beheld.In fact, the documents in question employed anything and everything asmaterial, even to announcing that such and such an individual had anillegitimate son, that such and such another kept a paid mistress, andthat such and such a third was troubled with a gadabout wife; wherebythere became interwoven with and welded into Chichikov's past historyand the story of the dead souls such a crop of scandals and innuendoesthat by no manner of means could any mortal decide to which of theserubbishy romances to award the palm, since all of them presented an equalclaim to that honour. Naturally, when, at length, the dossier reachedthe Governor-General himself it simply flabbergasted the poor man; andeven the exceptionally clever and energetic secretary to whom he deputedthe making of an abstract of the same very nearly lost his reason withthe strain of attempting to lay hold of the tangled end of the skein. Ithappened that just at that time the Prince had several other importantaffairs on hand, and affairs of a very unpleasant nature. That is tosay, famine had made its appearance in one portion of the province, andthe tchinovniks sent to distribute food to the people had done theirwork badly; in another portion of the province certain Raskolniki [51]were in a state of ferment, owing to the spreading of a report thanan Antichrist had arisen who would not even let the dead rest, but waspurchasing them wholesale--wherefore the said Raskolniki were summoningfolk to prayer and repentance, and, under cover of capturing theAntichrist in question, were bludgeoning non-Antichrists in batches;lastly, the peasants of a third portion of the province had risenagainst the local landowners and superintendents of police, for thereason that certain rascals had started a rumour that the time was comewhen the peasants themselves were to become landowners, and to wearfrockcoats, while the landowners in being were about to revert to thepeasant state, and to take their own wares to market; wherefore one ofthe local volosts[52], oblivious of the fact that an order of thingsof that kind would lead to a superfluity alike of landowners andof superintendents of police, had refused to pay its taxes, andnecessitated recourse to forcible measures. Hence it was in a moodof the greatest possible despondency that the poor Prince was sittingplunged when word was brought to him that the old man who had gone bailfor Chichikov was waiting to see him.

  "Show him in," said the Prince; and the old man entered.

  "A fine fellow your Chichikov!" began the Prince angrily. "You defendedhim, and went bail for him, even though he had been up to business whicheven the lowest thief would not have touched!"

  "Pardon me, your Highness; I do not understand to what you arereferring."

  "I am referring to the matter of the fraudulent will. The fellow oughtto have been given a public flogging for it."

  "Although to exculpate Chichikov is not my intention, might I askyou whether you do not think the case is non-proven? At all events,sufficient evidence against him is still lacking."

  "What? We have as chief witness the woman who personated the deceased,and I will have her interrogated in your presence."

  Touching a bell, the Prince ordered her to be sent for.

  "It is a most disgraceful affair," he went on; "and, ashamed though I amto have to say it, some of our leading tchinovniks, including the localGovernor himself, have become implicated in the matter. Yet you tell methat this Chichikov ought not to be confined among thieves and rascals!"Clearly the Governor-General's wrath was very great indeed.

  "Your Highness," said Murazov, "the Governor of the town is one of theheirs under the will: wherefore he has a certain right to intervene.Also, the fact that extraneous persons have meddled in the matter isonly what is to be expected from human nature. A rich woman dies, andno exact, regular disposition of her property is made. Hence there comesflocking from every side a cloud of fortune hunters. What else could oneexpect? Such is human nature."

  "Yes, but why should such persons go and commit fraud?" asked thePrince irritably. "I feel as though not a single honest tchinovnik wereavailable--as though every one of them were a rogue."

  "Your Highness, which of us is altogether beyond reproach? Thetchinovniks of our town are human beings, and no more. Some of them aremen of worth, and nearly all of them men skilled in business--thoughalso, unfortunately, largely inter-related."

  "Now, tell me this, Athanasi Vassilievitch," said the Prince, "for youare about the only honest man of my acquaintance. What has inspired inyou such a penchant for defending rascals?"

  "This," replied Murazov. "Take any man you like of the persons whom youthus term rascals. That man none the less remains a human being. Thatbeing so, how can one refuse to defend him when all the time oneknows that half his errors have been committed through ignorance andstupidity? Each of us commits faults with every step that we take;each of us entails unhappiness upon others with every breath that wedraw--and that although we may have no evil intention whatever in ourminds. Your Highness himself has, before now, committed an injustice ofthe gravest nature."

  "_I_ have?" cried the Prince, taken aback by this unexpected turn givento the conversation.

  Murazov remained silent for a moment, as though he were debatingsomething in his thoughts. Then he said:

  "Nevertheless it is as I say. You committed the injustice in the case ofthe lad Dierpiennikov."

  "What, Athanasi Vassilievitch? The fellow had infringed one of theFundamental Laws! He had been found guilty of treason!"

  "I am not seeking to justify him; I am only asking you whether you thinkit right that an inexperienced youth who had been tempted and led awayby others should have received the same sentence as the man whohad taken the chief part in the affair. That is to say, althoughDierpiennikov and the man Voron-Drianni received an equal measure ofpunishment, their CRIMINALITY was not equal."

  "If," exclaimed the Prince excitedly, "you know anything furtherconcerning the case, for God's sake tell it me at once. Only the otherday did I forward a recommendation that St. Petersburg should remit aportion of the sentence."

  "Your Highness," replied Murazov, "I do not mean that I know ofanything which does not lie also within your own cognisance, though onecircumstance there was which might have told in the lad's favour had henot refused to admit it, lest another should suffer injury. All thatI have in my mind is this. On that occasion were you not a littleover-hasty in coming to a conclusion? You wil
l understand, of course,that I am judging only according to my own poor lights, and for thereason that on more than one occasion you have urged me to be frank. Inthe days when I myself acted as a chief of gendarmery I came in contactwith a great number of accused--some of them bad, some of them good; andin each case I found it well also to consider a man's past career, forthe reason that, unless one views things calmly, instead of at oncedecrying a man, he is apt to take alarm, and to make it impossiblethereafter to get any real confession from him. If, on the other hand,you question a man as friend might question friend, the result will bethat straightway he will tell you everything, nor ask for mitigation ofhis penalty, nor bear you the least malice, in that he will understandthat it is not you who have punished him, but the law."

  The Prince relapsed into thought; until presently there entered a youngtchinovnik. Portfolio in hand, this official stood waiting respectfully.Care and hard work had already imprinted their insignia upon his freshyoung face; for evidently he had not been in the Service for nothing. Asa matter of fact, his greatest joy was to labour at a tangled case, andsuccessfully to unravel it.

  [At this point a long hiatus occurs in the original.]

  "I will send corn to the localities where famine is worst," saidMurazov, "for I understand that sort of work better than do thetchinovniks, and will personally see to the needs of each person. Also,if you will allow me, your Highness, I will go and have a talk with theRaskolniki. They are more likely to listen to a plain man than to anofficial. God knows whether I shall succeed in calming them, but atleast no tchinovnik could do so, for officials of the kind merely drawup reports and lose their way among their own documents--with the resultthat nothing comes of it. Nor will I accept from you any money for thesepurposes, since I am ashamed to devote as much as a thought to my ownpocket at a time when men are dying of hunger. I have a large stock ofgrain lying in my granaries; in addition to which, I have sent orders toSiberia that a new consignment shall be forwarded me before the comingsummer."

  "Of a surety will God reward you for your services, AthanasiVassilievitch! Not another word will I say to you on the subject, foryou yourself feel that any words from me would be inadequate. Yet tellme one thing: I refer to the case of which you know. Have I the right topass over the case? Also, would it be just and honourable on my part tolet the offending tchinovniks go unpunished?"

  "Your Highness, it is impossible to return a definite answer to thosetwo questions: and the more so because many rascals are at heart men ofrectitude. Human problems are difficult things to solve. Sometimes a manmay be drawn into a vicious circle, so that, having once entered it, heceases to be himself."

  "But what would the tchinovniks say if I allowed the case to be passedover? Would not some of them turn up their noses at me, and declarethat they have effected my intimidation? Surely they would be the lastpersons in the world to respect me for my action?"

  "Your Highness, I think this: that your best course would be to callthem together, and to inform them that you know everything, and toexplain to them your personal attitude (exactly as you have explainedit to me), and to end by at once requesting their advice and askingthem what each of them would have done had he been placed in similarcircumstances."

  "What? You think that those tchinovniks would be so accessible to loftymotives that they would cease thereafter to be venal and meticulous? Ishould be laughed at for my pains."

  "I think not, your Highness. Even the baser section of humanitypossesses a certain sense of equity. Your wisest plan, your Highness,would be to conceal nothing and to speak to them as you have just spokento me. If, at present, they imagine you to be ambitious and proudand unapproachable and self-assured, your action would afford theman opportunity of seeing how the case really stands. Why should youhesitate? You would but be exercising your undoubted right. Speak tothem as though delivering not a message of your own, but a message fromGod."

  "I will think it over," the Prince said musingly, "and meanwhile I thankyou from my heart for your good advice."

  "Also, I should order Chichikov to leave the town," suggested Murazov.

  "Yes, I will do so. Tell him from me that he is to depart hence asquickly as possible, and that the further he should remove himself, thebetter it will be for him. Also, tell him that it is only owing to yourefforts that he has received a pardon at my hands."

  Murazov bowed, and proceeded from the Prince's presence to that ofChichikov. He found the prisoner cheerfully enjoying a hearty dinnerwhich, under hot covers, had been brought him from an exceedinglyexcellent kitchen. But almost the first words which he uttered showedMurazov that the prisoner had been having dealings with the army ofbribe-takers; as also that in those transactions his lawyer had playedthe principal part.

  "Listen, Paul Ivanovitch," the old man said. "I bring you your freedom,but only on this condition--that you depart out of the town forthwith.Therefore gather together your effects, and waste not a moment, lestworse befall you. Also, of all that a certain person has contrived todo on your behalf I am aware; wherefore let me tell you, as betweenourselves, that should the conspiracy come to light, nothing on earthcan save him, and in his fall he will involve others rather then be leftunaccompanied in the lurch, and not see the guilt shared. How is it thatwhen I left you recently you were in a better frame of mind than you arenow? I beg of you not to trifle with the matter. Ah me! what boots thatwealth for which men dispute and cut one another's throats? Do theythink that it is possible to prosper in this world without thinking ofthe world to come? Believe me when I say that, until a man shall haverenounced all that leads humanity to contend without giving a thought tothe ordering of spiritual wealth, he will never set his temporal goodseither upon a satisfactory foundation. Yes, even as times of want andscarcity may come upon nations, so may they come upon individuals. Nomatter what may be said to the contrary, the body can never dispensewith the soul. Why, then, will you not try to walk in the right way,and, by thinking no longer of dead souls, but only of your only livingone, regain, with God's help, the better road? I too am leaving the townto-morrow. Hasten, therefore, lest, bereft of my assistance, you meetwith some dire misfortune."

  And the old man departed, leaving Chichikov plunged in thought. Oncemore had the gravity of life begun to loom large before him.

  "Yes, Murazov was right," he said to himself. "It is time that I weremoving."

  Leaving the prison--a warder carrying his effects in his wake--he foundSelifan and Petrushka overjoyed at seeing their master once more atliberty.

  "Well, good fellows?" he said kindly. "And now we must pack and be off."

  "True, true, Paul Ivanovitch," agreed Selifan. "And by this time theroads will have become firmer, for much snow has fallen. Yes, high timeis it that we were clear of the town. So weary of it am I that the sightof it hurts my eyes."

  "Go to the coachbuilder's," commanded Chichikov, "and havesledge-runners fitted to the koliaska."

  Chichikov then made his way into the town--though not with the object ofpaying farewell visits (in view of recent events, that might have givenrise to some awkwardness), but for the purpose of paying an unobtrusivecall at the shop where he had obtained the cloth for his latestsuit. There he now purchased four more arshins of the samesmoked-grey-shot-with-flame-colour material as he had had before, withthe intention of having it made up by the tailor who had fashioned theprevious costume; and by promising double remuneration he induced thetailor in question so to hasten the cutting out of the garments that,through sitting up all night over the work, the man might have the wholeready by break of day. True, the goods were delivered a trifle afterthe appointed hour, yet the following morning saw the coat and breechescompleted; and while the horses were being put to, Chichikov tried onthe clothes, and found them equal to the previous creation, even thoughduring the process he caught sight of a bald patch on his head, and wasled mournfully to reflect: "Alas! Why did I give way to such despair?Surely I need not have torn my hair out so freely?"

  Then, wh
en the tailor had been paid, our hero left the town. But nolonger was he the old Chichikov--he was only a ruin of what he had been,and his frame of mind might have been compared to a building recentlypulled down to make room for a new one, while the new one had not yetbeen erected owing to the non-receipt of the plans from the architect.Murazov, too, had departed, but at an earlier hour, and in a tilt-waggonwith Ivan Potapitch.

  An hour later the Governor-General issued to all and sundry officialsa notice that, on the occasion of his departure for St. Petersburg,he would be glad to see the corps of tchinovniks at a private meeting.Accordingly all ranks and grades of officialdom repaired to hisresidence, and there awaited--not without a certain measure oftrepidation and of searching of heart--the Governor-General's entry.When that took place he looked neither clear nor dull. Yet his bearingwas proud, and his step assured. The tchinovniks bowed--some of them tothe waist, and he answered their salutations with a slight inclinationof the head. Then he spoke as follows:

  "Since I am about to pay a visit to St. Petersburg, I have thought itright to meet you, and to explain to you privately my reasons for doingso. An affair of a most scandalous character has taken place in ourmidst. To what affair I am referring I think most of those present willguess. Now, an automatic process has led to that affair bringing aboutthe discovery of other matters. Those matters are no less dishonourablethan the primary one; and to that I regret to have to add that therestand involved in them certain persons whom I had hitherto believedto be honourable. Of the object aimed at by those who have complicatedmatters to the point of making their resolution almost impossible byordinary methods I am aware; as also I am aware of the identity of theringleader, despite the skill with which he has sought to conceal hisshare in the scandal. But the principal point is, that I propose todecide these matters, not by formal documentary process, but by themore summary process of court-martial, and that I hope, when thecircumstances have been laid before his Imperial Majesty, to receivefrom him authority to adopt the course which I have mentioned. For Iconceive that when it has become impossible to resolve a case by civilmeans, and some of the necessary documents have been burnt, and attemptshave been made (both through the adduction of an excess of false andextraneous evidence and through the framing of fictitious reports)to cloud an already sufficiently obscure investigation with an addedmeasure of complexity,--when all these circumstances have arisen, Iconceive that the only possible tribunal to deal with them is a militarytribunal. But on that point I should like your opinion."

  The Prince paused for a moment or two, as though awaiting a reply; butnone came, seeing that every man had his eyes bent upon the floor, andmany of the audience had turned white in the face.

  "Then," he went on, "I may say that I am aware also of a matter whichthose who have carried it through believe to lie only within thecognisance of themselves. The particulars of that matter will not be setforth in documentary form, but only through process of myself acting asplaintiff and petitioner, and producing none but ocular evidence."

  Among the throng of tchinovniks some one gave a start, and therebycaused others of the more apprehensive sort to fall to trembling intheir shoes.

  "Without saying does it go that the prime conspirators ought to undergodeprivation of rank and property, and that the remainder ought to bedismissed from their posts; for though that course would cause a certainproportion of the innocent to suffer with the guilty, there would seemto be no other course available, seeing that the affair is one ofthe most disgraceful nature, and calls aloud for justice. Therefore,although I know that to some my action will fail to serve as a lesson,since it will lead to their succeeding to the posts of dismissedofficials, as well as that others hitherto considered honourable willlose their reputation, and others entrusted with new responsibilitieswill continue to cheat and betray their trust,--although all this isknown to me, I still have no choice but to satisfy the claims of justiceby proceeding to take stern measures. I am also aware that I shall beaccused of undue severity; but, lastly, I am aware that it is my duty toput aside all personal feeling, and to act as the unconscious instrumentof that retribution which justice demands."

  Over ever face there passed a shudder. Yet the Prince had spoken calmly,and not a trace of anger or any other kind of emotion had been visibleon his features.

  "Nevertheless," he went on, "the very man in whose hands the fate ofso many now lies, the very man whom no prayer for mercy could ever haveinfluenced, himself desires to make a request of you. Should you grantthat request, all will be forgotten and blotted out and pardoned, forI myself will intercede with the Throne on your behalf. That request isthis. I know that by no manner of means, by no preventive measures, andby no penalties will dishonesty ever be completely extirpated from ourmidst, for the reason that its roots have struck too deep, and thatthe dishonourable traffic in bribes has become a necessity to, even themainstay of, some whose nature is not innately venal. Also, I know that,to many men, it is an impossibility to swim against the stream. Yet now,at this solemn and critical juncture, when the country is calling aloudfor saviours, and it is the duty of every citizen to contribute and tosacrifice his all, I feel that I cannot but issue an appeal to every manin whom a Russian heart and a spark of what we understand by the word'nobility' exist. For, after all, which of us is more guilty than hisfellow? It may be to ME the greatest culpability should be assigned, inthat at first I may have adopted towards you too reserved an attitude,that I may have been over-hasty in repelling those who desired but toserve me, even though of their services I did not actually stand inneed. Yet, had they really loved justice and the good of their country,I think that they would have been less prone to take offence at thecoldness of my attitude, but would have sacrificed their feelings andtheir personality to their superior convictions. For hardly can itbe that I failed to note their overtures and the loftiness of theirmotives, or that I would not have accepted any wise and useful adviceproffered. At the same time, it is for a subordinate to adapt himself tothe tone of his superior, rather than for a superior to adapt himself tothe tone of his subordinate. Such a course is at once more regularand more smooth of working, since a corps of subordinates has but onedirector, whereas a director may have a hundred subordinates. But let usput aside the question of comparative culpability. The important pointis, that before us all lies the duty of rescuing our fatherland. Ourfatherland is suffering, not from the incursion of a score of alientongues, but from our own acts, in that, in addition to the lawfuladministration, there has grown up a second administration possessed ofinfinitely greater powers than the system established by law. And thatsecond administration has established its conditions, fixed its tariffof prices, and published that tariff abroad; nor could any ruler, eventhough the wisest of legislators and administrators, do more to correctthe evil than limit it in the conduct of his more venal tchinovniks bysetting over them, as their supervisors, men of superior rectitude. No,until each of us shall come to feel that, just as arms were taken upduring the period of the upheaval of nations, so now each of us mustmake a stand against dishonesty, all remedies will end in failure. As aRussian, therefore--as one bound to you by consanguinity and identity ofblood--I make to you my appeal. I make it to those of you who understandwherein lies nobility of thought. I invite those men to remember theduty which confronts us, whatsoever our respective stations; I invitethem to observe more closely their duty, and to keep more constantly inmind their obligations of holding true to their country, in that beforeus the future looms dark, and that we can scarcely...."

  *****

  [Here the manuscript of the original comes abruptly to an end.]

 

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