# IV: Wild Pranks explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Nikolai Gogol.

## What happens

The headman hosts the brandy-distiller for an evening of drinking and storytelling. The drunken Kalenik stumbles in and is allowed to stay. The headman's sister-in-law is rescued from a hut where rioters had imprisoned her, and she scolds the headman. The village councillors fail to capture the devil in a sheepskin, instead bringing in Kalenik. The headman orders them to seize the rioters, but they flee. The distiller tells a story about his mother-in-law and a cursed glutton. Outside, a mocking song ridicules the headman.

## Themes in this chapter

### Supernatural and Folklore

The distiller's story about a cursed glutton and the belief that only pipe fire can burn a witch highlight folk superstitions.

### Absurdity and Satire

The chaotic scene with the drunken Kalenik, the failed capture of the devil, and the mocking song satirize village authority and disorder.

## Character check-ins

### The Village Headman

Hosts the distiller, deals with the drunken Kalenik, and is mocked by a serenade.

### Kalenik

Drunkenly enters the headman's house and is allowed to stay by the distiller.

### Mr. Notary

Participates in the interrogation of the headman's sister-in-law.

### Agafya Fedosyevna

The headman's sister-in-law, who was locked in a hut by rioters and later scolds the headman.

## Key lines

> Only the fire of a pipe can do it. I will manage it all right.

Only the embers from a pipe can burn a witch, and the distiller claims he knows how to do it.

_Reflects folk belief about witches being immune to ordinary fire._

> If the person sitting in there declares herself ready to make the sign of the cross, then she is not a child of the devil.

The notary suggests that if the person inside crosses herself, she proves she is not a witch.

_Shows the community's reliance on Christian symbols to test for witchcraft._

> The devil really has something to do with it!

The headman mutters that the devil must be behind the night's strange events.

_Highlights the headman's superstitious interpretation of the chaos._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters/iv-wild-pranks
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_40_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters