A Bewitched Place (1832) is part of the short story series collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol. 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka is a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, written from 1831-1832. ... Nikolai Gogol Gogol redirects here. ...

This story is told from the sexton Foma, taken from a tale about his grandfather. His grandfather takes care of melons and spends most of his time at a shanty nearby, taking pleasure in groups of wagons that come by with various things. One day, while discussing matters with some passing wagoneers, his grandfather tries to outdo Foma and his friend at dancing. He does quite well until he reaches a spot in the garden where he cannot seem to move and his legs stiffen up. He curses the devil, and tries again for the same thing to happen. Suddenly he appears in a different area that seems to be the local priest’s garden. He comes up to a gravestone that is shimmering, and marks it with a stick believing there to be treasure below somewhere. When he comes home he won’t discuss what happened and ventures out the next day to find the spot. When he gets to where he remembers being, there is nothing there at all similar to the place he was at and he curses the devil again for tricking him. The next day, he goes to the place where he could not dance before and finds that this area enables him to go to the cemetery where the grave is marked. He digs and finds a cauldron, while being mocked by a bird, a sheep and a bear, that, in a horrifying manner, repeat what he says. After he finds the treasure, the devil tries to terrify him again by making it appear as though he was below a precipice ready to come down on him with a monstrous head peeping from behind it. He is not frightened though and finds himself back in reality, taking the cauldron back home. His wife, thinking the boys are behind it as it comes towards her, throws dirty dishwater behind it, covering him with it and melon waste. He tells them what he found but when he opens it finds filth and from that day forward never trusts the devil again and crosses himself whenever he comes to an area said to have something wrong with it. He fences off the area where he couldn’t dance and has everyone throw all the garbage and weeds they collect on the spot. Some Cossacks purchase the land eventually but do not seem to be able to grow anything there. This article needs cleanup. ...