person
Semyon Alekseich
also: Семен Алексеич, почтмейстер, the postmaster
The provincial postmaster who fields the narrator's mock-Socratic interrogation about the seals, fees, ledgers, and identity certification attached to a one-ruble money packet, defending the system only with "it can't be done otherwise" and finally waving the whole question off with "It's not our place to reason about such things!"