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Dead Souls
To
the
door
of
an
inn
in
the
provincial
town
of
N.
there
drew
up
a
smart
britchka
--
a
light
spring-carriage
of
the
sort
affected
by
bachelors
,
retired
lieutenant-colonels
,
staff-captains
,
land-owners
possessed
of
about
a
hundred
souls
,
and
,
in
short
,
all
persons
who
rank
as
gentlemen
of
the
intermediate
category
.
In
the
britchka
was
seated
such
a
gentleman
--
a
man
who
,
though
not
handsome
,
was
not
ill-favoured
,
not
over-fat
,
and
not
over-thin
.
Also
,
though
not
over-elderly
,
he
was
not
over-young
.
His
arrival
produced
no
stir
in
the
town
,
and
was
accompanied
by
no
particular
incident
,
beyond
that
a
couple
of
peasants
who
happened
to
be
standing
at
the
door
of
a
dramshop
exchanged
a
few
comments
with
reference
to
the
equipage
rather
than
to
the
individual
who
was
seated
in
it
.
"
Look
at
that
carriage
,
"
one
of
them
said
to
the
other
.
"
Think
you
it
will
be
going
as
far
as
Moscow
?
"
"
I
think
it
will
,
"
replied
his
companion
.
"
But
not
as
far
as
Kazan
,
eh
?
"
"
No
,
not
as
far
as
Kazan
.
"
With
that
the
conversation
ended
.
Presently
,
as
the
britchka
was
approaching
the
inn
,
it
was
met
by
a
young
man
in
a
pair
of
very
short
,
very
tight
breeches
of
white
dimity
,
a
quasi-fashionable
frockcoat
,
and
a
dickey
fastened
with
a
pistol-shaped
bronze
tie-pin
.
The
young
man
turned
his
head
as
he
passed
the
britchka
and
eyed
it
attentively
;
after
which
he
clapped
his
hand
to
his
cap
(
which
was
in
danger
of
being
removed
by
the
wind
)
and
resumed
his
way
.
On
the
vehicle
reaching
the
inn
door
,
its
occupant
found
standing
there
to
welcome
him
the
polevoi
,
or
waiter
,
of
the
establishment
--
an
individual
of
such
nimble
and
brisk
movement
that
even
to
distinguish
the
character
of
his
face
was
impossible
.
Running
out
with
a
napkin
in
one
hand
and
his
lanky
form
clad
in
a
tailcoat
,
reaching
almost
to
the
nape
of
his
neck
,
he
tossed
back
his
locks
,
and
escorted
the
gentleman
upstairs
,
along
a
wooden
gallery
,
and
so
to
the
bedchamber
which
God
had
prepared
for
the
gentleman
's
reception
.
The
said
bedchamber
was
of
quite
ordinary
appearance
,
since
the
inn
belonged
to
the
species
to
be
found
in
all
provincial
towns
--
the
species
wherein
,
for
two
roubles
a
day
,
travellers
may
obtain
a
room
swarming
with
black-beetles
,
and
communicating
by
a
doorway
with
the
apartment
adjoining
.
True
,
the
doorway
may
be
blocked
up
with
a
wardrobe
;
yet
behind
it
,
in
all
probability
,
there
will
be
standing
a
silent
,
motionless
neighbour
whose
ears
are
burning
to
learn
every
possible
detail
concerning
the
latest
arrival
.
The
inn
's
exterior
corresponded
with
its
interior
.
Long
,
and
consisting
only
of
two
storeys
,
the
building
had
its
lower
half
destitute
of
stucco
;
with
the
result
that
the
dark-red
bricks
,
originally
more
or
less
dingy
,
had
grown
yet
dingier
under
the
influence
of
atmospheric
changes
.
As
for
the
upper
half
of
the
building
,
it
was
,
of
course
,
painted
the
usual
tint
of
unfading
yellow
.
Within
,
on
the
ground
floor
,
there
stood
a
number
of
benches
heaped
with
horse-collars
,
rope
,
and
sheepskins
;
while
the
window-seat
accommodated
a
sbitentshik
4
,
cheek
by
jowl
with
a
samovar
5
--
the
latter
so
closely
resembling
the
former
in
appearance
that
,
but
for
the
fact
of
the
samovar
possessing
a
pitch-black
lip
,
the
samovar
and
the
sbitentshik
might
have
been
two
of
a
pair
.
During
the
traveller
's
inspection
of
his
room
his
luggage
was
brought
into
the
apartment
.
First
came
a
portmanteau
of
white
leather
whose
raggedness
indicated
that
the
receptacle
had
made
several
previous
journeys
.
The
bearers
of
the
same
were
the
gentleman
's
coachman
,
Selifan
(
a
little
man
in
a
large
overcoat
)
,
and
the
gentleman
's
valet
,
Petrushka
--
the
latter
a
fellow
of
about
thirty
,
clad
in
a
worn
,
over-ample
jacket
which
formerly
had
graced
his
master
's
shoulders
,
and
possessed
of
a
nose
and
a
pair
of
lips
whose
coarseness
communicated
to
his
face
rather
a
sullen
expression
.
Behind
the
portmanteau
came
a
small
dispatch-box
of
redwood
,
lined
with
birch
bark
,
a
boot-case
,
and
(
wrapped
in
blue
paper
)
a
roast
fowl
;
all
of
which
having
been
deposited
,
the
coachman
departed
to
look
after
his
horses
,
and
the
valet
to
establish
himself
in
the
little
dark
anteroom
or
kennel
where
already
he
had
stored
a
cloak
,
a
bagful
of
livery
,
and
his
own
peculiar
smell
.
Pressing
the
narrow
bedstead
back
against
the
wall
,
he
covered
it
with
the
tiny
remnant
of
mattress
--
a
remnant
as
thin
and
flat
(
perhaps
also
as
greasy
)
as
a
pancake
--
which
he
had
managed
to
beg
of
the
landlord
of
the
establishment
.
While
the
attendants
had
been
thus
setting
things
straight
the
gentleman
had
repaired
to
the
common
parlour
.
The
appearance
of
common
parlours
of
the
kind
is
known
to
every
one
who
travels
.
Always
they
have
varnished
walls
which
,
grown
black
in
their
upper
portions
with
tobacco
smoke
,
are
,
in
their
lower
,
grown
shiny
with
the
friction
of
customers
'
backs
--
more
especially
with
that
of
the
backs
of
such
local
tradesmen
as
,
on
market-days
,
make
it
their
regular
practice
to
resort
to
the
local
hostelry
for
a
glass
of
tea
.
Also
,
parlours
of
this
kind
invariably
contain
smutty
ceilings
,
an
equally
smutty
chandelier
,
a
number
of
pendent
shades
which
jump
and
rattle
whenever
the
waiter
scurries
across
the
shabby
oilcloth
with
a
trayful
of
glasses
(
the
glasses
looking
like
a
flock
of
birds
roosting
by
the
seashore
)
,
and
a
selection
of
oil
paintings
.
In
short
,
there
are
certain
objects
which
one
sees
in
every
inn
.
In
the
present
case
the
only
outstanding
feature
of
the
room
was
the
fact
that
in
one
of
the
paintings
a
nymph
was
portrayed
as
possessing
breasts
of
a
size
such
as
the
reader
can
never
in
his
life
have
beheld
.
A
similar
caricaturing
of
nature
is
to
be
noted
in
the
historical
pictures
(
of
unknown
origin
,
period
,
and
creation
)
which
reach
us
--
sometimes
through
the
instrumentality
of
Russian
magnates
who
profess
to
be
connoisseurs
of
art
--
from
Italy
;
owing
to
the
said
magnates
having
made
such
purchases
solely
on
the
advice
of
the
couriers
who
have
escorted
them
.
To
resume
,
however
--
our
traveller
removed
his
cap
,
and
divested
his
neck
of
a
parti-coloured
woollen
scarf
of
the
kind
which
a
wife
makes
for
her
husband
with
her
own
hands
,
while
accompanying
the
gift
with
interminable
injunctions
as
to
how
best
such
a
garment
ought
to
be
folded
.
True
,
bachelors
also
wear
similar
gauds
,
but
,
in
their
case
,
God
alone
knows
who
may
have
manufactured
the
articles
!
For
my
part
,
I
can
not
endure
them
.
Having
unfolded
the
scarf
,
the
gentleman
ordered
dinner
,
and
whilst
the
various
dishes
were
being
got
ready
--
cabbage
soup
,
a
pie
several
weeks
old
,
a
dish
of
marrow
and
peas
,
a
dish
of
sausages
and
cabbage
,
a
roast
fowl
,
some
salted
cucumber
,
and
the
sweet
tart
which
stands
perpetually
ready
for
use
in
such
establishments
;
whilst
,
I
say
,
these
things
were
either
being
warmed
up
or
brought
in
cold
,
the
gentleman
induced
the
waiter
to
retail
certain
fragments
of
tittle-tattle
concerning
the
late
landlord
of
the
hostelry
,
the
amount
of
income
which
the
hostelry
produced
,
and
the
character
of
its
present
proprietor
.
To
the
last-mentioned
inquiry
the
waiter
returned
the
answer
invariably
given
in
such
cases
--
namely
,
"
My
master
is
a
terribly
hard
man
,
sir
.
"
Curious
that
in
enlightened
Russia
so
many
people
can
not
even
take
a
meal
at
an
inn
without
chattering
to
the
attendant
and
making
free
with
him
!
Nevertheless
not
ALL
the
questions
which
the
gentleman
asked
were
aimless
ones
,
for
he
inquired
who
was
Governor
of
the
town
,
who
President
of
the
Local
Council
,
and
who
Public
Prosecutor
.
In
short
,
he
omitted
no
single
official
of
note
,
while
asking
also
(
though
with
an
air
of
detachment
)
the
most
exact
particulars
concerning
the
landowners
of
the
neighbourhood
.
Which
of
them
,
he
inquired
,
possessed
serfs
,
and
how
many
of
them
?
How
far
from
the
town
did
those
landowners
reside
?
What
was
the
character
of
each
landowner
,
and
was
he
in
the
habit
of
paying
frequent
visits
to
the
town
?
The
gentleman
also
made
searching
inquiries
concerning
the
hygienic
condition
of
the
countryside
.
Was
there
,
he
asked
,
much
sickness
about
--
whether
sporadic
fever
,
fatal
forms
of
ague
,
smallpox
,
or
what
not
?
Yet
,
though
his
solicitude
concerning
these
matters
showed
more
than
ordinary
curiosity
,
his
bearing
retained
its
gravity
unimpaired
,
and
from
time
to
time
he
blew
his
nose
with
portentous
fervour
.
Indeed
,
the
manner
in
which
he
accomplished
this
latter
feat
was
marvellous
in
the
extreme
,
for
,
though
that
member
emitted
sounds
equal
to
those
of
a
trumpet
in
intensity
,
he
could
yet
,
with
his
accompanying
air
of
guileless
dignity
,
evoke
the
waiter
's
undivided
respect
--
so
much
so
that
,
whenever
the
sounds
of
the
nose
reached
that
menial
's
ears
,
he
would
shake
back
his
locks
,
straighten
himself
into
a
posture
of
marked
solicitude
,
and
inquire
afresh
,
with
head
slightly
inclined
,
whether
the
gentleman
happened
to
require
anything
further
.
After
dinner
the
guest
consumed
a
cup
of
coffee
,
and
then
,
seating
himself
upon
the
sofa
,
with
,
behind
him
,
one
of
those
wool-covered
cushions
which
,
in
Russian
taverns
,
resemble
nothing
so
much
as
a
cobblestone
or
a
brick
,
fell
to
snoring
;
whereafter
,
returning
with
a
start
to
consciousness
,
he
ordered
himself
to
be
conducted
to
his
room
,
flung
himself
at
full
length
upon
the
bed
,
and
once
more
slept
soundly
for
a
couple
of
hours
.
Aroused
,
eventually
,
by
the
waiter
,
he
,
at
the
latter
's
request
,
inscribed
a
fragment
of
paper
with
his
name
,
his
surname
,
and
his
rank
(
for
communication
,
in
accordance
with
the
law
,
to
the
police
)
:
and
on
that
paper
the
waiter
,
leaning
forward
from
the
corridor
,
read
,
syllable
by
syllable
:
"
Paul
Ivanovitch
Chichikov
,
Collegiate
Councillor
--
Landowner
--
Travelling
on
Private
Affairs
.
"
The
waiter
had
just
time
to
accomplish
this
feat
before
Paul
Ivanovitch
Chichikov
set
forth
to
inspect
the
town
.
Apparently
the
place
succeeded
in
satisfying
him
,
and
,
to
tell
the
truth
,
it
was
at
least
up
to
the
usual
standard
of
our
provincial
capitals
.
Where
the
staring
yellow
of
stone
edifices
did
not
greet
his
eye
he
found
himself
confronted
with
the
more
modest
grey
of
wooden
ones
;
which
,
consisting
,
for
the
most
part
,
of
one
or
two
storeys
(
added
to
the
range
of
attics
which
provincial
architects
love
so
well
)
,
looked
almost
lost
amid
the
expanses
of
street
and
intervening
medleys
of
broken
or
half-finished
partition-walls
.
At
other
points
evidence
of
more
life
and
movement
was
to
be
seen
,
and
here
the
houses
stood
crowded
together
and
displayed
dilapidated
,
rain-blurred
signboards
whereon
boots
or
cakes
or
pairs
of
blue
breeches
inscribed
"
Arshavski
,
Tailor
,
"
and
so
forth
,
were
depicted
.
Over
a
shop
containing
hats
and
caps
was
written
"
Vassili
Thedorov
,
Foreigner
"
;
while
,
at
another
spot
,
a
signboard
portrayed
a
billiard
table
and
two
players
--
the
latter
clad
in
frockcoats
of
the
kind
usually
affected
by
actors
whose
part
it
is
to
enter
the
stage
during
the
closing
act
of
a
piece
,
even
though
,
with
arms
sharply
crooked
and
legs
slightly
bent
,
the
said
billiard
players
were
taking
the
most
careful
aim
,
but
succeeding
only
in
making
abortive
strokes
in
the
air
.
Each
emporium
of
the
sort
had
written
over
it
:
"
This
is
the
best
establishment
of
its
kind
in
the
town
.
"
Also
,
al
fresco
in
the
streets
there
stood
tables
heaped
with
nuts
,
soap
,
and
gingerbread
(
the
latter
but
little
distinguishable
from
the
soap
)
,
and
at
an
eating-house
there
was
displayed
the
sign
of
a
plump
fish
transfixed
with
a
gaff
.
But
the
sign
most
frequently
to
be
discerned
was
the
insignia
of
the
State
,
the
double-headed
eagle
(
now
replaced
,
in
this
connection
,
with
the
laconic
inscription
"
Dramshop
"
)
.
As
for
the
paving
of
the
town
,
it
was
uniformly
bad
.
The
gentleman
peered
also
into
the
municipal
gardens
,
which
contained
only
a
few
sorry
trees
that
were
poorly
selected
,
requiring
to
be
propped
with
oil-painted
,
triangular
green
supports
,
and
able
to
boast
of
a
height
no
greater
than
that
of
an
ordinary
walking-stick
.
