hichikov in astonishment.

"Murazov, our local Commissioner of Taxes."

"Ah! I have heard of him before," remarked Chichikov.

"He is a man who, were he not the director of an estate, might well be a
director of the Empire. And were the Empire under my direction, I should
at once appoint him my Minister of Finance."

"I have heard tales beyond belief concerning him--for instance, that he
has acquired ten million roubles."

"Ten? More than forty. Soon half Russia will be in his hands."

"You don't say so?" cried Chichikov in amazement.

"Yes, certainly. The man who has only a hundred thousand roubles to work
with grows rich but slowly, whereas he who has millions at his disposal
can operate over a greater radius, and so back whatsoever he undertakes
with twice or thrice the money which can be brought against him.
Consequently his field becomes so spacious that he ends by having no
rivals. Yes, no one can compete with him, and, whatsoever price he may
fix for a given commodity, at that price it will have to remain, nor
will any man be able to outbid it."

"My God!" muttered Chichikov, crossing himself, and staring at
Kostanzhoglo with his breath catching in his throat. "The mind cannot
grasp it--it petrifies one's thoughts with awe. You see folk marvelling
at what Science has achieved in the matter of investigating the habits
of cowbugs, but to me it is a far more marvellous thing that in the
hands of a single mortal there can become accumulated such gigantic sums
of money. But may I ask whether the great fortune of which you speak has
been acquired through honest means?"

"Yes; through means of the most irreproachable kind--through the most
honourable of methods."

"Yet so improbable does it seem that I can scarcely believe it.
Thousands I could understand, but millions--!"

"On the contrary, to make thousands honestly is a far more difficult
matter than to make millions. Millions are easily come by, for a
millionaire has no need to resort to crooked ways; the way lies straight
before him, and he needs but to annex whatsoever he comes across. No
rival will spring up to oppose him, for no rival will be sufficiently
strong, and since the millionaire can operate over an extensive radius,
he can bring (as I have said) two or three roubles to bear upon any one
else's one. Consequently, what interest will he derive from a thousand
roubles? Why, ten or twenty per cent. at the least."

"And it is beyond measure mar