Mythical stories based on the story of the night before Christmas. Literature lesson

SI "Zatobolsk Secondary School No. 1"

Kostanay region, Kostanay region

Literature lesson summary
v6 class
« Images of lower Slavic mythology

in the story of N.V. Gogol

"Christmas Eve".

Devil image » .

prepared

teacher of Russian language and literature

Ragulina Ksenia Nikolaevna

With. Zatobolsk, 2013

Topic: Images of lower Slavic mythology in Nikolai Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas". The image of the devil.

Class: 6

Goals:

Revealing the image of the devil in Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas". Acquaintance of students with the traditions and rituals, with the way of life and beliefs of the Slavic peoples through the era, reflected in the story "The Night Before Christmas"; contribute to the formation of concepts: "image-symbol"

Creation of conditions for the development of students' skills in comparative analysis, work in creative groups, finding information in different sources and processing it.

Educating schoolchildren of interest in folk traditions, national culture;

During the classes.

Call. 2 minutes.

Creation of a collaborative environment.

Teacher's word. Hello guys and dear guests! I am glad to welcome you to the lesson. Let me congratulate all of you on the upcoming holy holidays. After all, the New Year, Christmas is coming soon. On the eve of these holidays, it is customary to make your most cherished desires, there is a belief that they will definitely come true! You have shining stars on your tables, look at them, make a wish to yourself, raise them higher, look around. What a wonderful painting! Does it remind you of anything?

Students: with a description of such a picture, a starry night, the story of Nikolai Gogol "The Night Before Christmas" begins.

SLIDE: The last day before Christmas is over. Winter, clear night has come. The stars looked. The month majestically ascended to heaven to shine a light on good people and the whole world, so that everyone would have fun caroling and praising Christ.

Teacher: right! And today we will continue to work on this story. Your active work will take place in groups. And we will start with a little warm-up on the knowledge of the text of a work of art.

Work to identify knowledge of the content of a literary text. 3 minutes.

You have several pictures scattered in a chaotic manner, you must correctly and consistently, according to the composition of the story, collect them! Who among you knows the text better and will cope faster?

The group that coped the fastest goes out to check the board, the rest check the board. (CONTAINER)

Guys, who did not have difficulties and mistakes, put your first "+" on the self-assessment sheet.

Comprehension.

Teacher: well done! You did an excellent job! And we can turn to the topic of the lesson. And what it will be, and what goals we will have in the lesson, you will answer on your own if you connect the key concepts of the lesson with each other: SLAVIC MYTHOLOGY, STORY, "NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS", HELL... 2 minutes.

Students: today in the lesson we will consider the image of a devil, a character from Slavic mythology, in Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas".

Teacher: absolutely right! Write the topic down in a notebook.

Theatricalization: Suddenly the devil himself appears with an appeal to the guys.

CRAP: dear guys, help me! There are many different opinions about my image, someone considers me very harmful and evil, someone, on the contrary, is funny! I ask you to be as careful as possible and fully reveal my image. This table will help you with this:

Teacher: that's how! Let's help the hero of our lesson. We already know how the devil is represented in Slavic mythology. Let's remember?

Students' answers. Pupils talk about the mythological hero, the rest fill in the column of the table "The image of the devil in Slavic mythology."

Damn - in Slavic mythology, an evil spirit. DEATS are creatures covered with black wool, with horns, tails and hooves. The very origin of evil spirits is associated with the myth of the fallen angels (DEATS are angels tired of praising God): thrown from heaven, they fell into the water, some into the forest, some in the field, turning into spirits of separate tracts.

The devil in popular beliefs constantly interferes in people's lives, causing minor troubles, forcing them to unjustified acts ("lead them into sin"), sending delusion, making drunken wandering, provoking a crime, trying to get a human soul;

DEADS can also send bad weather, a blizzard, they themselves turn into a whirlwind, tearing off roofs, bringing diseases, whirlwinds - raging DEADS, damn matchmakers ("the devil marries a witch"); DEATS are especially dangerous in "unclean" places and at certain times of the day or year, for example, on Christmastide and on the eve of Ivan Kupala.

Teacher: well done! We coped with the first column of the table! Check your self-assessment sheet. We pass to the second column of the table.Work on the analysis of the image of the trait in the work. Each group is given a specific episode from the text with the participation of a devil. Questions for analysis are given to the episode, the task is to compose a syncwine. Sheets A3 were distributed in advance, with the image of the devil. Pupils get acquainted with the episode and make a synquin in the image of the devil, color the image of the hero, then explaining the choice of colors.

Sinkwine is not a simple poem, but a poem written according to the following rules:

1 line - one noun expressing the main topiccincwine.

Line 2 - two adjectives expressing the main idea.

Line 3 - three verbs describing actions within the topic.

4th line - a phrase that carries a certain meaning.

5 line - a conclusion in the form of a noun (association with the first word).

Make upcInkwain is very simple and interesting. And besides, working on the creation of syncwine develops imaginative thinking.

Crap

Sly, grasping

Spinning, sneaking, hiding

"Despite all the failures, the cunning devil did not leave his mischief."

"Provincial solicitor"

Literary reception: comparison (completely German; the muzzle ended, like our pigs,; a real provincial solicitor); many verbs are used that convey the activity of the hero.

STRYAPCHIY solicitor, m. 1

Gubernia -

Students: we chose black, because in this episode, the hero acts as a prankster who wants to harm Vakula.

Crap

Small, beautiful

Whispers, Courts, Imagines

"Mug, as Foma Grigorievich says, is an abomination, an abomination, but he also builds love chickens!"

Cavalier

Students: we chose red, because in this episode, the devil appears to us as a hero in love, and red is considered the color of love and passion.

Literary reception: antithesis - opposition (imagines himself a handsome man, while a figure - to look ashamed);

Crap

Confident, cunning

He flew out, ran across, began to tear.

"And the devil flew back into the pipe, in the firm belief that Chub will return with his godfather back."

Prankster

Students: we chose the reddish brown color as we thought it indicated the cunning of the hero.

Literary reception: epithet - artistic definition (agile dandy; With goat beard; stolen month)

-

Students: we chose two colors: turquoise and black, because we think that in our episode, the devil first appears as a very brave and boastful hero, but then he becomes cowardly and quiet like a lamb.

Literary reception: epithet - artistic definition (dog stigma); antithesis - opposition (hidden, the concepts of friend-enemy, brave-cowardly are opposed).

Teacher: you coped very well with this task, now I will ask you to highlight the main, key, similarities of all groups and fill in the second column. What did you do? Tell me, is there anything in common between the Gogol trait and man?

Student responses: yes, the devil in the work behaves like a person, he freezes, flirts with Solokha, experiences human feelings, but at the same time, he knows how to reincarnate, and has an appearance corresponding to the mythological hero.

The image of the devil in Slavic mythology.

Teacher: okay, but we have another column called "Image brought to life on the screen." How can you fill it out?

Students: if we watch the video clip.

Teacher: look and fill in the third column.Viewing a video clip.

Conclusions for the main part of the lesson. Guys, we have done with yougreat jobto identifyand analysis of the image of such a mysterious character in various sources. I think you are ready to draw some conclusions from this part of the lesson. I suggest you present your conclusions in the form of essays, essays-reflections based on the lesson materials, they are all in your table.

An essay can start with the words:

As D. Merezhkovsky noted, “Gogol was the first to see the devil without a mask, to see his real face ... ...

N.V. Gogol actively used images from Slavic mythology in his works ... ...

VG Belinsky noted: “Gogol does not write, but draws; his images breathe the colors of reality. You see and hear them ... "

The writer draws the image of a devil, which in Slavic mythology is an evil spirit.

Include expressions such as:

The image of a demon in the story, specific features, the author explains, endows him with charm, the image does not cause us feelings of disgust or fear.

And end like this:

This is the image of the devil, combining real human traits with the fantastic.

Reflection.

Assessment. Our lesson has come to an end, you did a very good job, you filled out self-assessment sheets for the whole lesson, count your pluses and rate yourself! (Marking in the journal).

Lesson summary. You noticed that from the beginning of the lesson, the same stars hang on this board as on your desks - these are my wishes to you! (some students come up, take pictures and read aloud, the rest will take them off, leaving the office)!

Annex 1.

Group 1. Episode 1. How the hell stole a month.

Suddenly, from the opposite side, another speck appeared, increased, began to stretch, and there was no longer a speck. In front, it was completely German: narrow, constantly twirling and sniffing everything that came across, the muzzle ended, like our pigs, with a round snout, the legs were so thin that if the Jareskov's head had such, he would have broken them in the first goat. But on the back he was a real provincial solicitor in a uniform, because he had a tail hanging as sharp and long as the current uniform coat-tails; only by the goat beard under the muzzle, by the small horns sticking out on his head, and that he was not whiter than a chimney sweep, one could guess that he was not a German and not a provincial solicitor, but just a devil. Meanwhile, the devil crept slowly towards a month and was about to reach out to grab him, but suddenly he pulled it back, as if burned, sucked his fingers, threw his foot and ran on the other side, and again jumped back and jerked his hand away. However, despite all the failures, the cunning devil did not leave his mischief. Running up, he suddenly grabbed a month with both hands, grimacing and blowing, throwing it from one hand to the other, like a peasant who brought fire with his bare hands for his cradle; at last he hastily put it in his pocket and, as if he had never been in anything, ran on.

STRYAPCHIY solicitor, m. 1 ... In Muscovite Rus - a courtier serving to carry out various economic duties (history).

Gubernia - the highest unit of administrative-territorial division in Russia

Assignments: 1. Read the text. 2. Highlight the main point. 3. Make a syncwine. 4. Explain what literary technique is used by the author to create an image? 5. Color the character. 6. Explain the choice of paints.

Group 2. Episode 2. How the devil looked after the witch. In this way, as soon as the devil hid his month in his pocket, suddenly it became so dark all over the world that not everyone would find their way to the shank, not only to the clerk. The witch, seeing herself suddenly in the dark, screamed. Then the devil, having rode up like a petty demon, grabbed her by the arm and began to whisper in his ear what is usually whispered to the entire female family. Wonderfully arranged in our world! You can bet that many will find it surprising to see the devil set off for himself as well. The most annoying thing is that he probably imagines himself a handsome man, while the figure is ashamed to look. Mug, as Foma Grigorievich says, is an abomination an abomination, but he also builds love chickens! But in the sky and under the sky it became so dark that it was impossible to see anything what was happening further between them.

Assignments: 1. Read the text. 2. Highlight the main point. 3. Make a syncwine. 4. Explain what literary technique is used by the author to create an image? 5. Color the character. 6. Explain the choice of paints.

Group 3. Episode 3. How the hell interfered with travelers.

The devil meanwhile, when he was still flying into the chimney, somehow accidentally turning around, he saw Chub in hand with his godfather, already far from the hut. In an instant he flew out of the stove, ran across their path and began to tear piles of frozen snow from all sides. A blizzard arose. The air went white. The snow tossed back and forth in a net and threatened to cover the eyes, mouth and ears of pedestrians. And the devil flew back into the chimney, firmly convinced that Chub would return with his godfather, catch the blacksmith and mark him off so that he would not be able to pick up a brush and paint offensive caricatures for a long time.At a time when an agile dandy with a tail and a goat beard flew out of the pipe and then again into the pipe, which hung in a sling at his side of the ladder, in which he hid the stolen month, somehow accidentally caught in the stove, and the month disappeared, using In this case, it flew out through the pipe of Solokhina's khata and smoothly ascended through the sky. Everything lit up. The snowstorm was gone.

Assignments: 1. Read the text. 2. Highlight the main point. 3. Make a syncwine. 4. Explain what literary technique is used by the author to create an image? 5. Color the character. 6. Explain the choice of paints.

Group 4. Episode 4. How the hell made a deal with Vakula.

The devil, tilting his dog's stigma into his right ear, said:

- This is me - your friend, I will do everything for a comrade and friend! I'll give you as much money as you want, ”he squeaked in his left ear. “Oksana will be ours today,” he whispered, turning his face back into his right ear.

The devil threw up his hands and began to gallop for joy on the blacksmith's neck. “Now the blacksmith is caught! - he thought to himself, - now I will take out on you, my dear, all your fantasies and fables, cocked into devils! Here the devil laughed with joy, remembering how the whole tailed tribe would tease in hell, how the lame devil, who was considered the first for inventions among them, would rage. - I'm ready! - said the blacksmith. - Then he put his hand back - and grab the devil's tail. - Wait, darling! - shouted the blacksmith, - and this is how it seems to you? - At this word, he created the cross, and the devil became as quiet as a lamb - Have mercy, Vakula! - the devil moaned plaintively, - everything that is necessary for you, I will do everything, only let your soul go to repentance: do not put a terrible cross on me!

Assignments: 1. Read the text. 2. Highlight the main point. 3. Make a syncwine. 4. Explain what literary technique is used by the author to create an image? 5. Color the character. 6. Explain the choice of paints.

Appendix 2. Self-assessment sheet.

FI _____________________________________

Bibliography.

Vislenko L.P. Literature. 5-7 grades: Methodological manual. - SPb .: "Parity", 2001. - p. 84-87

"Literature at school" No. 10, 2006

Belinsky V.G. Collected works: In 9 volumes - M., 1976. - T. 1. –S. 121.

www. nikolaygogol. org. Ru

ru.wikipedia.org

www.liveinternet.ru, Illustration for the story The Night Before Christmas.

www.a4format.ru, Illustrations. "Christmas Eve".

Topic: “N. V. Gogol. "Christmas Eve". Heroes of the story. Mythical images and their role in the work ”.

Target: Development of skills in collection, analysis, synthesis, generalization, assessment, skills

collaborative work, moral and ethical qualities in the process

formation of students' knowledge on the heroes of the story, mythical images and their role

in the work of N.V. Gogol "The Night before Christmas".

Predicted result. Know the basic concepts of the topic being studied. Be able to

apply the knowledge gained in practice.

Lesson type: studying.

Lesson type: non-standard.

Equipment, arrogant. benefits: ICT, presentation, posters, markers, stickers, text

works.

Methods: explanatory and illustrative, activity, verbal, search,

information and communicative.

During the classes.

I . Organizational moment.

Preparing students for work in the classroom. Creation of a collaborative environment. Warm up. "What quality, in your opinion, is the most important in a person's character?"

Division by MG with sweets.

Challenge: What are we going to talk about in the lesson? Slide number 1

Setting the topic and objectives of the lesson to the students.

Today our lesson is dedicated to the work of N. V. Gogol "The Night Before Christmas" from the collection "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka". We will talk with you about the heroes of the story, about N.V. Gogol's use of mythical images and their role in the work.

Students record the number and topic of the lesson. Slide number 2

II . Preparing students for the main stage of the lesson. Slide number 3 (Screensaver)

1. Exercise "Envelopes". The groups are asked questions. Each of the groups sets

the rest of the question. Listens to answers, complements. Slide number 4-9

What do you know about the Christian holiday of the Nativity of Christ?

What is the name of the evening before Christmas?

What do Orthodox Christians do on Christmas night?

What is the symbol of the star worn by the Orthodox during caroling?

What is a Christmas carol?

How are Christianity and paganism related?

What is fantasy in your mind?

What is reality in your mind?

What creatures belong to lower mythology?

Define the term “mythologeme.

2. Mutual evaluation.

III . The main stage of the lesson. Slide number 10

Teacher's word. Name the heroes of the work. Which of them are mythological creatures, and which are real? Slide number 11

1. MG assignment. Display on a poster everything you know about the character: Vakula,

Oksana, Chuba, Devil, Solokha. Analysis of character images. Slide number 12

2. Protecting posters of students at the blackboard.

3. Mutual evaluation.

4. Preliminary assignment. Compose a small essay-reasoning on

images of heroes. "Do you like the hero and why?" Protecting their works by students

5. Mutual evaluation.

What is the attitude of the villagers to the otherworldly force? Slide number 13

Why did the devil have to “teach the sins of good people” on this very night? Which of the character images can be called the main ones? How do representatives of the forces of evil influence the fate of the main characters? Slide number 14

IV. Consolidation of the acquired knowledge.

"Who quickly?" Slide number 15

Using these illustrations, find their display in the text.

Is it possible to draw a conclusion about the internal

reincarnation of the heroine.

Group assignment. Describe the two opposite heroes according to the "Diamond is a diamond" strategy.

1. Vakula

2. Kind, devout

3. Works, loves, travels, hates, interferes

4. Angry, insidious

3. Game "Journey through the pages of the work". Slide number 16-25

Questions and Answers

List of questions:

What was the name of the village in which Gogol's character Vakula lived?

Who was the witch Solokha related to the blacksmith Vakula?

Name the "vehicle" of the blacksmith Vakula when flying to St. Petersburg.

What is the name of Oksana's father in Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas"?

How many characters from the story "The Night Before Christmas" were in bags in the house of

What queen in the story of N.V. Gogol "Night before Christmas" bestowed on Vakula

slivers?

Who stole the month and why?

Why did the devil take revenge on the blacksmith?

What did the witch pick up her sleeve on the night before Christmas?

How can you tame the devil?

Where and why did Vakula go, riding the devil?

V . Summing up the lesson.

What conclusion can be drawn from analyzing the images of the work? Slide number 26

Oksana Beauty, Love, Vera Vakula

Defeat evil.

2. Watching a video clip of the film "The Night Before Christmas" (1961). Slide number 27

3. After watching the video, analyzing the images of the heroes of the work, what

can we conclude? "The Night Before Christmas" is a beautiful tale of love, where

despite the difficulties, the heroes find happiness. Slide number 28

Is it possible to connect Gogol's story with our modern life?

4. Slide number 29. Gogol's statement about his work.

VI . Reflection. "Two stars, one wish." Slide number 30 (Screensaver)

Vii . Homework. Reread episodes about relationships

Vakula and Oksana. Slide number 31

VIII . Assessment.

IX . Parting word. The star is a symbol of happiness, luck, hope for the best and

let everyone, leaving the lesson, take with them an asterisk in their soul - a part of our

love and faith that ultimately Love, Beauty and Kindness will save the world.

Slide number 32 (Screensaver)

Analysis of folklore elements in the story "The Night Before Christmas"

The artistic world of the story "The Night Before Christmas" is filled with evil spirits, witches and devils. Solokha - the mother of the protagonist, introduces herself as a witch. One of the traditionally described skills of witches in folklore is the ability to fly. To prove this, one can recall Baba Yaga, who can fly on a broomstick, or Western European witches, who also "practice" flying on brooms. Such a supernatural skill allows witches to feel free in the air (and therefore heavenly) elements. This is not available to a mere mortal. Among other things, Solokha is very attractive, her feminine charms extend not only to people, but also to otherworldly beings (devil). This is another feature of the folklore idea of ​​witches: they are very beautiful and capable of winning the heart of any man.

The motive in which a woman hides her many lovers, the incidental situations associated with this are traditional for folklore and literature. An example is the fairy tale "The Clever Wife" or "The Story of Peter Sutulov and His Wise Wife", in which the heroines showed their cunning, ingenuity and can turn difficult life situations to their advantage. A similar plot and characters of the heroes can be found in Boccaccio's "Decameron" and in other works of world literature.

It should be assumed that in many respects the strength and cunning of Vakula is due to the fact that he is the witch's son, which means that he has a certain power, an advantage over other people.

The motive of the abduction of the heavenly bodies by the evil force should be regarded as traditional. The devil steals a month, this element can be interpreted as an attempt to encroach on divine powers. In apocryphal literature, the plot of the appearance of the so-called fallen angels, who were expelled from paradise for certain transgressions, is quite common. The connection of divine, demonic forces, as well as the world of people, transformation and possible transition to other worlds is found, for example, in the story "Sorochinskaya Fair" when describing the appearance of the "red scroll": the devil was expelled from the inferno for some offense, he drank in the world people, drank everything that he had in a shank, and laid the "red scroll". Or, for example, a person's journey into the demonic world in The Lost Letter, where Foma Grigorievich's grandfather not only witnesses the Sabbath of evil spirits, but also enters into communication with it.

It should be assumed that the artistic world of the stories under consideration is based on three worlds: the world of people (the usual, everyday life for most heroes), the world of evil spirits (where a person can get under certain circumstances) and the divine world (which assumes its existence as a kind of opposition) ... However, divine power almost does not manifest itself in the stories under consideration, its presence is only assumed. While the distance between the world of evil spirits and the human world is minimized as much as possible, they touch and constantly interact. Unclean power turns out to be closer to a person, more understandable and "more human". It should be noted that most representatives of evil spirits are either anthropomorphic or completely human in appearance.

Also, quite often the otherworldly power is depicted using zoomorphic details: shaggy hands, dog mouths, and so on. In the story under consideration, the devil has a "dog's stigma", an analysis of the conspiracies of Little Russia shows that the dog (wolf) is often associated with the devil, therefore this metonymic epithet was chosen by N.V. Gogol is not accidental and corresponds to folklore ideas about the image of a demon, combining anthropomorphic features with zoomorphic fantastic features. Damn from "black", the color characteristic of all evil spirits. The black color symbolizes the presence of the demon in hell, his burnt soul.

The story depicts carols, Christmastide festivities, accompanied by songs traditional for the culture of Little Russia. An integral feature of Christmas carols are the mummers, who symbolize the spirits of their ancestors, they come during Christmas carols and wish a rich harvest, good and good. The celebration of totemic creatures, the symbols of which the mummers are represented, is traditional for the pagan faith. The treat presented to the mummers seems to be a sacrificial gift and is also rooted in ancient beliefs. However, it should be noted that in Christmas, both pagan traditions (carols, fortune-telling) and religious (the holiday itself) traditions are closely intertwined. Vakula, who made a deal with the devil for a while, paints the walls of the church with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, that is, he knows what an evil spirit is. Thus, we can conclude that the church is always inseparable from the demonic.

It should be noted that the devil initially disliked Vakula, since he depicted a scene of the Last Judgment on the church wall, shaming the devil. That is, the demon in the artistic world of Gogol has a very human sense of shame (shame): leaving the "impure" environment, he cannot completely immerse himself in the world of people, but he also cannot return, since he has acquired human features.

The plot of the story ends with a happy ending, which is typical for the scheme of a fairy tale, in which the hero, after going through a series of tests, receives a wife as a reward.

Writing

The magical night before Christmas in the story of the same name by G. Gogol begins with a fantastic event. Black smoke poured from the chimney of one of the houses, and with it a witch flew out on a broomstick. Where she flew, the stars disappeared one after another. Soon the witch put on their full sleeve. The devil, who also appeared in the night sky, burning his hands, grabbed the month and hid it in his pocket. And so it became so dark that nothing could be seen. Even the way to the tavern was hard to find.
Having fun in the sky and feeling the cold, the witch slipped into the chimney of the house and turned into an ordinary woman named Solokha. She was known in the village for the fact that she knew how to bewitch the staid Cossacks to herself. The devil followed Solokha through the chimney into the house.

What does not happen on a festive night! The same blacksmith Vakula wanders from Dikanka to Petersburg on horseback to get the queen's slivers for his beloved Oksana. Having met in the capital with the Cossacks, the guy ends up in the royal palace, and the queen gives him unspeakably beautiful shoes.

And what a holiday is without jokes and laughter! Boys and girls laugh, walk with carols from house to house. The reader also laughs at the Cossacks, who on Christmas night decided to visit Solokha for a light. None of Solokha's guests: neither the head, nor the clerk, nor the devil, nor the Chub - wanted anyone to see them there. Therefore, Solokha hides his gentlemen in coal sacks. What a comical look they have when guys and girls get them out of those bags, thinking that there are treats!
The reader also laughs at the pot-bellied Patsyuk, who gave himself up to the festive meal in a very unusual way. He sat on the floor in Turkish style in front of a small tub, on which there was a bowl of dumplings, and gulped a stew from the bowl, grabbing dumplings from time to time with his teeth. And the dumplings themselves flew from the bowl directly into Patsyuk's open mouth, who only chewed and swallowed food.

On the night before Christmas, the devil, who wanted to laugh at people, was deceived himself. Instead of harming Vakula, whom he hated for his painting abilities, the unclean fulfills all the wishes of the blacksmith, and even receives three blows on the back with a twig as a reward.

G. Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas" is included in the first collection of the writer "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka." In these stories, the author described Ukraine, dear to his heart, where he was born and raised. They fantastically intertwined old legends and pictures of the life of ordinary Ukrainians, fantastic and comic.

Other compositions on this work

Nikolenko O. N., Nikolenko E. S. (Poltava, Ukraine), Ph.D. Sci., prof., head. Department of Foreign Literature, Poltava National Pedagogical University named after V.G. Korolenko / 2012

Since the 17th century, Ukraine has attracted great interest in Europe and in Russia as a land of beautiful nature, distinctive traditions and history. This interest intensified in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in connection with the development of romanticism.

While in St. Petersburg, Gogol wrote in his letters to his mother and sisters, asking them to send him Little Russian stories, folk beliefs, descriptions of Ukrainian costumes and rituals. He used all this in the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, which was published during 1830-1832 and was very successful.

The connection of the "Evenings" cycle with folk traditions has already been the subject of separate studies at the level of peculiarities of artistic consciousness, individual motives and literary techniques (V. Zvinyatskovsky, P. Mikhed, etc.). Recently, serious works on this problem have appeared, concerning archetypes (A. Goldenberg) and mythopoetics (L. Sofronov) of early Gogol. However, the connection of the writer's work with Ukrainian folklore and folk mythology remains a rather complex issue of Gogol studies, requiring further study of specific texts of the cycle.

Dikanka as a topos was a very significant place as a historical crossroads (the fate of Russia and Europe in the context of the Northern War), a sacred crossroads (in connection with the ancient legends of the miraculous icon), a romantic crossroads (in connection with Mazepa's love story for Maria Kochubei). This place became a kind of crossroads of the destinies of people associated with the Gogol family (the architect of the Dikan Church M. Lvov and the writers G. Derzhavin, V. Kapnist were married to sisters, the Kochubei occupied a prominent place in the capital). Thus, Dikanka, in Gogol's artistic consciousness, combined his homeland and capital, historical and sacred, real and mythological.

Dikanka's topos is clearly indicated by Gogol in the preface to the first part of Evenings: “About Dikanka, I think you've heard plenty of it. And then say what's there house (meaning the estate of Kochubei - ed.) cleaner than some pasichnikov kuren. And about garden and there is nothing to say: in your Petersburg, you surely will not find such a thing ... "(I, p. 106) Foma Grigorievich, clerk of the Dikan church, is one of the implicit characters in the cycle Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.

In his book, Gogol opened to society the previously undiscovered Ukraine - not only as part of Russian history and part of the Russian empire, but also as a land with its own national identity, mythology, folklore, traditions and customs. Gogol thus asserted not so much exoticism as the cultural uniqueness and originality of Ukraine, which, although it was part of the Russian Empire as Little Russia, still had some differences.

Along with exoticism and barbarism - the names of details of Ukrainian life and culture (bandura, batog, zhupan, kaganets, dumplings, hopak, makitra, plakhta, sopilka, etc.), Gogol included names that testify to national identification in the list of words that are not clear to readers, along with exoticisms and barbarisms. For example: "katsap - Russian a man with a beard "," Chumaks - "travel agents going to the Crimea for salt and fish" (part 1), " Little Russians going for salt and fish, usually to the Crimea ”(part 2). The descriptive interpretation of Ukrainian words (maiden, lad, kozak, etc.) through the Russian language testifies, on the one hand, to the author's feeling of belonging to the Russian world, but on the other hand, it also accentuates the national originality of the artistic world created by Gogol.

The preface to the first part of the collection contains an indication that the "evening" (Ukr. vechornytsi) are similar to the balls of the capital, but not quite: “They, if you please see, they are similar to your balls; only it cannot be said that at all. If you go to balls, it is precisely in order to turn your legs and yawn in your hand; but here a crowd of girls will gather in one hut not for a ball at all, with a spindle, with combs; and at first they seem to be busy with business: the spindles are noisy, songs are pouring, and each one does not even raise her eyes to the side; but as soon as the boys with a fiddler come into the hut - a cry will rise, a shawl will start, there will be dances and such jokes will be started that it is impossible to tell. But the best thing is when everyone gets together in a tight bunch and starts making riddles or just talking. Oh my god! Why not tell! Where do they not dig up antiquities! What fears they will not inflict! .. ”(I, p. 104).

The traditions of Ukrainian folklore, images, motifs and symbols of folk mythology influenced the artistic structure of the works collected in the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dykanka, which is clearly manifested in the story The Night Before Christmas, which opens the second part of the cycle. Even in the preface to the first part, the author spoke about the intention of the second: “I'd better live, if God willing, until the new year and publish another book, then it will be possible to immigrants from the other world and divas what happened in the old days in our Orthodox side ”(I, p. 106).

The motives of the "other world" and "diva" ("miracle") are key in the story "The Night Before Christmas" and go back to the traditions of paganism and Christianity, which are vividly reflected in Ukrainian folklore, mythology and Ukrainian ritual culture.

The events in the story take place on the "holy evening" (Ukrainian. Holy evening, Bagatii evening, Holy supper). On this evening, twelve lenten dishes are prepared, the whole family gathers, read prayers, commemorate the dead, young people carry food to their godmothers and fathers. This evening everyone is waiting for the first star to break their fast. The central dish on the pre-Christmas table was kutya (in the story Vakula recalls the "hungry kutya", that is, lean kutya), prepared from the gifts of nature - a symbol of further well-being, prosperity and a talisman against evil forces.

It has long been believed that amazing and magical events, extraordinary transformations and even a meeting with evil spirits, which must retreat before the Christian holiday of Christmas, take place on Holy Eve. In the story "The Night Before Christmas" such extraordinary transformations are found everywhere (the witch turns into Solokha, the devil turns into a horse, etc.). Magical events also take place in the earthly world: the blacksmith Vakula saddled the devil himself, flew to St. Petersburg, got the little slivers from the queen herself for the beautiful Oksana.

Evening (and night) in romanticism is a special time, a mysterious time, a time of meeting of the real and the other worlds, God and the Devil, good and evil spirits. Gogol gives the romantic concepts "evening" and "night" sacred meaning and national flavor of Ukrainian culture.

As you know, Christian holidays begin the day before, so evening and night are included in their sacred time. In addition, the night in the pagan tradition of the Slavs is considered a particularly magical and especially effective time, when all the evil spirits creep out of the dark corners and it is necessary to actively oppose it. Evening and night is a time of love sorrow, sorrow over an unhappy fate. A number of popular beliefs are associated with the evening and at night (At night, they do not give back borrowed money, do not throw away garbage, do not pour out water after bathing a child, etc.). The symbolic attribute of the night is a black horse (it is no coincidence that Gogol's devil turns into a horse in Petersburg).

The folklore structure "Vechornitsa", emphasized by the author in the preface to the first part, influenced the construction of works from Gogol's collection. The story "The Night Before Christmas" is focused on oral tradition, that is, telling a story, which is interrupted by songs, jokes, scenes from folk life - quarrels (Ukrainian. weldings), fights (Ukrainian. beats), rumors (Ukrainian. sympathetic). The story consists of separate novellas, each of which is based on a specific episode, but these novellas are internally interconnected, and the finale of each of them creates the effect of expectation of a continuation, which is also characteristic of the folklore structure of Ukrainian “vechornytsya”.

We also note that “vechornytsi” in Ukrainian folklore is a kind of synthetic structure, where word, music, dance, theatrical performances are organically combined, where everyday life can coexist with sacred, mystical, where funny and terrible can be present at the same time. Polyphony, stylistic diversity, constant appeal to the interlocutors, or rather to the participants of the action, are characteristic of the "vechornitsa". This artistic syncretism is observed in the story "The Night Before Christmas".

The structure of the story "The Night Before Christmas" was also influenced by the traditions of the Ukrainian nativity scene, where the performance was played out in different tiers - upper (heavenly) and lower (earthly). Religious subjects were shown in the upper tier, and funny scenes from Ukrainian folk life in the lower tier. The traditional characters of the Ukrainian den were the Mother of God, Jesus, Herod, Devil (in the upper tier), Baba, Moskal, Gypsy, Shinkar, Dyak (in the lower tier). The main and most popular character of the den was Kozak (Zaporozhets) - the most dynamic character, he always came out the winner in all scenes.

The story "The Night Before Christmas" presents the iconic characters of the Ukrainian den - a woman (Solokha, weaver, Pepperchikha), clerk, Head, Cossack, blacksmith, beauty (Oksana), queen, godfather. Characteristic features are assigned to them: a cunning and quarrelsome woman, a brave and purposeful hero, a proud beauty, a just and magnanimous queen, an all-knowing and omnipotent Cossack, a stupid head, a drunk godfather, a lustful clerk, etc.

The upper and lower tiers in Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas" turn out to be interpenetrating, forming an organic unity of the artistic world of the story. The majestic story of the birth of Christ is included in the earthly world with its everyday signs and real stories. The erasure of boundaries, movement from one world to another, the interpenetration of worlds is ensured by the miraculous transformations of characters and the freedom of oral narration (here the author-storyteller acts as the Creator, setting in motion the entire world he created).

The artistic organization of the story "The Night Before Christmas" also manifested the traditions of ritual Ukrainian folklore.

Carols are calendar and ritual songs that have been performed in Ukraine since the days of paganism. The name is associated with Kolyada - the god who, in paganism, began a new Circle of the Sun (Svarog), that is, a new economic year. With the adoption of Christianity, Kolyada was associated with the great holiday of Christmas. The rite of caroling consisted in the fact that the carolers went from house to house, sang praise to God and good wishes to people, and in return received donations in a common bag, then these donations were shared among all the participants in the procession. Kolyada is a symbol of the renewal of the world, a symbol of holiness and purity, the victory of good over evil. The word "Kolyada" itself comes from "kolo" (hence the Ukrainian. colo, wheel, carol) - the symbol of the Sun. The carols were used to praise the birth of the Sun and the most important components of the Universe - Fire and Water, as well as the birth of Christ.

Here are the carols recorded by A. Afanasyev:

Behind the steep mountain,

For a rikoy bistro

To stand a fool of a dream,

Burn in quiet forests,

All around the people to stand

People stand, carol.

Oh, Kolyada, Kolyada!

Ty buvaєsh, Kolyada,

In front of one Rizdva.

Їkhala Kolyada

Into the malovan carriage,

On the black conic!

I drove up to Vasil at the courtyard.

Vasil, Vasil! Present Kolyada.

Carols, carols, carols,

"Honey and Palyanytsya" are traditional symbols of the Sun, "Kkhala Kolyada" is also the Sun, the turn of which is joyfully celebrated by people. Often, carolers changed their clothes or turned out the casing, depicting a wolf (to scare away evil spirits). Among the carolers there was also one who seemed to be a devil, he put on a skin, smeared his face with soot, attached horns to his head, a piglet to his nose, took hot coal in his teeth. He was an active participant in the action (hotel scenes) during caroling.

In constructing the plot of the story "The Night Before Christmas", Gogol relied on the rite of caroling, which he often observed at home. Carollers come to Oksana, among whom Odarka and her new slivers attract her attention. Solokha hides those who came to her in bags, and Vakula puts them on the street, which leads to new plot twists. The atmosphere of cheerful folk caroling reigns in the story.

The idea of ​​the unity of the people, who gathered to praise Christ in carols, is constantly heard in the work: “More loudly and noisily, songs and shouts were heard in the streets. The crowds of the jostling people were increased by those who came from the neighboring villages. The couples were naughty and furious. Often a funny song was heard between the carols, which one of the young Cossacks managed to put together right there ”(I, p. 220). In joyful unity, the inhabitants of Dikanka and the surrounding villages awaited the feast of the birth of Christ, together they celebrate the feast in the church. “Morning has come. The whole church was full of people even before the world ... ”(I, p. 240).

Even in the very construction of Gogol's phrase, especially at the very beginning, one can feel the influence of carols, where the traditional symbols are the stars, the month, and also praise to Christ and an appeal to good people and to the whole world sounds. “A clear winter night has come. The stars looked. The month majestically ascended to the sky to shine kind people and the whole world for everyone to be cheerfully carol and praise Christ"(I, p. 201).

In connection with the folklore tradition of caroling, Gogol's story includes the theme of the struggle between light and darkness, good and evil, a new turn in life and the unity of the people in front of evil spirits.

Along with carols, Gogol also mentions other ritual songs of Ukrainians - shchedrovki (ukr. generous). The author resorts to direct quotation: “Then suddenly one of the crowd, instead of a Christmas carol, let go of the generosity and roared at the top of his lungs:

Shchedrik, vedrik!

Give a dumpling,

Breast of porridge,

Kіlce kovbaski!

Laughter rewarded the entertainer ”(I, p. 220).

Why did they laugh at the one who suddenly sang the generosity?

"Generous evening" (Ukrainian. Generous evening) is included in the cycle of New Year and Christmas holidays, but it does not coincide with "Holy evening", but comes a week later. Schedrovki (Ukrainian. generous) are those magic words that should appease the generous Savior God and give a good harvest in the new year.

Carols and carols, directly introduced by Gogol into the story "The Night Before Christmas", give the work an atmosphere of lyricism, traditional folk culture and accentuate the eternal themes and motives that unfold in the story: the turn to the new economic year, the struggle between light and darkness, good and evil, and also the arrival of the great Orthodox feast day, for the sake of which Christians should unite.

Another genre of Ukrainian folklore is mentioned in the story "The Night Before Christmas" - the duma (when Vakula thinks about Oksana). In his monologue, there is doubt, but at the same time confidence in overcoming difficulties. In the mouth of Vakula Gogol also puts the folk song “I don’t bother with a woman ...”. This is a part of the folk song "Oh, oh, oh, oh, that and the woman to reap ...", in which the theme of the Zaporizhzhya Sich sounds, the campaigns of the Cossacks (Sagaidachny, Doroshenko are mentioned there). That is, in the image of the blacksmith Vakula, the features of the Cossack are also accentuated.

Vakula's connection with the Ukrainian Cossacks is also confirmed by the scenes in St. Petersburg, where he does not go directly to the tsarina, but relies on the friendly support of the Zaporozhye Cossacks who passed through Dikanka. The motive of the Cossack partnership would later become central in the story "Taras Bulba". The courage and straightforwardness of the hero when he met the queen (which also corresponded to the code of the Ukrainian Cossack) helped him get the coveted item - golden threads for Oksana.

In the story "The Night Before Christmas" there are certain elements of the Ukrainian folk tale: at the level of images (a hero and a beauty, two godfathers, a wife and a deceived husband, a woman and her admirers, two grumpy women, wonderful transformations of characters, etc.), the level of plot structures (testing the hero as a beauty, woman's evasions, meeting the hero with the devil, the contract between the devil and the person, etc.), at the level of the chronotope (home world - the capital, earthly - otherworldly, etc.), at the level of motives ( the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, the hero and the devil, the test of the hero, the search for the coveted object necessary for happiness, etc.), at the level of style and language (promise (Ukrainian village), repetitions, traditional epithets and metaphors, popular speech, etc.).

In the finale of the novel "The Night Before Christmas", the traditional motive of the folk tale is the achievement of happiness with the help of the cherished object obtained by the hero, as well as the transformation of the heroes (Oksana no longer needs the slivers, because she realized that love is more important) is associated with the Christian motive of the "miracle" during the great feast of Christmas.

The month is a traditional Slavic symbol along with the Sun. According to ancient beliefs, stars were born from the union of the Sun and the Moon. In ancient carols, the heavenly world appears very harmonious: the sky is called a temple (palace), the month is the ruler, the sun is his wife, and the stars are their children. In Ukrainian legends, the month that shines at night awakens the seeds of life and gives them fertility. With the aging month, crops were not started. It was believed that if you sow bread "for young" (that is, with a young month), the bread will grow faster. Carols, songs (sowing), and conspiracies (Ukrainian zamovlyannya) were associated with the month. In order for the month to contribute to the well-being of the family, sacrifices were made to him in the form of dumplings or dumplings, which resemble a month in shape. We find echoes of all these folklore and mythological ideas in Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas". The devil stole a month, and this was a threat to the whole world. Patsyuk eats dumplings and dumplings, which is associated with mythological ideas about the magical power of the month.

Representatives of the "other world" - the witch and the devil are shown in the home space, they acquire human traits and act alongside human characters. The devil has the features of a "Yareskovsky head" and a "provincial solicitor." And the witch turns into Solokha, who "charms" the men. In the Ukrainian tradition, both the devil and the witch had a number of names, different in semantics (scary, euphemisms, comic, etc.). This is manifested in the story "The Night Before Christmas": the devil is a cursed German, an agile dandy with a tail and a goat's beard, a crafty, evil spirit, bald, lame, Satan, cocoa and etc.; witch - Solokha, mistress, devil, etc.

The conflict between the blacksmith Vakula and the devil is a kind of interpretation of the well-known Ukrainian proverb "The devil is not so terrible, how can you paint him." In Ukrainian folklore, plots about the various adventures of the devil in the earthly world, about courtship (Ukrainian zalitsyannyah) the devil after a woman (widow, another's wife), about the theft by the devil of the month (sun, stars), about the agreement (contract) of the devil with a person are quite widespread , about the hero's victory over the devil. The devil in folk mythology is capable of rapidly flying through the sky, scattering sparks, and (like the witch) fly in and out through the chimney. Therefore, the image of smoke goes back to the ancient mythological concepts of evil spirits. Very often in Ukrainian folk tales, the devil appears to be deceived - the hero forces him to act in his own interests. The devil, as a rule, must help the hero get married, get some cherished item, complete an impossible task. This folklore motif can be traced in the story "The Night Before Christmas" by Gogol. In this case, the motive for defeating the devil is consistent with the Christian idea of ​​Christmas.

The images of the devil and the blacksmith Vakula are closely related in the work of Gogol. Even in pagan ideas, a blacksmith (ukr. forge) was endowed with special magical powers, because he was the ruler of the elements of fire. In addition, blacksmiths were considered in some way "priests", since "kovati" (Ukrainian. Kuwati) meant art in general, including magic. During Christianity, the craft of the blacksmith took on even greater importance, because blacksmiths worked on the construction of churches. Blacksmith Vakula not only knows how to work with a hammer, but also knows how to draw (paint). He painted the Trinity Church with paintings of the Last Judgment, which caused his conflict with the devil, and the devil interfered with him not only during drawing, but also in life (trying to quarrel with Chub, thereby preventing him from marrying Oksana).

The motive of "mulling" appears in the story more than once. The blacksmith saw in the queen's chambers the Most Pure Virgin and with a baby in her arms, and this greatly excited him. In the finale of the story, Oksana herself appears as the Most Pure Virgin with Children. Vakula and Oksana's hut is "painted". And the devil that Vakula painted in the church, the women showed the children and said: “He is bach, yaka cocoa painted ”(I, p. 243).

Thus, the action "malyuvannya" had a sacred meaning, it goes back to the mythological ideas of the ancient Slavs that with the help of certain symbols, signs, colors, you can overcome evil forces. In the era of Christianity, "painting" became even more widespread in connection with iconography. In the Ukrainian folk tradition, churches, huts, Easter eggs (Easter eggs), clothes (shirts, plakhtas, belts, etc. with the help of embroidery), dishes, stoves, etc. were painted, which was considered a talisman against the devil.

The story "The Night Before Christmas" uses color symbolism based on the mythological ideas of the people. The red color (“all around with red paint”) is a symbol of Christ, his blood, as well as the colors of youth and love (Oksana's shirt was embroidered with red silk). Green is the color of nature, prosperity, family happiness. The blacksmith Vakula painted the wing of the Trinity Church in green and decorated it with red flowers. This pattern is consistent with the traditions of the Ukrainian Baroque. Gogol knew that the Trinity Church was built in the shape of a cross (that's why the devil was bad there) in the late Baroque style. Therefore, all kinds of decorations were quite natural for her, although she was one-domed.

There is another Ukrainian proverb: "Baba is better for the devil." She is artistically interpreted by the author in the form of Solokha. The witch is one of the brightest characters in Ukrainian demonology. As you know, the witch comes from the word "in charge", that is, she possessed special knowledge and knew how to conjure, charm, reincarnate. It is very difficult to recognize a witch among people: she can be old and young, appear in various guises. In Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas", Solokha is portrayed as a very attractive witch, she does not harm the main characters, but in some way influences the course of events. The motives of woman's evasions, leprosy, caring and courting are very common in Ukrainian folk tales. And the fact that Solokha the witch is the mother of the blacksmith Vakula (who is also endowed with a certain magic) is quite natural. In Ukrainian folklore, a rather frequent motive is when a hero must pass a certain spiritual test and overcome the action of evil forces, purify himself and come out to a new life.

In the folk tradition, the night was divided into three parts: the first - from sunset to midnight; the second - before the crowing of the roosters; the third - before sunrise. Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas" reflects this three-part temporal structure. At the beginning of the story, the events begin from the moment the month looked out and the stars poured out in the sky. The main events unfold before midnight and after. Vakula returned from Petersburg to his hut when a rooster sang (in the folk tradition - a symbol of the sun, light, fire, resurrection, male power, a warrior against evil power; in Christianity - a symbol of resurrection, the victory of a good spirit over an evil one, repentance), and then slept through matins and mass.

In folklore, time and space are capable of changing their boundaries (up to their absence at all), shrinking, layering, interpenetrating, which is what happens in the story "The Night Before Christmas", when so many events take place during one night - both everyday and fantastic , both funny and dramatic, but as a result everything is directed to one point - to the achievement of the victory of kindness, light and love.

In the finale of the work, Christian motifs of the resurrection are combined (“Chub goggled his eyes when the blacksmith entered, and did not know what to marvel at: whether that the blacksmith was resurrected, that the blacksmith dared to come to him, or that he was a dandy and a Zaporozhian "(I, p. 242)), the return of the prodigal son (Vakula falls prostrate before Chub asks forgiveness), repentance (Vakula repents of everything), Trinity (Chub hits Vakula on the back three times) and folk motives of matchmaking (Vakula asks for Oksana's hand), gifts (Vakula gives Oksana the shanks) and moral cleansing (Oksana says: “I have no shanks ...”).

The motive of "glory" ("praise") loops around the composition of the story. If at the beginning of the story there was a talk about how fun it was for everyone to carol and praise Christ, then at the end of the story the bishop, who was passing through Dikanka and saw the “painted” hut of the blacksmith Vakula, said: “Glorious! Nice job! " The motive of glory in Gogol's story extends not only to the heavenly world, but also to the earthly world, including the creations of human hands, his art of life. In the Ukrainian folk tradition, the word “glory” still has a special magical meaning (“Glory to Ukraine!” - “Glory to the heroes” - this is how people greet each other on major Ukrainian holidays).

Thus, the traditions of Ukrainian folklore and folk mythology influenced the artistic structure of the story "The Night Before Christmas", in particular, the plot, the figurative system, the motive organization, artistic time and space, as well as the genre content of the work, its stylistic originality and language. Folklore and mythological structures in Gogol's story contributed to the affirmation of Christian ideas and the triumph of man's spiritual capabilities, his unity with God, nature and people. In addition, the use of elements of Ukrainian folklore and folk mythology contributed to the creation of a national image of the world in the work of Gogol.