Gogol's poem "Dead Souls" tells the story of Chichikov's scam, the petty intrigues and sweet lies of this low man. And suddenly the reader comes to “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” It would seem that this story has nothing to do with the action of the poem. And the action of the poem takes place in the provincial town of NN and on nearby landowner estates, and the action of “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” takes place in St. Petersburg. But there is undoubtedly a connection.
The postmaster tells this story to the officials at the moment when they decide who Chichikov is. He talks with a clear desire to convince them that Chichikov is Kopeikin. This is the most visible thread connecting “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” with the action of the poem. If you remove this story from the work, then it would seem that nothing will change. But it was not for nothing that Gogol introduced this story into his poem.
The reader is momentarily distracted from the narrative, and one impression is replaced by another. Gogol breaks the connection of events, the story of the purchase and sale of “dead souls” is broken, but at the end of the story you understand that the writer continued the main theme of the poem about the frozen, deadened human soul. At this point the theme became clearer and more vivid.
Captain Kopeikin was a participant in the war of one thousand eight hundred and twelve, lost an arm and a leg in that war, and arrived in St. Petersburg to beg for a pension for himself. This is what Gogol’s Petersburg is like: “Well, you can imagine: someone like that, that is, Captain Kopeikin, suddenly found himself in the capital, which, so to speak, does not exist in the world! Suddenly in front of him is a light, so to speak, a certain field of life, a fabulous Scheherazade... the bridges hang there like a devil, you can imagine, without any, that is, touch - in a word, Semiramis...” He got a job in an inexpensive tavern, since he had very little money to live on, and decided that he would go to a noble nobleman for a reception. Here Gogol, with his characteristic brilliance, tells and in a grotesque manner ridicules the luxury and wealth of the highest ranks: “... some kind of handle on the door, so you need, you know, to run ahead to a small shop, and buy a penny worth of soap, and first scrub for two hours their hands, and then he decided to grab hold of it...” or again: “a man’s hut, you know: glass in the windows, mirrors set one and a half deep, so that the vases and everything else in the rooms seem to be on the outside, precious marbles on the walls! ah, metal haberdashery..."
That’s where Kopeikin got to the reception and even received hope for a solution to his case: “... without a doubt, you will be properly rewarded; for there has not yet been an example in Russia where a person who brought, relatively speaking, services to the fatherland, was left without charity! But with each arrival his hope faded, until he himself was expelled from the city. Kopeikin, a disabled war veteran, knocks on the thresholds of a high commission, asking for a pension, and never receives it. The captain was faced with the stupid indifference of officials, with indifference to his fate. These “dead souls” do not want to see in him a person who suffered in the war, patient, unpretentious and honest: “No, he doesn’t accept, come tomorrow!” Driven to despair, Kopeikin decides: “When the general tells me to look for the means to help myself... okay, I’ll find the means!” Less than two months had passed when a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests “and the ataman of this gang, my sir, was none other” - it is not difficult to guess that this was Captain Kopeikin. With the help of this story, Gogol, as if through a magnifying glass, showed us the cruelty and callousness of those in power, the latter’s reluctance to see the pain and sorrows of the common people, and revealed to us the rotten essence of the bureaucracy.
"The Tale of Captain Kopeikin"
Censored edition
“After the campaign of the twelfth year, my sir,” the postmaster began, despite the fact that there was not just one sir in the room, but six, “after the campaign of the twelfth year, Captain Kopeikin was sent along with the wounded. The flying head, picky, like hell, he was in guardhouses and under arrest, he tasted everything. Whether near Krasny, or near Leipzig, you can imagine, his arm and leg were torn off. Well, then they had not yet managed to make any, you know, such orders about the wounded;
this kind of disabled capital was already established, you can imagine, in some way after. Captain Kopeikin sees: he needs to work, but his hand, you know, is left. I visited my father’s house, and my father said: “I have nothing to feed you; you can imagine, I can barely get bread myself.” So my captain Kopeikin decided to go, my sir, to
Petersburg, to bother the authorities, would there be any assistance...
Somehow, you know, with carts or government wagons - in a word, my sir, he somehow dragged himself to St. Petersburg. Well, you can imagine: someone like that, that is, Captain Kopeikin, suddenly found himself in a capital city, which, so to speak, has nothing like it in the world! Suddenly in front of him is a light, relatively speaking, a certain field of life, a fabulous Scheherazade, you know, something like that.
Suddenly some kind of, you can imagine, Nevsky preshpekt, or there, you know, some kind of Gorokhovaya, damn it, or some kind of Liteinaya there; there's some kind of spitz in the air; the bridges hang there like the devil, you can imagine, without any, that is, touching - in a word, Semiramis, sir, and that’s it! I was about to rent an apartment, but it all bites terribly: curtains, curtains, such devilry, you know, carpets - Persia, my sir, is so... in a word, relatively so to speak, you trample capital with your foot. We walk down the street, and our nose already hears that it smells of thousands; and Captain Kopeikin will wash away the entire bank of banknotes, you know, from some ten blues and silver change. Well, you can’t buy a village with that, that is, you can buy it, maybe if you put in forty thousand, but forty thousand you need to borrow from the French king. Well, somehow I found shelter in a Revel tavern for a ruble a day; lunch - cabbage soup, a piece of beaten beef... He sees: there is nothing to heal. I asked where to go. Well, where to turn? Saying: the highest authorities are now not in the capital, all this, you see, is in Paris, the troops have not returned, but there is, they say, a temporary commission. Try it, maybe there is something there. “I’ll go to the commission,” says Kopeikin, and I’ll say: this way and that, I shed, in a way, blood, relatively speaking, I sacrificed my life.” So, my sir, getting up early, he scratched his beard with his left hand, because paying the barber would, in some way, amount to a bill, he pulled on his uniform and, as you can imagine, went to the commission on a piece of wood. He asked where the boss lived. There, they say, is a house on the embankment: a peasant hut, you know:
glass in the windows, you can imagine, half-shaded mirrors, marbles, varnishes, my sir... in a word, the mind is stupefied! A metal handle of some kind at the door is a comfort of the first quality, so first, you know, you need to run into a shop and buy soap for a penny, and, in a way, rub your hands with it for about two hours, and then how can you even take it up? .
One doorman on the porch, with a mace: a kind of count's physiognomy, cambric collars, like some kind of well-fed fat pug... My Kopeikin somehow dragged himself with his piece of wood into the reception area, pressed himself there in the corner so as not to push him with his elbow, you can imagine imagine some
America or India - a gilded, relatively speaking, porcelain vase of sorts. Well, of course, he stayed there for a long time, because he arrived at a time when the boss, in a way, barely got out of bed and the valet brought him some kind of silver basin for various, you know, washings of sorts. My Kopeikin had been waiting for four hours, when the official on duty came in and said: “The boss will be out now.” And in the room there’s already an epaulette and an axelbow, as many people as there are beans on a plate. Finally, my sir, the boss comes out. Well... you can imagine: boss! in the face, so to speak... well, in accordance with the rank, you know... with the rank... that’s the expression, you know. In everything he behaves like a metropolitan; approaches one, then another: “Why are you, why are you, what do you want, what’s your business?” Finally, my sir, to Kopeikin. Kopeikin: “So and so,” he says, “I shed blood, lost, in some way, an arm and a leg, I can’t work, I dare to ask if there would be some kind of assistance, some kind of orders regarding, relatively speaking, so to speak, remuneration, a pension, or something, you know." The boss sees: a man on a piece of wood and his empty right sleeve is fastened to his uniform. “Okay, he says, come see me one of these days!”
My Kopeikin is delighted: well, he thinks the job is done. In the spirit, you can imagine, bouncing along the sidewalk; I went to the Palkinsky tavern to drink a glass of vodka, had lunch, my sir, in London, ordered myself a cutlet with capers, poulard with various finterleys, asked for a bottle of wine, went to the theater in the evening - in a word, drank to the fullest, so to speak. On the sidewalk, he sees some slender Englishwoman walking, like a swan, you can imagine, something like that. My Kopeikin - the blood was running wild, you know - he ran after her on his piece of wood: trick-trick after, -
“Yes, no, I thought, for now, to hell with the red tape, let it be later, when I get a pension, now I’m getting too crazy.” And meanwhile, he squandered, please note, almost half the money in one day! Three or four days later the op, my sir, comes to the commission, to the boss. “He came, he says, to find out: this way and that, through diseases and wounds... he shed, in a way, blood...” - and the like, you know, in official style. “Well,” says the chief, “first of all, I must tell you that we can’t do anything about your case without the permission of the highest authorities. You can see for yourself what time it is now. Military operations, relatively so to speak, are not completely over yet. Wait.” the arrival of Mr. Minister, be patient. Then rest assured, you will not be abandoned. And if you have nothing to live with, then here you are, he says, as much as I can..." Well, you see, I gave him - of course, a little, but with moderation would extend to further permits there. But that’s not what my Kopeikin wanted. He was already thinking that tomorrow they would give him the thousandth of some kind of jackpot:
on "you, my dear, drink and have fun; but instead, wait. And, you see, he has an English woman in his head, and souplets, and all sorts of cutlets. So he came out of the porch like an owl, like a poodle that the cook has doused with water, - and his tail was between his legs, and his ears drooped. Life in St. Petersburg had already torn him apart, he had already tried something. And here you live God knows how, you know, there are no sweets. Well, the man is fresh, alive , the appetite is simply wolfish.
He passes by some kind of restaurant: the cook there, can you imagine, is a foreigner, a kind of Frenchman with an open physiognomy, he is wearing Dutch underwear, an apron, the whiteness is, in some way, equal to the snow, he is working some kind of fepzeri, cutlets with truffles, - in a word, the soup is such a delicacy that you could simply eat yourself, that is, out of appetite.
Will he pass by the Milyutin shops, there, in some way, looking out of the window is some kind of salmon, cherries - a piece for five rubles, a huge watermelon, a kind of stagecoach, leaning out of the window and, so to speak, looking for a fool who would pay a hundred rubles - in a word , at every step there is temptation, relatively so to speak, the mouth is watering, but he wait. So imagine his position here, on the one hand, so to speak, salmon and watermelon, and on the other hand, he is presented with a bitter dish called “tomorrow”. “Well, he thinks what they want, and I’ll go, he says, I’ll raise the whole commission, I’ll tell all the bosses: as you wish.” And in fact: he’s an annoying, naive man, there’s no sense in his head, you know, but there’s a lot of lynx. He comes to the commission:
“Well, they say, why else? After all, you’ve already been told.” - “Well, he says, I can’t, he says, get by somehow. I need, he says, to eat a cutlet, a bottle of French wine, and also entertain myself, to the theater, you understand." - “Well,” says the boss, “excuse me. On this account, there is, so to speak, patience in a way. You have been given the means to feed yourself until a resolution comes out, and, without an opinion, you will be rewarded , as follows: for there has never been an example in Russia where a person who brought, relatively speaking, services to the fatherland was left without charity. But if you now want to treat yourself to cutlets and go to the theater, you understand, then excuse me In this case, look for your own means, try to help yourself." But my Kopeikin, you can imagine, doesn’t blow his mind.
These words are like peas against a wall to him. It made such a noise, it blew everyone away! all these secretaries there, he began to chip and nail them all: yes, he says, then, he says! Yes, he says, he says! Yes, he says, you don’t know your responsibilities! Yes, you, he says, are law-sellers, he says! Spanked everyone. There was some official there, you see, who turned up from some even completely foreign department - he, my sir, and him! There was such a riot. What do you want to do with such a devil? The boss sees: it is necessary to resort, relatively speaking, to strict measures. “Okay,” he says, “if you don’t want to be content with what they give you and wait calmly, in some way, here in the capital for the decision of your fate, then I will escort you to your place of residence. Call,” he says, a courier, escort him to your place of residence. !" And the courier is already there, you know, standing outside the door:
Some kind of three-arshine man, with his arms, you can imagine, by nature he was built for coachmen - in a word, a kind of dentist... Here he is, a servant of God, in a cart and with a courier. Well, Kopeikin thinks, at least there’s no need to pay fees, thanks for that. He, my sir, is riding on a courier, and while riding on a courier, in a way, so to speak, he reasons to himself: “Okay,” he says, “here you are telling me that I should look for funds and help myself; okay,” he says. , he says, I’ll find the funds!” Well, how he was brought to the place and where exactly they were brought, none of this is known. So, you see, the rumors about Captain Kopeikin sank into the river of oblivion, into some kind of oblivion, as the poets call it. But excuse me, gentlemen, this is where, one might say, the thread of the novel begins. So, where Kopeikin went is unknown; but, you can imagine, less than two months passed before a gang of robbers appeared in the Ryazan forests, and the ataman of this gang, my sir, was none other..."
Nikolai Gogol - The Tale of Captain Kopeikin, read the text
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find the story about Kapitai Kopeikin, summary!! and got the best answer
Answer from Vahit Shavaliev[guru]
At first glance, “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” has nothing to do with N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls”: there is no interweaving of plot lines, a different style from the poem, a fairy-tale style of narration. But from the history of writing the poem we know that N.V. Gogol refused to publish “Dead Souls” without this story. He attached great importance to this “small poem inscribed at the epicenter of the large one.” So what is the internal connection of the story with the poem “Dead Souls”, a story rewritten three times by the author under the pressure of censorship?
“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” tells a dramatic story about a disabled hero of the Patriotic War who arrived in St. Petersburg for “royal mercy.” While defending his homeland, he lost an arm and a leg and was deprived of any means of subsistence. Captain Kopeikin finds himself in the capital, surrounded by an atmosphere of hostility to humans. We see St. Petersburg through the eyes of the hero: “I was trying to rent an apartment, but everything bites terribly...” “One doorman is already looking like a generalissimo... like some fat fat pug...” Captain Kopeikin seeks a meeting with the minister himself, and he turns out to be a callous, soulless person. Kopeikin is urged to wait and “visit one of these days.” And so, when the hero’s patience comes to an end, he comes once again to the commission with a request to resolve his issue, to which the high chief admonishes the enraged Kopeikin: “There has never been an example in Russia where, in Russia, someone who, relatively speaking, brought services to the fatherland, was left without care.” These completely parodic-sounding words are followed by arrogant advice: “Look for your own means, try to help yourself.” Kopeikin starts a “rebellion” in the presence of the entire commission, all the bosses, and he is expelled from St. Petersburg to his place of residence.
It is not for nothing that Gogol entrusts the story about the heroic captain to the postmaster. The smugly prosperous postmaster with his tongue-tied, majestically pathetic speech further emphasizes the tragedy of the story that he sets out so cheerfully and floridly. In juxtaposing the images of the postmaster and Kopeikin, two social poles of old Russia appear. From the lips of the postmaster, we learn that Kopeikin, riding on a courier, reasoned: “Okay,” he says, “here you are saying that I should look for funds for myself and help; ok, he says, I’ll find the funds!”
Saying that rumors about Captain Kopeikin, after he was expelled from St. Petersburg, have sunk into oblivion, the postmaster then adds an important, multi-valued phrase: “But excuse me, gentlemen, this is where, one might say, the plot of the novel begins.” The minister, having expelled Kopeikin from the capital, thought that was the end of the matter. But it was not there! The story is just beginning. Kopeikin will show himself and make people talk about him. Under censored conditions, Gogol could not openly talk about the adventures of his hero in the Ryazan forests, but the phrase about the beginning of the novel makes us understand that everything that has been told so far about Kopeikin is only the beginning, and the most important thing is yet to come. But the idea of retribution in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” does not boil down to revenge for outraged justice on the part of the captain, who turned his anger on everything “official.”
The story of the heroic defender of the Fatherland, who became a victim of trampled justice, seems to crown the whole terrible picture of local-bureaucratic-police Russia painted in “Dead Souls.” The embodiment of arbitrariness and injustice is not only the provincial government, but also the capital's bureaucracy, the government itself. Through the mouth of the minister, the government renounces the defenders of the Fatherland, the true patriots, and, thereby, it exposes its anti-national essence - this is the idea in Gogol’s work.
“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” is a cry from Gogol’s soul, it is a call to universal human values, it is a judgment on the “dead souls” of landowners, officials, higher authorities - on a world full of indifference.
http://stavcur.ru/sochinenie_po_literature/441.htm
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“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” is one of the parts of N.V. Gogol’s work “Dead Souls”, namely the tenth chapter, and is a story by one of the heroes of this work about a certain soldier named Kopeikin. The postmaster came up with this story to explain to the frightened officials of the provincial town of N who Chichikov was, where he came from and for what purpose he bought dead souls. This is the story of a soldier who lost an arm and a leg in the war for his fatherland, but found himself unnecessary to his country, which led him to become the leader of a gang of robbers.
The main idea of this story is that indifference and ruthlessness sometimes know no bounds. The postmaster, telling the story of a poor soldier who gave everything to his homeland, but in return could not receive even the minimum allowance, wants to attract attention to himself and show off his education and richness of style. The officials, listening to this tragic story, do not feel the slightest sympathy for the unfortunate captain.
Read more about the summary of chapter 10 of Gogol's Dead Souls - The Tale of Captain Kopeikin
The story begins from the moment when officials, frightened and upset, come to the governor’s house to decide who Chichikov really is and why he was buying up dead souls. All officials are very afraid of audits, because each of them has dirty deeds behind them, and they would really not like inspectors to come to the city. After all, then they risk losing their positions, and perhaps even their freedom.
Taking advantage of the general confusion, the postmaster, who considered himself a very extraordinary person, offers the officials his version of who Chichikov could be. All the officials listen with interest, and the postmaster, enjoying everyone’s attention, tells the story.
The postmaster, abundantly peppering his speech with various florid turns of phrase and sayings, says that during the war between Russia and Napoleon, a certain captain Kopeikin was seriously wounded, as a result of which he lost an arm and a leg.
Having gone to his father's house, the soldier met with an unhappy reception from his father, who refused to feed him, since “he could barely get his own bread.” No assistance was provided to war invalids, so Kopeikin himself decided to get to St. Petersburg and there ask for mercy from the Tsar.
Arriving in St. Petersburg, Kopeikin settled in the cheapest tavern and the next day went to the general-in-chief.
The postmaster talks about what a rich reception room this nobleman has, what a respectable doorman stands at the door, what important petitioners visit him, how stately and proud he himself is. City N officials listen to the story with respect and curiosity.
Having waited for the general to leave, the captain began to ask for support, since he had lost his health in the war for the fatherland. The chief general reassured him, saying that the royal favor would not abandon the heroes of the war, but since there was no order yet, he needed to wait.
Joyful and happy, the soldier decided that his fate would soon be decided in his favor, and that evening he went on a spree. He went to a restaurant, to the theater, and even tried to court a woman he met of a certain behavior, but he came to his senses in time and decided to first wait for the promised pension.
Several days passed and still no money. The postmaster talks colorfully about all the temptations of St. Petersburg, about exquisite dishes that are inaccessible to Kopeikin, but tease his eyes through the window.
The captain comes to the nobleman again and again, and meanwhile the money is melting away. And from the nobleman he only hears the word “tomorrow.” Kopeikin is almost starving, so, in despair, he decides to go to the general-in-chief again. The nobleman greets him very coldly and says that while the sovereign deigns to be abroad, the matter cannot be resolved.
Disappointed and offended, Kopeikin shouts that until there is an order about the pension, he will not leave his place. To which the general invites him to go to his home and wait for a decision there.
The unfortunate captain, in despair, forgets himself and demands a pension. Offended by this insolence, the general-in-chief proposes to send the captain “at public expense.” And after that no one else heard about the fate of the unfortunate soldier.
Soon after these events, a gang of robbers appeared in the Bryansk forests, and Captain Kopeikin, according to rumors, was their leader.
According to the postmaster, Chichikov was none other than Captain Kopeikin.
Picture or drawing The Tale of Captain Kopeikin
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1. The place that “The Tale...” occupies in the poem.
2. Social problems.
3. Motives of folk legends.
“The Tale of Captain Kopeikin,” at a superficial glance, may seem like an alien element in N.V. Gogol’s poem “Dead Souls.” In fact, what does it have to do with the fate of the main character? Why does the author devote such a significant place to “The Tale...”? The postmaster, out of the blue, imagined that Chichikov and Kopeikin were the same person: but the rest of the provincial officials resolutely rejected such an absurd assumption. And the difference between these two characters is not only that Kopeikin is disabled, but Chichikov has both arms and legs in place. Kopeikin becomes a robber solely out of despair, since he has no other way to get everything he needs to support his life; Chichikov consciously strives for wealth, not disdaining any dubious machinations that could bring him closer to his goal.
But despite the huge difference in the fate of these two people, the story of Captain Kopeikin largely explains, oddly enough, the motives of Chichikov’s behavior. The situation of the serfs is, of course, difficult. But the position of a free person, if he has neither connections nor money, can also turn out to be truly terrible. In “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin,” Gogol shows the disdain of the state, represented by its representatives, for ordinary people who gave everything to this state. The chief general advises a man with one arm and one leg: “...Try to help yourself for now, look for the means yourself.” Kopeikin perceives these mocking words as a guide to action - almost like an order from the high command: “When the general says that I should look for the means to help myself, well... I... will find the means!”
Gogol shows the enormous wealth stratification of society: an officer who became disabled in the war waged by his country has only fifty rubles in his pocket, while even the doorman of the general-in-chief “looks like a generalissimo,” not to mention the luxury in which he is drowning his master. Yes, such a striking contrast, of course, should have shocked Kopeikin. The hero imagines how he “will take some kind of herring, a pickled cucumber, and two pennies’ worth of bread,” in the windows of restaurants he sees “cutlets with truffles,” and in stores - salmon, cherries, watermelon, but the miserable disabled person cannot afford all this , but soon there will be nothing left for bread.
Hence the sharpness with which Kopeikin demands from the nobleman a final decision on his issue. Kopeikin has nothing to lose - he is even glad that the general-in-chief ordered him to be expelled from St. Petersburg at public expense: “... at least there is no need to pay for the passes, thanks for that.”
So, we see that human life and blood mean nothing in the eyes of most influential officials, both military and civil. Money is something that can, to a certain extent, give a person confidence in the future. It is no coincidence that the main instruction Chichikov received from his father was the advice to “save a penny”, which “will not betray you, no matter what trouble you are in,” with which “you will do everything and ruin everything.” How many unfortunate people in Mother Rus' meekly endure insults, and all because there is no money that would provide these people with relative independence. Captain Kopeikin becomes a robber when, in fact, he no longer has any other choice - except perhaps starvation. Of course, we can say that Kopeikin’s choice makes him an outlaw. But why should he respect a law that did not protect his human rights? Thus, in “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” Gogol shows the origins of that legal nihilism, the finished product of which is Chichikov. Outwardly, this well-intentioned official tries to emphasize his respect for ranks and legal norms, because in such behavior he sees the guarantee of his well-being. But the old proverb “The law is what the drawbar is: where you turn, that’s where you come out”, undoubtedly, perfectly reflects the essence of Chichikov’s legal concepts, and not only he himself is to blame for this, but also the society in which the hero grew up and was formed. In fact, was Captain Kopeikin the only one who stomped around in the reception rooms of high-ranking officials to no avail? The indifference of the state in the person of the general-in-chief turns an honest officer into a robber. Chichikov hopes that, having amassed a decent fortune, albeit fraudulently, over time he can become a worthy and respected member of society...
It is known that initially Gogol did not end the story about Kopeikin with the fact that the captain became the chieftain of a bandit gang. Kopeikin released in peace everyone who was going about their business, confiscating only government, that is, state property - money, provisions. Kopeikin's detachment consisted of fugitive soldiers: there is no doubt that they, too, had to suffer in their lifetime from both commanders and landowners. Thus, Kopeikin was presented in the original version of the poem as a folk hero, whose image echoes the images of Stenka Razin and Emelyan Pugachev. After some time, Kopeikin went abroad - just like Dubrovsky in Pushkin’s story of the same name - and from there he sent a letter to the emperor asking him not to persecute the people from his gang who remained in Russia. However, Gogol had to cut this continuation of “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin” due to censorship requirements. Nevertheless, around the figure of Kopeikin, the aura of a “noble robber” remained - a man offended by fate and people in power, but not broken or resigned.