Brief description of the chapters dead souls. Brief retelling of Dead Souls by chapters (Gogol N

The work of N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls" was written in the second half of the 19th century. In this article you can read the first volume of the poem "Dead Souls", which consists of 11 chapters.

Heroes of the work

Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov - the main character, travels around Russia to find dead souls, knows how to find an approach to any person.

Manilov - young landowner. Lives with his children and wife.

Box - aged woman, widow. Lives in a small village, sells various products and furs in the market.

Nozdryov - a landowner who often plays cards and tells various tall tales and stories.

Plushkin - a strange man who lives alone.

Sobakevich - the landowner, everywhere tries to find great profit for himself.

Selifan - the coachman and servant of Chichikov. A lover of drinking once again.

The content of the poem "Dead Souls" by chapters briefly

Chapter 1

Chichikov, along with the servants, arrives in the city. The man moved into an ordinary hotel. During lunch, the protagonist asks the innkeeper about everything that happens in the city, so he gets useful information about influential officials and famous landowners. At the governor's reception, Chichikov personally meets most of the landowners. The landowners Sobakevich and Manilov say they would like the hero to visit them. So for several days Chichikov comes to the vice-governor, prosecutor and farmer. The city begins to have a positive attitude towards the protagonist.

Chapter 2

A week later, the main character goes to Manilov in the village of Manilovka. Chichikov forgive Manilov so that he sells him dead souls - dead peasants, which are written down on paper. The naive and accommodating Manilov gives the hero dead souls for free.

Chapter 3

Chichikov then goes to Sobakevich, but loses his way. He goes to spend the night with the landowner Korobochka. After sleeping, already in the morning Chichikov talks with the old woman and persuades her to sell her dead souls.

Chapter 4

Chichikov decides to stop by a tavern on his way. He meets the landowner Nozdryov. The gambler was too open and friendly, but his games often ended in fights. The main character wanted to buy dead souls from him, but Nozdryov said that he could play checkers for the souls. This fight almost ended in a fight, so Chichikov decided to retire. Pavel Ivanovich thought for a long time that he had trusted Nozdryov in vain.

Chapter 5

The main character comes to Sobakevich. He was a fairly large man, he agreed to sell dead souls to Chichikov and even filled them with a price. The men decided to make a deal after some time in the city.

Chapter 6

Chichikov arrives in the village of Plyushkin. The estate was very miserable in appearance, and the magnate himself was too stingy. Plyushkin sold the dead souls to Chichikov with joy and considered the protagonist a fool.

Chapter 7

In the morning, Chichikov goes to the ward to draw up documents for the peasants. On the way he meets Manilov. In the ward they meet Sobakevich, the chairman of the ward helps the protagonist quickly complete the paperwork. After the deal, they all go together to the postmaster to celebrate this event.

Chapter 8

The news about Pavel Ivanovich's purchases spread throughout the city. Everyone thought that he was a very rich man, but they had no idea what kind of souls he actually buys. At the ball, Nozdryov decides to betray Chichikov and shouted about his secret.

Chapter 9

The landowner Korobochka arrives in the city and confirms the purchase of the dead souls of the protagonist. Rumors are spreading around the city that Chichikov wants to kidnap the governor's daughter.

Chapter 10

The officials get together and raise various suspicions about who Chichikov is. The postmaster puts forward his version that the main character is Kopeikin from his own story "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin". Suddenly, due to excessive stress, the prosecutor dies. Chichikov himself has been ill for three days with a cold, he comes to the governor, but he is not even allowed into the house. Nozdryov tells the main character about the rumors that are circulating around the city, so Chichikov decides to leave the city in the morning.

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The action of N. V. Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" takes place in one small town, which Gogol calls NN. The city is visited by Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. A man who plans to purchase the dead souls of serfs from local landowners. With his appearance, Chichikov disrupts the measured city life.

Chapter 1

Chichikov arrives in the city, he is accompanied by servants. He settles in an ordinary hotel. During dinner, Chichikov asks the innkeeper about everything that happens in NN, finds out who the most influential officials and famous landowners are. At a reception at the governor's, he personally gets acquainted with many landowners. The landowners Sobakevich and Manilov invite the hero to pay them a visit. Chichikov visits the vice-governor, the prosecutor, the farmer for several days. In the city, he acquires a positive reputation.

Chapter 2

Chichikov decided to go outside the city to Manilov's estate. His village was a rather boring sight. The landowner himself was not an understandable nature. Manilov was most often in his dreams. There was too much sugar in his pleasantness. The landowner was very surprised by Chichikov's offer to sell him the souls of the dead peasants. They decided to make a deal when they met in the city. Chichikov left, and Manilov was puzzled for a long time by the guest's proposal.

Chapter 3

On the way to Sobakevich, Chichikov was caught by bad weather. His chaise went astray, so it was decided to spend the night in the first estate. As it turned out, the house belonged to the landowner Korobochka. She turned out to be a businesslike hostess, the contentment of the inhabitants of the estate was traced everywhere. Korobochka accepted the request for the sale of dead souls with surprise. But then she began to consider them as goods, she was afraid to sell them cheap and offered Chichikov to buy other goods from her. The deal went through, Chichikov himself hastened to get away from the difficult nature of the hostess.

Chapter 4

Continuing the journey, Chichikov decided to stop by a tavern. Here he met another landowner Nozdrev. His openness and friendliness immediately attracted me. Nozdryov was a gambler, he did not play honestly, so he often participated in fights. Nozdryov did not appreciate the request for the sale of dead souls. The landowner offered to play checkers for hearts. The game nearly ended in a fight. Chichikov hastened to leave. The hero was very sorry that he trusted such a person as Nozdryov.

Chapter 5

Chichikov finally ends up at Sobakevich's. Sobakevich looked like a large and solid man. The landowner took the offer to sell dead souls seriously and even began to bargain. The interlocutors decided to finalize the deal in the near future in the city.

Chapter 6

The next point of Chichikov's journey was a village belonging to Plyushkin. The estate was a miserable sight, desolation reigned everywhere. The landowner himself reached the apogee of stinginess. He lived alone and was a pitiful sight. Dead souls Plyushkin sold with joy, considering Chichikov a fool. Pavel Ivanovich himself hastened to the hotel with a sense of relief.

Chapter 7-8

The next day, Chichikov completed deals with Sobakevich and Plyushkin. The hero was in a great mood. At the same time, news of Chichikov's purchases spread throughout the city. Everyone marveled at his wealth, not knowing what kind of souls he was actually buying. Chichikov became a welcome guest at local receptions and balls. But Nozdryov betrayed Chichikov's secret, shouting at the ball about dead souls.

Chapter 9

The landowner Korobochka, having arrived in the city, also confirmed the purchase of dead souls. Unbelievable rumors began to spread around the city that Chichikov really wanted to kidnap the governor's daughter. He was forbidden to appear on the threshold of the governor's house. None of the residents could accurately answer who Chichikov was. To clarify this issue, it was decided to meet with the chief of police.

Chapter 10-11

How many did not discuss Chichikov, they could not come to a common opinion. When Chichikov decided to pay visits, he realized that everyone was avoiding him, and visiting the governor was generally prohibited. He also learned that he was suspected of making counterfeit bonds and plans to kidnap the governor's daughter. Chichikov hurries to leave the city. At the end of the first volume, the author talks about who the main character is and how his life developed before appearing in NN.

Volume two

The story begins with a description of nature. Chichikov first visits the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tententikov. Then he goes to a certain general, turns out to be visiting Colonel Koshkarev, then Khlobuev. Misdemeanors and forgeries of Chichikov become known and he ends up in prison. A certain Murazov advises the governor-general to let Chichikov go, and the story ends there. (Gogol burned the second volume in the stove)

"Dead Souls" summary 1 chapter

At the gate of the hotel in the provincial town of NN, a britzka drove in, in which the gentleman “is not handsome, but not bad-looking, not too fat, not too thin; one cannot say that he is old, but it is not so that he is too young. This gentleman is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov. At the hotel, he eats a hearty meal. The author describes the provincial town: “The houses were one, two and one and a half stories high, with an eternal mezzanine, very beautiful, according to provincial architects.

In places, these houses seemed lost among the wide, field-like streets and endless wooden fences; in some places they crowded together, and here there was noticeably more movement of the people and liveliness. There were signs almost washed away by the rain with pretzels and boots, in some places with painted blue trousers and the signature of some Arshavian tailor; where is the store with caps, caps and the inscription: “Foreigner Vasily Fedorov” ... Most often, darkened double-headed state eagles were noticeable, which have now been replaced by a laconic inscription: “Drinking House”. The pavement was bad everywhere.”

Chichikov pays visits to city officials - the governor, vice-governor, chairman of the chamber * prosecutor, police chief, as well as the inspector of the medical board, the city architect. Chichikov builds excellent relationships everywhere and with everyone with the help of flattery, gains confidence in each of those whom he visited. Each of the officials invites Pavel Ivanovich to visit him, although little is known about him.

Chichikov attended a ball at the governor's, where “he somehow knew how to find himself in everything and showed in himself an experienced secular person. Whatever the conversation was about, he always knew how to support it: if it was about a horse farm, he talked about a horse farm; whether they talked about good dogs, and here he reported very sensible remarks; whether they interpreted it with regard to the investigation carried out by the Treasury, he showed that he was not unfamiliar with judicial tricks; whether there was a discussion about the billiard game - and in the billiard game he did not miss; whether they talked about virtue, and he talked about virtue very well, even with tears in his eyes; about making hot wine, and in hot wine he knew Zrok; about customs overseers and officials, and he judged them as if he himself were both an official and an overseer. But it is remarkable that he knew how to clothe all this with some degree, knew how to behave well. He spoke neither loudly nor softly, but exactly as he should. At the ball, he met the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich, whom he also managed to win over. Chichikov finds out the condition of their estates and how many peasants they have. Manilov and Sobakevich invite Chichikov to their estate. While visiting the chief of police, Chichikov met the landowner Nozdrev, "a man of about thirty, a broken fellow."

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 2

Chichikov has two servants - the coachman Selifan and the footman Petrushka. The latter reads a lot and everything in a row, while he is not interested in what he has read, but in folding letters into words. In addition, Parsley has a "special smell" because he very rarely goes to the bathhouse.

Chichikov goes to the Manilov estate. For a long time he cannot find his estate. “The village of Manilovka could lure a few with its location. The master's house stood alone in the south, that is, on a hill, open to all the winds that only take it into their head to blow; the slope of the mountain on which he stood was dressed in trimmed turf. Two or three flowerbeds with lilac and yellow acacia bushes were scattered on it in the English style; here and there five or six birches in small clusters raised their small-leaved thin tops. Beneath two of them was a gazebo with a flat green dome, blue wooden columns and the inscription: "Temple of Solitary Reflection"; lower down is a pond covered with greenery, which, however, is not a wonder in the English gardens of Russian landowners. At the foot of this elevation, and partly along the very slope, gray log huts darkened along and across ... ”Manilov is glad to have a guest. The author describes the landowner and his household: “He was a prominent person; his features were not devoid of pleasantness, but this pleasantness seemed to have been conveyed too much sugar; in his manners and turns there was something ingratiating himself with favors and acquaintances. He smiled enticingly, was blond, with blue eyes. In the first minute of a conversation with him, you can’t help but say: “What a pleasant and kind person!” In the next minute you will not say anything, and in the third you will say: “The devil knows what it is!” - and move away if you don’t move away, you will feel mortal boredom. You won’t expect any lively or even arrogant word from him, which you can hear from almost anyone if you touch on a subject that torments him ... You can’t say that he was engaged in farming, he never even went to the fields, farming somehow went by itself ... Sometimes, looking from the porch at the yard and the pond, he talked about how good it would be if suddenly an underground passage could be built from the house or a stone bridge built across the pond, on which there would be shops on both sides, and so that merchants and they sold various small goods needed by the peasants ... All these projects ended with only one word. In his study there was always some kind of book, bookmarked on the fourteenth page, which he had been constantly reading for two years. Something was always missing in his house: in the living room there was beautiful furniture, upholstered in smart silk fabric, which, no doubt, was very expensive; but it was not enough for two armchairs, and the armchairs were simply upholstered with matting ... In the evening, a very smart candlestick made of dark bronze with three antique graces, with a mother-of-pearl smart shield, was placed on the table, and next to it was placed some simply copper disabled person, lame, curled up on side and all in fat, although neither the owner, nor the hostess, nor the servants noticed this.

Manilov's wife is very suitable for him in character. There is no order in the house, because she does not follow anything. She is well brought up, she received her upbringing in a boarding school, “and in boarding schools, as you know, three main subjects form the basis of human virtues: the French language, which is necessary for the happiness of family life, the piano, for composing pleasant minutes for a spouse, and, finally, the economic part proper: knitting purses and other surprises.

Manilov and Chichikov show an exaggerated courtesy towards each other, which brings them to the point that they both squeeze through the same door at the same time. The Manilovs invite Chichikov to dinner, which is attended by both of Manilov's sons: Themistoclus and Alkid. The first has a runny nose and bites his brother's ear. Alkid, swallowing tears, all smeared with fat, eats a leg of lamb.

At the end of dinner, Manilov and Chichikov go to the owner's office, where they have a business conversation. Chichikov asks Manilov for revision tales - a detailed register of peasants who died after the last census. He wants to buy dead souls. Manilov is amazed. Chichikov convinces him that everything will happen in accordance with the law, that the tax will be paid. Manilov finally calms down and gives away the dead souls for free, believing that he has rendered Chichikov a great service. Chichikov leaves, and Manilov indulges in dreams, in which it comes to the point that for their strong friendship with Chichikov, the tsar will grant both of them the rank of general.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 3

Chichikov is poisoned at Sobakevich's estate, but gets caught in heavy rain and loses his way. His cart flips over and falls into the mud. Nearby is the estate of the landowner Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, where Chichikov comes. He goes into the room, which “was hung with old striped wallpaper; pictures with some birds; between the windows there are small antique mirrors with dark frames in the form of curled leaves; behind every mirror there was either a letter, or an old pack of cards, or a stocking; a wall clock with painted flowers on the dial ... it was impossible to notice anything else ... A minute later the hostess entered, an elderly woman, in some kind of sleeping cap, put on hastily, with a flannel around her neck, one of those mothers, small landowners who cry over crop failures , losses and keep their heads somewhat to one side, but meanwhile they are gaining a little money in motley bags placed in drawers of chests of drawers ... "

Korobochka leaves Chichikov to spend the night in his house. In the morning, Chichikov starts a conversation with her about selling dead souls. The box cannot understand why he needs them, he offers to buy honey or hemp from her. She is constantly afraid to sell cheap. Chichikov manages to convince her to agree to a deal only after he tells a lie about himself - that he conducts government contracts, promises to buy both honey and hemp from her in the future. The box believes it. Bidding has been going on for a long time, after which the deal did take place. Chichikov keeps his papers in a box, consisting of many compartments and having a secret drawer for money.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 4

Chichikov stops at a tavern, to which Nozdryov's chaise soon drives up. Nozdryov is “of medium height, a very well-built fellow with full ruddy cheeks, teeth as white as snow, and sideburns as black as pitch. He was fresh as blood and milk; health seemed to spurt from his face. He said with a very pleased look that he lost, and lost not only his money,

I but also the money of his son-in-law Mizhuev, who is present right there. Nozdryov invites Chichikov to his place, promising a tasty treat. He himself drinks in a tavern at the expense of his son-in-law. The author characterizes Nozdrev^ as a “broken fellow”, from that breed of people who “even in childhood and at school are known as good comrades and, for all that, are heavily beaten painfully ... They soon get to know each other, and before you have time to look back, as they already tell you” you". Friendship will start, it seems, forever: but it almost always happens that the one who makes friends will fight with them on the same evening at a friendly feast. They are always talkers, revelers, reckless people, prominent people. Nozdryov at thirty-five was exactly the same as he had been at eighteen and twenty: a go-getter. His marriage did not change him at all, especially since his wife soon departed for the next world, leaving behind two children who he definitely did not need ... At home, he could not sit for more than a day. His sensitive nose could hear him for several tens of miles, where there was a fair with all sorts of congresses and balls; he was already there in the twinkling of an eye, arguing and causing confusion at the green table, for, like all such, he had a passion for cards ... Nozdryov was in some respects a historical person. Not a single meeting he attended was without a story. Some kind of story was bound to happen: either they would lead him out of the gendarme hall by the arms, or they would be forced to push out their own friends ... And he would lie completely without any need: he would suddenly tell that he had a horse of some blue or pink wool, and the like. nonsense, so that the listeners finally all move away, saying: “Well, brother, it seems you have already begun to pour bullets.”

Nozdrev refers to those people who have "a passion to spoil their neighbor, sometimes for no reason at all." His favorite pastime was to exchange things and lose money and property. Arriving at Nozdryov's estate, Chichikov sees an unsightly stallion, about which Nozdryov says that he paid ten thousand for him. He shows a kennel where a dubious breed of dog is kept. Nozdrev is a master of lies. He talks about the fact that in his pond there is a fish of unusual size, that on his Turkish daggers there is a brand of a famous master. The dinner to which this landowner invited Chichikov was bad.

Chichikov begins business negotiations, while saying that he needs dead souls for a profitable marriage, so that the bride's parents believe that he is a wealthy person. Nozdryov is going to donate dead souls and, in addition, he is trying to sell a stallion, a mare, a hurdy-gurdy, and so on. Chichikov flatly refuses. Nozdryov invites him to play cards, which Chichikov also refuses. For this refusal, Nozdryov orders to feed Chichikov's horse not with oats, but with hay, which the guest is offended by. Nozdryov does not feel awkward, and in the morning, as if nothing had happened, he invites Chichikov to play checkers. He recklessly agrees. The landlord starts cheating. Chichikov accuses him of this, Nozdryov climbs in to fight, calls the servants and orders to beat the guest. Suddenly, a police captain appears and arrests Nozdryov for insulting the landowner Maksimov in a drunken state. Nozdryov refuses everything, says that he does not know any Maksimov. Chichikov quickly leaves.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 5

Through the fault of Selifan, Chichikov's chaise collides with another chaise, in which two ladies are traveling - an elderly and sixteen-year-old very beautiful girl. The men gathered from the village separate the horses. Chichikov is shocked by the beauty of the young girl, and after the carts have parted, he thinks about her for a long time. The traveler drives up to the village of Mikhail Semenovich Sobakevich. “A wooden house with a mezzanine, a red roof and dark or, better, wild walls - a house like those we build for military settlements and German colonists. It was noticeable that during the construction of its architect, he constantly fought with the taste of the owner. The architect was a pedant and wanted symmetry, the owner - convenience, and, apparently, as a result of this he boarded up all the corresponding windows on one side and turned in their place one small one, probably needed for a dark closet. The pediment also did not fit in the middle of the house, no matter how hard the architect struggled, because the owner ordered one column to be thrown out from the side, and therefore there were not four columns, as it was appointed, but only three. The yard was surrounded by a strong and unreasonably thick wooden lattice. The landowner seemed to be fussing a lot about strength. For the stables, sheds and kitchens, full-weight and thick logs were used, determined to stand for centuries. The village huts of the peasants were also built marvelously: there were no brick walls, carved patterns, and other frills, but everything was fitted tightly and properly. Even the well was lined with such strong oak, which is used only for mills and ships. In a word, everything he looked at was stubbornly, without shaking, in some kind of strong and clumsy order.

The owner himself seems to Chichikov like a bear. “To complete the resemblance, the tailcoat on him was completely bearish in color, the sleeves were long, the pantaloons were long, he stepped with his feet and at random and stepped incessantly on other people's legs. The complexion was red-hot, hot, which happens on a copper penny ... "

Sobakevich had a habit of expressing himself straightforwardly about everything. About the governor, he says that he is "the first robber in the world," and the police chief is "a swindler." Sobakevich eats a lot at dinner. He tells the guest about his neighbor Plyushkin, a very stingy man who owns eight hundred peasants.

Chichikov says that he wants to buy dead souls, to which Sobakevich is not surprised, but immediately starts bidding. He promises to sell 100 rudders for each dead soul, while saying that the dead were real masters. Trade for a long time. In the end, they agree on three rubles apiece, and at the same time draw up a document, since each fears dishonesty on the part of the other. Sobakevich offers to buy female dead souls cheaper, but Chichikov refuses, although later it turns out that the landowner nevertheless entered one woman in the bill of sale. Chichikov leaves. On the way he asks the peasant how to get to Plyushkin.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 6

Chichikov goes to Plyushkin's estate, for a long time he cannot find the master's house. Finally finds a "strange castle" that looks like a "decrepit invalid". “In places it was one floor, in places two; on the dark roof, which did not reliably protect his old age everywhere, two belvederes stuck out, one opposite the other, both already tottering, deprived of the paint that once covered them. The walls of the house slitted bare stucco lattice in places and, apparently, suffered a lot from all sorts of bad weather, rains, whirlwinds and autumn changes. Of the windows, only two were open; the rest were shuttered or even boarded up. These two windows, for their part, were also half-sighted; one of them had a dark pasted triangle of blue sugar paper. Chichikov meets a man of indeterminate sex (he cannot understand whether this is a man or a woman). He decides that this is the housekeeper, but then it turns out that this is the rich landowner Stepan Plyushkin. The author tells how Plyushkin came to such a life. In the past, he was a thrifty landowner, he had a wife who was famous for hospitality, and three children. But after the death of his wife, "Plyushkin became more restless and, like all widowers, more suspicious and stingy." He cursed his daughter, as she ran away and married an officer of the cavalry regiment. The youngest daughter died, and the son, instead of studying, decided to join the military. Every year Plyushkin became more stingy. Very soon the merchants stopped taking goods from him, because they could not bargain with the landowner. All his goods - hay, wheat, flour, canvas - everything rotted. Plyushkin, on the other hand, saved up everything, and at the same time picked up other people's things that he didn’t need at all. His stinginess knew no bounds: for all Plyushkin's household there were only boots, he kept rusk for several months, he knew exactly how much liquor he had in his decanter, because he made marks. When Chichikov tells him what he came for, Plyushkin is very happy. He offers the guest to buy not only dead souls, but also runaway peasants. Traded. The received money hides in a box. It is clear that this money, like others, he will never use. Chichikov leaves, to the great joy of the owner, refusing the treat. Returns to the hotel.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 7

After all the registered merchants, Chichikov becomes the owner of four hundred dead souls. He reflects on who these people were in life. Leaving the hotel on the street, Chichikov meets Manilov. Together they go to make a bill of sale. In the office, Chichikov gives a bribe to the official Ivan Antonovich Kuvshinnoye Rylo to speed up the process. However, the giving of a bribe goes unnoticed - the official covers the banknote with a book, and it seems to disappear. Sobakevich sits at the head. Chichikov arranges for the bill of sale to be completed within a day, since he supposedly needs to leave urgently. He gives the chairman a letter from Plyushkin, in which he asks him to be an attorney in his case, to which the chairman gladly agrees.

Documents are drawn up in the presence of witnesses, Chichikov pays only half of the fee to the treasury, while the other half "was attributed in some incomprehensible way to the account of another petitioner." After a successful deal, everyone goes to dinner at the police chief, during which Sobakevich eats a huge sturgeon alone. The tipsy guests ask Chichikov to stay and decide to marry him. Chichikov informs the audience that he is buying peasants for withdrawal to the Kherson province, where he has already acquired an estate. He himself believes in what he says. Parsley and Se-lifan, after sending the drunken owner to the hotel, go for a walk in a tavern.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 8

Residents of the city are discussing what Chichikov bought. Everyone tries to offer him help in delivering the peasants to the place. Among the proposals - a convoy, a police captain to pacify a possible rebellion, enlightenment of serfs. A description of the city dwellers follows: “they were all kind people, living in harmony with each other, treated in a completely friendly way, and their conversations bore the stamp of some special simplicity and brevity: “Dear friend Ilya Ilyich”, “Listen, brother, Antipator Zakharyevich!”... To the postmaster, whose name was Ivan Andreevich, they always added: “Sprechen zadeich, Ivan Andreich?” - in a word, everything was very family. Many were not without education: the chairman of the chamber knew by heart "Lyudmila" Zhukovsky, which was still not a cold news at that time ... The postmaster went more into philosophy and read very diligently, even at night, Jung's "Nights" and "The Key to the Mysteries of Nature" by Eckartshausen , from which he made very long extracts ... he was witty, flowery in words and loved, as he himself put it, to equip speech. Others were also more or less enlightened people: some read Karamzin, some Moskovskie Vedomosti, some didn’t even read anything at all ... As for plausibility, it’s already known, they were all reliable consumptive people, there was no one among them. All were of the kind to which the wives, in tender conversations taking place in solitude, gave names: egg-pods, chubby, pot-bellied, nigella, kicks, buzz, and so on. But in general, they were kind people, full of hospitality, and a person who ate bread with them or spent an evening playing whist was already becoming something close ... "

City ladies were “what they call presentable, and in this respect they could be safely set as an example to everyone else ... They dressed with great taste, drove around the city in carriages, as the latest fashion prescribed, a lackey swayed behind, and a livery in gold braid ... In morals, the ladies of the city of N. were strict, filled with noble indignation against everything vicious and all sorts of temptations, they executed all weaknesses without any mercy ... It must also be said that the ladies of the city of N. were distinguished, like many ladies of St. Petersburg, by unusual caution and decency in words and expressions. They never said: “I blew my nose”, “I sweated”, “I spat”, but they said: “I relieved my nose”, “I managed with a handkerchief”. In no case was it possible to say: "this glass or this plate stinks." And you couldn't even say anything that would give a hint of this, but instead they said: "this glass is not behaving well" or something like that. In order to ennoble the Russian language even more, almost half of the words were completely thrown out of the conversation, and therefore it was very often necessary to resort to French, but there, in French, it’s another matter: words were allowed there that were much harder than those mentioned.

All the ladies of the city are delighted with Chichikov, one of them even sent him a love letter. Chichikov is invited to the governor's ball. Before the ball, he spins for a long time in front of the mirror. At the ball, he is in the spotlight, trying to figure out who the author of the letter is. The governor introduces Chichikov to her daughter - the very girl he saw in the britzka. He almost falls in love with her, but she misses his company. Other ladies are outraged that all of Chichikov's attention goes to the governor's daughter. Suddenly, Nozdryov appears, who tells the governor about how Chichikov offered to buy dead souls from him. The news quickly spreads, while the ladies pass it on as if they do not believe in it, since everyone knows the reputation of Nozdryov. Korobochka comes to the city at night, who is interested in the prices of dead souls - she is afraid that she has sold too cheap.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 9

The chapter describes the visit of a "pleasant lady" to a "lady pleasant in every way". Her visit falls an hour earlier than the usual time for visits in the city - she is in such a hurry to tell the news she has heard. The lady tells her friend that Chichikov is a robber in disguise, who demanded that Korobochka sell him dead peasants. The ladies decide that the dead souls are just a pretext, in fact Chichikov is going to take the governor's daughter away. They discuss the behavior of the girl, herself, recognize her as unattractive, mannered. The husband of the mistress of the house appears - the prosecutor, to whom the ladies tell the news, which confuses him.

The men of the city are discussing the purchase of Chichikov, the women are discussing the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. The story is replenished with details, it is decided that Chichikov has an accomplice, and this accomplice is probably Nozdrev. Chichikov is credited with organizing a peasant riot in Borovki, Zadi-railovo-tozh, during which the assessor Drobyazhkin was killed. In addition, the governor receives news that a robber has escaped and a counterfeiter has appeared in the province. There is a suspicion that one of these persons is Chichikov. The public can't decide what to do.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 10

Officials are so concerned about the current situation that many even lose weight from grief. They collect a meeting from the chief of police. The police chief decides that Chichikov is Captain Kopeikin in disguise, an invalid without an arm and a leg, a hero of the war of 1812. Kopeikin, after returning from the front, received nothing from his father. He goes to Petersburg to seek the truth from the sovereign. But the king is not in the capital. Kopeikin goes to the nobleman, the head of the commission, whose audience he has been waiting for a long time in the waiting room. The general promises help, offers to come in one of these days. But the next time he says that he cannot do anything without the special permission of the king. Captain Kopeikin is running out of money, and the porter won't let him see the general anymore. He endures many hardships, eventually breaking through to an appointment with the general, saying that he can no longer wait. The general escorts him very rudely, sends him out of St. Petersburg at public expense. After some time, a gang of robbers appears in the Ryazan forests, led by Kopeikin.

Other officials nevertheless decide that Chichikov is not Kopeikin, since both his arms and legs are intact. It is suggested that Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise. Everyone decides that it is necessary to interrogate Nozdryov, despite the fact that he is a known liar. Nozdryov says that he sold dead souls to Chichikov for several thousand, and that already at the time when he studied with Chichikov at school, he was already a counterfeiter and a spy, that he was going to kidnap the daughter of the governor and Nozdryov himself helped him. Nozdryov realizes that he has gone too far in his stories, and possible problems frighten him. But the unexpected happens - the prosecutor dies. Chichikov does not know anything about what is happening because he is ill. Three days later, having left the house, he discovers that he is either not received anywhere, or is received in a strange way. Nozdryov informs him that the city considers him a counterfeiter, that he was going to kidnap the daughter of the governor, that the prosecutor died through his fault. Chichikov orders to pack things.

"Dead Souls" summary chapter 11

In the morning Chichikov could not leave the city for a long time - he overslept, the chaise was not laid, the horses were not shod. Leave only in the evening. On the way, Chichikov meets a funeral procession - the prosecutor is being buried. Behind the coffin are all the officials, each of whom thinks about the new governor-general and their relationship with him. Chichikov leaves the city. Next - a lyrical digression about Russia. "Rus! Russia! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful far away I see you: poor, scattered and uncomfortable in you; daring divas of nature, crowned with daring divas of art, will not amuse, will not frighten the eyes, cities with many-windowed high palaces, grown into cliffs, picture trees and ivy, grown into houses, in noise and in the eternal dust of waterfalls; the head will not tip back to look at the stone blocks piled up endlessly above it and in the heights; they will not flash through the dark arches thrown one on top of the other, entangled in vine branches, ivy and countless millions of wild roses; Why is your melancholy song, rushing along your entire length and width, from sea to sea, heard and heard incessantly in your ears? What's in it, in this song? What calls, and sobs, and grabs the heart? What sounds painfully kiss, and strive to the soul, and curl around my heart? Russia! what do you want from me? what incomprehensible bond lurks between us? Why do you look like that, and why does everything that is in you turn eyes full of expectation on me? .. And a mighty space menacingly embraces me, reflecting with terrible force in my depths; my eyes lit up with an unnatural power: wow! what a sparkling, wonderful, unfamiliar distance to the earth! Russia!..»

The author discusses the hero of the work and the origin of Chichikov. His parents are nobles, but he doesn't look like them. Chichikov's father sent his son to the city to an old relative so that he could enter the school. The father gave his son parting words, which he strictly followed in life - to please the authorities, to hang out only with the rich, not to share with anyone, to save money. He did not have any special talents, but he had a "practical mind." Chichikov knew how to make money as a boy - he sold treats, showed a trained mouse for money. He pleased the teachers, the authorities, and therefore graduated from school with a gold certificate. His father dies, and Chichikov, having sold his father's house, enters the service. He betrays a teacher expelled from school, who was counting on a fake of his beloved student. Chichikov serves, striving to please his superiors in everything, even caring for his ugly daughter, hinting at a wedding. Gets a promotion and doesn't get married. Soon Chichikov is included in the commission for the construction of a government building, but the building, for which a lot of money has been allocated, is being built only on paper. Chichikov's new boss hated his subordinate, and he had to start all over again. He enters the service at the customs, where his ability to search is revealed. He is promoted, and Chichikov presents a project to catch smugglers, with whom at the same time he manages to collude and get a lot of money from them. But Chichikov quarrels with a friend with whom he shared, and both are put on trial. Chichikov manages to save some of the money, starts everything from scratch as an attorney. He comes up with the idea of ​​​​buying dead souls, which in the future can be pledged to the bank under the guise of living ones, and, having received a loan, hide.

The author reflects on how readers can relate to Chichikov, recalls the parable of Kif Mokievich and Mokiya Kifovich, son and father. The existence of the father is turned into a speculative side, while the son is rowdy. Kifa Mokievich is asked to appease his son, but he does not want to interfere in anything: “If he remains a dog, then let them not find out about it from me, let it not be me who betrayed him.”

At the end of the poem, the britzka is moving quickly along the road. “And what Russian does not like to drive fast?” "Oh, threesome! bird troika, who invented you? To know that you could only be born among a lively people, in that land that does not like to joke, but spread out half the world as evenly as possible, and go and count the miles until it fills your eyes. And not a cunning, it would seem, road projectile, not captured by an iron screw, but hastily, alive with one ax and a hammer, a smart Yaroslavl peasant equipped and assembled you. The coachman is not in German boots: a beard and mittens, and the devil knows what he sits on; but he got up, and swung, and dragged on the song - the horses whirlwind, the spokes in the wheels mixed into one smooth circle, only the road trembled, and the pedestrian who stopped screamed in fright - and there she rushed, rushed, rushed! .. And it was already visible in the distance, as something dusts and drills the air.

Isn't that how you, Russia, that brisk, unbeatable troika, are rushing about? The road smokes under you, the bridges rumble, everything lags behind and is left behind. The contemplative, amazed by God's miracle, stopped: is it not lightning thrown from the sky? what does this terrifying movement mean? and what kind of unknown power lies in these horses unknown to the light? Oh, horses, horses, what horses! Are whirlwinds sitting in your manes? Does a sensitive ear burn in every vein of yours? They heard a familiar song from above, together and at once strained their copper breasts and, almost without touching the ground with their hooves, turned into only elongated lines flying through the air, and all inspired by God rushes! .. Russia, where are you rushing to? Give an answer. Doesn't give an answer. A bell is filled with a wonderful ringing; the air torn to pieces rumbles and becomes the wind; flies past everything that is on earth,
and, squinting, step aside and give her way to other peoples and states.

The nobleman Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrived in the provincial town of N, a man not too old, but not quite young either, not handsome, but not bad-looking, not too fat, but not thin either. Having settled in a city hotel, he asked the servant in detail about local prominent persons, especially wondering how many souls of peasants anyone had.

In the following days, Chichikov made visits to all the chief city officials. He also attended a party at the governor's, where he met the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. A very dexterous man in getting around, Chichikov made an "unpleasant" impression on everyone. (See the image of Chichikov - briefly, Chichikov in "Dead Souls", Description of Chichikov.)

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 1 - summary. You can read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Chichikov

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 2 - briefly

A few days later, Chichikov moved his visits outside the city and first of all visited the Manilov estate. Saccharine Manilov claimed enlightened humanity, European education, and liked to build fantastic projects, such as building a huge bridge across his pond, from where one could see Moscow during tea drinking. But, mired in dreams, he never put them into practice, distinguished by complete impracticality and mismanagement. (See Description of Manilov, his estate and dinner with him.)

Accepting Chichikov, Manilov demonstrated refined courtesy. But in a private conversation, Chichikov made him an unexpected and strange offer: to buy from him for a small amount of recently deceased peasants (who were listed as alive on paper until the next financial audit). Manilov was extremely surprised at this, but out of politeness he could not refuse the guest.

For more details, see Gogol's separate article "Dead Souls", Chapter 2 - a summary of the full text of this chapter.

Manilov

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 3 - briefly

From Manilov, Chichikov thought of going to Sobakevich, but the drunken coachman Selifan drove him in a completely different direction. Once in a thunderstorm, the travelers barely reached a village - and found an overnight stay at the local landowner Korobochka.

The widow Korobochka was a rustic and hoarding old woman. (See Description Korobochka, her estate and dinner with her.) The next morning, over tea, Chichikov made her the same offer as before to Manilov. The box bulged at first, but then calmed down, most of all caring about how not to sell the dead people cheap. She even began to refuse Chichikov, intending first to "apply to the prices of other merchants." But her dodgy guest pretended to be a state-owned contractor and promised to soon buy flour, cereals, bacon and feathers in bulk from Korobochka. In anticipation of such a lucrative deal, Korobochka agreed to sell the dead souls.

For more details, see Gogol's separate article "Dead Souls", Chapter 3 - summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 4 - briefly

Leaving Korobochka, Chichikov went to dine at a roadside tavern and met there the landowner Nozdryov, whom he had previously met at a party with the governor. The incorrigible reveler, reveler, liar and cheater Nozdryov (see his description) was returning from the fair, having completely lost his cards there. He invited Chichikov to his estate. He agreed to go there, hoping that the broken Nozdryov would give him dead souls for free.

On his estate, Nozdryov took Chichikov around the stable and kennel for a long time, assuring him that his horses and dogs were worth many thousands of rubles. When the guest started talking about dead souls, Nozdryov offered to play cards on them and immediately took out a deck. Thoroughly suspecting that she was marked, Chichikov refused.

The next morning, Nozdryov suggested playing the dead peasants not at cards, but at checkers, where cheating is impossible. Chichikov agreed, but during the game Nozdryov began to move several checkers at once with the cuffs of his robe in one move. Chichikov protested. Nozdryov in response called two hefty serfs and ordered them to beat the guest. Chichikov barely managed to escape unscathed thanks to the arrival of the police captain: he brought Nozdryov a summons to court for an insult inflicted on the landowner Maksimov in a drunken state.

For more details, see Gogol's separate article "Dead Souls", Chapter 4 - summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

The Adventures of Chichikov (Nozdrev). An excerpt from the cartoon based on the plot of Gogol's "Dead Souls"

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 5 - briefly

Having galloped away from Nozdryov, Chichikov finally reached the estate of Sobakevich - a man who, by nature, was the opposite of Manilov. Sobakevich deeply despised wandering in the clouds and was guided in everything only by material benefits. (See Portrait of Sobakevich, Description of the estate and interior of Sobakevich's house.)

Explaining human actions by one desire for selfish gain, rejecting any idealism, Sobakevich certified city officials as swindlers, robbers and Christ-sellers. In figure and posture, he resembled a medium-sized bear. At the table, Sobakevich neglected the low-nutrient overseas delicacies, dined on simple dishes, but devoured them in huge pieces. (See Lunch at Sobakevich's.)

Unlike the others, the practical Sobakevich was not at all surprised by Chichikov's request to sell dead souls. However, he broke an exorbitant price for them - 100 rubles each, explaining it by the fact that his peasants, although dead, were “selected goods”, because they used to be excellent craftsmen and hard workers. Chichikov ridiculed this argument, but only after a long bargain did Sobakevich lower the price to two and a half rubles per capita. (See the text of their bargaining scene.)

Sobakevich

In a conversation with Chichikov, Sobakevich let slip that the unusually stingy landowner Plyushkin lives not far from him, and that this owner has more than a thousand peasants who are dying like flies. Leaving Sobakevich, Chichikov immediately found out the way to Plyushkin.

For more details, see Gogol's separate article "Dead Souls", Chapter 5 - summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 6 - briefly

Plushkin

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 7 - briefly

Returning to the provincial town of N, Chichikov took up the final design of the merchant's fortresses in the state chancellery. This chamber was located on the main city square. Inside it, many officials were diligently poring over papers. The noise from their feathers sounded like several wagons loaded with brushwood were passing through a forest littered with withered leaves. For speeding up the case, Chichikov had to pay a bribe to the clerk Ivan Antonovich with a long nose, colloquially called a jug snout.

Manilov and Sobakevich arrived at the signing of the deeds themselves, while the rest of the sellers acted through attorneys. Not knowing that all the peasants bought by Chichikov were dead, the chairman of the chamber asked what land he intended to settle them on. Chichikov lied about his alleged estate in the Kherson province.

To “splash” the purchase, everyone went to the chief of police. Among the city fathers, he was known as a miracle worker: he had only to blink, passing by a fish row or a cellar, and the merchants themselves carried a snack in great abundance. At a noisy feast, Sobakevich especially distinguished himself: while the other guests were drinking, in a quarter of an hour he secretly pissed alone to the bones of a huge sturgeon, and then pretended that he had nothing to do with it.

For more details, see Gogol's separate article "Dead Souls", Chapter 7 - summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 8 - briefly

Chichikov bought dead souls from the landlords for a penny, but on the paper in the bill of sale it appeared that he had paid about a hundred thousand for all. Such a large purchase caused the liveliest talk in the city. The rumor that Chichikov was a millionaire raised him greatly in all eyes. In the opinion of the ladies, he became a real hero, and they even began to find in his appearance something similar to Mars.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 9 - briefly

Nozdryov's words were at first considered drunken nonsense. However, soon the news of Chichikov's buying up the dead was confirmed by Korobochka, who came to the city to find out if she had been cheap in her deal with him. The wife of a local archpriest gave the story of Korobochka to a well-known in the city society nice lady, and she - to her friend - lady, pleasant in every way. From these two ladies, the rumor spread to everyone else.

The whole city was at a loss: why did Chichikov buy dead souls? In the female half of society prone to frivolous romance, a strange idea arose that he wanted to cover up preparations for the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. The more down-to-earth male officials wondered if there was a strange visitor - an auditor sent to their province to investigate due to official omissions, and "dead souls" - some kind of conditional phrase, whose meaning is known only to Chichikov himself and the top authorities. The bewilderment came to true awe when the governor received two papers from above, saying that a well-known counterfeiter and a dangerous fugitive robber could be in their area.

For more details, see Gogol's separate article "Dead Souls", Chapter 9 - summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 10 - briefly

The city fathers gathered for a meeting with the police chief to decide who Chichikov was and what to do with him. Here the most daring hypotheses were put forward. Some considered Chichikov a forger of banknotes, others - an investigator who would soon arrest them all, and others - a murderer. There was even an opinion that he was Napoleon in disguise, released by the British from St. Helena, and the postmaster saw in Chichikov Captain Kopeikin, a disabled veteran of the war against the French, who did not receive a pension from the authorities for his injury and took revenge on them with the help of a gang of robbers recruited in the Ryazan forests.

Remembering that Nozdryov was the first to speak about dead souls, they decided to send for him. But this famous liar, having come to the meeting, began to confirm all the assumptions at once. He said that Chichikov had previously kept two million counterfeit money and that he even managed to slip away with them from the police who surrounded the house. According to Nozdryov, Chichikov really wanted to kidnap the governor's daughter, prepared horses at all stations and bribed for a secret wedding for 75 rubles a priest - Father Sidor in the village of Trukhmachevka.

Realizing that Nozdryov was carrying game, those present drove him away. He went to Chichikov, who was ill and did not know anything about the city's rumors. Nozdryov "out of friendship" told Chichikov: everyone in the city considers him a counterfeiter and an extremely dangerous person. Shaken, Chichikov decided to leave early in the morning in a hurry.

For more details, see separate articles Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 10 - summary and Gogol "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin" - summary. You can also read the full text of this chapter on our website.

Gogol "Dead Souls", chapter 11 - briefly

The next day, Chichikov almost fled from the city of N. His chaise rolled along the high road, and Gogol, during this journey, told the readers the life story of his hero and finally explained for what purpose he acquired dead souls.

Chichikov's parents were nobles, but very poor. As a young boy, he was taken from the village to the city and sent to a school. (See Chichikov's childhood.) Finally, the father gave his son advice to please the bosses and save a penny.

Chichikov always followed this parental instruction. He did not have brilliant talents, but he constantly fawned over teachers - and graduated from school with an excellent certificate. Greed, the desire to break out of the poor into wealthy people were the main properties of his soul. After school, Chichikov entered the lowest official position, achieved a promotion, promising to marry the ugly daughter of his boss, but deceived him. Through lies and hypocrisy, Chichikov twice reached prominent official posts, but the first time he plundered the money allocated for government construction, and the second time he acted as the patron of a gang of smugglers. On both occasions, he was exposed and narrowly escaped prison. (See Chichikov's service career.)

He had to be satisfied with the position of a court attorney. At that time, loans under the mortgage of landowners' estates to the treasury were spreading. Being engaged in one such case, Chichikov suddenly found out that the dead serfs were listed as alive on paper until the next financial audit, which took place in Russia only once every few years. When mortgaging estates, the nobles received from the treasury amounts according to the number of their peasant souls - 200 rubles per person. Chichikov came up with the idea of ​​traveling around the provinces, buying up for a penny the dead, but not yet marked as such in the audit, peasant souls, then pawn them in bulk - and so get a rich jackpot ...

Frame from the film "Dead Souls" (1984)

Volume One

The proposed history, as will become clear from what follows, took place somewhat shortly after the "glorious expulsion of the French." A collegiate adviser Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrives in the provincial town of NN (he is not old and not too young, not fat and not thin, rather pleasant and somewhat rounded in appearance) and settles in a hotel. He makes a lot of questions to the tavern servant - both regarding the owner and income of the tavern, and revealing the solidity of it: about city officials, the most significant landowners, asks about the state of the region and whether there were "what diseases in their province, epidemic fevers" and other similar adversity.

Having gone on visits, the visitor discovers extraordinary activity (visiting everyone, from the governor to the inspector of the medical board) and courtesy, for he knows how to say something pleasant to everyone. He speaks about himself somehow vaguely (that he “experienced a lot in his lifetime, endured in the service for the truth, had many enemies who even attempted on his life,” and now he is looking for a place to live). At the governor's house party, he manages to gain general favor and, among other things, make acquaintance with the landowners Manilov and Sobakevich. In the following days, he dined with the chief of police (where he met the landowner Nozdryov), visited the chairman of the chamber and the vice-governor, the farmer and the prosecutor, and went to the Manilov estate (which, however, was preceded by a fair author's digression, where, justified by love for detail, the author certifies in detail Petrushka, the visitor's servant: his passion for "the process of reading itself" and the ability to carry with him a special smell, "responding somewhat to residential peace").

Having traveled, against the promised, not fifteen, but all thirty miles, Chichikov finds himself in Manilovka, in the arms of an affectionate owner. Manilov's house, standing on a jig, surrounded by several English-style flower beds and a gazebo with the inscription "Temple of Solitary Reflection", could characterize the owner, who was "neither this nor that", not weighed down by any passions, only unnecessarily cloying. After Manilov's confessions that Chichikov's visit is "a May day, a name day of the heart", and a dinner in the company of the hostess and two sons, Themistoclus and Alkid, Chichikov discovers the reason for his arrival: he would like to acquire peasants who have died, but have not yet been declared as such in the revision help, having issued everything legally, as if on the living (“the law - I am dumb before the law”). The first fright and bewilderment are replaced by the perfect disposition of the kind host, and, having made a deal, Chichikov departs for Sobakevich, and Manilov indulges in dreams of Chichikov’s life in the neighborhood across the river, of the construction of a bridge, of a house with such a belvedere that Moscow is visible from there, and of their friendship, having learned about which the sovereign would grant them generals. Chichikov's coachman Selifan, much favored by Manilov's yard people, in conversations with his horses misses the right turn and, at the sound of a downpour, knocks the master over into the mud. In the dark, they find lodging for the night at Nastasya Petrovna Korobochka, a somewhat timid landowner, with whom Chichikov also begins to trade dead souls in the morning. Explaining that he himself would now pay taxes for them, cursing the old woman’s stupidity, promising to buy both hemp and lard, but another time, Chichikov buys souls from her for fifteen rubles, receives a detailed list of them (in which Peter Savelyev is especially struck. Disrespect -Trough) and, having eaten an unleavened egg pie, pancakes, pies and other things, departs, leaving the hostess in great concern as to whether she had sold too cheap.

Having driven out onto the main road to the tavern, Chichikov stops for a bite to eat, which the author provides with a lengthy discourse on the properties of the appetite of middle-class gentlemen. Here Nozdryov meets him, returning from the fair in the britzka of his son-in-law Mizhuev, for he lost everything with his horses and even the watch chain. Describing the charms of the fair, the drinking qualities of dragoon officers, a certain Kuvshinnikov, a great lover of "to use about strawberries" and, finally, presenting a puppy, "a real face", Nozdryov takes Chichikov (thinking to get hold of here too) to himself, taking away his son-in-law, who is resisting. Having described Nozdryov, “in some respects a historical person” (for wherever he was, there was history), his possessions, the unpretentiousness of dinner with an abundance, however, drinks of dubious quality, the author sends his son-in-law to his wife (Nozdryov admonishes him with abuse and a word “fetyuk”), and Chichikova is forced to turn to her subject; but he can neither beg nor buy souls: Nozdryov offers to exchange them, take them in addition to the stallion or make a bet in a card game, finally scolds, quarrels, and they part for the night. Persuasion resumes in the morning, and, having agreed to play checkers, Chichikov notices that Nozdryov is shamelessly cheating. Chichikov, whom the owner and the servants are already trying to beat, manages to escape in view of the appearance of the police captain, who announces that Nozdryov is on trial. On the road, Chichikov's carriage collides with a certain carriage, and while the onlookers who come running are breeding tangled horses, Chichikov admires the sixteen-year-old young lady, indulges in reasoning about her and dreams of family life. A visit to Sobakevich in his strong, like himself, estate is accompanied by a thorough dinner, a discussion of city officials, who, according to the owner, are all swindlers (one prosecutor is a decent person, “and even that one, to tell the truth, is a pig”), and is crowned with an interesting guest deal. Not at all frightened by the strangeness of the object, Sobakevich bargains, characterizes the favorable qualities of each serf, provides Chichikov with a detailed list and forces him to give a deposit.

Chichikov's path to the neighboring landowner Plyushkin, mentioned by Sobakevich, is interrupted by a conversation with a peasant who gave Plyushkin an apt, but not too printed nickname, and the author's lyrical reflection on his former love for unfamiliar places and now indifference. Plyushkin, this "hole in humanity", Chichikov at first takes for a housekeeper or a beggar, whose place is on the porch. His most important feature is his amazing stinginess, and he even carries the old sole of his boot into a heap heaped in the master's chambers. Having shown the profitability of his proposal (namely, that he would take over the taxes for the dead and runaway peasants), Chichikov fully succeeds in his enterprise and, having refused tea with cracker, provided with a letter to the chairman of the chamber, departs in the most cheerful mood.

While Chichikov is sleeping in the hotel, the author reflects with sadness on the meanness of the objects he paints. Meanwhile, the satisfied Chichikov, waking up, composes merchant's fortresses, studies the lists of acquired peasants, reflects on their alleged fate, and finally goes to the civil chamber in order to conclude the case as soon as possible. Manilov, met at the gates of the hotel, accompanies him. Then follows a description of the public office, Chichikov's first ordeals and a bribe to a certain jug snout, until he enters the chairman's apartment, where, by the way, he also finds Sobakevich. The chairman agrees to be Plyushkin's attorney, and at the same time speeds up other transactions. The acquisition of Chichikov is being discussed, with land or for withdrawal he bought peasants and in what places. Having found out that they were sent to the Kherson province, having discussed the properties of the sold peasants (here the chairman remembered that the coachman Mikheev seemed to have died, but Sobakevich assured that he was still alive and “became healthier than before”), they finish with champagne, they go to the chief of police, “father and a philanthropist in the city” (whose habits are immediately outlined), where they drink to the health of the new Kherson landowner, become completely excited, force Chichikov to stay and attempt to marry him.

Chichikov's purchases make a splash in the city, a rumor is circulating that he is a millionaire. Ladies are crazy about him. Several times trying to describe the ladies, the author becomes shy and retreats. On the eve of the governor's ball, Chichikov even receives a love letter, though unsigned. Having used, as usual, a lot of time on the toilet and being satisfied with the result, Chichikov goes to the ball, where he passes from one embrace to another. The ladies, among whom he is trying to find the sender of the letter, even quarrel, challenging his attention. But when the governor's wife approaches him, he forgets everything, for she is accompanied by her daughter ("Institute, just released"), a sixteen-year-old blonde, whose carriage he encountered on the road. He loses the favor of the ladies, because he starts a conversation with a fascinating blonde, scandalously neglecting the rest. To top off the trouble, Nozdryov appears and loudly asks if Chichikov has bought a lot of the dead. And although Nozdryov is obviously drunk and the embarrassed society is gradually distracted, Chichikov is given neither whist nor the subsequent dinner, and he leaves upset.

At this time, a tarantass with the landowner Korobochka enters the city, whose growing anxiety forced her to come, in order to still find out what the price of dead souls is. The next morning, this news becomes the property of a certain pleasant lady, and she hurries to tell it to another, pleasant in all respects, the story is overgrown with amazing details (Chichikov, armed to the teeth, bursts into Korobochka in the dead of midnight, demands souls that have died, inspires terrible fear - “ the whole village has come running, the children are crying, everyone is screaming. Her friend concludes from the fact that the dead souls are only a cover, and Chichikov wants to take away the governor's daughter. After discussing the details of this enterprise, Nozdryov's undoubted participation in it and the qualities of the governor's daughter, both ladies dedicate the prosecutor to everything and set off to rebel the city.

In a short time, the city seethes, to which is added the news of the appointment of a new governor-general, as well as information about the papers received: about the fake banknote maker who showed up in the province, and about the robber who fled from legal persecution. Trying to understand who Chichikov is, they recall that he was certified very vaguely and even spoke about those who attempted on his life. The postmaster's statement that Chichikov, in his opinion, is Captain Kopeikin, who took up arms against the injustice of the world and became a robber, is rejected, since it follows from the entertaining postmaster's story that the captain is missing an arm and leg, and Chichikov is whole. An assumption arises whether Chichikov is Napoleon in disguise, and many begin to find a certain similarity, especially in profile. Inquiries from Korobochka, Manilov and Sobakevich do not yield results, and Nozdryov only multiplies the confusion, declaring that Chichikov is definitely a spy, a fake banknote maker and had an undoubted intention to take away the governor's daughter, in which Nozdryov undertook to help him (each of the versions was accompanied by detailed details up to the name priest who took up the wedding). All these rumors have a tremendous effect on the prosecutor, he has a stroke, and he dies.

Chichikov himself, sitting in a hotel with a slight cold, is surprised that none of the officials visits him. Finally, having gone on visits, he discovers that they do not receive him at the governor's, and in other places they fearfully shun him. Nozdryov, visiting him at the hotel, among the general noise he made, partly clarifies the situation, announcing that he agrees to facilitate the kidnapping of the governor's daughter. The next day, Chichikov hurriedly leaves, but is stopped by a funeral procession and forced to contemplate the whole world of bureaucracy flowing behind the coffin of the prosecutor Brichka leaves the city, and the open spaces on both sides of it evoke sad and encouraging thoughts about Russia, the road, and then only sad about their chosen hero. Having concluded that it is time for the virtuous hero to give rest, but, on the contrary, to hide the scoundrel, the author sets out the life story of Pavel Ivanovich, his childhood, training in classes where he already showed a practical mind, his relationship with his comrades and teacher, his service later in the state chamber, some kind of commission for the construction of a government building, where for the first time he gave vent to some of his weaknesses, his subsequent departure to other, not so profitable places, transfer to the customs service, where, showing honesty and incorruptibility almost unnatural, he made a lot of money in collusion with smugglers, went bankrupt, but dodged the criminal court, although he was forced to resign. He became an attorney and, during the fuss about the pledge of the peasants, put together a plan in his head, began to go around the expanses of Russia, so that, having bought dead souls and pledged them to the treasury as living, to get money, maybe buy a village and provide future offspring.

Having again complained about the properties of his hero’s nature and partly justified him, having found him the name of “owner, acquirer”, the author is distracted by the urged running of horses, the similarity of the flying troika with rushing Russia and the ringing of a bell completes the first volume.

Volume two

It opens with a description of the nature that makes up the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls "the smoker of the sky." The story of the stupidity of his pastime is followed by the story of a life inspired by hopes at the very beginning, overshadowed by the pettiness of service and troubles later; he retires, intending to improve the estate, reads books, takes care of the peasant, but without experience, sometimes just human, this does not give the expected results, the peasant is idle, Tentetnikov gives up. He breaks off acquaintances with his neighbors, offended by the treatment of General Betrishchev, stops visiting him, although he cannot forget his daughter Ulinka. In a word, without someone who would tell him an invigorating “forward!”, He completely turns sour.

Chichikov comes to him, apologizing for a breakdown in the carriage, curiosity and a desire to pay respect. Having won the favor of the owner with his amazing ability to adapt to anyone, Chichikov, having lived with him for a while, goes to the general, to whom he spins a story about an absurd uncle and, as usual, begs for the dead. On the laughing general, the poem fails, and we find Chichikov heading towards Colonel Koshkarev. Against expectation, he gets to Pyotr Petrovich Rooster, whom he finds at first completely naked, keen on hunting for sturgeon. At the Rooster, having nothing to get hold of, for the estate is mortgaged, he only overeats terribly, gets acquainted with the bored landowner Platonov and, having incited him to travel together in Russia, goes to Konstantin Fedorovich Kostanzhoglo, married to Platonov's sister. He talks about the ways of managing, by which he increased the income from the estate dozens of times, and Chichikov is terribly inspired.

Very promptly, he visits Colonel Koshkarev, who has divided his village into committees, expeditions and departments and has arranged a perfect paper production in the mortgaged estate, as it turns out. Returning, he listens to the curses of the bilious Costanjoglo to factories and manufactories that corrupt the peasant, to the absurd desire of the peasant to enlighten, and to his neighbor Khlobuev, who has run a hefty estate and is now lowering it for nothing. Having experienced tenderness and even a craving for honest work, after listening to the story of the farmer Murazov, who made forty millions in an impeccable way, Chichikov the next day, accompanied by Kostanzhoglo and Platonov, goes to Khlobuev, observes the unrest and debauchery of his household in the neighborhood of a governess for children, dressed in fashion wife and other traces of ridiculous luxury. Having borrowed money from Kostanjoglo and Platonov, he gives a deposit for the estate, intending to buy it, and goes to the Platonov estate, where he meets his brother Vasily, who effectively manages the economy. Then he suddenly appears at their neighbor Lenitsyn, obviously a rogue, wins his sympathy with his skillfully tickling a child and receives dead souls.

After many seizures in the manuscript, Chichikov is found already in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric of a lingonberry color so dear to him with a spark. He runs into Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he cheated, either depriving him, or almost depriving him of his inheritance by some kind of forgery. Khlobuev, who missed him, is taken away by Murazov, who convinces Khlobuev of the need to work and determines for him to raise funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations are being found against Chichikov both about forgery and about dead souls. The tailor brings a new coat. Suddenly, a gendarme appears, dragging smart Chichikov to the governor-general, "angry as anger itself." Here all his atrocities become apparent, and he, kissing the general's boot, plunges into the prison. In a dark closet, tearing his hair and coat tails, mourning the loss of a box of papers, Murazov finds Chichikov, awakens in him with simple virtuous words the desire to live honestly and goes to soften the governor general. At that time, officials who want to harm their wise superiors and receive a bribe from Chichikov deliver a box to him, kidnap an important witness and write many denunciations in order to completely confuse the matter. Unrest breaks out in the province itself, greatly worrying the governor-general. However, Murazov knows how to feel the sensitive strings of his soul and give him the right advice, which the Governor-General, having released Chichikov, is already going to use, as "the manuscript breaks off."

retold