Christmas Eve

"Christmas Eve" is the first story in the second volume of the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol.

The story opens with a description of the winter scenery of Dikanka, Ukraine, a witch flying across the night sky and the devil stealing the moon and hiding it in his pocket, first playing with it in the sky, which no one in the village notices. Since it is the night before Christmas, the devil is free to roam around and torment people as he pleases, so he decides to find a way to get back at the village blacksmith, Vakula, because he paints religious art in the church...

The story is set in on Christmas Eve in the small Ukranian town of Dikanka. Since it's the night before Christmas, the devil is allowed to roam free in town. He steals the moon, which at first no one notices. Then he sets out to ruin the love interest of Vakula, the town blacksmith, who is hopelessly in love with the beautiful Oksana. The devil has a vendetta against Vakula because he also moonlights as an icon painter who had created mocking pictures of the devil. The devil finds an ally in Vakula's mother (a witch) who wants to marry Oksana's father. She fears that if her son marries Oksana, her love chances will be ruined.