In 1831, Gogol wrote the story “Terrible Revenge”. A brief summary of the work is given in this article. This creation of the famous author is included in the collection of his stories “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”. Reading this work, one can note that it has a lot in common with the plot of Gogol’s mystical story “Viy”: the key figures in the stories are fairy creatures from ancient folk legends.
N.V. Gogol. "Terrible revenge" ( summary). Introduction
Esaul Gorobets celebrated his son’s wedding in Kyiv. There were many guests there. Among the visitors was his named brother Danila Burulbash with his beautiful wife Katerina, who was considered an orphan. Her mother died and her father disappeared. When they took you out of the house miraculous icons In order to bless the newlyweds, it turned out that there was a sorcerer among the guests. He betrayed himself by being afraid of the holy images and disappearing.
N.V. Gogol. “Terrible revenge” (summary). Developments
After the wedding, Danila and his young wife returned home. People said that Katerina's father was an evil sorcerer who sold his soul to the devil. He recently showed up in their family. The young man did not like his father-in-law, and quarrels often broke out between them. There were rumors around the village that as soon as Katerina’s father showed up, strange things began to happen here: the crosses in the cemetery were swinging, the dead were rising from their graves, and their groans could be heard at midnight. Not far from the village stood the sorcerer’s ancestral castle, where he once lived. Curiosity took hold of Danila, and he decided to go to this devil’s lair to see with his own eyes what was going on there. In the evening, having climbed a tall oak tree, the young man sees that the light is burning, that his father-in-law enters there and begins to cast a spell. The sorcerer changes his appearance and summons the soul of Katerina’s daughter, persuading her to love him. Seeing all this, Danila returns home and tells Katerina about everything. She, in turn, renounces her father. In the morning, the son-in-law accuses his father-in-law of being friends with the Poles who attacked his homeland, but not of witchcraft. For this, Katerina's father is put in prison. He is waiting for him. He asks his daughter to forgive him and release him. Katerina. Taking pity on his father, he opens the bars and sets the sorcerer free. Meanwhile, Danila goes to war with the Poles and dies there. The sorcerer's bullet overtook him. Katerina is inconsolable when she learns about her husband’s death. She is terribly worried about the life of her little son. But he was also destroyed by an evil sorcerer, casting an evil spell. Waking up in the middle of the night, a woman finds her child dead in her bed.
From grief she From then on, the inhabitants of the farm began to see a vision, as if a gigantic rider on a black horse was galloping among the Carpathian Mountains. The hero's eyes are closed, he is holding a baby in his hands. And poor Katerina is looking for her father to kill him for all the misfortunes that he caused her. One day a wanderer appears to her and persuades her to become his wife. She recognizes him as a sorcerer and rushes at him with a knife. But the father manages to kill his daughter.
N.V. Gogol “Terrible Revenge” (summary). Ending
The sorcerer flees from these places where a vision with a horseman appeared. He clearly knows who and why he showed up here. The old man runs to the old schema-monk to atone for his sins. But he refuses to do this, and the sorcerer kills him. Now, wherever this son of the devil would go, the road leads him to the Carpathians, where a horseman with a baby is waiting for him. There is nowhere for him to hide from this giant. The rider opened his eyes and laughed. The sorcerer died at that hour and fell into the abyss, where the dead sunk their teeth into him so that he would suffer. This tale of antiquity ends with a song performed by an old bandura player in the city of Glukhov. It tells the story of two brothers Peter and Ivan. Ivan once distinguished himself in the war, for which he was generously rewarded. Despite what he shared with his brother, Peter became jealous of him and decided to kill him. He pushed Ivan and his little son into the abyss, and took his goods for himself.
When the good brother found himself in the Kingdom of Heaven, God allowed his soul to choose the punishment for his murderer. Ivan cursed all the descendants of his blood relative and predicted that the last of his kind would be a terrible villain. The soul of the deceased will appear from the other world and cast the terrible sinner into the abyss, where all his dead ancestors will gnaw at him. Peter will want to take revenge on his brother, but will not be able to rise from the ground. The Lord was surprised at such a terrible punishment, but commanded that it be so.
This is how Gogol twisted the plot. “Terrible Revenge” (a brief summary of the story is given in this article) is one of the master’s less popular works. It is not studied in literature classes at school. But for us this story is of folklore interest. It is based on real ancient folk legends. It is not for nothing that in the first edition the work was subtitled “An Ancient True Story.” This is exactly how N. V. Gogol described him. “Terrible Revenge” is a story written more than a century and a half ago. But even now we read it with trepidation and interest.
Year of publication of the book: 1831
Gogol's work "Terrible Revenge" was first published in 1831 in one of the periodicals. The story is included in one of the popular collections called “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” Based on the work “Terrible Vengeance,” an animated film of the same name was shot in 1988.
The story “Terrible Revenge” summary
In Gogol’s story “Terrible Revenge” we can read that the wedding of an old Cossack captain named Gorobets is taking place in Kyiv. Gathered at the festival a large number of people, among whom was the named brother of the esaul, Danila Burulbash, together with his wife Katerina, who came from the farm. By the end of the noisy celebration, Gorobets brings from home two huge old-style icons with which he wants to bless the newlyweds for a happy family life. Suddenly, strange screams begin to be heard from the gathered crowd. The fact is that from the sight of the icons, one of the Cossacks suddenly turned into an evil sorcerer with a huge hump on his back. The guests believed that such evil spirits could inflict a curse, which would make the lives of everyone present miserable. However, holy icons and prayers help the captain to expel the sorcerer as far as possible.
If we read the summary of the story “Terrible Revenge,” we learn that after the wedding celebration came to an end, all the guests began to go home. Danila, together with his wife Katerina, sailed along the Dnieper, thinking about the sorcerer who had suddenly appeared. When their boat had almost reached the farm, Danila saw a tall and gloomy castle, around which there was an old cemetery. Sailing past him, the Cossacks notice three dead men who burst out of the grave with heartbreaking screams, and then suddenly disappear. All this haunts Burulbash also because he is suspicious of Katerina’s father, who is visiting him. The old man appeared unexpectedly and looked rather suspicious, was withdrawn and gloomy and had little resemblance to real Cossacks.
The next morning after returning from Kyiv, his wife’s father approached Danila and began to inquire why the young people had been at the wedding for so long. The conversation escalated and the men began to quarrel among themselves. In a fit of anger, Danila told his father-in-law that he was not a true Christian because he did not attend church. The skirmish ends with a saber fight and further wounding of Burulbash. Watching this whole picture, Katerina cannot hold back her tears. She asks the men to stop quarreling and make peace with each other.
In the story “Terrible Revenge,” the summary tells that that same night Katerina sees terrible dream, in which her father turns into the sorcerer everyone saw at the wedding in Kyiv. In the dream, an old man persuades a young girl to leave her family and marry him. The next morning Katerina tells everything to her husband. He is distrustful of his wife’s words, but recalls all his suspicions about his father-in-law. When dinner time comes, Burulbash notices that the guest does not eat anything that is on the table. He refuses dumplings and pork, drinking only some strange liquid that he constantly carries with him. Several hours pass, and Danila sees that the light is on in the old mysterious castle. He takes his comrade with him and goes to the light. On the way, they notice Katerina’s father walking in the same direction. The old man swims across the Dnieper and quickly finds himself not far from the castle. Young Cossacks climb out to the very tall tree and watch the room in which the light is on. It was then in Gogol’s story “Terrible Revenge” that the real devilry begins. Through the window they see Danil’s father-in-law turning into that same sorcerer. The old man casts a spell, after which Katerina’s soul appears in the room. She begins to ask the sorcerer why he took the life of her mother and when he will stop his atrocities. After what they saw, Danila and his comrade quickly descend from the tree and head to the farm.
In the work “Terrible Revenge” by Gogol, the summary describes that, having returned home, Burulbash told his wife about everything that had happened to him that evening. It turns out that it was this room that Katerina herself saw in her dream. Now the couple are sure that their guest is not only an apostate, but also the very same devilry, which harms all living things. Having enlisted the help of his comrades, Burulbash was able to tie up his father-in-law and imprison him in the basement. The man thinks for a long time about how exactly to deal with the sorcerer, and decides to execute the old man tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the villain himself is thinking about how to find a way out of this situation. He notices Katerina passing by him and decides to ask his daughter to free him and set him free. The girl cannot believe her father’s words, but he claims that if she gives him freedom, he will go to a monastery and will atone for all his sins for the rest of his life. Katerina succumbs to the old man’s words and lets him out of the basement, after which she immediately faints. As soon as the girl comes to her senses, she realizes that her father has escaped. She does not want to tell anyone that she released him, because she is afraid of the wrath of the Cossacks.
Meanwhile, not far from the Danila farm there is a whole camp of Poles. All this time they wait in ambush and plan to attack the land of the Cossacks. Without even suspecting that the enemy is so close, Danila feels some confusion and approaching death. He talks with Katerina, remembering all his battles and victories and asks to take care of their son in the event of his death. Suddenly, his servant bursts into Burulbash’s house and talks about the approach of the enemy. Danila organizes a detachment of Cossacks and goes to the battlefield. Despite being seriously wounded, he fought the enemy with enthusiasm. But suddenly an old sorcerer appeared on a nearby hill and killed his son-in-law with a shot. Katerina runs out of the house with tears in her eyes and falls to the body of her dead husband. The situation is saved by Captain Gorobets, who just arrived in time to help.
After the death of his son-in-law, the sorcerer heads to the banks of the Dnieper. There he finds a small dugout and begins to cast his spells. As a result, he sees a man's face, which terrifies the old man and makes him scream in fear.
If we read the story “Terrible Revenge” in full, we learn that Katerina arrives in Kyiv and tells the captain about her terrible dreams, in which the sorcerer asks to marry him, threatening to kill her son. Gorobets promises the widow that he will protect her child with all his might, but that same night the boy is found stabbed to death in his cradle.
Katerina cannot stand the double loss and falls into unconsciousness. She recklessly wanders through the forests and sings mournful songs about the Cossacks. The next morning, an unfamiliar young man arrives at the widow’s farm, introducing himself as a friend of the late Danila. He tells her that he entered into an agreement with Burulbash that he would take Katerina as his wife in the event of the death of her husband. During the conversation, the girl even begins to come to her senses, but immediately realizes that this is not a friend of her murdered husband, but an old sorcerer. Katerina grabs a knife and wants to stab her father, but he manages to quickly disappear.
That same evening, something unexpected happened - a complete picture of all lands was revealed in Kyiv, including the majestic Carpathian Mountains. At their top stood a horseman whom the sorcerer recognized. It was this face that appeared to him in the dugout while casting spells. Out of horror, the old man quickly grabs his horse and rides to atone for his sins to the schema-monk. However, he refuses to confess the sorcerer and says that it is impossible to atone for his sins. The villain, in a rage, kills the schema-monk and tries to escape to the Crimea, but the horse rushes him directly towards the rider on the top of the mountain. The strange spirit that appeared to the sorcerer grabs him and throws him into the abyss. Suddenly, dead people appear who have an outward resemblance to Katerina’s father. Enraged, they surround the sorcerer and begin to eat him. At that time, one of the dead, who is forced to gnaw at himself, cannot get out of the ground nearby.
The story “Terrible Revenge” on the Top books website
Gogol’s story “A Terrible Revenge” is still popular to read in our time, especially thanks to the latest film adaptation of the book. This allowed the story to get into ours, as well as into. And given the fairly stable interest in the work “Terrible Vengeance,” we will see it more than once among, although not in such high positions.
You can read Gogol’s story “Terrible Revenge” online on the Top Books website.
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol
"Terrible Revenge"
Captain Gorobets once celebrated his son’s wedding in Kyiv, which was attended by many people, including the captain’s brother Danilo Burulbash with his young wife, the beautiful Katerina, and his one-year-old son. Only Katerina’s old father, who had recently returned after a twenty-year absence, did not come with them. Everything was dancing when Yesaul brought out two wonderful icons to bless the young people. Then the sorcerer appeared in the crowd and disappeared, frightened by the images.
Danilo and his household return to the farmstead at night across the Dnieper. Katerina is frightened, but her husband is not afraid of the sorcerer, but of the Poles, who are going to cut off the path to the Cossacks, and that’s what he thinks about, sailing past the old sorcerer’s castle and the cemetery with the bones of his grandfathers. However, crosses are staggering in the cemetery and, one more terrible than the other, the dead appear, dragging their bones towards the month itself. Consoling his awakened son, Pan Danilo reaches the hut. His house is small, not roomy for his family and ten selected young men. The next morning a quarrel broke out between Danilo and his gloomy, quarrelsome father-in-law. It came to sabers, and then to muskets. Danilo was wounded, but if it weren’t for the pleas and reproaches of Katerina, who by the way remembered her little son, he would have continued to fight. The Cossacks were reconciled. Katerina soon tells her husband a vague dream that her father is a terrible sorcerer, and Danilo scolds his father-in-law’s busurman habits, suspecting him of being an unchrist, but he is more worried about the Poles, about whom Gorobets again warned him.
After dinner, during which the father-in-law disdains dumplings, pork, and a burner, in the evening Danilo leaves to scout around the old sorcerer’s castle. Climbing onto an oak tree to look out the window, he sees a witch’s room, illuminated by who knows what, with wonderful weapons on the walls and flickering bats. The father-in-law who entered begins to cast a spell, and his whole appearance changes: he is already a sorcerer in filthy Turkish attire. He summons Katerina's soul, threatens her and demands that Katerina love him. The soul does not give in, and, shocked by what has been revealed, Danilo returns home, wakes up Katerina and tells her everything. Katerina renounces her apostate father. In Danila’s basement, a sorcerer sits in iron chains, his demonic castle is burning; not for witchcraft, but for conspiring with the Poles, he will be executed tomorrow. But, promising to start a righteous life, retire to the caves, and with fasting and prayer to appease God, the sorcerer Katerina asks to let him go and thereby save his soul. Fearing her actions, Katerina releases him, but hides the truth from her husband. Sensing his death, the saddened Danilo asks his wife to take care of his son.
As predicted, the Poles come running in like a countless cloud, setting fire to the huts and driving away the cattle. Pan Danilo fights bravely, but the bullet of the sorcerer who appears on the mountain overtakes him. And even though Gorobets jumps to the rescue, Katerina is inconsolable. The Poles are defeated, the wonderful Dnieper is raging, and, fearlessly steering the canoe, the sorcerer sails to his ruins. In the dugout he casts spells, but it is not Katerina’s soul that appears to him, but someone uninvited; Although he is not scary, he is terrifying. Katerina, living with Gorobets, sees the same dreams and trembles for her son. Waking up in a hut surrounded by watchful guards, she finds him dead and goes crazy. Meanwhile, a gigantic horseman with a baby, riding a black horse, gallops from the West. His eyes are closed. He entered the Carpathians and stopped here.
Mad Katerina is looking for her father everywhere to kill him. A certain guest arrives, asking for Danila, mourns him, wants to see Katerina, talks to her for a long time about her husband and, it seems, brings her to her senses. But when he starts talking about how Danilo asked him to take Katerina for himself in case of death, she recognizes her father and rushes to him with a knife. The sorcerer himself kills his daughter.
Beyond Kiev, “an unheard-of miracle appeared”: “suddenly it became visible far to all ends of the world” - the Crimea, and the marshy Sivash, and the land of Galich, and the Carpathian Mountains with a gigantic horseman on the peaks. The sorcerer, who was among the people, runs away in fear, for he recognized in the horseman an uninvited person who had appeared to him during a spell. Night terrors haunt the sorcerer, and he turns to Kyiv, to the holy places. There he kills the holy schema-monk, who did not undertake to pray for such an unheard-of sinner. Now, wherever he steers his horse, he moves towards the Carpathian Mountains. Then the motionless horseman opened his eyes and laughed. And the sorcerer died, and, dead, he saw the dead rising from Kyiv, from the Carpathians, from the land of Galich, and was thrown by a horseman into the abyss, and the dead sank their teeth into him. Another one, taller and scarier than all of them, wanted to rise from the ground and shook it mercilessly, but could not get up.
This story ends with the ancient and wonderful song of the old bandura player in the city of Glukhov. It sings about the war between King Stepan and Turchin and the brothers, the Cossacks Ivan and Peter. Ivan caught the Turkish Pasha and shared the royal reward with his brother. But the envious Peter pushed Ivan and his baby son into the abyss and took all the goods for himself. After Peter's death, God allowed Ivan to choose his brother's execution himself. And he cursed all his descendants and predicted that the last of his kind would be an unprecedented villain, and when his end came, Ivan would appear from the hole on horseback and throw him into the abyss, and all his grandfathers would come from different ends of the earth to gnaw at him, and Petro will not be able to rise and will gnaw at himself, wanting revenge and not knowing how to take revenge. God marveled at the cruelty of the execution, but decided that it would be according to this.
In Kyiv, at his son’s wedding, Esaul Gorobets invited Esaul’s sworn brother Danila Burulbash with his young wife Ekaterina and one-year-old son. A lot of people came. But only Katerina’s father was not at the wedding. When Esaul brought out two icons to bless the young people, suddenly a sorcerer appeared in the crowd, frightened by the images, he suddenly disappeared.
Once Esaul had to return with his family to the farm at night along the Dnieper, sailing past the old sorcerer’s castle and cemetery. Danila is afraid of the Poles, who may cut off the path to the Cossacks. Having somehow consoled their son, who woke up from sleep, they get to the hut. Small house Danila is small for his family and well done for his family.
In the morning, a quarrel suddenly occurred between Danil and his quarrelsome father-in-law. Katerina once shared with Danila about her dream that her father was a terrible sorcerer. After lunch, Danilo decided to go reconnaissance around the sorcerer’s castle. He climbed an oak tree, looked out the window, and saw a witchcraft room, where marvelous weapons and flickering ghouls hung on the walls, and the father-in-law who entered began to cast a spell. His appearance immediately changes, he turns into a Turkish sorcerer.
In Danila’s basement sits a sorcerer, chained in iron chains, his castle is on fire. The sorcerer asks Katerina to let him go, promising to start a righteous life for this. Catherine releases the sorcerer. Poles come running in like a countless cloud, stealing cattle, burning huts. Danilo fights, but the old sorcerer’s bullet overtakes him. Gorobets gallops to the aid, the Poles are defeated, the Dnieper is liberated.
While living with Gorobets, Catherine sees disturbing dreams; she fears for her son. When she wakes up, she finds her son dead and loses her mind. Catherine is looking for her father everywhere to kill her. A certain guest, interested in Catherine, mourns Danil, talking with her. Catherine recognizes her father as a guest. The sorcerer kills his daughter. Beyond Kiev, Crimea, the Carpathian Mountains and the lands of Galicia became visible far away. Beyond Kyiv on high mountain turned out to be a sorcerer who runs in fear to holy places. The sorcerer died when he saw the dead rise from Kyiv, from the Carpathians, from the earth and was thrown into the abyss.
Daniil Burulbash came from a farmstead to Kyiv for a wedding. Suddenly one of the Cossacks turned to look at some kind of Basurman monster.
- Sorcerer, sorcerer... - Everyone started making noise.
And when they sailed on a boat along the Dnieper, the Cossacks suddenly saw a terrible sight: the dead were rising from their graves.
When Catherine, Daniel’s wife, heard about the sorcerer, she began to have strange dreams: as if her father was that same sorcerer. And he demands from her that she love him and refuse her husband.
Katerina’s father is truly a strange person in the opinion of the Cossacks: he doesn’t drink vodka, doesn’t eat pork, and is always gloomy. He and Daniil even fought - first with sabers, and then shots were fired. Daniel were wounded. Catherine, conjuring her little son, reconciled her father and her husband.
But Daniel began to follow the old man. And in vain. He saw how he left home at night and turned into a monster in bright Busurman clothes. The sorcerer summoned Catherine's soul. Age demanded love from her, but her soul was adamant.
Daniel put the sorcerer behind bars in the basement. Not only for witchcraft, but for the fact that he was planning bad things against Ukraine.
Catherine renounced her father. An insidious sorcerer persuades his daughter to let him go. He swears that he will become a monk who will live according to the laws of God.
Catherine listened to her father, opened the door, he ran away and began to do evil again. Daniel did not guess who freed the sorcerer. But the Cossack was seized by bad forebodings of imminent death, he bequeathed to his wife to keep an eye on his son and went into a fierce fight with the Poles. He died there. And as if someone in Busurman clothes with a terrible face killed him...
After the death of her husband, Catherine went crazy, let down her braids, danced half-dressed, and then sang. A man came to the farm and began to tell the Cossacks who fought with Daniil and was his best friend. He also said that Burulbash commanded: if he dies, let his friend take his widow as his wife. Hearing these words, Catherine shouted: “It’s father! This is my sorcerer father! The imaginary friend turned around the infidel monster, pulled out a knife and stabbed the crazy Catherine. Father stabbed his daughter!
The sorcerer had no peace after that terrible act, he rode his horse through the Carpathian Mountains, met the holy schema-monk - and killed him. As something gnawed at that damned one, hell and tore him apart, he no longer knew what was making him move. But at the top of the mountain the frantic fugitive saw a huge horseman. The horseman then grabbed the sinner with his mighty right hand and crushed him. And already dead dead With his eyes the sorcerer saw a terrible sight: many dead people with faces similar to him. And they began to gnaw at him. And one was so big that it just moved - and an earthquake occurred in the Carpathians.
Why did all this happen? An old bandura player wrote a song about this. When two comrades, Ivan and Peter, fought with the Turks, Ivan captured the Turkish pasha. King Stefan awarded Ivan. He gave half of the reward to Peter, who became jealous and decided to take revenge. He pushed Ivan, his horse and his little son into the abyss.
At God's court, Ivan demanded that all the descendants of Peter not know happiness on earth, and the last in the family turned out to be the worst, a thief. Such a thief that all the dead, after the death of a sinner, would gnaw at him, and Peter would be so big that he would gnaw at himself out of rage.
And so it happened.
And Ivan turned into a strange knight-rider, sitting on the top of the Carpathians and looking at his terrible revenge.