Adventurer Chichikov is buying "dead souls" - deceased serfs recorded as living at the latest revision. Landowners are surprised by the requests of their adventurous acquaintance, but are glad to get rid of the burden - because they pay taxes recorded in the revision lists of peasants as for the living ones. In the future, Pavel Ivanovich plans to make a number of sale frauds and become fabulously rich. But his huge plans were not destined to be realized.