Taras Bulba

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**Taras Bulba**

Author	Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol
Translator	Peter Constantine
Country	Russia
Language	Russian
Genre(s)	Historical, Novel
Publisher	Random House (USA Eng. trans)
Released	1835 (1st as part of a collection)
Media Type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	176 p. (Eng. trans. paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-8129-7119-1 (Eng. trans. paperback edition)

This article is about the historical novel. For the film based on it, see Taras Bulba (film).

Taras Bulba is a short historical novel by Nikolai Gogol. It tells the story of an old Cossack, Taras Bulba, and his two sons, Andriy and Ostap. Taras’ sons studied at the Kiev Academy and came back home. The three men set out on a journey to Zaporizhian Sich located in modern-day Ukraine, where they join other Cossacks and go to war against the Polish nobles.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Taras Bulba is Gogol’s longest short story. Very classical in nature with characters that are not grotesque at all, though his characterizations of Cossacks are said to be a bit exaggerated by some scholars. The story has rich battle scenes as well as Gogol’s characteristic humor, but is also rampant with anti-semitism as well as gore. Most scholars find the love affair in the story very unconvincing, and believe this to be one of the major reasons why the tale has not remained as popular in recent years, as well as many characters seeming highly contrived and artificial. In the story, Taras Bulba’s two sons, Ostap and Andrei, return home from the Kiev seminary and they go off to battle with the Poles almost immediately when Taras goes into a rage after finding there no ready battles for the Cossacks. Ostap is the adventurous son, true to the Cossack spirit, whereas Andrei has deeply romantic feelings stirring within him. While in Kiev, he fell in love with a young Polish girl, but soon saw her no longer. Taras and his sons reach a Cossack village where there is much merrymaking, and Taras helps to rouse the Cossacks to go into battle. They go to Dubno and besiege the town, surrounding it and not letting anyone out so that the inhabitants begin to starve to death. One night, while restless, a Tartar woman comes to Andrei and rouses him, he seems to remember her face and then recalls it is the servant of the Polish girl he was in love with from his youth. She takes him through a secret passage in the bottom of the marsh that goes into the monastery, brining loaves of bread with him for the starving girl and her mother. He is horrified by what he sees and in a fury of love forsakes his past all for the Polish girl. Meanwhile, a large group of Polish soldiers march into the village while a regiment of Cossacks are too drunk to stop them. A number of battles ensue and Taras learns of his son’s forsaking of the Cossack life from Yankel the Jew, who he saved from Cossacks earlier in the story. During one of the final battles, he sees Andrei riding in Polish garb from the castle and has his men draw him to the woods, where he takes him off of his horse. Taras shoots him and he and Ostap continue fighting and the latter is captured while the former is knocked out. Taras awakens to a state of delirium and when he regains his composure learns that Ostap was captured and is in the hands of the Poles. Yankel agrees to take him to the city where he is held captive, hiding him in a cart of bricks, which he knows no one will tamper with on their journey. When there a group of Jews help Yankel to dress Taras as a Jew, and they attempt to go into the prison to see his son (this was not an uncommon curiosity amongst Polish nobility during this time). They almost make it, but a guard recognizes Taras as a Cossack, though they convince him otherwise. Still, he does not let them through and only after being paid 100 gold pieces does he allow them to leave, instructing them to go to the execution the following day if they wish to see the Cossacks. During the execution, Ostap, in fine Cossack form, does not make a single sound, even while being broken on the wheel, and only near the end calls out to his father, asking if he “can see this?” Taras calls out that he can, and Yankel turns to him, terrified for him revealing their location, to see that the Cossack has disappeared. Taras returns home to find all of his old Cossack friends dead and only newer ones in their place and goes to war again. The new leader of the Cossacks wishes to make peace with the Poles, which Taras is firmly against, and he takes a regiment away with him to continue battle. As he stated before the new leader agreed to a truce, the Poles betray the Cossacks and kill a number of them. Taras and his men continue to fight and are finally caught in a ruined fortress, where they battle with everything they can. Taras is nailed and tied to a tree struck by lighting to be set aflame, but even in his state, in true Cossack spirit, calls out to his men to continue the fight as the story ends with descriptions of the Dniester river (a symbol for Taras and the Cossack spirit).

[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The story has been made into two films, to varying degrees of success. The first was in 1909, directed by Aleksandr Drankov; the second in 1962, starring Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis, and directed by J. Lee Thompson.

The story was also made into an opera by Ukrainian nationalistic composer, Mykola Lysenko.