<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.

Naples. November 19<New Style> 1846.

At last in Naples I found a letter from you (from October<I> 4)*, written by you on your return from Kiev. It comforted me greatly, as did the letters of all three sisters. Great is the mercy of God, which inspires us with good thoughts. So is your trip to Kiev, it was inspired by God, and therefore its fruits are grace-filled. Thank you all for your letters. The only thing I wanted during the reading of them was that they should be more authentic. Every word was pleasant to me, and every line brought me spiritual pleasure. No, my good sisters, write to me everything, absolutely everything; You can't write trifles now. Eternal thanks to God: you are now on a beautiful road. Any slightest incident, the slightest, insignificant anecdote that has happened to you will now be insignificant, because it will express either the feeling that filled you at that time, or your state of mind, or something that will show me closer and better than you and help me better understand you and your destiny better and fraternally help you in striving for that perfection. to which we should all aspire. Do not hide from me any of your shortcomings, write everything and do not be ashamed before me. Now I will not reproach you for anything, and should I, burdened with my own imperfections, be indignant with you? No, we consult both about how we can be better and how to fulfill on earth that for which we are called to earth. Therefore, try<s> so that your letters resemble, as it were, a journal of all your actions and even all your thoughts and feelings. It is necessary that each of you write to me as if you were your best friend, not only to your brother by earthly kinship here, but by brother by heavenly, higher kinship. Address the letters to Naples, adding in place the poste restante: Palazzo Ferandini. I am not going to Palestine soon. There are still many things that I have to finish, without which[397] my conscience will be troubled, and it will be impossible for me to bow down to the Holy Sepulchre as I would like. So, let God's will be done in everything! Pray that our Most High Providence[398] will give me the strength to do the work that I must do before my departure, so that freshness and health will not leave me for all the time that is necessary for writing it. You probably already have in your hands my book*, which contains a confession of some of my deeds. Tell me about it[399] everything that your hearts and souls feel, as well as everything you hear about it from other people, all the opinions that you hear even from people who are almost illiterate and have hardly read anything before. Especially pass on those that are not in praise of my book: I need them. [400] Do not leave it to notify me about the farm as before. The expenses and receipts recorded by Lisa were received by me in good order. I would like, however, <that > would be added to the parish,[401] to whom exactly every thing was sold, and for what use. In two places it says "from passers-by" and does not say why. If it is for travel through rowing or bridges, then this fee must be stopped, it is also small. Or, perhaps, you can collect, but for the benefit of the poor and needy. And therefore the peasant assigned to such a collection must always tell about it to those from whom he takes money, and ask them[402] to tell their names, so that the poor will know for whom they should pray and for whom they should ask God. The rest is all well and good, and it will surely be even better when you begin to read the expenses more often, and weigh each thing comparatively with one another, in order to see which of them is more necessary than the other, and which can be dispensed with. Then I hug you all. Give me an answer to this letter immediately. And in general, it will be better if you do it in such a way as not to delay answering my letters: if you cannot answer everything, answer some; everything will be better than not answering at all. So, until the next post.

All yours, Nikolai.

You will receive four more copies from St. Petersburg, so that each sister will get a copy. For now I see that my book will be accessible and understandable to you, and you will make excellent use of it, if you will read it more often. I pray to God for this, and I am firmly convinced that it will be so.

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

Zhukovsky V. A., November 24, 1846*