Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka

«Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka» — one of the first books by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809–1852).

The book consists of eight stories. In the kaleidoscope of the eras, Gogol depicts the folk and festive life of Little Russia.

The holiday with its freedom and joy, the associated beliefs and events leads the heroes out of their ordinary existence, making the impossible possible.

Reality and fantasy are intricately intertwined in the people's perception of the past and present, of good and evil.

• 1. A new edition of the classics of Slavic mysticism and magical realism.
• 2. Gift design by designer and artist Vasily Polovtsev: pleasant material, two types of foil embossing on the cover, informative semi-super, print on the edge, illustrations on the endpapers, ribbon, white offset paper, and updated design of the text block. Author's colored and black-and-white illustrations also set the atmosphere of the book.
• 3. A unique world of Slavic folklore — a world of mermaids, witches, ghosts, demons, and devils, — where the most amazing, and sometimes frightening events are described with gentle humor and coexist with the colorful peasant life of the 19th century.

Part One
1. Sorochinskaya Fair
At the fair in the village of Sorochintsy, a love story unfolds between Hrytsko and Paraska. The girl's stepmother is against their wedding. Meanwhile, rumors circulate at the fair about the red coat of the devil that brings misfortune. Through cunning and mystical tricks, the young people and their allies scare the stepmother and win permission for the wedding.

2. Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala
Poor Pyotr is in love with the beautiful Pidorka, but her father is against the marriage. Pyotr makes a deal with the evil force — the sorcerer Basavryuk. To gain wealth, he must perform a terrible ritual on the night of Ivan Kupala. In the end, the wealth brings a curse: Pyotr loses his mind, and Pidorka's life ends up shattered. A story about how a deal with evil always ends in tragedy.

3. May Night, or The Drowned Girl
A young man Levko loves Hanna, but his father, the village headman, also tries to court the girl. At night, Levko meets the ghosts of drowned girls near an old house. The mermaid asks him to help find her stepmother, a witch. Levko fulfills the request and receives a letter from the mermaid, which compels the headman to allow their wedding.

4. The Lost Letter
A Cossack must deliver an important letter to the queen. On the way, he encounters an evil force. The devil steals his hat along with the letter. The hero ends up at a witch's sabbath, where he wins the letter back by beating the evil spirit at cards. He successfully delivers the message.

Part Two
5. The Night Before Christmas
The blacksmith Vakula loves the capricious beauty Oksana. She promises to marry him only if he brings her the slippers of the queen. Vakula catches the devil and flies with him to St. Petersburg, where he receives the slippers. Upon returning, he proves his devotion and wins Oksana's love.

6. Terrible Revenge
A grim and tragic tale. Cossack Danilo and his wife Kateryna live happily, but her father turns out to be a sorcerer. He betrays his homeland and commits terrible crimes. In the end, a mystical retribution occurs: the sorcerer is punished for his wrongdoings. This is the darkest and most epic story in the collection.

7. Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt
A comic story about the timid landowner Shponka, who lives under the care of his domineering aunt. She tries to marry him off, but the hero is afraid of marriage and finds himself in awkward situations. The story mocks provincial life and human weaknesses.

8. The Enchanted Place
The hero's grandfather once dances in a strange place in a field where the earth seems enchanted. There he imagines treasures, but everything turns into strange and frightening visions. In the end, it turns out that the evil force was merely mocking the man.