Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol1.djvu/161

Rh 'Here is some more jam,' said the lady of the house, returning with a saucer, 'it's very choice, made with honey!'

'We will have some of it later on,' said Sobakevitch. 'You go to your own room now. Pavel Ivanovitch and I will take off our coats and have a little nap.'

The lady began suggesting that she should send for feather beds and pillows, but her husband said, 'There's no need, we can doze in our easy-chairs,' and she withdrew.

Sobakevitch bent his head slightly, and prepared to hear what the business might be.

Tchitchikov approached the subject indirectly, touched on the Russian empire in general, and spoke with great appreciation of its vast extent, said that even the ancient Roman empire was not so large, and that foreigners might well marvel at it … (Sobakevitch still listened with his head bowed), and that in accordance with the existing ordinances of the government, whose fame had no equal, souls on the census list who had ended their earthly career were, until the next census was taken, reckoned as though they were alive, in order to avoid burdening the government departments with a multitude of petty and unimportant details and increasing the complexity of the administrative machinery so complicated as it is … (Sobakevitch still listened with his head bowed), and that, justifiable as this arrangement was, it put however a somewhat heavy burden on many landowners, compelling