May Night, or the Drowned Woman

Nikolai Gogol

Newcomb Livraria Press

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This is a new translation from the original Russian manuscript of Gogol's classic "May Night, or the Drowned Woman". This edition contains an Afterword by the Translator, a timeline of Gogol's life and works and an Index of Gogol's individual works. "May Night, or the Drowned Maiden" is the third story in the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka. It was made into the opera May Night by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1878-79 and also into a Ukrainian setting by Mykola Lysenko. This story melds romance with elements of the supernatural. Centered around the legend of drowned maidens, the tale delves into a young man's love affair and his encounters with these spectral beings. In the XVIII century, as young villagers enjoy an evening of song, Levko, son of the village head, longs to marry Hanna. However, his father, who frequently boasts of his past with Queen Catherine, refuses due to his own affections for Hanna. After Hanna and Levko discuss a tragic local legend of a lady wronged by her stepmother and turned spirit, Levko rallies boys to mock the village head in protest. Amidst the turmoil, Levko, by a haunted pond, is given a note by the spirit of the lady from the legend. Upon waking, he presents this note, purportedly from a commissar, which orders the head to allow Levko's marriage to Hanna, leading to an unexpected union blessed under mysterious circumstances.

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A Russian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer, Gogol was a personal friedn of Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Tolstoy. He is considered the father of modern Russian realism. His works, including "Dead Souls" and "The Overcoat," are renowned for their satirical depiction of Russian society and bureaucracy. Gogol's blend of realism, grotesque, and absurdism had a profound influence on Russian and world literature.