N. Gogol in the memoirs of his contemporaries. S.T. Aksakov2. Nikolai Gogol: Memoirs of contemporaries about N. V. Gogol Gogol in the memoirs of contemporaries message briefly

MEMORIES OF CONTEMPORARY ABOUT N. V. GOGOL

T. G. PASHENKO

FEATURES FROM THE LIFE OF GOGOL

"Each feature of a great artist is the property of history."

Victor Hugo.

Our famous Gogol, with his remarkable originality, was an inimitable comedian, mimic and an excellent reader. Originality, humour, satire and comedy were innate, inherent in Gogol. These capital features appear prominently in each of his works and in almost every line, although they do not fully express the author, about which Gogol himself said: "A letter can never express even a tenth of a person." Therefore, each feature of a famous person, in which his inner world action or living word, interesting, dear and should be preserved for posterity.

Here are some of Gogol's originalities. The gymnasium of higher sciences of Prince Bezborodko was divided into three museums, or departments, into which we entered and left in pairs; so they took us for walks. Each museum had its own overseer. In the third museum the overseer was a German, 3<ельднер>, ugly, clumsy and antipathetic utterly: tall, lean, with long, thin and crooked legs, almost without calves; his face somehow protruded ugly forward and strongly looked like a pig's snout ... long arms dangled as if tied; round-shouldered, with a silly expression of colorless and lifeless eyes, and with some strange hairstyle of hair. On the other hand, Zeldner took such gigantic steps with his long wry legs that we were not happy with him. Hardly, he is here: one, two, three, and Zeldner from the front pair is already at the back; Well, it just doesn't give us a turn. So Gogol decided to moderate the excessive agility of this long-legged German and composed the following four lines on Zeldner:

Gizel - the muzzle of a pig,
Cranes legs;
The same little devil that is in the swamp,
Just put your horns on!

Let's go, Zeldner - ahead; suddenly the rear pairs will sing these verses - he will take a step, and already there. "Who did the bumblebee sing, what did she sing?" Silence, and no one blinks an eye. The front couples will sing there - Zeldner strides there - and there too; we will delay again - he again comes to us, and again without an answer. We amuse ourselves until Zeldner stops walking, walks in silence and only looks around and shakes his finger. Sometimes we can't stand it and burst out laughing. It went well. Such amusement gave Gogol and all of us great pleasure and tempered Zeldner's gigantic steps. We had a friend<иттер>, a large, extremely suspicious and gullible young man, eighteen years old. Ritter had his own footman, old Semyon. Gogol was interested in the excessive suspiciousness of his comrade, and he threw out such a thing with him: “You know, Ritter, I have been watching you for a long time and noticed that you have not human, but bullish eyes ... but I still doubted and did not want to tell you, but now I see that this is an undoubted truth - you have bull eyes ... "

He brings Ritter several times to the mirror, which looks intently, changes in his face, trembles, and Gogol gives all kinds of evidence and finally completely assures Ritter that he has bull's eyes.

It was towards night: the unfortunate Ritter went to bed, did not sleep, tossed and turned, sighed heavily, and his own bullish eyes kept imagining to him. At night he suddenly jumps out of bed, wakes up the footman and asks him to light a candle; footman lit. “You see, Semyon, I have bull’s eyes…” The lackey, persuaded by Gogol, replies: “Really, sir, you have bull’s eyes! Oh my god! It was N.V. Gogol who made such an obsession ... ”Ritter finally lost heart and was confused. Suddenly in the morning there is turmoil. "What?" “Ritter is crazy! Obsessed with the fact that he has bull eyes!. “I noticed it yesterday,” Gogol says with such confidence that it was hard not to believe. They run and report the misfortune with Ritter to director Orlai; and Ritter himself runs after him, enters Orlai and weeps bitterly: “Your Excellency! I have bull eyes! The most learned and famous doctor of medicine, director Orlai, phlegmatically sniffs tobacco and, seeing that Ritter has really lost his mind in front of a bull's eyes, ordered him to be taken to the hospital. And they dragged the unfortunate Ritter to the hospital, where he stayed for a whole week, until he was cured of imaginary madness. Gogol and all of us were dying of laughter, and Ritter was cured of suspiciousness.

Remarkable powers of observation and a passion for writing awakened in Gogol very early and almost from the very first days of his admission to the gymnasium of higher sciences. But while studying the sciences, there was almost no time for compositions and writing. What does Gogol do? During the class, especially in the evenings, he pulls out a drawer from the table, in which there was a board with a slate pencil or a notebook with a pencil, leans over the book, looks into it and at the same time writes in the drawer, and so skillfully that the vigilant guards do not noticed this trick. Later, as it was evident, Gogol's passion for compositions intensified more and more, but there was no time to write and the box did not satisfy him. What did Gogol do? Freaked out!. Yes, I got mad! Suddenly there was a terrible alarm in all departments - "Gogol went berserk!" We ran, and we saw that Gogol's face was terribly distorted, his eyes sparkled with some kind of wild brilliance, his hair was puffed up, he grinds his teeth, foam from the mouth, falls, throws himself and beats the furniture - went mad! The phlegmatic director Orlai also ran in, carefully approached Gogol and touched his shoulder: Gogol grabbed a chair, waved it - Orlai left ... There was only one remedy left: they called four employees at the Lyceum for the Disabled, ordered them to take Gogol and take him to a special department of the hospital. So the disabled seized the time, approached Gogol, grabbed him, laid him on a bench and carried him, a servant of God, to the hospital, where he stayed for two months, perfectly playing the role of a madman there ...

"Each feature of a great artist is the property of history."

Victor Hugo.

Our famous Gogol, with his remarkable originality, was an inimitable comedian, mimic and an excellent reader. Originality, humour, satire and comedy were innate, inherent in Gogol. These capital features appear prominently in each of his works and in almost every line, although they do not fully express the author, about which Gogol himself said: "A letter can never express even a tenth of a person." Therefore, each feature of a famous person, in which his inner world is expressed by action or a living word, is interesting, dear and should be preserved for posterity.

Here are some of Gogol's originalities. The gymnasium of higher sciences of Prince Bezborodko was divided into three museums, or departments, into which we entered and left in pairs; so they took us for walks. Each museum had its own overseer. In the third museum, the warder was a German, 3, ugly, clumsy and utterly antipathetic: tall, lean, with long, thin and crooked legs, almost without calves; his face somehow protruded ugly forward and strongly looked like a pig's snout ... long arms dangled as if tied; round-shouldered, with a silly expression of colorless and lifeless eyes, and with some strange hairstyle of hair. On the other hand, Zeldner took such gigantic steps with his long wry legs that we were not happy with him. Hardly, he is here: one, two, three, and Zeldner from the front pair is already at the back; Well, it just doesn't give us a turn. So Gogol decided to moderate the excessive agility of this long-legged German and composed the following four lines on Zeldner:

Gizel - the muzzle of a pig,

Cranes legs;

The same little devil that is in the swamp,

Just put your horns on!

Let's go, Zeldner - ahead; suddenly the rear pairs will sing these verses - he will take a step, and already there. "Who did the bumblebee sing, what did she sing?" Silence, and no one blinks an eye. The front couples will sing there - Zeldner strides there - and there too; we will delay again - he again comes to us, and again without an answer. We amuse ourselves until Zeldner stops walking, walks in silence and only looks around and shakes his finger. Sometimes we can't stand it and burst out laughing. It went well. Such amusement gave Gogol and all of us great pleasure and moderated Zeldner's gigantic steps. We had a comrade R, a large, extremely suspicious and gullible young man, about eighteen years old. Ritter had his own footman, old Semyon. Gogol was interested in the excessive suspiciousness of his comrade, and he threw out such a thing with him: “You know, Ritter, I have been watching you for a long time and noticed that you have not human, but bullish eyes ... but I still doubted and did not want to tell you, but now I see that this is an undoubted truth - you have bull eyes ... "

He brings Ritter several times to the mirror, which looks intently, changes in his face, trembles, and Gogol gives all kinds of evidence and finally completely assures Ritter that he has bull's eyes.

Gogol had an idea and, presumably, for Evenings on a Farm. He needed time - so he played the role of a madman, and amazingly true! Then they figured it out.

On the small stage of the second lyceum museum, lyceum students sometimes liked to play comic and dramatic plays on holidays. Gogol and Prokopovich - sincere friends among themselves - took special care of this and staged performances. They played plays and ready-made ones, and the lyceum students themselves composed them. Gogol and Prokopovich were the main authors and performers of plays. Gogol loved mainly comic plays and took the role of old people, and Prokopovich - tragic ones. Once they composed a play from Little Russian life, in which Gogol undertook to play the silent role of a decrepit old Little Russian. Learned the roles and did a few rehearsals. The evening of the performance came, which was attended by many relatives of lyceum students and outsiders. The play consisted of two acts; the first act went well, but Gogol did not appear in it, but had to appear in the second. The public did not yet know Gogol, but we knew it well and looked forward to his appearance on the stage. In the second act, a simple Little Russian hut and several bare trees are presented on the stage; in the distance there is a river and yellowed reeds. There is a bench near the hut; there is no one on stage.

Here is a decrepit old man in a simple jacket, in a sheepskin hat and oily boots. Leaning on a stick, he barely moves, groaningly reaches the bench and sits down. Sitting shaking, groaning, giggling and coughing; finally, he giggled and coughed with such a choking and hoarse old cough, with an unexpected addition that the whole audience roared and burst into uncontrollable laughter ... And the old man calmly got up from the bench and trudged off the stage, killing everyone with laughter ...

Pushkin died in 1837. From the letters of Gogol himself it is known what a thunderous blow this loss was. Gogol became sick both in spirit and in body.66 I will add that, in my opinion, he will never
completely recovered and that Pushkin's death was the only cause of all the painful manifestations of his spirit, as a result of which he asked himself insoluble questions, to which his great talent, exhausted by the struggle, with the direction of the hermit, could not give any satisfactory answers.

At the beginning of 1838, rumors spread throughout Moscow that Gogol
desperately ill in Italy and even imprisoned for debts. Of course
the latter was a complete lie. In all of Moscow, one corresponded with him
Pogodin; he finally received a letter from Gogol informing him of his illness
and difficult financial circumstances. This letter was written from Naples
August 20th. Among other things, Gogol wrote in it: "I did not want
take advantage of your kindness. Now I've been brought to that. If you are rich come
a bill for 2000. I will return them to you in a year, a lot in a year and a half. "We
decided to help him, but under great secrecy: I, Pogodin, Baratynsky and
<Н. Ф.>Pavlov formed 250 rubles, and 1000 rubles. suggested himself, heartily
a very kind person, I. E. Velikopolsky, to whom I only hinted about
Gogol's position and our intention. The secret was well kept. Pogodin
was supposed to write a letter to Gogol with the following content: "Seeing that you
you are in need, on a foreign side, I, having free money, send you
2000 r. banknotes. You give them to me when you get rich, what, without
doubt, there will be." The money was sent immediately. With this money
a strange thing happened. I am convinced that they were received by Gogol,
because in one of his letters Pogodin very indelicately recalls them
Gogol, while he gave us his word of honor that Gogol would never know about
our warehouse; but here's what's incomprehensible: when Gogol's financial affairs
recovered when he published his writings in 4 volumes, then he instructed
all retributions to Shevyrev and gave him a handwritten register, in which even all
petty debts were recorded with accuracy; about the same two thousand
mentioned; this register is now kept by Shevyrev.
In 1838, I think on June 8th, Konstantin went abroad,
intending to live long in foreign lands (he could not live longer than five
months). Before his return to Russia, he wrote to Gogol in Rome the most
an ardent letter, urging him to return to Moscow (Gogol had lived in Rome for over
two years) and appointing him the place of the congress in Cologne, where Konstantin will wait
him to go back together. Gogol did not think to return yet, yes
and received the letter two months later, because he was leaving Rome somewhere.
This letter, probably breathing with ardent love, produced, however, a deep
impression on Gogol, and although he did not answer him, but, upon returning to
Russia, a year later, spoke of him with sincere feeling.
In 1839, Pogodin traveled abroad, intending to bring with him
Gogol. He never wrote us a word about his meeting with Gogol,67 and although
at first we hoped that they would return to Moscow together, but then
lost that hope. We spent the summer at a dacha in Aksin'in, ten versts from
Moscow. On September 29, I suddenly receive the following note from Mikhail
Semenovich Shchepkin:
"Most Honorable Sergei Timofeevich, I hasten to inform you that M. P. Pogodin
arrived, and not alone; Our expectations were fulfilled: N. V. Gogol came with him.
The latter asked not to tell anyone that he was here; he is very good though
Doubts about his health constantly peep through. I before
rejoiced at his arrival, that he was completely mad, even to the point that he could hardly
did not meet him dryly; yesterday I spent the whole evening with them and, it seems, worthwhile
he didn’t say a word: his arrival made me so excited that I am the current
almost did not sleep at night. I could not resist not to inform you about this for us
surprise: for, I remember, we did not expect him at all. Farewell to today
misfortune, I play and therefore I will not see him.
Your most obedient servant
Mikhail Schepkin. dated September 28, 1839".
I am posting this note in order to show what Gogol's arrival meant.
to Moscow for his admirers. We were all extremely happy. Konstantin,
having read the note before everyone else, he raised such a cry for joy that everyone
frightened, and Masha 68 even became ill. He left for
Moscow on the same day, and I moved with my family on October 1st. Constantine already
saw Gogol, who stayed with Pogodin in his own house on
Maiden's field.
Gogol met Konstantin cheerfully and affectionately; talking about the letter
which, obviously, was pleasant for him, and explained why he could not
to come to the place appointed by Constantine, that is, to Cologne. The reason was
in the fact that he was leaving Rome for that time, and returning, he did not receive
letters from Russia, although he often inquired at the post office; finally he decided
review all the letters lying there, and between them I found several
addressed to him; including a letter from Constantine.
The stupid postal clerk mistook Gogol for someone else and therefore did not
still gave him letters.
Speaking very pleasantly, Konstantin asked Gogol the most
natural, but, of course, too often repeated by everyone when meeting with
writer: "What did you bring us, Nikolai Vasilyevich?" - and Gogol suddenly
very dryly and with displeasure answered: "Nothing." Similar questions were
always very unpleasant to him; he was especially fond of keeping a secret
was engaged, and could not stand if they wanted to break it.
On the next day of my move to Moscow, October 2, Gogol came to
us to dine with Shchepkin, when we were already sitting at the table, he was not at all
waiting. Everyone greeted him with sincere, joyful exclamations, and he himself
seemed to return to close and old friends, and not just to acquaintances,
who saw each other several times and then for a short time. I was rapt before
depths of the heart and at the same time surprised. It seemed as if a five-year-old could
absence, without written communications, so bring us closer to Gogol? Feelings
ours, of course, we had every right to his friendship, and, no doubt,
Pogodin, who knew us very briefly, told him everything in detail, and Gogol
felt like we were his real friends.
Gogol's appearance changed so much that it was possible not to recognize him:
there were no traces of the former, clean-shaven and trimmed (except for the crest)
dandy in a fashionable tailcoat! Beautiful blond thick hair lay with him
almost on the shoulders; a beautiful mustache, a goatee completed the change; all facial features
received a completely different meaning; especially in the eyes when he spoke
kindness, gaiety and love for all were expressed; when he was silent
thought, now they portrayed a serious desire for something
high. A coat like a coat replaced the tailcoat, which Gogol wore only in
perfect extreme. The very figure of Gogol in a frock coat became
prettier. Gogol's jokes, which there is no way to convey, were
so original and amusing that uncontrollable laughter overcame everyone who
listened, but he always joked without smiling. From this very time
our close friendship began, suddenly developing between us. Gogol visited
us almost every day and dined very often. Knowing how he does not like to
talked to him about his writings, we never mentioned them, although the rumor about
"Dead Souls" has already run all over Russia and aroused general attention and
curiosity. I don’t remember, someone wrote from foreign lands that, after listening to
leaving Rome the first chapter of "Dead Souls", he laughed all the way to Paris.
Others were not as delicate as we were, and approached Gogol with questions, but
received the most unsatisfactory and even unpleasant answers.
Gogol told us that he had to go to Petersburg soon to take
their sisters from the Patriotic Institute, where they were brought up on the state
content. Gogol's mother was supposed to come to Moscow in the spring for her daughters. I
he himself, together with Vera, was going to go to Petersburg to take my Misha
69 to the Corps of Pages, where he had long been a candidate. I am now
invited Gogol to go with him, and he was very glad of that.
Not knowing well the time when the release was to follow
pupils from the Patriotic Institute, Gogol was at first in a hurry to leave.
This can be seen from Pogodin's note to me, in which he writes that Gogol asks
me to inquire about this issue; but there was no need to hurry: release
followed in December. In any case, the delay in departure was due to
us. I wrote to Gogol on October 20 that, "desiring by all means to go along with
you, my dear Nikolai Vasilyevich, I turn to you with a question, can you
do you postpone your departure until Tuesday? If you can't, we go to
Sunday morning." On the same note, Gogol replied:
"If you certainly want and need it, and I can do it for you
pleasure, I am ready to postpone my departure until Tuesday willingly.
But on Tuesday, the departure was postponed, and we left on Thursday afternoon
October 26th (1839). I took a special stagecoach, divided into two compartments: in
Misha and Gogol were sitting in the front, and Vera and I were in the back. Both coupes were reported
two small windows in which the wooden frames could be raised and
lower: on our side, two mirrors were inserted into the frames. it
the trip was so pleasant for me and for my children, so much fun that I
Now I remember him fondly. Gogol was so kind
constantly joking that we were dying of laughter, All these jokes are usually
occurred at the stations or during conversations with the conductor and coachmen. Most
an ordinary question or some demand, Gogol knew how to put it this way
it's funny that we were just starting to laugh; sometimes we even felt ashamed
before Gogol, especially when we were surrounded by a crowd of listeners. AT
continuation of the road, which stretched for more than four days, Gogol said
sometimes with a passion for life in Italy, about painting (which he loved very much and
which he had a decisive talent), about art in general, about comedy in
especially, about his "Inspector General", very regretting that the main role,
Khlestakov, is played badly in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which is why the play lost all
meaning (although in Moscow he did not see The Inspector General on stage). He offered me
Returning from St. Petersburg, play "The Government Inspector" at the home theater; wanted to
to take the role of Khlestakov, he offered me Gorodnichy, Tomashevsky (with whom I
managed to introduce him), who served as a censor in the Post Office, assigned the role
postmaster, and so on. Gogol expressed many such clear and true
views on art, such subtle understandings of art that I was fascinated
them. For the most part, while riding, wrapped in an overcoat, raising its collar
above his head, he was reading some book, which he hid under him or put in
bag, which he always carried with him at the stations. In this big bag
there were toilet accessories: some kind of oil with which he smeared his
hair, mustache and goatee, several head brushes, of which one was
very large and crooked: Gogol combed his long hair with it. Right here
there were scissors, tweezers and nail brushes and, finally, a few books. Neighbor
Gogol, our fourteen-year-old Misha, lively and cheerful, always showed us
signs of what Gogol is doing, reading or dozing. Misha even spied what
the book he was reading: it was Shakespeare on French.
Gogol always felt, especially in a sitting position, an unusual
chilliness; no doubt it was a sign of a diseased nerve condition,
who had not yet returned to their normal position after Pushkin's death.
Gogol could warm his feet only by walking, and for this he put on over
boots, long and thick Russian woolen stockings and, above all, warm
bear boots. Despite the fact that at each station he ran around the rooms and
even the streets all the time while the horses were shifted, or simply put their feet
into the oven. Gogol was then still a bit of a grocery store; he took over
disposal of our coffee, tea, breakfast and lunch. We drove extremely
slowly, because the horses that carried the stagecoaches could barely carry their legs, and Gogol
calculated that the next day, at five o'clock in the afternoon, we should arrive at
Torzhok, therefore, they should dine there and enjoy the famous cutlets
Pozharsky, and for such reasons he gave us only breakfast, but not dinner.
gave. We cheerfully obeyed this order. Instead of five o'clock in the evening we
We arrived in Torzhok at three o'clock in the morning. Gogol joked so funny about the future
our morning lunch, that with loud laughter we climbed the stairs of the famous
hotel, and Gogol just ordered us a dozen cutlets so that other dishes
not ask. Half an hour later the cutlets were ready, and their appearance and
the smell stimulated a strong appetite in hungry travelers. cutlets
were definitely unusually tasty, but suddenly (it seems to be the first Vera) we all
stopped chewing, and began to pull out of their mouths quite long
blond hair. The picture was very funny, and Gogol's jokes gave
so much comical to this adventure that for a few minutes we only
laughed like crazy. Calmed down, we began to examine our
cutlets, and what happened? In each of them, we found several dozen
the same long blond hair! How did they get there, I still don't
Understand. Gogol's assumptions were one more ridiculous than the other. By the way, he
said with his inimitable Little Russian humor that the cook was truly
drunk and not getting enough sleep, that they woke him up and that he tore his hair out of annoyance,
when cooking cutlets; maybe he's not drunk and a very kind person, but
was sick recently with a fever, which caused his hair to climb, which fell
on food as he prepared it, shaking his blond curls.
We sent for an explanation for sex, and Gogol warned us what answer
we will receive from the sexual: “Hair, sir? What kind of hair is there, sir?
hair-with? It's like that, nothing! Chicken feathers or fluff, etc., etc.
At that very moment, the sexual officer entered and answered the question we had put forward exactly.
the same as Gogol said, much even in the same words. Laugh before
took possession of us, that the sexual and our man looked at us, bulging eyes from
surprise, and I was afraid that Vera would not become ill. Finally a fit of laughter
passed. Vera asked herself to warm up the broth; and we are three, pulling out
beforehand, all the hair, courageously began to cutlets.
The whole journey was just as fun. I don’t remember, somewhere they offered us
buy gingerbread. Gogol, taking one of them, began with the simplest
to assure the seller with a look and a serious voice that these are not gingerbread; what he
he made a mistake and somehow grabbed bars of soap instead of gingerbread, which, according to their white
you can see it in color, and they smell of soap, that let him taste it himself and that soap
costs much more than gingerbread. The seller is very serious at first and
convincingly argued that these were definitely gingerbread, and not soap, and, finally,
got angry. There is nothing funny in my story, but, listening to Gogol, there was nothing
opportunity not to laugh.
I also remember breakfast at the station in Pomeranian, which has long been famous for
with her coffee and waffles, and even more wonderful, then already old,
his servant, who had been walking around for twenty years, apparently in the same tailcoat, in
the same stockings and shoes with buckles. It was a lackey of the highest rank,
with the most representative appearance and decent manners. Everyone knew him
Russia, who traveled to Petersburg. Whatever time of day or night you arrive
decently dressed travelers, especially ladies, the gentleman footman was
immediately in full suit. I was assured that he always slept in it,
sitting on a chair. With this interesting person for Gogol, he was able to
talk so masterfully, falling into his tone, that always
the cold-blooded, courteous old man, leaving his eternally worn mask, appeared to another
face, so to speak, with its inner features. In this conversation it was
something touchingly funny and for me even touching.
October 30, 70 at eight o'clock in the evening we arrived at
Petersburg. Before reaching Vladimirskaya, where the house of the Kartashevskys was, Gogol
got out of the stagecoach, grabbed his bag and said goodbye to us. He didn't know where
stop: at Pletnev or at Zhukovsky. He promised to send immediately
with your belongings and suitcase and notify us of your apartment; wanted also
to visit soon. But Gogol's promises of this kind were very untrue; in
the same evening, but so late that everyone had already gone to bed, Gogol came
himself, took his bag and something else and told the man that he would send for
other things; but where he lives, he did not say. The other day I drove it
searched, but could not find. For many of my trips, I did not have time
to visit Pletnev, but Zhukovsky did not have Gogol. Finally on the 3rd
November, I visited Gogol. He had just moved in with Zhukovsky and promised to
another day, that is, the 4th, come to dine with us. He made me very happy
but he seemed somehow embarrassed and no longer resembled the former, traveling Gogol.
He cheered a little, saying that he would take his sisters and again with
we will go to Moscow; wanted immediately as soon as it was possible to move
across the Neva, take us to the Patriotic Institute to acquaint us with our
sisters. He did not stay to dine with us, because Zhukovsky sent for him.
I introduced him to my hosts. Everyone did not like Gogol very much, even
Masha. In general, I must say that, apart from Mashenka, no one understood and did not
appreciated Gogol as a writer. Gr. Iv. Kartashevsky did not even read it; but I
hoped that he could and should fully appreciate Gogol, because in
youth, when he was still my tutor, he passionately loved
"Don Quixote", adored Shakespeare and Homer and was the first to develop in my soul a love for
art. My expectations were not justified, which we will see later.
On the 5th of November, I have not yet descended from the top, because until half past two
Kavelin stayed with me, Vera and Mashenka just managed to run to me,
to listen to "Arabesques" by Gogol, which I bought for Mashenka the day before -
how Gogol himself ran in, so frozen that it was even pitiful and funny
look at him (at that time there was a terrible cold in Petersburg, up to twenty
three degrees in strong winds); but then, having warmed up, he was very cheerful and
funny with both girls. I sat for a very long time and would have stayed even longer, but
Yves came. Iv. Panaev: This reminded Gogol that it was time for him to go. In spite of
the fact that Gogol seemed very cheerful to everyone, inwardly he was extremely
upset. On the 5th of November he was with me again and revealed to me his
predicament. He was encouraged by Zhukovsky that his sisters
will receive assistance when leaving the institute from the generosity of the Empress; but now
no one undertakes to report to her about it, because on the occasion of ill health she
is engaged in business, and it is considered indecent to disturb her with reports. Gogol
said that gossip had already begun about him and that he was burning with impatience
get out of here as soon as possible. He begged me to go with Vera and him to his
sisters, and instructed me in each letter to write to my wife and Konstantin by
five bows. I was excited about his position and offered him everything
then I had, of course, a trifle; he said something very
in an irritated voice, and ran away. On the same day, I described everything in detail to Olga
Semyonovna, noticing that Gogol probably needed a lot of money, that all this,
I hope it will get better, otherwise I will.
In the whole circle of my old comrades and friends, in the whole circle of my
I didn’t meet a single person I knew who liked Gogol and who
fully appreciated it. Not even anyone to read it all! Oh Petersburg, oh
vulgar businesslike, always disgusting Petersburg! For example,
Vladimir Ivanovich Panaev, also my old comrade, writer and member
Russian Academy, with whom, of course, I never talked about Gogol,
suddenly asks me in front of many witnesses: “And what about Gogol? Again he wrote
anything funny and unnatural?" I don't remember what I answered him; but,
probably the presence of others saved him from such an answer, from which
would say hello to him 71.
For several days Gogol still hoped for some
favorable circumstances; We saw him several times, but
a short time. Every time they agreed when to go to his sisters, and
every time something got in the way.
Finally, on November 13, Gogol dined with us. Grigory Ivanovich, who
managed to read some of it and laughed all night at "Wii" ... alas, also not
could fully understand the artistic merit of Gogol; he only felt
one comedy of it. This did not prevent him from being quite amiable in his own way with his
countryman. Gogol at dinner suddenly asked me quietly: "Where did this
an excellent portrait?" and pointed to the portrait of Kirillovna, painted by Mashenka
Kartashevskaya. I, of course, have now explained the matter, and Mashenka, whom
there was no ill health at the table, and also Vera, was heartily comforted by the review
Gogol. After dinner, he looked at the portrait of Vera, begun by Masha, and the portrait
our Marichen 72, made by Vera, and highly praised, especially
portrait of Marichen, and in conclusion he said that they needed to get acquainted briefly with
Vandik to improve. Both friends were in awe. I explained
to him, what a beautiful creature Mashenka Kartashevskaya. After dinner Gogol
talked for a long time with Grigory Ivanovich about art in general: about music,
painting, about the theater and the nature of Little Russian poetry; spoke amazingly
Good! Everything was so new, fresh and true! And what was the result?
Grigory Ivanovich, this intelligent, highly moral, enlightened and accessible
understanding of some aspects of art, a man told Vera and me: what
the Little Russian people are empty, that Gogol himself is exactly the same crest, what he
represents in his stories that it is not enough for him alone, that he wants to be and
musician and painter, and began to scold him for having given himself over to Italy.
This saddened me heartily, and Vera sadly told me: "What after this and
to speak if Grigory Ivanovich cannot understand what a deep and great
For Gogol, art in general matters, in whatever form it may take.
showed up!"
November 13 of this year has remained an unforgettable day for me throughout my life.
life. After dinner, at seven o'clock, Gogol and I went upstairs to talk.
alone. When I called Gogol, I embraced him with one arm and led him in this way
upstairs, his face showed such excitement and embarrassment ... No, both
these words do not express what was expressed on his face! I felt that
Gogol, foreseeing what I would talk to him about, was tormented inwardly that he
it was painful, unpleasant, humiliating. I suddenly felt so ashamed
so ashamed that I bring into unpleasant embarrassment, even some kind of timidity of this
man of genius, - and I hesitated for a moment: should I talk to him about
his position? But going upstairs, Gogol overcame himself and began to speak
myself.
His circumstances were as follows: Zhukovsky assured him through a letter
back to Moscow that the Empress would grant his sisters upon leaving the institute
at least a thousand rubles each (which, however, I already partly knew). With this
true hope he came to St. Petersburg; but she did not come true due to ill health
empress, and it is not known when it will come true. To top it off, Gogol lost
his wallet with money, and even notes, very important to him. About it
was published in the police newspaper; but, of course, the wallet was not found,
precisely because it contained money. Besides what he needed to wear
sisters and take him to Moscow, he has to pay for some lessons ... What
do? Who to contact? Everything around is cold as ice, but not a penny! At
close people, that is, from Zhukovsky and Pletnev, for some reason he asks for money
could not (probably he owed them). Asking from others without having
no right, he considered humiliating, dishonorable and even useless. Although
I vividly remember, but I don’t know how to retell how my soul boiled up. intermittent
from an inner feeling, but at the same time, in a firm voice, I told him that I
I can, without the slightest embarrassment, completely freely dispose of 2,000 rubles;
that it would be a sin for him if, even for one minute, he doubted; that he won't
owes me, and I him; that help him in his predicament i believe
the happiest moment of my life; that I have a right to this happiness according to my
friendship for him I even have the right to have him take this help without the slightest
embarrassment, and not only without an unpleasant feeling, but with pleasure, which
a person feels when giving pleasure to another person. - Apparently, in
my words and my face expressed so much a sense of truth that my face
Gogol not only cleared up, but became radiant. Instead of answering
thanked God for this minute, for meeting on earth with me and my
family, stretched out both his hands to me, squeezed mine tightly and looked at me
with the same eyes as he looked, a few months before his death, leaving
from our Abramtsevo to Moscow, saying goodbye to me not for long. I believe that in
it was a premonition of eternal separation... Gogol did not hide from me that
knew in advance what I would do; but that at the same time he knew through Pogodin and
Shevyreva about my often difficult situation, knew that I myself sometimes
I need money and that the thought of being the cause of some deprivation of the whole
of a huge family tormented him, and therefore it was so hard for him
to confess to me his poverty, his extremeness; that by reassuring him
my account, I dumped the stone that crushed him, that he is now easy and free. He
with love and joy began to talk about what he already had ready in his thoughts and
what will he do upon his return to Moscow; that besides the labor bequeathed to him
Pushkin, the accomplishment of which he considers the task of his life, that is
"Dead souls" - he has a tragedy in his head from the history of Zaporozhye,
in which everything is ready, to the last thread, even in clothes actors; what
it is his long-standing, beloved child, that he believes that this play will be the best
his work and that two months would be too long for him to
write it down on paper 73. He talked about my family, which
fully understood and appreciated; especially about my Konstantin, who impatiently
wanted to transfer from the abstract world of thought to the world of art, where, despite
on the philosophical direction, attracted his vocation. Our hearts were
filled with feeling; I saw that each of us needed to stay
alone. I hugged Gogol, told him that I needed to go, and
asked that tomorrow, after dinner, he come to me or appoint an hour for me,
when I can come to him with the money that my sister has hidden; what
no one but Konstantin and my wife should know about this. Gogol,
calm and cheerful, left me. I was, of course, quite happy; but money
I did not have. I had to get them, which was not difficult, and I
now having written a note and asked for 2000 rubles for two weeks * to the well-known
rich man, a very remarkable person in his mind and spiritual properties,
of course, very one-sided - to the farmer Benardaki, with whom he was
well known. He answered me that tomorrow morning he would come himself to perform
my "command". This courtesy was fulfilled exactly. That same evening
I could not stand it and broke the promise I voluntarily made to Gogol; i couldn't hide
my enthusiastic state from Vera and her friend Mashenka Kartashevskaya,
whom he loved like a daughter (however, they were the only exception). Both
my girls were amazed. On November 14, Gogol did not come to see me.
On the 15th I wrote him a note and called for what was needed. Gogol did not come. 16th i
went to him myself, but did not find him at home. Knowing from Benardaki, who on the 14th
the next day he himself brought me 2,000 rubles in the morning, which exactly on the 16th Gogol promised
him to dine, I wrote a note to Gogol and ordered the man to wait for him at
Benardaki; but Gogol deceived me, I did not come to dinner. I was attacked
anxiety and doubt that Gogol had changed his mind about taking money from me.
It is remarkable that this Greek Benardaki, very intelligent, but without education, was
the only person in Petersburg who called Gogol a genius
writer and acquaintance with him set himself a great honor! 74
* To pay this money, I wrote to Moscow to my debtor
Velikopolsky, who just sent me 2,700 rubles, that is, the entire debt.

Gogol in the memoirs of contemporaries

NV Gogol Engraving by F. Jordan from the portrait of F. Moller. 1841

S. Mashinsky. Foreword

Perhaps none of the great Russian writers of the 19th century caused such a fierce ideological struggle around his work as Gogol. This struggle began after the publication of his first works and continued with unrelenting force for many decades after his death. Belinsky rightly noted that "no one was indifferent to Gogol's talent: he was either enthusiastically loved or hated."

Gogol's work marks the greatest milestone in the development of Russian literature after Pushkin. The critical, accusatory nature of Gogol's realism was an expression of her ideological maturity and ability to raise the main, fundamental questions of the social life of Russia. The emancipatory ideas that fed the activities of Fonvizin and Radishchev, Griboyedov and Pushkin were the tradition of Russian literature that Gogol continued and enriched with his brilliant works.

Describing the period of Russian history “from the Decembrists to Herzen,” Lenin pointed out: “Fortified Russia is downtrodden and motionless. An insignificant minority of nobles protests, powerless without the support of the people. But the best people from the nobles helped wake the people. Gogol was one of these people. His work was imbued with the living interests of Russian reality. With great force of realism, the writer exposed "to the eyes of the people" all the abomination and rottenness of the contemporary feudal-landowner regime. Gogol's works reflected the anger of the people against their age-old oppressors.

Gogol wrote with heartache about the dominance of "dead souls" in feudal Russia. The position of an impassive chronicler was alien to Gogol. In his famous discussion of two types of artists, to whom the seventh chapter of Dead Souls opens, Gogol contrasts the romantic inspiration soaring in the sky with the hard but noble work of a realist writer who “dared to bring out ... all the terrible, amazing mire of trifles that entangled our life , the whole depth of the cold, fragmented, everyday characters that our earthly, sometimes bitter and boring road is teeming with." Gogol himself was such a realist artist, an accuser. With merciless sarcasm and hatred, he flaunted the "crooked faces" of the landlord and bureaucratic world. Belinsky emphasized that the most characteristic and important feature of Gogol is his passionate and protesting "subjectivity", which "reaches high and lyrical pathos and embraces the soul of the reader with refreshing waves."

With great artistic power, Gogol showed not only the process of disintegration of the feudal-serf system and the spiritual impoverishment of its representatives, but also the terrible threat that the world of the Chichikovs posed to the people - the world of capitalist predatory. In his work, the writer reflected the anxiety of the advanced forces of Russian society for the historical fate of his country and his people. Gogol's works are permeated with great patriotic enthusiasm. He wrote, according to N. A. Nekrasov, “not what he could have liked more, and not even what was easier for his talent, but he tried to write what he considered most useful for his fatherland.”

creative path Gogol was unusually complex and contradictory. He created works in which he exposed the feudal-serf system of Russia with amazing force, and in them, in the words of Dobrolyubov, "came very close to the people's point of view." However, the writer was far from thinking about the need for a decisive, revolutionary transformation of this system. Gogol hated the ugly world of feudal lords and tsarist officials. At the same time, he was often afraid of the conclusions that naturally and naturally flowed from his works - the conclusions that his readers made. Gogol, a brilliant realist artist, was characterized by a narrow ideological horizon, as Belinsky and Chernyshevsky pointed out more than once.

This was the tragedy of the great writer. But whatever were the delusions of Gogol at the last stage of his life, he played a colossal role in the history of Russian literature and freedom movement in Russia.

Revealing the historical significance of the work of L. N. Tolstoy, V. I. Lenin wrote: “... if we really great artist, then he had to reflect at least some of the essential aspects of the revolution in his works. This ingenious Leninist proposition helps to explain and major problem Gogol's creativity. Being a great realist artist, Gogol managed, despite the narrowness and limitations of his own ideological positions, to paint in his works an amazingly true picture of Russian serfdom reality and to expose the autocratic-serfdom system with merciless truthfulness. In this way, Gogol contributed to the awakening and development of revolutionary self-consciousness.

M. I. Kalinin wrote: “ Fiction the first half of the 19th century significantly advanced the development of the political thought of Russian society, the knowledge of its people. These words are directly related to Gogol.

Under the direct influence of Gogol, the work of the most outstanding Russian writers was formed: Herzen and Turgenev, Ostrovsky and Goncharov, Nekrasov and Saltykov-Shchedrin. Chernyshevsky named a whole period in the history of Russian literature after Gogol. For many decades this name has served as a banner in the struggle for advanced, ideological art. The brilliant works of Gogol served Belinsky and Herzen, Chernyshevsky and Dobrolyubov, as well as subsequent generations of revolutionaries, as powerful weapons in the struggle against the landlord, exploitative system.

They tried to use Gogol's contradictions in the reactionary camp, which spared no effort to falsify his work, to emasculate from it the national patriotic and accusatory content, to present the great satirist as a humble "martyr of the Christian faith."

As is well known, Belinsky played an enormous role in the struggle for Gogol, in defending him from all kinds of reactionary falsifiers. He was the first to see the innovative significance of Gogol's works. He shrewdly revealed their deep ideological content and used the material of these works to solve the most topical problems of our time. Gogol's work made it possible for Belinsky, under the conditions of the police regime, to make the most acute phenomena of the country's social life the subject of legal public discussion. In his article "Speech on Criticism," for example, he bluntly stated that the "continuous rumors and disputes" aroused by "Dead Souls" are "a question as much literary as social." But the most striking expression of Belinsky's revolutionary thought was his famous letter to Gogol about "Selected passages from correspondence with friends", which reflected with stunning force the political moods of the enslaved masses of Russia, their passionate protest against their oppressors.

At the end of the 1940s, the “fatal seven years” began in Russia, marked by a terrible increase in police terror and censorship oppression. The slightest manifestation of free, democratic thought was mercilessly punished. Belinsky died in the summer of 1848. The tsarist authorities did not have time to carry out the planned plan of reprisals against the great critic. In the field of literature and criticism, writers of the Gogol trend, the tradition of Belinsky, were subjected to especially severe persecution. In the press it was forbidden even to mention the name of the critic.

On the pages of reactionary newspapers and magazines, a campaign against the author of The Inspector General and Dead Souls began with renewed vigor. Even Selected Places from Correspondence with Friends could not reconcile the reaction with him. For her, Gogol remained a hated satirist, an accuser who crushes the foundations of the feudal system.

N. Gogol in the memoirs of his contemporaries. S.T. Aksakov2. Nikolai Gogol: Memoirs of contemporaries about N. V. Gogol Gogol in the memoirs of contemporaries message briefly

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