“A rather handsome, light traveling carriage on springs rolled into the gates of an inn in a certain provincial capital, the kind of carriage that is favoured by bachelors: retired lieutenant colonels, second captains, landowners possessing a hundred souls or so of serfs — in a word, all those who are called the fair-to-middlin’ sort.”
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born in Sorochyntsi, Poltava Province in Tsarist Russia, which would now be part of the Ukraine. His earlier works included short stories such as The Overcoat, The Nose and The Diary of A Madman. His later works, including Dead Souls, satirized the political corruption and laziness of government workers and how they abused their positions in Imperialist Russia.
Does the title of this short Christmas story inspire visions of Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick, sugar plums, presents and little children? Or perhaps you imagine the comfort of a good night’s sleep and the joy of Christmas morning? Well, wipe those thoughts right out of your mind. Gogol’s The Night Before Christmas is as far from the favourite poem of my childhood as I could imagine. He tells of adultery, the devil, thievery and unrequited love in a way that’s rather odd but extremely amusing. It’s certainly a different perspective on a very important evening.