Question

What reason does the newspaper clerk give major kovaloff for not being able to run his ad?

Answer 1

It would look silly and give the news paper a bad reputation: apex

Answer 2

The newspaper clerk said that he's worried that the newspaper's reputation will go down because of the nonsense Kovaloff has given. This is the reason that the newspaper clerk has given to Major Kovaloff for not being able to run his ad. This part of a story is taken from "The Nose" story written by Nikolai Gogol.