Very briefly the night before Christmas. Christmas Eve

This story is included in the cycle "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka", which became the first book published under his own name by the great writer. Of all that he created, "The Night Before Christmas", a summary, or annotation, which is given below, according to Pushkin, is the most striking example of real gaiety without affectation and stiffness.

Despite being relatively small, The Night Before Christmas is extremely character-packed, though not all of them are of equal importance to the development of the plot.

The heroes of the story can be divided into main and secondary.

Some go through the story from beginning to end, others appear only once, but they add a touch of good humor to this Christmas tale filled with the scent of Little Russia.

The list of main characters includes:

Vakula - a strong man and a kid anywhere, a poor young blacksmith and an amateur artist who earns money by painting huts, fences, chests, dishes, and also decorating the Dikanka temple with icons and wall paintings for free.
Oksana - the first beauty of Dikanka, confident in her own irresistibility, a proud and capricious girl, with whom Vakula is unrequitedly and hopelessly in love.
The rich Cossack Chub - Oksana's father, a widower who does not like the poor, but proud and rebellious blacksmith, who dared to lay eyes on his only daughter.
Solohu is the mother of Vakula, a woman of forty in the prime of her life, a witch who is very popular with local respectable men. Solokha has views of Chuba and, wanting to prevent her son from marrying Oksana, deliberately quarrels Vakula with her father.
The devil, who has “love chickens” with a witch and who fiercely hates her son Vakula for the icons and paintings he painted that shame evil spirits.
Pot-bellied Patsyuk, a retired Zaporozhye Cossack who has been living in Dikanka for many years and is reputed to be an experienced healer, as well as a person who knows the dark forces.

The rest of the characters: the clerk, the godfather Panas, the godfather's wife, the head (in modern terms, the head of the village administration) of Dikanka, as well as the Cossacks, Queen Catherine II and others, serve as an addition to the group of main characters.

Together, they create a fascinating storyline for a story that the young Gogol wrote almost 200 years ago.

Note! The book was published in 1832 and has been a hit with readers ever since. Russians of all ages read and re-read it with pleasure, from middle school to retirement.

annotation

The book tells about what happened once in the Poltava village of Dikanka. This semi-fairytale story, which gives a vivid and lively description of the life and customs of the Ukrainian peasantry in the last third of the 18th century, opens the second book of Evenings .... It is more convenient to retell the story in chapters, briefly outlining their content.

Dark night

On a cold and clear night before Christmas, a witch on a broom flew up into the sky through the chimney of her hut. At the same time, there was also a devil who was supposed to return to hell with the dawn, since on this holiday it is forbidden for evil spirits to walk around the wide world.

The devil planned to steal the moon in order to prevent Chub from going with his godfather to the deacon's for a housewarming party and a festive evening meal. The devil knew that in this case the girl would be at home alone, and Vakula would come to her to declare her love.

But if her father does not go to the clerk, the blacksmith will not succeed. The idea was a success and, putting the month into a bag hanging over his shoulder, the devil flew up to the witch and began to whisper pleasantries in her ear.

Chub, together with the godfather, leaves the house, and suddenly they notice that there are no stars or a moon in the sky. Kum offers to return.

Chub, who himself thought about this, out of stubbornness decides to act contrary to smart advice and at all costs get to the deacon.

Kumu does not care, he is ready to go, and he and Chub set off on their journey in complete darkness.

Left alone, Oksana dresses up and talks to herself in front of the mirror. Flirty, the girl says that she is not at all as good as they say about her, but, after thinking, she decides that it is a miracle how good.

The blacksmith watches her through the window of the hut, then enters. Vakula asks permission to sit next to her on a bench, then dares to ask for a kiss, but receives a sharp refusal.

Oksana is waiting for the girls with the guys to come to her, and they all go caroling together. The upset guy understands that Oksana does not need him at all.

Cherevichki

A blizzard breaks out outside, Chub and godfather lose their way and decide to return. Kum turns into a tavern - a tavern, and Chub knocks on the door of his hut.

Vakula opens the door for him, and Chub thinks that he made a mistake and ended up in Levchenko's house, which was similar to his hut, who was also going to the deacon and who left a young wife at home.

Chub comes to the conclusion that Vakula is visiting his wife while her husband is not at home. The Cossack changes his voice, pretending to be a caroler.

The blacksmith beats him up and pushes him out of his own hut. Chub realizes that, since Levchenko has a blacksmith, Solokha is now alone, and decides to visit her.

When the devil and the witch, frozen, return to her house through the chimney, the moon slips out of the bag and takes off into the sky. It immediately becomes light, and young people go out into the street to carol. To Oksana, as she expected, a crowd of boys and girls comes.

On one of her friends, Odarka, the girl notices new shoes and, continuing to flirt, says that Odarka is very lucky, since someone gave her such wonderful shoes, but no one gives her, Oksana, such gifts.

Vakula promises to give her beloved the best little slippers. The beauty declares that if the blacksmith brings her the queen's slippers, she will marry him. Everyone laughs at the unlucky lover.

Bags

Solokha, convinced that her cavaliers are now at the deacon's party, is amiable with the devil and suddenly hears a knock on the door and the voice of the head. She goes to open it, and meanwhile the devil hides in one of the sacks standing by the wall of the hut.

Before the head had time to take a glass of vodka from the hands of the witch, a knock was heard again - the clerk came to visit, who canceled his banquet due to darkness and a snowstorm. The head, not wanting to lose its authority by meeting with the clerk in such a piquant situation, asks his mistress to hide him and climbs into the largest bag.

The courtesy of the clerk is interrupted by the knocking and voice of Chub, and he also goes to the sack. But Chub is also unlucky - an upset Vakula returns after him. The frightened Chub hides in the bag where the clerk is already sitting. Entering the house, the guy notices the bags and decides to take them to the forge.

The sacks are heavy, but the blacksmith thinks that it only seems to him and that the heaviness in his soul is to blame for everything.

Going out into the street, the blacksmith sees a crowd of girls and lads, and among them Oksana, who, laughing, reminds him of her promise to become his wife if he gets the queen's slippers.

Throwing large bags on the snow, Vakula puts the bag with the devil on his back and goes, not knowing where.

Realizing that he will not be able to forget the cruel Oksana, he thinks that it is better to part with his life than to suffer like this.

In response to the question of the met friends, where is he going, the lover says goodbye to them. Hearing this, the idle gossip is going to tell the whole village that the blacksmith hanged himself.

After cooling in the cold, the young man changes his mind. Vakula decides to call on evil spirits for help and goes for advice to Pot-bellied Patsyuk. Opening the door of his hut, he sees the owner, who is sitting on the floor with his legs crossed in Turkish style.

There are two bowls in front of him, one with sour cream, the other with dumplings, and Patsyuk, without touching his hands, directs the dumplings into the sour cream with his eyes, then opens his mouth, where the dumpling flies by itself. Vakula opens his mouth in surprise, and one of the dumplings falls into it.

Frightened, wiping his lips, because the Christmas fast has not yet ended, when it is forbidden to eat meat and dairy dishes, the blacksmith asks Patsyuk how he can find his way to hell.

Patsyuk replies that the one who has the devil behind his back does not need to go anywhere. The blacksmith does not understand that Patsyuk means the bag with which he came.

Understanding nothing, Vakula runs out of Patsyuk's hut and lowers the sack to the ground.

The devil jumps out of the bag, sits on the blacksmith's shoulders and begins to persuade him to sell his soul, promising in exchange to fulfill all his desires.

Self-control returns to the guy, he pretends that he wants to reach into his pocket for a nail in order to pierce his finger and sign a contract with blood. He himself, having contrived, grabs the devil by the tail, pulls him off his back and raises his hand to cross him. The frightened devil begs him not to do this, and Vakula agrees if the devil will take him to St. Petersburg and help him see the queen.

Oksana and her friends find the bags left by Vakula and think that there are various goodies he collected at carols. Realizing that they will not be able to carry such a burden, they follow the sled.

The godfather walking along the road also finds bags and wants to take them to the tavern in order to exchange them for a drink, but changes his mind, and together with the weaver, whom he met along the way, drags one of them, where Chub is sitting, to his home. There they are met by the godfather's wife and rushes at her husband and neighbor, intending to take the contents of the bag for herself.

During the fight, Chub crawls out of there and pretends that he deliberately climbed into the bag to play a trick on the neighbors.

They climb into the bag, hoping to find a piglet there, but they find a deacon. The astonished Chub understands that Solokha does not bestow her favor on him alone.

The girls who returned with the sled find only one bag on the road and take it to Chub's house to share the treat they believe is in it.

Hearing the hiccups of the head from the bag, they scream in fright and, rushing out of the door, stumble upon the incoming Chub. Having learned that the girls found a bag on the road in which someone is sitting, Chub comes up and sees a head coming out of the bag.

Confused Chub and head, not knowing what to say, exchange phrases about the weather and about the best way to clean boots. The head leaves, and Chub is finally disappointed in Solokha.

Oksana

Vakula arrives in St. Petersburg on horseback and joins the delegation of the Cossacks, who have an appointment with the queen.

During the reception, Catherine asks the Cossacks what they want.

Without hesitation, Vakula decides to take advantage of the moment and declares that he would like to receive the little laces that the queen wears on her beautiful slender legs.

Amazed and moved by the ingenuous naivety of the compliment, the empress gives him a pair of shoes, and the blacksmith flies back.

Meanwhile, the inhabitants of Dikanka, confident that the blacksmith committed suicide, are arguing about whether he hanged himself or drowned himself.

Oksana hears these conversations, she feels sorry for the guy, she repents that she was so cold with him, and understands that she loves him. On Christmas morning, a festive service is held in the church, everyone pays attention to the absence of Vakula and is finally convinced that he is not alive.

Having returned from St. Petersburg, Vakula lets go of the devil, giving him three blows with a stick, and falls asleep. Waking up, he realizes that he overslept the church service.

Next week, the blacksmith is going to confess his sins, but for now, the smart one is going to Chub with gifts to woo Oksana, taking with him little slippers.

Chub reconciles with him and agrees to accept the matchmaking, and Oksana says that she does not need little slippers - she already loves Vakula.

A few years later, a bishop passed through Dikanka, and, seeing a young woman standing with a child near a white hut painted with patterns and flowers, he asked whose house it was so elegant.

"Blacksmith Vakula!" - answered the young woman, who was Oksana. So happily ends the story "The Night Before Christmas", a summary of which was outlined above.

Variations of "The Night Before Christmas"

Such a wonderful fairy tale plot could not but serve as a source of inspiration for many authors working in various genres.

Works on the theme of "Nights ..." began to appear several years after the publication of the book, and the process continues to this day.

Here is what the list of these works looks like:

Opera "Blacksmith Vakula", composed by P.I. Tchaikovsky in 1874, in the second edition (1887) called "Cherevichki", under which it was preserved in history.
The opera The Night Before Christmas written by N. Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887.
Silent film The Night Before Christmas, staged in 1913 by director Vladislav Starevich.
1951 animated film of the same name.
Film-opera "Cherevichki" 1944.
"Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" 1961 is the most famous feature film directed by Alexander Rou.
TV musical "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" 2002.

Note! This proves that even a small work written by a brilliant author can become a real masterpiece.

Useful video

Summing up

"Evenings ..." deservedly entered the golden list of works of Russian literature created in the century before last.

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The last day before Christmas has passed. It was freezing colder than in the morning. Then a witch flew out through the chimney of one of the huts. She flew, collecting stars scattered across the sky in her sleeve along the way. No one saw her, because the guys and girls had not yet come out to carol. The devil was flying towards the witch. He sneaked towards the moon to steal it. The devil had long been angry with the blacksmith Vakula, a God-fearing man and the best painter in Dikanka, because he painted a picture of the Last Judgment on the church wall. On it, the devil was expelled from hell, and the sinners "beat and chased him with whips, logs and everything else." Since then, the devil swore to take revenge on Vakula, and only one night remained for him to freely walk around the world. The theft of the month, according to the plan of the demon, was supposed to detain the house of the Cossack Chub, respected in the village, and this would prevent the blacksmith from coming to Chubova's daughter Oksana, the first beauty in the village. And indeed, "as soon as the devil hid his moon in his pocket, it suddenly became so dark all over the world that not everyone would find the way to the tavern." The witch, seeing herself in the darkness, cried out. Then the devil, riding up to her like a small demon, began to whisper in her ear what is usually whispered to the entire female race. At this time, Chub and his godfather, standing on the threshold, are pondering whether it is worth going to the deacon at kutya in such darkness. For fear of seeming lazy to each other, they still set off. Chub's only daughter, Oksana, preens before the arrival of her friends. She lovingly examines herself in the mirror, saying: "Are my black eyebrows and my eyes so good? What's good about this upturned nose? And cheeks? .. No, I'm good! Oh, how good! Miracle!" Behind this occupation, the blacksmith finds her. For a long time he can not see enough of the proud beauty. Oksana takes him very coldly. Their conversation is interrupted by a knock on the door, and Vakula goes to open it "with the intention of breaking off the side of the first person who comes across with annoyance." Behind the door is Chub himself, who has lost his way. He decided to return home, but when he heard the blacksmith's voice, he thought that he was not in his own hut, but in the hut of the Cossack Levchenko, to whose young wife, probably, the blacksmith came. Frightened by Vakula, Chub changes his voice and says that he has come to carol. The blacksmith drives him away. Then Chub decides to visit Vakula's mother, the witch Solokha, who was having fun with the devil at that time. Moreover, the demon, flying into Solokha's hut through a pipe, dropped the moon. The moon took the opportunity and smoothly rose into the sky, illuminating everything around. The blizzard subsided, and cheerful and noisy youth poured out into the street. "Heaps of girls with bags burst into Chub's hut and surrounded Oksana." Oksana notices on one of her friends new, gold-embroidered slippers. In front of everyone, she declares that she will marry a blacksmith if he gets her little slippers that the queen wears. Annoyed, Vakula leaves her and heads home.

At this time, Solokha's head tumbles into the hut. The devil was forced to hide in a bag of coal. It must be said that Solokha willingly hosted the most respected Cossacks, so much so that none of them ever suspected the existence of a rival. But most of all she was with the widowed Cossack Chub. Solokha had far-reaching plans - to seize his wealth. But, knowing about her son's love for Oksana and fearing that Vakula would not take Chub's property before her, she constantly quarreled with the blacksmith and Oksana's father. And so, before the head had time to shake off the snow, the clerk knocked on the door. The overweight head had to climb into a bag of coal. But the clerk himself did not have to warm himself for long. Chub finally reached Solokha. And after him, Vakula began knocking furiously on the hut. Chub also had to hide in a sack, the same one in which the clerk was already sitting. The blacksmith absentmindedly looked around the corners of his hut and saw the sacks. Thinking that the bags are garbage, Vakula decides to take them out.

On the way, he meets a crowd of girls, including Oksana. Throwing away the big sacks, and leaving one small one over his shoulders, the blacksmith follows her. The girl again laughs at Vakula and says that she will marry him if he gets her the queen's slippers. The blacksmith understands that it is impossible to fulfill her demand and, in despair, wants to drown himself in the hole. On the run, he shouts to the lads to ask Father Kondrat to pray for his sinful soul, since he will no longer walk in this world.

After cooling down, Vakula decides to try the last resort. He goes to ask for advice from the Zaporozhian Patsyuk, about whom there were rumors in Dikanka that he "has a little like the devil." Vakula was extremely surprised to find the owner eating dumplings, which themselves were dipped in sour cream and climbed into his mouth. All that Patsyuk said to Vakula was: "The one who has the devil behind him does not need to go far." Then the blacksmith noticed that the dumpling in sour cream climbed into his mouth. Remembering that on this night one cannot eat meat, the blacksmith runs out of the hut so as not to gain sin. The demon sitting in the sack decides to seize the moment and get Vakula's soul. Deftly jumping out of the bag, he climbs on the blacksmith's neck and offers to make Oksana belong to Vakula today, and in return asks to sign a contract. The blacksmith agrees. The devil begins to dance around his neck for joy. Then Vakula grabs him by the tail and baptizes him. The devil becomes quiet, and Vakula, sitting on top of him, orders him to be taken to the queen in St. Petersburg.

The girls find bags abandoned by Vakula, decide to go for a sled to take them to Oksana's house and see what's in them. At this time, Chubov's godfather, having called the weaver for help, drags one of the sacks into his hut, thinking that it contains caroled food. Chub and the clerk are in the bag. The second bag of the girl is taken to Oksana, and the head comes out at the moment when Chub enters the hut. The embarrassed head hurries to leave, and Chub begins to scold Solokha for treachery.

The blacksmith arrives in St. Petersburg and, with the help of the devil, joins the Cossacks, who pass through Dikanka in the fall. The Cossacks inform Vakula that they are going to the queen for a reception, and agree to take him with them. The blacksmith finds himself in the palace, where he is amazed at the luxury and magnificence of the surroundings. And here he is in front of the Empress. The Cossacks came to ask for their Sich. “What do you want?” the Empress asks. And then Vakula throws himself on his knees in front of her and asks the queen for her shoes. Touched by the innocence of the Cossack, the Empress orders to fulfill his request. Vakula suddenly disappears, and now the devil is carrying the blacksmith back to Dikanka.

And at that time a commotion began in Dikanka. Everyone only talks about the death of Vakula. Oksana herself regrets that she was so cruel to the person who endured her whims the longest. She does not sleep well at night, and by morning she realizes that she is head over heels in love with a blacksmith.

Vakula comes home, lets go of the devil, having given him three weighty blows with a twig before that. The next morning the blacksmith takes a new hat and belt and goes to woo. He kneels before Chub and offers to forget past grievances, after which he presents gifts and asks to give Oksana for him. Enticed by the gifts, Chub agrees. Oksana, who entered, gasped with joy when she saw the blacksmith. She didn't even look at the slippers: "No! No! I don't need slippers! I'm without slippers..." And blushed.

Oksana and Vakula got married. Vakula marvelously painted his hut with paints for everyone, and in the church he painted the devil in hell, and "so nasty that everyone spat when they passed by."

N.V. Gogol

Name: Christmas Eve

Genre: Tale

Duration: 10min 21sec

Annotation:

The villagers are getting ready for Christmas night. Chub is expected to visit the clerk at home, who will leave his arrogant beauty daughter Oksana alone. The blacksmith Vakula is waiting for Chub to leave the house to pay a visit to Oksana. He is hopelessly in love with her, but his love is unrequited. He would get the moon out of the sky for her if he could. For her, he was ready for anything.
And in fact, someone actually removed the moon from the sky that night. And none other than the devil himself. He harbored a grudge against the blacksmith, because he painted the devil on the walls of the church, and even so truthfully. The picture showed that the devil has a great lack of sinners who are destined to go to him, to hell. The devil wanted to destroy the plans of the villagers and stole the light that the moon gave. He hoped that Chub would stay at home, thereby preventing Vakula from spending that evening with his beloved Oksana. And this story will tell what can happen when the devil and people interfere in each other's affairs.

N.V. Gogol - The night before Christmas. Listen to short audio content online.

The last day before Christmas is replaced by a clear frosty night. The maidens and lads had not yet come out to carol, and no one saw how smoke went out of the chimney of one hut and a witch rose on a broomstick. She flashes like a black speck in the sky, picking up stars in her sleeve, and the devil flies towards her, to whom "the last night was left to stagger around the white world." Having stolen the month, the devil hides it in his pocket, assuming that the darkness that has come will keep the rich Cossack Chub, invited to the clerk at kutya, at home, and the hated devil blacksmith Vakula (who painted a picture of the Last Judgment and the shamed devil on the church wall) will not dare to come to Chubova’s daughter Oksana . While the devil is building chickens for the witch, Chub and his godfather, who left the hut, do not dare to go to the sexton, where a pleasant society will gather for varenukha, or, in view of such darkness, return home, and they leave, leaving the beautiful Oksana in the house, dressing up in front of a mirror, for which and finds her Vakula. The severe beauty taunts him, untouched by his gentle speeches. The frustrated blacksmith goes to unlock the door, on which Chub, who has gone astray and lost his godfather, knocks, deciding to return home on the occasion of the blizzard raised by the devil. However, the blacksmith's voice makes him think that he did not end up in his own hut (but in a similar, lame Levchenko, whose young wife, probably, the blacksmith came), Chub changes his voice, and an angry Vakula, poking, kicks him out. The beaten Chub, having found out that the blacksmith, therefore, left his own house, goes to his mother, Solokha. Solokha, who was a witch, returned from her journey, and the devil flew in with her, dropping a month in the chimney.

It became light, the blizzard subsided, and crowds of carolers poured into the streets. The girls run to Oksana, and, noticing on one of them new laces embroidered with gold, Oksana declares that she will marry Vakula if he brings her the laces "which the queen wears." In the meantime, the devil, who has become mellow at Solokha's, is frightened away by the head, who has not gone to the clerk at the kutya. The devil quickly climbs into one of the bags left in the middle of the hut by the blacksmith, but soon the head has to climb into the other, as the clerk knocks on Solokha. Praising the virtues of the incomparable Solokha, the clerk is forced to climb into the third bag, since Chub appears. However, Chub also climbs there, avoiding a meeting with the returned Vakula. While Solokha is explaining herself in the garden with the Cossack Sverbyguz, who has come after her, Vakula carries away the sacks thrown in the middle of the hut, and, saddened by the quarrel with Oksana, does not notice their weight. On the street he is surrounded by a crowd of carolers, and here Oksana repeats her mocking condition. Leaving all but the smallest sacks in the middle of the road, Vakula runs, and rumors are already crawling behind him that he either lost his mind or hanged himself.

Vakula comes to the Cossack Pot-bellied Patsyuk, who, as they say, is "a little like the devil." Having caught the owner eating dumplings, and then dumplings, which themselves climbed into Patsyuk's mouth, Vakula timidly asks for directions to hell, relying on his help in his misfortune. Having received a vague answer that the devil is behind him, Vakula runs away from the quick dumpling that climbs into his mouth. Anticipating easy prey, the devil jumps out of the bag and, sitting on the blacksmith's neck, promises him Oksana that very night. The cunning blacksmith, grabbing the devil by the tail and crossing him, becomes the master of the situation and orders the devil to take himself "to Petemburg, straight to the queen."

Having found Kuznetsov's bags about that time, the girls want to take them to Oksana to see what Vakula caroled. They go after the sled, and Chubov's godfather, having called for help from the weaver, drags one of the sacks into his hut. There, for the obscure, but seductive contents of the bag, there is a fight with the godfather's wife. Chub and the clerk are in the bag. When Chub, returning home, finds a head in the second bag, his disposition towards Solokha is greatly reduced.

The blacksmith, having galloped to Petersburg, appears to the Cossacks, who pass through Dikanka in the autumn, and, pressing the devil in his pocket, seeks to be taken to an appointment with the queen. Marveling at the luxury of the palace and the wonderful paintings on the walls, the blacksmith finds himself in front of the queen, and when she asks the Cossacks who came to ask for their Sich, “what do you want?”, the blacksmith asks her for her royal shoes. Touched by such innocence, Catherine draws attention to this passage of Fonvizin standing at a distance, and Vakula gives shoes, having received which he considers it good to go home.

In the village at this time, the Dikan women in the middle of the street are arguing about exactly how Vakula laid hands on himself, and the rumors about this embarrass Oksana, she does not sleep well at night, and not having found a devout blacksmith in the church in the morning, she is ready to cry. The blacksmith, on the other hand, simply overslept Matins and Mass, and waking up, takes out a new hat and belt from the chest and goes to Chub to woo. Chub, wounded by Solokha's treachery, but seduced by gifts, agrees. He is echoed by Oksana, who has entered, ready to marry the blacksmith "and without the slippers." Having got a family, Vakula painted his hut with paints, and in the church he painted a devil, but “so nasty that everyone spat when they passed by.”

retold

Year of writing: 1832

Genre: story

Main characters: heck, blacksmith Vakula, Oksana

Plot

The mighty blacksmith Vakula is in love with the capricious and proud beauty Oksana, but the girl only plays with the feelings of the lad. She declares to him that she will marry him only if he gives her little laces, the same ones the queen has.

At first, the young man fell into despair, but the devil appeared to him and promised help. Vakula, on the other hand, was a God-fearing person and did not count on the help of evil spirits. He grabbed the devil and saddled him, on it he flew to Petersburg, where he was able to get an audience with the queen and asked to give him shoes. The queen could not refuse such a simple-minded request, and she ordered to give the young man her slippers.

And in his native village Vakula was already buried, the neighbors believed that he committed suicide because of unhappy love. At that moment, the blacksmith came to Oksana's house with a gift, but the girl already realized that she did not need anyone except a devoted blacksmith.