get the eighty rubles from? He
might possibly manage half, yes, half might be procured, but where was
the other half to come from? But the reader must first be told where
the first half came from. Akakiy Akakievitch had a habit of putting, for
every ruble he spent, a groschen into a small box, fastened with a lock
and key, and with a slit in the top for the reception of money. At the
end of every half-year he counted over the heap of coppers, and changed
it for silver. This he had done for a long time, and in the course of
years, the sum had mounted up to over forty rubles. Thus he had one half
on hand; but where was he to find the other half? where was he to get
another forty rubles from? Akakiy Akakievitch thought and thought, and
decided that it would be necessary to curtail his ordinary expenses, for
the space of one year at least, to dispense with tea in the evening; to
burn no candles, and, if there was anything which he must do, to go
into his landlady's room, and work by her light. When he went into the
street, he must walk as lightly as he could, and as cautiously, upon the
stones, almost upon tiptoe, in order not to wear his heels down in too
short a time; he must give the laundress as little to wash as possible;
and, in order not to wear out his clothes, he must take them off, as
soon as he got home, and wear only his cotton dressing-gown, which had
been long and carefully saved.

To tell the truth, it was a little hard for him at first to accustom
himself to these deprivations; but he got used to them at length, after
a fashion, and all went smoothly. He even got used to being hungry in
the evening, but he made up for it by treating himself, so to say, in
spirit, by bearing ever in mind the idea of his future cloak. From that
time forth his existence seemed to become, in some way, fuller, as if he
were married, or as if some other man lived in him, as if, in fact, he
were not alone, and some pleasant friend had consented to travel along
life's path with him, the friend being no other than the cloak, with
thick wadding and a strong lining incapable of wearing out. He became
more lively, and even his character grew firmer, like that of a man who
has made up his mind, and set himself a goal. From his face and gait,
doubt and indecision, all hesitating and wavering traits disappeared of
themselves. Fire gleamed in his eyes, and occasionally the boldest and
most daring ideas flitted through his mind; why not, for