N in Gogol the Inspector read the full content.

N in Gogol the Inspector read the full content.
Gogol N.V.

Comedy in five acts

(final edition - 1851)

There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.

Popular proverb
Characters
Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor.
Anna Andreevna, his wife.
Marya Antonovna, his daughter.
Luka Lukich Khlopov, superintendent of schools.
His wife.
Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, judge.
Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, trustee of charitable institutions.
Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin, postmaster.
Pyotr Ivanovich Dobchinsky and Pyotr Ivanovich Bobchinsky - city landowners Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, an official from St. Petersburg.
Osip, his servant.
Christian Ivanovich Gibner, district doctor.
Fyodor Ivanovich Lyulyukov and Ivan Lazarevich Rastakovsky are retired officials, honorary persons in the city.
Stepan Ivanovich Korobkin Stepan Ilyich Ukhovertov, private bailiff.
Svistunov and Pugovitsyn - police officers Derzhimorda Abdulin, merchant.
Fevronya Petrovna Poshlepkina, mechanic.
Non-commissioned officer's wife.
Mishka, the mayor's servant.

Inn servant.

Guests and guests, merchants, townspeople, petitioners.

Characters and costumes
Notes for gentlemen actors
Khlestakov, a young man of about twenty-three, thin and thin; somewhat stupid and, as they say, without a king in his head - one of those people whom in the offices they call empty-headed. He speaks and acts without any consideration. He is unable to stop constant attention on any thought. His speech is abrupt, and words fly out of his mouth completely unexpectedly. The more the person playing this role shows sincerity and simplicity, the more he will win. Dressed in fashion.
Osip, the servant, is as servants who are several years old usually are. He speaks seriously, looks somewhat downward, is a reasoner, and likes to lecture himself to his master. His voice is always almost even, and in conversation with the master it takes on a stern, abrupt and even somewhat rude expression. He is smarter than his master and therefore guesses more quickly, but he does not like to talk much and is silently a rogue. His costume is a gray or shabby frock coat.
Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, both short, short, very curious; extremely similar to each other; both with small bellies; Both speak quickly and are extremely helpful with gestures and hands.

The book includes dramatic works N.V. Gogol (1809 – 1852) and “Selected passages from correspondence with friends.”

The comedy “The Inspector General” (1836) is the pinnacle of Gogol’s work as a playwright; the play combines Russian criticism public life XIX century, satirical image Russian characters and the tragic story of “lost souls” on the eve of Last Judgment.

“Selected passages from correspondence with friends” (1847) - Gogol’s spiritual testament, main topic which is the relationship between the Church and culture.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

Dramatic works

Auditor

N in Gogol the Inspector read the full content.

Comedy in five acts

(final edition - 1851)

CHARACTERS

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor.

Anna Andreevna, his wife.

Marya Antonovna, his daughter.

Luka Lukich Khlopov, superintendent of schools.

His wife.

Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, judge.

Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, trustee of charitable institutions.

Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin, postmaster.

Petr Ivanovich Dobchinsky, Petr Ivanovich Bobchinsky, city landowners.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, an official from St. Petersburg.

Osip, his servant.

Christian Ivanovich Gibner, district doctor.

Fedor Andreevich Lyulyukov, Ivan Lazarevich Rastakovsky, Stepan, Ivanovich Korobkin, retired officials, honorable people in the city.

Stepan Ilyich Ukhovertov, private bailiff.

Svistunov, Pugovitsyn, Derzhimorda, policemen.

Abdulin, merchant.

Fevronya Petrovna Poshlepkina, locksmith.

Non-commissioned officer's wife.

bear, servant of the mayor.

Inn servant.

Guests and guests, merchants, townspeople, petitioners.

CHARACTERS AND COSTUMES

Notes for gentlemen actors

Mayor, already aged in the service and a very intelligent person in his own way. Although he is a bribe-taker, he behaves very respectably; quite serious; a few are even resonant; speaks neither loudly nor quietly, neither more nor less. His every word is significant. His facial features are coarse and hard, like those of anyone who began hard service from the lower ranks. The transition from fear to joy, from baseness to arrogance is quite rapid, as in a person with crudely developed inclinations of the soul. He is dressed, as usual, in his uniform with buttonholes and boots with spurs. His hair is cropped and streaked with gray.

Anna Andreevna, his wife, a provincial coquette, not yet quite old, brought up half on novels and albums, half on the chores in her pantry and maiden room. She is very curious and shows vanity on occasion. Sometimes she takes power over her husband only because he is unable to answer her; but this power extends only to trifles and consists of reprimands and ridicule. She changes into different dresses four times throughout the play.

Khlestakov, a young man of about twenty-three, thin, thin; somewhat stupid and, as they say, without a king in his head - one of those people who are called empty in the offices. He speaks and acts without any consideration. He is unable to stop constant attention on any thought. His speech is abrupt, and words fly out of his mouth completely unexpectedly. The more the person playing this role shows sincerity and simplicity, the more he will win. Dressed in fashion.

Osip, a servant, such as servants who are several years old usually are. He speaks seriously, looks somewhat downward, is a reasoner, and likes to lecture himself to his master. His voice is always almost even, and in conversation with the master it takes on a stern, abrupt and even somewhat rude expression. He is smarter than his master and therefore guesses more quickly, but he does not like to talk much and is silently a rogue. His costume is a gray or blue shabby frock coat.

Bobchinsky And Dobchinsky, both short, short, very curious; extremely similar to each other; both with small bellies; Both speak quickly and are extremely helpful with gestures and hands. Dobchinsky is a little taller and more serious than Bobchinsky, but Bobchinsky is more cheeky and lively than Dobchinsky.

Lyapkin-Tyapkin, a judge, a man who has read five or six books, and is therefore somewhat freethinking. The hunter is big on guesses, and therefore he gives weight to every word. The person representing him must always maintain a significant mien on his face. He speaks in a deep bass voice with an elongated drawl, a wheeze and a gulp - like an ancient clock that first hisses and then strikes.

Strawberries, a trustee of charitable institutions, a very fat, clumsy and clumsy man, but for all that a weasel and a rogue. Very helpful and fussy.

Postmaster, a simple-minded person to the point of naivety.

The other roles don't require much explanation. Their originals are almost always before your eyes.

Gentlemen actors should especially pay attention to last scene. The last spoken word should produce an electric shock on everyone at once, suddenly. The entire group must change position in the blink of an eye. The sound of amazement should escape from all women at once, as if from one breast. If these notes are not observed, the entire effect may disappear.

ACT ONE

A room in the mayor's house.

PHENOMENON I

Mayor, trustee of charitable institutions, superintendent of schools, judge, private bailiff, doctor, two quarterly officers.

Mayor. I invited you, gentlemen, in order to tell you some very unpleasant news: an auditor is coming to visit us.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

Auditor

There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.
Popular proverb
Comedy in five acts

There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor.

Anna Andreevna, his wife.

Marya Antonovna, his daughter.

Luka Lukich Khlopov, superintendent of schools.

His wife.

Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, judge.

Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, trustee of charitable institutions.

Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin, postmaster.

Pyotr Ivanovich Dobchinsky, city landowner.

Pyotr Ivanovich Bobchinsky, city landowner.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, an official from St. Petersburg.

Osip, his servant.

Christian Ivanovich Gibner, district doctor.

Fyodor Ivanovich Lyulyukov, a retired official, an honorary person in the city.

Ivan Lazarevich Rastakovsky, a retired official, an honorary person in the city.

Stepan Ivanovich Korobkin, a retired official, an honorary person in the city.

Stepan Ilyich Ukhovertov, private bailiff.

Svistunov, policeman

Pugovitsyn, policeman

Derzhimorda, policeman

Abdulin, merchant.

Fevronya Petrovna Poshlepkina, mechanic.

Non-commissioned officer's wife.

Mishka, the mayor's servant.

Inn servant.

Guests and guests, merchants, townspeople, petitioners.

Inn servant.
Notes for gentlemen actors
The mayor, already old in the service and a very intelligent person in his own way. Although he is a bribe-taker, he behaves very respectably; quite serious; a few are even resonant; speaks neither loudly nor quietly, neither more nor less. His every word is significant. His facial features are coarse and hard, like those of anyone who began his service from the lower ranks. The transition from fear to joy, from rudeness to arrogance is quite rapid, as in a person with crudely developed inclinations of the soul. He is dressed, as usual, in his uniform with buttonholes and boots with spurs. His hair is cropped and streaked with gray.

Anna Andreevna, his wife, is a provincial coquette, not yet quite old, brought up half on novels and albums, half on chores in her pantry and maiden room. She is very curious and shows vanity on occasion. Sometimes she takes power over her husband only because he is unable to answer her; but this power extends only to trifles and consists only of reprimands and ridicule. She changes into different dresses four times throughout the play.

Khlestakov, a young man of about twenty-three, thin and thin; somewhat stupid and, as they say, without a king in his head - one of those people whom in the offices they call empty-headed. He speaks and acts without any consideration. He is unable to stop constant attention on any thought. His speech is abrupt, and words fly out of his mouth completely unexpectedly. The more the person playing this role shows sincerity and simplicity, the more he will win. Dressed in fashion.

Osip, the servant, is as servants who are several years old usually are. He speaks seriously, looks somewhat downward, is a reasoner, and likes to lecture himself to his master. His voice is always almost even, and in conversation with the master it takes on a stern, abrupt and even somewhat rude expression. He is smarter than his master and therefore guesses more quickly, but he does not like to talk much and is silently a rogue. His costume is a gray or shabby frock coat.

Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, both short, short, very curious; extremely similar to each other; both with small bellies; Both speak quickly and are extremely helpful with gestures and hands. Dobchinsky is a little taller and more serious than Bobchinsky, but Bobchinsky is more cheeky and lively than Dobchinsky.

Lyapkin-Tyapkin, a judge, is a man who has read five or six books and is therefore somewhat free-thinking. The hunter is big on guesses, and therefore he gives weight to every word. The person representing him must always maintain a significant mien on his face. He speaks in a deep bass voice with an elongated drawl, a wheeze and a gulp - like an ancient clock that first hisses and then strikes.

Strawberry, a trustee of charitable institutions, is a very fat, clumsy and clumsy man, but for all that he is a sneak and a rogue. Very helpful and fussy.

The postmaster is a simple-minded person to the point of naivety.

The other roles don't require much explanation. Their originals are almost always before your eyes.

Gentlemen actors should especially pay attention to the last scene. The last spoken word should produce an electric shock on everyone at once, suddenly. The entire group must change position in the blink of an eye. The sound of amazement should escape from all women at once, as if from one breast. If these notes are not observed, the entire effect may disappear.

Act one

Room in the mayor's house

Phenomenon I

Mayor, trustee of charitable institutions, superintendent of schools, judge, private bailiff, doctor, two quarterly officers.

Mayor. I invited you, gentlemen, in order to tell you some very unpleasant news: an auditor is coming to visit us.

Ammos Fedorovich. How's the auditor?

Artemy Filippovich. How's the auditor?

Mayor. Inspector from St. Petersburg, incognito. And with a secret order.

Ammos Fedorovich. Here you go!

Artemy Filippovich. There was no concern, so give it up!

Luka Lukic. Lord God! also with a secret prescription!

Mayor. It was as if I had a presentiment: today I dreamed all night about two extraordinary rats. Really, I’ve never seen anything like this: black, of unnatural size! They came, they smelled it, and they left. Here I will read to you a letter that I received from Andrei Ivanovich Chmykhov, whom you, Artemy Filippovich, know. This is what he writes: “Dear friend, godfather and benefactor (mutters in a low voice, quickly running his eyes)... and notify you." A! Here it is: “I hasten, by the way, to notify you that I have arrived

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Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Auditor

* * *

What did Gogol laugh at? On the spiritual meaning of the comedy “The Inspector General”

Be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves. For whoever hears the word and does not do it is like a man looking at the natural features of his face in a mirror. He looked at himself, walked away, and immediately forgot what he was like.

Jacob 1, 22-24

My heart hurts when I see how people are mistaken. They talk about virtue, about God, and yet do nothing.

From Gogol's letter to his mother. 1833

“The Inspector General” is the best Russian comedy. Both in reading and in stage performance she is always interesting. Therefore, it is generally difficult to talk about any failure of The Inspector General. But, on the other hand, it is difficult to create a real Gogol performance, to make those sitting in the hall laugh with bitter Gogol laughter. As a rule, something fundamental, deep, on which the entire meaning of the play is based, eludes the actor or the viewer.

The premiere of the comedy, which took place on April 19, 1836 on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, according to contemporaries, had colossal success. The mayor was played by Ivan Sosnitsky, Khlestakov Nikolai Dur - the best actors of that time. “The general attention of the audience, applause, heartfelt and unanimous laughter, the author’s challenge<…>“,” recalled Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky, “there was no shortage of anything.”

But this success almost immediately began to seem somehow strange. Incomprehensible feelings gripped both the artists and the audience. Characteristic is the confession of actor Pyotr Grigoriev, who played the role of judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin: “... this play is still like some kind of mystery for all of us. At the first performance they laughed loudly and a lot, they supported us strongly - we will have to wait to see how everyone will appreciate it over time, but for our brother, the actor, she is such a new work that we may not yet be able to appreciate it just once or twice "

Even Gogol's most ardent admirers did not fully understand the meaning and significance of the comedy; the majority of the public perceived it as a farce. Memoirist Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov noticed the unusual reaction of the audience: “Even after the first act, bewilderment was written on all faces (the audience was select in the full sense of the word), as if no one knew how to think about the picture that had just been presented. This bewilderment then grew with each act. As if finding comfort in the mere assumption that a farce was being given, the majority of the audience, knocked out of all theatrical expectations and habits, settled on this assumption with unshakable determination. However, in this farce there were features and phenomena filled with such vital truth that twice<…>there was general laughter. Something completely different happened in the fourth act: laughter still flew from time to time from one end of the hall to the other, but it was a kind of timid laughter that immediately disappeared; there was almost no applause; but intense attention, convulsive, intense following of all the shades of the play, sometimes dead silence showed that what was happening on stage passionately captured the hearts of the audience.”

The play was perceived by the public in different ways. Many saw it as a caricature of Russian bureaucracy, and its author as a rebel. According to Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov, there were people who hated Gogol from the very appearance of The Inspector General. Thus, Count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy (nicknamed the American) said at a crowded meeting that Gogol was “an enemy of Russia and that he should be sent in chains to Siberia.” Censor Alexander Vasilyevich Nikitenko wrote in his diary on April 28, 1836: “Gogol’s comedy “The Inspector General” caused a lot of noise. They give it incessantly - almost every day.<…>Many believe that the government is in vain in approving this play, in which it is so cruelly condemned.”

Meanwhile, it is reliably known that the comedy was allowed to be staged (and therefore published) due to the highest resolution. Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich read the comedy in manuscript and approved; according to another version, “The Inspector General” was read to the king in the palace. On April 29, 1836, Gogol wrote to Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin: “If it were not for the high intercession of the Sovereign, my play would never have been on stage, and there were already people trying to ban it.” The Emperor not only attended the premiere himself, but also ordered the ministers to watch The Inspector General. During the performance he clapped and laughed a lot, and when leaving the box he said: “Well, a play! Everyone got it, and I got it more than everyone else!”

Gogol hoped to meet the support of the tsar and was not mistaken. Soon after staging the comedy, he answered his ill-wishers in “Theatrical Travel”: “The magnanimous government saw deeper than you with its high intelligence the purpose of the writer.”

In striking contrast to the seemingly undoubted success of the play, Gogol’s bitter confession sounds: “The Inspector General” has been played - and my soul is so vague, so strange... I expected, I knew in advance how things would go, and for all that, the feeling is sad and annoying - a burden has enveloped me. My creation seemed disgusting to me, wild and as if not mine at all” (“Excerpt from a letter written by the author shortly after the first presentation of “The Inspector General” to a certain writer”).

Gogol's dissatisfaction with the premiere and the rumors around it (“everyone is against me”) was so great that, despite the persistent requests of Pushkin and Shchepkin, he refused his intended participation in the production of the play in Moscow and soon went abroad. Many years later, Gogol wrote to Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky: “The performance of The Inspector General made a painful impression on me. I was angry both at the audience, who did not understand me, and at myself, who was to blame for not understanding me. I wanted to get away from everything."

Comic in "The Inspector General"

Gogol was, it seems, the only one who perceived the first production of The Government Inspector as a failure. What is the matter here that did not satisfy the author? Partly, the discrepancy between the old vaudeville techniques in the design of the performance and the completely new spirit of the play, which did not fit into the framework of an ordinary comedy. Gogol persistently warns: “You need to be most careful not to fall into caricature. There should be nothing exaggerated or trivial even in the last roles” (“Warning for those who would like to play “The Inspector General” properly”).

When creating the images of Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, Gogol imagined them “in the skin” (as he put it) of Shchepkin and Vasily Ryazantsev, famous comic actors of that era. In the play, in his words, “it was just a caricature.” “Already before the start of the performance,” he shares his impressions, “when I saw them in costume, I gasped. These two little men, in their essence quite neat, plump, with decently smoothed hair, found themselves in some awkward, tall gray wigs, disheveled, unkempt, disheveled, with huge shirtfronts pulled out; but on stage they turned out to be such antics that it was simply unbearable.”

Meanwhile, Gogol’s main goal is the complete naturalness of the characters and the verisimilitude of what is happening on stage. “The less an actor thinks about making people laugh and being funny, the more funny the role he takes will be revealed. The funny will be revealed by itself precisely in the seriousness with which each of the characters depicted in the comedy is busy with his work.”

An example of such a “natural” manner of performance is the reading of “The Inspector General” by Gogol himself. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, who was once present at such a reading, says: “Gogol... struck me with his extreme simplicity and restraint of manner, with some important and at the same time naive sincerity, which seemed not to care whether there were listeners here and what they thought. It seemed that Gogol was only concerned with how to delve into the subject, which was new to him, and how to more accurately convey his own impression. The effect was extraordinary - especially in comic, humorous places; it was impossible not to laugh - a good, healthy laugh; and the creator of all this fun continued, not embarrassed by the general gaiety and, as if inwardly marveling at it, to immerse himself more and more in the matter itself - and only occasionally, on the lips and around the eyes, the master’s sly smile trembled slightly. With what bewilderment, with what amazement Gogol uttered the mayor’s famous phrase about two rats (at the very beginning of the play): “They came, sniffed and went away!” He even looked around us slowly, as if asking for an explanation for such an amazing incident. It was only then that I realized how completely incorrect, superficial, and with what desire only to quickly make people laugh, “The Inspector General” is usually played on stage.

While working on the play, Gogol mercilessly expelled from it all elements of external comedy. According to Gogol, the funny is hidden everywhere, even in the most ordinary details of everyday life. Gogol's laughter is the contrast between what the hero says and how he says it. In the first act, Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky are arguing about which of them should start telling the news.

« Bobchinsky (interrupting). We arrive with Pyotr Ivanovich at the hotel...

Dobchinsky (interrupting). Eh, let me, Pyotr Ivanovich, I’ll tell you.

Bobchinsky. Eh, no, let me... let me, let me... you don’t even have such a syllable...

Dobchinsky. And you will get confused and not remember everything.

Bobchinsky. I remember, by God, I remember. Don't bother me, let me tell you, don't bother me! Tell me, gentlemen, please don’t let Pyotr Ivanovich interfere.”

This comic scene should not only make you laugh. It is very important for the heroes which of them will tell the story. Their whole life consists of spreading all kinds of gossip and rumors. And suddenly the two received the same news. This is a tragedy. They are arguing over a matter. Bobchinsky must be told everything, nothing should be missed. Otherwise, Dobchinsky will supplement.

« Bobchinsky. Excuse me, excuse me: I’ll start in order... So, as you can see, I ran to Korobkin. And not finding Korobkin at home, he turned to Rastakovsky, and not finding Rastakovsky, he went to Ivan Kuzmich to tell him the news you had received, and going from there, he met with Pyotr Ivanovich...

Dobchinsky (interrupting). Near the booth where pies are sold.”

This is a very important detail. And Bobchinsky agrees: “Near the booth where pies are sold.”

Why, let us ask again, was Gogol dissatisfied with the premiere? main reason was not even in the farcical nature of the performance - the desire to make the audience laugh - but in the fact that, with a caricatured manner of acting, those sitting in the hall perceived what was happening on stage without applying it to themselves, since the characters were exaggeratedly funny. Meanwhile, Gogol’s plan was designed for precisely the opposite perception: to involve the viewer in the performance, to make them feel that the city depicted in the comedy exists not just somewhere, but to one degree or another in any place in Russia, and the passions and vices of officials exist in the soul of each of us. Gogol appeals to everyone. This is the enormous social significance of The Inspector General. This is the meaning of the mayor’s famous remark: “Why are you laughing? You’re laughing at yourself!” – facing the hall (precisely the hall, since no one is laughing on stage at this time). The epigraph also indicates this: “There is no point in blaming the mirror if your face is crooked.” In a kind of theatrical commentary on the play - “Theatrical Travel” and “The Denouement of The Inspector General” - where the audience and actors discuss the comedy, Gogol seems to be trying to destroy the wall separating the stage and the auditorium.

In The Inspector General, Gogol made his contemporaries laugh at what they were accustomed to and what they had ceased to notice (emphasis mine. – V.V.). But most importantly, they are accustomed to carelessness in spiritual life. The audience laughs at the heroes who die spiritually. Let us turn to examples from the play that show such death.

The mayor sincerely believes that “there is no person who does not have some sins behind him. This is already arranged this way by God Himself, and the Voltaireans are in vain speaking against it.” To which Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin objects: “What do you think, Anton Antonovich, are sins? Sins are different from sins. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but with what bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter."

The judge is sure that bribes with greyhound puppies cannot be considered bribes, “but, for example, if someone’s fur coat costs five hundred rubles, and his wife’s shawl...”. Here the mayor, understanding the hint, retorts: “But you don’t believe in God; you never go to church; but at least I am firm in my faith and go to church every Sunday. And you... Oh, I know you: if you start talking about the creation of the world, your hair will just stand on end.” To which Ammos Fedorovich replies: “But I got there on my own, with my own mind.”

Gogol is the best commentator on his works. In “Forewarning...” he notes about the judge: “He is not even a hunter of committing lies, but he has a great passion for hunting with dogs... He is preoccupied with himself and his mind, and is an atheist only because in this field there is room for him to prove himself.”

The mayor believes that he is firm in his faith. The more sincerely he expresses this, the funnier it is. Going to Khlestakov, he gives orders to his subordinates: “Yes, if they ask why a church was not built at a charitable institution, for which the amount was allocated five years ago, then do not forget to say that it began to be built, but burned down. I submitted a report about this. Otherwise, perhaps someone, having forgotten himself, will foolishly say that it never began.”

Explaining the image of the mayor, Gogol says: “He feels that he is sinful; he goes to church, he even thinks that he is firm in his faith, he even thinks about repenting someday later. But the temptation of everything that floats into one’s hands is great, and the blessings of life are tempting, and to grab everything without missing anything has become, as it were, just a habit for him.”

And so, going to the imaginary auditor, the mayor laments: “I’m a sinner, a sinner in many ways... Just grant, God, that I get away with it as quickly as possible, and then I’ll put a candle that no one has ever put up: I’ll put a merchant’s hand on every beast.” deliver three pounds of wax." We see that the mayor has fallen, as it were, into a vicious circle of his sinfulness: in his repentant thoughts, the sprouts of new sins arise unnoticed by him (the merchants will pay for the candle, not he).

Just as the mayor does not feel the sinfulness of his actions, because he does everything according to an old habit, so do the other heroes of The Inspector General. For example, postmaster Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin opens other people's letters solely out of curiosity: “... I love to death to know what is new in the world. Let me tell you, this is a very interesting read. You will read another letter with pleasure - this is how various passages are described... and what edification... better than in the Moskovskie Vedomosti!

The judge remarks to him: “Look, you will get it someday for this.” Shpekin exclaims with childish naivety: “Oh, fathers!” It doesn’t even occur to him that he is doing something illegal. Gogol explains: “The postmaster is a simple-minded to the point of naivety, looking at life as a meeting interesting stories to pass the time, which he reads in printed letters. There’s nothing left for the actor to do except be as simple-minded as possible.”

Innocence, curiosity, the habitual doing of any untruth, the free-thinking of officials with the appearance of Khlestakov, that is, according to their concepts of an auditor, are suddenly replaced for a moment by an attack of fear inherent in criminals expecting severe retribution. The same inveterate freethinker Ammos Fedorovich, standing before Khlestakov, says to himself: “Lord God! I don't know where I'm sitting. Like hot coals beneath you.” And the mayor, in the same position, asks for mercy: “Do not destroy! Wife, small children... don’t make a person unhappy.” And further: “Because of inexperience, by God, because of inexperience. Insufficient wealth... Judge for yourself: the government salary is not enough even for tea and sugar.”

Gogol was especially dissatisfied with the way Khlestakov was played. “The main role was gone,” he writes, “that’s what I thought. Dur didn’t understand one bit what Khlestakov was.” Khlestakov is not just a dreamer. He himself does not know what he is saying and what he will say in the next moment. It’s as if someone sitting in him speaks for him, tempting through him all the characters in the play. Isn’t this the father of lies himself, that is, the devil?” It seems that Gogol had this exactly in mind. The heroes of the play, in response to these temptations, without noticing it themselves, reveal themselves in all their sinfulness.

Tempted by the evil one, Khlestakov himself seemed to acquire the features of a demon. On May 16 (New Style), 1844, Gogol wrote to S. T. Aksakov: “All this excitement and mental struggle of yours is nothing more than the work of our common friend, known to everyone, namely the devil. But don't lose sight of the fact that he is a clicker and is all about puffery.<…>You hit this beast in the face and don’t be embarrassed by anything. He is like a petty official who has entered the city as if for an investigation. It will throw dust at everyone, scatter it, and shout. All he has to do is become a little cowardly and move back - then he will start to show courage. And as soon as you step on him, he will tuck his tail between his legs. We ourselves make a giant out of him... A proverb is never in vain, but a proverb says: The devil boasted of taking over the whole world, but God did not give him power over even a pig.”1
This proverb refers to the Gospel episode when the Lord allowed the demons who had left the Gadarene demoniac to enter the herd of pigs (see: Mark 5:1-13).

This is how Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov is seen in this description.

The characters in the play feel a sense of fear more and more, as evidenced by the lines and the author’s remarks. (stretched out and trembling all over). This fear seems to spread to the hall. After all, in the hall sat those who were afraid of auditors, but only real ones - the sovereign's. Meanwhile, Gogol, knowing this, called on them, in general Christians, to the fear of God, to the cleansing of their conscience, which no auditor, not even the Last Judgment, would be afraid of. Officials, as if blinded by fear, cannot see Khlestakov’s real face. They always look at their feet, and not at the sky. In “The Rule of Living in the World,” Gogol explained the reason for such fear: “... everything is exaggerated in our eyes and frightens us. Because we keep our eyes down and don’t want to raise them up. For if they were raised up for a few minutes, they would see above all only God and the light emanating from Him, illuminating everything in its present form, and then they themselves would laugh at their own blindness.”

The meaning of the epigraph and the “Silent Scene”

Regarding the epigraph that appeared later, in the 1842 edition, let’s say that this folk proverb By a mirror he means the Gospel, which Gogol’s contemporaries, who spiritually belonged to the Orthodox Church, knew very well and could even reinforce the understanding of this proverb, for example, with Krylov’s famous fable “The Mirror and the Monkey.” Here the Monkey, looking in the mirror, addresses the Bear:

“Look,” he says, “my dear godfather!
What kind of face is that there?
What antics and jumps she has!
I would hang myself from boredom
If only she was even a little like her.
But, admit it, there is
Of my gossips, there are five or six such crooks;
I can even count them on my fingers.” -
“Why should a gossip consider working,
Isn’t it better to turn on yourself, godfather?” -
Mishka answered her.
But Mishenka’s advice was wasted.

Bishop Varnava (Belyaev), in his major work “Fundamentals of the Art of Holiness” (1920s), connects the meaning of this fable with attacks on the Gospel, and this was exactly the meaning (among others) for Krylov. The spiritual idea of the Gospel as a mirror has long and firmly existed in the Orthodox consciousness. So, for example, Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, one of Gogol’s favorite writers, whose works he re-read more than once, says: “Christians! As a mirror is to the sons of this age, so may the Gospel and the immaculate life of Christ be for us. They look in the mirror and correct their bodies and cleanse the blemishes on their faces.<…>Let us, therefore, offer this pure mirror before our spiritual eyes and look into it: is our life consistent with the life of Christ?”

The holy righteous John of Kronstadt, in his diaries published under the title “My Life in Christ,” remarks to “those who do not read the Gospel”: “Are you pure, holy and perfect, without reading the Gospel, and you do not need to look into this mirror? Or are you very ugly mentally and are afraid of your ugliness?..”

In Gogol’s extracts from the holy fathers and teachers of the Church we find the following entry: “Those who want to cleanse and whiten their faces usually look in the mirror. Christian! Your mirror is the Lord's commandments; if you put them in front of you and look at them closely, they will reveal to you all the spots, all the blackness, all the ugliness of your soul.”

It is noteworthy that Gogol also addressed this image in his letters. So, on December 20 (New Style), 1844, he wrote to Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin from Frankfurt: “... always keep a book on your table that would serve you as a spiritual mirror”; and a week later - to Alexandra Osipovna Smirnova: “Look also at yourself. For this, have a spiritual mirror on the table, that is, some book that your soul can look into...”

As you know, a Christian will be judged according to the gospel law. In “The Inspector General’s Denouement,” Gogol puts into the mouth of the First Comic Actor the idea that on the day of the Last Judgment we will all find ourselves with “crooked faces”: “... let us look at ourselves at least somewhat through the eyes of the One who will call all people to a confrontation, before with which even the best of us, don’t forget this, will lower their eyes to the ground in shame, and let’s see if any of us then has the courage to ask: “Is my face crooked?” 2
Here Gogol, in particular, responds to the writer M. N. Zagoskin (his historical novel Khlestakov presents “Yuri Miloslavsky, or the Russians in 1612” as his own work), who was especially indignant against the epigraph, saying: “But where is my crooked face?”

It is known that Gogol never parted with the Gospel. “You can’t invent anything higher than what is already in the Gospel,” he said. “How many times has humanity recoiled from it and how many times has it turned back?”

It is impossible, of course, to create any other “mirror” similar to the Gospel. But just as every Christian is obliged to live according to the Gospel commandments, imitating Christ (to the best of his human strength), so Gogol the playwright, according to his talent, arranges his mirror on the stage. Any of the spectators could turn out to be Krylov's Monkey. However, it turned out that this viewer saw “five or six gossips,” but not himself. Gogol later spoke about the same thing in his address to readers in “ Dead souls": "You will even laugh heartily at Chichikov, maybe even praise the author... And you will add: “But I must agree, there are strange and funny people in some provinces, and quite a few scoundrels at that!” And which of you, full of Christian humility... will deepen this difficult question into your own soul: “Isn’t there some part of Chichikov in me too?” Yes, no matter how it is!”

The mayor’s response: “Why are you laughing? You’re laughing at yourself!” - which, like the epigraph, appeared in 1842, also has its parallel in “Dead Souls”. In the tenth chapter, reflecting on the mistakes and delusions of all mankind, the author notes: “The current generation now sees everything clearly, marvels at the errors, laughs at the foolishness of its ancestors, not in vain that... a piercing finger is directed from everywhere at it, at the current generation; but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new errors, which posterity will also laugh at later.”

The main idea of “The Inspector General” is the idea of inevitable spiritual retribution, which every person should expect. Gogol, dissatisfied with the way “The Inspector General” was staged and how the audience perceived it, tried to reveal this idea in “The Denouement of The Inspector General.”

“Take a close look at this city that is depicted in the play! - says Gogol through the mouth of the First Comic Actor. – Everyone agrees that there is no such city in all of Russia...<…>Well, what if this is our spiritual city and it sits with each of us?<…>Whatever you say, the inspector who waits for us at the door of the coffin is terrible. As if you don’t know who this auditor is? Why pretend? This auditor is our awakened conscience, which will force us to suddenly and at once look at ourselves with all our eyes. Nothing can be hidden from this inspector, because he was sent by the Named Supreme Command and will be announced when it is no longer possible to take a step back. Suddenly, such a monster will be revealed to you, within you, that your hair will stand up in horror. It’s better to revise everything that is in us at the beginning of life, and not at the end of it.”

We are talking here about the Last Judgment. And now the final scene of “The Inspector General” becomes clear. It is a symbolic picture of the Last Judgment. The appearance of the gendarme, announcing the arrival from St. Petersburg “by personal order” of the current inspector, has a stunning effect on the heroes of the play. Gogol's remark: “The spoken words strike everyone like thunder. The sound of amazement unanimously emanates from the ladies' lips; the whole group, suddenly changing position, remains petrified" ( italics mine. – V.V.).

Gogol attached exceptional importance to this “silent scene”. He defines its duration as one and a half minutes, and in “Excerpt from a Letter...” he even talks about two or three minutes of “petrification” of the heroes. Each of the characters, with their whole figure, seems to show that he can no longer change anything in his fate, even lift a finger - he is in front of the Judge. According to Gogol’s plan, at this moment there should be silence in the hall of general reflection.

In “Dénouement,” Gogol did not offer a new interpretation of “The Inspector General,” as is sometimes thought, but only exposed it main idea. On November 2 (NS), 1846, he wrote to Ivan Sosnitsky from Nice: “Pay your attention to the last scene of The Inspector General.” Think about it, think about it again. From the final play, “The Denouement of The Inspector General,” you will understand why I am so concerned about this last scene and why it is so important to me that it has its full effect. I am sure that you will look at The Inspector General with different eyes after this conclusion, which, for many reasons, could not be given to me then and is only possible now.”

From these words it follows that “Dénouement” did not give new meaning to the “silent scene”, but only clarified its meaning. Indeed, at the time of the creation of “The Inspector General” in “Petersburg Notes of 1836”, Gogol’s lines appear that directly precede “Dénouement”: “Calm and menacing Lent. A voice seems to be heard: “Stop, Christian; look back at your life.”

However, Gogol’s interpretation of the district city as a “spiritual city”, and its officials as the embodiment of the passions rampant in it, made in the spirit of the patristic tradition, came as a surprise to his contemporaries and caused rejection. Shchepkin, who was destined for the role of the First Comic Actor, after reading the new play, refused to play in it. On May 22, 1847, he wrote to Gogol: “... until now I have studied all the heroes of The Inspector General as living people... Don’t give me any hints that these are not officials, but our passions; no, I don’t want such a remake: these are people, real living people, among whom I grew up and almost grew old.<…>You have gathered several people from the whole world into one gathering place, into one group, with these people at the age of ten I became completely related, and you want to take them away from me.”

Meanwhile, Gogol’s intention did not at all imply the goal of making “living people” - full-blooded artistic images- some kind of allegory. The author only revealed the main idea of the comedy, without which it looks like a simple denunciation of morals. “The Inspector General” is “The Inspector General,” Gogol answered Shchepkin around July 10 (New Style), 1847, “and application to oneself is an indispensable thing that every viewer must do from everything, even not “The Inspector General,” but which it would be more appropriate for him to do about “The Inspector General.”

In the second edition of the ending of “Dénouement,” Gogol clarifies his thought. Here the First Comic Actor (Michal Mihalcz), in response to the doubts of one of the characters that his proposed interpretation of the play corresponds to the author’s intention, says: “The author, even if he had this thought, would have acted badly if he had revealed it clearly . The comedy would then turn into an allegory, and some pale moralizing sermon could emerge from it. No, his job was to depict simply the horror of material unrest not in an ideal city, but in one on earth...<…>His job is to portray this darkness so strongly that everyone feels that they need to fight with it, so that it makes the viewer tremble - and the horror of the riots penetrates him through and through. That's what he should have done. And this is our job to give a moral lesson. We, thank God, are not children. I thought about what kind of moral lesson I could draw for myself, and I attacked the one that I have now told you.”

And further, to the questions of those around him, why was he the only one who brought out such a distant moral teaching, according to their concepts, Michal Mihalch answers: “First of all, why do you know that I was the only one who brought out this moral teaching? And secondly, why do you consider it distant? I think, on the contrary, our own soul is closest to us. I had my soul in my mind then, I was thinking about myself, and that’s why I came up with this moral teaching. If others had had this in mind before themselves, they would probably have drawn the same moral teaching that I have drawn. But does each of us approach a writer’s work, like a bee to a flower, in order to extract from it what we need? No, we are looking for moral teaching in everything others, and not for yourself. We are ready to advocate and protect the entire society, carefully valuing the morality of others and forgetting about our own. After all, we love to laugh at others, not at ourselves..."

It is impossible not to notice that these reflections of the main actor“Denominations” not only do not contradict the content of “The Inspector General,” but correspond exactly to it. Moreover, the thoughts expressed here are organic to Gogol’s entire work.

The idea of the Last Judgment should have been developed in “Dead Souls”, since it really follows from the content of the poem. One of the rough sketches (obviously for the third volume) directly paints a picture of the Last Judgment: “Why didn’t you remember Me, that I look at you, that I am yours? Why did you expect rewards and attention and encouragement from people, and not from Me? What business would it then be for you to pay attention to how an earthly landowner will spend your money when you have a Heavenly Landowner? Who knows what would have ended if you had reached the end without being afraid? You would surprise with the greatness of your character, you would finally gain the upper hand and force amazement; you would leave your name as an eternal monument to valor, and streams of tears would fall, streams of tears would fall for you, and like a whirlwind you would scatter the flame of goodness in the hearts.” The manager lowered his head, ashamed, and did not know where to go. And after him, many officials and noble, wonderful people, who began to serve and then abandoned their careers, sadly hung their heads.” Note that the theme of the Last Judgment permeates all of Gogol’s work. 3
Let us remember, for example, that in the story “The Night Before Christmas” the demon harbored a grudge against the blacksmith Vakula because he depicted St. Peter in the church on the day of the Last Judgment, expelling an evil spirit from hell.

And this corresponded to his spiritual life, his desire for monasticism. And a monk is a person who has left the world, preparing himself to answer at the judgment of Christ. Gogol remained a writer and, as it were, a monk in the world. In his writings he shows that it is not man who is bad, but the sin operating within him. Orthodox monasticism has always maintained the same thing. Gogol believed in strength artistic word, which can point the way to moral revival. It was with this faith that he created The Inspector General.

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Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Auditor

Dramatic works

Auditor
N in Gogol the Inspector read the full content.

Comedy in five acts

Popular proverb

CHARACTERS

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor.

Anna Andreevna, his wife.

Marya Antonovna, his daughter.

Luka Lukich Khlopov, superintendent of schools.

His wife.

Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, judge.

Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, trustee of charitable institutions.

Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin, postmaster.

Petr Ivanovich Dobchinsky, Petr Ivanovich Bobchinsky, city landowners.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, an official from St. Petersburg.

Osip, his servant.

Christian Ivanovich Gibner, district doctor.

Fedor Andreevich Lyulyukov, Ivan Lazarevich Rastakovsky, Stepan, Ivanovich Korobkin, retired officials, honorable people in the city.

Stepan Ilyich Ukhovertov, private bailiff.

Svistunov, Pugovitsyn, Derzhimorda, policemen.

Abdulin, merchant.

Fevronya Petrovna Poshlepkina, locksmith.

Non-commissioned officer's wife.

bear, servant of the mayor.

Inn servant.

Guests and guests, merchants, townspeople, petitioners.

CHARACTERS AND COSTUMES

Notes for gentlemen actors

Strawberries, a trustee of charitable institutions, a very fat, clumsy and clumsy man, but for all that a weasel and a rogue. Very helpful and fussy.

Postmaster, a simple-minded person to the point of naivety.

The other roles don't require much explanation. Their originals are almost always before your eyes.

ACT ONE

A room in the mayor's house.

PHENOMENON I

Mayor, trustee of charitable institutions, superintendent of schools, judge, private bailiff, doctor, two quarterly officers.

Mayor. I invited you, gentlemen, in order to tell you some very unpleasant news: an auditor is coming to visit us.

Ammos Fedorovich. How's the auditor?

Artemy Filippovich. How's the auditor?

Mayor. Inspector from St. Petersburg incognito. And with a secret order.

Ammos Fedorovich. Here you go!

Artemy Filippovich. There was no concern, so give it up!

Luka Lukic. Lord God! also with a secret prescription!

Mayor. It was as if I had a presentiment: today I dreamed all night about two extraordinary rats. Really, I’ve never seen anything like this: black, of unnatural size! They came, they smelled it, and they left. Here I will read to you a letter that I received from Andrei Ivanovich Chmykhov, whom you, Artemy Filippovich, know. This is what he writes: “Dear friend, godfather and benefactor (mutters in an undertone, quickly running his eyes)… and notify you." A! here: “I hasten, by the way, to notify you that an official has arrived with orders to inspect the entire province and especially our district (raises thumbs up significantly). I learned this from the most reliable people, although he represents himself as a private person. Since I know that you, like everyone else, have sins, because you are a smart person and you don’t like to miss what’s in your hands...” (stopping), well, there are people here... “then I advise you to take precautions, because he can arrive at any hour, unless he has already arrived and lives somewhere incognito... Yesterday I...” Well, here family matters have gone: “... sister Anna Kirilovna came to us with her husband; Ivan Kirilovich has gained a lot of weight and keeps playing the violin...” - and so on, and so on. So this is the circumstance!

Ammos Fedorovich. Yes, this circumstance is... extraordinary, simply extraordinary. Something for nothing.

Luka Lukic. Why, Anton Antonovich, why is this? Why do we need an auditor?

Mayor. For what! So, apparently, it’s fate! (Sighing.) Until now, thank God, we have been approaching other cities; Now it's our turn.

Ammos Fedorovich. I think, Anton Antonovich, that there is a subtle and more political reason here. This means this: Russia... yes... wants to wage war, and the ministry, you see, sent an official to find out if there is any treason.

Mayor. Eh, where have you had enough! More clever man! There is treason in the county town! What is he, borderline, or what? Yes, from here, even if you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state.

Ammos Fedorovich. No, I’ll tell you, you’re not that... you’re not... The authorities have subtle views: even if they are far away, they are shaking their heads.

Mayor. It shakes or doesn’t shake, but I, gentlemen, warned you. Look, I have made some orders for my part, and I advise you to do the same. Especially you, Artemy Filippovich! Without a doubt, a passing official will want, first of all, to inspect the charitable institutions under your jurisdiction - and therefore you should make sure that everything is decent: the caps would be clean, and the sick would not look like blacksmiths, as they usually do at home.

Artemy Filippovich. Well, that's nothing yet. The caps, perhaps, can be put on clean.

Mayor. Yes, and also above each bed to write in Latin or in some other language... that’s your thing, Christian Ivanovich, every disease: when someone got sick, what day and date... It’s not good that your patients smoke such strong tobacco, that you always sneeze when you walk in. And it would be better if there were fewer of them: they would immediately be attributed to poor judgment or the lack of skill of the doctor.

Artemy Filippovich. ABOUT! As for healing, Christian Ivanovich and I took our own measures: the closer to nature, the better - we do not use expensive medicines. The man is simple: if he dies, he will die anyway; if he recovers, then he will recover. And it would be difficult for Christian Ivanovich to communicate with them: he doesn’t know a word of Russian.

Christian Ivanovich makes a sound somewhat similar to a letter And and several on e.

Mayor. I would also advise you, Ammos Fedorovich, to pay attention to public places. In your front room, where petitioners usually come, the guards have kept domestic geese with little goslings that are scurrying around under your feet. It is, of course, commendable for anyone to start a household chore, and why shouldn’t the watchman start one? only, you know, it’s indecent in such a place... I wanted to point this out to you before, but somehow I forgot everything.

Ammos Fedorovich. But today I’ll order them all to be taken to the kitchen. If you want, come and have lunch.

Mayor. Besides, it’s bad that you have all sorts of rubbish dried in your very presence and a hunting rifle right above the cupboard with papers. I know you love hunting, but it’s better to accept him for a while, and then, when the inspector passes, perhaps you can hang him again. Also, your assessor... he, of course, is a knowledgeable person, but he smells as if he had just come out of a distillery, this is also not good. I wanted to tell you about this for a long time, but I don’t remember, I was distracted by something. There is a remedy against this, if it really is, as he says, it has a natural smell: you can advise him to eat onions, or garlic, or something else. In this case, Christian Ivanovich can help with various medications.

Christian Ivanovich makes the same sound.

Ammos Fedorovich. No, it’s no longer possible to get rid of this: he says that his mother hurt him as a child, and since then he’s been giving him a little vodka.

Mayor. Yes, I just noticed that to you. As for the internal regulations and what Andrei Ivanovich calls sins in his letter, I cannot say anything. Yes, and it’s strange to say: there is no person who does not have some sins behind him. This is already arranged this way by God himself, and the Voltaireans are in vain speaking against it.

Ammos Fedorovich. What do you think, Anton Antonovich, are sins? Sins are different from sins. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but with what bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter.

Mayor. Well, puppies or something else - all bribes.

Ammos Fedorovich. Well, no, Anton Antonovich. But, for example, if someone’s fur coat costs five hundred rubles, and his wife’s shawl...

Mayor. Well, what if you take bribes with greyhound puppies? But you don’t believe in God; you never go to church; but at least I am firm in my faith and go to church every Sunday. And you... Oh, I know you: if you start talking about the creation of the world, your hair will just stand on end.

Ammos Fedorovich. But I came to it on my own, with my own mind.

Mayor. Well, otherwise a lot of intelligence is worse than not having it at all. However, I only mentioned the district court; but to tell the truth, it’s unlikely that anyone will ever look there: it’s such an enviable place, God himself patronizes it. But for you, Luka Lukic, as a caretaker educational institutions, you need to take care especially about teachers. They are people, of course, scientists and were brought up in different colleges, but they have very strange actions, naturally inseparable from an academic title. One of them, for example, this one, who has a fat face... I don’t remember his last name, can’t get by without making a grimace when he ascends to the pulpit, like that (makes a grimace) and then he begins to iron his beard with his hand from under his tie. Of course, if he makes such a face on a student, then it’s nothing: maybe it’s what’s needed there, I can’t judge that; but judge for yourself, if he does this to a visitor, it can be very bad: Mr. Inspector or someone else who may take it personally. God knows what could happen from this.

Luka Lukic. What should I really do with him? I've already told him several times. Just the other day, when our leader came into the classroom, he made such a face as I had never seen before. He did it out of a good heart, but he reprimanded me: why are free-thinking thoughts being instilled in young people?

Mayor. I must note the same thing about the historical teacher. He is a scientist, it’s obvious, and he’s picked up a ton of information, but he only explains with such fervor that he doesn’t remember himself. I listened to him once: well, for now I was talking about the Assyrians and Babylonians - nothing yet, but when I got to Alexander the Great, I can’t tell you what happened to him. I thought it was a fire, by God! He ran away from the pulpit and with all the strength he had, he slammed the chair on the floor. Of course, Alexander the Great is a hero, but why break the chairs? This results in a loss to the treasury.

Luka Lukic. Yes, he's hot! I have already noticed this to him several times... He says: “As you wish, I will not spare my life for science.”

Mayor. Yes, this is the inexplicable law of fate: an intelligent person is either a drunkard, or he will make such a face that he can at least endure the saints.

Luka Lukic. God forbid you serve in an academic capacity! You are afraid of everything: everyone gets in the way, everyone wants to show that he is also an intelligent person.

Mayor. That would be nothing - damned incognito! Suddenly he’ll look in: “Oh, you’re here, my dear! And who, say, is the judge here? - “Lyapkin-Tyapkin.” - “And bring Lyapkin-Tyapkin here! Who is the trustee of charitable institutions?” - “Strawberry”. - “And serve Strawberries here!” That's what's bad!

SCENE II

The same goes for the postmaster.

Postmaster. Explain, gentlemen, what official is coming?

Mayor. Haven't you heard?

Postmaster. I heard from Pyotr Ivanovich Bobchinsky. It just arrived at my post office.

Mayor. Well? What do you think about this?

Postmaster. What do I think? there will be a war with the Turks.

Ammos Fedorovich. In one word! I thought the same thing myself.

Mayor. Yes, both of them hit the mark!

Postmaster. Right, war with the Turks. It's all the Frenchman crap.

Mayor. What a war with the Turks! It will just be bad for us, not for the Turks. This is already known: I have a letter.

Postmaster. And if so, then there will be no war with the Turks.

Mayor. Well, how are you, Ivan Kuzmich?

Postmaster. What am I? How are you, Anton Antonovich?

Mayor. What am I? There is no fear, but just a little... Merchants and citizenship confuse me. They say that they had a hard time with me, but by God, even if I took it from someone else, it was truly without any hatred. I even think (takes him by the arm and takes him aside) I even wonder if there was some kind of denunciation against me. Why do we really need an auditor? Listen, Ivan Kuzmich, could you, for our common benefit, print out every letter that arrives at your post office, incoming and outgoing, you know, a little bit and read it: does it contain some kind of report or just correspondence. If not, then you can seal it again; however, you can even give the letter printed out.

Postmaster. I know, I know... Don’t teach me this, I do this not so much out of precaution, but more out of curiosity: I love to know what’s new in the world. Let me tell you, this is a very interesting read. You will read another letter with pleasure - this is how various passages are described... and what edification... better than in the Moskovskie Vedomosti!

Mayor. Well, tell me, have you read anything about some official from St. Petersburg?

Postmaster. No, there is nothing about the St. Petersburg ones, but a lot is said about the Kostroma and Saratov ones. It’s a pity, however, that you don’t read letters: there are wonderful places. Recently, one lieutenant wrote to a friend and described the ball in the most playful way... very, very well: “My life, dear friend, flows, he says, in the empyrean: there are many young ladies, music is playing, the standard is jumping...” - with great, with great feeling described. I left it with me on purpose. Do you want me to read it?

Mayor. Well, now there's no time for that. So do me a favor, Ivan Kuzmich: if by chance you come across a complaint or report, then detain him without any reasoning.

Postmaster. With great pleasure.

Ammos Fedorovich. Look, you will get it someday for this.

Postmaster. Ah, fathers!

Mayor. Nothing, nothing. It would be a different matter if you made something public out of this, but this is a family matter.

Ammos Fedorovich. Yes, something bad is brewing! And I confess, I was coming to you, Anton Antonovich, in order to treat you to a little dog. Full sister to the male you know. After all, you heard that Cheptovich and Varkhovinsky started a lawsuit, and now I have the luxury of hunting hares on the lands of both.

Mayor. Fathers, your hares are not dear to me now: the damned incognito sits in my head. You just wait for the door to open and walk away...

SCENE III

The same Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, both enter out of breath.

Bobchinsky. Emergency! Dobchinsky. Unexpected news! All. What, what is it?

Dobchinsky. Unforeseen event: we arrive at the hotel...

Bobchinsky (interrupting). We arrive with Pyotr Ivanovich at the hotel...

Dobchinsky (interrupting). Eh, let me, Pyotr Ivanovich, I’ll tell you.

Bobchinsky. Eh, no, excuse me, I... excuse me, excuse me... you don’t even have such a syllable...

Dobchinsky. And you will get confused and not remember everything.

Bobchinsky. I remember, by God, I remember. Don't bother me, let me tell you, don't bother me! Tell me, gentlemen, please don’t let Pyotr Ivanovich interfere.

Mayor. Yes, tell me, for God's sake, what is it? My heart is not in the right place. Sit down, gentlemen! Take the chairs! Pyotr Ivanovich, here's a chair for you.

Everyone sits down around both Petrov Ivanovichs.

Well, what, what is it?

Bobchinsky. Excuse me, excuse me: I’ll get everything in order. As soon as I had the pleasure of leaving you after you deigned to be embarrassed by the letter you received, yes, sir, then I ran in... please don’t interrupt, Pyotr Ivanovich! I already know everything, everything, everything, sir. So, if you please, I ran to Korobkin. And not having caught Korobkina at home, I stopped by Rastakovsky, and not finding Rastakovsky, I went to Ivan Kuzmich to tell him the news you had received, and, on my way from there, I met with Pyotr Ivanovich...

Dobchinsky (interrupting). Near the booth where pies are sold.

Bobchinsky. Near the booth where pies are sold. Yes, having met Pyotr Ivanovich, I say to him: “Have you heard about the news that Anton Antonovich received from a reliable letter?” And Pyotr Ivanovich already heard about this from your housekeeper Avdotya, who, I don’t know, was sent to Philip Antonovich Pochechuev for something.

Dobchinsky (interrupting). For a keg of French vodka.

Bobchinsky (moving his hands away). For a keg of French vodka. So Pyotr Ivanovich and I went to Pochechuev... You, Pyotr Ivanovich... this... don’t interrupt, please don’t interrupt!.. We went to Pochechuev, but on the road Pyotr Ivanovich said: “Let’s go,” he says, “to the tavern. It’s in my stomach... I haven’t eaten anything since this morning, I’ve got stomach tremors..." - yes, sir, it’s in Pyotr Ivanovich’s stomach... “And at the tavern,” he says, “they’ve now brought fresh salmon, so we’ll have a snack.” . We had just arrived at the hotel when suddenly a young man...

Dobchinsky (interrupting). Not bad-looking, in a private dress.

Bobchinsky. Not bad-looking, in a particular dress, walks around the room like that, and in his face there’s a kind of reasoning... physiognomy... actions, and here (twirls his hand near his forehead) many, many things. It was as if I had a presentiment and said to Pyotr Ivanovich: “There’s something here for a reason, sir.” Yes. And Peter Ivanovich already blinked his finger and called the innkeeper, sir, the innkeeper Vlas: his wife gave birth to him three weeks ago, and such a perky boy will, just like his father, run the inn. Pyotr Ivanovich called Vlas and asked him quietly: “Who, he says, is this young man?” - and Vlas answers this: “This,” he says... Eh, don’t interrupt, Pyotr Ivanovich, please don’t interrupt; you won’t tell, by God you won’t tell: you whisper, I know you have one tooth whistling in your mouth... “This,” he says, is a young man, an official, yes, sir, coming from St. Petersburg; and his last name, he says, is Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, sir, but he goes, he says, to the Saratov province and, he says, certifies himself in a very strange way: he’s been living for another week, he doesn’t leave the tavern, he takes everything into account and doesn’t want to pay a penny.” As he told me this, and so it was brought to my senses from above. "Eh!" - I say to Pyotr Ivanovich...

Dobchinsky. No, Pyotr Ivanovich, it was I who said: “eh!”

Bobchinsky. First you said it, and then I said it too. “Eh! - Pyotr Ivanovich and I said. “Why on earth should he sit here when his road lies to the Saratov province?” Yes, sir. But he is this official.

Mayor. Who, what official?

Bobchinsky. The official about whom you deigned to receive a notification is an auditor.

Mayor (in fear). What are you, God bless you! It's not him.

Dobchinsky. He! and he doesn’t pay money and doesn’t go. Who else should it be if not him? And the road ticket is registered in Saratov.

Bobchinsky. He, he, by God he... So observant: he looked at everything. He saw that Pyotr Ivanovich and I were eating salmon, more because Pyotr Ivanovich was talking about his stomach... yes, so he looked into our plates. I was filled with fear.

Mayor. Lord, have mercy on us sinners! Where does he live there?

Dobchinsky. In the fifth room, under the stairs.

Bobchinsky. In the same room where passing officers fought last year.

Mayor. How long has he been here?

Dobchinsky. And it’s already two weeks. Came to see Vasily the Egyptian.

Mayor. Two weeks! (To the side.) Fathers, matchmakers! Bring it out, holy saints! In these two weeks the non-commissioned officer's wife was flogged! The prisoners were not given provisions! There's a tavern on the streets, it's unclean! A shame! vilification! (He grabs his head.)

Artemy Filippovich. Well, Anton Antonovich? - Parade to the hotel.

Ammos Fedorovich. No no! Put your head forward, the clergy, the merchants; here in the book “The Acts of John Mason”...

Mayor. No no; let me do it myself. Were there difficult cases in real life, we went and even received a thank you. Perhaps God will bear it now. (Addressing Bobchinsky.) You say he is a young man?

Bobchinsky. Young, about twenty-three or four years old.

Mayor. So much the better: you’ll get wind of the young man sooner. It’s a disaster if the old devil is the one who’s young and the one at the top. You, gentlemen, get ready for your part, and I will go on my own, or at least with Pyotr Ivanovich, privately, for a walk, to see if those passing by are in trouble. Hey Svistunov!

Svistunov. Anything?

Mayor. Go now for a private bailiff; or not, I need you. Tell someone there to send a private bailiff to me as soon as possible, and come here.

The quarterly runs in a hurry.

Artemy Filippovich. Let's go, let's go, Ammos Fedorovich! In fact, disaster can happen.

Ammos Fedorovich. What do you have to be afraid of? I put clean caps on the sick, and the ends were in the water.

Artemy Filippovich. What hubcaps! The patients were ordered to give gabersup, but I have such cabbage flying through all the corridors that you should only take care of your nose.

Ammos Fedorovich. And I’m calm about this. In fact, who will go to the district court? And even if he looks at some paper, he won’t be happy with life. I’ve been sitting on the judge’s chair for fifteen years now, and when I look at the memorandum – ah! I’ll just wave my hand. Solomon himself will not decide what is true and what is not true in it.

The judge, the trustee of charitable institutions, the superintendent of schools and the postmaster leave and at the door encounter the returning quarterly.