The Night Before Christmas

Wonderful things happened one Christmas night in the village of Dykanka. Along with the smoke from the chimney, a witch flew out on a broom and gathered all the stars into her sleeve. A devil, who appeared out of nowhere, also stole the moon from the sky. However, the devil was unfortunate; he fell under the hot hand of the blacksmith Vakula and had to fly together with the young man to St. Petersburg. For serious necessity, they turned back just in one night. This unusual tale was told to readers by the very young writer N.V. Gogol, just over twenty, in the collection "Evenings on a Farm Near Dykanka". Published in two books, "Evenings" became his literary debut (the poem written while still in gymnasium and published under a pseudonym does not count) and brought him undeniable fame. Indeed, as his future colleague V.Ya. Bryusov said, "such was the strength of his talent... that he not only gave life to these fancies but made them seem more real than reality itself."