12.2.7 Quiz: Analyze Magical Realism "In heaven's name, why should such a misfortune befall
me? If I had lost an arm or a leg, it would be less
insupportable, but a man without a nosel Devil take it! -
what is he good for? He is only fit to be thrown out of the
window. If it had been taken from me in war or in a duel, or
if I had lost it by my own fault! But it has disappeared
inexplicably. But nol it is impossible," he continued after
reflecting a few moments, it is incredible that a nose can
disappear like that - quite incredible. I must be dreaming,
or suffering from some hallucination; perhaps I swallowed,
by mistake instead of water, the brandy with which I rub my
chin after being shaved. That fool of an Ivan must have
forgotten to take it away, and I must have swallowed it."
- Nikolai Gogol, "The Nose"
What inference can you make about Kovaloff from the passage?
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