dead souls, imperial envoy

Chapter 67: Chronology of Gogol's Major Events

On April 1809, 4, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born in Ukraine (Ukraine was a Russian minority) in a landowner family in the town of Veliki Sorochin, Milgrad County, Poltava Province. He loved Ukrainian folklore and folk drama since childhood.

From 1821 to 1828, he studied at the Neren Higher Science High School in Poltava Province, and was influenced by the poems of the Decembrist poets Ryleyev and Pushkin, as well as the works of French Enlightenment scholars.

At the end of 1828, he went to Petersburg with the ideal of joining the judicial circle.

From 1829 to 1831, he successively worked as a scribe in the St. Petersburg State Property and Public Real Estate Bureau and the Land Fief Bureau, and personally experienced the poor life of small employees.During this period, he also went to the Academy of Fine Arts to study painting.

In 1829, he published the long poem "Hans Gusegarten" at his own expense under the pseudonym "Alov", and distributed it to bookstores for consignment. As a result, the book did not sell, but there were negative comments. Gogol, who cherished his personal reputation, had no choice but to Take back the books one by one and attach them to a torch.

In 1830, he published "The Eve of St. John's Day", which attracted the attention of the poet Zhukovsky and made an appointment with him.Since then, the two have become close friends.

He resigned in 1831 and specialized in literary creation.Through the introduction of Zhukovsky, Gogol had the honor to get acquainted with Pushkin.

From 1831 to 1832, at the age of 22, he entered the literary world with "Evening Talks by Di Kangka Near the Countryside".This collection of novels is the product of the combination of romanticism and realism, and was praised by Pushkin as "an extraordinary phenomenon", thus establishing Gogol's position in the literary world.

In the autumn of 1834, Gogol served as an associate professor of world history at St. Petersburg University, conducting research on Ukrainian history and world medieval history.At the end of the next year, he left his job and specialized in literary creation.

In 1835, he created comedies such as "The Third Order of Vladimir" and "Marriage".Published two collections of novels, "Milgrad" and "Essay Collection" (later also known as "Petersburg Tales"), among which are the famous "Old Landlord", "Taras Bulba", "Neva Main Street, Portrait, Diary of a Madman, Nose, etc.The writer changed his fascination with the peaceful pastoral life in "Di Kangka's Night Talks Near the Countryside", and turned his satirical style to expose the ugliness, darkness and injustice of society.

In December 1835, the satirical comedy "The Imperial Envoy" was completed, and in April 12 it was staged for the first time at the Alexandra Theater in Petersburg, causing a sensation in the entire capital.

In June 1836, under the criticism of "Imperial Envoy" by the government and reactionary literati, coupled with the fact that he was seriously ill, Gogol decided to go abroad for treatment.Since then, I have come and gone, mostly abroad, less in my homeland.In foreign countries, while recovering from his illness, he was engaged in the creation of "Dead Souls" which had begun as early as 6.

After the unfortunate death of Pushkin in 1837, he stood in the position left by Pushkin, pushed the creative method of critical realism to a new height, and jointly became the founder of Russian critical realist literature.

The first part of "Dead Souls" was completed in 1841 and published in 1842.This is a voluminous masterpiece with many characters. Through the vivid and vivid description of all kinds of bureaucrats and landlords, it effectively exposes the human-eating nature of Russian autocratic rule and serfdom, which greatly shocked the whole of Russia.

In 1847, he published "Selected Letters with Friends", advocating the monarchy, super-class fraternity and religious mysticism, and defending the autocratic serfdom in Russia.In the same year, Belinsky wrote "A Letter to Gogol", which seriously criticized Gogol's ideological errors.

In 1848, he began to write the second part of "Dead Souls".Later, he lived abroad for a long time, most of them lived in Rome, but he often traveled between Italy, France and Germany.During this period, his thinking reversed, and he turned to protect and praise serfdom.

In the spring of 1848, Gogol returned home after a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and settled in a friend's home in Moscow.Most of the time was spent in inner conflicts, arguments and confrontations with friends, worries in life and constant episodes of mental illness.

In 1852, when Gogol was ill, he burned the manuscript of the second volume of "Dead Souls".

Gogol died on March 1852, 3.

①The name after the foreign merchant is a full-fledged Russian name, which is suspected of selling dog meat.

②A comprehensive publication, founded in 1812, tended to be reactionary since 1820.

③In the era of Tsarist Russia, landlords had to submit the list of serfs to the government every seven to ten years so that the government could collect poll taxes (except for women and children).The number of tax-paying serfs on the tax-paying register will remain unchanged until the next tax payment.

④ "Soul" in Russian can also refer to "serf".

⑤The roots of these surnames include flea, soap, saddle, dog, etc.Hence the "variety".

[-]. Chichikov's name, Pavel Ivanovich, was called by Nozdryov as a kind of rheumatism ointment: Opoteldok.

⑦ Musical instruments used by wandering musicians for begging

⑧The Russians commonly call the bear "Mikhail", or "Misha" for short.

⑨Coins of Tsarist Russia, with a face value of ten rubles.

⑩The furnishings in the old Russian government hall are a prism decorated with a double-headed eagle, on which there is an edict from Peter the Great requiring law-abiding.

(11) The teaching method created by the British educator Lancaster (1778-1838). Teachers only teach outstanding students, and other students are managed by outstanding students. It was once used by Russian Decembrists to educate recruits. The "liberal" thought of the postmaster.

(12) The pronunciation of Andrejitch is similar to the German "Do you speak German", which is used for ridicule.

(13) Zhukovsky (1783-1852), Russian poet, "Lyudmila" is his 1808 work.

(14) Refers to a set of mysterious numbers "666" in the "Bible New Testament Revelation" representing the surnames of anti-Christian heretics.During the Russo-French War in [-], many believers tried to prove through various divination that Napoleon was the cult member.

(15) Gogol lived in France, Italy and Switzerland from 1836 to 1848. The first volume of Dead Souls was written during this period.

(16) The original text is missing here.

(17) Select a more complete version of the posthumous manuscript.

(18) The original text ends here.

(19) In Russia at that time, the certificate for passengers to transfer to the stagecoach for free due to official business.

(20) The ancient Hebrew king, known for his wisdom and accurate judgment.

(21) The noble person responsible for the grassroots organizations in cities and towns.

(22) Weight unit 1 pood (Russian system) = 16.38 kilograms = 32.67 city catties
(23) Nickname for Anton Antonovich Skwoznik.

(24) Middle and low-level Russian civil servants at that time.

(25) The rich man ordered his servants to stand on the running board behind the carriage to show his prestige.

(26) People who believe in Christianity have the custom of "baptizing" newborn babies.That is the initiation ceremony.

(27) Mary's nickname.

(28) Queen of Plum Blossoms, here refers to using poker to count luck, luck is better.

(29) Old K in playing cards.

(30) A comedy written by the French playwright Beaumarchais.

(31) Publishers and booksellers.

(32) Russian unit of weight equal to 16 kilograms.

(33) Radical revolutionaries during the French bourgeois revolution in the 18th century.Implement the "Jacobin Dictatorship".

(34) The meaning is: rascal, troublemaker.

(35) 1 Russian foot is equal to 0 meters.

(36) Characters in the famous Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.Angel is an angel who serves God.

(37) Red is the Order of Anna, and the color of the lake is the Order of Andre.

(38) French, meaning an uneducated person.

(39) This surname is derived from "shoes", because "shoes" are called "bassmark" in Russian.The surname here indicates that the person will be trampled.

(End of this chapter)