This is the end of Gogol's The Overcoat and the sad tale of Akakiy Akakievitch. In my next post on the short story, I'll discuss the underlying themes of this work.
Soon after these events, a rumour starts sweeping through St. Petersburg that a ghostly corpse is wandering the streets at night, searching for an overcoat and dragging coats off the shoulders of any men he comes across. One of the department officials sees the spectre on night and flees in terror, afterwards swearing that it looked exactly like Akakiy Akakievitch. The night watchmen become so afraid that they won't approach anyone, electing to just yell at people from a distance. The police vow to catch the corpse "dead or alive", which seems to give one option too many, all things considered. Meanwhile, the important official who had treated Akakiy so cruelly when he came to him for help, has been suffering some pangs of remorse about his behaviour. He sends around a clerk to check on Akakiy and, upon learning that he died, feels even more guilt. This preys on his mind for a few days until he decides to go to a friend's party in order to distract himself from his conscience. This seems to work and, after spending a delightful evening, the official is feeling happily buzzed on champagne as he climbs in his open carriage. Instead of ordering the driver to take him home to his wife and kids, however, the official instructs him to drive to another section of town, where he keeps his mistress in comfortable lodgings. As the carriage travels along the cold dark streets, the official is startled when he suddenly feels a hand clutch the collar of his luxurious coat. He turns and is terror stricken when he recognises Akakiy; the corpse carries the odour of an open grave, and from his gaping mouth comes this horrifying statement: "Ah, here you are at last! I have you, that -- by the collar! I need your cloak; you took no trouble about mine, but reprimanded me; so now give up your own." The official, sick with fear, shrieks to his driver to get him home, so the coachman whips up the horses, making them gallop as they flee the scene. The official arrives at his home pale and shaking, his overcoat gone. In the following days he is a changed man- quieter, and with a reluctance almost bordering on fear to shout at and bully his underlings as he did formerly. From this time, the spectre of Akakiy is no longer seen in St. Petersburg; evidently he was satisfied with the fit of the official's overcoat. In any case, no more instances are reported of a corpse grabbing people's cloaks and trying to pull them off. One of the watchmen does, however, report having seen a different spectre, one too tall and muscular to be Akakiy Akakievitch. Too afraid to approach the ghostly figure, the watchman followed at a distance until the corpse suddenly turned and asked what he wanted, holding up his huge fist. The watchman immediately retreated, answering that he wanted nothing, and the spectre turned away and walked off, disappearing into the night. This is the end of Gogol's The Overcoat and the sad tale of Akakiy Akakievitch. In my next post on the short story, I'll discuss the underlying themes of this work.
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