Retelling plan
1. The appearance of a devil.
2. The story of the blacksmith Vakul.
3. Conversation between the arrogant Oksana and the lover Vakula.
4. Chub, Oksana’s father, goes to visit Solokha.
5. Oksana promises Vakula to marry him if he brings her the slippers that the queen herself wears.
6. Solokha hides her unlucky suitors (the devil, the head, the clerk, Chub) in coal sacks.
7. Vakula sits on the devil and flies on it to St. Petersburg.
8. The villagers find out who was in the sacks.
9. Vakula, having reached the capital, goes to the queen for a reception together with the Cossacks and receives the empress’s slippers.
10. Oksana is sad about Vakula’s absence and feels that she is in love.
11. Vakula, having returned, wooed Oksana.
12. The life of Vakula and Oksana.
Retelling
“The last day before Christmas has passed. A clear winter night has arrived.” Through the chimney of one of the huts, along with the smoke, a witch rose on a broom. On the opposite side a speck appeared, which stretched and turned out to be just a devil. He has one last night left, when he can still “roam around the world and teach good people the sins.” The devil crept up to the month to drag it away, and after several unsuccessful attempts he finally grabbed it, hid it in his pocket and flew on.
The blacksmith Vakula was known as the best painter in Dikanka. “The blacksmith was a God-fearing man and often painted images of saints... But the triumph of his art was one picture painted on the church wall in the right vestibule, in which he depicted St. Peter on the day of the Last Judgment, with keys in his hands, expelling him from hell evil spirit; the frightened devil rushed in all directions, anticipating his death, and the previously imprisoned sinners beat and drove him with whips, logs and anything else they could find.” Since then, the devil swore to take revenge on the blacksmith. To do this, he decided to steal a month, hoping that old Chub would not go to visit the clerk in such darkness, where his acquaintances would gather for kutya. “And the blacksmith, who had long been at odds with him, would never dare to go to his daughter in his presence, despite his strength.” The devil, meanwhile, was building “love hens” for the witch.
Chub and his godfather Panas left the door of their hut. Seeing that there was no month in the sky, he doubted whether he should go to the clerk. But, having quarreled and consulted with his godfather, he decided to go, and “the two godfathers set off on the road.”
Meanwhile, Oksana, Chub’s daughter, who was considered the best girl on both sides of Dikanka and “was capricious, like a beauty,” when left alone, could not stop admiring herself in the mirror: “Oh, how pretty! Miracle! What joy will I bring to the one I will marry! How my husband will admire me! He won't remember himself! He will kiss me to death!
While Oksana was praising her appearance, Vakula, who was madly in love with her, entered the hut: “If the king called me and said: “Blacksmith Vakula, ask me for everything that is best in my kingdom, I will give it all to you. I will order it.” “I don’t want,” I would say to the king, “neither expensive stones, nor a gold forge, nor your whole kingdom: give me my Oksana instead!” “Oksana is cold and cold. arrogant with Vakula. She is bored with the blacksmith, and she is waiting for the girls and boys to have a fun Christmas night.
The witch, frozen, descended through the air straight into the pipe. The devil followed her, and “both found themselves in a spacious stove between the pots.” Then Solokha crawled out of the oven, shook herself off, and no one would have thought that she had just flown on a broom.
The mother of the blacksmith Vakula, who was no more than forty years old, was “neither good-looking nor bad-looking... However, she was so able to charm the most sedate Cossacks that both the head and the clerk Osip Nikiforovich, and the Cossack Korniy came to her Chub, and the Cossack Kasyan Sverbyguz. And, to her credit, she knew how to skillfully deal with them. It never occurred to any of them that he had a rival.” But Solokha was friendliest of all with the Cossack Chub, because he was reputed to be rich on the farm. And so that her son Vakula “wouldn’t drive up to his daughter and have time to take everything for himself,” she tried to quarrel between her son and Chub as often as possible. There were various stories and tales on the farm about Solokha being a witch.
Solokha, like a good housewife, began to clean up and put everything in its place, but did not touch the bags that stood by the stove. The devil, when he flew into the chimney, saw Chub with his godfather and decided to blow a snowstorm so that Chub would come back and find the blacksmith at home. Indeed, having gotten lost in a snowstorm, Chub and godfather began to look for a way back. The godfather came across a tavern and forgot everything. Chub saw his hut and began to call his daughter. But, hearing Vakula’s voice, he decided that he had stumbled upon someone else’s hut. Not wanting to admit that he, Chub, was lost, he said that he came to sing carols. Vakula, not recognizing Chub, beat him up and kicked him out. Chub decided to go to Solokha because he realized that she was alone now.
At that moment, the stolen month flew away from the devil. “Everything lit up. The snowstorm was gone... Crowds of boys and girls showed up with bags.” The carolers burst into Chub's hut with noise and laughter. Oksana noticed beautiful shoes on one girl and immediately wanted hers to be no worse. Vakula volunteered to get “the kind of booties that a rare lady wears.” To which the beauty replied: “Yes, all of you be witnesses: if the blacksmith Vakula brings those same booties that the queen wears, then here’s my word that I will marry him right away.” The girls took the “capricious beauty” with them, and the blacksmith “thought only about Oksana.” Meanwhile, the devil grew soft around Solokha. Suddenly the voice of the head was heard. Solokha ran to open the door, and the nimble devil climbed into the bag lying by the stove. Before the head had time to say a word, the clerk’s voice was heard. Solokha, at the request of the head, hid it in a coal sack. The clerk had just begun to court Solokha when suddenly there was a knock on the door. Frightened that he would be found at Solokha’s place, the clerk also asked him to hide it, which the witch did, pouring out coal from another bag. Chub entered the hut. It didn’t take long for Vakula to return. Solokha, frightened, herself signaled to Chub to climb into the very bag in which the clerk was already sitting.
The blacksmith was “very out of sorts.” Looking around the hut, he fixed his gaze on the bags: “Why are these bags lying here? It's time to remove them from here long ago. This stupid love has made me completely stupid. Tomorrow is a holiday, and all sorts of rubbish is still lying in the house. Take them to the forge!” The bags seemed very heavy, but Vakula put everything on his shoulders and left the hut. Hearing Oksana's voice among the carolers, Vakula threw the bags on the ground and walked as if spellbound, "with a small bag on his shoulders, along with a crowd of boys walking behind the crowd of girls." Oksana again began to laugh at the blacksmith, so much so that out of grief he decided to drown himself. He said goodbye to everyone and ran away. And when he stopped to catch his breath, he decided: “I’ll try another remedy, I’ll go to the Cossack Pot-bellied Patsyuk. He, they say, knows all the devils and will do whatever he wants. I’ll go, because my soul will still have to disappear!” Vakula asked Patsyuk to show the way to hell. To which he indifferently replied: “He who has the devil behind him doesn’t have to go far.” Vakula was amazed at how Patsyuk ate dumplings. They themselves dipped into the sour cream and went into his mouth. One even smeared sour cream on the blacksmith’s lips. The devout blacksmith, in order not to accumulate sin, since it was impossible to eat meat that night, ran out of the hut.
Meanwhile, the devil jumped out of the bag and sat astride Vakula’s neck, whispering in his ear: “It’s me, your friend, I’ll do anything for my comrade and friend! I’ll give you as much money as you want... Oksana will be ours today.” The blacksmith agreed. The devil began to “gallop on the blacksmith’s neck” with joy. Then Vakula grabbed him by the tail and “created a cross.” The devil was quiet as a lamb. “Then the blacksmith, without letting go of his tail, jumped astride him and raised his hand to make the sign of the cross.” The devil begged, asking to let him go. To which Vakula said: “Take me this very hour... to St. Petersburg, straight to the queen.”
The girls, having stumbled upon Vakula’s bags, decided to take them to Oksana’s house to see what the blacksmith had caroled. But since the bags were too heavy to lift, we decided to go get a sled. Meanwhile, the godfather came across the bags, and soon the weaver Shapuvalenko came up. Rejoicing at the find, they dragged the sacks to the godfather’s house in the hope that the godfather’s wife would not be at home. This grumpy, greedy and pugnacious woman beat her husband, and then complained about him to her friends, selflessly talking “about the outrage of her husband and the beatings she suffered from him.” But the wife happened to be at home and noticed the bags. A quarrel ensued, which turned into a fight, until Chub got out of the bag, followed by the clerk. “Here you go!” oh yeah Solokha! put her in a sack... Well, I see she has a house full of sacks... Now I know everything: she had two people in each sack... So much for Solokha!” - Chub exclaimed.
The girls returned and did not find one bag. Having loaded the other one onto a sled, they rushed through the creaking snow and brought it into the hut. But suddenly they got scared because the bag began to hiccup and cough. At this time Chub arrived, and the secret of another bag was revealed. “And the head fit right in,” Chub said to himself in bewilderment, measuring him from head to toe, “see how!.. Eh!..” - he couldn’t say anything more.
Let's return to Vakula. He was already flying on horseback towards St. Petersburg. “The devil, having flown over the barrier, turned into a horse, and the blacksmith saw himself on a dashing runner in the middle of the street.” Finding himself in St. Petersburg, Vakula was afraid to immediately go to the queen. He ordered the devil to lead him to familiar Cossacks who were passing through Dikanka in the fall.
By the way, the Cossacks were going to the queen. At the instigation of the devil, they agreed to take Vakula with them. He was amazed by the beauty and splendor of the palace. “What a ladder,” the blacksmith whispered to himself, “it’s a pity to trample underfoot. What decorations! Well, they say fairy tales lie! Why the hell are they lying! oh my god, what a railing! What job! here one piece of iron is worth fifty rubles! The blacksmith timidly followed the Cossacks and admired the beauty, gold and luxury that surrounded him. A few minutes later a man entered, accompanied by a whole retinue, who turned out to be “Potemkin himself.” Following the court ladies, the empress appeared. Vakula saw nothing, only stretched out on the floor after the Cossacks.
At the end of the conversation, Catherine carefully asked: “What do you want?” Then the blacksmith again fell to the ground and began to ask for his favorite slippers: “My God, what if my little girl wore such slippers!” The Empress laughed, and everyone laughed: “Really, I really like this simplicity...” Vakula’s request was fulfilled, and he, stepping back, bent down to his pocket, said quietly: “Take me out of here quickly!” — and suddenly found himself behind the barrier.
A rumor spread throughout Dikanka that Vakula had drowned. Oksana was embarrassed when she heard about this, but did not quite believe it: she knew that the blacksmith was quite devout to decide to destroy his soul. The girl did not sleep all night, tossed about, kept thinking, and by morning she fell head over heels in love with the blacksmith. Chub remained indifferent to Vakula’s fate, since he could not forget Solokha’s treachery, and kept scolding her.
It's morning. All the people gathered in the church. “The celebration was visible on all the faces, wherever you looked. The head licked its lips, imagining how he would break his fast with sausage; the girls thought about how they would skate with the boys on the ice; the old women whispered prayers more diligently than ever... Only Oksana stood as if not at home: she prayed and did not pray...” But Oksana was not the only one thinking about the blacksmith. All the laity noticed that the holiday was not a holiday: as if something was missing. The clerk became hoarse after sitting in the sack, and the visiting singer sang differently from the way Vakula used to sing the “Our Father.”
Vakula found himself near his hut as the rooster crowed. He gave the devil three blows with a twig, and he “started to run.” “So, instead of deceiving, seducing and fooling others, the enemy of the human race was himself fooled.”
Vakula, having slept until lunch, got up, dressed smartly, took a new belt, hat, whip and went to Chub. Vakul pulled out the booties from his scarf, fell at the feet of the surprised Cossack Chub and asked not to be angry with him for the past: “Have mercy, dad! don't be angry! Here’s a whip for you: hit as much as your heart desires, I give myself up...” He began to beg to give Oksana for him. And then Oksana screamed, crossing the threshold and seeing Vakula. "No! No! I don’t need booties,” she said, waving her hands and not taking her eyes off him, “I don’t even need booties...” She didn’t finish further and blushed.”
Time has passed. A bishop was passing through Dikanka and saw a very painted hut. This is where Oksana, Vakula and the child lived. And in the church, on the wall, a blacksmith painted a devil in hell, so disgusting that the women used it to scare the children who burst into tears.
The story "The Night Before Christmas" is a work written by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. It is part of a series called “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka.” This work was published in 1832, and its action dates chronologically to the period of the reign of Catherine II, more precisely, to the last deputation of the Cossacks that took place in 1775. Events take place in Ukraine, in Dikanka.
Heroes of the work
In the story that Gogol wrote (“The Night Before Christmas”), there is as characters a number of fairy-tale characters: the devil who stole the month, the witch Solokha, who cuts through the sky on her broom. Another vivid image is Patsyuk, who could heal people from various diseases and strangely ate dumplings, which themselves fell into his mouth, dipped in sour cream.
In the story called "The Night Before Christmas" the characters -ordinary people- interact with fairy-tale characters. Representatives of the human race in the work include the blacksmith Vakula, Oksana, her father Chub, the head, the clerk, the queen and others.
"The Night Before Christmas" begins with the following events. The last day before Christmas has ended, a starry, clear night has arrived. A witch rose through the chimney of one of the houses on a broom and began collecting stars. And at this time the devil stole the month.
He did this because he knew that Chub had been invited to kutya today by the clerk, and his beautiful daughter would remain at home, and at that time the blacksmith would come to her. The devil took revenge on this blacksmith. Chub's daughter's lover was also a good artist. He once painted a picture in which, on the day of the Last Judgment, St. Peter casts out an evil spirit from hell. The devil interfered with the work in every possible way, but it was finished, and the board was embedded in the wall of the church. From then on, this representative of evil spirits vowed to take revenge on his enemy.
Having stolen the month, he hoped that Chub would not go anywhere in such darkness, and the blacksmith would not dare to come to his daughter in front of his father. Chub, who at that time was leaving his hut with Panas, was wondering what to do: go to the clerk or stay at home. In the end it was decided to go. So the heroes of the work - two godfathers - set off on the road on the night before Christmas. You will find out how this story ends a little later.
Oksana
We continue to describe summary. "The Night Before Christmas" consists of the following further events. Oksana, Chub's daughter, was considered the first beauty. She was spoiled and capricious. The boys chased her in droves, but then went to others who were not so spoiled. Only the blacksmith did not leave the girl, although her treatment of him was no better than with others.
When Oksana's father went to the clerk, Vakula appeared in his house. He confessed his love to Oksana, but she only mocks him and plays with the blacksmith. Suddenly there was a knock on the door demanding that it be opened. The girl wanted to do this, but Vakula the blacksmith decided that he would open the door himself.
Witch Solokha
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol continues his story (“The Night Before Christmas”). At this time the witch got tired of flying, and she went to her home, and the devil followed her. This witch was Vakula’s mother. Her name was Solokha. The woman was about 40 years old, she was neither good-looking nor ugly, but she knew how to charm the Cossacks so that many came to her, not suspecting that they had rivals. Solokha treated Chub best of all, since he was rich, and she wanted to marry him to get her hands on the fortune. And so that her son would not somehow get ahead of her by marrying Oksana, the witch often quarreled with Vakula Chuba.
Return of Chub
The following further events constitute a summary. "The Night Before Christmas" continues. When the devil was flying after Solokha, he noticed that the girl’s father had finally decided to leave home. Then he began to tear up the snow so that a blizzard began. She forced Chub to return. But since the snowstorm was very strong, the godfathers could not find their hut for a long time. In the end, Chub thought he had found her. The hero knocked on the window, but decided when he heard Vakula’s voice that he had come to the wrong place. Wanting to find out whose house it was and to whom the blacksmith went, Chub pretended to be caroling, but Vakula drove him away, hitting him hard on the back. Chub, beaten, went to Solokha.
Kolyada
The story "The Night Before Christmas" continues. The devil lost a month and rose into the sky again, illuminating everything around him. The girls and boys came out to carol. They also went to Oksana, who, having seen the shoes on one, wanted to have the same ones. Vakula promised to get the best ones, and Oksana swore that she would marry him if he got the queen’s booties.
The devil was kissing Solokha’s hands at the time, but suddenly a voice and a knock of the head were heard. Guests, respected Cossacks, began to come to her house one after another. The devil had to hide in a coal sack. Then the clerk and the head had to, in turn, climb into the bags. Widow Chub, the most welcome of the guests for Solokha, climbed onto the clerk. The last guest, the “heavy-bodied” Cossack Sverbyguz, would not have fit in the bag. Therefore, Solokha decided to take him out into the garden and listen there to why he came.
Patsyuk
Returning home, Vakula saw the bags in the middle of the hut and decided to remove them. He left the house carrying a heavy load. In the cheerful crowd on the street he heard the voice of his beloved. Vakula threw the bags and went to Oksana, but she, reminding him of the slippers, ran away. The blacksmith, in anger, decided to give up his life, but, coming to his senses, he went to the Cossack Patsyuk for advice. Pot-bellied Patsyuk, according to rumors, was on friendly terms with evil spirits. Vakula, in despair, asked how to get to hell in order to enlist his help, but he gave only vague advice. The pious merchant, waking up, ran out of the hut.
Contract with the devil
The devil, sitting in the sack right behind Vakula’s back, could not, naturally, miss this prey. He proposed a deal to the blacksmith. Vakula agreed, but at the same time demanded that the agreement be sealed and, by crossing the devil, deceived him into submissiveness. The devil was now forced to take Vakula to St. Petersburg.
The bags abandoned by the blacksmith were found by walking girls. Having decided to find out what Vakula had caroled, they went to get a sleigh to take the find to Oksana’s hut. A dispute broke out between them over the bag in which Chub was located. Thinking that there was a boar sitting there, the godfather's wife took it away from the weaver and her husband. To the surprise of everyone, in this bag there was, besides Chub, also a clerk, and in the other - a head.
Meeting with the queen
Vakula, having flown to St. Petersburg, met the Cossacks who had previously passed through Dikanka and went to receive the queen along with them. During it, the Cossacks told the empress about their concerns. The queen asked what the Cossacks needed. Then Vakula fell to his knees and asked her for some slippers. The queen, struck by the sincerity of the young merchant, ordered shoes to be brought to Vakula.
The final
The whole village was talking about the blacksmith's death. And Vakula came to Chub with gifts to woo the girl, fooling the devil. The Cossack gave his consent, and Oksana ("The Night Before Christmas") met the blacksmith with joy, ready to marry him even without boots. In Dikanka, they later praised the wonderfully painted house in which the Vakula family lived, as well as the church where the devil was skillfully depicted in hell, at which everyone who passed by spat.
This is where we finish describing the summary. "The Night Before Christmas" ends on this optimistic note. After all, good always defeats evil, including in this work by Gogol. "The Night Before Christmas", the theme of which is the people, their way of life, traditions and customs, proves this. The work is filled with a bright, joyful holiday atmosphere. By reading it, we seem to become participants in it.
This story is included in the series of stories “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, recorded and retold by the hospitable beekeeper Rudy Panko. Its very brief content is necessary for the student, because Ukrainian folklore is difficult to understand, and it would not hurt to further clarify the main events of the work. in order to understand and remember the plot.
(275 words) On Christmas night, when the month has just risen in the sky, and young people are going to carols, the devil steals the month from the sky. At the same time, the blacksmith Vakula comes to the daughter of the Cossack Chuba Oksana. She mocks the boy in love and says that she will marry him if only she gets little shoes like the queen herself.
The disgruntled boy goes home. And at home, Vakula’s mother, the witch Solokha, receives in turn the devil, the village head, the clerk, and then Oksana’s father Chub. Having scared his head, the devil climbs into one of the bags on the floor of the hut. The head is hidden in the same bag when the clerk arrives. The clerk also soon finds himself in the bag because of Chub. And with the arrival of Vakula, Chub also gets into the bag. Vakula takes the bags out of the hut, not noticing their heaviness, but when he meets Oksana with a crowd of carolers, he throws everything away except the lightest. He runs to Pot-bellied Patsyuk, who, according to rumors, is akin to the devil. Having achieved nothing from Patsyuk, the unfortunate blacksmith again finds himself on the street, and then the devil jumps out of the bag at him. Having crossed him, Vakula orders the evil spirits to take him to the Empress in St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, Chub, the clerk and the head are selected from the bags.
Vakula, finding himself in St. Petersburg, persuades the Zaporozhye Cossacks to take him with them to a reception at the Tsarina’s palace. There he asks Catherine for her royal shoes, and having received them, he quickly goes home.
There were already rumors on the farm that Vakula had committed suicide out of grief and insanity. Oksana finds out about this, cannot sleep all night, and not seeing the always devout blacksmith in church in the morning, she realizes that she loves him.
Vakula, out of fatigue, slept through the church service, and when he woke up, he went to woo Oksana with the little shoes. Chub gives his consent, as does his daughter, who no longer needs any shoes.
Review: Like all of Gogol’s works, “The Night Before Christmas” is not without mystical themes. Love, which is sometimes helped or hindered by evil spirits, remains main theme almost every story in this series. And all this against the backdrop of the life of a Ukrainian farm, with priceless flavor. And to more accurately convey the picture, use truly Gogolian vocabulary, using “speaking” surnames and folk colloquial speech.
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The last day before Christmas has passed. Night has come. The moon has risen to heaven. All residents of Sorochin are looking forward to caroling. The streets are so quiet that any rustling noise can be heard. And then suddenly a large plume of smoke poured out of the chimney of one house, and from it a witch appeared riding on a broom. Nobody saw her. However, if the Sorochinsky assessor was passing by, he would immediately notice her.
Since not one witch could hide from him. And in general he knew everything, even how many piglets someone had. The witch rose high into the sky, and the stars gradually began to disappear from the sky. She was the one who stole them. I collected a large pile in my hands and finished with this matter. However, suddenly something else appeared in the sky that looked like a person. From a distance he looked exactly like a German, but up close one could see that he was completely black, thin, with a tail and a heel on his face. And only by the horns could one understand that it was the devil. He has one last day left to walk free, since the next day, after the bells, he will run, tail between his legs, to his den.
The devil began to sneak around by the month. He took it, but immediately let go because he got burned. Then it cooled down and he grabbed the heavenly body and put it in his pocket. And then the whole world became dark. On Dikanka, no one saw how the villain stole the month. Only the clerk noticed how the moon suddenly seemed to dance in the sky.
The devil stole the month in order to take revenge on the blacksmith, who loved to draw and painted a wall in the church on which the Last Judgment was depicted, and the devil who was shamed. The villain’s strategy included the following thoughts: The fact is that the rich Cossack Chub was going to the clerk for a kutya, and the blacksmith Vakula wanted to come to his daughter Oksana. The road to the clerk led through a cemetery, ravines and generally outside the village. And if it’s so dark on the street, then it’s not a fact that something will force the Cossack to leave his house. And since the blacksmith and Chub did not get along well, Vakula would not risk going to Oksana.
The witch, seeing herself in the dark, screamed. And the Devil quickly ran up to her and began to whisper something in her ear, thereby seducing her, like a real man.
Cossack Chub went out into the street with his godfather, they talked about their own things. And then they notice that there is no month in the sky. They don’t understand what’s going on, and they need to go to the clerk. They are thinking about whether to stay or not, but Chub says that if they don’t go, then it won’t be convenient for the clerk’s other guests, since they might think that these two are lazy and cowards. Eventually they hit the road. At this time, the daughter of the Cossack Chuba Oksana was preening in her room. She was the most beautiful girl, according to all the boys in the entire district. Crowds ran after her, but she was adamant. And the guys slowly chose others, those who were much less spoiled than the beauty. Only the blacksmith Vakula was stubborn and, no matter what, continued to pursue the girl. She stood and admired herself in the mirror. She was talking to herself. She told me that she was not good-looking and didn’t understand what there was to like about her. But then she jumped up and began to praise herself. To say that everything about her is beautiful, both herself and the clothes that her dad bought for her so that the most eligible groom could marry her. Vakula watched all this through the window. And suddenly the girl saw him and screamed. I asked what he was doing here. She started saying that all the guys are so good at going to her when their father is away, they are so brave. Then she asked how things were going with her chest, which Vakula forged especially for her. He replied that he took the most best hardware, no one has this. And when she paints it, it will be better than any other girl’s. Oksana kept preening and spinning around the mirror. With her permission, Vakula sat down next to her and wanted to kiss her. He said that he would give anything to have this girl as his. But she behaved so rudely that Vakula was deeply broken in his soul, because he understood that she did not feel anything for him at all. Someone knocked on the door.
Meanwhile, the Devil, suffering from the cold, and the witch, who is also Vakula’s mother, climbed through the chimney to her house. Vakula's mother, the witch Solokha, was already adult woman. She was about forty. She was not a beauty, but at the same time she was pretty. And, despite her wisdom, she attracted all the most sedate Cossacks. They came to her, and the head sat down, and the clerk, and the Cossack Chub, and the Cossack Kasyan Sverbyguz. She accepted these men so much that not one of them had any idea about the existence of competitors. But most of all she liked the father of the beautiful Oksana - the Cossack Chub. He was a widower and had a lot on his farm. Solokha dreamed of taking it all for herself. However, she was afraid that her son Vakula would marry Oksana, and this farm would belong to him. Therefore, she did everything to scold Chub and the blacksmith as much as possible. And because of this, all the old women around said that Solokha was a witch. And they came up with different stories, then they saw her tail, then something else. However, only the Sorochinsky assessor could see the witch, and he was silent, and therefore all these stories were not taken seriously. Having flown through the pipe, Solokha began to clean everything up. And the devil, while flying to the pipe, saw Chub and his godfather who were going to the clerk, and began to shovel snow in their direction, which started a blizzard. The devil wanted Chub to go back home and scold the blacksmith. And his plan came true. As soon as the snowstorm began, Chub and his godfather immediately got ready to go back home. But nothing was visible around. And then the godfather went a little to the side to look for the way, and if he found it, he had to shout. And Chub, in turn, remained in the same place and also looked for the way. But the godfather immediately saw the tavern, and, forgetting about his friend, went there. And at that time Chub saw his house. He began to shout to his daughter to open it, but the blacksmith Vakula came out and, not realizing that it was Chub with the question “what do you want?” threw him out the door. Chub thought that he had not come to his home. Since the blacksmith has nothing to do with him, and he would not have found the way back so soon. He knew that only the lame Levchenko, who had recently married a young wife, had a similar house. But the lame man himself is now definitely visiting the clerk. And Chub then thought that Vakula came to his young wife. The Cossack received several blows on the back and shoulder from the blacksmith and, with offended shouts and threats, went to Solokha. However, the snowstorm really bothered him.
While the devil was flying from the created blizzard into the Solokhin chimney, a month got out of his pocket and, taking advantage of the opportunity, returned to its place. It became light outside and it was as if the snowstorm had never happened. All the young people ran out into the street with bags and began to sing carols. Then they went into the house of the Cossack Chub and surrounded Oksana, showed them carols, and the girl had a lot of fun. Although Vakula, despite the fact that he loved caroling, at that moment hated it. Oksana saw her friend’s shoes and began to admire them. And Vakula told her not to be upset, he would buy her slippers that no one else had. And then the pampered beauty declared in front of everyone that if Vakula gets her the slippers that the queen herself wears, then she will immediately marry him.
Vakula was in despair, he understood that the girl did not love him. And he wanted to promise himself to forget about her, but still love won, and he began to think about how he could continue to woo the girl.
Meanwhile, in Solokha’s house, the devil wanted to set a condition for the witch to please her. And that if she does not agree to satisfy his passions and, as usual, reward him, then he is ready for anything, will throw himself into the water, and send his soul straight to hell.
Solokha wanted to spend this evening alone, but a sudden knock on the door alarmed both her and the devil with his plans. He knocked his head, shouted, open it. Solokha hid the devil in a bag, and she opened it for the man and gave him a glass of vodka to drink. He said that because of the snowstorm he did not go to the clerk. And seeing her light in the window, he decided to spend the evening with Solokha. But, before he had time to finish this, they began to knock on the door again, this time it was the clerk himself, who, due to the blizzard, had lost all his guests, but he was glad, because he wanted to spend the evening with her. The head, meanwhile, also hid in a sack of coal. He began to touch his hand, then the witch’s neck, and who knows what he would touch next time, when there was a knock again. It was the Cossack Chub. The clerk also ended up in the bag. Chub came in, also drank a glass of vodka, and began joking about whether Solokha had any men. In this way she consoles her pride, since she thinks that he is the only one she has. And then they knock again, this time it was the witch’s son - the blacksmith Vakula. Solokha hastily seated Chub in the same bag where the clerk was already sitting. But he didn’t even make a sound when Chub placed his boots, cold from the frost, right at his temples. Vakula entered the house and sat down on the bench. There was a knock on the door again, this time it was the Cossack Sverbyguz. But the bag was no longer there, and so Solokha took him out into the garden to ask what he wanted.
Vakula sits and wonders why he needs Oksana. He sees the bags and decides that he needs to bring himself to his senses, since he has completely neglected everything with his love. He decides to take these bags outside. He threw them over his shoulder, although it was hard, he endured it. There was noise in the yard. There was a lot of caroling there. Fun all around. Suddenly Vakula hears Oksana’s voice and, throwing the bags, all except one, the one with the devil in him, he goes towards her voice. She talks to some guy and laughs. When Vakula approached her, she began to say that he had a very small bag and began to laugh about little slippers and the wedding. The guy's patience ran out and he decided to drown himself. And then, he approached the girl and said “goodbye” to her; before she had time to answer, he left. The boys shouted after him, but he said that perhaps they would see each other in the next world, but there was nothing for him to do in this world. And the grandmothers immediately began to mutter that the blacksmith had hanged himself.
Vakula walked without realizing it. Then, having come to his senses a little, he decided to seek help from a healer - pot-bellied Patsyuk. When he went into his house, he saw that he was eating dumplings without using his hands, he simply took them out of the plate with his mouth. Vakula began asking what to do and how to find the devil. He replied that everyone knows who has the devil behind him. Afterwards, this Patsyuk continued to eat dumplings, which flew off the plate on their own, dipped in sour cream, and just as independently flew into his mouth. Vakula came out, and the devil came out of the bag. He thought that Vakula was now in his hands. He began to say that he would do everything that the guy needed, but he needed to sign a contract. However, the blacksmith was not stupid. He grabbed the devil by the tail, threatened him with a cross, and after that the devil became very obedient. Then the blacksmith climbed onto his back and told him to fly to St. Petersburg to the queen, and felt himself take off. Meanwhile, Oksana was walking with her friends and thinking that she was too strict with Vakula. The girl is sure that he would not exchange such a beauty for anyone. She decides that the next time he comes, she will let herself be kissed, as if reluctantly.
They go and see the bags left by Vakula. They think that they contain a lot of sausage and meat, although they contain the head, clerk and Chub. They decide to go get a sled and bring the bags to Oksana’s house. However, while they were going to get the sled, godfather Chuba came out of the tavern. I saw the bags and wanted to take one, which contained a clerk and a forelock. But the sack was heavy, so when the godfather met Tkach, he asked him to help him carry the sacks home, in return he divided them in half. He agreed. When they went to their godfather’s house, they were afraid to find his wife. Since she constantly took away everything that she and her husband had acquired. And she was still at home. The three people got into a fight over the bag. And the godfather’s wife won, using a poker. And when the godfather and the Tkach wanted to try to take the loot again, the forelock came out of the bag, followed by the clerk. Chub realized that the other bags also contained men who came to Solokha. And this made him upset, because he thought that he was the only one.
Meanwhile, the girls ran up to the sacks with the sled, but there was only one there. They took him, the head that was sitting in him decided to endure everything, just so as not to be left on the street. The bag was dragged into the house, but the man began to hiccup and cough. The girls were scared, but Chub just arrived, took his head out of the bag, and realized that Solokha had it too.
While Vakula was flying astride the line, he was both scared and surprised. He periodically frightened him with a cross. When they arrived in St. Petersburg, the devil turned into a horse. There he met familiar Cossacks who were just heading to the queen, and Vakula then asked them to take him with them. They agreed. They got into the carriage and rushed off.
Everything in the royal palace was very beautiful. Vakula walked and at the same time looked at everything he saw. Finally, having passed through numerous halls, they found themselves at the princess's hall. Potemkin came out and told the Cossacks to speak as he taught them. Suddenly everyone suddenly fell to the floor. A woman’s voice several times ordered them to get up, but they continued to lie on the floor, saying that they would not get up and addressing her as “mom.” It was Tsarina Catherine. She began to ask the Cossacks about life and soon asked what they wanted. And then Vakula plucked up courage and asked where he could find such slippers for his woman. The queen ordered her servants to bring the most beautiful slippers with gold. They wanted to reason with her, but she did not change her decision. When they were brought, Vakula made a very nice compliment to the queen. Calling her legs “made of real sugar.” And then he whispered to the devil in his pocket to take it away and then find himself behind the barrier.
On Dikanka, meanwhile, they were arguing whether Vakula had hanged himself or drowned himself. All this pandemonium, quarrels, therefore, and in general the rumors about the death of the blacksmith greatly upset Oksana. She cannot sleep and realizes that she has fallen in love with a guy. And when she doesn’t see him at the church service, she completely loses heart.
Vakula rode very quickly across the line. He found himself near his house. The devil wanted to leave, but Vakula took the whip and hit the villain a couple of times, who himself wanted to teach the blacksmith a lesson, and in the end he himself was fooled. The guy entered the house, but Solokha was not there. He went to bed and slept until lunchtime. He was upset because he was not present at the service. I thought that the Almighty punished him in this way because Vakula got involved with the devil. The guy promised that he would atone for this sin for a whole year. Then he dressed in his best. He took the belt and hat, and, of course, the slippers, and went to the forelock. Chub did not expect to see him. Vakula fell in front of his feet and began to ask for forgiveness for everything, said that he should hit him, which the forelock did not do too much, but three times. Vakula gave him a belt and a hat as a gift. The blacksmith then asked for his daughter's hand in marriage. He, remembering the unfaithful Solokha, agreed and told him to call the matchmakers.
Summary of The Night Before Christmas
The very last pre-Christmas evening was coming to an end, there was gradually increasing frost outside, it was becoming cooler than in the morning. And then suddenly a witch appeared above one of the village huts, flying straight out of the chimney. She flew over the houses and at the same time collected stars that were scattered across the winter sky into the sleeves of her clothes. No one had time to see her, because the time for carols had not yet come. The village youth were just about to leave their huts. And the devil was flying towards the witch, who wanted to sneak up on the month in order to steal it. The demon himself had long been angry with Vakula, the village blacksmith, who was the best painter on the Dikanka farm. This God-fearing man loved to paint pictures. One of them depicted the scene of the Last Judgment, where the devil was expelled from hell. It depicted sinners who, according to legend, beat him with everything they could get their hands on and chased him with whips. From the very moment this picture appeared, the devil decided to take revenge on Vakula. So he had only one night left when he could freely walk around the world. The demon planned to steal the clear month so that it would become dark on earth, and then he could detain a Cossack named Chub. Then the blacksmith Vakula, who loved his daughter, the beautiful Oksana, would not have been able to find his way into his house.
The devil’s plan was a success, and as soon as he managed to hide the stolen month in his pocket, the whole world became very dark, so it was impossible to find the way anywhere. Even the flying witch, when she saw herself in the pitch darkness, screamed in fright. Right there, just in time, the thief of the month - the devil - drove up to her like a little demon and began to whisper in her ear pleasant words which all women, even witches, love to listen to.
At the same time, the godfather and the Cossack Chub stood on the threshold of the clerk’s house and decided whether they should go to visit kutya in such darkness. They did not want to appear lazy in front of each other, and after some further thought they decided to hit the road.
There was only one girl left in the house - she was the daughter of the Cossack Chub, respected in the village. She stood in front of the mirror and preened herself in anticipation of her girlfriends. The girl examines her reflection with pleasure and great love, and she really likes it. It was then that the blacksmith Vakula came. He for a long time looks and can’t stop admiring this proud beauty, but the girl greets him coldly. They started talking, but suddenly heard a knock on the door. Vakula, very angry, is about to drive away the one who is knocking, but sees Oksana’s father himself, Chub, at the door, who, having lost his way, decided to return to his home. When he hears Vakula’s voice, he thinks that he has confused his house with the hut of the famous Cossack Levchenko. Changing his voice, he answers the blacksmith that he came to carol, to which he drove the owner of the house away. Chub decided to visit the witch Solokha, Vakula’s mother, but at that time the devil was visiting her and playing with her. When the demon flew, as usual, through the chimney into this woman’s hut, he accidentally dropped the stolen month.
The moon, taking advantage of this, rose smoothly into the sky, and it became light all around. By this time the raging blizzard had subsided, and noisy and cheerful youth poured into all the streets. The girlfriends also came to pick up Oksana. The girl noticed on one of them new slippers, embroidered with gold, and in front of everyone she said very loudly that she would marry Vakula if he brought her the ones that the queen herself wears. The blacksmith, very upset by these words, goes to his home.
At the same time, another guest appears in Solokha’s hut, the village head. The devil immediately hides the coal bag. The mistress of the house always willingly welcomed the Cossacks, who were very respected in the village, but they themselves had no idea that each of them had a rival. She was most friendly with the widower Chub. Solokha had serious plans for him - to take possession of all his wealth. She was jealous of her son for Oksana, because she was afraid that he might become the owner of Chub’s property before her, so she often quarreled Vakula with the girl’s father. As soon as the head shook the snow from his clothes, there was a knock on Solokha’s door again - it was the clerk. That’s how all these suitors took turns and hid in coal bags that stood in the corner of the hut. Everyone was afraid to even move. Vakula's son came after them, and when he saw several bags, he thought that it was his mother who had collected garbage, and decided that he needed to throw it away.
On his way, he met girls, among whom was his Oksana. Having thrown all the big bags onto the snowy road, he, with one small one over his shoulders, catches up with the proud beauty. But she laughs at him again, and the guy decides to go to the ice hole and drown himself, because he is unable to fulfill Oksana’s request. Entering the house of a Cossack named Patsyuk, about whom there were rumors that he was connected with the devil himself, Vakula meets a devil at his house who wants to get his soul. They sign a contract according to which the devil will take him to the queen, in which he will ask for slippers for his Oksana.
The path to the empress was long. Having met her, the blacksmith receives the desired slippers and brings them to Dikanka. On the farm, everyone thought that the guy had drowned himself on Christmas night, but Oksana, who realized that no one else could fulfill her desires and whims, felt sorry for him most of all. She doesn’t sleep at night and realizes that she loves this blacksmith very much. When he returned to the village and came to ask the girl’s hand in marriage from her father, she replied that she agreed to become his wife even without these little shoes. The young people got married, and then Vakula painted his hut very beautifully, everyone walked around and admired it.
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