Nikolai Gogol ( March 31, 1809 to March 4, 1852 n.s.) was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer. His novels and short stories were quickly recognised as works of genius, and he is still spoken of as one of the leading Russian writers. Henri Troyat, in Divided Soul: The Life of Gogol. (1973), describes an incident when, a child, Gogol drowned a cat:
Kitty, kitty,' I murmured to give myself courage; and then I leaped down, grabbed the unresisting cat, ran into the garden, and threw the animal into the pond. Again and again, while the cat swam and tried to return to the surface...I pushed it under with a stick...But once it had drowned and the last ripples died away on the water, I suddenly felt sorry for it. I was stricken with remorse.
Gogol was five years old at the time of that incident. He did not himself, live, a long life. In 1852, Gogol found himself poor, and barely able to write or pray. He sought guidance from a Russian priest, a particularly ignorant and rigid man. This Konstantinovsky urged Gogol toward asceticism and abjuring art. So the writer wrapped himself in cold wet sheets. This is generally accepted as hastening his death. Gogol also, in his last days, burned the sequel to Dead Souls (1842).
Kitty, kitty,' I murmured to give myself courage; and then I leaped down, grabbed the unresisting cat, ran into the garden, and threw the animal into the pond. Again and again, while the cat swam and tried to return to the surface...I pushed it under with a stick...But once it had drowned and the last ripples died away on the water, I suddenly felt sorry for it. I was stricken with remorse.
Gogol was five years old at the time of that incident. He did not himself, live, a long life. In 1852, Gogol found himself poor, and barely able to write or pray. He sought guidance from a Russian priest, a particularly ignorant and rigid man. This Konstantinovsky urged Gogol toward asceticism and abjuring art. So the writer wrapped himself in cold wet sheets. This is generally accepted as hastening his death. Gogol also, in his last days, burned the sequel to Dead Souls (1842).
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