Повесть о том, как поссорился Иван Иванович с Иваном Никифоровичем

by Nikolai Gogol

"Повесть о том, как поссорился Иван Иванович с Иваном Никифоровичем" гениального русского прозаика Николая Гоголя (1809–1852). Забавная история о конфликте, приключившемся между двумя соседями, помещиками Иване Ивановиче Перерепенко и Иване Никифоровичем Довгочхуне. Их вражда крепнет, замыслы отомстить друг другу становятся еще коварнее… Гоголь-сатирик вновь покоряет мастерством художественного слова, а главные герои вызывают у читателя безудержный смех.

Genres: Classics, Russia, Fiction, Russian Literature, Short Stories, Literature, Humor

88 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1835

About the author

People consider that Russian writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Николай Васильевич Гоголь) founded realism in Russian literature. His works include The Overcoat (1842) and Dead Souls (1842).

Ukrainian birth, heritage, and upbringing of Gogol influenced many of his written works among the most beloved in the tradition of Russian-language literature. Most critics see Gogol as the first Russian realist. His biting satire, comic realism, and descriptions of Russian provincials and petty bureaucrats influenced later Russian masters Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, and especially Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Gogol wittily said many later Russian maxims.

Gogol first used the techniques of surrealism and the grotesque in his works The Nose , Viy , The Overcoat , and Nevsky Prospekt . Ukrainian upbringing, culture, and folklore influenced his early works, such as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka .
His later writing satirized political corruption in the Russian empire in Dead Souls .

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich also known as The Squabble is an acrid and burlesque satire of the provincial life and manners…
There are two neighbours and they’re old friends and their friendship is almost ideal… On Sundays Ivan Ivanovich goes to church… 

…he finally returns home, or goes to drink a little glass of vodka with his neighbour, Ivan Nikiforovitch, or the judge, or the chief of police.
Ivan Ivanovitch is very fond of receiving presents. They please him greatly.
A very fine man too is Ivan Nikiforovitch. They are such friends as the world never saw.

Their life in the small town is strictly bucolic and almost idyllic… 

Ivan Ivanovitch is tall and thin: Ivan Nikiforovitch is rather shorter in stature, but he makes it up in thickness. Ivan Ivanovitch’s head is like a radish, tail down; Ivan Nikiforovitch’s like a radish with the tail up. Ivan Ivanovitch lolls on the balcony in his shirt sleeves after dinner only: in the evening he dons his pelisse and goes out somewhere, either to the village shop, where he supplies flour, or into the fields to catch quail. Ivan Nikiforovitch lies all day at his porch: if the day is not too hot he generally turns his back to the sun and will not go anywhere.

One fine day Ivan Ivanovich sees in his friend’s backyard a woman carrying a gun… He craves this gun madly… So he goes to his neighbor and attempts to exchange the gun for his brown sow… Ivan Nikiforovitch refuses… Their conversation gradually turns heated and they start calling each other names…

“Excuse me, Ivan Ivanovitch; my gun is a choice thing, a most curious thing; and besides, it is a very agreeable decoration in a room.”
“You go on like a fool about that gun of yours, Ivan Nikiforovitch,” said Ivan Ivanovitch with vexation; for he was beginning to be really angry.
“And you, Ivan Ivanovitch, are a regular goose!”
If Ivan Nikiforovitch had not uttered that word they would not have quarrelled, but would have parted friends as usual; but now things took quite another turn. Ivan Ivanovitch flew into a rage.

They say geese saved Rome… In this case goose ruined friendship… And eventually it destroyed both men’s lives.
If one’s life lacks problems one is always capable to create them out of nothing.

[Nataliya · Rating 4 out of 5]

If in the heat of an argument you call your neighbor and your dearest friend a dreaded word unfit for polite ears - a “goose”, if you must know - you can expect all hell to break loose. There will be deep resentments, and pointed construction of a goose shed, and destruction of that goose shed under the cover of night, and a criminally thieving pig, and decades-long resentments and litigation.

I mean, what else can have you occupied so well in a sleepy provincial town with little in the way of entertainment?

Nikolai Gogol, when not writing that brutal Taras Bulba, was apparently a funny guy of Russian literature when he wanted to be (well, until he went a bit insane in his middle age, but that’s neither here nor there), and The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich is a fine example of this — a bit of an absurdist farce mixed with a bit of slapstick physical comedy and a side dish of fine satire, and it’s delightful.

Yes, it’s clearly a story from a time and culture very different to ours, almost two centuries ago. There are some words that are archaic, and the societal norms are odd, and life itself has moved on. But what remains scarcely changed is human pettiness, which this story presents in spades.

I found a few free translations online, and sadly they cannot really convey many of the finer bits of the story - and one randomly (or prudishly???) omits the mention of Ivan Nikiforovich engaging in that fateful goose quarrel while buck-naked. Colloquialisms and some wordplay get lost in translation, but that’s inevitable, I suppose. The original though is still quite lovely.

3.5 stars.

——————
Recommended by: Cecily

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان کوتاه ماجرای نزاع ایوان ایوانویچ و ایوان نیکیفورویچ نوشته نیکلای گوگول ، نویسنده ، نمایشنامه نویس و طنزپرداز بزرگ روس است . او در این کتاب با زبانی طنز به ماجرایی پوچ پرداخته که رابطه میان دو دوست یعنی ایوان ایوانویچ و ایوان نیکیفورویچ را بر هم زده و خراب کرده است .
گوگول با دقت دو ایوان را ترسیم کرده : یکی قدبلند و لاغر ، بسیار حساس و با سری تربچه مانند رو به پایین و دیگری کمی قدکوتاه تر و بسیار چاق ، نه چندان مودب و سری شبیه به تربچه رو به بالا .
گوگول پس از وصف دو ایوان و سابقه دوستی آنها که در میرگورود شهره مردم است ، به اصل داستان و اختلاف ناگهانی دو دوست پرداخته ، اختلاف کوچک آنها تبدیل به نزاعی طولانی و خسته کننده می شود و از آن جا که به جایی هم نمی رسد بیشتر ذات سطحی و بیهوده خود را نشان می دهد .
نویسنده از فرصت استفاده کرده و ناکارآمدی بوروکراسی و دادگستری روسیه تزاری را نشان داده ، او با استادی نشان داده که چگونه این موضوع بی اهمیت وقت و فکر مردم منطقه را تلف کرده و چگونه آنان می کوشند که دو ایوان را با هم سازش دهند و جالب آنکه روشهای برقراری مصالحه در روسیه قرن نوزدهم بسیار شبیه ایران امروزی بوده است .

گوگول با استادی و مهارت از یک موضوع بسیار جزیی و سطحی ، داستانی ساخته و آنرا با دقت و مهارت پرورش داده ، داستان او که هم طنز تلخ دارد و هم نگاه انتقادی ، حتی در چنین شرایط هم می تواند خواننده را اندکی شاد کند .

[Mark Porton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, for my second short story of Nikolay Gogol this week, I went the Full Boris. Yes, I immersed myself totally by listening to Russian Male Choir music on Spotify and asked my friends to refer to me as Mark Robertovich Portonovich, admittedly with limited success. But being a sensible man – I drew the line at wearing a Cossack Costume down the Cairns Esplanade – I don’t need to be mocked and ridiculed. No time for that.

How Ivan Ivanovich quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich (or How the Two Ivans Quarrelled) is a superbly farcical, bitterly funny, study of the absurd. Oh my, what is there not to love about these Russian (well, Gogol was Ukrainian – an important distinction) authors? Gogol, plays on a landscape of infuriatingly moribund bureaucracy, populated by grotesquely hilarious characters, many of the most hideous are corpulent, he always describes physical attributes in wicked detail.



Little feet like cushions, a figure like a small tub, scandalmonger, swore like a trooper is a typical Gogol description – this one of an infuriatingly bossy woman who rocked up at Ivan Nikiforich’s periodically, stayed for a day or two or many months and took charge of his place. Even to the point of scrubbing the poor man’s naked body with vinegar and turpentine when he had a cold. He, an otherwise, large and in-charge individual, totally submitted to this overbearing interloper.



Gogol - Look at the glint in his eye, mischief personified. Imagine chatting, laughing and gobbling down Potato Piroshki with this bloke

This story is about two important personages who live in a rural community, they’re quite wealthy, well known in the community and are famous for being the best of friends. They live next door to each other, they walk each other to church on Sundays, pop around to each other’s houses and are pretty much inseparable.

However, things turn south when Ivan Ivanovich peeps over his best friend’s fence one day and notices an old rifle. Ivan (I) immediately walks around to Ivan (N)’s house (who happens to be lying completely naked in his loungeroom trying to escape the heat – the description of this individual is hilarious) and offers him two bags of oats and a brown sow for the rifle. Ivan (N) will have none of it, he wants to keep it – this enrages Ivan (I), they exchange mild barbs for a while. The well-spoken Ivan (I) mainly being offended by the less sophisticated Ivan (N)’s blasphemous language.

The ”negotiation” culminates in Ivan (N) calling Ivan (I) a GOOSE. This causes great offence to Ivan (I) resulting in a total fall out and nuclear acrimony. Court petitions, vandalism of property, verbal insults follow.

Petitions are presented to the local judiciary. The court scenes were just hilarious, a real riot of inefficiency and bloated incompetence. It’s Kafka-esque, over-administration at its best – run by an amusing judge who incidentally had a permanent line of snuff stuck to his upper lip. The scene when the judge persistently offered Ivan (I) a cup of tea, almost made me wet myself. It went on and on, it’s even making me laugh right now thinking about it.

This author is quite simply magic. He takes the mundane then introduces some sort of event or person who disrupts the whole show – things fall apart in the most ludicrous ways imaginable. I can imagine Gogol had a wicked smirk on his face when scribbling these stories – he would be a real hoot to hang around I reckon.

A copy of this can be found here https://nmi.org/wp-content/uploads/20...

5-Stars - this one is better than The Overcoat

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrei Synavsky, author of In Gogol’s Shadow, once described Gogol’s prose in the following way:

It has its content and even, if you wish, its subject in itself—this prose which steps forth in the free image of speech about facts not worth mentioning, speech in a pure sense about nothing.

”Speech in a pure sense about nothing.” This phrase makes me think about Gogol’s prose—at least some of it—but it makes me think of two other things just as much: jazz improvisation and Seinfeld.

If I had to pick one Gogol story that made me think about jazz improvisation, about “the free image of speech about facts not worth mentioning,” about the dialogue of a typical Seinfeld episode, that story would be “The Story of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich.”

The Ivans, landowners and friends who have lived next to each other for years, begin quarreling almost literally about nothing: Ivanovich, desiring to purchase a gun Nikiforovich owns, presses him too hard, and Nikoforovich calls Ivanovich a “goose.” And from this and this only arises hurt feelings, titanic emotions, untrammeled invective, lawsuits, and irreconcilable differences.

Of course, more than a few laughs arise too. But for us, not (alas!) for the two Ivans.

Here’s an excerpt. It is an extract from a petition submitted to the Mirgorod local court by Ivan Ivanovitch, outlining the aforesaid heinous conduct of Ivan Nikoforovich:

”This gentleman, Ivan, son of Nikifor, Dovgochkhun, when I came to him with friendly offers, publicly called me by a name offensive to me and defaming to my honor, namely “goose,” whereas it is known to the whole Mirgorod region that I have hitherto in no way ever been called, and no intention of being called, this vile animal. And the proof of my noble origin is that the day of my birth, and equally well the baptism I received, have been recorded in the register of the Church of the Three Hierarchs. The “goose,” as is known to all who are at least somewhat versed in science, cannot be recorded in a register, for a “goose” is not a person but a bird, which fact is positively known to everyone, even if they have not gone to school. But the said malignant gentleman, being informed of all this, with no other purpose than that of occasioning me an offense mortifying to my rank and estate, did abuse me with the said vile word.”

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

TUZENBAKH [holds up a finger to her]. Laugh! [To VERSHININ] Not only in two or three hundred years but in a million years life will be just the same; it doesn't change, it remains stationary, following its own laws which we have nothing to do with or which, anyway, we'll never find out. Migratory birds, cranes for instance, fly backwards and forwards, and whatever ideas, great or small, stray through their minds, they'll still go on flying just the same without knowing where or why. They fly and will continue to fly, however philosophic they may become; and it doesn't matter how philosophical they are so long as they go on flying. . . .

MASHA. But still, isn't there a meaning?

TUZENBAKH. Meaning. . . . Here it's snowing. What meaning is there in that? [A pause.]

MASHA. I think man ought to have faith or ought to seek a faith, or else his life is empty, empty. . . . To live and not to understand why cranes fly; why children are born; why there are stars in the sky. . . . You've got to know what you're living for or else it's all nonsense and waste [a pause].

VERSHININ. And yet you're sorry when your youth is over, . . .

MASHA. Gogol says: it's dull living in this world, friends!

TUZENBAKH. And I say: it is difficult to argue with you, friends. Oh, well, I give up. . . .

from The Three Sisters, by Anton Chekhov

And that's how I remembered I had this short story on my to-read list.

April 26, 19

[سـارا · Rating 3 out of 5]

من طنز گوگول رو دوست دارم. اما همچنان بنظرم بازرس بهترین کتابشه :)

[Mani Hamidinejad · Rating 4 out of 5]

آخرین کلماتی که به زبان آورد (نردبان! نردبان!) گویی حکایت از تمنای تمام عمرش داشت، یعنی فراتر رفتن از آنچه راوی نفوس مرده این گونه از آن یاد می‌کند: «توده لزج جزئیات بی‌اهمیتی که حیات ما را در گنداب خود غرق کرده.»

[mehran · Rating 4 out of 5]

گوگول من را عمیقأ مشتاق خواندن صفحه به صفحه داستانی می‌کند که عملا هیچ دستاوردی قرار نیست برایم داشته باشد چه از نظر روانی چه از نظر غنایی یا فنی و ادبی.
هجو و بذله میگوید طوری که انگار رفیقی خوش‌زبان و بی‌نزاکت کنارت نشسته و از بریدن پایه های یک غاز دانی چوبی برایت تعریف میکند و تو تمام گوش شده ای و حتی پِلک هم نمی‌زنی.

[Ali Book World · Rating 5 out of 5]

کوتاه اما جذاب

[Comfortably · Rating 5 out of 5]

Απολαυστικό, υπέροχο, αστείο και τραγικό μαζί! Ο Γκόγκολ είναι μάστορας.
Εξαιρετική έκδοση φτιάξαν οι εκδόσεις Ροες, με πολύ ωραία μετάφραση, έργα ζωγράφων της εποχής που εμπνεύστηκαν από το έργο αυτό και επίμετρο με πολλές πληροφορίες τόσο για τη ζωή του συγγραφέα όσο και για το διήγημα αυτό καθαυτό.

[Ehsan'Shokraie' · Rating 3 out of 5]

قلم شیرین و روان گوگول در روز های بلند و کسالت زده آموزشی می تواند مامنی باشد تا که چند لحظه ای از هیاهوی بی پایان و پوچ این محل گریخت،نمی دانم سرانجام من در اینجا چه خواهد بود اما خواندن باید باشد.
"باز همان دشت بود که گاه شخم زده به سیاهی می رزد و گاه سبز بود و باز زاغ ها و کلاغ های خیس،باران یکنواخت و آسمانی که گریستنش گویی پایان ندارد‌.آه چه دنیای ملال آوری!"
اسفند ۱۴۰۳،پادگان آموزشی

[Hani.mnt · Rating 4 out of 5]

گوگول، موجودِ باهوشِ غریبِ بیمار!
طنزش را دوست داشتم.

[♥️Annete♥️loves❤️books♥️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ο Ιβάν Ιβάνοβιτς και ο Ιβάν Νικηφοροβιτς είναι φίλοι και γείτονες,ένας μικροκαυγας όμως,χαλάει τη φιλία τους οριστικά και αμετάκλητα. Οι δύο καλοί φίλοι είναι πλέον άσπονδοι εχθροί χωρίς ουσιαστικό λόγο και αιτία. Ο καυστικος Γκόγκολ σε άλλη μια απολαυστική αφήγηση,χωρίς όμως,τη δύναμη του "παλτό" και του "ημερολογίου ενός τρελού",τα οποία θεωρώ τα αριστουργήματα του.

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La grande affection qu’ils se portaient n’empêchait pourtant point nos deux amis de présenter entre eux certaines dissemblances."

"Et vous, Ivan Ivanovitch, vous êtes là à crier comme un jars..."

Sachez mesdames et messieurs, que cette phrase, a mis fin à l'une des plus belles amitiés, celle d' Ivan Ivanovich et d'Ivan Nikiforovich, dont la futile querelle a fini devant le tribunal.
Nikolai Gogol a su mélanger tristesse, nostalgie, humour et beaucoup de rire dans un des meilleurs contes que j'ai lu, la fin était vraiment un coup de maître!

[Mohsenam · Rating 4 out of 5]

اگر طنز نیکلای گوگول را سر حد طنز قرار بدیم ،طنز امروزی امثال ديويد سداریس شبیه شوخی میمونه شوخی که میگم منظورم سطح پایین بودنش نیست نوع طنز رو میگم.انگار گوگول برای شما داستان طنز تعریف میکنه و بقیه باهاتون یه سری شوخی رو درمیون میذارن.

[Usha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still funny, after all these years. First published in 1835.

[Marta Cava]

Només un mestre de l'absurd com Gógol podria plantejar una història així: la de dos amics molt amics que, després d'un simple comentari per part d'un d'ells, acaba amb una querella entremig

[Poncho González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Que lectura tan mas extraña, que si bien no fue de todo mi agrado debo reconocer que tiene aspectos literarios muy buenos, como la sátira social hacia la amistad, la ineptitud e inoperancia del sistema judicial, la fragilidad de nuestras relaciones humanas, que las más fuertes o las que parecen mejor cimentadas pueden ser las más débiles y que se llegan a derrumbar ante la situación más absurda.

En este texto conocemos como dos amigos de toda la vida y vecinos discuten por algo tan ridículo y es donde termina su amistad, esto llega a los tribunales ya que cada quien expone una denuncia hacia el otro, pero en la inoperancia de los jueces pierden una de las denuncias y obviamente reciben amenazas del afectado, es así como el tribunal ayudado por la sociedad intentan reconciliar a los dos amigos para evitar problemas legales, esto no da resultado ya que la ruptura fue algo irreparable y el tribunal opta por alargar el proceso para no verse afectados ellos, dejando en la miseria a nuestros dos protagonistas. El final es abierto y tal vez fue lo que más me defraudo.

Debo decir que disfrute mucho la lectura pero le faltó algo a la historia, principalmente el final no fue de mi agrado y lo que tienen estos cuentos rusos es que muchas veces mientras los lees o los terminas de leer puede que no te enseñen o dejen mucho, pero conforme empiezas a analizarlos profundamente te das cuenta de muchas cosas, en este caso la corrupción de las instituciones, la fragilidad de nuestras relaciones sociales, nuestra inseguridad hasta a nuestros propios amigos, la hipocresía de la sociedad.

Sin duda un muy buen texto que se lee muy rápido y distrae, hay mejores pero este no es malo.

[Catherine Vamianaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

μια απίστευτη ιστορία μεταξύ των δύο Ιβάν οι οποίοι ήταν χρόνια φίλοι. Για μια ασήμαντη αφορμή χάλασε η φιλία τους. πρόκειται για δυο άτομα που δεν έχουν ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρονται και η ζωή τους αλλάζει με την δικαστική διαμάχη που ξεκινά! εμφανίζονται και άλλα άτομα, κοινοί τους φίλοι που προσπαθούν να γεφυρώσουν τις διαφορές τους. ένα χαρακτηριστικό γνώρισμα στους ήρωες τους Gogol είναι ότι δεν ενδιαφέρονται να βελτιώσουν την ζωή τους, νοιάζονται αρκετά για τα υλικά τους αγαθά κυρίως και δεν προσπαθούν να εξελιχθούν. Εχω διαβάσει ΤΟ ΠΑΛΤΟ, ΤΗΝ ΜΥΤΗ,το ΗΜΕΡΟΛΟΓΙΟ ΕΝΟΣ ΤΡΕΛΛΟΥ, ΠΟΡΤΡΕΤΟ και θεωρώ οτι τα έργα του Gogol ξεχωρίζουν από τους άλλους σύγχρονους του. Διαβάζοντας την βιογραφία του, εντυπωσιάστηκα ότι επιρροές και στενή φιλία με τον Pushkin και άλλους. Επίσης, ένα άλλο του βιβλίο ΟΙ ΝΕΚΡΕΣ ΨΥΧΕΣ που έκαψε τον β' τόμο σε τζάκι... ταξίδεψε σε αρκετά μέρη, είχε ανησυχίες. Σίγουρα αξίζει να διαβάσετε κάποιο βιβλίο του.

[Masih Reyhani · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب حکایتِ نزاع طولانی میان دو دوستِ دیرین است که رابطه‌ی دوستانه‌شان مدت‌ها زبان‌زد مردم بوده است؛ نزاعی برپایه‌ی هیچ و پوچ!

من اثر دیگری از گوگول نخوانده بودم و طنز نهفته در سطرهای کتاب برایم جذاب بود. هم‌چنین وجود راوی دانای کل هم به نظرم داستان را جالب‌تر کرده بود.

در انتهای کتاب مقاله‌ای از «گری سال مورسن» آورده ‍شده است که به خواننده تصویر کلی و مناسبی از گوگول، آثار و زمانه‌اش می‌دهد. این نوشته‌ی کوتاه را با جمله‌ای از همین مقاله به پایان می‌رسانم؛ آن‌جا که نگارنده در رابطه با گوگول معتقد است:

«گوگول همه‌جا جهانی ترسیم می‌کند خیره‌کننده اما پوچ.»

[Hasti Amirian · Rating 3 out of 5]

اولین اثری هست که از گوگول می‌خونم و طنزی که در قلمش هست رو دوست داشتم.
داستان درباره دعوای دو دوست (دو ایوان) درباره‌ی موضوعی بسیار پیش‌پاافتاده‌ست. اما نویسنده همچین موضوع ساده و سطحی رو بسیار خواندنی روایت کرده که تا انتهای داستان سرگذشت دو دوست برام بسیار جالب بود.

[Carlos Bazzano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este corto librito es uno de los mejores que he leído jamás. Es la primera vez que tengo contacto con una obra de Nikolai Gogol y ciertamente no será la última, su estilo, su prosa su manera de relatar la historia me han fascinado por completo, tanto que ya estoy agendando la lectura de otras obras más extensas de este excelso autor.

El libro narra la historia de dos amigos que por una cuestión absolutamente baladí se enfrentan y terminan demandándose mutuamente ante los tribunales. El enfrentamiento raya lo absurdo y es descrito con absoluta maestría por Gogol. Al principio me costó un poco acostumbrarme al estilo narrativo pues resulta bastante peculiar, no es una narración en tercera persona omnisciente al estilo corriente ni una en primera persona protagonista. La narración en tercera persona lo realiza un sujeto testigo de los acontecimientos, inicialmente no pude distinguir bien quién podía ser el narrador, hasta que algunas expresiones y referencias en primera persona me llevaron a percatarme que quien narraba la historia no era otro que el mismo Gogol.

Un punto que me llamó la atención radica en lo interminable del pleito mutuo de los dos ex-amigos, con el tribunal prometiendo dictar sentencia "mañana" o "la semana que viene", siendo que el mañana y la semana que viene nunca llegan, extendiéndose este pleito por más de diez años, es como si en el siglo XIX Gogol hubiera visto la realidad del Poder Judicial paraguayo, ¿o es que no hay país en el mundo en el cual los tribunales hagan su trabajo dentro de un tiempo razonable?

Espero con ansias la próxima lectura de este genial autor.

[Parmyc Grimm-pitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

هربار که کار جدیدی از گوگول می‌خونم بیشتر از قبل ازش خوشم میاد :))
یک رمان بسیار کوتاه راجع به دعوای دوتا دوست قدیمی سر هیچ‌و‌پوچ که به جالب‌ترین حالت ممکن روایت شده.
طنز داستان فوق‌العاده بود! من با صدای رضا عمرانی از نشر نوار گوشش دادم و آقای عمرانی اینقدر خنده‌دار و on-point تیکه‌های طنز رو می‌خوندن که دو صبح تو تاریکیِ اتاق یهو می‌زدم زیر خنده.

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old friendship is spoiled over nothing, but Gogol mixes this sad, realistic tale with nostalgia and laughter, too. Gogol brings in the other citizens of the town, the courts, the law, and a brown sow who eats legal documents.

[Cecily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve reviewed four Gogol short stories, including this, in a GR review, HERE.

[Bárbara Morais]

Nunca tanta confusão foi arrumada por conta de uma galinha e de uma porca, vou te contar

(Amei demais, recomendo)

[Ali Ebrahimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

نمره ۴ از ۵
این داستان از گوگول، اولین خوانش من از این نویسنده بود و به طرز جالبی هم با شخصیت ها و هم با محیط و حس و حال داستان ارتباط برقرار کردم تمامی احساسات شخصیت ها رو به نحوی نوشته بود که به طور کامل تونستم خودم رو جای اونا بذارم و درکشون کنم و با خوندن این داستان، اشتیاق خیلی بیشتری برای خوندن داستان های دیگه گوگول پیدا کردم.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woody Allen has a well-known predilection for Russian literature. When you read this book, you will notice the heavy influence that Gogol and the other big Russians had on Allen's films. This novella, along with Gogol's other short works, is far superior to his "masterpiece" Dead Souls. A carefully constructed work of absurdity and satire that involves 2 lifelong best friends who end up in an epic, almost slapstick courtroom battle over one man calling the other 'a goose'. Sounds like a ridiculous premise, obviously, but Gogol's masterful use of awkward confrontations and physical comedy make it a far more entertaining and refreshingly less somber read than most Russian literature (with the exception of Bulgakov perhaps, who took Gogol's formula and perfected it nearly a century later), without sacrificing any of the penetrating psychological observations of 19th century aristocratic Russian society that he and his contemporaries were so darn good at.

But mostly it's just hilarious.

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first ever recorded gay divorce