# The Drowned Girl — Short Fiction character guide

> The Drowned Girl in Short Fiction by Nikolai Gogol.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0003-a-may-night

## Snapshot

A ghostly maiden from the pond who seeks Levko's help against her witch-stepmother, trading supernatural aid for a deed of mercy.

## Who they are

The drowned girl belongs to the haunted layer of May Night, a wronged spirit bound to the water where she perished. She approaches Levko not as a terror but as a petitioner, asking him to expose the witch-stepmother who tormented her, and in return she lends her uncanny power to his cause. Her plea gives the village pranks a moral weight, tying Levko's night of mischief to an older, sadder injustice.

## In the story

### [A May Night](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters/a-may-night)

A rusalka who seeks Levko's help to identify her witch stepmother.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters/i)

The stepdaughter of the witch who drowned herself and now leads the drowned souls each night.

### [V: The Drowned Girl](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters/v-the-drowned-girl)

A ghostly maiden who asks Levko to find her stepmother, the witch.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/chapters/i)

The colonel's daughter, whose corpse Thomas recognizes as the witch he killed.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/characters/the_drowned_girl
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_40_se/characters