The Inspector General is an immortal comedy by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. From the moment of writing, they did not stop reading it and putting it on stage, because the problems that the author revealed in the work will never lose their relevance and will resonate in the hearts of viewers and readers at all times.

Work on the piece began in 1835. According to legend, wanting to write a comedy, but not finding a story worthy of this genre, Gogol turned to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin for help in the hope that he would suggest a suitable plot. And so it happened, Pushkin shared a “joke” that happened either to himself or to a familiar official: a person who came to a certain city on business was mistaken by local authorities for an auditor who arrived with a secret assignment to follow, find out, report. Admiring the talent of the writer, Pushkin was sure that Gogol would cope with the task even better than him, he was looking forward to the release of the comedy and supported Nikolai Vasilyevich in every possible way, especially when he was thinking of quitting the work he had begun.

For the first time, the comedy was read by the author himself at the evening at Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky's in the presence of several acquaintances and friends (including Pushkin). In the same year, The Inspector General was staged at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. The play outraged and alerted with its "unreliability", it could be banned. Only thanks to the petition and patronage of Zhukovsky, it was decided to leave the work alone.

At the same time, Gogol himself was dissatisfied with the first production. He decided that neither the actors nor the public had received The Inspector General correctly. This was followed by several explanatory articles by the writer, giving important indications to those who really want to delve into the essence of comedy, correctly understand the characters, and play them on stage.

Work on the "Inspector General" continued until 1842: after making numerous edits, it acquired the form in which it has come down to us.

Genre and direction

The Inspector General is a comedy, where the subject of the story is the life of the Russian bureaucracy. This is a satire on the manners and orders established among people belonging to this circle. The author skillfully uses elements of the comic in his work, supplying them with both plot twists and turns and the system of characters. He cruelly ridicules the current state of society, either openly ironically about the events illustrating reality, or veiledly laughing at them.

Gogol worked in the direction of realism, the main principle of which was to show "a typical hero in typical circumstances." This, on the one hand, made it easier for the writer to choose the topic of the work: it was enough to think about what issues are burning for society at the moment. On the other hand, this posed a difficult task for him to describe reality in such a way that the reader recognizes it and himself in it, believes the author’s word, and himself, plunging into the atmosphere of disharmony of reality, realizes the need for change.

About what?

The action takes place in a county town, which naturally has no name, thus symbolizing any city, and therefore Russia as a whole. Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky - the mayor - receives a letter that says about the auditor, who at any moment can come to the city incognito with a check. The news literally puts on the ears of all residents who have anything to do with bureaucratic service. Without thinking twice, the frightened townspeople themselves find a contender for the role of an important official from St. Petersburg and in every possible way try to flatter him, to appease the high-ranking person, so that he will condescendingly treat their sins. The comicality of the situation is added by the fact that Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov, who made such an impression on those around him, does not guess until the last minute why everyone is behaving so courteously with him, and only at the very end begins to suspect that he was mistaken for some other, throughout apparently important person.

A love conflict is also woven into the outline of the general narrative, also played out in a farcical manner and built on the fact that the young ladies participating in it, each pursuing their own benefit, try to prevent each other from achieving it, and at the same time the instigator cannot choose one of two ladies.

Main characters and their characteristics

Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov

This is a petty official from St. Petersburg, returning home to his parents and mired in debt. “The role of the one who is taken by the frightened city for the auditor is the most difficult of all,” Gogol writes about Khlestakov in one of the articles in the appendix to the play. An empty and insignificant person by nature, Khlestakov circles a whole city of rogues and swindlers around his finger. The main assistant to him in this is the general fear that has seized the officials who are mired in official “sins”. They themselves create an incredible image of the almighty auditor from St. Petersburg - a formidable person who decides other people's destinies, the first of the first in the whole country, as well as the metropolitan thing, a star of any circle. But such a legend must be able to support. Khlestakov brilliantly copes with this task, turning every passage thrown in his direction into a fascinating story, so impudently ridiculous that it is hard to believe that the cunning people of the city of N could not figure out his deceit. The secret of the "auditor" is that his lies are pure and naive to the extreme. The hero is incredibly sincere in his lies, he practically believes in what he tells. This is probably the first time he has received such overwhelming attention. They really listen to him, listen to his every word, which leads Ivan to complete delight. He feels that this is the moment of his triumph: whatever he says now, everything will be received with admiration. His fantasy takes flight. He doesn't realize what's really going on here. Stupidity and bragging do not allow him to objectively assess the real state of affairs and realize that these mutual admirations cannot continue for a long time. He is ready to stay in the city, taking advantage of the imaginary benevolence and generosity of the townspeople, not realizing that the deceit will soon be revealed, and then the fury of officials circled around the finger will not have a limit.

Being a loving young man, Khlestakov drags himself immediately behind two attractive young ladies, not knowing who to choose, whether the mayor's daughter or his wife, and throws himself in front of one, then in front of the other on his knees, which wins the hearts of both.

In the end, gradually beginning to guess that all those gathered take him for someone else, Khlestakov, surprised at such an occasion, but without losing courage, writes to his friend the writer Tryapichkin about what happened to him, and offers to ridicule his new acquaintances in the relevant article. He joyfully paints the vices of those who accepted him complacently, those whom he managed to decently rob (accepting exclusively on loan), those whom he gloriously turned their heads with his stories.

Khlestakov is a “deceitful, personified deception” and at the same time this empty, insignificant character “contains a collection of many of those qualities that are not found in insignificant people,” which is why this role is all the more difficult. You can find another description of the character and image of Khlestakov in the format of an essay.

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor

"The rogue of the first category" (Belinsky)

Anton Antonovich is a smart person who knows how to manage affairs. He could have been a good mayor if he had not taken care of his pocket first of all. Deftly settling in his place, he carefully looks at every opportunity to grab something somewhere and never misses his chance. In the city he is considered a swindler and a bad manager, but it becomes clear to the reader that he earned such fame not because he is angry or ruthless by nature (he is not at all like that), but because he put his own interests much higher than others. Moreover, if you find the right approach to it, you can enlist its support.

The mayor is not mistaken about himself and does not hide in a private conversation that he himself knows everything about his sins. He considers himself a pious person, for he goes to church every Sunday. It can be assumed that some remorse is not alien to him, but he still puts his weaknesses above it. At the same time, he is kind to his wife and daughter, he cannot be reproached with indifference.

In the arrival of the auditor, the mayor is more likely to be frightened by surprise than by the inspection itself. He suspects that if you properly prepare the city and the right people for the meeting of an important guest, and also take into circulation the official from St. Petersburg, then you can successfully arrange a business and even win something for yourself here. Feeling that Khlestakov is succumbing to influence and coming into a good mood, Anton Antonovich calms down, and, of course, there is no limit to his joy, pride and flight of his imagination when it becomes possible to intermarry with such a person. The mayor dreams of a prominent position in St. Petersburg, of a successful party for his daughter, the situation is under his control and turns out as well as possible, when it suddenly turns out that Khlestakov is just a dummy, and a real auditor has already appeared on the threshold. It is for him that this blow becomes the most difficult: he loses more than others, and he will get it unlike more severely. You can find an essay that describes the character and image of the mayor in the "Inspector General".

Anna Andreevna and Maria Antonovna

The main female characters of the comedy. These ladies are the mayor's wife and daughter. They are extremely curious, like all bored young ladies, hunters of all city gossip, as well as big coquettes, love when others are passionate about them.

Khlestakov, who appeared so unexpectedly, becomes a wonderful entertainment for them. He brings news from the high society of the capital, tells many amazing and amusing stories, and most importantly, shows interest in each of them. Mother and daughter are trying in every possible way to achieve the location of a delightful dandy from St. Petersburg, and, in the end, he woo Maria Antonovna, which her parents are very happy about. Everyone is starting to make bright plans for the future. Women do not realize that the wedding is not included in his plans, and in the end both, as well as all the inhabitants of the city, end up with nothing.

Osip

Khlestakov's servant is not stupid and cunning. He understands the situation much faster than his master and, realizing that things are not going well, advises the master to leave the city as soon as possible.

Osip understands well what his owner needs, always take care of his well-being. Khlestakov himself clearly does not know how to do this, which means that he will be lost without his servant. Osip also understands this, so sometimes he allows himself to behave familiarly with the owner, is rude to him, keeps himself independent.

Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky

They are city landlords. Both are short, round, "extremely similar to each other." These two friends are talkers and liars, the two chief gossips of the city. It is they who take Khlestakov for an auditor, which misleads all other officials.

Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky give the impression of being funny and good-natured gentlemen, but in fact they are stupid and, in fact, just empty talk.

Other officials

Each official of city N is remarkable in some way, but nevertheless, they first of all constitute the general picture of the bureaucratic world and are of interest in the aggregate. They, as we shall see later, have all the vices of people in important positions. Moreover, they do not hide it, and sometimes they are even proud of their actions. Having an ally in the person of the mayor, the judge, the trustee of charitable institutions, the superintendent of schools and others freely do any arbitrariness that comes to their mind, without fear of reprisal.

The announcement of the arrival of the auditor horrifies everyone, but such "sharks" of the bureaucratic world quickly recover from the first shock and easily come to the simplest solution to their problem - bribing a terrible, but probably the same dishonest auditor. Delighted by the success of their plan, the officials lose their vigilance and composure and are completely defeated at the moment when it turns out that Khlestakov, who was treated kindly by them, is nobody, and the real high-ranking person from St. Petersburg is already in the city. The image of the city N is described.

Themes

1. Political themes: arbitrariness, nepotism and embezzlement in power structures. The provincial city N falls into the author's field of vision. The absence of a name and any territorial indications immediately suggests that this is a collective image. The reader immediately gets acquainted with a number of officials living there, since it is they who are of interest in this work. These are all people who completely abuse power and use official duties only in their own interests. The life of the officials of the city N has developed for a long time, everything goes on as usual, nothing violates the order they created, the basis of which was laid by the mayor himself, until there is a real threat of trial and reprisal for their arbitrariness, which should just about fall on them by the auditor. we talked about this topic in more detail.
2. social theme. Along the way in the comedy affected the topic of human stupidity, manifesting itself in different ways in different representatives of the human race. So, the reader sees how this vice leads some of the heroes of the play into various curious situations: Khlestakov, inspired by the opportunity to become who he would like to be once in his life, does not notice that his legend is written with a pitchfork on the water and he is about to be exposed ; the mayor, at first frightened to the core, and then confronted with the temptation to go out among the people in St. Petersburg itself, is lost in the world of fantasies about a new life and turns out to be unprepared for the denouement of this extraordinary story.

Problems

The comedy is aimed at ridiculing the specific vices of people who have a high position in the service. Residents of the city do not disdain either bribery or embezzlement, they deceive ordinary inhabitants, rob them. Self-interest and arbitrariness are the eternal problems of officials, so the "Inspector General" at all times remains a relevant and topical play.

Gogol touches not only on the problems of an individual class. He finds vices in every inhabitant of the city. For example, in noble women we clearly see greed, hypocrisy, deceit, vulgarity and a tendency to betrayal. In ordinary townspeople, the author finds slavish dependence on the masters, plebeian narrow-mindedness, a willingness to crawl and fawn for the sake of momentary gain. The reader can see all sides of the coin: where tyranny reigns, there is no less shameful slavery. People put up with such an attitude towards themselves, they are satisfied with such a life. In this unjust power draws strength.

Meaning

The meaning of the comedy was laid down by Gogol in the folk proverb chosen by him as an epigraph: "There is nothing to blame on the mirror if the face is crooked." In his work, the writer talks about the pressing problems of his country of his contemporary period, although more and more readers (each in his own era) find them topical and relevant. Not everyone meets the comedy with understanding, not everyone is ready to admit the existence of a problem, but they are inclined to blame the people around them, circumstances, life as such, but not themselves, for the imperfection of the world. The author sees this pattern in his compatriots and, wishing to fight it with the methods available to him, writes The Inspector General in the hope that those who read it will try to change something in themselves (and, perhaps, in the world around them) in order to prevent trouble and outrages on their own, but by all possible means to stop the triumphant path of dishonor in a professional environment.

There are no positive characters in the play, which can be interpreted as a literal expression of the author's main idea: everyone is to blame for everyone. There are no people who would not take a humiliating part in atrocities and riots. Everyone contributes to injustice. Not only officials are to blame, but also merchants who give bribes and rob the people, and ordinary people who always get drunk and live in bestial conditions on their own initiative. Not only greedy, ignorant and hypocritical men are vicious, but deceitful, vulgar and stupid ladies. Before criticizing someone, you need to start with yourself, reducing the vicious circle by at least one link. This is the main idea of ​​the "Inspector".

Criticism

The writing of The Inspector General caused a wide public outcry. The audience took the comedy ambiguously: reviews followed both enthusiastic and indignant. Criticism took opposite positions in evaluating the work.

Many of Gogol's contemporaries sought to analyze the comedy and draw some conclusion about its value for Russian and world literature. Some found it rude and harmful to read. So, F.V. Bulgarin, a representative of the official press and a personal enemy of Pushkin, wrote that The Inspector General is a slander of Russian reality, that if such morals exist, it is not in our country, that Gogol portrayed a Little Russian or Belarusian city and so nasty that it is not clear how can he hold onto the globe.

O.I. Senkovsky noted the talent of the writer, believed that Gogol had finally found his genre and should improve in it, but the comedy itself was not so complacently received by the critic. Senkovsky considered the author's mistake to mix something good, pleasant in his work with the amount of dirt and meanness that the reader eventually encounters. The critic also noted that the plot on which the entire conflict rests is unconvincing: such seasoned scoundrels as officials of the city of N could not be so gullible and allow themselves to be led into this fateful delusion.

There was a different opinion regarding Gogol's comedy. K.S. Aksakov stated that those who scolded the Inspector General did not understand his poetics and should read the text more carefully. As a true artist, Gogol hid his real feelings behind ridicule and satire, but in reality his soul was rooting for Russia, in which in fact there is a place for all the characters of the comedy.

Interestingly, in his article The Inspector General, a comedy, Op. N. Gogol "P.A. Vyazemsky, in turn, noted the complete success of the stage production. Recalling accusations of implausibility against comedy, he wrote about the psychological causes of the phenomena described by the author as more significant, but he was also ready to admit that what had happened was possible from all other points of view. An important note in the article is the episode about the attacks on the characters: “They say that not a single intelligent person is seen in Gogol's comedy; not true: the author is smart.

V.G. himself Belinsky highly appreciated The Inspector General. Oddly enough, he wrote a lot about Gogol's comedy in the article "Woe from Wit." The critic carefully examined both the plot and some of the characters of the comedy, and its essence. Speaking about the genius of the author and praising his work, he admitted that everything in The Inspector General was excellent.

It is impossible not to mention critical articles about the comedy of the author himself. Gogol wrote five explanatory articles to his work, as he considered that it was misunderstood by actors, spectators, and readers. He really wanted the public to see in The Inspector General exactly what he showed, to perceive it in a certain way. In his articles, the writer gave instructions to the actors on how to play roles, revealed the essence of some episodes and scenes, as well as the general - of the whole work. He paid special attention to the silent scene, because he considered it incredibly important, the most important. Separately, I would like to mention "Theatrical tour after the presentation of a new comedy." This article is unusual in its form: it is written in the form of a play. The spectators who have just watched the performance, as well as the author of the comedy, are talking to each other. It contains some clarifications regarding the meaning of the work, but the main thing is Gogol's answers to criticism of his work.

Ultimately, the play became an important and integral part of Russian literature and culture.

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Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
Auditor

© Publishing House "Children's Literature". Design of the series, 2003

© V. A. Voropaev. Introductory article, 2003

© I. A. Vinogradov, V. A. Voropaev. Comments, 2003

© V. Britvin. Illustrations, 2003

* * *

What did Gogol laugh at? On the spiritual meaning of the comedy "The Government Inspector"

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For whoever hears the word and does not fulfill it is like a man who examines 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 wrong people are. They talk about virtue, about God, but meanwhile do nothing.

From Gogol's letter to his mother. 1833

The Inspector General is the best Russian comedy. Both in reading and in staging on stage, 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 also difficult to create a real Gogol performance, to make those sitting in the hall laugh with bitter Gogol's laughter. As a rule, something fundamental, deep, on which the whole meaning of the play is based, eludes the actor or spectator.

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, sincere and unanimous laughter, the challenge of the author<…>, - 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 artists and spectators. The confession of the actor Pyotr Grigoriev, who played the role of judge Lyapkin-Tyapkin, is characteristic: “... this play is still some kind of mystery for all of us. At the first performance, they laughed loudly and a lot, supported strongly - it will be necessary to wait for 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 once or twice ".

Even the most ardent admirers of Gogol did not fully understand the meaning and significance of the comedy; the majority of the public took it as a farce. Memoirist Pavel Vasilyevich Annenkov noticed the unusual reaction of the audience: “Already after the first act, bewilderment was written on all faces (the audience was elected in the full sense of the word), as if no one knew how to think about the picture just presented. This bewilderment increased later with each act. As if finding comfort in the mere assumption that a farce is being given, the majority of the spectators, 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 once or twice<…>there was general laughter. A completely different thing happened in the fourth act: from time to time laughter still flew from one end of the hall to another, but it was somehow timid laughter, which immediately disappeared; there was almost no applause at all; but intense attention, convulsive, intensified following of all the shades of the play, sometimes dead silence showed that the thing that happened on the stage passionately captured the hearts of the audience.

The play was perceived by the public in different ways. Many saw in it a caricature of the Russian bureaucracy, and in its author a rebel. According to Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov, there were people who hated Gogol from the very appearance of The Inspector General. So, 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 shackles to Siberia." Censor Alexander Vasilyevich Nikitenko wrote in his diary on April 28, 1836: “Gogol’s comedy The Inspector General made a lot of noise. It is constantly given - almost every day.<…>Many believe that the government is wrong 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, consequently, to print) due to the highest resolution. Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich read the comedy in manuscript and approved it; 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 not have been on the stage for anything, and there were already people who were fussing about banning it.” The Sovereign 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 leaving the box, he said: “Well, a play! Everyone got it, but I got it more than anyone!”

Gogol hoped to meet the support of the king and was not mistaken. Shortly after the comedy was staged, he answered his ill-wishers in Theatrical Journey: “The magnanimous government, deeper than you, has seen with a high mind the goal 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 heart is so vague, so strange ... I expected, I knew in advance how things would go, and for all that, I feel sad and annoying - burdensome has enveloped me. But my creation seemed to me disgusting, wild and as if not at all mine ”(“ An 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 insistent requests of Pushkin and Shchepkin, he refused to participate 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 the fact that they did not understand me. I wanted to get away from everything."

Comic in the "Inspector"

Gogol was, it seems, the only one who took the first production of The Inspector General as a failure. What is the matter here that did not satisfy the author? In part, 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 ordinary comedy. Gogol emphatically warns: “Most of all, you need to be afraid not to fall into a caricature. Nothing should be exaggerated or trivial, even in the last roles ”(“ Forewarning for those who would like to play The Examiner properly).

Creating the images of Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, Gogol imagined them “in the skin” (in his words) of Shchepkin and Vasily Ryazantsev, famous comic actors of that era. In the performance, according to him, "it was a caricature that came out." “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 rather tidy, plump, with decently smoothed hair, found themselves in some awkward, tall gray wigs, tousled, unkempt, tousled, with huge shirt-fronts pulled out; and on the stage they turned out to be ugly to such an extent that it was simply unbearable.

Meanwhile, the main goal of Gogol is the complete naturalness of the characters and the plausibility of what is happening on the stage. “The less an actor thinks about how to laugh and be funny, the more funny the role he has taken will be revealed. The funny will be revealed by itself precisely in the seriousness with which each of the faces depicted in the comedy is busy with its own business.

An example of such a "natural" manner of performance is the reading of "The Government Inspector" by Gogol himself. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, who was once present at such a reading, says: “Gogol ... struck me with the extreme simplicity and restraint of his manner, some important and at the same time naive sincerity, which, as if it doesn’t matter whether there are listeners here and what they think. It seemed that Gogol's only concern was how to delve into the subject, 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 culprit of all this fun continued, not embarrassed by the general gaiety and as if inwardly marveling at it, more and more immersed in the matter itself - and only occasionally, on the lips and near the eyes, the craftsman's sly smile trembled almost noticeably. With what bewilderment, with what amazement, Gogol uttered the famous phrase of the mayor about two rats (at the very beginning of the play): “Come, sniff and go away!” He even looked at us slowly, as if asking for an explanation for such an amazing occurrence. It was only then that I realized how completely wrong, superficially, with what desire to make you laugh as soon as possible - the "Inspector General" is usually played on the stage.

Throughout the work 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 over which of them should start telling the news.

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

Dobchinsky (interrupting). Eh, allow me, Pyotr Ivanovich, I'll tell you.

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

Dobchinsky. And you will go astray and do not remember everything.

Bobchinsky. I remember, by God, I remember. Don't interfere, let me tell you, don't interfere! Tell me, gentlemen, do me a favor so that Pyotr Ivanovich does not interfere.

This comic scene should not only make you laugh. For the characters it is very important which one of them will tell. Their whole life consists in spreading all sorts of gossip and rumors. And suddenly the two got the same news. This is a tragedy. They are arguing over business. Bobchinsky needs to be told everything, not to miss anything. Otherwise, Dobchinsky will complement.

« Bobchinsky. Excuse me, excuse me: I'm all right... So, if you please, I ran to Korobkin's. And not finding Korobkin at home, he turned to Rastakovsky, and not having found Rastakovsky, he went to Ivan Kuzmich to tell him the news you received, and going from there, 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? The main reason was not even the farcical nature of the performance - the desire to make the audience laugh - but the fact that, with the caricature style of the game, those sitting in the hall perceived what was happening on stage without applying to themselves, since the characters were exaggeratedly funny. Meanwhile, Gogol's plan was designed just for the opposite perception: to involve the viewer in the performance, to make it feel that the city depicted in the comedy does not exist somewhere, but to some extent in any place in Russia, and the passions and vices of officials are in the heart of each of us. Gogol addresses everyone and everyone. Therein lies the enormous social significance of The Inspector General. This is the meaning of the famous remark of the mayor: “What are you laughing at? Laugh at yourself!" - facing the audience (namely, to the audience, since no one is laughing on the stage at this time). The epigraph also points to this: “There is nothing to blame on the mirror, if the face is crooked.” In peculiar theatrical commentaries to the play - "Theatrical Journey" and "Decoupling of the Inspector General" - where the audience and actors discuss the comedy, Gogol, as it were, seeks to destroy the wall separating the stage and the auditorium.

In The Inspector General, Gogol made his contemporaries laugh at what they were used to and what they stopped noticing (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 a death.

The mayor sincerely believes that “there is no person who does not have some sins behind him. It is already so arranged by God Himself, and the Voltairians speak against it in vain.” To which Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin objects: “What do you think, Anton Antonovich, sins? Sins to sins - discord. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but why bribes? Greyhound puppies. It's a completely different matter."

The judge is sure that bribes by greyhound puppies cannot be considered as bribes, “but, for example, if someone has a fur coat that costs five hundred rubles, and his wife has a shawl ...”. Here the mayor, having understood the hint, retorts: “But you do not believe in God; you never go to church; but at least I am firm in the 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 just rises on end. To which Ammos Fedorovich replies: “Yes, he came by himself, with his own mind.”

Gogol is the best commentator on his works. In "Forewarning ..." he remarks about the judge: "He is not even a hunter to do a lie, but a great passion for dog hunting ... He is busy with himself and his mind, and an atheist only because there is room for him to show himself in this field."

The mayor believes that he is firm in faith. The more sincerely he expresses this, the funnier. Going to Khlestakov, he gives orders to his subordinates: “Yes, if they ask why the 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 on this. And then, perhaps, someone, forgetting, will foolishly say that it never even started.

Explaining the image of the mayor, Gogol says: “He feels that he is a sinner; he goes to church, he even thinks that he is firm in the faith, he even thinks someday later to repent. But the temptation of everything that floats into the hands is great, and the blessings of life are tempting, and grabbing everything without missing anything has already become, as it were, just a habit with him.

And now, going to the imaginary auditor, the mayor laments: “Sinful, sinful in many ways ... God only grant that I get away with it as soon as possible, and there I will put a candle like no one else has put: I will put a merchant 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, sprouts of new sins appear imperceptibly for 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: “... death loves to know what is new in the world. I can tell you that this is an interesting read. You will read another letter with pleasure - different passages are described in this way ... and what edification ... better than in Moskovskie Vedomosti!

The judge remarks to him: "Look, you will get someday for this." Shpekin exclaims with childish naivety: "Ah, fathers!" It doesn't occur to him that he's doing something illegal. Gogol explains: “The postmaster is a simple-minded to the point of naivety, looking at life as a collection of interesting stories to pass the time, which he recites in printed letters. There is nothing left for an actor to do but to be as simple-hearted as possible.

Innocence, curiosity, the habitual doing of all sorts of lies, the free-thinking of officials upon the appearance of Khlestakov, that is, according to their concepts of the auditor, are suddenly replaced for a moment by an attack of fear inherent in criminals awaiting severe retribution. The same inveterate freethinker Ammos Fedorovich, being in front of Khlestakov, says to himself: “Lord God! I don't know where I'm sitting. Like hot coals under you." And the mayor, in the same position, asks for pardon: “Do not ruin! Wife, small children ... do not make a person unhappy. And further: “Out of inexperience, by God, out of inexperience. Insufficiency of the state ... If you please, judge for yourself: the state salary is not enough even for tea and sugar.

Gogol was especially dissatisfied with the way Khlestakov was played. “The lead role is gone,” he writes, “as I thought. Dyur didn’t understand a hair’s breadth of 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. As if someone sitting in him speaks for him, tempting all the heroes of the play through him. Is this not the father of lies himself, that is, the devil? It seems that Gogol had this in mind. The heroes of the play, in response to these temptations, without noticing it themselves, are revealed in all their sinfulness.

Tempted by the crafty Khlestakov himself, as it were, acquired the features of a demon. On May 16 (n. st.), 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 you do not lose sight of the fact that he is a clicker and all consists of inflating.<…>You beat this beast in the face and do not be embarrassed by anything. He is like a petty official who has climbed into the city as if for an investigation. The dust will launch everyone, bake, scream. One has only to get a little scared and lean back - then he will go to be brave. And as soon as you step on him, he will tighten his tail. We ourselves make a giant out of him ... A proverb is not in vain, but a proverb says: The devil boasted of taking possession of the whole world, but God did not give him power over the pig.1
This proverb refers to the gospel episode when the Lord allowed the demons who left the possessed Gadara to enter the herd of pigs (see: Mk. 5:1-13).

In this description, Ivan Aleksandrovich Khlestakov is seen as such.

The heroes of the play feel more and more a sense of fear, as evidenced by the replicas and the author's remarks. (stretching out and trembling all over). This fear seems to extend to the audience as well. After all, those who were afraid of the auditors were sitting in the hall, but only the real ones - the sovereign. Meanwhile, Gogol, knowing this, called them, in general, Christians, to the fear of God, to the purification of conscience, which would not be afraid of any auditor, not even the Last Judgment. Officials, as if blinded by fear, cannot see the real face of Khlestakov. 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 in this way: “... everything is exaggerated in our eyes and frightens us. Because we keep our eyes down and do not want to raise them up. For if they were lifted up for a few minutes, then they would see only God and the light from Him emanating from Him, illuminating everything in its present form, and then they 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 means the Gospel under the mirror, 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 " Mirror and Monkey. Here the Monkey, looking in the mirror, addresses the Bear:

“Look,” he says, “my dear godfather!
What kind of a face is that?
What antics and jumps she has!
I would choke myself with longing,
If only she looked a little like her.
But, admit it, there is
Of my gossips, there are five or six such wimps;
I can even count them on my fingers. -
“What are the gossips to consider working,
Isn't it better to turn on yourself, godfather? -
Mishka answered her.
But Mishen'kin's advice just disappeared in vain.

Bishop Varnava (Belyaev), in his fundamental work "Fundamentals of the Art of Holiness" (1920s), connects the meaning of this fable with attacks on the Gospel, and this (among others) was Krylov's meaning. The spiritual idea of ​​the Gospel as a mirror has long and firmly existed in the Orthodox mind. Thus, for example, St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, one of Gogol's favorite writers, whose writings he re-read many times, says: “Christian! what a mirror is to the sons of this age, let the gospel and the blameless life of Christ be to us. They look in mirrors and correct their bodies and cleanse the vices on their faces.<…>Let us, therefore, put before our spiritual eyes this pure mirror and look into that: is our life in conformity 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 Gospels”: “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 before you and look closely at them, they will reveal to you all the spots, all the blackness, all the ugliness of your soul.

It is noteworthy that in his letters Gogol turned to this image. So, on December 20 (N.S.), 1844, he wrote to Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin from Frankfurt: “... always keep a book on your desk that would serve as a spiritual mirror for you”; 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 denouement of the Inspector General,” 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”: with which the best of us, don’t forget this, will lower their eyes from shame to the ground, and let’s see if any of us then have the courage to ask: “Do I have a crooked face?” 2
Here Gogol, in particular, answers the writer M. N. Zagoskin (his historical novel “Yuri Miloslavsky, or the Russians in 1612” Khlestakov passes off as his own work), who was especially indignant at the epigraph, saying at the same time: “Yes, where do I have 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 mankind recoiled from it and how many times it has turned.”

It is impossible, of course, to create some other "mirror" like 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 arranges his mirror on the stage to the best of his talent. Krylovskaya Monkey could be any of the spectators. However, it turned out that this viewer saw “gossips… five or six”, but not himself. Gogol later spoke of the same thing in an address to readers in Dead Souls: “You will even laugh heartily at Chichikov, maybe even praise the author ... And you will add:“ But you must agree, there are strange and funny people in some provinces , and scoundrels, moreover, considerable! And which of you, full of Christian humility ... will deepen this heavy inquiry into your own soul: “Isn’t there some part of Chichikov in me too?” Yes, no matter how!”

Remark of the mayor - “What are you laughing at? Laugh at yourself!" - which appeared, like the epigraph, 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: “Now the current generation sees everything clearly, marvels at delusions, laughs at the folly 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 delusions, which will also later be laughed at by descendants.

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 is staged on the stage and how the audience perceives it, tried to reveal this idea in The Denouement of The Inspector General.

“Look closely at this city, which is displayed 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?<…>Say what you like, but the auditor who is waiting for us at the door of the coffin is terrible. As if you don't know who this auditor is? What to pretend? This inspector is our awakened conscience, which will make us suddenly and at once look with all eyes at ourselves. Nothing will hide before this auditor, because by the Nominal Supreme command he was sent and will be announced about him when even a step cannot be taken back. Suddenly it will open before you, in you, such a monster that a hair will rise from horror. It is better to revise everything that is in us at the beginning of life, and not at the end of it.

This is 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 a gendarme, announcing the arrival from St. Petersburg "by personal order" of the already real auditor, 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 in petrification" ( my italics. - V. V.).

Gogol attached exceptional importance to this "silent scene". He defines its duration as one and a half minutes, and in "An Excerpt from a Letter ..." he even talks about two or three minutes of "petrification" of the characters. Each of the characters with his whole figure, as it were, shows that he can no longer change anything in his fate, move at least a finger - he is in front of the Judge. According to Gogol's plan, at this moment, silence should come in the hall for general reflection.

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

From these words it follows that the "Decoupling" did not give a new meaning to the "silent scene", but only clarified its meaning. Indeed, at the time of the creation of The Inspector General, in Gogol's Notes of 1836, lines appear in Gogol that directly precede the Denouement: “Lent is calm and formidable. A voice seems to be heard: “Stop, Christian; look back at your life."

However, Gogol's interpretation of the county town as a "spiritual city", and its officials as the embodiment of passions rampant in it, made in the spirit of the patristic tradition, came as a surprise to contemporaries and caused rejection. Shchepkin, who was destined for the role of the First comic actor, after reading a 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 ... Do not give me any hints that these are not officials, but our passions; no, I do not want such a change: these are people, real living people, among whom I have grown up and almost grown old.<…>You have gathered several individuals from the whole world into one collective place, into one group, with these people I became completely related at the age of ten, 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 exposed the main idea of ​​the comedy, without which it looks like a simple denunciation of morals. "Inspector" - "Inspector", - answered Gogol Shchepkin around July 10 (N.S.) 1847, - and application to oneself is an indispensable thing that every viewer must do from everything, not even the "Inspector", but which is more fitting for him to do about the "Inspector".

In the second version of the end of Denouement, Gogol explains his thought. Here the First comic actor (Mikhal Mikhalch), in response to one of the characters’ doubt that the interpretation of the play he proposed corresponds to the author’s intention, says: “The author, even if he had this thought, would have acted badly if he had clearly discovered it. . Comedy would then have strayed into allegory, some kind of pale moralizing sermon could have come out of it. No, his job was to portray simply the horror of material unrest, not in an ideal city, but in one that is on earth ...<…>It is his business to depict this dark so strongly that they feel everything that needs to be fought with him, that he will throw the viewer into awe - and the horror of the riots would penetrate him through everything. That's what he had to do. And it's our job to bring morality. We, thank God, are not children. I thought about what kind of moralizing I can draw for myself, and attacked the one that I have just told you.

And then, to the questions of others, why he alone brought out such a remote, according to their concepts, moralizing, Mikhal Mikhalch answers: “Firstly, how do you know that this moralizing was brought out by me alone? And secondly, why do you consider it distant? I think, on the contrary, our own soul is closest to us. I then had my soul in mind, I thought about myself, and therefore I brought out this moralizing. If others had thought of themselves first, they would probably have drawn the same moralizing that I have. But does each of us approach the writer's work, like a bee to a flower, in order to extract from it what we need? No, we are looking for moralizing in everything for others and not for yourself. We are ready to advocate and defend the whole society, cherishing the morality of others and forgetting about our own. After all, we love to laugh at others, and not at ourselves ... "

It is impossible not to notice that these reflections of the protagonist of The Denouement not only do not contradict the content of The Inspector General, but exactly correspond to it. Moreover, the thoughts expressed here are organic for all of Gogol's work.

The idea of ​​the Last Judgment was to be developed in "Dead Souls", since it really follows from the content of the poem. One of the drafts (obviously for the third volume) directly paints a picture of the Last Judgment: “Why didn’t you remember Me, that I am looking at you, that I am yours? Why did you expect rewards and attention and encouragement from people, and not from Me? What then would it be for you to pay attention to how the 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 fear? You would surprise with the greatness of character, you would finally prevail and make you wonder; you would leave a name as an eternal monument of valor, and streams of tears would drop, streams of tears about you, and like a whirlwind you would wave the flame of goodness in your hearts. The steward bowed his head, ashamed, and did not know where to go. And after him, many officials and noble, beautiful people who began to serve and then abandoned the field, sadly bowed their heads. Note that the theme of the Last Judgment permeates all of Gogol's work. 3
Recall, for example, that in the story "The Night Before Christmas" the demon harbored a grudge against the blacksmith Vakula because he portrayed St. Peter in the church on the day of the Last Judgment, driving out 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 for an answer at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Gogol remained a writer and, as it were, a monk in the world. In his writings, he shows that it is not a person who is bad, but sin acting in him. Orthodox monasticism has always affirmed the same thing. Gogol believed in the power of the artistic word, which could show the way to moral rebirth. It was with this belief that he created The Inspector General.

There is nothing to blame on the mirror if the face is crooked.

folk proverb

Characters

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor.

Anna Andreevna, his wife.

Maria 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, Pyotr Ivanovich Bobchinsky, urban landowners.

Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov, an official from St. Petersburg.

Osip, his servant.

Christian Ivanovich Gibner, county physician.

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

Stepan Ilyich Ukhovertov, private bailiff.

Svistunov, Buttons, Derzhimorda, policemen.

Abdulin, merchant.

Fevronya Petrovna Poshlepkina, locksmith.

Non-commissioned officer's wife.

bear, servant of the mayor.

Servant of the tavern.

Guests and guests, merchants, petty bourgeois, petitioners.

Characters and costumes

Notes for gentlemen actors

Mayor, already aged in the service and a very intelligent person in his own way. Although a bribe-taker, he behaves very respectably; quite serious; somewhat even reasoner; speaks neither loudly nor softly, neither more nor less. His every word is significant. His features are rough and hard, like those of anyone who has begun a hard service from the lower ranks. The transition from fear to joy, from baseness to arrogance is quite quick, like a person with a crudely developed inclination of the soul. He is dressed, as usual, in his uniform with buttonholes and boots with spurs. His hair is short, with grey.

Anna Andreevna, his wife, a provincial coquette, not yet quite old, brought up half on novels and albums, half on chores in her pantry and girl's. Very curious and on occasion shows vanity. Sometimes she takes power over her husband only because he does not find what to answer her; but this power extends only to trifles and consists in 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 thought. He is unable to stop the constant focus on any thought. His speech is abrupt, and words fly out of his mouth quite unexpectedly. The more the person who plays this role shows sincerity and simplicity, the more he will benefit. Dressed in fashion.

Osip, a servant, such as servants of a few older years usually are. He speaks earnestly, looks somewhat downward, is a reasoner, and loves to lecture himself for his master. His voice is always almost even, 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 a rogue in silence. 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 in a patter and help tremendously with gestures and hands. Dobchinsky is a little taller and more serious than Bobchinsky, but Bobchinsky is more cheeky and livelier than Dobchinsky.

Lyapkin-Tyapkin, a judge, a man who has read five or six books, and therefore somewhat freethinking. The hunter is great at guessing, and therefore he gives weight to his every word. The person representing him must always keep a significant mine in his face. He speaks in a bass with an oblong drawl, wheezing and glanders - like an old clock that hisses first and then strikes.

strawberries, trustee of charitable institutions, a very fat, clumsy and clumsy person, but with all that, a sly and a rogue. Very helpful and fussy.

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

Other roles do not require special explanation. Their originals are almost always in front of your eyes.

Gentlemen actors especially should pay attention to the last scene. The last spoken word should produce an electrical shock to everyone at once, all of a sudden. The whole group must change position in the blink of an eye. The sound of astonishment should break out from all women at once, as if from one breast. From non-observance of these remarks, the whole 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.

Mayor. I have invited you, gentlemen, in order to inform you of the unpleasant news: an auditor is coming to visit us.

Ammos Fedorovich. How is the auditor?

Artemy Filippovich. How is the auditor?

Mayor. An auditor from St. Petersburg incognito. And with a secret order.

Ammos Fedorovich. Here are those on!

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

Luka Lukic. Lord God! even with a secret order!

Mayor. I seemed to have a presentiment: all night long I dreamed of two extraordinary rats. Really, I have never seen such things: black, unnatural size! came, sniffed - and went away. Here I will read you a letter that I received from Andrey Ivanovich Chmykhov, whom you, Artemy Filippovich, know. Here is what he writes: “Dear friend, godfather and benefactor (mumbles in an undertone, quickly running his eyes) ... and notify you. BUT! Here: “I hasten, by the way, to notify you that an official has arrived with an order to inspect the entire province and especially our district (significantly raises a finger up). I learned this from the most reliable people, although he presents himself as a private individual. Since I know that you, like everyone else, have sins, because you are a smart person and do not like to miss what floats in your hands ... " (stopping) well, here are your own ... "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, then family matters began: "... sister Anna Kirilovna came to us with her husband; Ivan Kirilovich has become very fat and is still playing the violin ... ”- and so on and so forth. So here is the circumstance!

Ammos Fedorovich. Yes, the circumstance is… extraordinary, simply extraordinary. Something out of the blue.

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

Mayor. What for! So, apparently, fate! (Sighing.) Until now, thanks be to God, they 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. This means this: Russia… yes… wants to wage war, and the ministry, you see, sent an official to find out if there was treason somewhere.

Mayor. Ek where enough! Another smart person! Treason in the county town! What is he, borderline, or what? Yes, from here, even if you ride for three years, you will not reach any state.

Ammos Fedorovich. No, I'll tell you, you're not the one ... you're not ... The authorities have subtle views: for nothing it's far away, but it shakes its mustache.

Mayor. Winds or does not shake, but I warned you, gentlemen. Look, in my part I made some orders, I advise you too. Especially to you, Artemy Filippovich! Without a doubt, a passing official will want first of all to inspect the charitable establishments under your jurisdiction - and therefore you will make sure that everything is decent: the caps are clean, and the sick do not look like blacksmiths, as they usually do at home.

Artemy Filippovich. Well, that's nothing. Caps, perhaps, can be put on and clean.

Mayor. Yes, and also inscribe in Latin or in some other language above each bed ... that’s your part, Christian Ivanovich, - any illness: when someone falls ill, on what day and date ... It’s not good that your patients smoke such strong tobacco, that you always sneeze when you enter. Yes, and it would be better if there were fewer of them: they would immediately attribute them to bad looking or to the lack of skill of a doctor.

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

Khristian Ivanovich makes a sound, partly similar to the letter and and several on e.

Mayor. I would also advise you, Ammos Fyodorovich, to pay attention to government places. In your front hall, where petitioners usually go, the watchmen have brought domestic geese with little goslings, which dart under their feet. It is, of course, commendable to anyone to start a household, and why shouldn’t I start a watchman? only, you know, it's indecent in such a place... I wanted to point this out to you before, but I somehow forgot everything.

Ammos Fedorovich. But today I will order them all to be taken to the kitchen. Would you like to come to dinner.

Mayor. Besides, it's bad that you have all sorts of rubbish drying up in your very presence and a hunting rapnik just above the cupboard with papers. I know you love hunting, but it’s better to accept him for a while, and then, as soon as the inspector passes by, perhaps you can hang him again. Also, your assessor... he is, of course, a knowledgeable person, but he smells like he just left the distillery, this is also not good. I wanted to tell you about this for a long time, but I was, I don’t remember, entertained by something. There is against this remedy, 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 is already impossible to drive him out: he says that his mother hurt him as a child, and since then he gives off a little vodka from him.

Mayor. Yes, I just noticed that. As for the internal order and what Andrei Ivanovich calls in his letter sins, I can’t say anything. Yes, and it is strange to say: there is no person who would not have some sins behind him. It is already so arranged by God himself, and the Voltairians speak against it in vain.

Ammos Fedorovich. What do you think, Anton Antonovich, sins? Sins to sins - discord. I tell everyone openly that I take bribes, but why bribes? Greyhound puppies. This is a completely different matter.

Mayor. Well, puppies or whatever - all bribes.

Ammos Fedorovich. No, Anton Antonovich. But, for example, if someone has a fur coat that costs five hundred rubles, and his wife has a shawl ...

Mayor. Well, what if you take bribes with greyhound puppies? But you don't believe in God; you never go to church; and at least I am firm in the 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. Why, he came by himself, by his own mind.

Mayor. Well, otherwise a lot of intelligence is worse than none at all. However, I only mentioned the county court in this way; and to tell the truth, it is unlikely that anyone will ever look there: it is such an enviable place, God himself patronizes it. But you, Luka Lukich, as the superintendent of educational institutions, you need to take special care about teachers. They are people, of course, scientists and were brought up in different boards, but they have very strange actions, naturally inseparable from the academic title. One of them, for example, this one, that has a fat face ... I don’t remember his last name, he can’t do without making a grimace when he ascends the pulpit, like that (makes a face) and then he will begin to iron his beard with his hand from under his tie. Of course, if he makes such a face to the student, then it’s still nothing: maybe it’s there and it’s needed so, I can’t judge about it; but you judge for yourself, if he does this to a visitor, it can be very bad: Mr. Inspector or someone else who can take it at his own expense. From this the devil knows what can happen.

Luka Lukic. What am I supposed to do with him? I've told him several times. Just the other day, when our leader came into the classroom, he cut a face like I've never seen before. He made it out of a good heart, and I reprimanded: why free-thinking thoughts are inspired by youth.

Mayor. I must also remark to you about the teacher in the historical part. He is a learned head - this is evident, and he has picked up a lot of information, but he only explains with such fervor that he does not remember himself. I listened to him once: well, for the time being I was talking about the Assyrians and Babylonians - still nothing, but how I got to Alexander the Great, I cannot tell you what happened to him. I thought it was a fire, by golly! I ran away from the pulpit and that I have the strength to grab the chair on the floor. Of course, Alexander the Great is a hero, but why break the chairs? from this loss to the treasury.

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

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

Luka Lukic. God forbid to serve in the scientific part! 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 - damn incognito! Suddenly he looks: “Ah, you are here, my dear! And who, say, is the judge here? - Lyapkin-Tyapkin. - “And bring Lyapkin-Tyapkin here! And who is the trustee of charitable institutions? - "Strawberry". - “And bring Strawberries here!” That's what's bad!

Phenomenon II

The same postmaster.

Postmaster. Explain, gentlemen, what official is coming?

Mayor. Haven't you heard?

Postmaster. I heard from Petr Ivanovich Bobchinsky. I just had it at the post office.

Mayor. Well? How do you think about it?

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

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

Mayor. Yes, they both hit the sky with their fingers!

Postmaster. Right, the war with the Turks. It's all French 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 I fell in love with them, and I, by God, if I took it from someone else, then, right, without any hatred. I even think (takes his arm and pulls him aside) I even wonder if there was any denunciation against me. Why do we really need an auditor? Listen, Ivan Kuzmich, can you, for our common benefit, every letter that arrives at your post office, incoming and outgoing, you know, sort of print it out a little and read: whether it contains some kind of report or just correspondence. If not, then you can seal it again; however, you can even give a letter printed out like that.

Postmaster. I know, I know… Don’t teach this, I do it not so much as a precaution, but more out of curiosity: I love death to know what is new in the world. I can tell you that this is an interesting read. You will read another letter with pleasure - different passages are described in this way ... and what edification ... better than in Moskovskie Vedomosti!

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

Postmaster. No, there is nothing about St. Petersburg, but much is said about Kostroma and Saratov. It is a pity, however, that you do not read letters: there are wonderful places. Just recently, a lieutenant wrote to a friend and described the ball in the most playful ... very, very well: “My life, dear friend, flows, says, in the empyrean: there are many young ladies, music plays, the standard jumps ...” - with great, with great feeling described. I left it on purpose. Do you want me to read?

Mayor. Well, it's not up to that now. So do me a favor, Ivan Kuzmich: if by chance you come across a complaint or a report, then detain without any reasoning.

Postmaster. With great pleasure.

Ammos Fedorovich. See if you ever get it for it.

Postmaster. Ah, fathers!

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

Ammos Fedorovich. Yes, something bad has happened! And I, I confess, was going to you, Anton Antonovich, in order to regale you with a little dog. Sister to the male you know. After all, you heard that Cheptovich and Varkhovinsky started a lawsuit, and now I have the luxury of baiting hares on the lands of both.

Mayor. Fathers, your hares are not dear to me now: I have a cursed incognito sitting in my head. So you wait for the door to open and - shalt ...

Phenomenon III

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

Bobchinsky. Emergency!

Dobchinsky. Unexpected news!

All. What, what is it?

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

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

Dobchinsky (interrupting). E, allow me, Pyotr Ivanovich, I will tell you.

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

Dobchinsky. And you will go astray and do not remember everything.

Bobchinsky. I remember, by God, I remember. Don't interfere, let me tell you, don't interfere! Tell me, gentlemen, do me a favor so that Pyotr Ivanovich does not interfere.

Mayor. Yes, for God's sake, what is it? My heart is out of 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. Let me, let me: I'm all right. As soon as I had the pleasure of leaving you, after you deigned to be embarrassed by the letter you received, yes, sir, I rushed in at the same time ... please don’t interrupt, Pyotr Ivanovich! I know everything, everything, everything, sir. So, if you please, I ran to Korobkin's. And not finding Korobkin at home, he turned to Rastakovsky, and not having found Rastakovsky, he went to Ivan Kuzmich to tell him the news you received, yes, going 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 with Pyotr Ivanovich, and I say to him: “Have you heard about the news that Anton Antonovich received from a reliable letter?” But 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). Behind the barrel for French vodka.

Bobchinsky (pulling his hands away). Behind the barrel for French vodka. So we went with Pyotr Ivanovich to Pochechuev ... You, Pyotr Ivanovich ... entogo ... don’t interrupt, please don’t interrupt! In my stomach… I haven’t eaten anything since morning, so gastric trembling…” – yes, sir, in Pyotr Ivanovich’s stomach… “But they’ve brought fresh salmon to the tavern,” he says, “so we’ll have a bite to eat.” . We had just arrived at the hotel, when suddenly a young man...

Dobchinsky (interrupting). Not bad appearance, in a particular dress.

Bobchinsky. Not bad-looking, in a particular dress, walks like that around the room, and in his face there is a kind of reasoning ... physiognomy ... actions, and here (wiggles hand around forehead) many, many things. It was as if I had a presentiment and I say to Pyotr Ivanovich: "There is something here for a reason, sir." Yes. And Pyotr Ivanovich had already blinked his finger and called the innkeeper, sir, the innkeeper Vlas: his wife gave birth to him three weeks ago, and such a smart boy will keep the inn just like his father. Calling Vlas, Pyotr Ivanovich, and ask him quietly: “Who says 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, you, I know, have one tooth in your mouth with a whistle ... “This, he says, is a young man, an official, yes, sir, traveling from St. he says, Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov, sir, but he goes, he says, to the Saratov province and, he says, he certifies himself in a strange way: he lives another week, does not go from the tavern, takes everything on the account and does not want to pay a penny. As he told me this, and so I was enlightened from above. "Eh!" - I say to Pyotr Ivanovich ...

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

Bobchinsky. First you said, and then I said. "Eh! - said Peter Ivanovich and I. “And why should he sit here when the road to him lies in the Saratov province?” Yes, sir. But he is the official.

Mayor. Who, what official?

Bobchinsky. The official about whom they deigned to receive a notification is the auditor.

Mayor (in fear). What are you, the Lord is with you! It's not him.

Dobchinsky. He! and does not pay money and does not go. Who would be if not him? And the road trip is registered in Saratov.

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

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 had a fight last year.

Mayor. And how long has he been here?

Dobchinsky. And two weeks already. Came to Basil the Egyptian.

Mayor. Two weeks! (To the side.) Fathers, matchmakers! Take it out, saints! In these two weeks, a non-commissioned officer's wife was whipped! The prisoners were not given provisions! There is a tavern on the streets, uncleanness! A shame! vilification! (Grabs his head.)

Artemy Filippovich. Well, Anton Antonovich? - to go by parade to the hotel.

Ammos Fedorovich. No no! Put your head forward, clergy, merchants; Here it is in the Acts of John Mason...

Mayor. No no; let me myself. There were difficult cases in life, they went, and even received thanks. Perhaps God will endure even now. (Turning to Bobchinsky.) You say he is a young man?

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

Mayor. So much the better: you'll sniff out the young sooner. The trouble is, if the old devil, and the young one is all at the top. You, gentlemen, get ready for your part, and I will go myself, or even with Pyotr Ivanovich, privately, for a walk, to see if the passing people are in trouble. Hey Svistunov!

Svistunov. Anything?

Mayor. Go now for a private bailiff; or not, I need you. Tell someone there to get 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 Fyodorovich! In fact, trouble can happen.

Ammos Fedorovich. What are you afraid of? He put clean caps on the sick, and the ends were in the water.

Artemy Filippovich. What hats! The sick are ordered to give habersup, but I have such cabbage in all the corridors that you only take care of your nose.

Ammos Fedorovich. And I am at peace with this. In fact, who will go to the county court? And if he looks into some paper, he will not be happy with life. I have been sitting on the judge's chair for fifteen years now, and when I look at the memorandum - ah! I 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 they encounter the returning quarter.

Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, mayor.

Anna Andreevna, his wife.

Maria Antonovna, his daughter.

Luka Lukich Khlopov, superintendent of schools.

Wife his.

Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin, judge.

Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, trustee of charitable institutions.

Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin, postmaster.

Petr Ivanovich Dobchinsky, urban landowner.

Petr Ivanovich Bobchinsky, urban landowner.

Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov, an official from St. Petersburg.

Osip, his servant.

Christian Ivanovich Gibner, county physician.

Fedor Ivanovich Lyulyukov

Ivan Lazarevich Rastakovskiy, 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

Buttons, policeman

Derzhimorda, policeman

Abdulin, merchant.

Fevronya Petrovna Poshlepkina, locksmith.

Non-commissioned officer's wife.

bear, servant of the mayor.

Servant of the tavern.

Guests and guests, merchants, petty bourgeois, 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; somewhat even a reasoner; speaks neither loudly nor softly, neither more nor less. His every word is significant. His features are rough and hard, like those of anyone who has begun his service from the lower ranks. The transition from fear to joy, from rudeness to arrogance is quite quick, like a person with a roughly developed inclination of the soul. He is dressed, as usual, in his uniform with buttonholes and boots with spurs. His hair is short, with grey.

Anna Andreevna, his wife, a provincial coquette, not yet quite old, brought up half on novels and albums, half on chores in her pantry and girl's. Very curious and on occasion shows vanity. Sometimes she takes power over her husband only because he does not find what to answer her; but this power extends only to trifles and consists only in 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 thought. He is unable to stop the constant focus on any thought. His speech is abrupt, and words fly out of his mouth quite unexpectedly. The more the person who plays this role shows sincerity and simplicity, the more he will benefit. Dressed in fashion.

Osip, a servant, such as servants of a few older years usually are. He speaks earnestly, looks down a little, is a reasoner, and likes to lecture himself for his master. His voice is always almost even, 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 a rogue in silence. His suit is a gray or worn frock coat.

Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, both short, short, very curious; extremely similar to each other; both with small bellies; both speak in a patter and help tremendously with gestures and hands. Dobchinsky is a little taller and more serious than Bobchinsky, but Bobchinsky is bolder and livelier than Dobchinsky.

Lyapkin-Tyapkin, a judge, a person who has read five or six books and therefore is somewhat freethinking. The hunter is great at guessing, and therefore he gives weight to his every word. The person representing him must always keep a significant mine in his face. He speaks in a bass with an oblong drawl, wheezing and glanders - like an old clock that hisses first and then strikes.

strawberries, the trustee of charitable institutions, a very fat, clumsy and clumsy person, but for all that he is a sly and a rogue. Very helpful and fussy.

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

Other roles do not require special explanation. Their originals are almost always in front of your eyes.

Gentlemen actors especially should pay attention to the last scene. The last spoken word should produce an electrical shock on everyone at once, all of a sudden. The whole group must change position in the blink of an eye. The sound of astonishment should break out from all women at once, as if from one breast. From non-observance of these remarks, the whole 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.

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

Ammos Fedorovich. How is the auditor?

Artemy Filippovich. How is the auditor?

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

Ammos Fedorovich. Here are those on!

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

Luka Lukic. Lord God! even with a secret order!

Mayor. I seemed to have a presentiment: all night long I dreamed of two extraordinary rats. Really, I've never seen anything like it: black, unnatural size! came, sniffed - and went away. Here I will read you a letter that I received from Andrey Ivanovich Chmykhov, whom you, Artemy Filippovich, know. Here is what he writes: “Dear friend, godfather and benefactor (mumbles in an undertone, quickly running his eyes)… and notify you.” BUT! Here: “I hasten, by the way, to notify you that an official has arrived with an order to inspect the entire province and especially our district (significantly raises a finger up). I learned this from the most reliable people, although he presents himself as a private individual. Since I know that you, like everyone else, have sins, because you are a smart person and do not like to miss what floats in your hands ... " (stopping), well, here are your own ... “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, then family matters started: “... sister Anna Kirillovna came to us with her husband; Ivan Kirillovich has become very fat and still plays the violin ... ”- and so on and so forth. So here is the circumstance!

Ammos Fedorovich. Yes, the circumstance is… extraordinary, simply extraordinary. Something out of the blue.

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

Mayor. What for! So, apparently, fate! (Sighing.) Until now, thanks be to God, they 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. This means this: Russia… yes… wants to wage war, and the ministry, you see, sent an official to find out if there was treason somewhere.

Frame from the film "The Government Inspector" (1952)

In a county town, from which “you ride for three years, you won’t reach any state,” the mayor, Anton Antonovich Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, gathers officials in order to report unpleasant news: he was notified by a letter from an acquaintance that “an auditor from St. , incognito. And with a secret order." The mayor - two rats of unnatural size dreamed all night - had a premonition of something bad. The reasons for the visit of the auditor are being sought, and the judge, Ammos Fedorovich Lyapkin-Tyapkin (who has read "five or six books, and therefore is somewhat free-thinking"), suggests a war being started by Russia. The mayor, meanwhile, advises Artemy Filippovich Strawberry, the trustee of charitable institutions, to put clean caps on the sick, to dispose of the strength of the tobacco they smoke, and in general, if possible, to reduce their number; and meets the full sympathy of Strawberry, who reveres that “a simple man: if he dies, then he will die anyway; If he recovers, then he will recover.” To the judge, the mayor points out “domestic geese with small caterpillars” that snoop underfoot in the front for petitioners; on the assessor, from whom from childhood "it gives away a little vodka"; on a hunting rapnik that hangs over the very closet with papers. With a discussion about bribes (and in particular, greyhound puppies), the mayor turns to Luka Lukich Khlopov, the superintendent of schools, and laments strange habits, “inseparable from an academic title”: one teacher constantly makes faces, another explains with such fervor that he does not remember himself (“Of course, it is Alexander the Macedonian hero, but why break the chairs? This is a loss to the treasury”).

The postmaster Ivan Kuzmich Shpekin appears, "a simple-minded person to the point of naivety." The mayor, fearing a denunciation, asks him to look through the letters, but the postmaster, having long been reading them out of pure curiosity ("you will read another letter with pleasure"), has not yet seen anything about the St. Petersburg official. Out of breath, the landowners Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky enter and, interrupting each other every minute, talk about a visit to a hotel tavern and a young man, observant (“and looked into our plates”), with such an expression on his face - in a word, precisely the auditor: “and he doesn’t pay money, and he doesn’t go, who would be if not him?

The officials disperse anxiously, the mayor decides to “go on parade to the hotel” and gives hasty instructions to the quarterly regarding the street leading to the tavern and the construction of a church at a charitable institution (do not forget that it began to “be built, but burned down”, otherwise someone will blurt out, what and was not built at all). The mayor with Dobchinsky leaves in great excitement, Bobchinsky runs after the droshky like a cockerel. Anna Andreevna, the mayor's wife, and Marya Antonovna, his daughter, appear. The first scolds her daughter for her sluggishness and asks the departing husband through the window if the newcomer has a mustache and what kind of mustache. Annoyed by the failure, she sends Avdotya for the droshky.

In a small hotel room, the servant Osip lies on a master's bed. He is hungry, complains about the owner who lost money, about his thoughtless extravagance and recalls the joys of life in St. Petersburg. Ivan Alexandrovich Khlestakov appears, a young stupid man. After a squabble, with increasing timidity, he sends Osip for dinner - if they don't give it, then for the owner. Explanations with the tavern servant are followed by a crappy dinner. Having emptied the plates, Khlestakov scolds, about this time the mayor inquires about him. In a dark room under the stairs, where Khlestakov lodges, they meet. Sincere words about the purpose of the trip, about the formidable father who called Ivan Alexandrovich from St. Petersburg, are mistaken for a skillful invention incognito, and the mayor understands his cries about his unwillingness to go to prison in the sense that the visitor will not cover up his misdeeds. The mayor, lost in fear, offers the visitor money and asks to move into his house, as well as to inspect - for the sake of curiosity - some institutions in the city, "somehow charitable and others." The visitor unexpectedly agrees, and, having written two notes on the tavern account, to Strawberry and his wife, the mayor sends Dobchinsky with them (Bobchinsky, who was diligently eavesdropping at the door, falls to the floor with her), and he goes with Khlestakov.

Anna Andreevna, waiting impatiently and anxiously for news, is still annoyed with her daughter. Dobchinsky comes running with a note and a story about the official that "he is not a general, but will not yield to the general", about his menacingness at the beginning and softening afterwards. Anna Andreevna reads a note where the enumeration of pickles and caviar is interspersed with a request to prepare a room for a guest and take wine from the merchant Abdulin. Both ladies, quarreling, decide which dress to wear to whom. The mayor and Khlestakov return, accompanied by Strawberry (whose labardan had just been eaten in the hospital), Khlopov and the indispensable Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky. The conversation concerns the successes of Artemy Filippovich: from the time he took office, all the sick "recover like flies." The mayor delivers a speech about his disinterested zeal. The exasperated Khlestakov is interested in whether it is possible to play cards somewhere in the city, and the mayor, understanding the trick in the question, strongly speaks out against the cards (not embarrassed in the least by his recent victory over Khlopov). Completely unleashed by the appearance of the ladies, Khlestakov tells how in St. Petersburg they took him for the commander-in-chief, that he and Pushkin were on friendly terms, how he once managed the department, which was preceded by persuasion and sending thirty-five thousand one couriers to him; he paints his unparalleled severity, predicts his imminent work as a field marshal, which inspires panic fear in the mayor and his entourage, in which fear everyone disperses when Khlestakov retires to sleep. Anna Andreevna and Marya Antonovna, arguing over who the newcomer looked at more, together with the mayor, vying with each other, ask Osip about the owner. He answers so ambiguously and evasively that, assuming an important person in Khlestakov, they only affirm themselves in that. The mayor orders police officers to stand on the porch in order to keep out merchants, petitioners and anyone who could complain.

Officials in the mayor’s house confer on what to do, decide to give the visitor a bribe and persuade Lyapkin-Tyapkin, famous for his eloquence (“every word, Cicero flew off the tongue”), to be the first. Khlestakov wakes up and scares them off. The utterly cowardly Lyapkin-Tyapkin, having entered with the intention of giving money, cannot even answer coherently how long he has been serving and what he has done; he drops the money and considers himself almost arrested already. Khlestakov, who raised the money, asks for a loan, for "he spent on the road." Talking with the postmaster about the pleasures of life in a county town, offering the superintendent of schools a cigar and the question of who, to his taste, is preferable - brunettes or blondes, embarrassing Strawberry with the remark that yesterday he was shorter, he takes from everyone in turn " loan" under the same pretext. Strawberries diversify the situation by denouncing everyone and offering to state their thoughts in writing. From Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, Khlestakov immediately asks for a thousand rubles, or at least a hundred (however, he is content with sixty-five). Dobchinsky is fussing about his first child, born before marriage, wanting to make him a legitimate son - and he is hopeful. Bobchinsky asks, on occasion, to tell all the nobles in St. Petersburg: senators, admirals (“yes, if the sovereign has to do this, tell the sovereign too”) that “Peter Ivanovich Bobchinsky lives in such and such a city.”

Having sent the landowners away, Khlestakov sat down to write a letter to his friend Tryapichkin in St. Petersburg in order to describe a funny incident, how they took him for a "statesman." While the owner is writing, Osip persuades him to leave as soon as possible and succeeds in his arguments. Having sent Osip away with a letter and for horses, Khlestakov receives the merchants, who are loudly prevented by the quarterly Derzhimorda. They complain about the “insults” of the mayor, lend the requested five hundred rubles (Osip takes a sugar loaf, and much more: “a rope will come in handy on the road”). Reassured merchants are replaced by a locksmith and a non-commissioned officer's wife with complaints about the same mayor. Osip sticks out the rest of the petitioners. The meeting with Marya Antonovna, who, really, did not go anywhere, but only thought if her mother was here, ends with a declaration of love, a kiss from the lying Khlestakov and his repentance on his knees. Anna Andreevna, who suddenly appeared in anger, exposes her daughter, and Khlestakov, finding her still very “appetizing”, falls to her knees and asks for her hand. He is not embarrassed by Anna Andreevna's bewildered confession that she is "married in some way", he suggests "retiring under the canopy of the jets", for "for love there is no difference." Marya Antonovna, unexpectedly running in, receives a scolding from her mother and a marriage proposal from Khlestakov, who is still on his knees. The mayor enters, frightened by the complaints of the merchants who broke through to Khlestakov, and begs not to believe the scammers. He does not understand his wife's words about matchmaking until Khlestakov threatens to shoot himself. Not really understanding what is happening, the mayor blesses the young. Osip reports that the horses are ready, and Khlestakov announces to the completely lost family of the mayor that he is going to his rich uncle for only one day, borrows money again, sits in a carriage, accompanied by the mayor and his household. Osip carefully takes the Persian carpet on the mat.

After seeing off Khlestakov, Anna Andreevna and the mayor indulge in dreams of Petersburg life. The called merchants appear, and the triumphant mayor, having overtaken them with great fear, joyfully releases everyone with God. One after another, "retired officials, honorary persons in the city" come, surrounded by their families, in order to congratulate the family of the mayor. In the midst of congratulations, when the mayor with Anna Andreevna, among the guests languishing with envy, consider themselves a general's couple, the postmaster runs in with the message that "the official whom we took for the auditor was not the auditor." The printed letter from Khlestakov to Tryapichkin is read aloud and in turn, since every new reader, having reached the characteristics of his own person, goes blind, slips and is removed. The crushed mayor delivers a diatribe not so much to the helipad Khlestakov, as to the “clicker, paper marak”, which he will certainly insert into a comedy. General anger is directed at Bobchinsky and Dobchinsky, who started a false rumor when the sudden appearance of a gendarme announcing that “an official who arrived by personal order from St. The silent scene lasts more than a minute, during which time no one changes his position. "The curtain falls."

retold