Report 6th grade.
N.V. Gogol knew many famous people of their time - writers, artists, publishers of literary magazines. Among them are great Russian poets
- S. Pushkin and M.Yu. Lermontov, great Russian critic
- G. Belinsky, the first Russian fabulist I.A. Krylov, famous Russian poets V.A. Zhukovsky and E.A. Baratynsky, talented writers S.T. Aksakov, I.A. Goncharov, A.I. Herzen, great Russian artists A.A. Ivanov and K.P. Bryullov, publishers M.P. Pogodin and I.I. Panaev, a famous expert and collector of works of folk poetry V.P. Kireyevsky and many others. “Gogol loved people. The writer carried many friendships unbreakably throughout his life, and no circumstances changed them. Gogol found friends everywhere, in the most diverse layers of Russian society with which his life encountered him. Gogol was not interested in a person’s social position, his titles, ranks and titles. The writer was attracted by the man himself, his character, his personal qualities,” note researchers of the life and work of N.V. Gogol P.K. Bogolepov and N.P. Verkhovskaya.
The people surrounding the writer were drawn to him - they were attracted by Gogol's talent as brilliant writer, his delicate taste, wit, selflessness.
Among Gogol's many acquaintances, he had close friends with whom he went through sorrows, adversity, and happy moments of his life.
First of all, this is the Aksakov family.
The head of the family, Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov (1791-1859), is a famous Russian writer, author popular works“Notes of a Gun Hunter”, “Family Chronicles”, “Childhood of Bagrov - Grandson” and others. The Aksakov House in the 30s and 40s was one of the most famous literary houses in Moscow.
The sons of Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov were associated with literature, perhaps that is why Gogol became close to them. The eldest, Konstantin Sergeevich, was a writer-publicist, Ivan Sergeevich - a poet, critic and publicist. The relationship between Konstantin Sergeevich and Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was especially close and friendly, and although they later disagreed, they continued to treat each other favorably.
Gogol met the Aksakov family on his first visit to Moscow, in the summer of 1832. From the very first meeting, Gogol and the Aksakovs felt mutual sympathy; this feeling soon grew into friendship, to which the Aksakovs remained faithful all their lives. The Aksakov family valued Gogol as a brilliant writer, all members of this big family sought to surround Gogol with attention, warmth and care. Sergei Timofeevich took an active part in Gogol’s affairs throughout his life and did him a lot of good. For example, during difficult days for Gogol, he organized financial assistance for the writer, which Gogol received from his Moscow friends in a pool. S.T. Aksakov willingly carried out Gogol’s instructions (the writer lived for many years in St. Petersburg), in his letters he told him about everything that was happening in Moscow, especially in its literary life.
In turn, as critics note, communication with Gogol helped Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov find his way in literature.
In the Aksakovs' house, Gogol felt like he belonged - easy, cozy, pleasant. Deprived of a family, a home, in this family he found home comfort and always greatly appreciated the Aksakovs’ ardent affection for him.
S.T. Aksakov left interesting memories about N.V. Gogol, by reading which you can learn a lot about the character, relationships with people, and the writing work of this wonderful Russian writer.
Pavel Vasilievich Annenkov (1812 - 1887), famous Russian critic and memoirist. He collaborated in the progressive literary magazine Sovremennik, and is the author of the widely known “ Literary memoirs", occupying a significant place in XIX literature centuries,
P.V. Annenkov was on friendly terms with I.S. Turgenev, V.G. Belinsky, A.I. Herzen and other famous literary figures of that time.
P.V. Annenkov was well acquainted with N.V. Gogol, moreover, was friendly with him. They met in the first years of Gogol’s life in St. Petersburg, when his “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” were already known. In the summer of 1841 P.V. Annenkov met Gogol in Rome, where he settled in the same house with him and helped Gogol rewrite his famous poem “ Dead souls».
Alexander Andreevich Ivanov (1806-1858), famous Russian artist, author of the world-famous painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” on which he worked for many years.
It so happened that A.A. Ivanov lived his whole life in Italy, where he was sent by the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, after successfully graduating from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, for three years and remained there. A.A. returned Ivanov returned to his homeland only two months before his death.
Gogol met the artist on his first trip abroad (1836-1839), when he was working on his poem “Dead Souls,” and Ivanov was busy for many years with the concept of his colossal canvas. They became friends. A.A. Ivanov 136 introduced Gogol to Russian artists living in Rome, and the writer constantly communicated with them.
“We are sad and bored without you in Rome,” Ivanov wrote to Gogol after the writer left for St. Petersburg. - We are accustomed, in our leisure hours, to either hearing your judgments that strengthen our spirit, or simply being amused by your wit and fun. Now there is none of this..."
Gogol was seriously interested in the work of A.A. Ivanov, they were also brought together by the fact that both worked for a long time on fundamental works of art: Ivanov - on his painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People”, and Gogol - on a two-volume novel-poem"Dead Souls". “It would be nice,” Gogol wrote to a friend in 1850, while continuing to work on the second volume of Dead Souls, “if both your picture and my poem appeared together.” Gogol highly valued the work of his friend; he characterized the artist as “our famous and decidedly first painter.”
A.A. Ivanov was grateful to his friend for his care and constant attention to himself. “This is an extraordinary man,” he wrote to his father from Rome in the summer of 1841, “with a high mind and a true view of art, a most interesting person... He has a kind heart for all this.” There is a famous portrait of Gogol by A.A. Ivanova. The writer is depicted in a homely manner: he is in a dressing gown, a little lazy, with a carefree smile, looking calmly, a little absent-mindedly.
Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin (1800 - 1875), professor at Moscow University, historian, publisher of the Moskvityanin magazine, writer who wrote several stories and historical dramas.
Gogol met M.P. Pogodin in the summer of 1832, when he first came to Moscow. Pogodin began to patronize the young talented writer, the author of the already famous and beloved “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” by the reading public, he introduced him to the circle of Moscow writers. Soon friendly relations were established between them. Gogol highly valued the knowledge of Pogodin the historian and his amazing ability to work. Whenever he came to Moscow, Gogol always met with M.P. Pogodin, just like Pogodin, when coming to St. Petersburg, always saw Gogol. They corresponded actively, Gogol shared his creative ideas with Pogodin, and spoke directly and frankly about his comrade’s works.
When A.S. Pushkin, during the period of his work on historical works, a need arose for assistants, Pogodin proposed to him the candidacy of Gogol. M.P. Pogodin helped Gogol in managing his affairs, and more than once helped him with money.
Smirnova Alexandra Osipovna (1809-1882), nee Rosset, one of the educated women of that time, a close friend of N.V. Gogol.
Like the writer, she was born in Ukraine, which she loved very much, and she spent her childhood there. After graduating from the Smolny Institute, Alexandra Osipovna was appointed maid of honor to the Empress. In the palace she met V.A. Zhukovsky, A.S. Pushkin and other writers who began to visit her. This is how a small literary salon of a beautiful and educated woman, maid of honor Rosset, was organized. “Live, cheerful, very witty and educated, interested in art, she managed to attract the best literary forces of that time to the living room,” write P. Bogolepov and N. Verkhovskaya in their book about Gogol.
In 1834 A.O. Rosset married a major official N.M. Smirnov, who later became the governor of Kaluga.
N.V. Gogol met A.O. Rosset in the first years of his life in St. Petersburg. She met with him, as well as with A.S. Pushkin and V.A. Zhukovsky summer in Tsarskoe Selo, where the young writer read in her salon “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, and later the famous play “The Inspector General” and the novel “Dead Souls”.
N.V. Gogol considered Alexandra Osipovna a very close person to himself - in terms of views, in spiritual moods. Throughout his life he corresponded with her, and during his travels abroad he met his extraordinary fellow countrywoman on the waters. IN recent years Gogol lived in Moscow and went to visit Alexandra Osipovna in Kaluga or at her estate near Moscow. And when she came to Moscow, he saw her every day. To the poet N.M. Yazykov in the summer of 1845 N.V. Gogol wrote from Hamburg: “This is the pearl of all the Russian women I happened to... know... Beautiful in soul... She was my true comforter, whereas hardly anyone’s word could console me.”
Gogol's tailed friend
- That day we celebrated my birthday! - The cricket smiled. - Crickets have birthdays too! Oh, it was a great day! Why? You will understand now, my dears. Do you know Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol? Yes, yes, our Russian writer! Or rather, you cannot know him personally, unlike me. Because he lived in the 19th century. But... you know his works! You, of course, have read “The Night Before Christmas”, “Taras Bulba”, “The Inspector General”, “Marriage”. And if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve probably heard it. And you, my dears, have many wonderful moments ahead of you with these great books!
The cricket jumped from the mantelpiece and motioned to the table.
- Today I am treating you to watermelon!
He waved his paw and there really was a watermelon on the table! Large, bright green with black stripes on the sides. On impact it broke... What a scent that was!
- ABOUT! It was the same watermelon that was on the table on that significant day. It's my birthday!
The watermelon was huge. It lay on a table covered with a white embroidered tablecloth, already divided into even, neat pieces. The juicy, sugary pulp didn’t just beckon. It was as if she hypnotized and forced her to continuously look at the most fragrant and bright piece of food, from which black shiny seeds peeked appetizingly. Nikolenka waited... He waited patiently and courageously. The first plate, loaded with scarlet pulp, landed on a snow-white starched napkin in front of daddy. Then the same plate appeared in front of my mother. Finally, that very last piece with the blackest and most shiny seeds in the entire watermelon world smoothly landed on Nikolenka!
Nikolenka noisily inhaled the watermelon freshness. And he had just bent down to take a bite of the long-awaited delicacy when he heard a monotonous loud buzzing in his ear. Wasp! Nikolenka pulled back and watched in horror as a thick, striped wasp impudently tried to land... no, a watermelon is not land! At... watermelon! Yes, “pri-ar-bu-zi-sya!” Nikolenka adored new words. Only he could not understand where they came from in his head. He always wanted to catch at least one word by the tail! After all, every word has a tail. Some have more, some have less, and some have very tiny ones. The word “forelock”, for example... And there’s nothing to grab onto! But he will definitely grab it! Then everyone will even be surprised at how word-loving he is! And daddy will be the most surprised of all, because he says that Nikolenka won’t do any good, that he’s painfully shy, and he thinks about something out of duty. What is not good is...
Ay!!! Nasty wasp! Nose! Ay!!! Nikolenka didn’t even notice how, lost in thought, it really wasn’t good, he really gave in to that same impudent wasp who was enjoying the watermelon nectar on his, Nikolenka’s, piece...
Ay!!! Nikolenka screamed shrilly, tightly covering his face with his hands. No one, neither mummy, nor daddy, nor nanny could persuade him to remove his hands from his face. Everyone just oohed and aahed, offering lotions and poultices. They explained the necessity of these procedures for wasp stings. But it was all in vain. Nikolenka grabbed his nose with an iron grip. Only Doctor Ivan Fedorovich, quickly brought by the nimble servant Trishka on the fast horse Goloputsek, managed to persuade the boy and was the first to look at Nikolenka’s new nose. Yes... The Wasp was indeed a giantess. And time was lost. Through the efforts of the doctor, the tumor was eliminated, but the shape of the nose was hopelessly damaged. The nose stretched out incredibly and remained so on the unforgettable face of our beloved writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol throughout his entire life. great life.
What a sad and significant day! But my dears, don’t be upset! This did not spoil the great life of our writer at all! I assure you. On the contrary, it was useful to some extent! But we continue...
Nikolenka learned to read early. He didn’t even know how to say it, but he already realized that the book was a great thing. Daddy never parted with the book. Even during dinner, I sometimes read, despite the dissatisfaction of my mother, who was firmly convinced that digestion required concentration, although she herself loved to read while drinking tea. In the cozy house of landowner Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol, huge cabinets filled with books occupied endless space. At least that’s what it seemed to little Nikolenka. Among the books were old, dusty, leather-bound books, which daddy didn’t allow to look at even from a distance. There were also modern poems, stories, novels, and even various plays that could be “performed at the theater.” Nikolenka still had a vague idea of what theater was, but he knew that daddy also wrote comedies, that is, hilarious stories that were “played out” by roles. Nikolenka dreamed himself read, read freely and easily, expressively, with heartfelt inspiration, so that everyone can be heard. Read, like daddy...
The desire was so great that one day Nikolenka decided to commit a crime. Dad hid the key to the bookcase securely. No way to find it. But Nikolenka noticed long ago that the key to the buffet in the living room was exactly the treasured key to the kingdom of books. And... lo and behold!.. He, this cupboard key, came up! Nikolenka, not believing his luck, took books from the shelves one after another, examined them carefully and reverently put them in their place. Finally, he came across a familiar book about the “minor” Mitrofanushka, who could not learn anything, but only ate, slept and dreamed of getting married, so that he could eat, sleep and do nothing again. When guests came to daddy’s house, they often read this “Undergrowth” by role, and daddy often read it - and read it great! - for Mrs. Prostakova, mother of the ill-fated Mitrofan. The guests laughed heartily, not suspecting that they had a secret admirer, hiding behind the curtains and giggling quietly into their hands. Nikolenka had an excellent memory. So it didn’t cost him anything to memorize this great comedy by the great Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin. Therefore, when this book came into his hands, he easily figured out letters, sounds, syllables and sentences!
Nikolenka managed to keep the secret of the treasured key for a long time. Papa left at the same time, and Nikolenka had two or three hours of devoted reading at her disposal.
When Nikolenka was sent to the Poltava district school at the age of nine, parting with the bookcase was a real grief. With tears in his eyes, he walked over to the bookshelves and stroked them tenderly. It’s good that daddy didn’t see this, otherwise he would have been completely upset. He had long given up on his son, considering him “not of this world.” But... Nikolenka was incredibly lucky at school. There was a library there! And not only was it not forbidden to go there, but on the contrary, it was encouraged! Nikolenka was happy. If it were possible, he would drag his bed there and live among the books, constantly enjoying the special smell of books. I must say that these dreams were half fulfilled. Nikolenka, as the most fanatical book lover, was appointed keeper of the school library! Guardian... It was no longer the cat who sneezed!
Apchhi!!! Nikolenka did not stop sneezing when he had to climb on the bookshelves with a damp rag. He is a custodian, which means that everything should be in order in the bookkeeping entrusted to him! Each book, little book and little booklet should be in alphabetical order and by topic, strictly in its place and in decent form. Nikolenka spared no glue and effort in repairing particularly damaged specimens. Apchhi!!! He even made up the library rules and posted them in front of the entrance.
1. Do not tear or stain books.
2. Come to the library only with clean hands.
3. Return books on time.
4. Violators are excluded mercilessly.
Shy by nature, compliant Nikolenka was as solid as a rock when it came to questions about books. It was useless to ask him for forgiveness for a torn or lost book. He will never forgive you! He’ll simply cross it off from the readers’ lists and tear up the form. And take books wherever you want...
Apchhi!!! Nikolenka froze with a rag in the middle of the library and listened... It wasn’t he who sneezed!.. Whoops!!! Someone's impudent loud sneeze was heard again!.. Nikolenka was seriously scared. At this late hour he closed himself alone in the library to put the books in their places and work. He had to finish an article about his favorite poet Alexander Pushkin and his new stunning novel in verse, “Eugene Onegin,” for the gymnasium magazine “Meteor of Literature.” And besides, I decided to write my own tragedy. The name has already been invented and even neatly written on the first piece of paper in the still blank notebook - “Robbers”. Sounds?!. Ah!.. Apchhi!!! Nikolenka carefully went to the sneeze, armed with a broom just in case...
Apchhi!!! It sounded somewhere very close. Nikolenka raised his head and saw... On the top shelf, carefully moving the books to the side, was a huge black Cat! He stretched out the entire length of the shelf and shook his bushy tail. Apchhi!!! Now Nikolenka himself will sneeze. “Be healthy!” the Cat purred and yawned protractedly. The impressionable Nikolenka leaned on the next shelf to avoid fainting, touched it with his elbow, and books fell on him with a roar. But he didn't even pay attention to it. “Where did you come from?!!!”, was all Nikolenka could squeeze out. “From Alex-andr Sergeeevich m-we-s... Push-shkin... Both day and nightco-scientist everything goes around and around... read? So this is m-we-s and e-is...” the Cat drawled, softly jumped onto the table and brazenly sat down on Nikolenka’s notebook right on the title of the planned tragedy. Despite the improbability of what happened, Nikolenka could not tolerate such disrespect for his own creation. “Get out of here!” he yelled. But the Cat didn’t even bat an eye. Having licked myself with special care left paw, he reached out, swung and hit Nikolenka quite hard on the cheek. “I warn you first and last time, you can only talk to us without your last name, dear Nikolai Vasya -i-lyevich, w-we don’t like this...,” the cat reconciledly rubbed himself against the tip of Nikolenka’s famous nose. Apchhi!!! Nikolenka blew his nose noisily. The cat smiled. “Do we know anyone?” the Cat extended his paw and Nikolenka, surprising himself, also gave the Cat his hand and nodded dumbfounded. “Well, that’s sla-avnenko. I’ll still be useful to you, Nikolai Va-asilievich, we’ll work somewhere... you-I'm big bu-future..." And silently jumping off the table, the Cat walked away importantly...
Friendship with the Cat continued even when Nikolenka became famous writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who had already created his brilliant works: “The Inspector General”, “Marriage”, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “Petersburg Tales”, “Dead Souls”. The cat came in the evenings. Rarely, really. He said there was a lot to do. That this help then Togo support. He was completely running around... Stretching, he settled down on Nikolai Vasilyevich’s desk and slept peacefully to the creaking sounds of his pen. He also came to dinner parties, where the best representatives gathered great era nineteenth century. And what representatives! And Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, and Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, and Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin, and Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin, and Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov... Although these meetings could not be called dinners, it was very little for dinner parties there were treats, the Cat liked to rub against the trousers of the great guests, leave tufts of his priceless black fur on them and listen... And there was always something to listen to here... At these dinners, along with beautiful music and high poetry, there were stories and tales of the famous writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who knew how to turn his readings into real theatrical performance! The cat, without hesitation, fell on his back and laughed heartily along with all the representatives of genius. Yes... He was not mistaken in Nikolenka, he was not mistaken... True, the Cat did not always manage to stand on his own paws. He became old, weak... Nikolai Vasilyevich quickly and deftly picked up his tailed friend and helped him find balance. The cat gratefully rubbed himself against his long nose... Apchhi!!! God bless you, dear Nikolai Vasilyevich!..
I am glad that your health is better; my health... but aside from our health; we must forget about them, as well as about ourselves. So, you return again to your provincial city. You must love him with new strength - he is yours, he is entrusted to you, he must be your family. It is in vain that you begin to think again that your presence in relation to social activities in it is completely useless, that society is fundamentally corrupted. You're just tired, that's all. The governor's wife will have to work everywhere, at every turn. She even makes an impact when she does nothing. You yourself already know that it’s not a matter of fuss and recklessly throwing yourself into everything. Here are two living examples that you yourself named. Your predecessor, F***, started a bunch of charitable institutions, and with them - heaps of paper correspondence and fuss, housekeepers, secretaries, theft, stupidity, became famous for charity in St. Petersburg and created a mess in K***; Princess O***, who was before her the governor of your same city K***, did not open any establishments or shelters, did not make any noise anywhere beyond her city, did not even have any influence on her husband and was not involved in anything , actually government and official, and yet to this day no one in the city can remember her without tears, and everyone, from the merchant to the last nobleman, still repeats: “No, there will never be another Princess O***! » And who repeats this? The same city for which you believe nothing can be done is the same society that you believe is forever corrupted. So, as if nothing can be done? You're tired - that's all! You were tired because you started too rashly, you relied too much on your own strength, you were carried away by the feminine agility... I repeat to you again the same thing as before: your influence is strong. You are the first person in the city, they will take everything from you to the last trinket, thanks to the monkeyiness of fashion and our Russian monkeyiness in general. You will be a legislator in everything. If you just begin to manage your own affairs well, then you will already have an influence, because you will force others to take better care of their own affairs. Drive away luxury (there are no other things to do for now), this is already a noble cause, and it does not require any fuss or costs. Don’t miss a single meeting or ball, come just to show up in the same dress; wear the same dress three, four, five, six times. Praise at everyone only what is cheap and simple. In a word, drive away this disgusting, nasty luxury, this ulcer of Russia, the source of bribes, injustices and abominations that we have. If you manage to do just this one thing, then you will bring more significant benefit than Princess O*** herself. And this, as you can see for yourself, does not even require any donations, and does not even take time. My friend, you are tired. From your previous letters, I see that to begin with, you have already managed to do a lot of good (if you weren’t in too much of a hurry, even more would have happened), rumors have already spread about you outside of K***; some of them reached me too. But you are still very hasty, you are still too carried away, you are still too agitated and overwhelmed by all sorts of unpleasantness and nastiness. My friend, remember again my words, the truth of which, you say that you yourself are convinced: look at the whole city, like a doctor looks at the infirmary. Look like this, but add something else to this, namely: assure yourself that all the sick people in the infirmary are your relatives and people close to your heart, then everything will change for you: you will be reconciled with people and will antagonize only their diseases. Who told you that these diseases are incurable? You told yourself this because you didn’t find the means in your hands. Well, are you an all-knowing doctor? Why didn’t you ask others for help? Did I ask you for nothing to tell me everything that is in your city, to introduce me to the knowledge of your city, so that I have a complete understanding of your city? Why didn’t you do this, especially since you yourself are sure that I can have more influence on many things than you; especially since you yourself attribute to me some general knowledge of people that is not common to everyone; especially, finally, since you yourself say that I helped you in your spiritual matter more than anyone else? Do you really think that I could not help your incurable patients in the same way? After all, you forgot that I can pray, my prayer can reach God, God can send admonition to my mind, and a mind admonished by God can do something better than that a mind that is not enlightened by Him.
Until now in your letters you have only given me general concepts about your city, in general terms, which can belong to any provincial city; but also general yours are not complete. You relied on the fact that I know Russia like the back of my hand; and I don’t know anything about it. If I knew one thing, it had already changed since I left. Significant changes took place in the composition of the administration of the provinces: many places and officials moved away from the dependence of the governor and entered the department and administration of other ministries; new officials and places have appeared, in a word - the province and the provincial city appear in relatively many ways in a different form, and I asked you to introduce me absolutely in your position, not any perfect, But essential, so that I can see everything that surrounds you, from small to large.
You yourself say that during your short stay in K*** you got to know Russia more than in your entire previous life. Why didn't you share your knowledge with me? Say that you don’t even know where to start, that a lot of information you have typed into your head is still in disarray (NB the reason for failure). I will help you put them in order, but just fulfill the following request in good faith, as best you can - not the way your brother is used to fulfilling it - a passionate woman who will miss eight out of ten words and answer only two, because they came she somehow likes it, but just like our brother - a cold, impassive man, or, better, like a businesslike, smart official who, without taking anything particularly to his heart, answers exactly all points.
You must, for my sake, begin to reconsider your provincial town. Firstly, you must tell me all the main people in the city by first name, patronymic and last name, every single official. I need it. I must be a friend to them just as you yourself must be a friend to all of them without exception. Secondly, you must write to me exactly what each person’s position is. You must learn all this personally from them, and not from anyone else. After talking with everyone, you should ask him what his position is, so that he tells you all of it items and designated it limits. This will be the first question. Then ask him to explain to you exactly how and how much good you can do in this position, under current circumstances. This will be the second question. Then, what exactly and how much evil can be done in this same position. This will be the third question. Having found out, go to your room and immediately write it all down on paper for me. You will already do two things at once: besides giving me a means of being useful to you later, you will learn for yourself from the official’s own answers how he understands his position, what he lacks, in a word - with his answer he will describe himself. He may even lead you to do something right now... But that’s not the point: it’s better not to rush until the time comes; do not do anything even if it seems to you that you can do something and that you are able to help something. It’s better to take a closer look for now; for now be content with passing it on to me. Then on the same page, opposite the same place or on another piece of paper - your own comments, what you noticed about each gentleman in particular, what others say about him, in a word - everything that can be added about him from the outside.
Then provide me with the same information about the entire female half of your city. You were so smart that you paid them all visits and recognized almost all of them. However, they found out imperfectly - I’m sure of that. Regarding women, you are guided by first impressions: the one you don’t like, you leave that one. You are looking for all the favorites and the best. My friend! I will reproach you for this. You must love everyone, especially those who have more rubbish in them - at least get to know them more, because a lot depends on this and they can have a great influence on their husbands. Take your time, don’t rush to instruct them, but just ask them; You have the gift of asking questions. Find out not only the affairs and activities of each, but even the way of thinking, tastes, what each person likes, what each of them likes, what each person’s hobby is. I need it all. In my opinion, in order to help someone, you need to know him through and through, and without that I don’t even understand how you can give anyone any advice. Any advice you give him will be addressed to him by its difficult side, it will not be easy, it will be difficult to implement. In a word, women - all of them! so that I have a perfect understanding of your city.
In addition to the characters and persons of both sexes, write down every incident that in any way characterizes the people or the spirit of the province in general, write down ingenuously, in the form as it was, or as in which faithful people conveyed it to you. Also write down two or three pieces of gossip, the first ones you come across, so that I know what kind of gossip you have going on. Make this writing a permanent activity of yours, so that there is a designated hour in the day for this. Imagine in your mind, systematically and in its entirety, the entire volume of the city, so that you can suddenly see if you have missed anything for me to write down, so that I finally get a complete understanding of your city.
And if you introduce me in this way to all the persons, to their positions, and how they understand them, and, finally, even to the nature of the events themselves that happen to you, then I will tell you something, and you will see that much is impossible The incorrigible is possible and can be corrected. Until then, I won’t say anything precisely because I could be wrong, and I wouldn’t want that. I would like to speak words that would hit right where they should be, neither above nor below the object at which they are directed - to give such advice that you would say at the same moment: “It is easy, it can be carried out.”
Here, however, is something ahead, and not for you, but for your spouse: ask him, first of all, to pay attention to ensuring that the advisers to the provincial government are honest people. This is the main thing. As soon as the advisers are honest, immediately the police captains and assessors will be honest, in a word - everything will become honest. You need to know (if you don’t already know this) that the safest bribe, which eludes all persecution, is the one that an official takes from an official on command from top to bottom; it sometimes goes like an endless staircase. The police captain and assessors often have to bend their hearts and take what is taken from them and because they need money to pay for their place. This buying and selling can take place before your eyes and at the same time not be noticed by anyone. God bless you even to pursue. Just try to keep everything honest from above; from below everything will be honest by itself. Until the time when evil has matured, do not pursue anyone; Better act morally in the meantime. Your idea that the governor always has the opportunity to do a lot of evil and little good and that in the field of good he is limited in actions is not entirely fair. The governor can always have influence moral, even very big, just like you can have a big one moral influence, although you have no power, established by law. Believe me, if he didn’t pay a visit to some gentleman, the whole city would be talking about it, they would ask why and why - and this same gentleman, because of this single fear, would be afraid to commit meanness, which he would not be afraid to commit in the face of power and the law. Your action, that is, yours and your spouse’s, with the district judge of the M*** district, whom you deliberately summoned to the city in order to reconcile him with the prosecutor, to honor him with a warm meal and a friendly reception for his directness, nobility and honesty - believe me , has already done its job. What I like about this case is that the judge (who, as it turned out, was a most enlightened man) was dressed in such a way that, as you say, he would not have been accepted into the hallway of St. Petersburg drawing rooms. At this moment I would like to kiss the hem of his shabby tailcoat. Believe that best image actions in the present time - do not arm yourself cruelly and vehemently against bribe-takers and bad people and do not persecute them, but instead try to show every kind of honest trait, in a friendly manner, in the sight of everyone, to shake the hand of the straight, honest man. Believe me, as soon as it becomes known throughout the entire province that the governor is really doing this, all the nobility will already be on his side. There is an amazing feature in our nobility that has always amazed me, this is a sense of nobility, not the nobility that infects the nobility of other lands, that is, not the nobility of birth or origin and not the European point d’honneur, but real, moral nobility. Even in such provinces and places where, if you take apart another nobleman separately, it will turn out to be simply rubbish, but if you challenge him only to some truly noble feat, everything will suddenly rise as if by some kind of electricity, and people who do dirty tricks will suddenly do the noblest case. And therefore, every noble act of the governor will first of all find a response in the nobility. And this is important. The governor must certainly have a moral influence on the nobles; only by this alone can he encourage them to rise to invisible positions and unattractive places. And this is necessary, because if a nobleman from the same province takes some place in order to show how to serve, then no matter what he himself is, although he is lazy and not good to many, he will fulfill his task in the same way as the official sent will never fulfill it, even if he wears out his life in the offices. In a word, in no case should one lose sight of the fact that these are the same nobles who in the twelfth year sacrificed everything - everything that anyone had in their souls.
When it happens, because of the nasty things committed, that another official is brought to trial, then in this case it is necessary that he be brought to justice withdrawal from business. This is very important. For if he is put on trial without retiring from business, then all the employees will remain on his side for a long time, he will continue to fuss for a long time and will find ways to confuse everything so much that he will never get to the truth. But as soon as he is brought to trial with retirement from business he will suddenly hang his nose, become no one’s threat, evidence will come at him from all sides, everything will come out in the open, and suddenly the whole matter will become known. But, friend, for the sake of Christ, do not leave the official who has been pushed out of his place, no matter how bad he is: he is unhappy. It must pass from your husband's hands to yours; he's yours. Do not explain yourself to him and do not accept him, but follow him from afar. You did well to expel the matron at the insane asylum because she decided to sell the rolls assigned to these unfortunate people - a doubly disgusting crime, taking into account the fact that the insane cannot even complain, and therefore were expelled; it had to be done publicly and transparently. But do not abandon any person, do not cut off anyone’s return, follow the renounced; sometimes, out of grief, out of despair, out of shame, he falls into even greater crimes. Act either through your confessor, or even through some smart priest, who would visit him and give you reports on him constantly, and most importantly, try to ensure that he does not remain without some kind of work and activity. Don't be like this in this case dead the law, but alive God, who strikes a person with all the scourges of misfortune, but does not leave him until the very end of his life. Whatever the criminal, if the earth still bears him and the thunder of God has not struck him, this means that he remains in the world so that someone, touched by his fate, will help him and save him. If, however, during the descriptions that you will begin to make for me, or during your own research into all sorts of ailments, you will be too amazed by our sad sides and your heart will be indignant, then I advise you to talk about this more often with the bishop; he, as can be seen from your words, smart person and the good shepherd. Show him your entire infirmary and reveal to him all the diseases of your sick. Even if he was not a great expert in the science of healing, even then you must introduce him to all attacks, signs and phenomena of diseases. Try to outline everything to him so vividly that it floats before his eyes, so that your city, as if alive, would constantly remain in his thoughts, as it should constantly remain in your thoughts, so that through this very thing his thoughts themselves strive yourself to unceasing prayer for him. Believe me, that because of this, his very sermon will be directed more and more to the hearts of his listeners every Sunday, and he will then be able to expose a lot of things and, without pointing out anyone personally, will be able to bring everyone face to face with their own abomination, so that he the owner will spit on his own property. Pay also attention to the city priests, be sure to recognize them all; everything depends on them, and the matter of our improvement is in their hands, and not in the hands of anyone else. Do not neglect any of them, despite the simplicity and ignorance of many. They can be returned to their duty sooner than any of us. We, secular ones, have pride, ambition, self-love, self-confidence in our perfection, as a result of which no one among us will listen to the words and admonitions of his brother, no matter how fair they may be, and finally, the most entertainment... Spiritual, no matter what he is , he still more or less feels that he should be more humble than everyone and lower than everyone; moreover, already in the very daily service he performs, he hears himself a reminder, in a word - he is closest to all of us to returning to his path, and by returning to it himself, he can return all of us. And therefore, even if you meet one of them who is completely incapable, do not neglect him, but talk to him thoroughly. Ask everyone what his parish is, so that he can give you a complete understanding of what the people in his parish are like and how he himself understands and knows them. Don’t forget that I still don’t know what the philistinism and merchant class are like in your city; that they also begin to become fashionable and smoke cigars, this is the case everywhere; I need to take them from among them live someone so that I can see him from head to toe in every detail. So, find out about them all in detail. You will learn one side of this matter from the priests, the other from the chief of police, if you take the trouble to have a good conversation with him about this subject, the third side you will learn from them themselves, if you do not disdain to talk with one of them, even when leaving church on Sunday. All the information collected will serve to outline in front of you approximate image a tradesman and merchant, what he should really be; in the freak you will feel the ideal of what the freak has become a caricature of. If you feel this, then call the priests and talk to them: you will tell them exactly what they need: the very essence of every title, that is, what it should be with us, and a caricature of this title, that is, what it has become as a result of our abuses. Don't add anything else. He himself will be brought to mind if he only begins to correct his own life. Our priests especially need a conversation with such ready people who would be able to outline for them in a few, but bright and clear lines, the limits and responsibilities of every rank and position. Often, solely because of this, some of them do not know how to deal with parishioners and listeners, and speak in generalities that do not directly address the subject. Also consider his own situation, help his wife and children if his parish is poor. Whoever is ruder and more arrogant, threaten him bishop; but in general try to act better morally. Remind them that their duty is too terrible, that they will give a better answer than any of the people of any other rank, that now both the synod and the sovereign himself are paying special attention to the life of the priest, that a bulkhead is being prepared for everyone, because not only the highest government, but even every single private person in the state is beginning to notice that the reason for all the evil is that the priests have begun to perform their duties carelessly... Announce to them more often those terrible truths that will involuntarily make their soul shudder. In a word, do not neglect the city priests in any way. With their help, the governor can produce a lot of moral influence on the merchants, the philistines and every simple class living in the city, so much influence that even you can’t imagine now. I will tell you just a little of what she can do, and point out the means by which she can do it: firstly... but I remembered that I have absolutely no idea what kind of philistinism and merchants are in your city : my words may not come at the right time, it’s better not to utter them at all; I will only tell you that you will be amazed later when you see how many such feats await you in this field, from which several times more more benefit than from shelters and all sorts of charitable institutions, which not only do not involve any donations or labor, but will turn into pleasure, relaxation and entertainment of the spirit.
Try to encourage all the chosen and best in the city to also engage in social activities: each of them can do a lot almost like you. They can be moved. If you give me only a complete understanding of their characters, lifestyle and activities, I will tell you with what and how they can be incited; There are hidden strings in a Russian man, which he himself does not know, which can be struck so hard that he will perk up all over. You have already named some in your city as smart and noble people; I am sure that even more will be found. Don’t look at the repulsive appearance, don’t look at the unpleasant manners, rudeness, callousness, awkwardness of treatment, or even the fanfare, the cliché of actions and all sorts of overly clever swagger. We're all in lately we have acquired something arrogantly unpleasant to handle, but despite all this, in the depths of our souls there are more good feelings than ever, despite the fact that we have cluttered them with all sorts of rubbish and even simply spat on them ourselves. Especially don't neglect women. I swear, women are much better than us men. They have more generosity, more courage for everything noble; don’t look at the fact that they are spinning in a whirlwind of fashion and emptiness. If only you can speak to them in the language of the soul itself, if only you can somehow outline before a woman her high field, which the world now expects from her - her heavenly field to be the leader of us in all that is direct, noble and honest, to cry out to man for the noble desire, then the same woman whom you thought was empty will suddenly flush up nobly, look at herself, at her abandoned duties, motivate herself to do everything pure, encourage her husband to fulfill an honest duty and, throwing her rags far to the side , everyone will be turned to business. I swear, our women will wake up before men, nobly reproach us, nobly whip us and drive us with the scourge of shame and conscience, like a stupid herd of sheep, before each of us has time to wake up and feel that he should have run away himself long ago, without waiting for the scourge. They will love you, and they will love you deeply, but they cannot help but love you if they recognize your soul; but until that time you love them all, every single one, no matter if someone doesn’t love you...
But my letter is getting long. I feel that I am beginning to say things that may not be entirely appropriate either for your city or for you at the present moment; but you yourself are to blame for this by not providing me with detailed information about anything. Until now, I'm just like in the forest. I only hear about some incurable diseases and I don’t know what hurts anyone. And it is my custom not to believe in rumors of any incurables, and I will never call any disease incurable until I feel it with my own hand. So, look again, for my sake, at the whole city. Describe everything and everyone, without saving anyone from the three inevitable questions: what is his position, how much good can be done in it and how much evil. Act like a diligent student: make a notebook for this and do not forget to be as thorough as possible in your explanations with me, do not forget that I am stupid, absolutely stupid, until they introduce me to the most detailed knowledge. Better imagine what is in front of you there is a child or such an ignoramus who needs to interpret everything down to the last trinket; then only your letter will be as it should be. I don’t know why you consider me some kind of know-it-all. That I happened to predict something for you and that what was predicted came true - this happened solely because you brought me into the situation of your soul at that time. It is very important to guess! One has only to take a closer look at the present, and the future suddenly appears by itself. A fool is one who thinks about the future without the present. He will either lie or tell a riddle. By the way, I will also scold you for your following lines, which I will put before your eyes here: “It’s sad and even woeful to see the state of Russia up close, but, however, we shouldn’t talk about it. We must look with hope and bright eyes to the future, which is in the hands of a merciful God. Everything is in the hands of a merciful God: the present, the past, and the future. That’s why all our trouble is that we don’t look at the present, but look at the future. That’s why the whole trouble is that as soon as we look at the present, we notice that some things in it are sad and sad, others are simply disgusting or are not being done the way we would like, we give up on everything and let’s stare into the future. That is why God does not give us intelligence; that is why the future hangs in the air for all of us: some people hear that it is good, thanks to some advanced people, who also heard it by instinct and have not yet verified it with a legitimate arithmetic conclusion; but no one knows how to reach this future. It's like sour grapes. Forgot the trifle! Everyone forgot that there are ways and roads to this light the future is hidden precisely in this dark And confusing the present, which no one wants to recognize: everyone considers it low and unworthy of their attention and even gets angry if they expose it to everyone. At least introduce me to the knowledge of the present. Do not be embarrassed by abominations and give me every abomination! For me, disgusting things are not a novelty: I am quite disgusting myself. While I was still a little involved in abominations, all sorts of abominations embarrassed me, I became despondent from many things, and I became afraid for Russia; from the moment I began to look more closely at the abominations, I became enlightened in spirit; Outcomes, means and paths began to appear before me, and I revered Providence even more. And now most of all I thank God for the fact that He has vouchsafed me, at least in part, to recognize the abominations of both my own and my poor brothers. And if there is any drop of intelligence in me, which is not characteristic of all people, it is because I looked more closely at these abominations. And if I was able to provide spiritual help to some close to my heart, including you, it was because I looked more closely at these abominations. And if I finally acquired a love for people, not dreamy, but substantial, it was finally from the same thing that I looked more closely at all sorts of abominations. Do not be afraid of abominations, and especially do not turn away from those people who for some reason seem vile to you. I assure you that the time will come when many of us in Rus' from clean ones They will cry bitterly, covering their faces with their hands, precisely because they considered themselves too pure, because they boasted of their purity and all sorts of lofty aspirations somewhere, considering themselves through this to be better than others. Remember all this and, pray, get back to your business more vigorously and freshly than ever before. Re-read my letter five or six times, precisely because everything in it is scattered and there is no strict logical order, which, however, is your own fault. It is necessary that the essence of the letter remains entirely within you, my questions become your questions and my desire your desire, so that every word and letter pursues you and torments you until you fulfill my request in exactly the way I want.
1846
- Addressed to A. O. Smirnova (see comments about her to the letter VI. About helping the poor), whose husband, N. M. Smirnov, in 1845-1851. was the governor of Kaluga. The article is based on Gogol’s long letter to A. O. Smirnova dated July 6 and. Art. 1846 The chapter was banned by censorship. First published in the newspaper “Modernity and Economic List” (1860. No. 1), reprinted under the title “Letter of N.V. Gogol” in the magazine “Home Conversation” (1866. Issue 6).
- This refers to Elizaveta Nikolaevna Zhukovskaya (1803-1856), the wife of the Kaluga governor N.V. Zhukovsky. On January 14, 1846, A. O. Smirnova wrote to Gogol about her from Kaluga: “Zhukovskaya, the governor’s wife, came here and started all these philanthropic houses, committees, correspondence in order, relations with philanthropic societies, received certificates of merit for virtue, etc. Thus, I found a work already prepared for me, but in such a form that my soul does not belong to all this” (Correspondence of N.V. Gogol. T. 2. P. 172).
- This refers to Agrafena Yuryevna Obolenskaya (born Neledinskaya-Meletskaya; 1789-1828), wife of Prince A. GG. Obolensky, who was in 1825-1831. Kaluga governor. Gogol also takes information about A. Yu. Obolenskaya from the indicated letter to him from Smirnova dated January 14, 1846, which, in particular, says: “In the old days, Princess Obolenskaya, the daughter of Neledinsky, was here, who died here. All classes, from the poor to the richest, merchants and nobles, all unanimously cried for her. She died about 15 years ago, but her memory is so alive in all hearts that I constantly hear something new about her. Her husband was a governor and of a very mediocre mind; she did not enter into anything, but meanwhile had the most beneficial influence on everyone. She did not start a single school, not a single shelter and did not collect taxes for the poor, and everyone repeats in hospitals, almshouses, prison castles and in the clergy: “No, there will no longer be a second Princess Obolenskaya!” (Correspondence of N.V. Gogol. T. 2. P. 171 - 172).
About A. Yu. Obolenskaya and her moral impact on the residents of Kaluga, see: Chronicle of Recent Antiquity. From the archive of Prince Obolensky-Neledinsky-Meletsky. St. Petersburg, 1876. pp. 290-291.
- On December 16, 1845, A. O. Smirnova wrote to Gogol from Kaluga: “This month I learned more about Russia and humanity in general than during my entire stay in the palace” (Correspondence of N. V. Gogol. Vol. 2. P. 167).
- This refers to the Meshchovo district judge Klementyev, about whom Smirnova spoke in a letter to Gogol dated February 21, 1846 (see: Correspondence of N.V. Gogol. T. 2. P. 182-183). Later, on January 18, 1851, A. O. Smirnova wrote to Gogol: “We had elections in Kaluga, I saw the Meshchov judge Klementyev; He seemed so bitter to the whole district that he was almost voted out, however, he retained his place. He loves his position, values it and says that he cannot live without it.<…> Klementyev was sick with a nervous disorder, but he is better, he is very pious and writes strange things in a religious sense, no less remarkable. He told me his thoughts about relics, which he calls power - strength, temple, bedchamber of the Spirit of God given to us. This is a whole theory, and there is a connection in everything he says and writes. Wonderful is this lonely, voiceless spiritual development, completely original, which did not develop from alien influence, but resulted from suffering and unceasing prayer. I don’t know what will happen to him next; but he is, of course, very remarkable” (Russian Antiquity. 1890. No. 12. P. 662).
- a matter of honor (French).
- This refers to the Right Reverend Nicholas (Sokolov), in 1834-1851. Bishop of Kaluga. Smirnova wrote to Gogol about him on January 14, 1846 (see: Correspondence of N.V. Gogol. T. 2. P. 174).
- Gogol quotes lines from a letter to him from A. O. Smirnova dated May 14, 1846 (see: Correspondence of N. V. Gogol. T. 2. P. 186).
Father Theodore’s scheme is quite conditional: these “departments” can be redistributed or others can be allocated - for example, letters about the responsibilities of various classes and the vocation of each individual (“What is a governor’s wife”, “Russian landowner”, “To someone who occupies an important place” , “Whose destiny on earth is higher”). But the main thing in which Archimandrite Theodore is undoubtedly right is that Gogol’s thoughts have a certain internal connection and are subordinated to the expression of the main idea. This idea is already visible in the titles of the chapters, which amaze with the abundance of national accents: “Readings of Russian poets before the public”, “A few words about our Church and the clergy”, “On the lyricism of our poets”, “You need to love Russia”, “You need to travel around Russia ", "What can a wife be for her husband in a simple home life, given the current order of things in Russia", "Fears and horrors of Russia", "What, finally, is the essence of Russian poetry and what is its peculiarity." In ten of the thirty-two chapters of the book national idea included in the title. However, even in those chapters where her name is not in the title, we are talking about Russia, and in the preface Gogol asks his compatriots to read his book “several times” and “everyone in Russia” to pray for him. We can say that the main content of “Selected Places...” is Russia and its spiritual future.
Of all the Russian writers, no one, it seems, exposed the ulcers of the Russian soul as much as Gogol, pointing out their source - the fatal separation of most of society from the Church. All the lies of a vain and petty existence that nested in cultural environment and coexisted with the desire for material wealth and entertainment, is a consequence of this soul-killing separation. Gogol considered the only condition for the spiritual revival of Russia to be the churching of Russian life. “There is a reconciler of everything within our land itself, which is not yet visible to everyone - our Church,” he writes. “She is already preparing to suddenly assume her full rights and shine with light throughout the whole earth. It contains everything that is needed for a truly Russian life, in all its relations, from the state to the simple family, the mood for everything, the direction for everything, the lawful and right path for everything” (“Enlightenment”); “We own a treasure that has no price, and not only do we not care to feel it, but we don’t even know where we put it” (“A few words about our Church and the clergy”).
Gogol pointed out two conditions without which no good transformations in Russia are possible. First of all, you need to love Russia. What does it mean to love Russia? The writer explains: “Whoever wants to serve Russia truly honestly needs to have a lot of love for her, which would absorb all other feelings - he needs to have a lot of love for people in general and become true Christian, in every sense of the word."
One should also not do anything without the blessing of the Church: “For me, the idea of introducing some kind of innovation into Russia, bypassing our Church, without asking her blessing for it, is crazy. It is absurd even to instill any European ideas into our thoughts until she christens them with the light of Christ” (“Enlightenment”).
In his book, Gogol played the role of statesman striving for the best device country, the establishment of the only correct hierarchy of positions, in which everyone fulfills his duty in his place and is more deeply aware of his responsibility, the higher this place is (“Occupying an important place”). Hence the variety of letter recipients: from a statesman to a spiritual shepherd, from an artist to a secular woman.
But this is only the external side of the matter. Gogol's apology for Russia, the affirmation of its messianic role in the world, ultimately rests not on the external improvements and international authority of the country, not on military power (although these are important), but mainly on spiritual foundations national character. Gogol's view of Russia is, first of all, a view Orthodox Christian conscious that all material wealth must be subordinated highest goal and directed towards her.
Here is the main Gogol idea and a constant moment of temptation to reproach the writer for great-power chauvinism: Gogol allegedly claims that Russia stands ahead of other nations precisely in the sense of a more complete embodiment of the Christian ideal. But, according to Gogol, the guarantee of the future of Russia lies not only in the special spiritual gifts that Russian people are generously endowed with compared to other peoples, but also in their awareness of their disorder, their spiritual poverty (in evangelical sense), and in the enormous opportunities that are inherent in Russia as a relatively young Christian power.
This idea is clearly expressed in the wonderful ending " Happy Sunday": "Are we better than other nations? Are you closer to Christ in life than they are? We are no better than anyone, and life is even more unsettled and disordered than all of them. “We are worse than all others” - this is what we should always say about ourselves... We are still melted metal, not cast into our national form; It is still possible for us to throw away, to push away from ourselves what is indecent to us and to bring into ourselves everything that is no longer possible for other peoples who have received a form and have been tempered in it.”
All issues of life - everyday, social, state, literary - have a religious and moral meaning for Gogol. Recognizing and accepting the existing order of things, he sought to transform society through the transformation of man. “Society is formed by itself, society is made up of units,” he wrote. - It is necessary for each unit to fulfill its duty... A person must remember that he is not a material beast at all, but a high citizen of high heavenly citizenship. Until he lives at least to some extent the life of a heavenly citizen, until then earthly citizenship will not come into order.”
Gogol's book speaks of the need for internal reorganization of everyone, which ultimately should serve as the key to the reorganization and transformation of the entire country. This thought determines everything artistic structure“Selected places...” and, first of all, their construction.
The arrangement of the letters has a thoughtful composition, embodying a distinct Christian message. In the “Preface,” the author announces his intention to go to the Holy Land during Lent and asks everyone for forgiveness, just as on the eve of Lent, on Forgiveness Sunday, all Christians ask forgiveness from each other. The book opens with a “Testament” to remind everyone of the most important Christian virtue - mortal memory. The central place is occupied by the seventeenth chapter, which is called “Enlightenment.”
“To enlighten,” writes Gogol, “does not mean to teach, or instruct, or educate, or even illuminate, but to completely illuminate a person in all his powers, and not in just his mind, to carry his entire nature through some kind of purifying fire.” Without spiritual enlightenment (“The Light of Christ enlightens everyone!”), according to Gogol, there can be no light. The idea runs through the entire book about how to “enlighten the literate before the illiterate,” that is, those who have pens and paper in their hands, officials, local authorities, which could enlighten the people, and not multiply evil.
The crown of the book is “Bright Sunday”, reminding everyone of eternal life. In “Selected Places...” in this way, the reader seems to go through the path of the Christian soul during Lent (traditionally identified with a journey) - from death to Resurrection, through sorrow (chapter “Fears and Horrors of Russia”) - to joy.
In his book, Gogol decisively spoke about “the most important.” “If a writer’s thoughts are not focused on important subjects,” he said, “then there will be only emptiness in him.” The seed of the book originated back in 1844 - in the “Rule of Living in the World,” which, with its depth of thought and laconic form, resembles the apostolic epistles: “The beginning, root and affirmation of everything is love for God. But for us this is the beginning at the end, and we love everything that is in the world more than God.” Gogol, together with some prominent hierarchs of the Church (such as St. Ignatius, Bishop of the Caucasus, and St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow) foresaw a catastrophic decline in religiosity in society. With his book, he seemed to sound the alarm, calling on his fellow citizens to radically reconsider all issues of the social and spiritual life of the country. He contacted sermon And confession to all of Russia.
Both of these genres have a rich world tradition. As a sermon, Gogol’s book is focused primarily on the apostolic epistles, primarily his beloved holy Apostle Paul, who “instructs everyone and leads everyone on the straight path” (from Gogol’s letter to his sister Olga Vasilievna dated January 20 (New Style) 1847 ). This tradition goes further through the patristic epistles (Athanasius the Great, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa), which were well known to Gogol. In “Selected Places...” he acts as a preacher and spiritual teacher, capable of showing the path of salvation to everyone - from the first to the last person in the state. At the same time, he, like St. John Chrysostom, teaches and denounces his compatriots: “Christian! They drove Christ out into the streets, into infirmaries and hospitals, instead of calling Him to their homes, under their own roof, and they think that they are Christians!”
In the Gogol era, the tradition of the church word lived in preaching literature, the most outstanding representatives of which were St. Philaret of Moscow and Archbishop Innocent of Kherson. Without a doubt, Gogol's style was nourished not only by book sources, but also by living sources - the sermons of church pastors he constantly heard.
The genre of confession has an equally deep tradition, represented in Western literature, in particular, by classical works- “Confession” of St. Augustine and “Confession” of Rousseau. It is closely connected with the epistolary genre, very characteristic of Russia at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century. Suffice it to recall the “Letters of a Russian Traveler” by Nikolai Karamzin, the “Chronicle of a Russian” by Alexander Turgenev, the “Philosophical” letters of Pyotr Chaadaev or the letters of Vasily Zhukovsky, including to Gogol himself. In spiritual literature, this genre was represented by the wonderful work of Hieroschemamonk Sergius - “Letters of the Holy Mountain to his friends about the Holy Mount Athos.”
Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov noted the naturalness of the epistolary genre for Gogol. According to him, “Gogol expresses himself completely in his letters; in this respect they are much more important than his printed works.” It is easy to notice, however, that for literary prose Gogol is characterized by almost the same confessionalism as his letters. Let's at least remember lyrical digressions in his stories and “Dead Souls”.
This side of “Selected Places...” was very significant for Gogol himself. He called his book “the confession of a man who spent several years inside himself.” Even before its publication, he asks Shevyrev (in a letter from Naples dated December 8, 1846) to find his confessor in Moscow, a priest from the parish of the Church of St. Sava the Sanctified Father John Nikolsky, and give him a copy of the book as a continuation his confession.
The extreme sincerity of the confessions, in which many saw the pride of self-abasement, was partly the reason that those who seemed to share Gogol’s beliefs recoiled from the book. The author's identity was further exposed by the intervention of censorship. “All the officials and officials for whom the best articles were written,” Gogol complained, “disappeared along with the articles from the readers’ view; I was left alone, as if I had published my book precisely in order to expose myself to public disgrace” (from a letter to Countess Anna Mikhailovna Vielgorskaya dated February 6 (NS) 1847).
And yet Gogol remained Gogol, and society, in his opinion, was obliged to accept his confession as the confession of a writer, the author of Dead Souls, and not a private person. “In response to those,” he said in the “Author’s Confession,” “who reproach me for why I exposed my inner cage, I can say that after all, I am not yet a monk, but a writer. In this case, I acted like all those writers who said what was in their hearts.”
Contemporaries reproached Gogol for neglecting his creative gift. “The main fair accusation against you is the following,” Shevyrev wrote to him on March 22, 1847, “why did you leave art and abandon everything before? Why have you neglected the gift of God? . Just like Belinsky, Shevyrev urged Gogol to return to artistic activity.
“I cannot understand,” Gogol answered, “why this absurd thought settled in about my renunciation of my talent and art, while from my book one could, it seems, see... what suffering I had to endure for the love of art... What should I do if my soul has become the subject of my art, am I to blame for this? What should I do if I am forced by many special events in my life to look more strictly at art? Who is to blame here? He is to blame, without whose will not a single event takes place.”
In his book, Gogol said what, in his opinion, art should be. Its purpose is to serve as an “invisible step to Christianity,” for modern man“unable to meet Christ directly.” According to Gogol, literature should fulfill the same task as the works of spiritual writers - to enlighten the soul, lead it to perfection. For him, this is the only justification for art. And the higher his view of art became, the more demanding he was of himself as a writer.
The awareness of the artist’s responsibility for the word and for everything he wrote came to Gogol very early. Even in the “Portrait” of the 1835 edition, the old monk shares his religious experience with his son: “Marvel, my son, at the terrible power of the demon. He tries to penetrate everything: into our affairs, into our thoughts, and even into the artist’s very inspiration.” In “Selected Places...” Gogol clearly raises the question of the purpose of a Christian artist and the payment that he pays for the gift of God entrusted to him - the Word.
The Holy Gospel says about a person’s responsibility for his word: “... for every idle word that people say, they will give an answer..." (Matthew 12:36). Gogol rebelled against idleness literary word: “You need to treat your word honestly. It is the highest gift of God to man... It is dangerous for a writer to joke with words. Let no rotten word come from your mouth! . If this should be applied to all of us without exception, then how many times more should it be applied to those whose field is the word ... "
Konstantin Mochulsky in the book “ Spiritual path Gogol” wrote: “In the moral field, Gogol was brilliantly gifted; he was destined to abruptly turn all Russian literature from aesthetics to religion, to move it from the path of Pushkin to the path of Dostoevsky. All the features that characterize the “great Russian literature”, which has become world literature, were outlined by Gogol: its religious and moral system, its citizenship and public spirit, its militant and practical character, its prophetic pathos and messianism. With Gogol, a wide road begins, the open spaces of the world. Gogol’s power was so great that he managed to do the incredible: turn the Pushkin era of our literature into an episode to which there is no and cannot be a return.”
There is a lot of truth in these words, although, probably, the change in Russian literature was not so sharp. In the same Pushkin, especially the mature Pushkin of the 1830s, one cannot help but notice the beginnings of future Russian literature, which, by the way, Gogol was well aware of, calling the poet “our chief apostle.”
One of the reproaches that was brought against Gogol after the book was published was the reproach for the decline of artistic talent. Thus, Belinsky passionately asserted: “What a great truth it is that when a person gives himself entirely to a lie, his intelligence and talent leave him! If your name were not on your book and if those places where you talk about yourself as a writer were excluded from it, who would have thought that this inflated and untidy noise of words and phrases is the work of the author of “The Inspector General” and “Dead Souls” "?"
Surprisingly, this is highest degree for one hundred and fifty years no one tried to refute the biased judgment, although among the readers and connoisseurs of the book there were people gifted with subtle artistic taste. In general, it must be said that the study of the style and language of “Selected Places...” is a matter of the future, when we have researchers who are able to correlate Gogol’s book with the tradition of patristic literature and the high style of Russian philosophical poetry of the 18th-19th centuries (examples of which are partly indicated by Gogol himself in the articles “On the lyricism of our poets”, “What is finally the essence of Russian poetry and what is its peculiarity” and the unfinished treatise “A textbook of literature for Russian youth”). But it is enough to listen open-mindedly to the music of Gogol’s text to understand the complete injustice of these reproaches. Re-read the last three pages of “Bright Sunday”: in this masterpiece of prose, the rare, dull sounds of the Lenten bell first sound, which at the end are gradually replaced by the jubilant Easter gospel.
“Why this holiday that has lost its meaning? Why does he come again, more and more silently, to call separated people into one family and, having sadly looked at everyone, leaves as a stranger and a stranger to everyone?.. And the earth was already on fire with an incomprehensible melancholy; life becomes stale and stale; everything becomes smaller and smaller, and only one gigantic image of boredom grows in the sight of everyone, reaching immeasurable growth every day. Everything is silent, the grave is everywhere. God! Your world is becoming empty and scary!
Why does it still seem to one Russian that this holiday is celebrated as it should be, and is celebrated as such in his own land? Is this a dream? But why doesn’t this dream come to anyone other than a Russian? What does it really mean that the holiday itself has disappeared, and its visible signs are so clearly sweeping across the face of our land: the words are heard: “Christ is Risen!” - and a kiss, and every time the holy midnight appears just as solemnly, and the hums of all-ringing bells walk and hum throughout the entire earth, as if waking us up? Where ghosts are so obviously running around, it’s not for nothing that they’re running around; where they wake you up, they wake you up there. Those customs that are destined to be eternal do not die. They die in the letter, but come to life in the spirit. They fade temporarily, die in empty and weathered crowds, but are resurrected with new strength in the chosen ones, then in order to spread throughout the world in the strongest light from them. Not a grain of what is truly Russian and what is sanctified by Christ Himself will die from our antiquity. It will be carried by the sonorous strings of poets, announced by the fragrant lips of saints, the darkened will flare up - and the holiday of Bright Sunday will be celebrated as it should be, before us, than among other nations!
Gogol's talent did not fade in his journalism, but manifested itself unpredictably for himself and for the reading public. An atmosphere of tragic misunderstanding developed around Gogol. He concluded from harsh criticism (perhaps incorrectly): “It is not my business to teach by preaching. Art is already teaching.” He returns to “Dead Souls” with the conviction: “Here is my field” - and works on them until his death. But the search for a new literary path and the craving for monastic life remain.
It is noteworthy that the structure of Svyatogorets’ book is the same as “selected passages from correspondence with friends.”
Correspondence of N.V. Gogol: In 2 vols. T. 2. P. 351.
That day we celebrated my birthday! - The cricket smiled. - Crickets have birthdays too! Oh, it was a great day! Why? You will understand now, my dears. Do you know Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol? Yes, yes, our Russian writer! Or rather, you cannot know him personally, unlike me. Because he lived in the 19th century. But... you know his works! You, of course, have read “The Night Before Christmas”, “Taras Bulba”, “The Inspector General”, “Marriage”. And if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve probably heard it. And you, my dears, have many wonderful moments ahead of you with these great books!
The cricket jumped from the mantelpiece and motioned to the table.
Today I am treating you to watermelon!
He waved his paw and there really was a watermelon on the table! Large, bright green with black stripes on the sides. On impact it broke... What a scent that was!
ABOUT! It was the same watermelon that was on the table on that significant day. It's my birthday!
The watermelon was huge. It lay on a table covered with a white embroidered tablecloth, already divided into even, neat pieces. The juicy, sugary pulp didn’t just beckon. It was as if she hypnotized and forced her to continuously look at the most fragrant and bright piece of food, from which black shiny seeds peeked appetizingly. Nikolenka waited... He waited patiently and courageously. The first plate, loaded with scarlet pulp, landed on a snow-white starched napkin in front of daddy. Then the same plate appeared in front of my mother. Finally, that very last piece with the blackest and most shiny seeds in the entire watermelon world smoothly landed on Nikolenka!
Nikolenka noisily inhaled the watermelon freshness. And he had just bent down to take a bite of the long-awaited delicacy when he heard a monotonous loud buzzing in his ear. Wasp! Nikolenka pulled back and watched in horror as a thick, striped wasp impudently tried to land... no, a watermelon is not land! At... watermelon! Yes, “pri-ar-bu-zi-sya!” Nikolenka adored new words. Only he could not understand where they came from in his head. He always wanted to catch at least one word by the tail! After all, every word has a tail. Some have more, some have less, and some have very tiny ones. The word “forelock”, for example... And there’s nothing to grab onto! But he will definitely grab it! Then everyone will even be surprised at how word-loving he is! And daddy will be the most surprised of all, because he says that Nikolenka won’t do any good, that he’s painfully shy, and he thinks about something out of duty. What is not good is...
Ay!!! Nasty wasp! Nose! Ay!!! Nikolenka didn’t even notice how, lost in thought, it really wasn’t good, he really gave in to that same impudent wasp who was enjoying the watermelon nectar on his, Nikolenka’s, piece...
Ay!!! Nikolenka screamed shrilly, tightly covering his face with his hands. No one, neither mummy, nor daddy, nor nanny could persuade him to remove his hands from his face. Everyone just oohed and aahed, offering lotions and poultices. They explained the necessity of these procedures for wasp stings. But it was all in vain. Nikolenka grabbed his nose with an iron grip. Only Doctor Ivan Fedorovich, quickly brought by the nimble servant Trishka on the fast horse Goloputsek, managed to persuade the boy and was the first to look at Nikolenka’s new nose. Yes... The Wasp was indeed a giantess. And time was lost. Through the efforts of the doctor, the tumor was eliminated, but the shape of the nose was hopelessly damaged. The nose grew incredibly long and remained so on the unforgettable face of our beloved writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol throughout his great life.
What a sad and significant day! But my dears, don’t be upset! This did not spoil the great life of our writer at all! I assure you. On the contrary, it was useful to some extent! But we continue...
Nikolenka learned to read early. He didn’t even know how to say it, but he already realized that the book was a great thing. Daddy never parted with the book. Even during dinner, I sometimes read, despite the dissatisfaction of my mother, who was firmly convinced that digestion required concentration, although she herself loved to read while drinking tea. In the cozy house of landowner Vasily Afanasyevich Gogol, huge cabinets filled with books occupied endless space. At least that’s what it seemed to little Nikolenka. Among the books were old, dusty, leather-bound books, which daddy didn’t allow to look at even from a distance. There were also modern poems, stories, novels, and even various plays that could be “performed at the theater.” Nikolenka still had a vague idea of what theater was, but he knew that daddy also wrote comedies, that is, hilarious stories that were “played out” by roles. Nikolenka dreamed of reading himself, reading freely and easily, expressively, with heartfelt inspiration, so that everyone would listen. Read like daddy...
The desire was so great that one day Nikolenka decided to commit a crime. Dad hid the key to the bookcase securely. No way to find it. But Nikolenka noticed long ago that the key to the buffet in the living room was exactly the treasured key to the kingdom of books. And... lo and behold!.. He, this cupboard key, came up! Nikolenka, not believing his luck, took books from the shelves one after another, examined them carefully and reverently put them in their place. Finally, he came across a familiar book about the “minor” Mitrofanushka, who could not learn anything, but only ate, slept and dreamed of getting married, so that he could eat, sleep and do nothing again. When guests came to daddy’s house, they often read this “Undergrowth” by role, and daddy often read it - and read it great! - for Mrs. Prostakova, mother of the ill-fated Mitrofan. The guests laughed heartily, not suspecting that they had a secret admirer, hiding behind the curtains and giggling quietly into their hands. Nikolenka had an excellent memory. So it didn’t cost him anything to memorize this great comedy by the great Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin. Therefore, when this book came into his hands, he easily figured out letters, sounds, syllables and sentences!
Nikolenka managed to keep the secret of the treasured key for a long time. Papa left at the same time, and Nikolenka had two or three hours of devoted reading at her disposal.
When Nikolenka was sent to the Poltava district school at the age of nine, parting with the bookcase was a real grief. With tears in his eyes, he walked over to the bookshelves and stroked them tenderly. It’s good that daddy didn’t see this, otherwise he would have been completely upset. He had long given up on his son, considering him “not of this world.” But... Nikolenka was incredibly lucky at school. There was a library there! And not only was it not forbidden to go there, but on the contrary, it was encouraged! Nikolenka was happy. If it were possible, he would drag his bed there and live among the books, constantly enjoying the special smell of books. I must say that these dreams were half fulfilled. Nikolenka, as the most fanatical book lover, was appointed keeper of the school library! Guardian... It was no longer the cat who sneezed!
Apchhi!!! Nikolenka did not stop sneezing when he had to climb on the bookshelves with a damp rag. He is a custodian, which means that everything should be in order in the bookkeeping entrusted to him! Each book, little book and little booklet should be in alphabetical order and by topic, strictly in its place and in decent form. Nikolenka spared no glue and effort in repairing particularly damaged specimens. Apchhi!!! He even made up the library rules and posted them in front of the entrance.
1. Do not tear or stain books.
2. Come to the library only with clean hands.
3. Return books on time.
4. Violators are excluded mercilessly.
Shy by nature, compliant Nikolenka was as solid as a rock when it came to questions about books. It was useless to ask him for forgiveness for a torn or lost book. He will never forgive you! He’ll simply cross it off from the readers’ lists and tear up the form. And take books wherever you want...
Apchhi!!! Nikolenka froze with a rag in the middle of the library and listened... It wasn’t he who sneezed!.. Whoops!!! Someone's impudent loud sneeze was heard again!.. Nikolenka was seriously scared. At this late hour he closed himself alone in the library to put the books in their places and work. He had to finish an article about his favorite poet Alexander Pushkin and his new stunning novel in verse, “Eugene Onegin,” for the gymnasium magazine “Meteor of Literature.” And besides, I decided to write my own tragedy. The name has already been invented and even neatly written on the first piece of paper in the still blank notebook - “Robbers”. Sounds?!. Ah!.. Apchhi!!! Nikolenka carefully went to the sneeze, armed with a broom just in case...
Apchhi!!! It sounded somewhere very close. Nikolenka raised his head and saw... On the top shelf, carefully moving the books to the side, was a huge black Cat! He stretched out the entire length of the shelf and shook his bushy tail. Apchhi!!! Now Nikolenka himself will sneeze. “Be healthy!” the Cat purred and yawned protractedly. The impressionable Nikolenka leaned on the next shelf to avoid fainting, touched it with his elbow, and books fell on him with a roar. But he didn't even pay attention to it. “Where did you come from?!!!”, was all Nikolenka could squeeze out. “From Alex-andr Sergeeevich m-we-s... Push-shkin... Both day and night co-scientist everything goes around and around... did you read it? So this is m-we-s and e-is...” the Cat drawled, softly jumped onto the table and brazenly sat down on Nikolenka’s notebook right on the title of the planned tragedy. Despite the improbability of what happened, Nikolenka could not tolerate such disrespect for his own creation. “Get out of here!” he yelled. But the Cat didn’t even bat an eye. Having licked his left paw with special care, he reached out, swung and hit Nikolenka quite hard on the cheek. “I warn you first and last time, you can only talk to us without your last name, dear Nikolai Vasya -i-lyevich, w-we don’t like this...,” the cat reconciledly rubbed himself against the tip of Nikolenka’s famous nose. Apchhi!!! Nikolenka blew his nose noisily. The cat smiled. “Do we know anyone?” the Cat extended his paw and Nikolenka, surprising himself, also gave the Cat his hand and nodded dumbfounded. “Well, that’s sla-avnenko. I’ll still be useful to you, Nikolai Va-asilyevich, we’ll get some work done... You have a great future..." And silently jumping off the table, the Cat walked away pompously...
Friendship with the Cat continued even when Nikolenka became the famous writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who had already created his brilliant works: “The Inspector General,” “Marriage,” “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” “Petersburg Tales,” “Dead Souls.” The cat came in the evenings. Rarely, really. He said there was a lot to do. Either help this one, or support that one. He was completely running around... Stretching, he settled down on Nikolai Vasilyevich’s desk and slept peacefully to the creaking sounds of his pen. He also came to dinner parties, where the best representatives of the great era of the nineteenth century gathered. And what representatives! And Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, and Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, and Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin, and Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin, and Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov... Although these meetings could not be called dinners, there were very few treats for dinner parties, the Cat liked to rub against the trousers of the great guests, leave tufts of your priceless black wool on them and listen... And there was always something to listen to here... At these dinners, along with beautiful music and high poetry, there were stories and tales of the famous writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, who knew how to turn his readings into a real theatrical performance! The cat, without hesitation, fell on his back and laughed heartily along with all the representatives of genius. Yes... He was not mistaken in Nikolenka, he was not mistaken... True, the Cat did not always manage to stand on his own paws. He became old, weak... Nikolai Vasilyevich quickly and deftly picked up his tailed friend and helped him find balance. The cat gratefully rubbed himself against his long nose... Apchhi!!! God bless you, dear Nikolai Vasilyevich!..