The action begins in the Russian province, on the estate of the wealthy landowner Alexei Abramovich Negrov. The family gets acquainted with the teacher of Negrov’s son, Misha, Dmitry Yakovlevich Krucifersky, who graduated from Moscow University as a candidate. The black man is tactless, the teacher is shy.

The Negro was promoted to colonel already elderly, after the campaign of 1812, he soon retired with the rank of Major General; I missed him in retirement, hosted stupidly, took the young daughter of his peasant, from whom he had a daughter Lyubonka, as his mistress, and finally in Moscow he married an exalted young lady. Negro's three-year-old daughter and her mother were exiled to the human room; but Negrova soon after the wedding declares to her husband that he wants to raise Lyubonka as his own daughter.

Krucifersky is the son of honest parents: a district doctor and a German woman who loved her husband all his life as much as he did in his youth. The opportunity to get an education was given to him by a dignitary who visited a gymnasium of a county town and noticed a boy. Not being very capable, Krucifersky, however, loved science and diligence earned a degree. At the end of the course, he received a letter from his father: his wife’s illness and poverty forced the old man to ask for help. Krucifersky has no money; the extreme forces him to gratefully accept the proposal of Dr. Krupov, the inspector of the medical board of the city of NN, to enter the house of the Negroes as a teacher.

The vulgar and rude life of the Negroes burdens Krucifersky, but not only of him alone: ​​the ambiguous, difficult situation of Negro's daughter contributed to the early development of a richly gifted girl. The manners of the Negroes' house are equally alien to both young people, they unwittingly reach out to each other and soon fall in love with each other, and Krucifersky discovers his feelings by reading Zhukovsky’s ballad “Alina and Alsim” aloud to Lyubonka.

Meanwhile, the bored Glafira Lvovna Negrova also begins to feel attracted to the young man; the old French governess is trying to bring the lady and Krucifersky together, and a funny confusion happens: Krucifersky, from excitement not having discerned who is in front of him, declares her love to Negrova and even kisses her; in the hands of Glafira Lvovna an enthusiastic love message of Krucifer Lubonka falls. Realizing his mistake, Krucifersky flees in horror; the insulted Negrova informs her husband about the allegedly depraved behavior of her daughter; The Negro, taking this opportunity, wants to force Krucifersky to take Lyubonka without a dowry, and is very surprised when he agrees meekly. To support his family, Krucifersky takes the place of a teacher of the gymnasium.

Upon learning of the engagement, the misanthropist Dr. Krupov warns Krucifersky: "You are not your bride's couple ... she is a tiger cub who does not yet know her strength."

A happy wedding, however, this story does not end.

Four years later, a new person comes to NN - the owner of the Beloe Pole estate Vladimir Beltov. Gogol’s description of the city follows.

Beltov is young and rich, although not guilty; for the inhabitants of NN he is a mystery; they said that he, having graduated from the university, fell into favor with the minister, then quarreled with him and resigned in spite of his patron, then he went abroad, entered the Masonic lodge, etc. Beltov’s very appearance makes a complex and contradictory impression: “in the face he was somehow strangely connected by a good-natured look with mocking lips, an expression of a decent person with an expression of a minion, traces of long and mournful thoughts with traces of passions ... "

Beltov’s eccentricities blame his upbringing.His father died early, and his mother, an extraordinary woman, was born a serf, by chance she was educated and experienced a lot of suffering and humiliation in her youth; the terrible experience she endured before marriage affected painful nervousness and a convulsive love for her son. As a teacher, she took her son Geneva, a "cold dreamer" and a fan of Rousseau; not wanting it, the teacher and mother did everything so that Beltov "did not understand reality." After graduating from Moscow University in ethics and politics, Beltov, with dreams of civic activities, went to Petersburg; by acquaintance he was given a good place; but clerical work bored him very soon, and he retired only with the rank of provincial secretary. Ten years have passed since then; Beltov tried unsuccessfully to do medicine and painting, he dabbled, wandered around Europe, missed and, finally, meeting his old teacher in Switzerland and touched by his reproaches, decided to return home to take an elected post in the province and serve Russia.

The city made Beltov a heavy impression: “everything was so greasy <...> not from poverty, but from uncleanliness, and all this came with such a claim, it’s so difficult ...”; the city’s society appeared to him as “a fantastic face of some colossal official”, and he was frightened to see that “he could not cope with this Goliath.” Here, the author tries to explain the reasons for Beltov’s constant failures and justifies him: “there is better guilt for people than any truth”.

Society also disliked a stranger and a strange person.

Meanwhile, the Kruzifersky family lives very peacefully, their son was born. True, sometimes Kruzifersky is overwhelmed by causeless anxiety: “I am afraid of my happiness; I, as the owner of great wealth, begin to tremble before the future. " The friend of the house, the sober materialist Dr. Krupov, tricks Krucifersky both for these fears and, in general, for his penchant for “fantasies” and “mysticism”. Once Krupov enters the house of the Krucifer Beltov.

At this time, the wife of the district leader, Marya Stepanovna, a stupid and rude woman, makes an unsuccessful attempt to get Beltov in a groom for her daughter - a girl developed and charming, completely unlike her parents. Called to the house, Beltov neglects the invitation, which infuriates the owners; here the city gossip tells the leader about Beltov’s too close and doubtful friendship with Krucifer. Pleased with the opportunity to take revenge, Marya Stepanovna spreads gossip.

Beltov actually fell in love with Krucifer: until now he had not had to meet such a strong nature. Kruciferskaya sees in Beltov a great man. The enthusiastic love of her husband, a naive romantic, could not satisfy her. Finally Beltov confesses to Krucifer in love, says that he knows about her love for him; Kruciferskaya answers that she belongs to her husband and loves her husband. Beltov is incredulous and mocking; Kruciferskaya suffers: “What did this proud man want from her? He wanted triumph ... "Unable to stand it, Kruciferskaya rushes into his arms; the date is interrupted by the appearance of Krupov.

Shocked Kruciferskaya gets sick; the husband himself is almost sick from fear for her. This is followed by the diary of Krucifer, where the events of the following month are described - a serious illness of a young son, the suffering of both Krucifer and her husband. Resolution of the question: who is to blame? - The author provides the reader.

Love for his wife has always been for Krucifersky the only content of his life; first he tries to hide his grief from his wife, sacrificing himself for her peace of mind; but such "unnatural virtue is not at all by nature of man." One day at a party, he learns from drunken colleagues that his family drama has become urban gossip; Krucifersky gets drunk for the first time in his life and, having come home, is almost rampant.The next day, he speaks with his wife, and “she rose in his eyes again so high, so unattainable high,” he believes that she still loves him, but Krucifersky does not become happier from this, confident that he prevents the beloved woman from living.

The angry Krupov accuses Beltov of destroying his family and demands to leave the city; Beltov declares that he “does not recognize a court against himself”, except for a court of his own conscience, that the incident was inevitable and that he himself was going to leave immediately.

On the same day, Beltov beat an official with a cane on the street, harshly hinting to him about his relationship with Krucifer.

Having visited mother in her estate, in two weeks Beltov leaves, where it is not said.

Krucifer is in consumption; her husband is drinking. Beltova's mother moves to the city to go after the sick woman who loved her son and talk with her about him.