We have changed our privacy policy. In addition, we use cookies on our website for various purposes. By continuing on our website, you consent to our use of cookies. You can learn about our practices by reading our privacy policy.

The Nose Part 1 Summary

  • Barber Ivan Yakovlevitch chowing down on some brekkie with his grumpy wife, when he finds a nose in his freshly baked roll.
  • (That makes us feel a little better about all the dog hair in our baked goods.)
  • He immediately recognizes the nose—it belongs to Collegiate Assessor Kovalev, one of the barber's regular shaving clients.
  • His wife starts yelling at him for being a no-good drunk—you know, like you do when you find a nose on the breakfast table. She demands he get rid of this nose.
  • The barber is all timid and brow-beaten and has no idea where to ditch the thing. He decides to just throw it into a gutter somewhere.
  • But of course, as he's walking around, he keeps bumping into people he knows. And he can't just throw the nose away in full view of everyone, right?
  • Instead, he decides to chuck it into the river Neva, remembering that Kovalev is always complaining about the barber's hands smelling bad.
  • He throws the nose into the water and feels a ton better immediately.
  • Just then, a cop shows up and starts asking the barber questions about what he's been doing on the bridge over the river.
  • Suddenly the story cuts out with the narrator saying something weird about how no one knows what happened next.