Act 5, Scene 8 Summary

The Postmaster rushes in with news that "the inspector" wasn't an inspector at all. Excited conversation reveals that the Postmaster did exactly what he was asked (Act 1 Scene 3), steamed open all the letters going through the post office, discovered the letter Khlestakov wrote to his friend, read it, and rushed straight over to the Mayor's house with the news. The Mayor takes him to task for opening the letter of such an important person and refuses to believe what he's saying, adding that once he's in his new position in St. Petersburg, he'll have the Postmaster punished. The Postmaster reads the letter aloud, and it is revealed that Khlestakov wants his friend to write a newspaper article about the town, how foolish he thinks the townspeople are, and that he thinks the Mayor and all the other officials are ridiculously stupid...