Shoe a flea, you can meet an enchanted wanderer only when you plunge into art world famous writer Nikolai Semyonovich. A brief biography of Nikolai Leskov allows you to understand what he talks about in his works.
Nikolai was born in the Oryol province in the small village of Gorohovo in February 1831. His mother came to this area to visit relatives, but it turned out that this visit also served as the birth of the future writer. Relatives were rich and prosperous people. It is worth noting that the Leskov family belongs in its origin to the clergy. So, all the men on the paternal side were priests in the village of Leska, which belongs to the Oryol region. Hence the name of the writer Nikolai Semenovich - Leskovy.
Leskov's parents are pious people, but having title of nobility. So, the father of the future writer Leskov Semyon Dmitrievich was a servant of the chamber of the criminal court, for such service he was granted the title of a nobleman. The mother of Nikolai Semenovich, Marya Mikhailovna, bore the surname Alferyev as a girl, and belonged to a family where the noble family was passed down from generation to generation.
Born in the village of Gorokhovo, in the house of a close relative, Nikolai spent the first years of his life with the Strakhovs. Until the age of 8, he lived and was brought up with his cousins and brothers, of whom he had 6 people. To teach children in this family, teachers were hired, both of Russian origin and German, as well as a Frenchwoman.
But soon Nikolai showed his talents and began to do much better in his studies than his cousins and brothers. Of course, this state of affairs did not please the parents of the children, so very soon the future writer was disliked. Grandmother, the mother of Nikolai's father, wrote a letter to her son asking him to take the boy home. So, future writer at the age of 8 he finally got to the house of his parents, who at that time lived in Orel. But Nikolai Semenovich did not have to live long in this city, because the family soon moved to the Panino estate. So, his father was engaged in farming and farming, and Nikolai was sent to study at the Oryol gymnasium. The future writer at that time was 10 years old.
Nikolai Semenovich studied at the gymnasium for five years and proved himself to be a talented and gifted student, who was very easy to study. But in the 4th grade, he did not pass the exam well, and suddenly, unexpectedly for the teachers, he refused to retake it. As a result of this situation, he was issued a certificate instead of a certificate. It was impossible to continue his studies without a certificate, so he was forced to go to work.
Father helped Nikolai Semenovich find a position as a scribe in the Oryol Criminal Chamber. At the age of 17, he held the position of assistant clerk in the same chamber. But in 1848, Nikolai's father suddenly dies and help in future fate young man wants another relative Alferyev. The professor at Kyiv University was the husband of his mother's sister, and he offers Nikolai Semenovich to move to him in Kyiv.
Nikolai Semenovich accepted the invitation of a relative and already in 1849 he moved to Kyiv, where already in the Kyiv chamber he occupied the position of assistant clerk, but already on the recruiting table. And here, quite unexpectedly for all relatives, Leskov decides to marry. Parents try to dissuade him, but to no avail. His fiancee was the daughter of a well-known merchant in Kyiv, and besides, he was also a rich man. But the interests of the spouses, as it turned out later, turned out to be completely different, and the death of the first child only increased the gap between them. And already in 1860 this marriage practically did not exist.
But at the same time, his promotion begins: 1853 - a collegiate registrar, then a clerk. In 1856 - provincial secretary. 1857 - an agent of the Schcott and Wilkins company, which was headed by Leskov's aunt's husband, an Englishman who came to Russia. On the business of this company, Nikolai Semenovich had to travel a lot, so he managed to visit many cities. He spent three years in this service and decided to try himself in literary creativity. He enjoyed writing very much. But he did not want to publish his works under his real name, so he used the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. But then he came up with other pseudonyms: Nikolai Gorokhov, V., Peresvetov, Freishits and others. For example, there were such interesting ones as the Watch Lover, or the Man from the Crowd.
In 1861, Nikolai Semenovich moved to St. Petersburg. He publishes his articles in the most popular magazines of the time. But, only after leaving his homeland, Leskov begins to write novels.
Nikolai Semenovich dies in early March 1895 in St. Petersburg. His death was not a surprise, because he had been suffering from asthma attacks for 5 years and he died from her next attack.
Leskov Nikolai Semenovich - an outstanding Russian writer of the 19th century, artistic creativity which was not always fairly appreciated by his contemporaries. He began his literary activity under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky.
Leskov's biography briefly
Born February 4, 1831 in the Oryol province. His father was the son of a priest, but by the nature of his service he received the nobility. Mother was from poor noble family. The boy grew up in the rich house of his maternal uncle and studied at the Oryol gymnasium. The death of his father and the loss of a small fortune in the terrible Oryol fires of the 40s did not allow him to complete the course. At the age of 17, he began serving as a small clerical worker in the Oryol Criminal Chamber. Later, he goes to serve in the Kyiv Chamber and replenishes his education with reading. How the secretary of the recruiting presence often travels to the counties, which enriched his life with knowledge folk life and customs. From 1857, he entered the private service of his distant relative Shkott, who managed the rich estates of Naryshkin and Count Perovsky. By the nature of his service, Nikolai Semenovich travels a lot, which adds to his observations, characters, images, types, well-aimed words. In 1860, he published several lively and imaginative articles in the central publications, moved to St. Petersburg in 1861, and completely devoted himself to literature.
Creativity Leskov
Striving for a fair explanation of the fires in St. Petersburg, Nikolai found himself embroiled in an ambiguous situation, due to ridiculous rumors and gossip, he was forced to go abroad. Abroad, he wrote a great novel "Nowhere". In this novel, which caused a flurry of indignant responses from the advanced Russian society, he, adhering to liberal sanity and, hating any extremes, describes all the negative aspects in the movement of the sixties. In the indignation of critics, among whom was Pisarev, it was not noticed that the author noted a lot of positive things in the nihilist movement. For example, civil marriage seemed to him quite a reasonable phenomenon. So accusing him of retrograde and even of supporting and justifying the monarchy were unfair. Well, here is the author, who is still writing under the pseudonym Stebnitsky, which is called "bitten the bit" and published another novel about the nihilist movement "On the Knives". In all his work, this is the most voluminous and the worst work. He himself later could not bear to think about this novel - a tabloid-melodramatic sample of second-rate literature.
Leskov - Russian national writer
Having done away with nihilism, he enters the second, better half of his literary activity. In 1872, the novel "Soboryane", dedicated to the life of the clergy, was published. These Stargorod chronicles brought the author big success. The author realizes that his main literary vocation is to find a bright, colorful spot among the daily routine of gray everyday life. appear one after another wonderful stories"The Enchanted Wanderer", "The Sealed Angel" and others. These works, which whole volume in the Collected Works under common name"Righteous", completely changed public opinion in society to Leskov and even affected his career, however, very slightly. Already in 1883, he resigns and rejoices at the independence he has gained and tries to devote himself entirely to religious and moral issues. Although the sobriety of the mind, the absence of mysticism and ecstasy is felt in all subsequent works, and this duality affects not only the works, but also the life of the writer. He was alone in his work. Not a single Russian writer could boast of such an abundance of plots that exist in his stories. After all, even on plot twists"The Enchanted Wanderer", which the author describes in a colorful and original language, but concisely and succinctly, you can write a multi-volume work with a large number of heroes. But Nikolai Semenovich in literary work sins with such a drawback as the lack of a sense of proportion, and this often leads him away from the path of a serious artist on the path of an entertaining anecdote Leskov died on February 21, 1895, was buried in St. Petersburg.
Nikolai Leskov is a Russian writer, publicist and memoirist. In his works, he gave great attention the Russian people.
IN late period of his work, Leskov wrote a number satirical stories, many of which were not censored. Nikolai Leskov was a deep psychologist, thanks to which he masterfully described the characters of his heroes.
He is best known for famous work"Lefty", which miraculously conveys the features of the Russian character.
There were many in Leskov interesting events, the main of which we will introduce you right now.
So in front of you short biography Leskova.
Leskov's biography
Nikolai Semenovich Leskov was born on February 4, 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province. His father, Semyon Dmitrievich, was the son of a priest. He also graduated from the seminary, but preferred to work in the Oryol Criminal Chamber.
In the future, the stories of the father-seminarian and the grandfather-priest will seriously affect the formation of the views of the writer.
Leskov's father was a very gifted investigator, able to unravel the most difficult case. Due to his merits, he was awarded the title of nobility.
The writer's mother, Maria Petrovna, was from a noble family.
In addition to Nikolai, four more children were born in the Leskov family.
Childhood and youth
When the future writer was barely 8 years old, his father had a serious quarrel with his management. This led to the fact that their family moved to the village of Panino. There they bought a house and began to live a simple life.
Having reached a certain age, Leskov went to study at the Oryol gymnasium. An interesting fact is that in almost all subjects the young man received low marks.
After 5 years of study, he was issued a certificate of completion of only 2 classes. Leskov's biographers suggest that teachers were to blame for this, who treated students harshly and often punished them physically.
After studying, Nikolai had to get a job. His father sent him to the criminal chamber as a clerk.
In 1848, a tragedy occurred in Leskov's biography. His father died of cholera, leaving their family without support and a breadwinner.
The following year, at his own request, Leskov got a job in the state chamber in Kyiv. At that time, he lived with his own uncle.
Being at a new workplace, Nikolai Leskov became seriously interested in reading books. He soon began attending the university as a volunteer.
Unlike most students, the young man listened attentively to the lecturers, eagerly absorbing new knowledge.
During this period of his biography, he became seriously interested in icon painting, and also made acquaintance with different Old Believers and sectarians.
Then Leskov got a job at the Schcott and Wilkens company, owned by his relative.
He was often sent on business trips, in connection with which he managed to visit different. Later, Nikolai Leskov would call this period of time the best in his biography.
Creativity Leskov
For the first time, Nikolai Semenovich Leskov wanted to take up a pen while working at Schcott and Wilkens. Every day he had to meet with different people and be a witness to interesting situations.
Initially, he wrote articles on everyday social topics. For example, he denounced officials for illegal activities, after which criminal cases were opened against some of them.
When Leskov was 32 years old, he wrote the story "The Life of a Woman", which was later published in a St. Petersburg magazine.
He then presented several more short stories, which were positively received by critics.
Inspired by the first success, he continued writing activity. Soon, very deep and serious essays “The Warrior” and “Lady Macbeth” came out from Leskov’s pen. Mtsensk district».
An interesting fact is that Leskov not only masterfully conveyed the images of his heroes, but also decorated the works with intellectual humor. They often contained sarcasm and skilfully disguised parody.
Thanks to these techniques, Nikolai Leskov developed his own and unique literary style.
In 1867 Leskov tried himself as a playwright. He wrote many plays, many of which were staged in theaters. The play "The Spender", which tells about the merchant's life, gained particular popularity.
Then Nikolai Leskov published several serious novels, including Nowhere and On Knives. In them, he criticized various kinds of revolutionaries, as well as nihilists.
Soon his novels caused a wave of discontent from the ruling elite. The editors of many publications refused to publish his works in their journals.
The next work of Leskov, which today is included in the mandatory school curriculum, became "Lefty". In it, he described the masters of weapons in paints. Leskov managed to present the plot so well that they began to talk about him as outstanding writer modernity.
In 1874, by decision of the Ministry of Public Education, Leskov was approved for the position of censor of new books. Thus, he had to determine which of the books was eligible for publication and which was not. For his work, Nikolai Leskov received a very small salary.
During this period of his biography, he wrote the story "The Enchanted Wanderer", which no publisher wanted to publish.
The story was different in that many of its plots deliberately did not have a logical conclusion. Critics did not understand Leskov's idea and were very sarcastic about the story.
After that, Nikolai Leskov released a collection of short stories "The Righteous", in which he described the fate of ordinary people met on his way. However, these works were also negatively received by critics.
In the 80s, signs of religiosity began to clearly appear in his works. In particular, Nikolai Semenovich wrote about early Christianity.
At a later stage of his work, Leskov wrote works in which he denounced officials, military personnel and church leaders.
By this period creative biography include such works as "The Beast", "Scarecrow", "Dumb Artist" and others. In addition, Leskov managed to write a number of stories for children.
It is worth noting that he spoke of Leskov as "the most Russian of our writers", and they considered him one of their main teachers.
He spoke about Nikolai Leskov as follows:
“As an artist of the word, N. S. Leskov is quite worthy to stand next to such creators of Russian as L. Tolstoy, Turgenev,. Leskov's talent, in strength and beauty, is not much inferior to the talent of any of the named creators. scripture about the Russian land, and in the breadth of coverage of the phenomena of life, the depth of understanding of its everyday mysteries, the subtle knowledge of the Great Russian language, he often exceeds his predecessors and associates.
Personal life
In the biography of Nikolai Leskov there were 2 official marriages. His first wife was the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur, Olga Smirnova, whom he married at the age of 22.
Over time, Olga began to have mental disorders. Later, she even had to be sent to a clinic for treatment.
Nikolai Leskov and his first wife Olga Smirnova In this marriage, the writer had a girl, Vera, and a boy, Mitya, who died at an early age.
Left virtually without a wife, Leskov began to cohabit with Ekaterina Bubnova. In 1866 their son Andrei was born. Having lived in a civil marriage for 11 years, they decided to leave.
Nikolai Leskov and his second wife Ekaterina Bubnova An interesting fact is that Nikolai Leskov was a staunch vegetarian for almost his entire biography. He was an ardent opponent of killing for food.
Moreover, in June 1892, Leskov published an appeal in the Novoye Vremya newspaper entitled “On the need to publish in Russian a well-composed detailed kitchen book for vegetarians.”
Death
Throughout his life, Leskov suffered from asthma attacks, which in recent years began to progress.
He was buried in St. Petersburg at the Volkovskoye cemetery.
Shortly before his death, in 1889-1893, Leskov compiled and published by A. S. Suvorin " complete collection works” in 12 volumes, which included mostly his works of art.
For the first time, a truly complete (30-volume) collected works of the writer began to be published by the Terra publishing house in 1996 and continues to this day.
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Nikolai Semenovich Leskov
Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (1831 - 1895) - prose writer, the most folk writer Russian playwright. Author famous novels, novels and stories, such as: "Nowhere", "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", "On the Knives", "Cathedrals", "Lefty" and many others, creator theatrical play"Waster".
He was born on February 4 (February 16), 1831 in the village of Gorokhovo, Oryol province, in the family of an investigator and the daughter of an impoverished nobleman. They had five children, Nikolai was the eldest child. The writer's childhood passed in the city of Orel. After the father left the position, the family moved from Orel to the village of Panino. Here the study and knowledge of the people by Leskov began.
Education and career
In 1841, at the age of 10, Leskov entered the Oryol Gymnasium. The future writer did not work out with his studies - in 5 years of study he graduated from only 2 classes. In 1847, thanks to the help of his father's friends, Leskov got a job as a clerical clerk in the Oryol Criminal Chamber of the court. When Nikolai was 16 years old, his father died of cholera, and all his property burned down in a fire.
In 1849, with the help of his uncle, a professor, Leskov transferred to Kyiv as an official of the Treasury, where he later received the post of clerk. In Kyiv, Leskov developed an interest in Ukrainian culture and great writers, painting and architecture of the old city.
In 1857 Leskov left his job and entered the commercial service to the large agricultural company of his English uncle, on whose business he traveled for three years most Russia. After the closing of the company, in 1860 he returned to Kyiv.
1860 is considered the beginning creative way Leskov, at this time he writes and publishes articles in various journals. Six months later, he moves to St. Petersburg, where he plans to engage in literary and journalistic activities.
In 1862, Leskov became a permanent contributor to the Severnaya Pchela newspaper. Working in it as a correspondent, visited Western Ukraine, Czech Republic and Poland. He was close and sympathetic to the life of Western twin nations, so he delved into the study of their art and life. In 1863 Leskov returned to Russia.
Having studied and observed the life of the Russian people for a long time, sympathizing with their sorrows and needs, Leskov wrote the stories “Extinguished Business” (1862), the stories “The Life of a Woman”, “Musk Ox” (1863), “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District” (1865).
In the novels Nowhere (1864), Bypassed (1865), On Knives (1870), the writer revealed the theme of Russia's unpreparedness for revolution.
Having disagreements with revolutionary democrats, Leskova refused to publish many magazines. The only one who published his work was Mikhail Katkov, editor of the Russky Vestnik magazine. It was incredibly difficult for Leskov to work with him, the editor ruled almost all of the writer's works, and some even refused to print at all.
In 1870 - 1880 he wrote the novels "Cathedrals" (1872), "The seedy family" (1874), where he revealed the national and historical issues. The novel "The Seedy Family" was not completed by Leskov due to disagreements with the publisher Katkov. Also at this time, he wrote several stories: "The Islanders" (1866), "The Sealed Angel" (1873). Fortunately, "The Sealed Angel" was not affected by the editorial revision of Mikhail Katkov.
In 1881, Leskov wrote the story "Lefty (The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea)" - an old legend about gunsmiths.
The story "Hare Remise" (1894) was the last great work writer. In it he criticized political system Russia of that time. The story was published only in 1917 after the Revolution.
Writer's personal life
Leskov's first marriage was unsuccessful. The writer's wife in 1853 was the daughter of a Kyiv merchant Olga Smirnova. They had two children - the firstborn, son Mitya, who died in infancy, and daughter Vera. Wife got sick mental disorder and was treated in St. Petersburg. The marriage broke up.
In 1865 Leskov lived with his widow Ekaterina Bubnova. The couple had a son Andrei (1866-1953). He divorced his second wife in 1877.
The last five years of Leskov's life were tormented by asthma attacks, from which he later died. Nikolai Semenovich died on February 21 (March 5), 1895 in St. Petersburg. The writer was buried at the Volkovo cemetery
The Enchanted Wanderer ( 1873 )
Summary story
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On the way to Valaam on Lake Ladoga, several travelers meet. One of them, dressed in a novice cassock and looking like a "typical hero," says that, having "God's gift" to tame horses, he, according to his parents' promise, died all his life and could not die in any way. At the request of the travelers, the former koneser (“I am a koneser,<…>I am a connoisseur in horses and was with repairmen to guide them, ”the hero himself says about himself) Ivan Severyanych, Mr. Flyagin, tells his life.
Coming from the yard people of Count K. from the Oryol province, Ivan Severyanych has been addicted to horses since childhood and once “for fun” beats a monk to death on a wagon. The monk appears to him at night and reproaches him for taking his life without repentance. He also tells Ivan Severyanych that he is the “promised” son of God, and gives a “sign” that he will die many times and will never die before the real “death” comes and Ivan Severyanych goes to Chernetsy. Soon, Ivan Severyanych, nicknamed Golovan, saves his masters from inevitable death in a terrible abyss and falls into mercy. But he cuts off the tail of the owner's cat, which drags pigeons from him, and as a punishment he is severely flogged, and then sent to "an English garden for a path with a hammer to beat pebbles." The last punishment of Ivan Severyanych "tormented", and he decides to commit suicide. The rope prepared for death is cut off by the gypsies, with whom Ivan Severyanych leaves the count, taking horses with him. Ivan Severyanych breaks up with the gypsy, and, having sold a silver cross to an official, he receives a leave of absence and is hired as a "nanny" to the little daughter of a gentleman. For this work, Ivan Severyanych is very bored, leads the girl and the goat to the river bank and sleeps over the estuary. Here he meets the mistress, the mother of the girl, who begs Ivan Severyanych to give her the child, but he is relentless and even fights with the current husband of the mistress, an officer-lancer. But when he sees the angry approaching owner, he gives the child to his mother and runs with them. The officer sends the passportless Ivan Severyanych away, and he goes to the steppe, where the Tatars drive horse shoals.
Khan Dzhankar sells his horses, and the Tatars set prices and fight for horses: they sit opposite each other and whip each other with whips. When a new handsome horse is put up for sale, Ivan Severyanych does not hold back and, speaking for one of the repairmen, traps the Tatar to death. According to "Christian custom", he is taken to the police for murder, but he runs away from the gendarmes to the very "Ryn-Sands". The Tatars "bristle" Ivan Severyanych's legs so that he does not run away. Ivan Severyanych moves only by crawling, serves as a doctor among the Tatars, yearns and dreams of returning to his homeland. He has several wives "Natasha" and children "Kolek", whom he regrets, but he admits to the listeners that he could not love them, because they are "unbaptized". Ivan Severyanych completely despairs of getting home, but Russian missionaries come to the steppe "to establish their faith." They preach, but refuse to pay a ransom for Ivan Severyanych, arguing that before God "everyone is equal and it's all the same." Some time later, one of them is killed, Ivan Severyanych buries him according to Orthodox custom. He explains to the listeners that "the Asian must be brought to faith with fear," because they "will never respect a humble god without a threat." The Tatars bring two people from Khiva who come to buy horses in order to "make war." Hoping to intimidate the Tatars, they demonstrate the power of their fiery god Talafy, but Ivan Severyanych discovers a box with fireworks, introduces himself as Talafy, turns the Tatars into Christian faith and, having found "caustic earth" in the boxes, heals his legs.
In the steppe, Ivan Severyanych meets a Chuvash, but refuses to go with him, because he simultaneously reveres both the Mordovian Keremeti and the Russian Nicholas the Wonderworker. Russians come across on the way, they cross themselves and drink vodka, but drive away the "passportless" Ivan Severyanych. In Astrakhan, the wanderer ends up in prison, from where he is taken to hometown. Father Ilya excommunicates him for three years from communion, but the count, who has become devout, releases him “for quitrent”, and Ivan Severyanych settles in the horse section. After he helps the peasants to choose a good horse, he is famous as a magician, and everyone demands to tell the "secret". Including one prince, who took Ivan Severyanych to his post as a koneser. Ivan Severyanych buys horses for the prince, but from time to time he has drunken “exits”, before which he gives the prince all the money for the purchases to be safe. When the prince sells a beautiful horse to Dido, Ivan Severyanych is very sad, "makes a way out", but this time he keeps the money to himself. He prays in church and goes to a tavern, where he meets an “over-empty-empty” person who claims that he drinks because he “voluntarily took weakness on himself” so that it would be easier for others, and Christian feelings do not allow him to stop drinking. A new acquaintance imposes magnetism on Ivan Severyanych to free him from "zealous drunkenness", and at the same time gives him extra water. At night, Ivan Severyanych finds himself in another tavern, where he spends all his money on the beautiful gypsy singer Grushenka. Having obeyed the prince, he learns that the owner himself gave fifty thousand for Grushenka, bought her out of the camp and settled in his house. But the prince is a fickle person, he gets bored " love word”, from “yakhont emeralds” tends to sleep, besides, all the money ends.
Having gone to the city, Ivan Severyanych overhears the conversation of the prince with former mistress Evgenia Semyonovna and learns that his master is going to marry, and wants to marry the unfortunate and sincerely fallen in love with him Grushenka to Ivan Severyanych. Returning home, he does not find the gypsy, whom the prince secretly takes to the forest to the bee. But Grusha escapes from her guards and, threatening that she will become a "shameful woman", asks Ivan Severyanych to drown her. Ivan Severyanych fulfills the request, and in search of an imminent death he pretends to be peasant son and, having given all the money to the monastery as a "contribution for Grushin's soul", he goes to war. He dreams of dying, but "neither earth nor water wants to accept", and having distinguished himself in business, he tells the colonel about the murder of a gypsy. But these words are not confirmed by the sent request, he is promoted to an officer and dismissed with the Order of St. George. Taking advantage letter of recommendation colonel, Ivan Severyanych gets a job as a "reference officer" at the address desk, but falls on the insignificant letter "fit", the service does not go well, and he goes to the artists. But rehearsals are on holy week, Ivan Severyanych gets to portray the "difficult role" of the demon, and besides, intercede for the poor "noblewoman", he "pulls the whirlwinds" of one of the artists and leaves the theater for the monastery.
According to Ivan Severyanych, monastic life does not burden him, he stays there with horses, but he does not consider it worthy to take senior tonsure and lives in obedience. To the question of one of the travelers, he says that at first the demon appeared to him in "seductive female image”, but after fervent prayers, only small demons, “children”, remained. Once Ivan Severyanych kills a demon with an ax, but he turns out to be a cow. And for another deliverance from demons, he is put in an empty cellar for a whole summer, where Ivan Severyanych discovers the gift of prophecy in himself. Ivan Severyanych ends up on the ship because the monks let him go to pray in Solovki to Zosima and Savvaty. The wanderer confesses that he expects imminent death, because the spirit inspires to take up arms and go to war, and he "wants to die for the people." Having finished the story, Ivan Severyanych falls into quiet concentration, once again feeling the influx of a mysterious broadcasting spirit, which is revealed only to babies.
After the end of the Vienna Council, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich decides "to travel around Europe and see miracles in different states." Consisting with him Don Cossack Platov is not surprised by "curiosities", because he knows that in Russia "his own is no worse."
In the very last cabinet of curiosities, among the "nymphosoria" collected from all over the world, the sovereign buys a flea, which, although small, can dance "danse". Soon, Alexander "becomes melancholy from military affairs", and he returns to his homeland, where he dies. Nikolai Pavlovich, who ascended the throne, appreciates the flea, but, since he does not like to yield to foreigners, he sends Platov along with the flea to the Tula masters. Platov "and with him the whole of Russia" volunteered to support three Tula. They go to bow to the icon of St. Nicholas, and then lock themselves in the house at the oblique Lefty, but, even after finishing the work, they refuse to give Platov the “secret”, and he has to take Lefty to Petersburg.
Nikolai Pavlovich and his daughter Alexandra Timofeevna discover that the "abdominal machine" in the flea does not work. The enraged Platov executes and beats Lefty, but he does not admit to damage and advises to look at the flea through the most powerful "melkoscope". But the attempt turns out to be unsuccessful, and Lefty orders "to bring just one leg into the details under the microscope." Having done this, the sovereign sees that the flea is "shod on horseshoes." And Lefty adds that with a better "melkoscope" one could see that on every horseshoe the "craftsman's name" is displayed. And he himself forged carnations, which could not be seen in any way.
Platov asks Lefty for forgiveness. The left-hander is washed in the "Tulyanovsk Baths", cut and "formed", as if he has some kind of "commissioned rank", and sent to take a flea as a gift to the British. On the road, Lefty does not eat anything, “supporting” himself with wine alone, and sings Russian songs throughout Europe. When questioned by the British, he admits: “We have not gone into the sciences, and therefore the flea no longer dances, only faithfully devoted to their fatherland.” Lefty refuses to stay in England, referring to his parents and the Russian faith, which is "the most correct." The English cannot seduce him with anything, further with an offer to marry, which Lefty rejects and disapproves of the clothes and thinness of the English women. At the English factories, Lefty notices that the workers are well fed, but what interests him most is the state of the old guns.
Soon, Lefty begins to yearn and, despite the approaching storm, boards the ship and does not stop looking towards Russia. The ship enters the Hardland Sea, and Lefty makes a bet with the skipper who will outdrink whom. They drink until the "Riga Dinaminde", and when the captain locks the debaters, they already see devils in the sea. In St. Petersburg, the Englishman is sent to the embassy house, and Lefty is sent to the quarter, where they demand a document from him, take away gifts, and then take him in an open sleigh to the hospital, where "an unknown class is accepted to die." The next day, the "Aglitsky" half-skipper swallows the "kutta-percha" pill and, after a short search, finds his Russian "comrade". Lefty wants to say a few words to the sovereign, and the Englishman goes to "Count Kleinmichel", but the half-spikeman does not like his words about Lefty: "even though a sheep's coat, so is the soul of a man." The Englishman is sent to the Cossack Platov, who "has simple feelings." But Platov finished his service, received a "full puple" and sent him to "commandant Skobelev." He sends a doctor from the spiritual rank of Martyn-Solsky to Leftsha, but Leftsha is already “ended up”, asks to tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks, otherwise they are not suitable for shooting, and “with this fidelity” he crosses himself and dies. Doctor reports on last words Left-handers to Count Chernyshev, but he does not listen to Martyn-Solsky, because "in Russia there are generals for this," and they continue to clean the guns with bricks. And if the emperor had heard the words of Lefty, then the Crimean War would have ended otherwise
Now it's already "deeds past days”, but the legend must not be forgotten, despite the “epic character” of the hero and the “fabulous warehouse” of the legend. The name of Lefty, like many other geniuses, has been lost, but folk myth about him accurately conveyed the spirit of the era. And although the machines do not condone "aristocratic prowess, the workers themselves recall the old days and their epic with" human soul with pride and love.
