dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 66 Outerwear (5)
Did Akaky Akakyevich understand the meaning of these words thoroughly?If the answer is yes, is he horrified?Looking back on his life, he has never had a good life. Does he feel regretful?However, since Akaky Akakiyevich continued to have a high fever and was delirious, no one knew what the answer to the above question was.Many images kept flashing in his mind, which became more and more absurd in the end: when he saw Petrovich, he asked the tailor to make a coat for him, and he wanted to install a mechanism in it so that he could catch him. He always felt that there was a robber hiding in his bed, so he kept asking the landlord to help catch that guy; he asked someone why he still had the old coat when he already had a new one. The smock was placed in front of his eyes; he returned to the general, and amidst the harsh reprimands of the other party, he could only repeat one sentence: "My lord, I was wrong!" Later, Akaky Akakyevich He started to swear, and uttered all the most disgusting swear words in the world, and he sweared after the "adult".This was the dirtiest swear word the landlady had ever heard in her life, and she couldn't help but cross herself one after another.Then Akaky Akakiyevich began to babble, and no one could understand what he was talking about, but it must have something to do with the new overcoat.Neither what he thought nor what he said had anything to do with the new overcoat.

In the end, Akaky Akakiyevich died like this.A few quills, a stack of papers used for copying documents, three pairs of socks, two or three buttons that fell off his trousers, and the old smock mentioned many times above are all his relics.Since his relics are few and he does not have any heirs, his relics and the room where he lived are left as they are for the time being.As for who took over his relics afterwards, no one knows.As the author of this book, I have no interest in exploring this issue.The body of Akaky Akakiyevich was buried.Petersburg was the same without Akaky Akakiyevich, as if he had never been there.A living person died like this. He didn't have any relatives, nor any friends. No one cared about his life and death at all, even those naturalists were no exception.You know, even the most innocuous fly is so important to the naturalist that he will pick it up with a pin and put it under the microscope for serious study.Akaky Akakiyevich has never achieved any extraordinary achievements in his life. During this period, no matter how his colleagues ridiculed him, he did not make any resistance, so he ended his career hastily. life.However, just before his death, the coat lit up his lackluster life in an instant, and the disaster came quickly, dragging him into hell, exactly the same as the ending that all the supreme rulers of human beings could not resist...

A few days after Akakiy Akakiyevich's death, a guard from the yamen where he worked came and told him to go back to work in the yamen, saying that he was ordered by his superiors.Of course, the guard got nothing, and went back and said that he would never come back again.Everyone asked the guard why, and the guard replied: "He was buried in the ground three days ago." Only then did the officials in the Yamen know the news of Akaki Akakiyevich's death.The next day, a new civil servant sat in his old seat. This man was taller than him, and he used italics when copying documents, which was not as correct as his writing.

However, the story of Akaky Akakyevich did not end with his death.This point must not have occurred to most people.As if to make amends for his boring life, after his death, a storm arose because of him.The story told in this article was originally a tragic story, but it never thought that it would lead to a bizarre development path in the end.However, this result is not without reason.In Petersburg a rumor suddenly began to circulate widely.Rumor has it that a late civil servant was often seen around Karin Bridge at night, struggling to find his coat.Since his coat was robbed, he robbed all kinds of coats worn by passers-by.No matter who the passer-by is, what position they hold, whether they wear beaver, bear, fox, cat, or any other kind of fur, as well as cotton wadding, they will all be caught by him.An official in the yamen met the fabled ghost and immediately recognized him as Akaki Akakievitch.But at that time, because the official was so frightened that he ran away immediately, he just glanced at the ghost from a distance and saw that he was waving his hands at him as a threat, but he didn't seriously identify whether it was Akaki Akakiyevich.Many ninth-class civil servants and seventh-class civil servants came to the police station to report, claiming that their coats were robbed by the ghost at night.The police station then issued an order that the ghost must be caught and severely punished, no matter whether he was a real ghost or a living person pretending to be it.

Later, the police almost arrested the ghost.At that time, in an alley named Kiryushkin, the ghost was about to snatch the duffel coat of a retired flute player. The neckline is held tightly in the hand.Afterwards, the policeman yelled at his two colleagues to grab the suspect's collar instead of him.Afterwards, the policeman took out the snuff box hidden in his boot, and wanted to take a breath to wake himself up.Unfortunately, the ghost couldn't bear the choking smell of shredded tobacco, and sneezed loudly.The policeman was pinching his right nostril at that time, and before he inhaled the shredded tobacco with his left nostril, he was sneezed by the ghost's sneeze, his nose was covered with saliva, and his vision was blurred.The same was true of his two companions.The three hurriedly rubbed their eyes with their hands, and the ghost took advantage of this time to escape without a trace.The three policemen were in a daze, wondering if they had ever caught him.

After this incident, the policemen turned pale when they talked about ghosts, and only dared to yell at him from a long distance: "Hey, go!" Make them tremble with fear.Later, the range of activities of this ghost has exceeded the Karin Golden Bridge and its surrounding area, scaring all the cowards in the city.However, don't forget the big leader mentioned above.In fact, it can be said that he is the chief culprit who makes this realistic story go to the absurd.After Akakiy Akakiyevich had left the office after being reprimanded, our great leader soon felt a little uneasy in his conscience.Although limited by his own status, he seldom treats people kindly, but this does not mean that he has no compassion for others, and his heart is actually very good.After saying goodbye to his old friend, the forlorn image of Akaky Akakievitch came to his mind.Afterwards, Akaky Akakiyevich's face, pale as paper from his severe reprimands, would often appear before his eyes.Whenever he thinks about it, he feels very uncomfortable.About a week later, he finally sent someone to inquire about Akaki Akakiyevich's current situation, to see if he really needed his help.What the subordinates found out was that Akaky Akakyevich had died of typhoid fever.In addition to being horrified, the leader felt very sorry for Akaky Akakiyevich, and fell into deep depression for this.

In order to free himself from the depression, he went to a friend's house to attend a dinner party.There, he felt very at ease, because all the officials present at the banquet were officials of his stature.His mood improved as a result.This night, he had a very happy time, and he spoke and behaved freely and at ease.Everyone knows that drinking alcohol can make people feel happy.The leader drank two or three glasses of champagne during the dinner, which made him very excited.Under these circumstances, he made the unusual decision to visit a lady named Karolina Ivanovna before returning home.He has always been in close contact with this lady who is said to be German.However, we must first make it clear that the big leader is not young anymore, whether as a husband or a father, he is very competent.He has two sons and a daughter, and one of the sons is already an official. The daughter is only 16 years old. Although her nose is a bit higher, she is still very beautiful. She is a little beauty that everyone loves.Every day, the children would kiss his hand and greet him in French: "Father, hello." His wife was born beautiful and well maintained.Every day, he would kiss his wife's hand first, and then his wife would kiss his hand as well.Although the family is harmonious and beautiful, and the leader himself feels very happy, he still insists on finding a lover and feels that it should be taken for granted.His mistress was not actually younger and more beautiful than his wife.However, human behavior is so strange that it is inconvenient for outsiders to make judgments and talk about what is right and what is wrong.

Coming out of a friend's house, the great leader seated himself in the sledge, and told the coachman, "Go to Madame Karolina Ivanovna's house." His body was very warm and comfortable under the cover of a thick overcoat.At this moment, he is still in a good mood, without even the slightest worry, and various pleasant thoughts automatically emerge.In the eyes of the Russians, this has reached the pinnacle of happiness.All kinds of hilarious episodes and words that appeared at the dinner party came to his mind one by one.He genuinely finds them very funny, because even now, when he repeats them in a low voice, he still finds them ridiculous, just as he did when he first heard them.Helplessly, the cold wind kept interrupting his thoughts.He felt his face hurt like being pricked by a needle, and the inexplicable cold wind kept wrapping the snow balls and hitting him.His overcoat was blown up like the sails of a ship.

Suddenly, his collar was blown up and covering his head.He hurriedly wanted to get rid of the collar's wrapping, but at this moment, someone suddenly grabbed his collar tightly in his hands.He turned his head and saw that the other party was a short man wearing a ragged smock. Who was it but Akaky Akakyevich?The leader was taken aback.He saw that the civil servant's face was pale, no different from a dead body.The dead body opened its mouth wide and spewed a cold air at him—a terrifying cold air that seemed to come from hell, which scared the leader to death.The dead body said, "At last I found you! I finally got your collar in my hand! Give me your coat! If you don't help me find the coat, it's not worth it, and you scolded me so much! I I want your coat now!" The leader was almost scared to death by him.In the past, when anyone saw the leader's burly figure and majestic appearance, he would praise: "What a big man!" And he always had a fierce look when facing his subordinates in the yamen.However, facing the situation at this moment, most of the superficially majestic people would have the same reaction as him: terrified to the extreme, and even felt that they would be frightened to have a heart attack.He took off his overcoat in a hurry, and then shouted an order to the coachman in a strange voice: "Go home, hurry up!" There is a heavy blow.Therefore, when the coachman heard the sound, he immediately ducked his neck to avoid the blow.Then, he whipped his horse and fled in a sleigh like lightning.After six or seven minutes, they arrived at their destination.The leader's face was still pale, obviously he hadn't recovered from the fright.He threw away his overcoat, lost all interest in going to Mrs. Karolina Ivanovna's, and went dully to his own house.He managed to move to his room and was restless all night.The next morning, the daughter said to him, "Father, you look really bad today."

He didn't mention to anyone what happened last night.After hearing his daughter's words, he didn't give a single explanation.What happened last night really hit him hard.Since then, his subordinates have rarely heard his catchphrase: "Do you know the identity of this person standing in front of you? Do you understand who you are talking to?" If not, he will definitely find out the truth in advance.

The late civil servant has since disappeared, and no one has heard from anyone where he has stolen another coat.This incident is very meaningful.It seems that the general's overcoat suits his figure very well.There are also quite a few eventful fellows who continue to spread rumors that in some hidden corners of Petersburg, traces of the late civil servant can still be seen.A policeman in Kolomna actually saw a ghost coming out from behind a certain house.However, due to the weak character of the policeman, he didn't have the courage to step forward to stop the ghost.You know, he was once knocked down by a galloping pig, and he was laughed at by the onlookers because of it.He couldn't bear the humiliation, so he punished these coachmen to give him a copper coin to buy cigarettes for him.This shows what a useless guy he is.Therefore, he could only quietly follow the ghost and follow it all the way.Unprepared, the ghost turned around and asked him, "What do you want?" At this moment, the ghost had already stopped in its tracks, and showed its huge fists.The policeman said, "It's not that good." He turned around and ran away.The ghost was much taller than before, with a beard all over his face, striding towards the direction of the Obukhov Bridge.The night gradually engulfed his back.

1842

▲【Appreciation of works】

"Coat" tells the story of a ninth-class civil servant who bought a new overcoat to keep out the cold with all his savings, but he was snatched away by robbers that day.He had no choice but to seek help from a prominent leader, but was reprimanded mercilessly by the other party.After returning home, the civil servant suffered a serious illness and died.

"Overcoat" is a novella written by Gogol when he was in Petersburg.Make the most of your critical and satirical style. At the end of 1828, Gogol went to Petersburg alone to make a living.Life in Petersburg gave him new insights, new impressions and objects of observation, but life in this northern capital also disappointed him greatly.At this time he began to contact the upper class figures of society. "The people are lifeless...there are clerks and officials everywhere, everyone is talking about the affairs of their own bureaus and ministries, and their heads are downcast. The whole society is trapped in idle and dirty work, and people spend their lives in vain in these jobs." (Excerpt from Gogol's letter to his mother)
The novel has neither the sensationalism of crying and wiping away tears, nor the speculation of tracing back to the source, but outlines the little characters in an almost cold and slightly ironic style.Fiction does not appeal to the reader's emotions, but makes one reflect.The characters in the book have been encountered in every unit I have worked in or every class in school.In almost any group of people, there will be someone who everyone provokes and teases. Should these people be bullied?
(End of this chapter)