The Works of Nikolai Gogol, Vol. 1

heard from afar, a balalaika a traditional Russian stringed instrument tinkling, and sometimes even a fiddle, chatter, noise... these are our vechernitsy evening gatherings for work and socialization! They, you see, are similar to your balls; only one cannot say they are exactly the same. If you go to a ball, it is precisely for the sake of twirling your legs and yawning into your hand; but with us, a crowd of girls gathers in one hut, not for a ball at all, but with spindles and wool combs; and at first they seem to occupy themselves with work: the spindles hum, the songs flow, and not one will lift her eyes to the side. But as soon as the lads original: "парубки" descend upon the hut with a fiddler—a shout arises, a prank begins, the dancing starts, and such things are set in motion that they cannot even be described.

But it is best of all when they all huddle into a tight group and start guessing riddles, or simply chatting away. Good heavens! What they will not recount! What ancient tales they will not dig up! What fears they will not conjure! But nowhere, perhaps, have so many wonders been told as at the evenings of the beekeeper Rudy Panko. Why the laypeople called me