"The Missing Letter"

The beginning of the sexton's story

The basis of N.V. Gogol’s story “The Missing Letter” is a fairy tale told to lovers of scary stories by church minister Foma Grigorievich. The plot of the retelling included the events that happened to his grandfather, whom the hetman sent with a letter to the queen. Thomas's grandfather was a brave Cossack who was not afraid even of wolves. In addition to the clerk and his grandfather, the main characters in “The Lost Letter” are:

A Cossack who sold his soul to the unclean.
A witch who plays cards dishonestly.
An experienced and intelligent shinkar (a person who illegally stored and sold alcoholic beverages).

The narrator described his grandfather as a fairly smart and well-read man who belonged to the difficult Cossacks. Foma said that such people in the area could be packed into one handful. One day, the regimental clerk, on behalf of the hetman, gave his grandfather a letter that should have been delivered to the queen herself. Since the messenger was a responsible person, he quickly sewed the document into his hat, said goodbye to his wife and children, mounted his horse and set off on the road.

Read the summary of the story Gogol's Missing Letter

The story begins with the words of the main character. Foma Grigorievich modestly refuses the request to tell a terrible story. He laughs that young people constantly ask him to tell him something scary. And then they themselves cannot fall asleep at night, they tremble, they are frightened by any rustle. But these strange people forget about their fears during the day and ask for history again!

Here Thomas talks about the important assignment that the hetman gave him - to take the letter to the queen. Having said goodbye to his family, Thomas set off on the road. He had to drive past the fair. There is noise, fun... and Foma needs tobacco. I decided to stop by for a bit. I stopped by and met the Cossack, we got acquainted and began to celebrate our acquaintance. Time passes, friends are drinking. And having drunk enough, the new acquaintance admitted that he had sold his soul to the unclean. And today the Cossack is not at all calm, since the night of reckoning has come. Foma would like to help him - he volunteered to guard the drunken man. But despite all his efforts, Foma still fell asleep... in the morning he did not find anyone familiar with his things or his things.

It’s a sting for the horse, but it’s even worse to lose that very diploma. Thomas complained to the innkeeper that dark forces had robbed him. The innkeeper told him how to find them...

Thomas went into the forest, went deeper into the thicket, and came out into the light of a fire, around which terrible “faces” were sitting. These are witches and demons having fun and feasting. Brave Thomas demanded his money back from them. The creatures laugh and offer him a chance to win back at cards.

They play, but the card doesn’t suit the person. I decided to deal myself, the cards turned out to be good, trump cards, but that didn’t save me either. Then Thomas quietly crossed the cards and... won!

Instead of a horse, they gave him bones. Foma got angry and angry. He threatened to cross everyone! Then suddenly I woke up - I found myself at home. The most important thing is that he has a diploma with him. And at home the children are scared, the mother is in her sleep... dancing. Thomas went again to the queen, who was eating golden dumplings. He fulfilled his duty. But his wife dances like this every year - the hut was lit up late.

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Read summary The missing letter. Brief retelling. For a reader's diary, take 5-6 sentences

Party in Konotop

He drove quite quickly and was already in Konotop early in the morning. At that time there was a fair going on there, so there were quite a lot of people, but everyone was still dozing, sitting somewhere. Here you could find:

a boy with a red nose;
a repurchaser who slept sitting;
a gypsy sleeping under a cart;
a Muscovite with a beard lying right on the road.

Gradually the people began to wake up, and the grandfather went in search of tobacco and steel. He met a dashing Cossack, the likes of whom, as the narrator notes, are hard to meet now. They walked together, talking about unimportant topics, and the messenger forgot about his task.

As expected, they strongly celebrated their acquaintance by throwing money at the people and breaking pots. They left the fair and hit the road only when it was completely dark.

Disappearance of the Cossack

On the way, another guy came to them, and they drove further across the field together . On the way, the Cossack, without stopping, entertained his fellow travelers, who decided that a demon had possessed him. From the stories and sayings he told, the grandfather constantly laughed, tearing his stomach.

When it was already completely dark, the narrator became quiet and began to flinch at the slightest rustle. The messenger hinted to the Cossack that he probably already wanted to go home and go to the stove. To his words, the fellow traveler unexpectedly replied that his soul had long been sold to the unclean. Oddly enough, this confession did not surprise the brave grandfather, who noticed that in his lifetime almost everyone had known an evil spirit.

Zaporozhets said that today was the last day when he could walk around the world, and asked his friends to save him without sleeping for one night. His fellow travelers agreed to help him, preventing the devil from ruining his Christian soul. Meanwhile, it became completely dark, and the trio decided to stop for the night.

On the way, they came across a small bus, although it was all lopsided on one side, in which they decided to spend the night. Before the three of them had time to settle down in the barn, the grandfather noticed that his friends were already fast asleep. Then he woke up the pestering fellow traveler and reminded him of the promise made to the Cossack, but the Cossack only rubbed his eyes and fell asleep again.

Grandfather had to watch his friends alone, and in order not to fall asleep, he went for a walk and checked on the horses. But towards morning he had practically no strength left and he collapsed as if dead. He slept for quite a long time and woke up when the sun began to burn his head.

The grandfather immediately noticed that the Cossack, along with his and his horse, had disappeared. He began to ask everyone, but no one knew anything about the disappearance of his fellow traveler. The messenger was very frightened and thought about what to do next.

Help from the tavern

The grandfather could not understand who needed his horse, since the Cossack had his own. He concluded that evil spirits came on foot, which is why they stole the horse. The messenger was too worried that he was unable to keep his Cossack word to the Cossack. But he was even more upset when he discovered that his hat was missing.

The lost letter haunted him. Although the grandfather did not have to read her text, he had never lost something important, and he began to scold himself and the devil, calling him various nicknames. Then the Cossack decided to seek help from the people who were in the tavern at that time.

The grandfather told about everything that happened to him, but no one really helped him . Only the shaver sat and was silent in the corner. The messenger decided to approach him, because he felt that he was a rather smart person who knew something.

But the seller was not very talkative and began to communicate with the grandfather only when he received money from him. He explained to the Cossack the plan of the road to a small river where those he needed lived. After talking with his grandfather, the shaver went to his room.

Playing cards with a witch

Although the grandfather was a brave man, when he entered the forest on a dark night, he felt some fear. It became so cold among the trees that the traveler remembered his sheepskin coat. Finally he reached the river, saw a fire on the opposite side and quickly crossed over an unsafe bridge to the other bank.

Here he saw the unclean ones sitting around a fire . But there was nothing to be done, and the messenger joined them. No matter how hard he tried to start a conversation with them, nothing worked. Then, as the shinkar advised, he threw money at them, and all the evil spirits acquired their true appearance. They ran up to the grandfather and sat him down at a huge table, which was bursting with food.

But whatever he wanted to eat went past his mouth. The grandfather got angry and demanded his hat from them. The main witch agreed to give up the hat only after playing the fool. Moreover, out of three games he had to win at least one. The Cossack had nowhere to go, and he agreed.

Having lost two rounds, the grandfather realized that the witch was deceiving him, and then he quietly crossed his cards and won the third game. The hat immediately flew right into his face, but the grandfather began to demand that the evil spirits return his horse. When the Cossack found out that his four-legged friend had been eaten, he demanded another one in order to quickly get out of this hell.

They gave him a horse, which carried his grandfather without obeying his rider. The messenger woke up only on the roof of his hut, not remembering what happened to him. After this adventure, the grandfather, taking another horse, rode non-stop to the queen and presented her with a letter.

Summary of the story The Missing Letter of Gogol N.V.

The missing letter A story told by a sexton about his grandfather. My grandfather was one of the simple Cossacks. One day the nobleman Getma decided to send a letter to the queen. The regimental clerk called my grandfather and said that he would go with that letter to the queen. Grandfather sewed the letter into his hat and drove off. On the second day he was already in Konotop, where a fair was going on at that time, and decided to take a look, remembering that he had neither flint nor tobacco. Having met a reveling Cossack there, word for word, they got to know each other, and the grandfather completely forgot about his path. They drank with the Cossacks and decided to go together. He began to notice that the Cossack reveler was getting very excited, and he took it and said: “There’s nothing to hide in front of you.” Do you know that my soul has long been sold to the unclean. - What an incredible thing! Who has never had contact with the unclean in his entire life? - Eh, guys! I would have walked, but on this night, well done! Hey brothers! - he said, slapping their hands, - hey, don’t give it away! Don’t sleep one night, I will never forget your friendship! They decided to help the man, not to let the devil sniff the dog’s face of the Christian soul. We would have driven further, but the field was enveloped in dark night, only some light flickered in the distance. We went to the light and ended up in a tavern. The yard near the tavern was filled with Chumatsky carts, so we had to go to the barn to sleep. Before the grandfather had time to turn around, everyone had already fallen asleep. There was nothing to do, I had to guard myself. And it seemed to the grandfather that soon something gray with horns was looking behind the neighboring carts. Grandfather stared as long as he could, and then finally fell asleep. I woke up, there were fewer carts, my friends were still sleeping, but the Cossack was gone. Only one scroll lies in the place where the Cossack slept. Grandfather went to look at the horses, but his and Zaporozhye’s horses were missing. The grandfather decided that he would go on foot, since the devil had taken both the horses and his acquaintance. I grabbed my hat, but there was no hat either. He remembered that he and the Cossack exchanged hats for a while. The devil stole the hetman's charter. Everyone felt sorry for the grandfather, they were amazed, but they could not help. Only the shinkar took him aside and said that he would teach him how to find a letter, because it was immediately clear that his grandfather was a Cossack. Grandfather had to go through the forest to the river and under no circumstances look back, no matter what was happening behind him. By the river, the grandfather will see who he needs, only his pockets need to be filled with money, since both the devil and people love money. Grandfather was not a coward, he went into the forest, reached a river, saw a very narrow bridge and crossed it in an instant. Behind the bridge on the shore there was a group sitting around a fire, which the grandfather immediately identified as an “unclean tribe.” They didn’t talk to their grandfather until he threw money into the circle, to which their paws immediately reached out and their ears pricked up. Now the grandfather realized that these were witches and they were now dancing “some kind of damn trope.” They began to climb up to kiss their grandfather, then dragged him behind their long table. The devils had a rich table and the grandfather decided to have lunch, only every time he put his fork into his mouth, he ended up not in his own, but in someone else’s. The grandfather became furious and jumped up: “What are you, Herod’s tribe, planning to laugh at me?” If you don’t give me my Cossack hat back this very hour, then I’ll be a Catholic if I don’t turn your pig snouts on the back of your head! Everyone laughed, and one witch said that they would return his hat if his grandfather played the fool with them three times, and if he won at least once, the hat would be his. Grandfather had to agree, even though it was a shame for a Cossack to sit down and play cards with women, even though they were witches. He lost twice, the witches, as they were supposed to, witched, the cards changed suit before our eyes. Only for the third time did the grandfather guess and quietly cross his cards under the table. Then the witches lost to him, thunder rolled through the inferno, and the witches began to writhe, the hat fell right into the grandfather’s face. But the grandfather also took the horse away from the devils. The devil's horse flew so that it did not obey either the reins or the cry of his grandfather. Familiar places flashed before him, and when he woke up, he was lying on the roof of his hut. The grandfather woke up his wife, told her to consecrate the hut, rested, took out his horse and, without stopping anywhere, day or night, rode to the queen. The queen rewarded him so much that he forgot to remember about the devils, and he didn’t want to tell anyone afterwards. And due to the fact that his wife did not consecrate the hut, as he said, the demonic punishment remained. Every year, on that very night, a miracle happened to the woman: her feet danced around the house on their own, no matter what she did.

The main idea of the work

Nowadays, presentations are very popular in literature classes at school, which help students take notes on a work and better understand its meaning. In this case, the teacher uses computer technology to view slides and listen to audiobooks online. When analyzing the “Missing Letter” the following must be revealed:

genre of the story;
compositional structure;
the essence of the plot;
distinctive specificity;
semantic line.

“The Missing Letter,” like the entire cycle of fairy tales “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” was written in the genre of folk art. Dyak tells an extraordinary story in Ukrainian traditions using elements of fantasy. The entire composition of the story is built on the story of the lives of individual characters, and its basis is the disappearance of a document for the empress.

The plot line revolves around the journey of a messenger to evil spirits with the intention of returning the lost hat, and with it the letter. Gogol describes these events in his characteristic humorous style. The work is distinguished by its masterful reference to folk traditions, which create vivid scenes that capture the reader's imagination.

To do this, the writer uses vivid pathos, various sketches that separate reality from fiction. The whole meaning of the work is based on the description of a simple person who loves life and firmly believes in the triumph of justice. In addition, he knows how to fight evil, so he deserves respect, despite some negative qualities.

The originality of the story is given by elements of fantasy, which the author brought closer to reality. The writer uses lyrical and philosophical digressions to better describe the population of those places.

For artistic expressiveness, the author uses a variety of jokes and sayings that emphasize the originality and colorfulness of the story. This work teaches the reader that one should first carry out the assignments taken upon oneself, and then do other things. Otherwise, you can get yourself into a lot of trouble.

Summary of “The Missing Letter”

In the fourth story, which completes the cycle “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” Gogol introduces us to the grandfather of clerk Foma Grigorievich, who overcame evil spirits.

Deacon Thomas one evening told the assembled listeners about an incident that happened to his ancestor (ancestor, that’s what grandfathers were called in the old days). The story begins with the hetman ordering a letter to be sent to St. Petersburg to the royal court, and the clerk’s grandfather was chosen as the messenger. To be on the safe side, my grandfather sewed the letter into his hat so that he wouldn’t accidentally lose it on the road.

Having reached Konotop with other Cossacks without incident, he met a Zaporozhye Cossack in a tavern. Having celebrated the meeting with wild libations, the newly made friends agreed to continue traveling together. As night fell, an inexplicable fear seized the Cossack, and after much questioning of his fellow travelers, the frightened Cossack explained that his soul had been sold to the devil and that today was the day of reckoning. The Cossacks agreed to help the poor fellow, for which they had to stay awake all night. However, the witchcraft takes its toll, and the travelers fall asleep. The next morning, it is discovered that not only the Zaporozhye Cossack and horses are missing, but also the hat with the hetman’s letter.

Foma Grigorievich's upset grandfather falls into despair, blaming himself for the failure of the mission entrusted to him. A shinkar comes to the rescue and advises going into the forest, focusing on the sound of forge hammers, because gypsies forge iron in the forest at night. “Go out to the river, and there, dear man, you will find the one you need,” concludes the owner of the tavern.

Following the advice, the young Cossack finds a secret place and sees scary people sitting there around the fire. He throws them a wallet full of money, as the shinkar advised him. At that very moment, a young man finds himself in hell at a table with witches and devils. The table is laden with various dishes, the feast is in full swing. And then one of the witches invites Foma Grigorievich’s grandfather to play cards with her. If he loses, he will remain in hell, and if he wins, he will receive the hetman’s charter back. They play three games, and the witch wins the first two, and on the third he guesses to cross the cards. Luck does not take long to arrive, and the Cossack beats the witch. Immediately a hat with a letter sewn into it falls in front of him. He persuades the devils to honor the agreement and help him get out of the heat. The demons give the Cossack a hellish horse in exchange for the lost one. Miraculously, he finds himself at home and, having rested a little, again goes to the royal court. An acquaintance with evil spirits does not remain without a trace: once a year a miracle occurs in the hut, the grandfather’s wife starts dancing. And all because the stupid woman did not consecrate the hut!