Who cannot feel for the poor wretch, down on his knees, begging forgiveness "in his tailcoat of Narvarino smoke and flame, in his velvet waistcoat and new trousers, with his satin necktie and carefully groomed hair from which emanated the fresh smell of eau de Cologne"?
WSJ: Surveying the Surging Immensity of Life | Dead Souls | Nikolai Gogol | By Joseph Epstein