Nikolai Gogol. Summary: "The Missing Letter"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

“The Missing Letter” or, as Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol himself called it, “A true story told by a deacon …” is a story written by a classic in the late 20s - early 30s of the XIX century.

Included in the famous Gogol cycle "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka". It is one of the most popular works (along with the Sorochinskaya Fair, May Night, or the Drowned Woman, etc.) written by Nikolai Gogol. Summary (“The Missing Letter”, although a small work, but perhaps not everyone has time to read the original) will help you get acquainted with the story in just 5 minutes!

History of the creation of the work:

The very first drafts of the work, which are considered to be a draft, were written on four voluminous sheets (taking into account the turnover) in a rather small handwriting, with a large number of corrections and various kinds of blots. The title of the draft version is missing.

Everyone knows a certain mysticism, mystery, obscurity,which Nikolai Gogol contributed to each of his works. Summary (“The Missing Letter” in terms of the atmosphere of mystery does not stand out from the general series), we hope, will allow you to feel it to the fullest.

Differences between the original version and the final version

It is worth noting that in terms of volume the original version of the work "The Missing Letter" was much more voluminous. According to historians involved in the study of draft versions of the story, not only some descriptions, but also entire fragments are missing in the current story, which sometimes even causes discrepancies.

For example, the final content did not include: the episode with the pots that puffed out the cheeks, some details regarding the description of the old man's journey from the hell, during which he saddled the lame.

The ability to determine the exact date of writing the story "The Lost Letter" has not yet been possible. The fact is that the autograph of a work can say little about it: neither the place nor the time of writing can be determined from it.

In what years was the work written?

Practically all literary critics are convinced that the story was started by Gogol in 1828. This is evidenced by his letter to his mother, dated May 1829. In it, Nikolai Vasilievich asks to describe in detail to him various card games that were popular at that time in Ukraine.

Proof that The Missing Letter was completed no later than the spring of 1831 can be the fact that it was first published in the first book of Evenings…, and the censorship permission forNikolai Vasilyevich Gogol received its edition on May 26, 1831.

Summary

"The Missing Letter" is written in the form of a story on behalf of a certain Foma Grigorievich, who tells his listeners, who constantly ask him for "something insured kazochka", such stories that, in his own words, "all night then they shiver under the covers.”

He begins to tell about an interesting incident that allegedly happened to his own grandfather, who was once tasked by the hetman with the task of delivering a letter to the queen.

Having said goodbye to his family, grandfather set off on his journey. The next morning he was already at the Konotop fair. The royal charter at that time was in a safe, secure place - sewn into a hat. Not afraid to lose her, the main character of the story decided to get "tinderbox and tobacco" here.

Walking through the fair, he made friends with a certain reveler-Cossack. Together with him and another Cossack who followed his friends, grandfather went on.

During the conversation, the Cossack tells many interesting outlandish stories from his life. Carried away by the conversation, he tells his friends that he sold his soul to the devil, and the payback period will come very soon (on the night of that day). Our hero, in order to help the Cossack, gives him a promise not to sleep at night. The buddies decide to take a break at a nearby drinking establishment.

Grandfather's new friends quickly fall asleep, and for this reason he has to be on guard alone. However, no matter how hard the main character tries, sleep eventually overcomes him, and the grandfather falls asleep.

The next morning, waking up, he discovers that there is neither a new fellow Cossack who sold his soul to the devil, nor horses, nor a hat with a letter sewn into it.

Being in a similar, not the best position, the grandfather decides to ask for advice from the Chumaks, who at that moment were also in the tavern. One of them told the hero where the devil could be found.

The next night, following the instructions of the tavern keeper, grandfather goes to the forest, where he, bypassing various obstacles, finds a fire with "terrible faces" sitting around it.

Immediately after the hero told them about his situation and paid, he found himself in "hell" at the table, at which various monsters, creatures and evil witches were sitting.

One of the witches sitting at the table suggested that my grandfather play the card game "fool" three times: if he wins, he will be returned a hat with a diploma, and if he loses, he will stay here forever.

Two times in a row the main character loses, but the third time, resorting to tricks, he still wins. After the plan worked, the missing letter returned back to the grandfather's hands, the hero decides to get out of the "inferno".

He woke up on the roof of his own house, covered in blood. Almost immediately, he immediately goes with a letter to the queen.

Having seen various kinds of "curiosities", the main character temporarily forgets about what happened, but now "different devilry" begins to happen in his house once a year: for example, his wife started dancing against her will.

Screening

The story was screened twice: in1945 and in 1972. The first film adaptation was a cartoon of the same name, which in a simplified version retold the plot of the work.

The second one was a feature film. He repeated the plot of the work, but unlike the original, in the film "The Lost Letter" the characters were slightly different: for example, the main character was not a grandfather, but like a Cossack Vasil. Minor deviations from the plot were also noticed.

Here is such a mystical work, quite in his own manner, written by Nikolai Gogol. Summary (“The Missing Letter” is one of the little-known stories of the cycle), of course, will not fully convey the charm of Gogol's language, but will give an idea of \u200b\u200bthis tale.