Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol2.djvu/202

192 French and make a curtsey. He deplored the terrible lack of culture of the neighbouring landowners, telling him how little they thought about their subjects; how they even laughed when he tried to explain how necessary for the management of an estate it was to establish a secretary's office, counting-houses and even committees, so as to prevent all sorts of stealing, and so that everything should be known; that the clerk, the steward and the book-keeper ought not to be educated just anyhow, but ought to complete their studies at the university; that in spite of all his persuasions he could not convince the landowners of the benefit it would be to their estates if every peasant were so well educated that he could read a treatise on lightning conductors while following the plough.

Upon this, Tchitchikov reflected, 'Well I doubt if there'll ever be such a time. Here I have learnt to read and write but I haven't finished reading the Countess de la Vallière yet.'

'The ignorance is awful,' Colonel Koshkaryov said in conclusion, 'the darkness of the Middle Ages, and there is no possibility of remedying it, believe me there is not! Yet I could remedy it all; I know the one means, the certain means of doing so.'

'What is that?'

'To dress all, every one in Russia, as they are in Germany. Do absolutely nothing but that and I warrant you all will go swimmingly; the