St. John’s Eve: The Eve of Ivan Kupala

St. John’s Eve by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol Audiobook also known as "The Eve of Ivan Kupala," is the second short story in the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol. It was first published in 1830 in the literary Russian periodical Otechestvennye Zapiski and in book form in 1831. Plot summary: This story is retold by Rudy Panko from Foma Grigorievich, the sexton of the Dikanka church. Rudy is in the middle of reading the story to the reader when Foma interrupts and demands to tell it his way. His grandfather used to live in an old village not far from Dikanka that no longer exists. There lived a Cossack named Korzh, his daughter Pidorka, and his worker Petro. Petro and Pidorka fall in love. One day, Korzh catches Pidorka and Petro kissing and is about to whip Petro, but he stops when his son Ivas pleads for his father not to beat the worker. Korzh instead takes Petro outside and tells him to never come to his home again, and the lovers are distraught. Petro is willing to do anything to see Pidorka again, so he meets with Basavriuk, a stranger who frequents the village tavern and who is believed by the villagers to be the devil himself. Basavriuk tells Petro to meet him in Bear’s Ravine in order to obtain the treasure that will allow him to reunite with Pidorka. When Petro arrives at the location, he is instructed to find and pluck a fern that blooms on Kupala Night. When Petro picks the flower, a witch appears and hands him a spade. Petro digs up the treasure, but he cannot open it until blood has been shed. He is prepared to use his own blood but is presented with Ivas who has been captured. Petro is initially reluctant, but overcome by uncertainty, he decapitates the child and obtains the gold.