Selifan

Definition and stakes

Portrait of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol,  Dead Souls—A Poem (1922)

“ Selifan brandished the whip and kept shouting, 'Ech! ech! ech!' smoothly rising up and down on the box, as the three horses darted up or flew like the wind down the little hills which dotted the high-road that sloped scarcely perceptibly down hill. Tchitchikov merely smiled as he lightly swayed on his leather cushion, for he loved rapid driving. And what Russian does not love rapid driving? How should his soul that craves to be lost in a whirl, to carouse without stint, to say at times, 'Damnation take it all!'—how should his soul not love it? ”
Source: Wikisource

Portrait of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol,  Dead Souls—A Poem (1922)

“ Tchitchikov went splash on his hands and knees into the mud. Selifan stopped the horses, however; though they would have stopped of themselves for they were exhausted. This unforeseen mishap completely bewildered him. Clambering off the box he stood facing the chaise with his arms akimbo, while his master was floundering in the mud, trying to scramble out of it, and said after some pondering: 'Well, I never did! it has upset, too!'
'You are as drunk as a cobbler!' said Tchitchikov.
'No, master, how could I be drunk! I know that it is not the right thing to be drunk.
”
Source: Wikisource

Portrait of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol,  Dead Souls — Part I, Chapter III

“ Upon Selifan's mind there appeared to have dawned a similar inkling, for he had ceased to hold forth.
"You rascal, what road are you following?" inquired Chichikov.
"I don't know," retorted the coachman. "What can a man do at a time of night when the darkness won't let him even see his whip?" And as Selifan spoke the vehicle tilted to an angle which left Chichikov no choice but to hang on with hands and teeth. At length he realised the fact that Selifan was drunk.
”
Source: Wikisource

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