Chichikov brokers a reconciliation between Tientietnikov and General Betrishev by converting a chance-word grievance into a face-saving exchange of respect. After hearing Tientietnikov’s history of the rupture, Chichikov goes to the General and presents his neighbor’s regret as sincere deference to the General’s public service. The General responds that he bears no grudge and would welcome Tientietnikov’s return; the estrangement yields, at least in prospect, to a possible meeting.

The grievance and Chichikov’s decision

Tientietnikov tells Chichikov the whole history of his acquaintance with the General and their subsequent break. His account leaves Chichikov astonished: the quarrel, as Chichikov understands it, arose merely from a chance word spoken by the General. He cannot see why Tientietnikov took offence, and asks him directly what there was to resent. The young landowner’s response is to sigh and remark that success depends on having been born under a lucky star, a fatalistic note that frames the dispute as part of a broader sense of thwarted fortune.

Rather than accept the estrangement as settled, Chichikov volunteers to visit the General the following day. Tientietnikov receives the offer with astonishment and distrust, asking what purpose it could serve. Chichikov explains that he intends to offer the General an assurance of personal respect. The proposed mediation is therefore not a direct argument about who was right in the original disagreement; it is an attempt to reopen contact through a gesture the General can accept without first conceding fault.

An appeal to public service

At the General’s house, Chichikov introduces Tientietnikov as his neighbor. The General frowns at the name, making clear that the old rupture still shapes his first reaction. Chichikov quickly supplies a conciliatory account: Tientietnikov regrets having failed to show proper respect for the General’s services to the public and is said to wish that he had valued the men who saved the fatherland at their true worth. The language redirects the matter from an accidental personal offence to public esteem and patriotic service.

The appeal succeeds in changing the General’s tone. He says that he bears Tientietnikov no grudge, has always felt sincere liking and esteem for him, and believes that he may in time become a useful member of society. His answer does more than dismiss the quarrel: it restores a positive judgment of the absent man and presents a future visit as compatible with the General’s own view of their relationship. Chichikov reinforces the opening by praising Tientietnikov’s worth, eloquence, and skill with the pen. The General lightly reduces this literary accomplishment to the writing of verses or something similar, but the exchange keeps Tientietnikov’s work in view rather than treating him only as the source of an old offence.

Reopening the way to a meeting

The General asks why Tientietnikov does not come to see him himself and suggests that he might supply interesting material for the young man’s work. Chichikov replies that Tientietnikov is afraid to come. The General dismisses the fear as unnecessary, insisting that a hasty word or two is no reason for him to hold a lasting grudge; he even says that he would be happy to call on Tientietnikov. Chichikov then presents the reverse approach as something Tientietnikov would not permit: he would prefer to make the first advance himself.

This exchange establishes a practical path back from estrangement. Both men are represented as willing to meet, but each is concerned with the form the first approach should take. Chichikov’s tact allows the General to voice goodwill while preserving Tientietnikov’s claim to be the one who approaches first. The scene thus makes reconciliation possible through etiquette and reciprocal deference rather than through a detailed re-examination of the original remark. Chichikov privately congratulates himself on the fortunate turn his words have taken, acknowledging how easily his persuasive talk might otherwise have led him into trouble.

Ulinka and the announced work

The General’s daughter, Ulinka, appears briefly at the doorway while Chichikov is speaking with her father. The General introduces Chichikov and explains that he has brought news: Tientietnikov is not the fool they had once supposed, but is engaged on an important history of the Russian Generals of 1812. Ulinka immediately challenges the premise behind that description. She asks who ever considered Tientietnikov a fool and blames the earlier judgment on Vishnepokromov, whom she calls both a fool and a good-for-nothing.

Ulinka’s intervention gives the reconciliation a further dimension: the absent Tientietnikov is defended in the General’s own household, and the work Chichikov has invoked is treated as evidence of serious purpose. The General and his daughter continue their good-natured disagreement about Vishnepokromov before he tells her to go, since he wants to dress for luncheon. He then invites Chichikov to join the table. Chichikov bows so deeply and for so long that by the time he looks up Ulinka has disappeared and a bewhiskered butler stands in her place with a silver soap-dish and hand-basin. The domestic interruption closes the audience on comic physical business rather than on a formal declaration that the two estranged men have met again.

Outcome and narrative significance

The episode’s achievement is a changed prospect, not a witnessed reunion. The General explicitly denies continued resentment, expresses esteem for Tientietnikov, offers the possibility of a visit, and even says he would call on him; Tientietnikov, as reported by Chichikov, would rather make the first advance. Yet the scene ends with the General preparing for luncheon and Ulinka leaving, without showing Tientietnikov arriving or the former acquaintances speaking face to face. The distinction matters: Chichikov has cleared away the stated obstacle and secured goodwill, but the final act of reconciliation remains ahead.

The mediation also exposes Chichikov’s characteristic skill in managing appearances. He does not challenge the General or expose the slight as trivial; he translates the grievance into reverence for public service, then gives each man a dignified route toward renewed contact. The result is at once socially effective and delicately comic: a serious breach caused by a chance word is approached through ceremonial respect, patriotic praise, a discussion of literary work, and an extraordinarily prolonged bow. The encounter moves Tientietnikov’s relationship with the General from cold estrangement toward a possible reconciliation, while leaving the decisive personal meeting outside the scene.