Why did they burn volume 2 of dead souls. What was the second volume of Gogol's "Dead Souls" about and why did he burn it?

Most people whose profession is the study of literature, especially Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, agree that on the night of approximately February 11-12, one and a half hundred years ago, the great Ukrainian classic burned the second volume of his work under the slightly creepy title “The Dead.” souls." Why did he do this and why did Gogol burn the second volume?

A wide variety of opinions and guesses - why Gogol burned “dead souls”

There are several points of view on what happened that winter night. The first says that there was no second volume initially; something else was burned, some drafts, manuscripts, possibly left over from the first volume. The second was originally a fiction.

Others believe that the second volume of the novel actually burned in the fireplace then, but this was nothing more than an unfortunate accident. And although another classic, Bulgakov, said that manuscripts do not burn, in reality it turned out differently. Nikolai Vasilyevich had no choice but to resign himself and accept this as fate. Creative people, are known to be superstitious.

There are also literary critics who believe that the idea of ​​the second and subsequent third volume was so grandiose that it was simply impossible to realize it, and as a result, the writer burned all his attempts in his heart. But there was no finished second volume. He could not positively regenerate the main character - Chichikov.

Nowadays, the opinion is becoming increasingly widespread that already at the time of writing the second volume, Gogol simply ceased to admire Ukraine, which was then called Little Russia, as well as the Cossacks. Consequently, the source of inspiration for the second volume disappeared, and the writer destroyed his pathetic attempts, realizing that he would not write anything worthwhile. But such an assumption is not based on anything specific; there is not a single fact indicating that Nikolai Gogol did not love his homeland literally until his last breath.

Mystics generally consider the work itself to be a satanic book, because, they say, the writer paid for such a title, what is the second volume when dark forces intervened. But this fable is just as far from the truth as the previous assumption. The fact is that in the plot there was nothing magical, just like there was nothing mystical, it was about the most ordinary hack work of officials. They passed off the dead as living.

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Poem (the author designated this genre of his work) N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" is one of classical works Russian literature. And the story that happened with the second volume of this work is known even to those who have never opened the first volume. Literary scholars (despite disagreements regarding the “strength” or “weakness” of the second volume) agree on one thing - Gogol’s destruction of the second volume of Dead Souls, which he had already written, is one of the most serious losses in our literature. The question: “Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?” arose immediately after the incident, and there is still no single and unambiguous answer to it. And not everything is clear about the burning itself. As they say, was there a boy?

Version one: Gogol did not burn anything, since the second volume of Dead Souls did not exist

This version is based on the fact that no one saw the finished manuscript of the second volume of the poem, and the only witness to the burning was Gogol’s servant Semyon. It is from his words that we know what happened that night. Allegedly, the writer ordered Semyon to bring a briefcase in which notebooks with the continuation of Dead Souls were kept. Gogol put the notebooks in the fireplace and set them on fire with a candle, and in response to the servant’s pleas not to destroy the manuscript, he said: “It’s none of your business! Pray!” Semyon was quite young, illiterate and quite capable of spouting nonsense (to put it simply). This version is not taken seriously by most researchers. The surviving drafts of the work and the testimony of contemporaries give reason to assert that the “white” version did exist.

Version two: Gogol burned the drafts, and the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls came (after the writer’s death) to Count A.P. Tolstoy, with whom Gogol lived at that time.

This version is also based on the unreliability of the testimony of Semyon's servant and is also considered unlikely. A. Tolstoy had no reason to hide the manuscript, but even if he had done this, in the intervening time the manuscript would certainly have “resurfaced.”

Version three: Gogol really burned the second volume of Dead Souls, because he was dissatisfied with it and was in a clouded state of mind.

This version seems more likely, since mental health the writer at that moment was far from brilliant. Since childhood, Gogol suffered from seizures, accompanied by melancholy and depression. In January 1852, E. Khomyakova, the wife of Gogol’s friend, died and this event had an extremely detrimental effect on the writer. The writer was tormented by a constant fear of death, and his confessor urged him to abandon literary work, which Gogol himself considered his only calling. Of course, it is difficult to make diagnoses now, but it is obvious that the writer’s mind was, if not darkened, then on the verge of darkening. It is likely that in a fit of self-flagellation he could consider his work insignificant and not worthy of publication. However, dominant on this moment another version is considered.

Version four: Gogol wanted to burn the drafts, however, being in a state of complete mental exhaustion, he confused them with the white version.

It is believed that Semyon’s story, if not absolutely accurate, is close to the truth, but the writer had no intention of burning the final version. Supporters of this version cite Gogol’s words, which he said to Count Tolstoy the next morning: “That’s what I did! I wanted to burn some things that had been prepared for a long time, but I burned everything. How strong the evil one is - that’s what he pushed me to do! And I was there I understood and presented a lot of useful information... I thought I’d send it to my friends in a notebook as a souvenir: let them do what they wanted. Now it’s all gone.” It is also believed that in general, with the exception of moments of depression, Gogol was satisfied with what he wrote. Although when working on the second volume, the meaning of the work in the writer’s mind grew beyond the boundaries of its own literary texts, which made the plan practically impossible to implement.

Despite the fact that Gogol burned the manuscript of the final version of the second volume of the poem, the rough notes remained. Currently, the most complete manuscript of the first five chapters of the second volume belongs to an American businessman Russian origin Timur Abdullaev. She had to go in Complete collection works and letters of the writer, published in 2010, but for unknown reasons this did not happen. However, the question: “Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls” has not been fully resolved, although there is the most likely version.

On May 21, 1842, the first volume of Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls was published. The mystery of the second part of the great work, destroyed by the writer, still worries the minds of literary scholars and ordinary readers. Why did Gogol burn the manuscript? And did it even exist? The Moscow Trust TV channel prepared a special report.

That night he couldn’t sleep again; he paced his office again and again in the cozy outbuilding of an old city estate on Nikitsky Boulevard. I tried to pray, lay down again, but could not close my eyes for a second. The chilly February dawn was already dawning outside the windows when he took a battered briefcase out of the closet, took out a plump manuscript tied with twine, held it in his hands for a few seconds, and then decisively threw the papers into the fireplace.

What happened on the night of February 11-12, 1852 in the mansion of Count Alexander Tolstoy? Why did Gogol, who gained fame as a great writer during his lifetime, decide to destroy, perhaps main work own life? And how is this tragic event in Russian literature connected with the death that doctors will record 10 days later here, next to the fireplace, the flames of which consumed the second volume of the poem “Dead Souls”?

Count Alexander Tolstoy acquired this mansion after the death of its former owner, Major General Alexander Talyzin, a veteran of the Napoleonic War. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol ended up here in 1847, when he returned to Russia from long-distance wanderings. “He was a traveler: stations, changing horses, he thought about many of his plots on the road. And always, as a creative person, he seeks communication, in particular with his friends. And regularly one of his friends invited him to live in Moscow with him invited Tolstoy, with whom he had been in correspondence until that time,” says the director of the House N.V. Gogol Vera Vikulova.

The second volume of Dead Souls may have been almost completed by this point; all that remained was to edit the last few chapters.

House No. 7 on Suvorovsky (Nikitsky) Boulevard, where the great Russian writer N.V. Gogol lived and died. Photo: ITAR-TASS

From the windows of the estate, Nikolai Vasilyevich observed his beloved Moscow. Since then, of course, Moscow has changed a lot. The city was completely rural. There was a crane well in the courtyard of the house, and frogs were croaking under the windows.

The writer was a welcome and honored guest on the estate; he was given a whole wing, the main room of which was his office.

As he notes chief custodian Houses N.V. Gogol, here he lived with everything ready: tea was served to him at any time, fresh linen, lunch, dinner - there were no worries, all conditions were created for him to work here on the second volume of Dead Souls.

So what happened at dawn on February 12, 1852? What secret does this office in house No. 7A on Nikitsky Boulevard keep? Researchers to this day put forward the most different versions: from Gogol’s madness to the crisis he experienced.

Gogol had no particular interest in everyday life and comfort, as in general in everything material. A small couch, a mirror, a bed behind a screen, a desk where he worked. Gogol always wrote standing up, working on each phrase carefully and sometimes for a painfully long time. Of course, this sacrament required a fair amount of paper. It is clear from the manuscripts that Gogol was very demanding of himself and said that “my business is not literature, my business is the soul.”

Gogol was a merciless critic, and he placed the highest, uncompromising demands primarily on himself. “He rewrote each chapter up to seven times, he meticulously cleaned up the text so that it would fit well on the ear and so that at the same time his idea would be interesting to the reader,” says the art manager of the House N.V. Gogol Larisa Kosareva.

The final edition of the second volume of Dead Souls is by no means the first work of Gogol to perish in the fire. He burned the first one while still in school. Arriving in St. Petersburg due to criticism of the poem "Hanz Küchelgarten", he buys and burns all copies. He also burns the second volume of Dead Souls, for the first time back in 1845.

Reproduction of the painting "N.V. Gogol listens to a folk musician-kobzar at his house", 1949

This is the first version - perfectionism. Gogol also destroyed the next edition of the second volume of Dead Souls because he simply did not like it.

Writer Vladislav Otroshenko believes that one can get closer to solving the mystery of the fireplace in the mansion on Nikitsky Boulevard only by thoroughly studying the character traits of the great writer, including those that even contemporaries were at least perplexed, especially in last years Gogol's life. In the middle of a conversation he could suddenly say: “Okay, that’s it, we’ll talk later,” lie down on the sofa and turn to the wall. His manner of communication irritated many of his friends and relatives.

One of Gogol's most inexplicable habits is his penchant for mystification. Even in the most innocent situations, he often did not finish speaking, misled his interlocutor, or even lied. Vladislav Otroshenko wrote: “Gogol said: “You should never tell the truth. If you’re going to Rome, say you’re going to Kaluga; if you’re going to Kaluga, say you’re going to Rome.” This nature of Gogol’s deceit remains incomprehensible to both literary scholars and those who study Gogol’s biography.”

Nikolai Vasilyevich also had a special relationship with his own passport: every time he crossed the border of a particular state, he categorically refused to present the document to the border service. For example, they stopped a stagecoach and said: “You need to show your passport.” Gogol turns aside and pretends that he does not understand what is being said to him. And the friends are confused and say: “They won’t let us through.” Then, in the end, he starts rummaging around, as if looking for a passport, but everyone knows who is traveling with him, that he has a passport in his pocket.

“He wrote letters, for example, to his mother, who is now in Trieste, sees the beautiful waves of the Mediterranean Sea, enjoys the views, describes Trieste to her in detail. He did not just write her a letter signed “Trieste” (written, in fact, in his estate friend, historian Mikhail Pogodin, in Moscow on Devichye Pole), he also drew a postmark of Trieste on the letter. He carefully marked it so that it was impossible to distinguish,” says Vladislav Otroshenko, who spent five years writing a book about Gogol.

So, version two: the burning of the second volume of “Dead Souls” was another eccentric act of a genius who did so much for Russian literature that he could afford almost everything. He knew very well that he was popular among his contemporaries and that he was the No. 1 writer.

Etching "Gogol reading The Inspector General to writers and artists of the Maly Theater", 1959. Photo: ITAR-TASS

It is also surprising that even before the advent of the era, Gogol’s photographs were known by sight. An ordinary walk along your favorite Moscow boulevards turned almost into a spy detective story. Moscow University students, knowing that Gogol loved to walk along Nikitsky and Tverskoy boulevards in the afternoon, left lectures with the words: “We are going to look at Gogol.” According to the memoirs, the writer was short, about 1.65 meters, he often wrapped himself in an overcoat, perhaps from the cold, or perhaps so that he would be less recognized.

Gogol had a great many fans; they not only took for granted any oddities of their idol, but were also ready to indulge him in everything. Bread balls, which the writer had a habit of rolling while thinking about something, became objects of desire for collectors; fans constantly followed Gogol and picked up the balls and kept them as relics.

Director Kirill Serebrennikov has his own view of Gogol’s work. He is ready to pose the question even more radically: did the second volume of Dead Souls exist at all? Maybe a brilliant hoaxer tricked everyone here too?

Experts who thoroughly study Gogol’s life and work partly agree with the radical director’s version. Great writer was ready to mystify anything.

Once, when Gogol was visiting Sergei Aksakov, his close friend, actor Mikhail Shchepkin, visited him. The writer enthusiastically told his guest that he had finished the second volume of Dead Souls. One can only guess how delighted Shchepkin was: he was the first who was lucky enough to learn that the grandiose plan was completed. The finale of this strange story It didn’t take long to wait: the decorous Moscow company, which usually met at Aksakov’s, had just sat down at the dinner table. Shchepkin stands up with a glass of wine and says: “Gentlemen, congratulate Nikolai Vasilyevich, he has finished the second volume of Dead Souls.” And then Gogol jumps up and says: “Who did you hear this from?” Shchepkin replies: “Yes, from you, today.” “You told me this morning.” To which Gogol responded: “You ate too much henbane, or you dreamed.” The guests laughed: indeed, Shchepkin came up with something there.

Acting attracted Gogol with an almost irresistible force: before writing anything down, Gogol acted it out in person. And surprisingly, there were no guests, Gogol was alone, but completely different voices sounded, male, female, Gogol was a brilliant actor.

Once, already a well-known writer, he even tried to get a job at the Alexandrinsky Theater. At the audition, Gogol received an offer only to convene the audience and arrange the chairs. It’s interesting that just a couple of months after this interview, the director of the troupe was instructed to prepare Gogol’s “The Inspector General.”

Gogol's wanderlust became one of the themes of the interactive excursion, which takes place every day in the house-museum on Nikitsky Boulevard. Visitors are greeted by an ancient travel chest; the impression is enhanced by the sounds of the road coming from its depths.

As you know, Gogol visited Europe more often than Russia. Actually, he wrote the first volume of Dead Souls in Italy, where he spent a total of 12 years and which he called his second homeland. It was from Rome that one day a letter arrived that made Gogol’s friends seriously wary. One gets the feeling that Gogol in his life is beginning to act out the story with Major Kovalev’s nose. Just as the nose separated from Major Kovalev and began to walk on its own, so it is here. Gogol wrote in his letters that it was necessary to find someone else Gogol in St. Petersburg, that some fraudulent stories might happen, that some works might be published under his name.

It was then that the thought crept in that Gogol’s endless hoaxes were not just the eccentricities of a genius, but a symptom of a deeply spiritual illness.

One of the researchers at the House of N.V. Gogol says: “I once gave a tour to psychiatrists. I didn’t know that they were psychiatrists, so I told them my opinion. But they told me: “Yes, we diagnosed Gogol a long time ago. Well, even look at the handwriting,” - in the museum on the desk there are samples of Gogol’s handwriting. They began to directly say what kind of disorder it was. But it seems to me that not every doctor would risk making a diagnosis in absentia, and here it was 200 years ago.”

Maybe the burning of the second volume of Dead Souls was really an insane act in the clinical sense of the word? This means that attempts to understand and explain it from the point of view common sense- is the activity empty and useless?

But this version is by no means the last. It is known that the author of the mystical “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” and the completely infernal “Viy” at the end of his life denied any devilry. At this time, Gogol was often seen in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker ( spiritual patron Gogol) in Starovagankovsky Lane.

Drawing by Boris Lebedev "Meeting of Gogol with Belinsky", 1948. Photo: ITAR-TASS

Some researchers believe that what was truly fatal (both for the second volume of Dead Souls and for their creator) was the acquaintance with Archpriest Matvey Konstantinovsky, the spiritual mentor of Count Alexander Tolstoy. The priest, distinguished by his extremely harsh judgments, eventually became Gogol's confessor. He showed his manuscript, which he had been working on for nine years, to Father Matvey, and received negative reviews. It is possible that these cruel words of the priest became the last straw. On the night of February 11-12, 1852, a guest at a house on Nikitsky Boulevard did the following: later artist Ilya Repin will call it “Gogol’s self-immolation.” It is believed that Gogol burned it in a state of passion and later regretted it immensely, but he was consoled by the owner of the house, Alexander Petrovich Tolstoy. He came up and quietly said: “But you have everything here, in your head, you can restore it.”

But there could no longer be any talk of restoring the second volume. The next day, Gogol announced that he was starting to fast, and soon gave up food altogether. He fasted with such zeal that probably no other believer fasted with. And at some point, when it was clear that Gogol was already weakening, Count Tolstoy called for doctors, but they did not find any illness in Gogol.
10 days later Gogol died from physical exhaustion. The death of the great writer shocked Moscow; in the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow University, it seemed that the whole city said goodbye to him. All the surrounding streets were filled with people, and the farewell took a very long time.

They decided to erect the monument to Gogol in Moscow 30 years later, in the early 80s XIX century. The collection of donations has been delayed required amount was collected only in 1896. Several competitions were held, to which more than fifty projects were submitted. As a result, the monument was entrusted to the young sculptor Nikolai Andreev. He took up the matter with his characteristic thoroughness. Andreev always looked for nature for his works. He studied every possible portrait of Gogol that he could find. He painted and depicted Gogol, using the services of his brother, who posed for him for sculpture.

The sculptor visited the writer’s homeland, met with him younger sister. The result of his fundamental research was, without exaggeration, a monument that was revolutionary for that time. In 1909, the monument on Arbat Square was unveiled in front of a crowd of thousands.

Even the laying of the monument was very solemn and was celebrated in the Prague restaurant. The organizers approached the gala dinner in a very original way, because they prepared all the dishes that one way or another appeared in Gogol’s works: this is “soup in a saucepan from Paris”, and “shanezhki with spices” from Korobochka, and various pickles, jams from the bins Pulcheria Ivanovna.

However, not everyone liked the sad, thoughtful, tragic Gogol. They say that, in the end, the monument was moved from Arbat Square to the courtyard of Count Tolstoy’s estate on the orders of Stalin himself. And in 1952, at the beginning of Gogolevsky Boulevard, a poster of Nikolai Vasilevich, bursting with health, appeared, equipped with a pathetic inscription: “To Gogol from the Government Soviet Union" The new, retouched image gave rise to a lot of ridicule: “Gogol’s humor is dear to us, Gogol’s tears are a hindrance. Sitting he brought sadness, let this one stand for laughter.”

However, over time, Muscovites fell in love with this image. At the end of the 70s of the last century, Moscow hippies began to gather around the monument on Gogolevsky Boulevard. The era of flower children is long gone, but every year on April 1, aged Moscow “hiparis”, wearing their favorite flares, gather again at the “gogol” to remember their cheerful youth. Hippies have their own answer to every question, their own truth and their own mythology. And Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol occupies a special, but undoubtedly very honorable place in their pantheon. The artist Alexander Iosifov noted: “Firstly, Gogol himself already has a hippie look. Secondly, he is to some extent mystically predisposed to the perception of life, which is what those young people are predisposed to. This is precisely the inadequate perception of life.”

And, of course, every hippie has his own version of what happened in the house on Nikitsky Boulevard: “I was disappointed in life. Plus, they say he was very sick, and according to legend, when the coffin was opened, the lid was scratched. Maybe Maybe they buried him alive."

The aura of mystery that surrounded Gogol during his life only thickened after his death. Vladislav Otroshenko believes that this is natural: “Before Gogol, we never had a writer who made literature his life. Here Pushkin - yes, he had a lot of things in his life: he had a family, a wife, children, duels, cards , friends, court intrigues. Gogol had nothing in his life except literature. He was such a monk of literature.”

Monk, ascetic, eccentric hermit, performer and lonely traveler, writer who left greatest legacy and who during his lifetime did not have even basic signs of life. After the death of the writer, an inventory was compiled, mainly his property were books, 234 volumes - both in Russian and in foreign languages. The clothing listed in this inventory was in poor condition. Of all the valuable things, only a gold watch can be named." The watch, however, disappeared. And what has survived has come to us thanks to friends, relatives or simply admirers of the writer's talent. My main pride Houses N.V. Gogol is a glass acquired from the descendants of Elizaveta’s sister, which Nikolai Vasilyevich gave to her for her wedding. Also in the museum there is a pincushion made of bone, which was passed down to him from his mother. Nikolai Vasilyevich, it turns out, was a very good sewer and embroiderer; he straightened his own ties and scarves, and also sewed dresses for his sisters.

Admirers of Gogol's melodious style still come to this house on Nikitsky Boulevard. Every year in March, the writer’s memorial day is celebrated here, and every time “Prayer” is heard - Gogol’s only poem. During Gogol’s life, Gogol’s Ukrainian Wednesdays were held in this house. Gogol loved very much Ukrainian song, and although he himself did not have such a pronounced musical ear, but he collected Ukrainian songs, recorded them and loved to sing along and even lightly tap his foot.

Painting by Peter Geller "Gogol, Pushkin and Zhukovsky in the summer of 1831 in Tsarskoe Selo", 1952. Photo: ITAR-TASS

Anyone can come to the house on Nikitsky Boulevard, but not everyone can stay. Vera Nikulina (director of the N.V. Gogol House) says: “I had cases when people came, worked for three days, their temperature rose, did not drop, and they quit. It is believed that the house accepts or does not accept a person.” Some clarify: this is not a house, but Gogol himself tests people’s strength, welcomes the faithful and decisively rejects the random. In the Gogol House a saying appeared: “this is Gogol.” When something happens, “it’s all Gogol’s fault.”

So what actually happened to Gogol on the night of February 11-12, 1852? Writer Vladislav Otroshenko is sure that these sheets of plump manuscript, rapidly turning into ashes, are only the last act of a tragedy that began ten years earlier, at the very moment when the first volume of the poem “Dead Souls” was published: “All of Russia is waiting for the second volume of “Dead Souls” from him souls", when the first volume makes a revolution in Russian literature and in the minds of readers. All of Russia looks at him, and he soars above the world. And suddenly collapse. He writes to the maid of honor of the court, Alexandra Osipovna Smirnova, this was one of his close friends, in 1845 year he writes to her: “God took away from me the ability to create.”

This version does not deny all the previous ones; rather, it combines them together, and therefore seems the most probable. Vladislav Otroshenko: “Gogol died from literature, died from “Dead Souls,” because it was such a thing that either it is written and lifts the creator simply to heaven, or it kills him if it is not written. After all, Gogol intended to write a third volume , and there were only two ways out of this grandiose plan - either accomplish it or die."

For a century and a half Gogol remains one of the most mysterious writers. Sometimes light and ironic, more often gloomy, half-crazy, and always magical and elusive. And therefore, everyone who opens his books finds something of their own in them every time.

Larisa Kosareva (art manager of the House of N.V. Gogol): “Riddle, mysticism, mystery, humor - that’s what’s missing in modern prose. Still, he is very ironic, and this joke, humor, fantasy is a blockbuster of the 19th century, Gogol."

One Byron (actor): “Very similar to our poet Edgar Allan Poe. There is a common dark side, I think. Man with difficult fate, both of these poets had complex life stories. They both love the moment of the absurd. I love the absurd."

Vladislav Otroshenko (writer): “We always say that literature is generally the most important wealth that Russia had, a wealth that does not dry up. Because the attitude that, by the way, was set by Gogol, the attitude towards literature as something - something that completely absorbs you."

Collected works of N.V. Gogol, 1975. Photo: ITAR-TASS

And therefore, probably, every thoughtful reader has his own version of what actually happened on a February night in a house on Nikitsky Boulevard.

Museum researcher Oleg Robinov believes that Nikolai Vasilyevich, shortly before his death, came and buried the second volume of “Dead Souls” in his yard. Moreover, he made an embankment, a small mound, and told the peasants, bequeathed that if there was a bad harvest tough year, dig it up, sell it, and be happy.

February 24, 1852 Nikolay Gogol burned the almost completed second volume of Dead Souls, on which he had been working for more than 10 years. The story itself was originally conceived by Gogol as a trilogy. In the first volume, the adventurer Chichikov, traveling around Russia, encountered exclusively human vices; in the second part, fate brought the protagonist together with some positive characters. In the third volume, which was never written, Chichikov had to go through exile in Siberia and finally take the path of moral purification.

AiF.ru tells why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls and what adventures were supposed to happen to Chichikov in the continuation of the story.

Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?

The next morning, Gogol, amazed by his action, lamented to his friend Count Alexander Tolstoy: “That's what I did! I wanted to burn some things that had been prepared for a long time, but I burned everything. How strong the evil one is - that’s what he brought me to! And I understood and presented a lot of useful things there... I thought I’d send out a notebook to my friends as a souvenir: let them do what they wanted. Now everything is gone."

Gogol claimed that he wanted to burn only drafts and unnecessary papers, and the second volume of “Dead Souls” was sent to the fireplace due to his oversight. Nine days after this fatal mistake, the writer died.

What is the second volume of Dead Souls about?

Gogol's letters and remaining drafts make it possible to reconstruct the approximate contents of some parts of the burned manuscript. The second volume of “Dead Souls” begins with a description of the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls “the smoker of the sky.” An educated and fair person, due to laziness and lack of willpower, drags out a meaningless existence in the village. Tentetnikov's fiancee Ulinka is the daughter of the neighboring general Betrishchev. It is she who becomes the “ray of light in dark kingdom" story: "If a transparent picture suddenly flashed in a dark room, illuminated from behind by a lamp, it would not have struck as much as this figurine shining with life, which seemed to appear then to illuminate the room... It was difficult to say what land she was born in . Such a pure, noble outline of a face could not be found anywhere, except perhaps on some ancient cameos,” this is how Gogol describes her. Tentetnikov, according to Gogol’s plan, should have been convicted of participation in an anti-government organization, and his beloved would have followed him to hard labor. Then, in the third volume of the trilogy, these heroes had to go through exile in Siberia along with Chichikov.

On the “border line” between good and evil in the second volume of the story, financier Afanasy Murazov unexpectedly appears. He wants to spend the 40 million rubles he earned not in the most honest way on “saving Russia,” but his ideas are more reminiscent of sectarian ones.

In the surviving drafts of the end of the manuscript, Chichikov is found in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric that is so dear to him, the lingonberry color with a sparkle. He encounters Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he “messed up”, either depriving, or almost depriving, his estate through forgery. Chichikov is saved from continuing the unpleasant conversation by Murazov, who convinces the bankrupt landowner of the need to work and instructs him to collect funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations against Chichikov are discovered both about the forgery and about dead souls. However, the help of the corrupt official Samosvistov and the intercession of Murazov allow the hero to avoid prison.

Cameo is a piece of jewelry or decoration made using the bas-relief technique on precious or semi-precious stones.

Mystery classic

According to Bak, Gogol’s legacy has been largely studied, and this, the professor noted, is the great contribution of 19th-century scientists, for example, Nikolai Tikhonravov, who commented on all the main works of the writer. But, the agency’s interlocutor emphasized, there are still many secrets connected with both the life and work of Gogol, for example, the mystery of the second volume of Dead Souls.

“It is known that before his death Gogol burned the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls, with the exception of a few initial chapters. But this work has such powerful energy, it is so clear what intention it carried, that we can say that it exists,” said Buck “This volume, unlike the first, should be devoted to the bright sides of Russian life. It is possible that someday we will find other fragments of it that may lie in the archives.”

But main secret Gogol did not even burn the manuscript of the second volume. The most significant thing, according to Buck, is that the writer’s works are inexhaustible, they are “multiple interpretable,” therefore each new generation reads them in its own way, discovering unexpected meanings.

"For example, for obvious reasons, in Soviet time insufficient attention was paid to the religiosity of Gogol himself and doctrinal problems in his work. And there’s still a lot of work to be done here,” Buck noted.

He also said that, in addition to the gift of writing, Gogol had the talent of a comic actor and was famous for his acting. And also created special labor about church services - "Reflections on the Divine Liturgy."

Gogol always looked very closely at the world. “He strove for a thorough knowledge of everything that was mentioned in his books, be it events of the historical past or Little Russian folk legends. In letters to his relatives, he always asked them to inform him folk signs, songs, details of everyday life,” the professor added.

According to Buck, the precision and specificity of detail in Gogol's works is simply amazing. “Everything is important for him - the name of the grass growing at the threshold, the names of clothes, utensils, and so on. A small dictionary is attached to “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, where Gogol explains some Little Russian concepts,” the professor emphasized.

Appearance of Christ

Dmitry Bak emphasized a little-known, but important detail: on famous painting Alexandra Ivanov “The Appearance of the Messiah” (or “The Appearance of Christ to the People”) - Gogol is depicted in the guise of one of the characters. “Among those who look with hope at the approaching Christ, there is a man standing half-turned to the Messiah, in a scarlet robe, he stands out from the crowd with his prophetic burning gaze. The portrait resemblance to Gogol is obvious,” the professor noted.

According to him, Gogol met Alexander Ivanov in Italy, where the writer lived long years. The artist subtly felt and depicted in the picture Gogol’s “chosenness,” which the writer himself felt acutely.

“Contemporaries often reproached Gogol for arrogance, especially after the publication in 1847 of the book “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends.” The writer was convinced that all of Russia should hear his voice and be transformed by his books. He saw the meaning in this his life and work, perceived his writing as a kind of messianism,” said Buck.

In fact, Gogol bequeathed to bury him only after obvious signs of decay appeared, since he sometimes fell into lethargic states. But all the talk about whether Gogol turned over in his grave or not is just the idle gossip of ordinary people.

"The writer experienced a terrible mental tragedy, which led him to death. Despite his own call for moral preaching, for depiction eternal values, bright sides life, he was never able to satirical image Russia in the first volume of his great poem move to a positive image. The second volume of “Dead Souls” was burned, and with it the life of the great heir Pushkin burned,” Buck added.