Iliya Repin, Gogol burning the manuscript of the second part of "Dead Souls". 1909. The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Chapter III: “It was long before the clouds had discharged their burden, and, meanwhile, the dust on the road became kneaded into mire, and the horses’ task of pulling the britchka heavier and heavier. Also, Chichikov had taken alarm at his continued failure to catch sight of Sobakevitch’s country house. According to his calculations, it ought to have been reached long ago. He gazed about him on every side, but the darkness was too dense for the eye to pierce.”
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