The Postmaster intercepts a cynically frank letter which the man has written to a friend, and in which he heaps ridicule on his credulous hosts.

This opens their eyes at last, and at that moment, a gendarme appears and announces that the Inspector has arrived.

Tableau.
Gogol's two volumes of Little Russian Tales, above-mentioned, must remain classics, and the volume of St.Petersburg Tales contains essentially the same ingredients, so that they may be considered as a whole.

All the tales in the first two volumes are from his beloved native Little Russia.

Some are merely poetical renderings of popular legends, counterparts of which are to be found in the folk-lore of many lands; such are "Vy," and "St.John's Eve's" and the exquisite "May Night," where the famous poetical spirit of the Ukraina (borderland) is displayed in its fullest force and beauty.