The Mantle
Author: Nikolai Gogol
Read “The Mantle” by Nikolai Gogol in Russian, English, French and Japanese in Bibliott on your phone and tablet.
Languages: RU, English, French, Japanese
Genre: Fantasy, Satire, Short story
Free to read
An impoverished Petersburg copy clerk resolves to buy a new cloak, and the simple purchase transforms his unnoticed official life.
Characters
- Akaki Akakievitch Bashmatchkin — Protagonist: An impoverished titular councillor devoted to copying documents.
- Petrovitch — Tailor: A one-eyed, pockmarked tailor, skilful when sober.
- The important personage — High official: A recently promoted official obsessed with severity and rank.
- The young official — Akaki’s colleague: A newly appointed clerk moved by Akaki’s gentle protest.
- Akaki’s mother — Protagonist’s mother: A kind official’s wife who chooses her son’s baptismal name.
- Petrovitch’s wife — The tailor’s wife: A practical woman who scolds her husband for drink and bad bargains.