Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Viy to read in parts. Gogol Nikolay Vasilievich. The main characters of the work

"Raise my eyelids ..." - these words, which have become a catch phrase in our time, belong to the pen of a famous Russian writer. The definition of “Russian” is rather arbitrary, since the author is widely known for his works in which Ukraine and Ukrainians are colorfully, colorfully, juicy and, finally, mystically displayed. But the contradiction lies not only in the writer's belonging to one or another national culture. In literary criticism, he is called a great Russian writer and at the same time an underground Ukrainian and a terrible Ukrainian; they call him an Orthodox Christian and, on the other hand, the devil and even Satan. Linguists reproach him for "low" themes and rough, incorrect language, and at the same time admire the language of his works - "fantastic" at the intonational and semantic levels. A. S. Pushkin enthusiastically said about the works of the writer: “They amazed me. Here is real gaiety, sincere, unconstrained, without affectation, without stiffness. In such contradictory definitions, it is difficult not to recognize the outstanding writer of the 19th century, N.V. Gogol.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on March 20, 1809 in the town of Sorochintsy (on the border of Poltava and Mirgorod districts). Father, Vasily Afanasyevich, served at the Little Russian Post Office. A man of a cheerful nature, an entertaining storyteller, he wrote comedies and played in the home theater of a distant relative of D. Troshchinsky, a former minister and a famous nobleman. His passion for theater undoubtedly influenced the upbringing of the future writer in his son. Gogol's inner world was largely formed under the influence of his mother, Marya Ivanovna, a Poltava beauty who came from a landowner's family. She gave her son a somewhat unusual religious upbringing, in which spirituality, morality intertwined with superstitions, retold apocalyptic prophecies, fear of the underworld and the inevitable punishment of sinners.

N. Gogol's childhood passed in his native estate Vasilievka. Together with his parents, the boy visited the surrounding villages of the Poltava region: Dikanka, which belonged to the Minister of Internal Affairs V. Kochubey, Obukhovka, where the writer V. Kapnist lived, but most often they visited Kibintsy, the estate of D. Troshchinsky, where there was a large library.

Gogol's literary abilities manifested themselves very early. In childhood, he began to write poems, which were approved by V. Kapnist, who prophetically remarked on the artistic talent of the future writer: “He will have great talent, give him only fate as the leader of a Christian teacher.”

From 1818 to 1819 Gogol studied at the Poltava district school, in 1821 Gogol entered the Nizhyn high school of higher sciences. In the gymnasium theater, he showed himself as a talented actor, performing comic roles. Soon a theater opens in Poltava, directed by Ivan Kotlyarevsky, the founder of Ukrainian dramaturgy. And the artistic taste of N. Gogol is formed and educated on the dramatic work of I. Kotlyarevsky. Together with Gogol, Nestor Kukolnik and Evgen Grebenka studied at the gymnasium.

By the same time, the first creative experiments of the writer belong: the satire “Something about Nizhyn, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved), poetry and prose. He writes the poem "Hanz Küchelgarten", largely immature, inherited, which was met with harsh and even murderous criticism. Gogol immediately buys up almost the entire print run of the book and burns it (many years later, history will repeat itself when he, already a well-known writer, burns the 2nd volume of Dead Souls and destroys the unfinished tragedy about the Cossacks).

After graduating from the gymnasium, Gogol moved to St. Petersburg, but did not get the place he had hoped for, and suddenly left for Germany. Returning to Russia, Gogol confusedly explained this trip (allegedly God told him to go to a foreign land) or referred to problems in his personal life. In reality, he fled from himself, from the divergence of his ideas about life from life itself. At this time, new horizons appear in Gogol's creative activity. He asks his mother in writing to send information about Ukrainian customs, legends, traditions, superstitions. All this subsequently served as material for stories from Little Russian life, which became the beginning of Gogol's literary glory: "Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala", "Sorochinsky Fair" and "May Night". In 1831 and 1832 the 1st and 2nd parts of the collection of short stories "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" are published. After the release of the book, Gogol became a famous writer. Of great importance for Gogol's creative career was Pushkin's enthusiastically positive review of "Evenings ...". One of the literary critics put it simply: "Genius blessed genius." In the future, N. Gogol creates the books "Mirgorod", "Arabesques", the play "The Inspector General", St. Petersburg stories, the poem "Dead Souls".

Tired of hard work on his latest works and mental anxieties, Gogol in 1836 again changes the situation - he goes to rest abroad. The trip, on the one hand, strengthened him, but, on the other hand, from that moment on, strange and fatal phenomena are observed in his life: spleen, withdrawal into himself, alienation. He works hard on Dead Souls, returns to Russia and goes abroad again. Various rumors circulated about the writer (perhaps because of his state of mind): in Rome, he seemed to jump up in the middle of the night and suddenly begin to dance the hopak; walking in one of the parks, Gogol irritably crushed the lizards running along the paths; one night the thought occurred to him that he had not fulfilled what God intended for him - he took his notes out of his briefcase and threw them into the fireplace, although in the morning he came to the conclusion that he had done this under the influence of an evil spirit. It is also said that doctors determined that Gogol had a mental illness.

Gogol himself called his impression of visiting holy places - Jerusalem, Palestine, Nazareth, the Holy Sepulcher "sleepy". The holy places did not improve his mood; on the contrary, he felt the emptiness and coldness in his heart even more sharply. The years 1848-1852 were psychologically the most difficult in his life. He was suddenly seized by the fear of death, he left literary and creative studies and delved into religious reflections. Gogol constantly asked his spiritual father, Father Matthew, to pray for him. One night he distinctly heard voices saying that he would soon die. The depression got worse and worse. And on February 21, 1852, the writer died in a deep spiritual crisis. There are also many legends about his death: they say that he did not die at all, but fell asleep in a lethargic sleep and was buried alive, then during the reburial (1931) it turned out that the body was turned upside down and the coffin lid was scratched.

The life path and worldview of N. Gogol are clearly reflected in his work. The works included in this collection best demonstrate the interweaving of various images and spheres of reality - both material, real (of this world), and spiritual, otherworldly (of that world). Here the greatest talent of the writer is revealed: he appears before us as a mystic, science fiction writer, historian, religious scholar, expert in demonology and folklore.

The choice of the place of action in the works is not accidental: Ukraine is a region extremely interesting in ethno-cultural, historical and even social terms, shrouded in legends, myths, rich in mystical traditions.

The plots of the works included in the collection are similar and are based on the unexpected intervention of supernatural dark forces in people's lives, and what is mysterious and incomprehensible causes fear - irrational fear, inexplicable, turning into mystical horror. Gogol draws plots from folklore, folk demonology: this is the night on the eve of Ivan Kupala, a sold soul, an enchanted place, a family curse, a devil banished from hell - while processing in his own unique manner, sometimes squeezing the whole plot down to a few lines, and sometimes building a complete story on it.

■
■
■
■
■
■

The genre in which Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol wrote a work, he himself defined as a story. Although in modern language I want to call this story a book of action-packed mystical horrors. The writer's work was ready in 1835 and immediately saw the light in the Mirgorod cycle. Two editions of this story are known, since here, as in all other works, there was no censorship.

All events take place in the 18th century. There are two explanations for this.

Firstly, the text mentions the Kiev Seminary, which has become so called since 1817. Until that time, the institution was called the Kiev Academy and existed since 1615. But in the Kiev Seminary there was no department of grammar, such a department was in the academy starting from the 18th century.

Secondly, the pannochka's father, the centurion, is a territorial unit - this was the case in the 18th century, in the 19th century the centurion became a military man.

The shift in time is typical for the entire Mirgorod cycle, and Viy was no exception.

Story composition

In the mornings, a diverse crowd of seminarians went to the seminary. The road went through the market, but they didn’t like seminarians there, because they tried everything, grabbing a handful, but they didn’t buy it - there was no money.

In the educational institution, everyone dispersed into classes, and the entire seminary was buzzing like a bee hive. Battles often took place between students, where grammarians were the initiators. That is why the faces had traces of past battles.

On holidays and solemn days, the Bursaks could disperse. The longest holidays began in the month of June, when everyone went home. Crowds of grammarians, rhetoricians and theologians stretched along the roads.

Once, during such a wandering, three students turned off the main road: the Theologian Freebie, the philosopher Khoma Brutus and the rhetorician Tiberius Gorobets.

It was getting dark, but there was no village around. I was unbearably hungry, but the philosopher was not used to sleeping with an empty belly, and the travelers did not stop. The night has come. The guys realized that they were lost.

However, to their joy, the students saw a light ahead. It was a small farm. The seminarians had to knock for a long time until an old woman in an unsheathed sheepskin coat opened the door for them. Friends in misfortune asked for a lodging for the night, but the old woman refused them, explaining the refusal by a large number of guests. Nevertheless, they agreed, but on rather strange conditions. Grandma settled all her friends in different places. Philosopher Homa got an empty sheepshed.

As soon as the student settled down for the night, the low door opened and an old woman entered the barn. Her eyes sparkled with an unfamiliar gleam. She spread her arms and began to catch the young man. Khoma got frightened and tried to fight off the grandmother, but she deftly jumped on his back, hit him on the side with a broom, and the philosopher carried her at full speed on his shoulders. Only the wind whistled in my ears and the grass flashed.

Everything happened so quickly that the young man did not have time to figure it out. He galloped with an incomprehensible horseman on his back and felt some languishing, unpleasant and sweet feeling rising to his heart. Exhausted, the guy began to remember the prayers he knew. He remembered all the spells against the spirits and realized that the witch was weakened on his back.

Then Brutus began to pronounce spells aloud. Finally contrived, jumped out from under the old woman and jumped on her back himself. Grandmother, with a small fractional step, ran so fast that everything flashed before her eyes and Khoma could hardly take a breath. He grabbed a singed stone lying on the road and began to beat the grandmother with all his might. The witch let out wild cries, terrible and menacing. Then the screams faded and sounded like bells.

"Is it really an old woman," Khoma thought. "Oh, I can't take it anymore," the witch groaned and collapsed in exhaustion. Bursak looked at the old woman, but in front of him lay a beauty with a disheveled luxurious braid, with long eyelashes. She moaned. Khoma became frightened and he set off to run as fast as he could. The philosopher hurried back to Kiev, thinking about the extraordinary incident.

Meanwhile, a rumor spread that the daughter of one of the richest centurions had returned from a walk all beaten up and was dying. She expressed a desire that the Kiev seminarian Khoma Brut read the waste paper on her after her death.

The young man resisted, did not want to go back. But I had to go. He was simply taken to the centurion under guard. The centurion, saddened by the death of his daughter, wanted to fulfill her last will.

In the room where the centurion brought the philosopher tall wax candles were burning, and in the corner under the images on a high table lay the body of the deceased. The girl's father pointed out to Khoma a place in the heads of the deceased, where there was a small deposit on which books lay.

The theologian approached and began to read, not daring to look into the face of the deceased. The centurion left. There was a deep silence. Brutus slowly turned his head to look at the deceased. In front of him, as if alive, lay a wonderful beauty, beautiful and tender. But there was something piercing in her features.
And then he recognized the witch. It was he who killed her.

In the evening the coffin was carried to the church. The night was inexorably approaching and the philosopher was more and more afraid. Khoma was locked up in the church and he was completely shy. Looked around. In the middle stands a black coffin, candles glow in front of the icons, but they only illuminate the iconostasis and the middle of the church. Everything is gloomy, and in the coffin there is a terrible sparkling beauty. There is nothing dead in this face of the deceased, it is as if alive. The lady seemed to be looking at him through lowered eyelids. And suddenly a tear rolled from his eye, turning into a drop of blood.

Khoma began to read prayers. The witch raised her head, stood up and, spreading her arms, went to the philosopher. Terrified, he drew a circle around him and began to intensively read prayers and incantations. The witch was at the very edge of the circle, but did not dare to cross it. In anger, she shook her finger and lay down in the coffin. The coffin fell off its place and began to fly around the temple.

The Bursak's heart was barely beating, the sweat rolled down like hail... But here are the saving roosters! The lid of the coffin slammed shut. Brutha came to take the place of the local deacon.

On the evening of the next day, under escort, the philosopher was again taken to the church. He immediately outlined himself around and began to say prayers, assuring himself that he would not raise his eyes again. But an hour later he could not stand it and turned his head towards the coffin. The corpse was already standing in front of the very line. Again the witch began to look for Homa, waving her arms and shouting terrible words. The guy realized that these were spells. The wind blew through the church. Everything creaked, scratched the glass, whistled, squealed. At last the roosters were heard.

During this night Khoma turned completely gray. It was impossible to refuse the third night. Having crossed himself, the theologian began to sing loudly. Here the lid of the coffin slammed and the dead lady stood up. The lips twitch, the mouth is twisted and spells fly out of it. The doors were torn off their hinges. The church was filled with all sorts of evil spirits. Everyone was looking for Homa. But surrounded by a mysterious circle, Brutus was invisible to them.

"Bring Viy!" - ordered the lady. A wolf howl was heard, heavy footsteps were heard. The guy saw out of the corner of his eye that some squat, clubfoot monster was being led. His long eyelids are lowered to the ground, and his face is iron. In an underground voice, the monster ordered to raise his eyelids and everyone rushed to fulfill his order.

An inner voice told Khoma not to look in that direction, but he could not restrain himself. And then Viy pointed at him with his iron finger. All evil spirits rushed at the philosopher, and he fell to the ground lifelessly. A rooster crow sounded immediately, but there was no one to save.

Khoma's friends remembered their comrade and concluded that he died from his own fear.

Main character

The aesthetic principle of classical Russian literature in the 19th century was an unwritten rule to give names to literary heroes with an additional semantic load that reflects the characteristic features of the character. Gogol shared and adhered to this principle.

The name of the protagonist is a complete contradiction of two principles. Homa Brutus!

Despite the fact that Gogol replaced one letter in the name of his hero, everyone easily draws a parallel with the biblical disciple of Jesus - the apostle Thomas. This apostle is most often remembered when it comes to unbelief. It was this follower of Christ who doubted the resurrection of his teacher because he was absent when the event took place. He believed, however, when the Lord came a second time to his disciples.

The moral is obvious - this student lacked faith. What the faithful adherents of Christ's teaching told him to Thomas is not enough, he wants facts.

From the Gospel narrative, the expression "Unbelieving Thomas" passed into the speech of many peoples and became a household word.

Brutus - this surname is also known to everyone, primarily as the killers of Caesar. The great-nephew of Caesar, adopted and raised by him in the best traditions, has become a symbol of apostasy and betrayal in the history of culture. Betrayal, destroying all values, including spiritual ones.

As for Gogol's hero, Khoma is a student who has the status of a philosopher. Such a prestigious reputation allows him to tutor during the holidays. The same title allows the guy to wear a mustache, drink and smoke. Despite his youth and social status, the bursak enjoys these privileges, relieving all stress with vodka.

The place where Brutus lives and studies cannot be called indicative. The writer revealed and showed all the depravity of the institution, where both teachers and students are engaged in unpleasing deeds: gluttony, stealing, fisticuffs. All discipline is maintained only through corporal punishment. Sending Khoma, who does not want to sing the funeral service, the rector says: “I will order you on the back and, for other reasons, whip you off with a young birch forest ...”

Homa guy is indifferent and lazy. This is such a phlegmatic, going with the flow and thinking: "What to be, that cannot be avoided." But, of course, the gradual increase in fear, during the three nights that he had to spend with a corpse wandering around the church, pretty much brought him out of his usual balance.

Brutus was not ready to fight. He let various evil spirits into his soul even before meeting the lady. Shouldn't the future spiritual servant improve, believe with all his heart and be an example to others. Should the interests of a theologian be reduced to desires to eat, sleep and drink vodka.

Homa is not the most respectable Christian. Curses constantly fly from his lips: “Look, damn son!”, “A match in your tongue, damn knur!”, “And your vile mug ... would have beaten with an oak log.”

But the theologian has not quite turned away from the faith yet. In the scene with the old woman who attacked him, it is prayers that help him cope with the witch, otherwise she could beat him to death. But this lesson did not help. The philosopher assigned to read prayers begins to mix them with incantations, and after that he completely descends to paganism, draws a circle. He does not believe in the power of prayer, in intercession with God - this is what ruined him.

The death of Brutus is a necessity in the story told.

An interesting fact is that the writer did not give a name to a beauty who is able to communicate with evil spirits and who is herself part of this community. He seemed not to sully any woman's name.

What is not attributed to this witch. She drinks blood, and turns into a dog, then into an old woman, and even calls other entities to herself.

Pannochka was an unprecedented beauty: a delicate white brow, like snow, like silver; black eyebrows - even, thin; eyelashes that arrows; flushed cheeks; mouth - rubies.

The Cossacks who stood by the centurion knew that the girl was a witch. Dorosh bluntly declares during dinner: “Yes, she rode me herself! By God, I went! Spirid also tells the story about how the pannochka drove the guy Mikita to death, riding on him. And she broke into the house of the Cossack Whisperer at night to drink infant blood and bite his wife to death.

It is not known how many lives the lady would have ruined if Brutus had not stopped her, paying for it with his own life.

Religious aspect

The church is the central place where all the main characters meet. This is where the plot twist happens.

Oddities with God's temple are visible even before the main actions. That building, which is always the center of the village, and is often the pride of the local authorities, decorates the area and makes a joyful impression, but looks very dull on the farm. Even the domes of this church are somehow dysfunctional, irregularly shaped. Dilapidation and neglect - that's what strikes travelers in the eye.

In this temple, even numerous candles cannot dispel the darkness. Black, in the color symbolism of Christians, is not only the color of witchcraft and magic - it is the color of death, and the entire space of the temple is saturated with death.

In addition to the complete power of darkness, an eerie silence reigns in the church. Not a single living thing makes a sound, not even a cricket. The silence is broken only by sounds that can increase feelings of fear: the gnashing of nails, the chatter of teeth, the howl of a wolf. Or maybe it's not wolves at all, but rampant demons.

Viy

In his work, the writer "brought" a monster completely unknown to readers of the 19th century. Scientific research of similar characters confirmed that in the totality of the mythological views of the Slavic peoples, such a dwarf was indeed mentioned.

It was a rather dangerous character, because he killed with one look. Fortunately, he could not raise his eyelids.

It is hard to imagine how deep Gogol went, diving into the very depths of pagan Slavism, pulling Viy out of there.

But there are other versions. Some prospectors insist that everything is much simpler, and the name Viy is simply a derivative of the Ukrainian word "vya" (eyelash). After all, the author knew and spoke Ukrainian well, always generously adding Ukrainian words to his works.

And some literary critics even laugh at everyone, because they are sure that the writer came up with this gnome. And all research is nothing more than dubious facts far-fetched.

But one way or another, the interface of the monster took place. On the one hand, this gnome is completely incompetent. He cannot walk by himself, he cannot look by himself. On the other hand, this monster kills.

In a handwritten note to his work, Nikolai Vasilievich explains that Viy, a kind of head of the gnomes, is a colossal creation of the common people's imagination.

Analysis

Perhaps "Viy" is the most mysterious of the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich, where from the very beginning everything is strange and incomprehensible. Why is the church in the farm abandoned? It is somewhere on the outskirts. Where do people baptize children, get married, bury the dead? Is it in neighboring farms?

With a red thread, Gogol showed that a temple left and abandoned can turn into a pagan temple. The church becomes the abode of evil spirits, because it is deserted.

From the very beginning of the story, everything in it is shrouded in darkness and mystery: a dark night, people who have gone astray, the gloomy surroundings of the church. Everything has symbolic overtones. Darkness, emptiness, blackness displaces faith from the human soul, which Homa succumbed to.

Khoma seemed to be given three attempts to show his sincere faith and turn to face God. But alas, the philosopher did not use this right.

There was nothing worse in Russian literature than the nightmare described in Viy. There were still about 70 years before the development of cinema, there were no films, and such books that could be read and re-read made a tremendous impression on the public. The unbridled fantasy of the narrator immersed the reader in a world of terrible mystical fantasy. The supernatural forces that evilly united against man, in fact, united against faith.

And although in the story "Viy" evil triumphed over good, everyone understands that everyone has a chance to defeat this very evil. You just need to believe! Believe with all your heart and soul!

As soon as the rather sonorous seminary bell, which hung at the gates of the Brotherhood Monastery, struck in Kiev in the morning, schoolchildren and students from all over the city hurried in crowds. Grammarians, rhetoricians, philosophers and theologians, notebooks under their arms, wandered into the classroom. The grammars were still very small; as they walked, they pushed each other and quarreled among themselves with the thinnest treble; they were all almost in tattered or soiled dresses, and their pockets were always filled with all sorts of rubbish; such as: grandmas, whistles made of feathers, a half-eaten pie, and sometimes even little sparrows, of which one, suddenly chirping amid the unusual silence in the classroom, delivered to his patron a decent fell in both hands, and sometimes cherry rods. Rhetors walked more solidly: their dresses were often completely intact, but on the other hand there was almost always some kind of decoration in the form of a rhetorical path on their faces: either one eye went right under the forehead, or instead of a lip there was a whole bubble, or some other sign; these spoke and swore among themselves in a tenor voice. Philosophers took a whole octave lower: in their pockets, except for strong tobacco roots, there was nothing. They did not make any stocks and everything that came across, they ate at the same time; from them they could hear the pipe and the burner, sometimes so far away that the craftsman who was passing by for a long time, stopping, sniffed the air like a hound dog.

The market at this time was usually just beginning to move, and the vendors with bagels, rolls, watermelon seeds and poppy seeds tugged at the floors of those whose floors were made of fine cloth or some kind of paper material.

- Panichi! panic! here! here! they said from all directions. - Axis bagels, poppy seeds, twirls, loaves are good! oh my god, they're good! on honey! baked it myself!

Another, picking up something long, twisted from dough, shouted:

- Axis gopher! panichi, buy a gopher!

- Do not buy anything from this one: look how bad she is - and her nose is not good, and her hands are unclean ...

But they were afraid to offend philosophers and theologians, because philosophers and theologians always liked to take only for a sample and, moreover, a whole handful.

Upon arrival at the seminary, the entire crowd was placed in classrooms, which were located in low, but rather spacious rooms with small windows, wide doors and soiled benches. The class was suddenly filled with discordant buzzing: auditors listened to their students; the sonorous treble of the grammar hit just in the clinking of glass inserted in small windows, and the glass answered with almost the same sound; in the corner hummed a rhetorician whose mouth and thick lips should at least belong to philosophy. He hummed in a bass voice, and only heard from a distance: boo, boo, boo, boo ... The tutors, listening to the lesson, looked with one eye under the bench, where a bun, or a dumpling, or pumpkin seeds peeped out of the pocket of a subordinate student.

When all this learned crowd had time to arrive a little earlier, or when they knew that the professors would be later than usual, then, with the general consent, they planned a battle, and in this battle everyone, even the censors, were obliged to look after the order and morality of the entire student class. . The two theologians used to decide how the battle should proceed: whether each class should stand up for itself especially, or whether everyone should be divided into two halves: into the bursa and the seminary. In any case, the grammarians started before everyone else, and as soon as the rhetoricians intervened, they already ran away and stood on the dais to watch the battle. Then philosophy entered with long black mustaches, and finally theology, in terrible trousers and with thick necks. As a rule, theology ended up beating everyone, and philosophy, scratching its sides, was crowded into the classroom and placed to rest on the benches. A professor who entered a class and who himself had once taken part in similar battles, in one minute, by the inflamed faces of his listeners, recognized that the battle was not bad, and at the time when he was whipping rhetoric on his fingers, another professor in another class finished with wooden spatulas on the hands of philosophy. With the theologians, it was treated in a completely different way: they, in the words of the professor of theology, slept according to the measure large peas, which consisted of short leather kanchukas.

On solemn days and holidays, seminarians and students went home with nativity scenes. Sometimes they played a comedy, and in this case, some theologian was always distinguished, not much shorter than the Kiev bell tower, representing Herodias or Pentephria, the wife of an Egyptian courtier. As a reward they received a piece of linen, or a sack of millet, or half a boiled goose, and the like.

All this learned people, both the seminary and the bursa, who had some kind of hereditary hostility among themselves, were extremely poor in the means of subsistence and, moreover, unusually gluttonous; so that it would be an absolutely impossible thing to count how many each of them ate dumplings at the supper; and therefore the well-meaning donations of wealthy owners could not suffice. Then the senate, which consisted of philosophers and theologians, sent grammarians and rhetors under the leadership of one philosopher - and sometimes joined himself - with bags on their shoulders to devastate other people's gardens. And pumpkin porridge appeared in the bursa. The senators gorged themselves on so many watermelons and melons that the next day the auditors heard from them two lessons instead of one: one came from the mouth, the other grumbled in the senatorial stomach. Bursa and the seminary wore some kind of long semblance of frock coats, stretching up to now: the word is technical, meaning - further heels.

The most solemn event for the seminary was the vacancy - the time since June, when the bursa usually went home. Then grammarians, philosophers and theologians littered the entire high road. Whoever did not have his own shelter, he went to one of his comrades. Philosophers and theologians went on condition, that is, they undertook to teach or prepare the children of wealthy people, and for that they received new boots a year, and sometimes for a frock coat. This whole gang was dragged together by a whole camp; cooked porridge for herself and spent the night in the field. Each of them dragged behind him a sack containing one shirt and a pair of onuch. Theologians were especially thrifty and careful: in order not to wear out their boots, they threw them off, hung them on sticks and carried them on their shoulders, especially when there was mud. Then they, having rolled up their bloomers to their knees, fearlessly splashed puddles with their feet. As soon as they envied the farm in the distance, they immediately turned off the main road and, approaching the hut, built more neatly than the others, stood in a row in front of the windows and began to sing the cant at the top of their lungs. The owner of the hut, some old Cossack peasant, listened to them for a long time, leaning on both hands, then sobbed bitterly and said, turning to his wife: “Zhinko! what the schoolchildren sing must be very reasonable; bring them some bacon and something that we have!” And a whole bowl of dumplings fell into the bag. A decent piece of bacon, a few palyanits, and sometimes a tied chicken were placed together. Having refreshed themselves with such a stock of grammar, rhetoricians, philosophers and theologians again continued on their way. The further, however, they went, the more their crowd decreased. All were almost scattered to their homes, and those who had parental nests further than others remained.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

Viy

As soon as the rather sonorous seminary bell, which hung at the gates of the Brotherhood Monastery, struck in Kiev in the morning, schoolchildren and students from all over the city hurried in crowds. Grammarians, rhetoricians, philosophers and theologians, notebooks under their arms, wandered into the classroom. The grammars were still very small; as they walked, they pushed each other and quarreled among themselves with the thinnest treble; they were all almost in tattered or soiled dresses, and their pockets were always filled with all sorts of rubbish; somehow: grandmas, whistles made of feathers, a half-eaten pie, and sometimes even little sparrows, of which one, suddenly chirping amid the unusual silence in the classroom, delivered to his patron a decent fell in both hands, and sometimes cherry rods. Rhetors walked more solidly: their dresses were often completely intact, but on the other hand there was almost always some kind of decoration in the form of a rhetorical path on their faces: either one eye went right under the forehead, or instead of a lip there was a whole bubble, or some other sign; these spoke and swore among themselves in a tenor voice. Philosophers took a whole octave lower: in their pockets, except for strong tobacco roots, there was nothing. They did not make any stocks and everything that came across, they ate at the same time; from them they could hear the pipe and the burner, sometimes so far away that the craftsman who was passing by for a long time, stopping, sniffed the air like a hound dog.

The market at this time was usually just beginning to move, and the vendors with bagels, rolls, watermelon seeds and poppy seeds tugged at the floors of those whose floors were made of fine cloth or some kind of paper material.

- Panichi! panic! here! here! they said from all directions. - Axis bagels, poppy seeds, twirls, loaves are good! oh my god, they're good! on honey! baked it myself!

Another, picking up something long, twisted from dough, shouted:

- Axis gopher! panichi, buy a gopher!

- Do not buy anything from this one: look how bad she is - and her nose is not good, and her hands are unclean ...

But they were afraid to offend philosophers and theologians, because philosophers and theologians always liked to take only for a sample and, moreover, a whole handful

Upon arrival at the seminary, the entire crowd was placed in classrooms, which were located in low, but rather spacious rooms with small windows, wide doors and soiled benches. The class was suddenly filled with discordant buzzing: auditors listened to their students; the sonorous treble of the grammar hit just in the clinking of glass inserted in small windows, and the glass answered with almost the same sound; in the corner hummed a rhetorician whose mouth and thick lips should at least belong to philosophy. He hummed in a bass voice, and only heard from a distance: boo, boo, boo, boo ... The tutors, listening to the lesson, looked with one eye under the bench, where a bun, or a dumpling, or pumpkin seeds peeped out of the pocket of a subordinate student.

When all this learned crowd had time to arrive a little earlier, or when they knew that the professors would be later than usual, then, with the general consent, they planned a battle, and in this battle everyone, even the censors, were obliged to look after the order and morality of the entire student class. . The two theologians used to decide how the battle should proceed: whether each class should stand up for itself especially, or whether everyone should be divided into two halves: into the bursa and the seminary. In any case, the grammarians started before everyone else, and as soon as the rhetoricians intervened, they already ran away and stood on the dais to watch the battle. Then philosophy entered with long black mustaches, and finally theology, in terrible trousers and with thick necks. As a rule, theology ended up beating everyone, and philosophy, scratching its sides, was crowded into the classroom and placed to rest on the benches. A professor who entered a class and who himself had once taken part in similar battles, in one minute, by the inflamed faces of his listeners, recognized that the battle was not bad, and at the time when he was whipping rhetoric on his fingers, another professor in another class finished with wooden spatulas on the hands of philosophy. With the theologians, it was treated in a completely different way: they, in the words of a professor of theology, were given large peas to measure, which consisted of short leather kanchukas.

On solemn days and holidays, seminarians and students went home with nativity scenes. Sometimes they played a comedy, and in this case, some theologian was always distinguished, not much shorter than the Kiev bell tower, representing Herodias or Pentephria, the wife of an Egyptian courtier. As a reward they received a piece of linen, or a sack of millet, or half a boiled goose, and the like.

All this learned people, both the seminary and the bursa, who had some kind of hereditary hostility among themselves, were extremely poor in the means of subsistence and, moreover, unusually gluttonous; so it would be quite impossible to count how many dumplings each of them ate at supper; and therefore the well-meaning donations of well-to-do owners could not suffice. Then the senate, which consisted of philosophers and theologians, sent grammarians and rhetors under the leadership of one philosopher - and sometimes joined himself - with bags on their shoulders to devastate other people's gardens. And pumpkin porridge appeared in the bursa. The senators gorged themselves on so many watermelons and melons that the next day the auditors heard from them two lessons instead of one: one came from the mouth, the other grumbled in the senatorial stomach. Bursa and the seminary wore some kind of long semblance of frock coats, which extend to this day: a technical word, meaning - further than heels.

The most solemn event for the seminary was the vacancy - the time since June, when the bursa usually went home. Then grammarians, philosophers and theologians strewn the whole high road. Whoever did not have his own shelter, he went to one of his comrades. Philosophers and theologians went to the standard, that is, they undertook to teach or prepare the children of wealthy people, and for that they received new boots a year, and sometimes even a frock coat. This whole gang was dragged together by a whole camp; cooked porridge for herself and spent the night in the field. Each of them dragged behind him a sack containing one shirt and a pair of onuch. Theologians were especially thrifty and careful: in order not to wear out their boots, they threw them off, hung them on sticks and carried them on their shoulders, especially when there was mud. Then they, having rolled up their bloomers to their knees, fearlessly splashed puddles with their feet. As soon as they envied the farm aside, they immediately turned off the main road and, approaching

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is a famous Russian writer. His works are familiar to us from the school bench. We all remember his "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", "Dead Souls" and other famous creations. In 1835, Gogol finished his mystical story Viy. The summary of the work presented in this article will help to refresh the main points of the plot. The story stands apart in the work of the writer. Viy is an ancient Slavic demonic creature. It could kill with just one look. His image was embodied in his story by Gogol. The work "Viy" at one time was not appreciated by critics. Belinsky called the story "fantastic", devoid of useful content. But Nikolai Vasilyevich himself attached great importance to this work. He remade it several times, removing the details of the description of the terrible fairy-tale creatures that killed the main character. The story was published in the collection "Mirgorod".

"Viy", Gogol (summary): introduction

The most long-awaited event for the students at the Kiev Seminary is vacancies, when all students go home. They go home in groups, earning money along the way with spiritual chants. Three bursaks: the philosopher Khoma Brut, the theologian Freebie and the rhetorician Tiberius Gorodets - go astray. At night, they go out to an abandoned farm, where they knock on the first hut with a request to be allowed to spend the night. The hostess, the old woman, agrees to let them in on the condition that they lie down in different places. She determines Khoma Brutus to spend the night in an empty sheepshed. Not having time to close his eyes, the student sees an old woman entering him. Her gaze seems sinister to him. He understands that before him is a witch. The old woman comes up to him and quickly jumps on his shoulders. Before the philosopher has time to come to his senses, he is already flying through the night sky with a witch on his back. Khoma tries to whisper prayers and feels that the old woman is weakening at the same time. Having chosen the moment, he slips out from under the cursed witch, sits on her and begins to walk around her with a log. Exhausted, the old woman falls to the ground, and the philosopher continues to beat her. Groans are heard, and Khoma Brut sees that a young beauty is lying in front of him. In fear, he runs away.

"Viy", Gogol (summary): development of events

Soon the rector of the seminary calls Khoma to him and informs him that a rich centurion from a distant farm has sent a wagon and six healthy Cossacks for him to take the seminarian to read prayers over his deceased daughter, who returned from a beaten walk. When the bursak is brought to the farm, the centurion asks him where he could meet his daughter. After all, the lady's last wish is for the seminarian Khoma Brut to read the waste paper on her. Bursak says he does not know his daughter. But when he sees her in a coffin, he notes with fear that this is the same witch whom he was guarding with a log. At dinner, the villagers tell Khoma different stories about the dead lady. Many of them noticed that hell was going on with her. By nightfall, the seminarian is taken to the church where the coffin stands, and they lock him up there. Approaching the kliros, Khoma draws a protective circle around him and begins to recite prayers aloud. By midnight, the witch rises from the coffin and tries to find the bursak. The protective circle prevents her from doing so. Khoma reads prayers with his last breath. Then a rooster crow is heard, and the witch returns to the coffin. Its lid closes. The next day the seminarian asks the centurion to let him go home. When he refuses this request, he tries to escape from the farm. They catch him and by nightfall they again take him to the church and lock him up. There, Khoma, before he had time to draw a circle, sees that the witch has risen from the coffin again and walks around the church - looking for him. She casts spells. But the circle again does not allow her to catch the philosopher. Brutus hears how an uncountable army of evil spirits is breaking into the church. With the last of his strength, he reads prayers. A cock crow is heard, and everything disappears. In the morning Khoma is taken out of the church gray-haired.

"Viy", Gogol (summary): denouement

The time has come for the third night of prayer reading by the seminarian in the church. All the same circle protects Homa. The witch is on a rampage. bursting into the church, trying to find and seize the bursak. The latter continues to read prayers, trying not to look at the spirits. Then the witch shouts: "Bring Viy!" Walking heavily, a squat monster with large eyelids covering his eyes enters the church. An inner voice tells Khoma that it is impossible to look at Viy. The monster demands that his eyelids be opened. Evil spirits rush to carry out this order. The seminarian, unable to resist, casts a glance at Viy. He notices him and points at him with an iron finger. All evil spirits rush to Homa, who immediately gives up the spirit. A cock crow is heard. The monsters rush out of the church. But this is the second cry, the first they did not hear. The evil spirit does not have time to leave. The church remains standing with the evil spirit stuck in the cracks. No one else will come here. After all these events, Freebie and Tiberius Gorodets, having learned about the plight of Khoma, commemorate the soul of the departed. They conclude that he died from fear.

The work "Viy" is not included in the compulsory program for the study of literature in secondary schools. But we are very interested in it. This mystical story allows you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of ancient fairy tale legends (here is a brief retelling of it). "Viy" Gogol wrote more than a century and a half ago. Then the work caused a lot of rumors and conversations. Nowadays, it is read with no less trepidation.