Other characters
- The nose is a part of Kovalev’s face that escaped from its owner and began to live on its own.
- Ivan Yakovlevich is a barber, a drunkard, always unshaven.
- Praskovya Osipovna is his wife, a powerful woman who does not regard her husband as anything.
- Quarterly supervisor - vigilantly monitors order in his area.
- Newspaper expedition official.
- Private bailiff.
- Ivan is the main character's lackey.
- Doctor.
A very brief summary for a reader's diary
One day, a barber discovered in the bread that his wife had baked the nose of Kovalev, a collegiate assessor whom he shaved on Sundays and Wednesdays. The perplexed barber threw the find into the river from the bridge.
Kovalev woke up without a nose, went to report the loss to the chief of police and met his own nose on the street in a uniform, with a sword and in the hat of a state councilor.
This gentleman rode in a carriage to the Kazan Cathedral and began to pray there. Kovalev timidly asked him to return to his place, but he importantly stated that he did not understand what he wanted and slipped away.
Kovalev wanted to advertise in the newspaper about his missing nose, but he was refused so that the newspaper would not lose its reputation.
Desperate, Kovalev asked a private bailiff for help, but he stated that a decent person’s nose would not be torn off.
A policeman came to Kovalev, brought his nose and said that he had been intercepted with a false passport on the way to Riga.
Neither Kovalev nor the doctor were able to put the nose back on. But then one day he found himself on the face of his owner, and he again began to live as before and was very pleased with himself.
Nose - summary
- Do it yourself / Summary / Gogol Nikolai Vasilievich / Nose
Ivan Yakovlevich, a St. Petersburg barber, on March 25 finds his nose in freshly baked bread.
Puzzled by this unrealistic incident and recognizing the nose of the collegiate assessor Kovalev, he searches in vain for a way to get rid of his find. Finally, Ivan Yakovlevich rushes off the St. Isaac's Bridge and, against all expectations, is detained by a quarterly guard with large sideburns. Waking up one morning, Kovalev discovered that the nose on his face was missing. Kovalev goes to the chief police officer. On the way, he meets his own nose (clad in a gold-embroidered uniform and a hat with a plume, revealing him to be a state councilor). Nose gets into the carriage and goes to the Kazan Cathedral, where he prays with an air of greatest piety. Not finding the Chief of Police at home, Kovalev goes on a newspaper expedition. However, they don’t want to advertise about the missing nose, since it looks fantastic and could harm the newspaper’s reputation. A visit to a private bailiff also does not produce any results, because Kovalev comes to him when the bailiff is about to take a nap. A private bailiff declares that a decent person’s nose will not be torn off.
Returning home in upset feelings, Kovalev thinks about who from his circle could play such a cruel joke on him. He suspects staff officer Podtochina, who wants to marry him to her daughter, while he avoids this step in every possible way. Suddenly a policeman comes and brings Kovalev his nose, wrapped in a piece of paper, and announces that the nose was intercepted on the way to Riga with a false “passport”. Kovalev is incredibly happy about the find. But all attempts to put the nose back in its original place are fruitless. The doctor also refuses to help. Rumors are spreading throughout St. Petersburg that Kovalev’s nose is walking around the streets. One way or another, on the 7th, Kovalev’s nose is back in its place. The barber Ivan Yakovlevich comes to Kovalev and shaves him with great care. Kovalev spends his day in excellent spirits. He manages to get everywhere: to the confectionery shop, to the department where he was looking for a position, and to his friend, also a collegiate assessor or major, and on the way he meets staff officer Podtochina and her daughter, talking with whom he thoroughly sniffs tobacco.
The description of his happy mood is interrupted by the sudden recognition of the writer that there is a lot of implausibility in this story and what is especially surprising is that there are authors who take similar plots. After some reflection, the writer nevertheless states that such incidents are rare, but still happen.
Chapter-by-chapter summary (more detailed than summary)
Chapter 1
On March 25, an extraordinary incident occurred in St. Petersburg. Waking up early, the barber Ivan Yakovlevich saw that his wife had baked bread. He decided to eat bread with onions, but after cutting it in half, he pulled out a nose, and someone he knew.
The wife angrily shouted to the barber, frozen in horror, that he was a robber, that he pulled noses while shaving and that he had cut off someone’s nose.
Ivan Yakovlevich recognized the nose - it belonged to Kovalev, a collegiate assessor, whom the barber shaved every Sunday and Wednesday.
Praskovya Osipovna resolutely demanded that the terrible discovery be removed from the room. Her puzzled husband did not know how she ended up in the bread, and was horrified, thinking that the police would find that nose on him.
Ivan Yakovlevich wrapped the find in a rag and went out into the street with it. He wanted to slip it somewhere quietly or drop it, as if by accident, but either an acquaintance stopped him, or the guard pointed out that he had dropped something.
On St. Isaac's Bridge, the barber quietly threw a rag with his nose into the water.
Suddenly he noticed the quarterly overseer. He called Ivan Yakovlevich and began to ask what he was doing on the bridge. He replied that he was just looking at the river, but the warden ordered him not to lie. Then the barber promised to shave him for free 3 times a week, but the barber stubbornly insisted that he say what he did on the bridge. What happened next to Ivan Yakovlevich is unknown.
Chapter 2
Collegiate assessor Kovalev, waking up, wanted to look at the pimple that had appeared on his nose yesterday. A face was reflected in the mirror, but in the middle of it there was a smooth spot instead of a nose. Convinced that this was not a dream, the stunned Kovalev rushed to the chief of police.
Next, the author introduces the reader to this official. Kovalev had already held the rank of Caucasian collegiate assessor for 2 years. In order to give himself more importance, he always called himself a major.
Every day Major Kovalev walked along Nevsky Prospect. He was dressed very decently, and his well-groomed sideburns reached to his nose.
The major came to St. Petersburg in the hope of finding a decent place. I wasn’t averse to getting married, but only if they gave me 200 thousand rubles as a dowry. Having lost an important part of his face, he was also deprived of these hopes.
Covering his face with a handkerchief and showing that he was bleeding, Kovalev walked down the street. Suddenly he saw a gentleman in uniform jump out of the carriage and run into a house. With horror, the major recognized his nose in it! After 2 minutes he came out. He had a saber at his side, wore a beautiful uniform and, judging by his hat, had the rank of state councilor. Nose got into the carriage and left.
Kovalev almost went crazy and rushed after the carriage. She stopped at the Kazan Cathedral. Kovalev entered the cathedral and saw a praying nose. It was clear from his hat and uniform that he had the rank of state councilor.
Plucking up courage, the major began to hint to this gentleman that he should know his place. He did not understand the hints or pretended that he did not understand.
Then Kovalev explained to him with dignity that he was Kovalev’s own nose. But he replied that he was on his own and, moreover, served in another department.
The nose continued to pray. Kovalev drew attention to the girl who entered the cathedral, and when he turned to his nose, she was no longer there.
The major went to the chief of police, but did not find him. Then he decided to give an advertisement, in it he wanted to describe the nose and ask those who saw it to bring the fugitive to him or at least tell where he was seen.
But the official of the newspaper expedition did not accept such an announcement, since because of it the newspaper could lose its reputation.
Then the major went to the private bailiff, but he, wanting to take a nap after lunch, did not want to carry out an investigation.
At home, Kovalev began to think and decided that the reason for the disappearance of the nose from his face was revenge and the “magic” of headquarters officer Podtochina, who wanted to marry him to her daughter, but Kovalev did not want to marry.
The quarterly overseer came to the major's apartment, who at the beginning of the story called the barber to him, brought his nose and said that he was detained when he was boarding a stagecoach to go to Riga.
The policeman gave up his nose and said that the barber had been arrested for his theft.
Kovalev thanked the warden by handing him the money, and when he left, he began to press his nose to his face. But it didn't stick!
The major sent Ivan, his lackey, to fetch the doctor who lived in the same house. He could not help, but advised to put this organ in a jar of alcohol and sell it. Kovalev did not agree.
The next day, the major wrote a letter to the headquarters officer asking her to make sure his nose was in its place today, otherwise he would complain to the authorities.
From the response letter it was clear that the headquarters officer did not understand anything, and Kovalev decided that she was not to blame.
Rumors about the nose spread throughout St. Petersburg. They said that every day at 3 o’clock he walks along Nevsky Prospekt, and a crowd of onlookers flocked there. Then a rumor appeared that he was walking in the Tauride Garden.
Secular wits made the ladies laugh with stories about him, but respectable, well-intentioned people were very dissatisfied, since they considered the spread of such inventions to be harmful.
Chapter 3
On April 7, in the morning, Kovalev woke up and, looking in the mirror, saw that his nose was in place. The major was beside himself with joy.
The barber Ivan Yakovlevich came to shave him, and was surprised that the nose sat safely on his face. When he wanted to very carefully take his nose by the tip to make it easier to shave, Kovalev shouted: “Well, well, well, look!” The barber had to shave him “without support for the sniffing part.”
Kovalev went to the pastry shop, and then on business. Everyone treated him as usual, and he was finally convinced that his nose was in the right place. Since then, the major was always in a good mood and very happy with his life.
At the end of the story, the author assures that such incidents are rare, but they do happen.
Summary of the story “The Nose”
I.
One day an unusual incident happened in St. Petersburg. Ivan Yakovlevich, a barber, discovered a strange dense object in the bread that his wife had baked. To his amazement, the barber recognized in this object the nose that belonged to the collegiate assessor Kovalev. Ivan Yakovlevich shaved him every week. The wife began to be indignant that her husband, a drunkard, had cut off a man’s nose and promised to report it to the police.
The frightened barber, wrapping his nose in cloth, ran out of the house. He got rid of his nose on the St. Isaac's Bridge by throwing it into the water.
II.
Collegiate assessor Kovalev, waking up in the morning, looked at himself in the mirror. He looked at his reflection in amazement because he did not find his own nose on his face. In the place reserved for this part of the body, there was only smooth skin.
If we talk about Kovalev, he was in the rank of collegiate assessor, but did not belong to the real representatives of this rank, who were smart and learned. He belonged to the so-called Caucasian assessors, about whom little good can be said. In order to make an impressive impression on the public, Kovalev called himself a major.
Kovalev went to the Chief of Police, wrapped in a cloak and covering his face with a handkerchief. Suddenly he saw a figure in the uniform of a state councilor and, to his amazement, discovered that it was his nose. The major was in confusion. How is it that his own nose walks around in a uniform? He ran after the carriage where he boarded, which stopped at the Kazan Cathedral. Kovalev approached the nose, which was praying, and addressed him. The major said that he could see his own nose. The nose condescendingly and arrogantly answered Kovalev that he was mistaken.
Kovalev experienced extreme despair. He went to the chief police chief, but did not find him at home. Then the major decided to go to the deanery office. Suddenly he had the idea that the nose, behaving rather impudently, might sneak out of St. Petersburg. The major decided to immediately advertise in the newspaper so that everyone could return the runaway nose to its owner.
Arriving at the newspaper, Kovalev was nervous and in a hurry, but the gray-haired official was busy with another urgent matter. Impatient, Kovalev reiterated his desire to make an announcement as soon as possible.
He began to explain to the official that he wanted to catch the scoundrel. The official decided that we were talking about a runaway servant, but the major explained that he was looking for his own nose. The official protested, saying that such an announcement would undermine the newspaper's reputation.
The major removed his hand with the handkerchief from his face, and the official did not really see any signs of a nose on his face. The official decided to show his participation and said a few heartfelt words and offered to sniff tobacco with his nose. At this point their conversation ended.
Kovalev went to the private bailiff. He was just about to rest and listened to the major with great displeasure. Having learned about what had happened, the bailiff doubted Kovalev’s trustworthiness, since respectable citizens do not have their noses torn off. Moreover, the bailiff spoke disrespectfully about “all sorts of majors,” which outraged Kovalev to the core. Having expressed his indignation, the major left.
Suddenly a policeman came to his house. The servant of the law asked if Kovalev had lost his nose? To the major's great joy, the policeman said that his nose had been found, after which he returned it to its owner. The policeman explained that the nose wanted to escape to Riga, he even had a passport. The servant of the law saw that he was dealing not with the master, but with the nose.
After the policeman left, Kovalev tried to fit his nose to his face, but nothing worked. He turned to the doctor for help, who threw up his hands hopelessly. The doctor advised the major to preserve his nose in alcohol and sell it for a considerable sum. Kovalev resolutely refused to alcoholize his own nose.
Desperate to reattach his nose, the major wrote an angry letter addressed to staff officer Podtochina, whom he accused of using magical rituals against himself. The fact is that this respectable lady tried with all her might to marry the major to her daughter. Kovalev, on the other hand, was in no hurry to tie himself to anyone in marriage. He decided that the mother decided to resort to magic and witchcraft.
Madame Podtochina responded to Kovalev with a letter, from which it was clear that she did not understand at all what was being said. Meanwhile, St. Petersburg was filled with rumors that the nose of Major Kovalev was walking along Nevsky Prospekt.
III.
Soon an unexpected event happened again. Waking up, Kovalev found his nose in the same place. He almost started dancing with happiness and stopped at a pastry shop for a cup of chocolate. Since then, the major has been walking along Nevsky Prospekt in an excellent mood, visiting the theater, and looking with pleasure at pretty ladies. He smiles, being in a great mood.
