I advise my sisters to read the attached sheet of the will more firmly. And I add to them, in addition, a few more words, which I ask them to fulfill so sacredly, as if it were the last will of their brother who has already died:

"That from now on, they will increase[391] affection and affability to everyone, to a much greater degree than before. Lisa had something like flirtatiousness when she happened to talk to young men or just be with them. To get it out of your head. So that they look at all young people as a sister looks at her brother; that they should be sincere, simple-minded, talkative with them, and speak as simply as they would with me, as if they had known them all for ages. That every old and old man should be looked upon as his own and as a much-loved uncle, if not as a father; that they should serve him and show him such attention[393] and so anticipate the slightest desire<> of him, so that it would really seem to him that his nieces or grandchildren were in front of him. In a word, so that even the rumor about the hospitable treatment of every guest by the hostesses of the village of Vasilyevka would spread everywhere and so that everyone would know that there really is such a place where every guest is a brother and the person closest to the heart, regardless of what condition and rank he may be."

Here are my surplus words. In them is my soulful,[394] sincere desire, and whoever fulfills it means that he loves me, and his heart is not insensitive, and there is still a particle of true nobility in his soul. When everything is as it should be, and I am ready for the journey, I will inform you of this by letter from Naples. Until the same time, that is, until the middle of January, address all your letters to Naples, poste restante. [395] Now, for now, you can visit all the monasteries, asking prayers for me, and be everywhere according to your business. But from the middle of January I will ask you to pray for me in Vasilyevka itself. Goodbye until the next letter.

On the back: Poltava. Russie. To Her Excellency Maria Ivanovna Gogol. To Poltava. From there to the village <herevnya> Vasilevka. In Russia.

Aksakov S. T., November n. st. 1846*

77. S. T. AKSAKOV.

<Mid-November New Style, 1846. Romans>

Why are you, my good fellow, silent, and none of you will write a word about yourself? I, however, know almost everything that is done to you; What the ear did not hear, the soul heard. Accept obediently everything that is sent to us, thinking only that it is sent by him who created us and knows best what we need. In the name of God I say unto you, All things shall be turned to good. Not because of any system, I tell you, but from experience. The best good that I have obtained, I have obtained from my sorrowful and difficult moments. And I would not wish for any treasures that there would not be sorrowful and difficult states in my life, from which my whole soul ached, my mind was perplexed to help. For Christ's sake, do not heed these words of mine. Address me to Naples. I do not think to go up to Jerusalem before the last of January.

Yours G.

On the reverse: To Sergey Timofeevich Aksakov.

Gogol M. I., November 19, 1846*

78. M. I. GOGOL.