*** start of the project gutenberg ebook 1197 *** taras bulba and other tales by nikolai vasilievich gogol introduction by john cournos contents: taras bulba st. johns eve the cloak how the two ivans quarrelled the mysterious portrait the calash introduction russian literature, so full of enigmas, contains no greater creative mystery than nikolai vasilevich gogol (1809-1852), who has done for the russian novel and russian prose what pushkin has done fo...