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31
One
evening
,
therefore
,
Selifan
the
coachman
received
orders
to
have
the
horses
harnessed
in
good
time
next
morning
;
while
Petrushka
received
orders
to
remain
behind
,
for
the
purpose
of
looking
after
the
portmanteau
and
the
room
.
In
passing
,
the
reader
may
care
to
become
more
fully
acquainted
with
the
two
serving-men
of
whom
I
have
spoken
.
Naturally
,
they
were
not
persons
of
much
note
,
but
merely
what
folk
call
characters
of
secondary
,
or
even
of
tertiary
,
importance
.
Yet
,
despite
the
fact
that
the
springs
and
the
thread
of
this
romance
will
not
DEPEND
upon
them
,
but
only
touch
upon
them
,
and
occasionally
include
them
,
the
author
has
a
passion
for
circumstantiality
,
and
,
like
the
average
Russian
,
such
a
desire
for
accuracy
as
even
a
German
could
not
rival
.
32
To
what
the
reader
already
knows
concerning
the
personages
in
hand
it
is
therefore
necessary
to
add
that
Petrushka
usually
wore
a
cast-off
brown
jacket
of
a
size
too
large
for
him
,
as
also
that
he
had
(
according
to
the
custom
of
individuals
of
his
calling
)
a
pair
of
thick
lips
and
a
very
prominent
nose
.
In
temperament
he
was
taciturn
rather
than
loquacious
,
and
he
cherished
a
yearning
for
self-education
.
That
is
to
say
,
he
loved
to
read
books
,
even
though
their
contents
came
alike
to
him
whether
they
were
books
of
heroic
adventure
or
mere
grammars
or
liturgical
compendia
.
As
I
say
,
he
perused
every
book
with
an
equal
amount
of
attention
,
and
,
had
he
been
offered
a
work
on
chemistry
,
would
have
accepted
that
also
.
Not
the
words
which
he
read
,
but
the
mere
solace
derived
from
the
act
of
reading
,
was
what
especially
pleased
his
mind
;
even
though
at
any
moment
there
might
launch
itself
from
the
page
some
devil-sent
word
whereof
he
could
make
neither
head
nor
tail
.
For
the
most
part
,
his
task
of
reading
was
performed
in
a
recumbent
position
in
the
anteroom
;
which
circumstance
ended
by
causing
his
mattress
to
become
as
ragged
and
as
thin
as
a
wafer
.
33
In
addition
to
his
love
of
poring
over
books
,
he
could
boast
of
two
habits
which
constituted
two
other
essential
features
of
his
character
--
namely
,
a
habit
of
retiring
to
rest
in
his
clothes
(
that
is
to
say
,
in
the
brown
jacket
above-mentioned
)
and
a
habit
of
everywhere
bearing
with
him
his
own
peculiar
atmosphere
,
his
own
peculiar
smell
--
a
smell
which
filled
any
lodging
with
such
subtlety
that
he
needed
but
to
make
up
his
bed
anywhere
,
even
in
a
room
hitherto
untenanted
,
and
to
drag
thither
his
greatcoat
and
other
impedimenta
,
for
that
room
at
once
to
assume
an
air
of
having
been
lived
in
during
the
past
ten
years
.
Nevertheless
,
though
a
fastidious
,
and
even
an
irritable
,
man
,
Chichikov
would
merely
frown
when
his
nose
caught
this
smell
amid
the
freshness
of
the
morning
,
and
exclaim
with
a
toss
of
his
head
:
"
The
devil
only
knows
what
is
up
with
you
!
Surely
you
sweat
a
good
deal
,
do
you
not
?
The
best
thing
you
can
do
is
to
go
and
take
a
bath
.
"
To
this
Petrushka
would
make
no
reply
,
but
,
approaching
,
brush
in
hand
,
the
spot
where
his
master
's
coat
would
be
pendent
,
or
starting
to
arrange
one
and
another
article
in
order
,
would
strive
to
seem
wholly
immersed
in
his
work
.
Yet
of
what
was
he
thinking
as
he
remained
thus
silent
?
Perhaps
he
was
saying
to
himself
:
"
My
master
is
a
good
fellow
,
but
for
him
to
keep
on
saying
the
same
thing
forty
times
over
is
a
little
wearisome
.
"
Only
God
knows
and
sees
all
things
;
wherefore
for
a
mere
human
being
to
know
what
is
in
the
mind
of
a
servant
while
his
master
is
scolding
him
is
wholly
impossible
.
However
,
no
more
need
be
said
about
Petrushka
.
Отключить рекламу
34
On
the
other
hand
,
Coachman
Selifan
--
35
But
here
let
me
remark
that
I
do
not
like
engaging
the
reader
's
attention
in
connection
with
persons
of
a
lower
class
than
himself
;
for
experience
has
taught
me
that
we
do
not
willingly
familiarise
ourselves
with
the
lower
orders
--
that
it
is
the
custom
of
the
average
Russian
to
yearn
exclusively
for
information
concerning
persons
on
the
higher
rungs
of
the
social
ladder
.
In
fact
,
even
a
bowing
acquaintance
with
a
prince
or
a
lord
counts
,
in
his
eyes
,
for
more
than
do
the
most
intimate
of
relations
with
ordinary
folk
.
For
the
same
reason
the
author
feels
apprehensive
on
his
hero
's
account
,
seeing
that
he
has
made
that
hero
a
mere
Collegiate
Councillor
--
a
mere
person
with
whom
Aulic
Councillors
might
consort
,
but
upon
whom
persons
of
the
grade
of
full
General
8
would
probably
bestow
one
of
those
glances
proper
to
a
man
who
is
cringing
at
their
august
feet
.
Worse
still
,
such
persons
of
the
grade
of
General
are
likely
to
treat
Chichikov
with
studied
negligence
--
and
to
an
author
studied
negligence
spells
death
.
36
However
,
in
spite
of
the
distressfulness
of
the
foregoing
possibilities
,
it
is
time
that
I
returned
to
my
hero
.
37
After
issuing
,
overnight
,
the
necessary
orders
,
he
awoke
early
,
washed
himself
,
rubbed
himself
from
head
to
foot
with
a
wet
sponge
(
a
performance
executed
only
on
Sundays
--
and
the
day
in
question
happened
to
be
a
Sunday
)
,
shaved
his
face
with
such
care
that
his
cheeks
issued
of
absolutely
satin-like
smoothness
and
polish
,
donned
first
his
bilberry-coloured
,
spotted
frockcoat
,
and
then
his
bearskin
overcoat
,
descended
the
staircase
(
attended
,
throughout
,
by
the
waiter
)
and
entered
his
britchka
.
With
a
loud
rattle
the
vehicle
left
the
inn-yard
,
and
issued
into
the
street
.
A
passing
priest
doffed
his
cap
,
and
a
few
urchins
in
grimy
shirts
shouted
,
"
Gentleman
,
please
give
a
poor
orphan
a
trifle
!
"
Presently
the
driver
noticed
that
a
sturdy
young
rascal
was
on
the
point
of
climbing
onto
the
splashboard
;
wherefore
he
cracked
his
whip
and
the
britchka
leapt
forward
with
increased
speed
over
the
cobblestones
.
At
last
,
with
a
feeling
of
relief
,
the
travellers
caught
sight
of
macadam
ahead
,
which
promised
an
end
both
to
the
cobblestones
and
to
sundry
other
annoyances
.
And
,
sure
enough
,
after
his
head
had
been
bumped
a
few
more
times
against
the
boot
of
the
conveyance
,
Chichikov
found
himself
bowling
over
softer
ground
.
On
the
town
receding
into
the
distance
,
the
sides
of
the
road
began
to
be
varied
with
the
usual
hillocks
,
fir
trees
,
clumps
of
young
pine
,
trees
with
old
,
scarred
trunks
,
bushes
of
wild
juniper
,
and
so
forth
.
Отключить рекламу
38
Presently
there
came
into
view
also
strings
of
country
villas
which
,
with
their
carved
supports
and
grey
roofs
(
the
latter
looking
like
pendent
,
embroidered
tablecloths
)
,
resembled
,
rather
,
bundles
of
old
faggots
.
Likewise
the
customary
peasants
,
dressed
in
sheepskin
jackets
,
could
be
seen
yawning
on
benches
before
their
huts
,
while
their
womenfolk
,
fat
of
feature
and
swathed
of
bosom
,
gazed
out
of
upper
windows
,
and
the
windows
below
displayed
,
here
a
peering
calf
,
and
there
the
unsightly
jaws
of
a
pig
.
In
short
,
the
view
was
one
of
the
familiar
type
.
After
passing
the
fifteenth
verst-stone
Chichikov
suddenly
recollected
that
,
according
to
Manilov
,
fifteen
versts
was
the
exact
distance
between
his
country
house
and
the
town
;
but
the
sixteenth
verst
stone
flew
by
,
and
the
said
country
house
was
still
nowhere
to
be
seen
.
In
fact
,
but
for
the
circumstance
that
the
travellers
happened
to
encounter
a
couple
of
peasants
,
they
would
have
come
on
their
errand
in
vain
.
To
a
query
as
to
whether
the
country
house
known
as
Zamanilovka
was
anywhere
in
the
neighbourhood
the
peasants
replied
by
doffing
their
caps
;
after
which
one
of
them
who
seemed
to
boast
of
a
little
more
intelligence
than
his
companion
,
and
who
wore
a
wedge-shaped
beard
,
made
answer
:
39
"
Perhaps
you
mean
Manilovka
--
not
ZAmanilovka
?
"
40
"
Yes
,
yes
--
Manilovka
.
"