Мертві душі

           Yetthroughoutheboreupstoutlyandpatiently—andendedbybeingtransferredtotheCustomsDepartment.Itmaybesaidthatthedepartmenthadlongconstitutedthesecretgoalofhisambition,forhehadnotedtheforeignelegancieswithwhichitsofficialsalwayscontrivedtoprovidethemselves,andhadalsoobservedthatinvariablytheywereabletosendpresentsofchinaandcambrictotheirsistersandaunts—well,totheirladyfriendsgenerally.Yes,morethanoncehehadsaidtohimselfwithasigh:“THATisthedepartmenttowhichIoughttobelong,for,givenatownnearthefrontier,andasensiblesetofcolleagues,Imightbeabletofitmyselfoutwithexcellentlinenshirts.”Also,itmaybesaidthatmostfrequentlyofallhadhisthoughtsturnedtowardsacertainqualityofFrenchsoapwhichimpartedapeculiarwhitenesstotheskinandapeerlessfreshnesstothecheeks.ItsnameisknowntoGodalone,butatleastitwastobeprocuredonlyintheimmediateneighbourhoodofthefrontier.So,asIsay,ChichikovhadlongfeltaleaningtowardstheCustoms,butforatimehadbeenrestrainedfromapplyingforthesamebythevariouscurrentadvantagesoftheBuildingCommission;sincerightlyhehadadjudgedthelattertoconstituteabirdinthehand,andtheformertoconstituteonlyabirdinthebush.Butnowhedecidedthat,comewhatmight,intotheCustomshemustmakehisway.Andthatwayhemade,andthenappliedhimselftohisnewdutieswithazealbornofthefactthatherealisedthatfortunehadspeciallymarkedhimoutforaCustomsofficer.