Review of “The Viy” by Nikolai Gogol: Halloween Countdown

For October 30

Plot:

Three seminary students—Khalava, a theologian and thief; Thomas Brutus, a philosopher; and Tiberius Gorobetz, a rhetorician— in the town of Kieff (Kiev?) get lost on their way home for the summer break. They find lodging with a begrudging old woman, who insists they take separate rooms. Hardly has Thomas Brutus laid his head down, when the old woman enters his room.

“Well, mother, what do you want here?” he asks.

She doesn’t answer, but advances with her arms outstretched. Terrified, he jumps up but finds he can’t move. He can’t push her away. He crosses his hands over his breast and bends his head. The old woman springs atop his shoulders and rides him “like a racehorse.”

Not till they’ve left the house behind does Thomas think, “She’s a witch!”

They continue for a bit, then the seminary student recalls prayers of exorcism. They’re back on the ground; he mounts her shoulders and rides her to exhaustion. As she’s dying, she transforms into a beautiful young woman.

Thomas, who has no family waiting for him, has had enough. He heads back to Kieff, bums around a bit, being fed by a friendly widow. Word comes from the rector of the seminary that a colonel’s daughter is dying. She has requested the seminarian Thomas Brutus recite prayers for the dead for three days after her death.

Thomas has no idea who the colonel or his daughter are and is no hurry to perform this service, even though the colonel will pay and is sending transportation. He’s been drafted.

Thoughts:

One of the joys of this story is the language and the portraits of the characters. Khalava is not just a thief, but “everything which came within reach of his fingers he felt obliged to appropriate.” At one point, one of his friends relieves him of stolen fish he’s hidden in his pocket. Later, the friend enjoys the thief’s fish in his room—alone.

Much of the description and even some of the action is surreal. Thomas arrives at the colonel’s home late at night. He and his escort sleep in a small barn. He wakes and looks outside to see “the [colonel’s] house seemed to turn into a bear” and “the chimney [turned] into the rector of the seminary.”

While the old woman is “riding” him, he:

“looked down and saw how the grass beneath his feet seemed to be quite deep and far away; over it there flowed a flood of crystal-clear water, and the grassy plain looked like the bottom of a transparent sea. He saw his own image, and that of the old woman whom he carried on his back, clearly reflected in it. Then he beheld how, instead of the moon, a strange sun shone there; he heard the deep tones of bells, and saw them swinging. He saw a water-nixie rise from a bed of tall reeds…”

Perhaps those whose minds are cleaner than mine will overlook the sexual imagery in being approached by a stranger in one’s bed and then taking turns “being ridden.” Thomas uses his prayers of exorcism not to escape the witch, but the dominate her and exhaust her. When she’s no longer a threat, he notices the church steeples of Kieff, leaves her for dead and flees back home, where a friendly widow takes care of him.

Really, would you want this guy dating your sister?

A casual brutality weaves it way through the tale, but there is also humor. In the market, sellers call out the merits of their wares, while decrying the personal hygiene of their rivals.

While there were a few see-it-comings and not all punishments fit the crimes, I liked this tale, especially enjoyed the surrealism.

Bio: Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a Russian writer, playwright, and satirist of Ukrainian background. His writings tended toward the surreal. They were influential in the 19^th century. Perhaps his most famous story is “The Overcoat.”

The story can be read here:

The story can be listened to here: (1:41:52)



Title: “The Viy”
Author: Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852)
First published: Russian 1835; First English translation: The Mantle and Other Stories, 1916
Length: novelette