The Inspector-General Read Free

with spurs. His hair with a
sprinkling of gray is close-cropped.
    ANNA ANDREYEVNA.—A provincial coquette, still this side of middle age,
educated on novels and albums and on fussing with household affairs and
servants. She is highly inquisitive and has streaks of vanity. Sometimes
she gets the upper hand over her husband, and he gives in simply because
at the moment he cannot find the right thing to say. Her ascendency,
however, is confined to mere trifles and takes the form of lecturing and
twitting. She changes her dress four times in the course of the play.
    KHLESTAKOV.—A skinny young man of about twenty-three, rather stupid,
being, as they say, "without a czar in his head," one of those persons
called an "empty vessel" in the government offices. He speaks and acts
without stopping to think and utterly lacks the power of concentration.
The words burst from his mouth unexpectedly. The more naiveté
and ingenousness the actor puts into the character the better will he
sustain the role. Khlestakov is dressed in the latest fashion.
    OSIP.—A typical middle-aged servant, grave in his address, with eyes
always a bit lowered. He is argumentative and loves to read sermons
directed at his master. His voice is usually monotonous. To his master
his tone is blunt and sharp, with even a touch of rudeness. He is the
cleverer of the two and grasps a situation more quickly. But he does not
like to talk. He is a silent, uncommunicative rascal. He wears a shabby
gray or blue coat.
    BOBCHINSKY AND DOBCHINSKY.—Short little fellows, strikingly like
each other. Both have small paunches, and talk rapidly, with emphatic
gestures of their hands, features and bodies. Dobchinsky is slightly
the taller and more subdued in manner. Bobchinsky is freer, easier and
livelier. They are both exceedingly inquisitive.
    LIAPKIN-TIAPKIN.—He has read four or five books and so is a bit of
a freethinker. He is always seeing a hidden meaning in things and
therefore puts weight into every word he utters. The actor should
preserve an expression of importance throughout. He speaks in a bass
voice, with a prolonged rattle and wheeze in his throat, like an
old-fashioned clock, which buzzes before it strikes.
    ZEMLIANIKA.—Very fat, slow and awkward; but for all that a sly, cunning
scoundrel. He is very obliging and officious.
    SHPEKIN.—Guileless to the point of simplemindedness. The other
characters require no special explanation, as their originals can be met
almost anywhere.
    The actors should pay especial attention to the last scene. The last
word uttered must strike all at once, suddenly, like an electric shock.
The whole group should change its position at the same instant. The
ladies must all burst into a simultaneous cry of astonishment, as if
with one throat. The neglect of these directions may ruin the whole
effect.

Act I
*
    A Room in the Governor's House.
Scene I
    Anton Antonovich, the Governor, Artemy Filippovich, the Superintendent
of Charities, Luka Lukich, the Inspector of Schools, Ammos Fiodorovich,
the Judge, Stepan Ilyich, Christian Ivanovich, the Doctor, and two
Police Sergeants.
    GOVERNOR. I have called you together, gentlemen, to tell you an
unpleasant piece of news. An Inspector-General is coming.
    AMMOS FIOD. What, an Inspector-General?
    ARTEMY FIL. What, an Inspector-General?
    GOVERNOR. Yes, an Inspector from St. Petersburg, incognito. And with
secret instructions, too.
    AMMOS. A pretty how-do-you-do!
    ARTEMY. As if we hadn't enough trouble without an Inspector!
    LUKA LUKICH. Good Lord! With secret instructions!
    GOVERNOR. I had a sort of presentiment of it. Last night I kept dreaming
of two rats—regular monsters! Upon my word, I never saw the likes of
them—black and supernaturally big. They came in, sniffed, and then went
away.—Here's a letter I'll read to you—from Andrey Ivanovich. You
know him, Artemy Filippovich. Listen to what he writes: "My dear
friend, godfather and benefactor—
(He mumbles, glancing rapidly down