“Don’t talk of it!” she says. “Only a week ago I had to pay one hundred and fifty roubles.”
Chichikov again explains to her how advantageous it would be for her to get them off her hands, upon which she answers that she has never had occasion to sell dead souls; if they were alive, on the other hand, she would have been delighted to do it.
“But I don’t want live ones! I want dead ones,” answers Chichikov.
“I am afraid,” she says, “that I might lose over the bargain—that you may be deceiving me.”
Chichikov explains the whole thing over again, offering her fifteen roubles, and showing her the money; upon which she says she would like to wait a little, to find out what they are really worth.
“But who on earth will buy them from you?” asks Chichikov.
“They might be useful on the estate,” says the old woman.
“How can you use dead souls on the estate?” asks Chichikov.
Korobotchka suggests that she would rather sell him some hemp, and Chichikov loses his temper.
Equally amusing are Chichikov’s adventures with the miser Plushkin, Nozdref, a swaggering drunkard, and Manilov, who is simply a fool. But when all is said and done, the most amusing person in the book is Chichikov himself.