I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 60 Happy Air

"What's going on?" Ochumelov asked, pushing his way into the crowd. "What are you doing here? Why are you holding up that finger? Who's making such a noise?"

"I was walking along perfectly well, and not bothering anybody, officer," Hryukin said, coughing, putting his empty fist to his mouth. "I was talking to Mitli Mitlich about firewood, when this brute bit my finger for no apparent reason. . . . Forgive me, I'm a hard worker... and delicate work at that.

I'm injured now and won't be able to use this hand to work for at least a week, so I'm asking for compensation... Dear Officer, perhaps the law doesn't have relevant provisions. Should people just swallow their anger when they're hurt by animals? ... If everyone has to be bitten by dogs, there's no point in living in this world..."

Although Krajewski had critical thoughts, he couldn't help but laugh when he saw the following paragraph.

From here, we can roughly see that the novel written by this young man is slightly different from his previous ones. This one is more like the humorous sketches commonly seen in tabloids, which are just for fun.

One could argue that Kraevsky felt that most of Gogol's works were also humorous and satirical, like his play The Inspector General, which, at first glance, is about a dandy young man who is mistaken for an "inspector general," leading to a series of absurd jokes. The Tsar himself would have laughed himself to death watching it.

But the targets he chose were really too extreme. He actually satirized so many bureaucrats. How could he easily offend those respectable gentlemen?
Krajewski felt that it was quite appropriate to write about this little patrolman.

At least it won't directly offend those noble lords.
Back to the novel, since something happened, the police officer started to show off his power:
"Well! That's right," Ochumelov coughed, raised his eyebrows and said seriously, "that's right. Whose dog is this? I can't just sit there and watch this happen. I'm going to teach those people who let their dogs out to cause trouble a lesson! It's time to discipline those gentlemen who don't want to obey the rules! Once he's punished, this bastard will realize the consequences of letting dogs and other animals out! I'm going to teach him a lesson..."

But the problem is:

"It looks like General Zhigalov's house!" someone in the crowd said.

So the police officer immediately:
"General Zhigalov's? Oh! ... Yeldylin, help me take off my coat... It's too hot! It must be raining... There's something I don't understand, how could it bite you?" Ochumelov turned to Hryukin and continued,

"It couldn't possibly have gotten your finger. It's just a puppy, and you're such a big guy! You must have cut your finger with a nail, and then framed the puppy, hoping to get compensation from the owner. We all know... your tricks! You're such a nasty person!"

Just when the police officer was about to teach the bitten person a lesson, his colleague suddenly said:
"No, this isn't the General's dog," the policeman said confidently. "The General doesn't have a dog like that. Most of his dogs are Setters."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, officer."

After hearing this, the police officer suddenly relaxed again:

"I know the general's dogs are all fine, valuable breeds, but this one, who knows what it is! Its coat is ugly, and its appearance is not good... a lowly creature."

But unexpectedly, the identity of the dog's owner was indeed confusing, and soon someone said:

"But it could also be the General's dog..." the policeman thought for a moment and said loudly. "It doesn't say whose dog it is... I saw a dog like this in his yard a few days ago." "It's the General's, that's for sure!" someone in the crowd said.

When someone said this, the police officer didn't care and changed his attitude immediately:

"Well, Yeldilin, help me put on my coat... It's windy... It's very cold... Take the dog to the general's house and ask about it. You said I found it and sent you to deliver it."

Just when the matter seemed to be coming to an end, the general's cook arrived. He was the one who must know the truth, so he was immediately asked about it. His answer was: "Nonsense! We have never had a dog like this!"

"Then there's no point in wasting time," Ochumelov said. "It's a stray dog! Don't waste your words... If he says it's not his, then it must be a stray dog... Just kill it."

Before the police officer could finish changing his expression, the chef, who couldn't finish his words in one breath, added:
"It's the general's brother's dog. He came to us a few days ago. The general doesn't like this kind of dog, but his brother does..."

"Is it possible that his brother, Vladimir Ivanitch, has come?" Ochumelov asked, with a broad smile. "Oh, goodness! What a blast! I had no idea! He'll be staying here for a while, I suppose?"

"Yes."

"Oh, my goodness! ... He mustn't leave... I didn't even know he was coming! So this is his old man's dog? I'm glad to hear that... Let's take him back. He's a nice little dog... A lively and cute little dog... He bit this guy's finger! Hahaha!"

After the dog was taken away, the police officer seemed to have forgotten everything that had just happened. Instead, he looked at the person who had been bitten:
"I'll have to deal with you sooner or later!" Ochumelov threatened him, and then he wrapped his coat tightly around him and walked away across the market square.

At the end, although he had critical thoughts at first, Krajewski really couldn't suppress his smile, so he let out a few low laughs.

He was originally smiling, but Krajewski suddenly thought of what Belinsky and his group thought of him, and the relationship between the author of the novel and them. Krajewski's smile suddenly faded.
With a slightly unhappy mood, he quickly thought of the reasons for criticism:
It is understandable that the protagonist would have such an attitude when facing a general!

This is too exaggerated. How can there be such a hypocritical and opportunistic person?

While Kraevsky was writing his opinion, on the other side, in Panaev's house, when Mikhail finished reading the novel titled "Chameleon" in a vivid manner, everyone present had already burst into laughter, and some people said while laughing:
"I heard Mr. Krajewski wants to personally review this novel? I'm sure he'll like it!"

"God, you have no idea how many people I thought of at once!"

"Russian literature is about to have another classic literary figure! I have a feeling this character will never go out of style!"

Seeing the atmosphere of joy filling the gathering, even those who had always been very sad smiled. Although Belinsky felt that this seemingly humorous novel still had a lot to offer, in this atmosphere, Belinsky did not say anything too serious. He simply smiled and concluded:
"Gentlemen! I know that none of us are bad. Everyone has selfish desires, no one is noble, and everyone has flaws. But we are human! We should have our self-respect! How can anyone allow themselves to become like this?
Although sometimes we have to be a little hypocritical and smooth in order to live a better life, how can we really become like this?"

(End of this chapter)