Theme of the story of the evening on a farm near Dikanka. N

"Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" by N.V. Gogol

The publication in 1831 of the first part of "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", and in 1832 - the second, saw the emergence of a new writer - N.V. Gogol, who came to the fore of Russian and European romanticism. The inimitable originality of "Evenings" for a long time created a reputation for them as an artistic phenomenon that has no analogies. Belinsky wrote in 1840: “Indicate in European or Russian literature at least something similar to these first experiments of a young man, at least something that could suggest an idea to write like this. Isn't this, on the contrary, a completely new, unprecedented world of art? " Created by Gogol, a Ukrainian by origin, it poured into the mainstream of the widespread interest in Russian society in Ukrainian folk art, everyday life, and way of life. “Everything that is Little Russian occupies so much here,” the author wrote in a letter to his mother.

The publications of "Evenings" evoked an open enthusiastic response from Pushkin. Friendship with the great poet became happiness for Gogol and the greatest creative success for all Russian literature. In their spiritual closeness, in the creative community, the wonderful law of succession in the artistic process was expressed. Belinsky described it this way: "Pushkin's main influence on Gogol was in that nationality, which, according to Gogol himself," consists not in the description of the sarafan, but in the very spirit of the people. "

Gogol's discovery was that he discovered the poetry of natural life in people who were closest to the origins of natural life. It was as natural as possible. In the "Evenings" - a holiday of the national spirit. But there is no hint of naive sentimental delight in them. It is enough to pay attention to the image of the “publisher” Pasichnyk Rudy Pank, in whose fabulous intonation irony is constantly heard. This is that laughter, where there is as much innocence as there is natural wisdom. "The merry trickery of the mind", which Pushkin considered a property of the people, found diverse expression in "Evenings". It is not for nothing that almost every story has its own narrator, an original artistic type. This picturesque interplay of styles is close to the complex and cheerful gamut of feelings and passions of Ukrainian boys, girls and their fathers, united by "Evenings" in a festive round dance.

The feeling of pride and admiration for his homeland is expressed by the writer with exceptional penetration, it becomes close and accessible to any sensitive reader, to any historical time... Let us recall the famous beginning of one of the chapters " May night":" Do you know the Ukrainian night? Oh, you don't know the Ukrainian night! Look at her. "

For many years, Russian and European readers have been gazing with great responsiveness at the young heroes of the Sorochinskaya Fair, Paraska and Gritsko, singing tender and naive songs to each other in front of the entire crowd.

It is impossible to break away from the folk tale of Foma Grigorievich in "The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala", where Gogol's discovery consists in the unprecedented psychological complexity of the narrator - an innocent sexton and an almost romantic poet.

The world of folk thinking is rich. In it, folklore is combined with sobriety in the perception of the real, everyday life does not contradict the national-historical feeling.

Therefore, in the second part of "Evenings" the theme of the liberation struggle sounds quite natural. Of course, "Terrible Revenge", where this sound is the strongest, according to the plot of a semi-legend, but thanks to the image of Danila Burulbash, the story claims to be a completely realistic interpretation of the theme.

But to complete the picture of the Ukrainian night, Gogol needed in "Evenings ..." and such a story as "Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and his aunt." The mood of the story was born of popular thinking, which cannot fail to notice and, accordingly, appreciate the dull emptyness of prosaic vegetation. The "craftiness of the mind" is here in a well-aimed depiction of types representing an insignificant landlord's life. This is how the sketch of "Dead Souls" is outlined.

The time of the creation of "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", their publication and discussion among the reading public is the happiest in Gogol's life. He is full of grandiose plans, many of which later came true.

One of these masterpieces was the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. This lesson focuses on the story "The Night Before Christmas."

Many tales and legends have a happy ending... Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas" fully complies with this rule. The main character, the brave blacksmith Vakula, has to go through a difficult test in order to win the heart of his beloved. As a result, he receives the hand and heart of his chosen one. Legends and folk tales are designed to instill in a person faith in their strength, skill and resourcefulness. This story is no exception ...

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Fig. 1) was very sensitive to the culture of his people. He was born in 1809 in the town of Velyki Sorochintsy, Poltava province, the very heart of Little Russia, as Ukraine was then called.

Rice. 1. Otto Moller. Portrait of the writer N.V. Gogol ()

After graduating from the Nizhyn gymnasium higher sciences, he came to Petersburg dreaming "Make your life necessary for the good of the state"... He possessed an ardent dream: to benefit humanity, to enter the service that could give "Spacious circle of action".

Acquaintance with Pushkin and his friends helped Gogol find his way - to turn to literature, write "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka."

Soon after arriving in St. Petersburg, in the winter of 1829, in letters to his mother and sisters, Gogol asked to send him everything that has anything to do with Ukrainian folk customs, costumes and legends: “You have a subtle, observant mind, you know a lot about the customs of our Little Russians ... In the next letter I expect from you a description of the complete attire of a rural sexton, from the top dress to the boots with the name, as it was all called by the most inveterate, the most ancient, the least the changed Little Russians ... More detailed description of the wedding, not missing the smallest details ... A few more words about carols, about Ivan Kupala, about mermaids. If there is, in addition, any spirits or brownies, then about them in more detail with the names and deeds ... "... He himself did not know then why he was using the information received from his homeland. The career of an official has not yet developed, so maybe at least writing could bring income? After all, he remembered from childhood the unforgettable stories of his grandmother Tatyana Semyonovna, with which she pampered him every time he came to her rooms in Vasilyevka: about the Cossacks and the glorious ataman Ostap Gogol, about terrible witches, sorcerers and mermaids waiting for the traveler on dark paths.

The first part of "Evenings ..." was completed in the summer of 1831, when Gogol lived in Pavlovsk in the house of Princess Vasilchikova. Society that summer fled outside the city from the cholera epidemic in St. Petersburg, Pushkin rented a dacha in Tsarskoe Selo, and for Gogol a place was procured for a home teacher for the princess's son. The house was full of co-workers, and at one of them, the old woman Alexandra Stepanovna, her friends liked to gather to tie stockings together and listen to the young author who read excerpts from his works. Once the princess's nephew, a student of the Dorpat University V.A. Sollogub: “I collapsed in my chair and began to listen to him; the old women moved their knitting needles again. From the first words I parted from the back of my chair, fascinated and ashamed, listening eagerly; several times I tried to stop him, to tell him how he struck me, but he coldly looked up at me and steadily continued his reading ... And suddenly he exclaimed: "Yes, the hopak is not dancing like that! .." the reader really addresses them, in turn they were alarmed: "Why is it wrong?" Gogol smiled and continued reading the drunken peasant's monologue. Frankly, I was amazed, destroyed. When he finished, I threw myself on his neck and cried ".

And the book is already being printed in St. Petersburg in a printing house on Bolshaya Morskaya Street. Returning to the city in August, the young author hurries to visit there to make sure for himself that everything is going well. The typists of the printing house, seeing him, turn away and sprinkle into a fist - so amused their book, given to them for work.

Finally, at the beginning of September 1831, the book goes out of print and goes to bookstores(fig. 2). The accolades, "Evenings ..." are in great demand. A.S. Pushkin said about this work: "This is real fun, sincere, unconstrained, without pretense, without stiffness."

Rice. 2. Title page collection of N.V. Gogol "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka", 1831 ()

Gogol sends a copy of the book to his mother and immediately asks his sister Maria to continue sending him records of Ukrainian fairy tales and songs. Now, after this success, the second volume can be prepared for publication. This time, in his requests, Gogol is not limited to recordings and observations: “I remember very well that once in our church we all saw one girl in an old dress. She's probably going to sell him. If you come across an old hat or dress somewhere at a man's, which is distinguished by something extraordinary, even if it was torn, get it! .. Put all this in one chest or suitcase, and on occasion, when you meet an opportunity, you can send it to me ".

The second volume comes out in March 1832 - the author is in seventh heaven, about which he himself writes in a letter to Danilevsky. A little earlier, in February 1832, another significant event took place - N.V. Gogol was invited to a dinner given by the publisher and bookseller A.F. Smirdin to celebrate the opening of a new store on Nevsky Prospekt. Among the invited A.S. Pushkin, K.N. Batyushkov, F.V. Bulgarin, N.I. Greek A year ago, it was impossible to dream of such a thing.

To retell the wonderful Gogol stories is a thankless task. Let's just say that the fun in "Evenings ..." is adjacent to the eerie, chilling... One sorcerer from "Terrible Revenge" is worth something! Evil in these stories can be funny, like the devil in "Christmas Eve" or in the "Sorochinskaya Fair", or it can be disgusting and insidious, like a witch forcing a young man in love to kill a baby in order to get the desired bride in "The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala" ... This neighborhood, not surprising for folk tales, nevertheless suggests that the author himself was so cheerful? In The Author's Confession, Gogol wrote about it this way: “The reason for the cheerfulness that was noticed in the first works of mine, which appeared in print, lay in some spiritual need. Attacks of melancholy, inexplicable to me myself, were found on me, which stemmed, perhaps, from my morbid state. In order to entertain myself, I thought of everything funny that I could think of. He invented completely funny faces and characters, put them mentally in the most ridiculous positions, not at all caring about why it was, for what and who would benefit from it. Youth, during which no questions come to mind, pushed me. "

"Evenings ...", despite all its fabulousness, turned out to be surprisingly realistic: not only information sent by relatives, but also works on ethnography, linguistic articles and even treatises on witchcraft went into action. Gogol himself admitted that he could not come up with plots out of nothing, he needed some kind of canvas, which he unfolded with amazing accuracy and skill into a bewitching narrative.

In Evenings on a Farm near Dykanka, Gogol turns his gaze to the sunny Ukraine, dear to his heart. In the life of her people, in her songs and fairy tales, he sees genuine poetry and recreates it in his stories. Gogol knew life very well and folk art Ukraine. The impressions of the Ukrainian countryside surrounded him since childhood. The writer's father was the author of comedies in which Ukrainian folklore was widely used and the life and customs of the Ukrainian village were depicted. I saw Gogol in childhood and nativity scenes (puppet theaters) with their performances full of perky Ukrainian humor. His peers at the Nizhyn gymnasium said that on holidays Gogol went to the outskirts of Nizhyn, to his peasant acquaintances, and was a regular at peasant weddings. The interest of the future writer to Ukraine was reflected in the numerous recordings of folklore, which he entered into the "Book of all sorts of things", which he started in the gymnasium.

In Evenings on a Farm near Dykanka, Gogol created a deeply lyrical, beautiful image of Ukraine, imbued with love for its people. This image is revealed by the writer both in captivating poetic landscapes, and in describing the national character of the people, their love of freedom, courage, humor, and dashing fun. Ukraine in the book of Gogol first appeared in all the wonderful beauty, brightness and at the same time tenderness of its nature, with its freedom-loving and courageous people.

According to V.G.Belinsky's definition, "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" is "Poetic sketches of Little Russia, sketches, full of life and charm. Everything that the beautiful nature can have, the seductive rural life of commoners, everything that the people can have original, typical - all this shines with rainbow colors in these first poetic dreams of Gogol. "

Science fiction of folk tales and legends in Nikolai Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas"

Gogol wrote the story "The Night Before Christmas" in 1831. It fascinates the reader with its fantastic events and lively warm humor. The story has everything: riddles, fear of the unknown, love, adventure. That is why Gogol's story is read with great interest, both by children and adults.

From early childhood N.V. Gogol was surrounded by an atmosphere of folk legends, beliefs, fairy tales and past. Great storytellers interesting stories were his parents. And the father of the future writer, Vasily Lvovich, even staged plays based on these stories. Nikolai Vasilyevich heard no less legends about various miracles and characters of Ukrainian folklore at famous fairs, at evening parties, during merry folk festivals. Here everyone wanted to tell their own story. In such stories, good and evil, man and evil spirits collided. Characters hostile to people - devils, witches, sorcerers, etc. - always tried to harm them. But the man tried to overcome and overcome the evil force. One of these clashes is depicted in the story of N.V. Gogol's "The Night Before Christmas". The very first lines allow the reader to plunge into the fabulous atmosphere:

The last day before Christmas is over. Winter, clear night has come. The stars looked. The month majestically ascended to heaven to shine a light on good people and the whole world, so that everyone would have fun caroling and praising Christ. The frost was stronger than in the morning; but on the other hand it was so quiet that the cry of frost under the boot could be heard half a mile away. Not a single crowd of lads has yet appeared under the windows of the huts; for a month I was only peeking into them furtively, as if causing the girls who were dressing up to run out into the skiddy snow as soon as possible. Then smoke poured through the chimney of one hut in clouds and went like a cloud across the sky, and together with the smoke a witch rose astride a broomstick.

Events in it unfold on the night before the big Christian holiday. As you know from fairy tales and legends, the night before Christmas is an absolutely amazing time. On this night, all evil spirits roam the world. It is not by chance that the devil feels so free. Damn is a completely fictional character. Folk fantasy gave him a special look. In the story, the portrait of the devil is given by the narrator in great detail. Like any stranger to Ukrainians, he is called a German. With its narrow muzzle and snout, the devil looks like a pig. But more the narrator compares the trait to people. Now with a Yareskov's head, now with a provincial solicitor in his uniform. This is Gogol's humor. With its help, the author good-naturedly ridicules the shortcomings of people:

In front, it was completely German: narrow, constantly twirling and sniffing everything that came across, the muzzle ended, like our pigs, with a round snout, the legs were so thin that if the Jareskov's head had such, he would have broken them in the first goat. But at the back he was a real provincial solicitor in a uniform, because he had a tail hanging as sharp and long as the current uniform coat-tails; only by the goat's beard under the muzzle, by the small horns sticking out on his head, and that he was not whiter than a chimney sweep, one could guess that he was not a German and not a provincial solicitor, but simply a devil, who was left to wander around the white world last night and learn sins kind people... Tomorrow, with the first bells for matins, he will run without looking back, tail between his legs, to his den.

There were many tricks behind the devil. At the beginning of the story, we see him flying across the sky. The unclean steals a month in order to avenge Vakula for his torment in the picture of the Last Judgment. To prevent Chub and his godfather from getting to Solokha, he sets up a strong blizzard. The people also believe that bad weather and blizzards are sent by evil spirits that want to confuse a person. So Chub and his godfather lost their way. The snowstorm was so angry that they did not see a single house and eventually lost each other. And Chub was so lost that he did not even recognize his own house. But the main goal of the devil, according to popular belief, is to take possession of a person's soul. In exchange for helping Vakula, he demands his soul. But the blacksmith "created the cross" and made the devil obey. At night Vakula flies on the line to Petersburg. This is the time of the rampage of evil spirits. Therefore, in the sky, the blacksmith sees everything alive. Stars, like children, play hide and seek. The spirits are swirling in whole clouds. The witch's broom flies; sitting in a pot, the sorcerer rushes. At the same time, the devil turns into other animals. In Petersburg itself, he turns into a horse and leads Vakula through the streets of the city. And before going to the queen's palace, he became so small that he fit in a blacksmith's pocket. But all the powers of the devil disappear when morning comes. A new day begins with the crowing of a rooster. Therefore, Vakula returns from the capital before his singing. Instead of laughing at the person, the devil himself was punished. This horned creature turns out to be very stupid in practice, and after traveling to St. Petersburg, instead of the soul of a blacksmith, the devil receives a good thrashing as a reward (Fig. 3):

And in a moment Vakula found himself near his hut. At this time the cock crowed. "Where? he shouted, grabbing the tail of the devil who wanted to run away. "Wait, buddy, it's not over yet: I haven't thanked you yet."

Rice. 3. Lavro's bone. Illustration for the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Night Before Christmas" ()

The devil is not accidentally shown in the story so pitiful and stupid. In many tales and legends, brave and brave heroes easily prevail over the dark forces of evil. Nobility, courage and resourcefulness help them in this. The blacksmith Vakula was also able to resist the devil, in this the blacksmith was also helped by faith in God. Indeed, when communicating with the devil, the blacksmith came up with the idea to make the sign of the cross, and after that the devil no longer had any power over him.

But some people, according to popular belief, could enter into an alliance with evil spirits. In the story, it is the witch Solokha and the healer Patsyuk.

Solokha (Fig. 4) flies across the sky on a broomstick, hiding a star in his sleeve. She, too, can transform into animals. Some of the residents of Dikanka saw how Solokha "I crossed the road like a black cat." She appeared to the priest in the guise of a pig, "Screamed like a rooster, put on the cap of Kondrat's father and ran back"... And the boy Kizyakolupenko "I saw her tail behind"... Despite all these tricks, among the fellow villagers Solokha was an ordinary woman and a kind mistress. She was not more than forty years old and she was "Neither good nor bad-looking." But she differed from other women in her special cunning and sharpness. It was these qualities that helped her outwit the Cossacks who came to her supper. She hid them in sacks, and the guests could not get out for a long time.

Rice. 4. A still from the cartoon "The Night Before Christmas". Soyuzmultfilm, 1951 ()

Vakula, sent by Oksana for the cherevichki (according to the fabulous principle “go there, I don’t know where, bring that, I don’t know what”), must find a magic helper, because he cannot cope alone. There are practically no good helpers in the stories of the cycle, so the blacksmith goes straight to the Pot-bellied Patsyuk, who also knows all the devils (“he knows all the devils and will do whatever he wants”). He was considered a medicine man, because he knew how to heal people with conspiracies (Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. Fedorovsky F.F. Patsyuk eats dumplings. Set design for the theatrical production of the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Night Before Christmas" ()

- You, they say, do not be said in anger ... - the blacksmith said, gathering his courage, - I am not talking about this in order to inflict any offense on you, - you have to be a little akin to the devil.

Patsyuk easily determined that the devil was already sitting behind Vakula:

“He doesn't need to go far, who has the devil behind him,” Patsyuk said indifferently, without changing his position.

In addition, Patsyuk does not observe fasting and eats dumplings with sour cream on the evening of hungry kutya. Seeing this, the devout blacksmith ran out of his hut.

The beauty Oksana and the blacksmith Vakula are characters that have much in common with the heroes of various folk tales. A brave and noble young man falls in love with a young but very haughty beauty. For a long time she showered the lover with ridicule, but then, finally, she agrees to marry him, however, on one condition. The beautiful Oksana wants the blacksmith in love with her to bring the slippers that the queen herself wears.

The journey is not easy for the hero, but successful. He manages to subdue the devil and even fly it to the queen. During the absence of the brave Vakula, the beautiful Oksana realizes that she still loves him. The happy ending brings the story even closer to a fairy tale.

In the story "The Night Before Christmas" N.V. Gogol combines folk tales and legends and decorates them with his own artistic invention.

Bibliography

1. Gogol N.V. Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka. - M .: Children's literature, 2006.
2. Zolotussky I.P. Gogol / Life of Remarkable People. - M .: Young Guard. 2007.
3. Literature. 6th grade. At 2 pm / [V.P. Polukhina, V. Ya. Korovin, V.P. Zhuravlev and V.I. Korovin]; ed. V.Ya. Korovina. - M., 2013.

1. Bookinist.RU. Creativity of Gogol. Personality. Destiny [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().
2. Credo. Library online. N. Gogol "Night before Christmas" [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().
3. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The site created by senior pupils of the Moscow school number 770: Biography. Works (links to resources of network libraries). Aphorisms. Gallery. Interactive game[Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().
4. Personal site of O. A. Butyrkina Dictionary of Little Russian words found in "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: ().

Homework

1. Prepare an artistic retelling of the funniest episode in your opinion.
2. Dictionary work. Write out words that are unfamiliar to you from the text of the story. Find them in the dictionary lexical meaning.
   For example, PANEL- small bread, somewhat flat.
3. Oral verbal drawing. "Draw" orally a portrait of a Ukrainian boy or girl (your choice). Convey the features of the costume.

Composition

The most curious thing was my meeting with the printing house. As soon as I pushed through the door, the typesetters, seeing me, let each one snort and sprinkle into his hand, turning away to the wall. This surprised me a little. I went to the factor, and after some clever evasions, he finally said that: the things that they deigned to be sent from Pavlovsk for printing were extremely amusing to the extreme and brought a lot of fun to the typesetters. From this I concluded that I am a writer with a completely rabble taste.
N.V. Gogol - A.S. Pushkin. August 21, 1831

Gogol, not being, unlike Koltsov, a native of the people by origin, was them in his tastes and mindset.
A. I. Herzen. On the development of revolutionary ideas in Russia

"Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", written by N.V. Gogol in 1831-1832, became, according to A.I. ; painting and love ”. Taking most of the plots from Ukrainian folklore, close to a Russian person, Gogol got to the very essence of folk life, his ideas about what this life should be like.

What heroes appeared before the reader? - Blacksmith Vakula, daring Gritsko, gentle Ganna, minx and enchantress Oksana, courageous Cossack Danila, unlucky grandfather ... Sometimes far from real people, they embodied both the best and funny human features. Painting portraits, Gogol follows the ideal of beauty existing among the people: “The door swung open with a burst, and the girl on the threshold of the seventeenth spring, entwined in twilight, timidly looking around and not letting go of the wooden handle, stepped over the threshold. In the semi-clear darkness, bright eyes burned welcomingly, like stars; the red coral monisto shone, and even the paint that bashfully flashed on her cheeks could not hide from the eagle's eyes. " His maidens are both poetic and full of life. “That I really am like a child,” she cried out laughing, “I’m afraid to step foot.” And she began to stamp her feet all the more, the more boldly; finally left hand she sank down and rested on her side, and she went to dance, jingling her horseshoes, holding a mirror in front of her and singing her favorite song ... "

Courageous and adventurous, impetuous handsome Cossacks, ready for the sake of their beloved girl, even saddle the devil or “go to the Crimea and Turechina, win gold and kindly come” to their beauty. This is how I recall the words of Russian fairy tales, where Ivan Tsarevich goes beyond the distant lands, to the thirtieth kingdom ...

Witches, mermaids, devils are also borrowed by Gogol from folklore. And they sometimes frighten the heroes, sometimes demand the performance of terrible rituals, then ask for help and reward. “No, you will not see gold, until you get the blood of a man! - said the witch and brought a child of about six to him, covered with a white sheet, showing a sign to cut off his head. Petro was dumbfounded. It’s a little bit, to cut off a man’s head for nothing, and even an innocent child! ” It is unlikely that the reader was less frightened than Petro when he learned that “he pulled off the sheet ... and what then? Before him stood Ivas. " Levko from the story "May Night, or the Drowned Woman", watching how "light, like shadows, girls in white, like a meadow, decorated with lilies of the valley, shirts" in a crow play, recognizes a witch who "soon and boldly chased a string and threw herself in all directions to catch her victim, "and her body" did not shine as much as the others. " And the lady rewards him by giving permission for the wedding.

Magical reincarnations, fantastic events in "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" take the reader into an unreal world for only a few minutes. Sooner or later, but Vakula returns to Oksana, the grandfather from the story “The Missing Letter” appears on the roof of his hut when “it’s already dawn”, and the month that was stolen by the devil “flew out through the pipe of Solokhina’s hut and smoothly rose across the sky. Everything lit up. The snowstorm was gone. The snow caught fire in a wide silver field and all showered with crystal stars. The frost seemed to have warmed up. Crowds of boys and girls showed up with sacks. The songs rang out, and carols were not crowded under the rare hut. "

Accurate descriptions of costumes, speech of heroes, filled with songs and jokes, details of everyday life - everything that Gogol studied and wrote down so diligently, living in his native Vasilyevka, studying at the Nizhyn gymnasium, gave his stories authenticity. Reading, one can easily imagine what the “first boy in the village” should look like: “... dress him in a new zupan, tighten him with a red belt, put on a hat of black smushki with a dandy blue top, hang a Turkish saber to his side, give Malachai in one hand, a cradle in a beautiful frame in the other, then he would have tucked all the boys of that time into the belt. " Stands in front of us, like a living, real Zaporozhets: “Reveler, and you can see it from your face! Bloomers, red as heat, a blue zhupan, a bright colored belt, with a saber and a cradle with a copper chain to the very heels - a Zaporozhets, and nothing more! Eh, folks! He will stand, stretch out, lead a brave mustache with his hand, bryak with horseshoes and - start up! Why, how does it start: legs dance like a spindle in women's hands; like a whirlwind, pulls its hand along all the strings of the bandura, and immediately, leaning on the hips, rushes squatting down; will be filled with a song - the soul walks! "

For the reader - a contemporary of Gogol - these living pictures were new, they opened the world of the Ukrainian people, the breadth of their spirit, strength of character and humor. The book, which, according to famous words A. S. Pushkin, “we were amazed, which made us laugh, we who have not laughed since the time of Fonvizin!” Was highly appreciated by the Russian reader. Although A. Pushkin noted “the irregularity and irregularity of his style, the incoherence and implausibility of some stories,” the true national character of the book was confirmed by both the first typesetters and V. G. Belinsky: “... Let's take the works of Mr. Gogol. In them, for the most part, the life of the people proper, the life of the masses is poeticized, and it would be very natural for the author to fall into the common people, but he remained only folk, and in the same sense in which Pushkin is the people. "

Other compositions on this work

Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka Historical, everyday and moral element in "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" Mysticism in "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" by N. V. Gogol My first reading of Gogol Folk character in "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" The image of Oksana in the story by N.V. Gogol's "The Night Before Christmas" ("Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka") Analysis of the works of Gogol "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" Romance of Ukrainian fairy tales and legends Romance of Ukrainian fairy tales and legends in the works of N. V. Gogol (Based on the book "Evenings on a Farm near Dykanka") Composition based on Nikolai Gogol's collection of stories "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka" The spiritual breadth of Gogol's heroes Historical theme in the stories "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" Comparison of "Mirgorod" and "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" Gogol composition - Evenings on a farm near Dikanka Folk character Composition based on the book "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka"

Evenings on a farm near Dykanka "aroused almost universal admiration: they took up the Ukrainian theme, so popular in the first third of the 19th century, but raised it to a fundamentally different level. On the one hand, Gogol's Ukrainophilism was deeply organic: the writer was a native of Ukraine. , Ukrainian by nationality, knew perfectly native language, customs, mores, and he himself was engaged in collecting Ukrainian folklore. On the other hand, the topic of Ukraine did not remain within the framework of self-sufficient ethnography, but was transferred to the channel of the restoration of the whole artistic world... This is a book, from the pages of which the world of Ukrainian folk life, with its heroic legends and modern concerns, cunning tricks of young men and the machinations of evil spirits, unfolded to the full extent, - this book shone with bright and fresh colors, amazed by the originality and expressiveness of the language.

It combines various, sometimes opposite styles: on the one hand, the style of speech is poetic, deeply felt, reaching pathetic heights; on the other, everyday vernacular, sometimes even swear words and vulgarisms.

In the foreword to Evenings, Gogol explains the diversity of styles by the social difference between storytellers and their manner of speaking, to which Vinogradov draws attention. Thus, the author of "Evenings" ironically warns the reader about "the deep introduction of vernacular into the language of Russian literary prose."

Thus, Vinogradov emphasizes, the preface clearly specifies the type of narrative speech that has a decisive influence on the "socially expressive" atmosphere of the work. At the same time, the author draws portraits of storytellers and characterizes the style of their speech.

In the first book of Evenings, the reader meets two storytellers. The language of Foma Grigorievich, the clerk of the Dikan church, from the very beginning is characterized by Gogol as a vernacular, everyday, folk-Ukrainian speech, Vinogradov writes. "Eh, head, what kind of stories he knew how to let go!" ("Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka"). His style is contrasted with the book-narrative style of the time. The language of Foma Grigorievich is close in style to the language of Pank, the "publisher" of the stories "Evenings". This, in Vinogradov's opinion, has great importance, especially considering that the second narrator, a panic in a pea caftan from Poltava, spoke "in such a pretentious language that many wits from the Moscow people could not understand."

Vinogradov argues that Gogol opposes not only the complex, artificially embellished language of panic, far from living oral folk speech, to the simple, intelligible, folk language of Foma Grigorievich, but their images are also opposed to each other. Moreover, the author brings the style of Foma Grigorievich to the fore and gives him a clear preference, emphasizes Vinogradov.

Vinogradov compares the two editions of "Evenings on the Eve of Ivan Kupala" and concludes that the old, "Karamzin" method of constructing the narrator's image is incompatible with the new, realistic, "Pushkin" understanding of the literary people. According to the previous rules of speech construction of the image of the narrator, whoever he was, his speech could not deviate from the generally accepted literary style towards characterizing his professional or social status.

The narrative style of fiction in Karamzin's system was personified with the style and worldview of a generalized and abstract writer, a style that could not go beyond the generally accepted norms of speech. The style of Foma Grigorievich's tale, already in the first edition, often went beyond the stylistics of the Karamzin school, Vinogradov emphasizes. But the image of the narrator was still too close to the image of the author, as a result of which "the methods of metaphorization, choice of expressions, syntactic structure, expressive coloring of speech most often directly related to the author. All this deprived the folk-tale style of realistic plausibility."

The narrator's language in the second edition of "Evenings on the Eve of Ivan Kupala" acquires a syntactically more graphic, dramatic and varied character. When comparing the two editions of "Evenings", Vinogradov observes a rapid change in Gogol's style towards the use of the expressive variety of lively colloquial speech. Gogol eliminates in the second edition the standard, uniform book-literary vocabulary and phraseological turns or replaces it with synonymous more expressive, dynamic expressions from living oral speech... This, in turn, leads to a change in the verbal composition of the language.

In the second edition, the nature of the description of the action changes and state of mind heroes, notes Vinogradov. The thoughts and moods of the characters are transmitted more dynamically, in their movement. The character of the description is more detailed and subjective, general expressions disappear.

Gogol wanted to find new methods and means of "figurative expressiveness", strove for "concrete, expressive, saturated with life colors and details, figuratively expressive oral narration."

An important role, in Vinogradov's view, was played for Gogol by the principle of metaphorical animation. In addition, Gogol increasingly uses words and images characteristic of oral folk speech, brings the "verbal fabric" of the narration into conformity with the image of the narrator, describes the course of actions consistently and gives the language a subjective character, Vinogradov writes.

Vinogradov notes that Gogol mixed the Ukrainian language with various dialects and styles of the Russian language. Moreover, the style of the Ukrainian language directly depended on the character character works. Gogol combined the Ukrainian common language with Russian through vernacular. As an example, V. Vinogradov compares the vernacular language of Rudny Panka and Foma Grigorievich and the urban, Russianized language of the "pea panich" from "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka".

The speech of Gogol's characters is distinguished by a mixture of styles and dialects, Vinogradov emphasizes. The only difference is that this confusion is due to the class belonging of the actor.

It began in 1829. A year later, the story “Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” was published in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. In 1831 the first book "Evenings ..." was published, in 1832 - the second.

When creating the cycle, the aspiring writer made extensive use of folk legends and folklore, many handwritten sources, works of German romantic writers.

Contemporaries' opinion

The most famous and characteristic response to "Evenings ..." was the reaction of the typographers, who, upon seeing the author, began to "snort and sprinkle into their hands." The head of the printing house admitted to Gogol that his "tricks ... are extremely funny." About this episode, Pushkin wrote: "Moliere and Fielding would probably be glad to make their typesetters laugh."

Pushkin also gave more weighty arguments in favor of "Evenings ...": "This is real gaiety, sincere, unconstrained, without pretense, without stiffness." VF Odoevsky predicted "great talent." Most critics noted the simplicity and truthfulness of the aspiring author.

Along with positive ones, negative judgments were also expressed. The young writer was accused of ethnographic inaccuracies, "deficiencies in style", and the inappropriateness of depicting common folk heroes. However, this category of critics was clearly in the minority.

Overview of the cycle

"Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" consists of two parts, including eight stories. All the stories are united by the image of the pasichnik Rudy Pank, on whose behalf the stories are kept. Each part is preceded by a preface by the narrator and short dictionaries Little Russian terms.

First part

Sorochinskaya fair

A funny story that happened during the Little Russian fair. The young Cossack Gritsko, using the help of the gypsies and the popular fear of the "red scroll", is seeking a wedding with the beautiful Paraska.

The evening before Ivan Kupala

A sad story about poor Petro, who out of despair and love made an agreement with evil spirits. Having killed an innocent child, Petro achieved seeming happiness and wealth, but as a punishment he went mad and died.

May night, or the Drowned woman

A romantic story about the love of Levko and Hanna. Courage and willingness to do anything for the sake of his beloved help the young man to expose the terrible witch. In gratitude for this, the suffering soul of the drowned woman relieves Levko from the punishment of his father and successfully suits his fate with Ganna.

Missing letter

One of the funniest stories in the cycle. The narrator's grandfather loses his "hetman letter" and, in search of the loss, finds himself on a sabbath of evil spirits. The decisive duel between good and evil turns into a game of foolishness. The sign of the cross helps the grandfather to leave the main witch in a fool.

Second part

Christmas Eve

The most famous story of the cycle, which tells about the unusual adventures of the blacksmith Vakula. The main character possesses all the virtues of a young man of his era and class: courage, efficiency, strength, unshakable faith, talent. However, he still cannot win the heart of the proud beauty Oksana. Vakula goes to bow to the evil spirits, but does not obey her, but, on the contrary, makes the devil fulfill his desires. For the sake of the beauty, the blacksmith extracts "royal slivers", but it turns out that the girl fell in love with her most devoted gentleman even without a gift.

Terrible revenge

The most serious story preceding Gogol's work on Taras Bulba. The tragic death of Pan Danila, Katerina and their son at the hands of a sinister Sorcerer is not just a fairy tale. It is based on the history of the long-term struggle of the Ukrainian Cossacks against Polish enslavement.

Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and his aunt

A story in which the images and motives of Gogol's future works are guessed. This is the first attempt by the writer to appeal to critical realism. The image of Ivan Fedorovich personifies the type of “being” (as the writer himself defines it). The life of the “creatures” is spiritless and meaningless, it is characterized by pettiness and inertia. Satire becomes an effective way of dealing with these everyday negative phenomena.

Enchanted place

The final story sums up a humorous conclusion to Pan'ka's reflections on the futility of man's struggle with evil spirits. All the efforts of the grandfather to overcome the demonic spell and find the treasure lead nowhere. The grandfather admits his defeat and prefers to bypass the "cursed place".

Themes and problems of "Evenings ..."

Gogol not only limited himself to transcribing Ukrainian traditions and legends, but set himself the task of recreating the poetic image of his people. The writer used the typical means of romanticism: the confrontation between good and evil, unusual situations, heroic images. At the same time, he strove to depict living reality. In particular, pathetic phrases and reflections organically merge with vivid colloquial speech, the description is replete with everyday details, etc.

With the exception of "Ivan Fedorovich ..." throughout the cycle huge role is played by an unclean force, with which the main characters are forced to fight. The fabulousness does not devalue their images, but emphasizes the best qualities.

In "The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala", "Terrible revenge" and partly "May Night" evil acts as a merciless destructive force. In the rest of the stories, "demonic spells" cause laughter. That there are only the devil "tamed" by Vakula and the witch fooled by her grandfather.

The author is ironic about the very belief in evil spirits. In many situations, a doubt arises: did the heroes really encounter the manifestation of the supernatural or did they become a victim of their own superstition?

Apart from the image of the bright and joyful, and sometimes sad and sad life of ordinary people, there are two stories that mark the transition of the writer to a more high level creativity. In Terrible Vengeance, Gogol thinks about the great historical past of the Cossacks. The story "Ivan Fedorovich ..." becomes one of the cornerstones of Russian critical realism, a model of artistic exposure of social vices.