“Missing letter” or as Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol called it, “The Story Told by the Uncle ...” is a story written by a classic in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
It is included in the well-known Gogol cycle “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. It is one of the most popular works (along with “Sorochinskaya fair”, “May night, or the Drowned Woman”, etc.), written by Nikolai Gogol. The summary (“Missing Certificate”, although a small work, but perhaps not everyone has time to read the original) will help you get acquainted with the story in just 5 minutes!
History of the creation of the work:
The very first sketches of the work, which is considered to be a draft, were written on four voluminous sheets (considering the turnover) with a rather small underline, with a large number of corrections and various kinds of blots. The draft title is missing.
Everyone knows a certain mysticism, mystery, obscurity, which Nikolai Gogol introduced into each of his works. The summary (“The Missing Letter” in terms of the atmosphere of secrecy does not stand out from the general series), we hope, will allow us to feel this fully.
Differences between the initial version and the final
It is worth noting that the volume of the original version of the work “Missing Certificate” was much larger. According to historians involved in the study of draft versions of the story, in the current story there are not only some descriptions, but also whole fragments, due to which even inconsistencies sometimes arise.
For example, they did not enter the final content: the episode with pots that puffed out cheeks, some details regarding the description of the old man’s journey from hell, during which he saddled the lame.
The ability to determine the exact date of writing the story "Missing Certificate" has not yet been possible. The fact is that the autograph of a work has little to say about it: it cannot be used to determine either the place or the time of writing.
In what years was the work written?
Almost all literary scholars are convinced that the story was started by Gogol in 1828. This is evidenced by his letter to his mother, dated May 1829. In it, Nikolai Vasilyevich asks in detail to describe to him the various card games that were popular at that time in Ukraine.
The proof that the “Missing Certificate” was completed no later than the spring of 1831 can be the fact that it was first published in the first book of “Evenings ...”, and Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol received censorship permission to publish it on May 26, 1831.
Summary
The “Missing Certificate” was written in the form of a story on behalf of a certain Foma Grigoryevich who tells his listeners who constantly ask him for “a yakoy insure kazochka,” such stories that they, he said, “tremble under the covers all night then” .
He begins to talk about one interesting case that allegedly happened to his own grandfather, who was once commissioned by the hetman to deliver a letter to the queen.
Saying goodbye to the family, the grandfather hit the road. The next morning he was already at the Konotop fair. The royal letter at that time was in a safe, secure place - sewn into a hat. Not afraid to lose it, the main character of the story decided to get "flint and tobacco" here.
Walking around the fair, he made friends with a certain Cossack reveler. Together with him and another Cossack, who got caught up with his friends, his grandfather went on.
During the conversation, the Cossack tells many interesting outlandish stories from his life. Carried away by the conversation, he knows his friends that he sold his soul to the devil, and the date of reckoning will come very soon (on the night of that day). Our hero, to help the Cossack, gives him a promise not to sleep at night. Friends decide to have a halt at the nearest pub.
Grandfather's new friends quickly fall asleep, and for this reason he has to be on guard alone. However, no matter how hard the protagonist tried, the dream finally overcomes him, and his grandfather falls asleep.
The next morning, waking up, he discovers that there is not a new Cossack comrade who has sold his soul to the devil, nor horses, nor a hat with a letter sewn into it.
Being in a similar, not the best position, grandfather decides to seek advice from the Chumaks, who at that moment were also in the bus. One of them told the hero where to find the devil.
The next night, following the instructions of the shinkar, the grandfather goes to the forest, where, bypassing various obstacles, he finds a bonfire with "scary faces" around him.
Immediately after the hero told them about his situation and paid, he found himself in the "hell" at the table, at which were sitting various monsters, creatures, and evil witches.
One of the witches sitting at the table invited her grandfather to play the foolish card game three times: if he wins, he will be returned with a hat, and if he loses, he will stay here forever.
Two times in a row the main character loses, but the third time, resorting to tricks, he still wins. After the plan worked, the missing letter returned to the hands of the grandfather, the hero decides to get out of the "hell".
He woke up on the roof of his own house, covered in blood. Almost immediately, he immediately goes with a letter to the Queen.
Having seen various kinds of “wonders”, the protagonist temporarily forgets what happened, but now once a year “different devilry” begins to happen in his house: for example, his wife danced against her will.
Film adaptation
The story was screened twice: in 1945 and in 1972. The first film adaptation was an animated film of the same name, which in a lite version retold the plot of the work.
The second was a feature film. He repeated the plot of the work, but unlike the original, in the film “Missing Certificate” the characters were slightly different: for example, the main character was not a grandfather, but like a Cossack Vasil. Minor deviations from the plot were also noticed.
Here is such a mystical work, quite in its own way, written by Nikolai Gogol. The summary (“The Missing Letter” is one of the little-known novels of the cycle), of course, will not fully convey the charm of the Gogol language, but will give an idea of ​​this tale.