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- Николай Гоголь
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- Стр. 145/232
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The
foregoing
constituted
the
most
difficult
step
that
our
hero
had
to
negotiate
.
Thereafter
things
came
with
greater
ease
and
swifter
success
.
Everywhere
he
attracted
notice
,
for
he
developed
within
himself
everything
necessary
for
this
world
--
namely
,
charm
of
manner
and
bearing
,
and
great
diligence
in
business
matters
.
Armed
with
these
resources
,
he
next
obtained
promotion
to
what
is
known
as
"
a
fat
post
,
"
and
used
it
to
the
best
advantage
;
and
even
though
,
at
that
period
,
strict
inquiry
had
begun
to
be
made
into
the
whole
subject
of
bribes
,
such
inquiry
failed
to
alarm
him
--
nay
,
he
actually
turned
it
to
account
and
thereby
manifested
the
Russian
resourcefulness
which
never
fails
to
attain
its
zenith
where
extortion
is
concerned
.
His
method
of
working
was
the
following
.
As
soon
as
a
petitioner
or
a
suitor
put
his
hand
into
his
pocket
,
to
extract
thence
the
necessary
letters
of
recommendation
for
signature
,
Chichikov
would
smilingly
exclaim
as
he
detained
his
interlocutor
's
hand
:
"
No
,
no
!
Surely
you
do
not
think
that
I
--
?
But
no
,
no
!
It
is
our
duty
,
it
is
our
obligation
,
and
we
do
not
require
rewards
for
doing
our
work
properly
.
So
far
as
YOUR
matter
is
concerned
,
you
may
rest
easy
.
Everything
shall
be
carried
through
to-morrow
.
But
may
I
have
your
address
?
There
is
no
need
to
trouble
yourself
,
seeing
that
the
documents
can
easily
be
brought
to
you
at
your
residence
.
"
Upon
which
the
delighted
suitor
would
return
home
in
raptures
,
thinking
:
"
Here
,
at
long
last
,
is
the
sort
of
man
so
badly
needed
.
A
man
of
that
kind
is
a
jewel
beyond
price
.
"
Yet
for
a
day
,
for
two
days
--
nay
,
even
for
three
--
the
suitor
would
wait
in
vain
so
far
as
any
messengers
with
documents
were
concerned
.
Then
he
would
repair
to
the
office
--
to
find
that
his
business
had
not
so
much
as
been
entered
upon
!
Lastly
,
he
would
confront
the
"
jewel
beyond
price
.
"
"
Oh
,
pardon
me
,
pardon
me
!
"
Chichikov
would
exclaim
in
the
politest
of
tones
as
he
seized
and
grasped
the
visitor
's
hands
.
"
The
truth
is
that
we
have
SUCH
a
quantity
of
business
on
hand
!
But
the
matter
shall
be
put
through
to-morrow
,
and
in
the
meanwhile
I
am
most
sorry
about
it
.
"
And
with
this
would
go
the
most
fascinating
of
gestures
.
Yet
neither
on
the
morrow
,
nor
on
the
day
following
,
nor
on
the
third
would
documents
arrive
at
the
suitor
's
abode
.
Upon
that
he
would
take
thought
as
to
whether
something
more
ought
not
to
have
been
done
;
and
,
sure
enough
,
on
his
making
inquiry
,
he
would
be
informed
that
"
something
will
have
to
be
given
to
the
copyists
.
"
"
Well
,
there
can
be
no
harm
in
that
,
"
he
would
reply
.
"
As
a
matter
of
fact
,
I
have
ready
a
tchetvertak
39
or
two
.
"
"
Oh
,
no
,
no
,
"
the
answer
would
come
.
"
Not
a
tchetvertak
per
copyist
,
but
a
rouble
,
is
the
fee
.
"
"
What
?
A
rouble
per
copyist
?
"
"
Certainly
.
What
is
there
to
grumble
at
in
that
?
Of
the
money
the
copyists
will
receive
a
tchetvertak
apiece
,
and
the
rest
will
go
to
the
Government
.
"
Upon
that
the
disillusioned
suitor
would
fly
out
upon
the
new
order
of
things
brought
about
by
the
inquiry
into
illicit
fees
,
and
curse
both
the
tchinovniks
and
their
uppish
,
insolent
behaviour
.
"
Once
upon
a
time
,
"
would
the
suitor
lament
,
"
one
DID
know
what
to
do
.
Once
one
had
tipped
the
Director
a
bank-note
,
one
's
affair
was
,
so
to
speak
,
in
the
hat
.
But
now
one
has
to
pay
a
rouble
per
copyist
after
waiting
a
week
because
otherwise
it
was
impossible
to
guess
how
the
wind
might
set
!
The
devil
fly
away
with
all
'
disinterested
'
and
'
trustworthy
'
tchinovniks
!
"
And
certainly
the
aggrieved
suitor
had
reason
to
grumble
,
seeing
that
,
now
that
bribe-takers
had
ceased
to
exist
,
and
Directors
had
uniformly
become
men
of
honour
and
integrity
,
secretaries
and
clerks
ought
not
with
impunity
to
have
continued
their
thievish
ways
.
In
time
there
opened
out
to
Chichikov
a
still
wider
field
,
for
a
Commission
was
appointed
to
supervise
the
erection
of
a
Government
building
,
and
,
on
his
being
nominated
to
that
body
,
he
proved
himself
one
of
its
most
active
members
.
The
Commission
got
to
work
without
delay
,
but
for
a
space
of
six
years
had
some
trouble
with
the
building
in
question
.
Either
the
climate
hindered
operations
or
the
materials
used
were
of
the
kind
which
prevents
official
edifices
from
ever
rising
higher
than
the
basement
.
But
,
meanwhile
,
OTHER
quarters
of
the
town
saw
arise
,
for
each
member
of
the
Commission
,
a
handsome
house
of
the
NON-official
style
of
architecture
.
Clearly
the
foundation
afforded
by
the
soil
of
those
parts
was
better
than
that
where
the
Government
building
was
still
engaged
in
hanging
fire
!
Likewise
the
members
of
the
Commission
began
to
look
exceedingly
prosperous
,
and
to
blossom
out
into
family
life
;
and
,
for
the
first
time
in
his
existence
,
even
Chichikov
also
departed
from
the
iron
laws
of
his
self-imposed
restraint
and
inexorable
self-denial
,
and
so
far
mitigated
his
heretofore
asceticism
as
to
show
himself
a
man
not
averse
to
those
amenities
which
,
during
his
youth
,
he
had
been
capable
of
renouncing
.
That
is
to
say
,
certain
superfluities
began
to
make
their
appearance
in
his
establishment
.
He
engaged
a
good
cook
,
took
to
wearing
linen
shirts
,
bought
for
himself
cloth
of
a
pattern
worn
by
no
one
else
in
the
province
,
figured
in
checks
shot
with
the
brightest
of
reds
and
browns
,
fitted
himself
out
with
two
splendid
horses
(
which
he
drove
with
a
single
pair
of
reins
,
added
to
a
ring
attachment
for
the
trace
horse
)
,
developed
a
habit
of
washing
with
a
sponge
dipped
in
eau-de-Cologne
,
and
invested
in
soaps
of
the
most
expensive
quality
,
in
order
to
communicate
to
his
skin
a
more
elegant
polish
.
But
suddenly
there
appeared
upon
the
scene
a
new
Director
--
a
military
man
,
and
a
martinet
as
regarded
his
hostility
to
bribe-takers
and
anything
which
might
be
called
irregular
.
On
the
very
day
after
his
arrival
he
struck
fear
into
every
breast
by
calling
for
accounts
,
discovering
hosts
of
deficits
and
missing
sums
,
and
directing
his
attention
to
the
aforesaid
fine
houses
of
civilian
architecture
.
Upon
that
there
ensued
a
complete
reshuffling
.
Tchinovniks
were
retired
wholesale
,
and
the
houses
were
sequestrated
to
the
Government
,
or
else
converted
into
various
pious
institutions
and
schools
for
soldiers
'
children
.
Thus
the
whole
fabric
,
and
especially
Chichikov
,
came
crashing
to
the
ground
.
Particularly
did
our
hero
's
agreeable
face
displease
the
new
Director
.
Why
that
was
so
it
is
impossible
to
say
,
but
frequently
,
in
cases
of
the
kind
,
no
reason
exists
.
However
,
the
Director
conceived
a
mortal
dislike
to
him
,
and
also
extended
that
enmity
to
the
whole
of
Chichikov
's
colleagues
.
But
inasmuch
as
the
said
Director
was
a
military
man
,
he
was
not
fully
acquainted
with
the
myriad
subtleties
of
the
civilian
mind
;
wherefore
it
was
not
long
before
,
by
dint
of
maintaining
a
discreet
exterior
,
added
to
a
faculty
for
humouring
all
and
sundry
,
a
fresh
gang
of
tchinovniks
succeeded
in
restoring
him
to
mildness
,
and
the
General
found
himself
in
the
hands
of
greater
thieves
than
before
,
but
thieves
whom
he
did
not
even
suspect
,
seeing
that
he
believed
himself
to
have
selected
men
fit
and
proper
,
and
even
ventured
to
boast
of
possessing
a
keen
eye
for
talent
.
In
a
trice
the
tchinovniks
concerned
appraised
his
spirit
and
character
;
with
the
result
that
the
entire
sphere
over
which
he
ruled
became
an
agency
for
the
detection
of
irregularities
.
Everywhere
,
and
in
every
case
,
were
those
irregularities
pursued
as
a
fisherman
pursues
a
fat
sturgeon
with
a
gaff
;
and
to
such
an
extent
did
the
sport
prove
successful
that
almost
in
no
time
each
participator
in
the
hunt
was
seen
to
be
in
possession
of
several
thousand
roubles
of
capital
.
Upon
that
a
large
number
of
the
former
band
of
tchinovniks
also
became
converted
to
paths
of
rectitude
,
and
were
allowed
to
re-enter
the
Service
;
but
not
by
hook
or
by
crook
could
Chichikov
worm
his
way
back
,
even
though
,
incited
thereto
by
sundry
items
of
paper
currency
,
the
General
's
first
secretary
and
principal
bear
leader
did
all
he
could
on
our
hero
's
behalf
.
It
seemed
that
the
General
was
the
kind
of
man
who
,
though
easily
led
by
the
nose
(
provided
it
was
done
without
his
knowledge
)
no
sooner
got
an
idea
into
his
head
than
it
stuck
there
like
a
nail
,
and
could
not
possibly
be
extracted
;
and
all
that
the
wily
secretary
succeeded
in
procuring
was
the
tearing
up
of
a
certain
dirty
fragment
of
paper
--
even
that
being
effected
only
by
an
appeal
to
the
General
's
compassion
,
on
the
score
of
the
unhappy
fate
which
,
otherwise
,
would
befall
Chichikov
's
wife
and
children
(
who
,
luckily
,
had
no
existence
in
fact
)
.
"
Well
,
"
said
Chichikov
to
himself
,
"
I
have
done
my
best
,
and
now
everything
has
failed
.
Lamenting
my
misfortune
wo
n't
help
me
,
but
only
action
.
"
And
with
that
he
decided
to
begin
his
career
anew
,
and
once
more
to
arm
himself
with
the
weapons
of
patience
and
self-denial
.
The
better
to
effect
this
,
he
had
,
of
course
to
remove
to
another
town
.
Yet
somehow
,
for
a
while
,
things
miscarried
.
More
than
once
he
found
himself
forced
to
exchange
one
post
for
another
,
and
at
the
briefest
of
notice
;
and
all
of
them
were
posts
of
the
meanest
,
the
most
wretched
,
order
.
Yet
,
being
a
man
of
the
utmost
nicety
of
feeling
,
the
fact
that
he
found
himself
rubbing
shoulders
with
anything
but
nice
companions
did
not
prevent
him
from
preserving
intact
his
innate
love
of
what
was
decent
and
seemly
,
or
from
cherishing
the
instinct
which
led
him
to
hanker
after
office
fittings
of
lacquered
wood
,
with
neatness
and
orderliness
everywhere
.
Nor
did
he
at
any
time
permit
a
foul
word
to
creep
into
his
speech
,
and
would
feel
hurt
even
if
in
the
speech
of
others
there
occurred
a
scornful
reference
to
anything
which
pertained
to
rank
and
dignity
.
Also
,
the
reader
will
be
pleased
to
know
that
our
hero
changed
his
linen
every
other
day
,
and
in
summer
,
when
the
weather
was
very
hot
,
EVERY
day
,
seeing
that
the
very
faintest
suspicion
of
an
unpleasant
odour
offended
his
fastidiousness
.
For
the
same
reason
it
was
his
custom
,
before
being
valeted
by
Petrushka
,
always
to
plug
his
nostrils
with
a
couple
of
cloves
.
In
short
,
there
were
many
occasions
when
his
nerves
suffered
rackings
as
cruel
as
a
young
girl
's
,
and
so
helped
to
increase
his
disgust
at
having
once
more
to
associate
with
men
who
set
no
store
by
the
decencies
of
life
.
Yet
,
though
he
braced
himself
to
the
task
,
this
period
of
adversity
told
upon
his
health
,
and
he
even
grew
a
trifle
shabby
.
More
than
once
,
on
happening
to
catch
sight
of
himself
in
the
mirror
,
he
could
not
forbear
exclaiming
:
"
Holy
Mother
of
God
,
but
what
a
nasty-looking
brute
I
have
become
!
"
and
for
a
long
while
afterwards
could
not
with
anything
like
sang-froid
contemplate
his
reflection
.
