Ambassador Extraordinary - World Literary Classics Collection (Complete Translation)

Author: Nikolai Gogol
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Remarkable, the unexpected ending is thought-provoking. Who is the "true Imperial Commissioner"? What should the image of an Imperial Commissioner be like? Bribery, extravagance, wastefulness, and grandiosity—these are the images of Imperial Commissioners in the eyes of provincial officials. This imaginary figure is formed based on their countless past experiences. It is precisely because of such expectations that they mistake a fraud for a high-ranking official. On the surface, the play creates a fake "Imperial Commissioner" through a misunderstanding and a deception. However, the fake Imperial Commissioner who appears on stage is in fact an embodiment of the real one. Apart from the difference in rank, there is no fundamental distinction between the true and fake Imperial Commissioners. At the end of the play, when the real Imperial Commissioner is about to arrive, the audience believes that the mayor and his officials will welcome him with the same attitude. The Inspector General brings you a dramatic comedy story. The Inspector General revolves around the officials of a small provincial town, centered around the mayor, as they prepare to welcome the "Imperial Commissioner," thoroughly exposing the corruption of the Russian bureaucracy and the moral depravity of the officials. The play opens with the mayor's line, "The Imperial Commissioner is coming to our town soon." The mayor receives a letter from an official in the provincial capital, who addresses him as "brother, relative, and mentor," informing him that a high-ranking official from St. Petersburg has recently been dispatched to inspect the province, paying special attention to the county where the mayor resides. The Imperial Commissioner is in disguise and could arrive at any time. He warns the mayor, who is not willing to let anything pass through his hands without a bribe, to be cautious. Upon receiving this news, the mayor, the judge, the inspector, the director of the charity hospital, and the postmaster are all thrown into panic, scrambling to prepare for the inspection by the Imperial Commissioner. Through this, the author portrays how this group of corrupt, incompetent, and bribe-taker officials govern the city. The charity hospital is filthy; the court is chaotic, with geese running around in the waiting hall, and a hunting whip hanging above the file cabinet on the judge's bench. The jurors are drunk most of the time. The school teachers are ignorant, resorting to making faces at the students. The police steal and extort merchants. The postmaster frequently opens letters. The local authorities are rife with bribery and extortion of merchants, oppressing the common people. Fearing that someone in the city might file a complaint against his misdeeds, the mayor summons the postmaster, asking him to open and read every letter passing through the post office for the common good. Meanwhile, in a hotel in the city, a twelve-grade civil servant from St. Petersburg is staying. Having spent his money on extravagance and grandiosity, he now lives in the hotel, surviving on credit. Troubled by his lack of money, he wears casual clothes, pacing back and forth in his room, looking anxious and thoughtful. He neither pays his bill nor leaves. The mayor's subordinate, sent to gather information, mistakes this man for the Imperial Commissioner. Terrified, the mayor comes to pay respects to this "Imperial Commissioner," who immediately asks the mayor for money. The mayor, thinking he is being bribed, believes that as long as the "Imperial Commissioner" takes the money, everything will be fine, so he offers him double. Next, the mayor takes the "Imperial Commissioner" on a tour of the municipal authorities and invites him to his home. Other officials come to pay their respects to this fake "Imperial Commissioner," who, in turn, borrows money from each of them. Everyone knows it's a loan he won't repay and sees it as a bribe. They, like the mayor, shower him with money, hoping to be promoted when he returns to the capital. The mayor and his officials go to great lengths to entertain the "Imperial Commissioner," trembling with fear, while the "Imperial Commissioner" indulges in pleasure. He seduces the mayor's wife and daughter, even proposing to the mayor's daughter. The mayor decides to marry his daughter to him, and the mayor's wife dreams of moving to St. Petersburg and becoming a general's wife. The other officials, as if the mayor has been promoted to a general, fawn over him, hoping to be favored. Just as the mayor is dreaming of promotion and wealth, the postmaster opens a letter the "Imperial Commissioner" wrote to his friend, mocking the officials for foolishly mistaking him for a governor because of his St. Petersburg-style appearance and attire. He mocks each official one by one. Meanwhile, the "Imperial Commissioner," driving the three carriages prepared by the mayor, flees. The real "Imperial Commissioner" is about to arrive.