Page:Dead Souls - A Poem by Nikolay Gogol - vol2.djvu/296

286 himself away from the place and the niche in which he has been placed.'

And a life of toil, away from the noise of cities and from all the temptations that man has devised in his idleness, rose up before him in such vivid colour that he almost forgot all the horror of his position, and perhaps was even ready to thank providence for this bitter trial, if only they would release him, and let him have at least a part of his property. But … the door of his filthy prison opened and there walked in a certain official, one Samosvitov, an epicure, a capital companion, a rake and a sly beast as his colleagues said of him. In time of war this man would have performed marvels: he would have been sent to make his way through impassable dangerous places, to steal a cannon from under the very nose of the enemy, that would have been the very task for him. But lacking a military career he had thrown his energies into civil life, and, instead of feats for which he would have been with good reason decorated, he did all sorts of nasty and abominable things. Incredible to relate, he was quite good to his comrades, he never sold them to any one, and when he had given a promise he kept it; but those in authority over him he regarded as something like the battery of the enemy through which he had to make his way, taking advantage of every weak spot or gap in their defences. …

'We know all about your position, we've heard all about it!' he said, when he saw that