"Dead Souls" (Мертвые души) is a novel that was written by Nikolai Gogol in 1842. The novel is separated into two parts. The first part has 11 chapters, and the second part has 4 chapters. Below there are links to the original Russian text of Part 1, and an English translation of the entire novel.
Russian Text: https://ilibrary.ru/text/78/index.html
English Text: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dead_Souls/CNhMAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
Part I:
Chapter 1:
Gogol begins this story by giving a detailed description of the setting, but carefully omits specifics. He describes the inn where Chichikov will be staying but purposefully leaves out the name of the town the story takes place in and waits four pages to provide the reader with the main character's name, Paul Ivanovitch Chichikov. Chichikov is described to be an average man, "not over-elderly, he was not over young," etc. Essentially, Chichikov was an average man in almost all regards. Gogol goes on to describe the town as compact and not particularly wealthy, but even so, there are still wealthy elites in the town. For the most part, people in the town live mundane lives, which is made evident by the stir that the arrival of Chichikov causes. The "ranks" of people are very important throughout the novel and to the main character, Chichikov. Everyone seems to be in the lower class, except for the elite of the town: the Governor, the Public Prosecutor, the President of the Local Council, the Chief of Police. Those of higher ranking take the utmost pride in their rank, and Gogol includes the "rank" or social status, of every character mentioned in the novel. The reader then follows Chichikov as he travels through the town, in an attempt to meet the elites of the town. He eventually meets all of the elites and gets invited to their parties. He is then regarded with flattering opinions by all of the elites, even the Chief of Police's wife, as a result of being able to hold his own, no matter what comes up in conversation. Gogol then concludes the first chapter by telling the reader that all of the elites retain their happiness with Chichikov until "a certain scheme of his plunged a majority of the towns-folk into a sea of perplexity." Gogol also includes the statement that "the reader will learn presently what it is" in parentheses. This conclusion to the first chapter foreshadows the main character, Chichikov, using his relationships with the powerful people of the town to help him carry out a certain "scheme".
Chapter 2:
Gogol begins the second chapter by immediately referencing the "scheme" from the end of the first chapter, which happens to be on the same page. He states that Chichikov is going to visit, past the urban boundaries, the two landowners he met at the parties that he attended. He is visiting for a more essential cause than the fact that he promised to visit them. Manilov is the name of the first landowner Chichikov visits. Manilov is described as a man with no hobbies or ambition, and his estate is a representation of that. The house seems to "take care of itself," meaning that he does no maintenance to it, or close to none. Manilov and his wife both are completely enamored with Chichikov, and hold him with the highest regard. He proceeds to have lunch with them, and their two children. The chapter takes a turn when Manilov and Chichikov are alone in Manilov's study. Chichikov first asks how many of Maniov's serfs had died following the previous census. As this is a strange inquiry, Manilov asked why he wanted to know. In turn, Chichkov responded by stating that he wanted to purchase dead serfs who had been labeled alive for the last census. This is the first real insight Gogol gives into Chichikov's "scheme." Chichikov wants legally living, but in actuality, dead serfs. The two then agree that Chichikov will be able to take the serfs for free, and he leaves the Manilov estate.
Chapter 3:
The third chapter begins where the second left off, Chichikov is on the road, traveling to the other landowner's estate, Sobakevitch. Selifan, Chichikov's driver, had gotten drunk and as a result, drove them into the middle of nowhere. The weather had also taken a turn for the worse, and they both needed a place to stay. Eventually, they stumbled upon a lady's home, and she let them stay for the night after learning of Chichikov's elevated position in society. There she reveals that she does not know any of the landowners that he knows and that the nearest town is 60 versts (1 verst is 1.1km/.66mi) away. Once Chichokov wakes up, he realizes that the lady's home is quite nice and that she owns peasants herself. Then at breakfast, he asks Nastasia Petrovna, the name of the lady, if he could buy her dead peasants that were last listed as alive, just as he did with Manilov. Petrovna was so shocked by the request that at first, she did not want to sell them to him. However, after lengthy negotiations and ultimately an outburst from Chichikov, Petrovna agreed to sell each soul for 15 rubles each. Following this transaction, he acquired the signature from Petrovna, making the deal official. Once the deal was completed, he left with Selifan, and headed to the nearest town.
Chapter 4:
On route towards the nearest town, Chichikov and Selifan see a tavern. Chichikov orders Selifan to halt their carriage, and he enters the tavern. As the two were in the tavern, another carriage arrived. From the carriage, three men had exited and proceeded to enter the tavern. One of the men happened to be Nozdrev, a man Chichikov met at the Public Prosecutor's dinner. Nozdrev is a relentless gambler and loves playing cards. Nozdrev then invites Chichikov to come over, and he obliges in hopes of buying more dead souls. After a carriage ride and a tour of Nozdrev's home, the two other guests leave, leaving Chichikov and Nozdrev alone. That is when Chichikov requests to buy dead souls. At first, Nozdrev offers Chichikov other items to buy, and the souls will be included for free. Nozdrev then asks Chichikov if he would like to play cards for the souls. Chichikov declines all of these offers, and after fruitless negotiations, tensions build and the two decide to go to bed. The next morning, Chichikov attempts to negotiate for the souls again, but Nozdrev just asks him to play cards for them again. Nozdrev then follows up by asking if Chichikov would like to play cards instead, to which Chichikov agrees. During their game, Chichikov witnesses Nozdrev cheating and refuses to continue the game. Tensions again rise, and Nozdrev orders his serfs to attack Chichikov. Then, the police arrive at Nozdrev's home and arrest him for supposedly offending a landowner by the name of Maksimov. At the same time, Chichikov quickly runs toward his carriage and leaves with Selifan.
Chapter 5:
Chapter 5 opens with the horses of Chichikov's carriage and the horses of another carriage colliding. As the two parties sort their horses out, Chichikov sees a young woman who he is completely smitten by. He does not stop thinking about her until Selifan and he arrive at Sobakevitch's estate. There Chichikov runs through his usual routine: meet the homeowner, dine with them, propose to buy dead souls, negotiate, then leave. However, this time he had to endure lengthy negotiations with Sobakevitch as the two could not agree on a price per soul. Sobakevitch also mentioned another landowner to Chichikov, Plushkin. Sobakevitch describes Plushkin as someone with around 800 serfs but treats his serfs and himself poorly. Apparently, Plushkin's servants "drop like flies," and upon hearing this statement, Chichikov began to inquire more about where to find such a man as he wanted to pay a visit to buy more souls. Chichikov is informed that Plushkin lives 5 versts away, but Sobakevitch does not reveal in what direction. Eventually, Chichikov and Sobakevitch agree on a price, and Chichikov leaves the estate. As soon as he left, he asks the first peasant he sees where he could find Plushkin.
Chapter 6:
Chichikov enters a peasant village while traveling to Plushkin's home and notices the wooden pavements of the road, and the decay of the buildings. Chichikov finds and enters Plushkin's home to find it in horrible condition, looking as if it was "never washed." Chichikov then meets Plushkin and is surprised to see that Plushkin is an old man who dresses as if he were homeless, instead of an elite amongst Russian aristocrats. As the two begin conversing, Plushkin mentions his dismay with the fact that he is being taxed for 40 serfs that have passed away. Chichikov then proposes to buy these dead serfs, which in turn makes Plushkin very happy. He agrees to sell them immediately. Plushkin then mentions he has had 78 serfs runaway, and Chichikov buys their souls as well. The pair quickly complete the transaction, and Chichikov makes his way back to the town.
Chapter 7:
Chichikov wakes up in a great mood. He had a great sleep, and as he awakes, he is filled with splendor upon the realization that he now owns over 400 souls. After he completes his morning routine, he looks upon a list of all the serfs he purchased. He looks at their names and begins to imagine what their personalities were like. He even begins to imagine what conversations with them would have been like. After realizing it is 12 o'clock, Chichikov leaves his room and makes way for the municipal offices. On the way there, he sees Manilov and the two embrace. They then both head for the offices together. Once at the offices, they inquire where the serf department is, and are sent to 2 different people before finally being sent to the President, Ivan Grigorievitch. With the president sits Sobakevitch. Chichikov and Grigorievitch begin to finalize the purchase, and Chichikov makes sure to mention that he would like it completed today as he wants to leave the town. Sobakevitch then tells the president to inquire more about Chichikov's transaction and his plans. This almost causes Chichikov's plan to fall through as Sobakevitch names a serf who he had previously told the president of his death, and the president knew. Then, the four characters and others left to attend a party at the Chief of Police's residence to celebrate Chichikov's acquisition. Then Chichikov returned home and promptly fell asleep.
Chapter 8:
Following Chichikov's purchases, he becomes the talk of the town. He is perceived to be a millionaire which causes everyone to like him more, particularly the ladies. At one point he receives an anonymous letter from a woman who wrote that "between a certain pair of souls there existed a bond of sympathy." She also included that she will be attending the Governor's ball later that evening. Chichikov then decides to attend the ball to find out who wrote the letter. As soon as he entered the ball, everyone in attendance came forward to meet him. He was "engulfed in a sea of embraces." At the same time, he was looking around and postulating who could be the woman that wrote the letter. He then began to speak with the Governor's wife who was with her daughter. The Governor's daughter was in fact the woman who Chichikov was enamored by during the collision of the horses of Chichikov's carriage and another carriage in Chapter 5. Chichikov goes over to talk to the damsel, but unfortunately only seems to bore her. Chichikov then notices Nozdrev, who was at that point heavily intoxicated. Nozdrev ventures towards the Governor and Chichikov to speak with them. It is at this point where Nozdrev tells the Governor that Chichikov attempted to buy dead souls from him, and was surprised to hear that Chichikov supposedly spent millions on souls as Chichikov only offered him a few rubles at the most. Chichikov became uncomfortable as a result. Luckily for Chichikov, Nozdrev was known to be a liar, and his story did not gain much traction. Soon after their conversation ends, Nozdrev is kicked out of the ball for scandalous behavior towards the lady dancers. Then Chichikov returns home and reflects on his less than pleasant experience at the ball. The chapter ends with Gogol informing the reader that the woman who Chichikov bought souls from, Madame Korobotchka, had arrived in the town.
Chapter 9:
The chapter opens with an unnamed hostess who is visited by an unnamed friend of hers. The two unnamed women proceed to converse about Chichikov, they do not say his name but it is obvious who they are talking about. They then proceed to state that Korobotchka arrived at the Archpriest's house last night. The archpriest's wife told one of the women conversing that Madame Korobotchka was approached by Chichikov to sell her dead souls. The hostess begins to lament over what "dead souls" are, as she had also heard Nozdrev mention them at the Governor's ball. The two try to postulate what Chichikov wants the souls for, and the hostess believes it is to abduct the Governor's daughter. Then, the Public Prosecutor enters the room and the ladies inform him of the news they have been mulling over. This news spread quickly throughout the town, and two parties were formed: the men's party, which was concerned more with the dead souls, and the women's party, more concerned with the "alleged abduction of the Governor's daughter." As conspiracies further developed, word got to the Governor's wife. The men's party was less effective in working together than their female equivalent. The men's party also declared the whole story as "rubbish." The Director of the Medical Department and the President had at first dismissed the story as rubbish but began to believe it the more they pondered it. At the same time, the local Governor had come upon to important documents. The first document stated that there was a forger of ruble-notes in the province. The second was from the Governor of a neighboring province that stated if there is a suspicious man that can not produce references or passports, he should be arrested immediately. These documents resulted in the civil officers suspecting that Chichikov is a forger of ruble-notes. Among hearing the news, every officer was "thunderstruck." The officers then began to question each of the people that Chichikov bought souls from. The first questioned was Korobotchka, but that yielded little fruit. They then questioned landowners Manilov and Sobakevitch, who both praised Chichikov's character and explained that the souls bought were alive. The officials decided that they would have a debate at the residence of the Chief of Police to decide whether Chichikov was a respectable man or a man who "out to be apprehended and detained."
Chapter 10:
The chapter opens with the court officers at the Chief of Police's residence. They are debating what Chichikov's true identity may be. They can not agree on anything. Eventually, the postmaster interrupts with a story of who he believes Chichikov truly is, but the character in the story was a soldier that lost an arm and a leg, and Chichikov has not lost any limbs. They then decided to question Nozdrev, as he was the first to mention the dead souls. Nozdrev told the men that Chichikov purchased dead souls "to the tune of several thousand rubles." He then stated that Chichikov purchased some from Nozdrev himself. Chichikov never told Nozdrev how much he spent on the souls, so his statement of "several thousand rubles" is completely unsubstantiated. Chichikov and Nozdrev also were not able to complete a deal during their meeting. Nozdrev proceeded to lie to the officers by telling them that he knew where Chichikov and the Governor's daughter were arranged to get married. At the time, Chichikov was not aware of the officers' attempts to uncover his true identity. Chichikov actually stayed in his room for 3 days straight following the ball, until he decided to venture to the Governor's mansion in an attempt to see the Governor's daughter. Once he arrived, a Swiss footman told Chichikov that he is forbidden from entering. He proceeded to travel to the homes of the President of the Council, Chief of Police, Vice-Governor, Postmaster, and more, but each had the same outcome as the first. After his venture had yielded no fruit, he returned home to the inn to have a drink when he saw Nozdrev. Nozdrev informs Chichikov that the town believes he is a forger of currency notes and that he wants to "carry off" the Governor's daughter. After their conversation, Chichikov sent his servants, Petrushka and Selifan, to get his items and carriage ready so that they could leave early the next day.
Chapter 11:
When Chichikov awoke he was outraged to find that his items had not been put together and his carriage was not harnessed and ready. On top of that, Chichikov overslept. Selifan then informed him that the carriage needed repairs, and the horses needed reshoeing. This only made Chichikov angrier. After another five and a half hours, everything was finally ready and he departed on his journey. Unfortunately, he was stopped not long after his departure due to a funeral that was blocking his path. This was the funeral of the Public Prosecutor, who had died of a stroke a few days earlier. After finally making their way out of the town, Gogol takes the time to "speak at length concerning" Chichikov. When Chichikov was young, his father took him to one of their relative's homes, an old lady, for the purpose of attending a local school. There his father gave him advice: do your lessons well, your comrades will do you no good except if they are rich, save every kopeck(cent), and that money will never fail you. While this was the last time he saw his father, Chichikov would adhere to this advice for the rest of his life. In school, he had a headmaster who he really enjoyed. The headmaster would reward good behavior, not pure intelligence. When he was a teenager, his father passed away leaving him an estate, worn-out clothes, and a small amount of money. Eventually, his headmaster got sick and everyone in the classes gave gifts and money, but Chichikov gave only a silver five kopeck piece, not even a ruble. Chichikov only knew how to save money, not spend it, so he sold the estate for a thousand rubles and moved to the capital. He wanted a job working at the Civil Service. and only after a long time was a minor post found for him, at a salary of thirty or forty rubles per year. At this point, he became so infatuated with the idea of being wealthy that he worked from the early morning until late at night in an attempt to obtain a better position, and gain a better position he did. Chichikov continues to work and achieve promotions until he became a high ranking officer in the customs office. At this point, he and a few accomplices are a part of a smuggling scam that generates each of them 400,000 rubles. Things are going well until he gets into an argument with one of his co-conspirators. Following the argument, the co-conspirator exposed the scam and a full investigation was underway. As a result of the investigation, Chichikov lost his job, rank, and everything else except for 10,000 rubles, his two servants, and a carriage. Instead of giving up, he preserves his energy and continues to look for another opportunity. He looks for work but is only able to obtain the job of an ordinary attorney. It is at this job that he learns that if someone's serf dies, they are awarded 200 rubles. This births the scheme that has been on display all throughout Part 1. The purchases that readers see Chichikov make are his first purchases of dead souls. Gogol then ends the chapter by taking the role of an omniscient author, and asking readers to ask themselves, "Is there not in me an element of Chichikov?"
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