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Nikolai Gogol’s short story is a sublime work of tragi-comedy. In it, he brilliantly ridicules the Ukrainian passion for litigation and reveals life as something really rather absurd. Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich are the greatest of friends—until the day they begin a foolish quarrel that culminates in that very worst of insults: “And you, Ivan Ivanovich, are a goose.” From that moment on, not another word is spoken between them as they choose instead to fight out their differences in the courts. But it seems theirs is a lawsuit that is set to run for years and years. | Foreword |
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vii | |
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| Introduction |
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xv | |
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1 | (66) |
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67 | (32) |
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99 | (18) |
| Notes |
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117 | (2) |
| Biographical note |
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119 | |
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