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 [b:Taras Bulba|104696|Taras Bulba|Nikolai Gogol|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1171522625l/104696._SY75_.jpg|1316804], 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.

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Recommended by: Cecily