He traveled a lot around Europe and examined local curiosities. He was accompanied by the ataman of the Don Cossacks Platov, who did not like that the Sovereign was greedy for everything foreign. Of all the nations, the English especially tried to prove to Alexander that they were superior to the Russians. Here Platov decided: he will tell the whole truth to the monarch in the face, but he will not betray the Russian people!

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 2 - summary

Just the next day, the Sovereign and Platov went to the Kunstkamera - a large building with a statue of "Abolon polvederskogo" in the middle. The British began to show various military surprises: buremeters, merblues mantons, tar waterproof cables. Alexander marveled at all this, and Platov turned his face away and said that his Don people fought without all this and drove out the language for twelve.

In the end, the British showed the king a pistol of inimitable skill, which one of their admirals pulled out from the belt of a robber chieftain. Who made the pistol, they themselves did not know. But Platov rummaged through his large trousers, pulled out a screwdriver, turned it around - and took out the lock from the pistol. And on it was a Russian inscription: made by Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula.

The English were terribly embarrassed.

The main characters of N. S. Leskov's tale "Lefty"

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 3 - summary

The next day, Alexander and Platov went to the new cabinets of curiosities. The English, having decided to wipe Platov's nose, brought a tray there to the Sovereign. It seemed to be empty, but in fact, a small, like a speck, mechanical flea lay on top. Through the "melkoskop" Alexander Pavlovich examined the key next to the flea. The flea had a hole in its belly. After seven turns of the key, the flea began to dance "Cavril" in it.

For this flea, the Sovereign immediately ordered the English masters to give a million and said to them: “You are the first masters in the whole world, and my people cannot do anything against you.”

On the way back to Russia with the tsar, Platov was more silent and only drank a leavened glass of vodka at each station, ate a salted lamb and smoked his pipe, which included a whole pound of Zhukov's tobacco at once.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 4 - summary

Alexander I soon died in Taganrog, and his brother Nikolai succeeded to the Russian throne. Soon he found among the things of Alexander a diamond nut, and in it - an outlandish metal flea. No one in the palace could say what it served for until Ataman Platov found out about this bewilderment. He appeared to the new Sovereign and told him what had happened in England.

The flea was brought in, and she went to jump. Platov said that this is a delicate work, but our Tula craftsmen will surely be able to surpass this product.

Nikolai Pavlovich differed from his brother in that he was very confident in his Russian people and did not like to yield to any foreigner. He instructed Platov to go to the Cossacks on the Don, and on the way to turn into Tula and show the English "nymphosoria" to the craftsmen there.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 5 - summary

Platov arrived in Tula and showed the flea to the local gunsmiths. The Tulyaks said that the English nation is quite cunning, but it is possible to take on it with God's blessing. They advised the chieftain to go to the Don for the time being, and on the way back turn back to Tula, promising by that time something “worthy to present to the sovereign splendor”.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 6 - summary

The flea remained with the three most skillful Tula gunsmiths - one of them was left-handed, with a birthmark on his cheek, and the hair on his temples was torn out during training. These gunsmiths, without saying anything to anyone, took their bags, put food in them and left somewhere out of the city. Others thought that the masters had boasted in front of Platov, and then they got cold feet and fled, taking away the diamond nut, which was a case for a flea. However, such an assumption was completely unfounded and unworthy of skillful people, on whom the hope of the nation now rested.

Leskov. Lefty. cartoon

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 7 - summary

Three masters went to the city of Mtsensk, Oryol province, to bow to the local icon of St. Nicholas. After serving a prayer service with her, the gunsmiths returned to Tula, locked themselves in Lefty's house and set to work in terrible secrecy.

All that could be heard from the house was the tapping of hammers. All the townspeople were curious about what was being done there, but the craftsmen did not deny any demand. They tried to get into them, pretending that they had come to ask for fire or salt, they even tried to scare them that the house next door was on fire. But Lefty just stuck his plucked head out of the window and shouted: "Burn yourself, but we have no time."

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 8 - summary

Ataman Platov was returning from the south in great haste. He rode to Tula and, without leaving the carriage, sent the Cossacks for the masters, who were supposed to shame the British.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 9 - summary

Platov's Cossacks, having run to Levsha's house, began to knock, but they were not opened. They tore the bolts at the shutters, but they were very strong. Then the Cossacks took a log from the street, faked it under the roof in a fire-like manner - and immediately turned the entire roof off the house. And the craftsmen shouted from there that they were already hammering in the last carnation, and then they would immediately take out the work.

The Cossacks began to rush them. The Tulyaks sent the Cossacks to the ataman, and they themselves ran after them, fastening the hooks in their caftans as they went. The left-hander carried in his hand a royal box with an English steel flea.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 10 - summary

Gunsmiths ran to Platov. He opened the box and saw: there was a flea lying there, just like it was. The ataman got angry and began to scold the Tula people. But they said: let him take their work to the Sovereign - he will see if he should be ashamed of his Russian people.

Platov was afraid that the masters had spoiled the flea. He shouted that he would take one of them scoundrels with him to Petersburg. He grabbed the ataman by the collar of the oblique Lefty, threw him at his feet in a carriage and rushed off with him, even without a “tugament” (document).

Immediately upon arrival, Platov put on orders and went to the king, and Lefty ordered the Cossacks to guard at the entrance to the palace.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 11 - summary

Entering the palace, Platov put the box with the flea behind the stove and decided not to say anything about it to the Sovereign. But Nikolai Pavlovich did not forget about anything and asked Platov: what about the Tula masters? Did they justify themselves against the English nymphosoria?

Platov replied that the Tula people could not do anything. But the Sovereign did not believe this and ordered the box to be brought, saying: I know that my people cannot deceive me!

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 12 - summary

When the flea was wound with a key, she only moved her mustache, and she could not dance a square dance.

Platov even turned green with anger. He ran out into the entrance and began pulling Lefty by the hair, scolding him for ruining a rare thing. But Lefty said: he and his comrades did not spoil anything, but you need to look at a flea in the strongest small scope.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 13 - summary

Lefty was taken to the Sovereign - exactly what he was in: one trouser leg is in a boot, the other is dangled, and the ozyamchik is old, the hooks do not fasten, and the collar is torn. The left-hander bowed, and Nikolai Pavlovich asked him what they had done with the flea in Tula. Lefty explained that with a flea it is necessary to examine under a small scope every heel that it steps on. The sovereign, as soon as he looked at the flea's heel, beamed all over - he took Lefty, what he was untidy and in the dust, unwashed, hugged him and kissed him, declaring to the courtiers:

– I knew that my Russians would not deceive me. Look: after all, they, rogues, have shod an English flea on horseshoes!

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 14 - summary

All the courtiers were amazed, and Lefty explained: if there had been a better smallscope, they would have seen that on each flea horseshoe the name is displayed: which Russian master made that horseshoe. Only the name of Lefty was not there, because he worked smaller: he forged carnations for horseshoes. The Sovereign asked how the Tula people did this work without a small scope. And Lefty said: due to poverty, we do not have a small scope, but we have already shot our eyes.

Ataman Platov asked Lefty for forgiveness for pulling his hair, and gave the gunsmith a hundred rubles. And Nikolai Pavlovich ordered the shod flea to be escorted back to England and sent along with a courier to Lefty, so that the British would know what kind of masters we have in Tula. They washed Lefty in the baths, dressed him in a caftan from a court chorister, and took him abroad.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 15 - summary

The British examined the flea in the most powerful small scope - and right now in the "public" statements an enthusiastic "slander" was written about it. For three days, the British pumped Lefty with wine, and then they asked where he studied and how long did he know arithmetic?

The left-hander replied that he did not know arithmetic at all, and that all his science was according to the Psalter and the Half-Dream Book. In the sciences, he says, we have not gone wrong, but we are faithfully devoted to our fatherland.

Then they began to invite the Tula to stay in England, promising him to give him a great education. But Lefty did not want to accept their faith, saying: "Our books are thicker against yours, and our faith is fuller." The British promised to marry him and already wanted to make Lefty a "grandeve" with their maiden. But Lefty said that since he did not feel a detailed intention towards a foreign nation, then why fool the girls?

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 16 - summary

The British began to drive Lefty around their factories. He liked their economic arrangements very much: every worker is constantly full, dressed in a jacket, works not with a boilie, but with training. In front of everyone, a multiplication table hangs in plain sight, and he makes calculations on it.

But most of all Lefty looked at the old guns. He stuck his finger into their muzzle, drove along the walls there, sighed and was surprised that the Russian generals in England had never done this.

Then Lefty got bored and said that he wanted to go home. The British put him on a ship, and he went to the "Hardland" sea. For the autumn journey, Lefty was given in England a flannelette coat with a wind hood on his head. He sat on the deck in it, looked into the distance and kept asking: “Where is our Russia?”

On the ship, Lefty became friends with an English half-skipper. They began to drink vodka together and made a “English parey” (bet): if one drinks, then the other will certainly drink, and whoever drinks whom, that’s a hill.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 17 - summary

They drank like this until the Riga Dinaminde - and reached the point that both of them saw how the devil was climbing out of the sea. Only the half-skipper saw a red-haired trait, and Lefty saw a dark one, like a negro. The half-skipper took Lefty on his back and carried him overboard to throw, saying: the devil will immediately give you back to me. They saw this on the ship, and the captain ordered them both to be locked down, but only they should not be served hot studing, because alcohol could catch fire in their insides.

They took them to St. Petersburg, then they laid them out on different wagons and took the Englishman to the messenger's house, and Lefty to the police station.

Illustration by N. Kuzmin to the tale of N. S. Leskov "Lefty"

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 18 - summary

A doctor and a pharmacist were immediately called to the Englishman in the embassy's house. They put him in a warm bath, gave him a gutta-percha pill, and then put him under a feather bed and a fur coat. The left-hander was thrown on the floor in the police station, searched, they took away the watch and money that the British had given, and then, uncovered in the cold, they took him to the hospital in a cab. But since he did not have a “tugament” (document), not a single hospital accepted him. Lefty was dragged until the morning along all the remote crooked paths - and finally taken to the common people's Obukhvinsk hospital, where everyone of an unknown class is accepted to die. They sat me down on the floor in the hallway.

And the next day the English half-skipper got up, as if nothing had happened, ate chicken with lynx (rice) and ran to look for his Russian comrade Levsha.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 19 - summary

The half-skipper soon found Lefty. He was lying on the floor in the hallway. The Englishman ran to Count Kleinmichel and made a noise:

– Is it possible! Even though he has an Ovechkin fur coat, he still has the soul of a man.

The Englishman was immediately kicked out for talking about the human soul. They advised him to run to Ataman Platov, but he said that he had now received his resignation. The half-skipper finally managed to send Dr. Martyn-Solsky to Lefty. But when he arrived, Lefty was already ending, only saying in the end:

- Tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks: even if they don’t clean ours, otherwise, God forbid, they are not good for shooting.

And with this fidelity, Lefty crossed himself and died. The doctor conveyed his words to Count Chernyshev, but he said that he should not interfere in military affairs. The purge with bricks continued until the very Crimean campaign. And if the words of Lefty had been brought to the attention of the sovereign in due time, in the Crimea in the war there would have been a completely different turn.

Leskov "Lefty", chapter 20 - summary

Leskov concludes his story with the words that the folk myth of Lefty accurately and faithfully conveys the spirit of a bygone era. In the age of machines, such craftsmen disappeared even in Tula. However, the inspired artisan epic does not die - and, moreover, with a very "human soul".

N. Leskov's story "Lefty" is dedicated to a modest gunsmith. He surpassed the educated masters from England with his skill, made one wonder at the subtleties of his work - horseshoe nails on the smallest steel flea. The narrator relates the story of a slanting handyman who dies far from home. Summary"Lefty" chapter by chapter will help to understand the experiences of the author and appreciate the depth of his thoughts.

Chapter 1

The Russian emperor Alexander decided to ride around European countries, to see the wonders of technology and weapons. The Don Cossack Platov traveled with him. The emperor was surprised by overseas masters, but Platov did not admire anything. He was sure that there were curiosities at home and no worse than overseas ones. The British invited the sovereign to the weapons cabinet of curiosities. They wanted to show that the Russians

they can't do anything and they're useless. Frustrated, Platov drank vodka and went to bed, deciding that the morning was wiser than the evening.

Chapter 2

In the Kunstkamera, the Russian Emperor was shown technical and weapons achievements, busts and rooms. The emperor liked everything, he admired and praised foreign masters. Platov answered this by saying that his fellows, without any technical achievements, took languages ​​and fought better than the British. The king was led to the statue of Abolon and shown two weapons: Mortimer's gun, pistol. The sovereign burst into rage, Platov took a screwdriver out of his pocket and spun the pistol. Inside, he showed the king the inscription. It was the name of the Russian gunsmith Ivan Moskvin from Tula. The British were discouraged. The king was upset. Returning for the night, the Cossack could not understand what upset the sovereign.

Chapter 3

Not knowing how else to impress the Russian emperor, the British took him to a sugar factory. But here, too, Platov brought in his fly in the ointment. He invited them to their homeland to taste the rumor. They didn't know what it was. They took the tsar to the last cabinet of curiosities. They gave me an empty tray. Alexander was surprised. The British asked to look at the tray and pointed to the smallest speck. The emperor saw her. It turns out it was a clockwork flea, made of solid steel. A spring was installed inside, which made the flea dance. The flea key could only be seen under a microscope. The amazed king bought a flea for a million, put it in a precious case. The masters of the English called the first. We went to Russia, but on the way we hardly spoke, everyone remained with his own opinion.

Chapter 4

Bloch began to roam: from Alexander to the priest Fedot, Empress Elizabeth, Emperor Nicholas. To solve the mystery of such a special relationship to a small thing, they found Platov. He told me what was special about a flea. The Don Cossack added to the story of the overseas little thing that there is nothing to be surprised about in it. Russian artisans can do better. Nikolai Pavlovich instructed to transfer the crafts to the Tula masters, knowing that they would prove the words of the Cossack.

Chapter 5

Ataman carried out the order. He took the flea to the gunsmiths. They asked to leave the craft for a few days. The Cossack decided to find out what the masters wanted to do, but they did not tell him anything. Ataman left to carry out the will of the king. I left the overseas toy in Tula for 2 weeks.

Chapter 6

Three artisans, without explaining anything to either family or friends, left the city. Some thought they were scared, decided to run away, but it was not so. One of the Tulchans had an interesting appearance:

• cross-eyed;
• with a birthmark on the face;
• the hair at the temples was torn out.

They took the amazing snuffbox with them.

Chapter 7

Gunsmiths from Tula were very religious people. They went to the city of Mtsensk. There stood an ancient icon, carved from stone, of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The masters appealed to the icon with a prayer, asked her for help. Returning to Tula, they closed in the house of the oblique Lefty. The inhabitants of the area tried to find out what the weapon masters were doing, but they did not go out into the air, day or night.

Chapter 8

Ataman Platov was in a hurry. He did not give the coachmen a rest. They missed a hundred jumps. The ataman himself did not go to the artisans. He sent whistlers (couriers) to them. The door was not opened. Ordinary people began to send a formidable Cossack. The result is the same.

Chapter 9

Out of fear, the common people fled. The whistlers began to knock down the doors, but they were closed with an oak bolt, they simply did not succumb. Couriers began to remove logs from the roof and removed everything. The masters in the house had such stale air that I almost knocked everyone off their feet. The gunsmiths explained that they had the last nail to drive in. The whistlers ran to report that the masters had finished the job. They ran with an eye, checking to see if the gunsmiths were running away. In the hands of one of the masters kept the same snuffbox.

Chapter 10

Platov took the snuffbox and opened it. Nothing has changed: the same nut and the same flea. Platov could not take the key with his strong hands. They did not give out the secret of the work, and angered the ataman even more. He decided to take one of the masters with him. The gunsmiths tried to ask how the comrade would go without documents, but Platov answered them with his fist. Arriving in the capital, he put on awards and went to the reception. The bound gunsmith remained at the entrance.

Chapter 11

The Cossack ataman made a report to the king as it should be. And he asks him about an English toy. I had to tell the ataman that the flea was returned to its former state. But Nicholas did not believe. He hoped that the masters had done something beyond their concept, he decided to check it out.

Chapter 12

The steel toy was wound up with a microscopic key. She didn't dance like she used to. Cossack ataman Platov got angry. He decided that the complex equipment was simply damaged. He went to the bound scythe, began to drag him by the hair, beat him, and scolded him for deceit. The left-hander insisted on his own: they did everything, but the work can be seen through a strong microscope (melkoscope).

Chapter 13

The sovereign ordered to bring him a melkoscope. The king began to spin the steel toy, examining and looking for changes, but did not notice anything. He ordered Levsha to be brought to him. He asked why their work was not visible. He explained that every heel of the steel insect should be considered. The king was surprised, it was very small, but the master insisted. The emperor of Rus' looked through a microscope and shone. He took an unwashed beaten guy, kissed him. And he told everyone who was in the hall that the Russians had shod the overseas flea.

Chapter 14

The left-hander added that the names of the artisans were engraved on the horseshoes. When asked where his name was, the guy explained that he made nails with which the horseshoes were nailed, and they are small, you can’t put a name there. The king asked where the gunsmiths got such a small scope. The left-hander explained that they did not have any equipment, the eye was aimed so that it could see small details without a microscope. Ataman apologized to the artisans, gave 100 rubles. Nicholas decided to send the flea back to England. The courier was chosen from scholars who knew languages. The left-hander was supposed to be with him to show the work and skill of the Russians. The Tula gunsmith was dressed up and sent abroad.

Chapter 15

The courier took the shod insect to the British, but Lefty did not take it with him. Foreigners wanted to see who the skilled craftsman was. They came to the hotel, began to drink, feed, question. The goal was one - to understand how he learned everything. But the master was illiterate, he had not heard of arithmetic. Science in Russia for the Left-hander was based on two textbooks: "Psalter" and "Dream Book". What kind of books, the British did not know. The English masters offered Lefty to stay, and promised to send money to their parents. No persuasion worked on the Russian guest.

Chapter 16

The left-hander is taken around the factories, trying to persuade him to stay. The Tula boy was not surprised at many things, he said that they could do it too. He praised the old weapons. A Tula resident asked to go home. They put him on a ship going to Russia, gave him money, a gold watch. On the ship, the armourer impressed the half-skipper with his ability to withstand bad weather. They made a bet, drink the same way.

Chapter 17

The two new friends drank in such a way that they imagined the devil from the abyss (to the Russian) and the sea eye (to the Englishman). I almost threw the half-skipper of the Russian artisan overboard. The captain ordered them to be placed downstairs, given food and drink, but not released. So they got to St. Petersburg. But here the paths went in different directions:

• Lefty - in the poor quarter;
• half-skipper - to the embassy's house.

Chapter 18

The Englishman began to be treated by real doctors, quickly put on his feet. The entire embassy tried to help recover. The left-hander was taken to the quarter, thrown on the floor, they began to demand documents. They took off his new clothes, took away his watch and money. The patient was sent to a free hospital. They were taken on a sleigh, without covering anything, cold and undressed. Lefty was not accepted anywhere without documents. He ended up in a people's hospital for all classes. Where they come to die.
The half-skipper recovered and ran to look for his Russian friend.

Chapter 19

Surprisingly, the Englishman found a Russian friend lying on the floor. Lefty wanted to convey two words (the secret of an overseas country) to the sovereign. The Englishman was taken aback. He spoke about his human soul, and they kicked him out. They advised me to contact Platov, maybe he will help the gunsmith. Platov sent a half-skipper to commandant Skobelev, who sent a doctor to the master. The doctor could no longer do anything, Lefty was dying. He asked me to tell the king that in England weapons are not cleaned with bricks. The doctor went to Count Chernyshev, but he did not even listen, not understanding any meaning in the words. He told the doctor to be quiet. The master's advice died with him, and could have changed the course of battles.

Chapter 20

Here the style of the text changes because this chapter is the reflection of the author himself. He regrets that there were no such masters, cars appeared, and the popular imagination dried up. The author is glad that they remember the old days.

The tale of Lefty is the story of the fate of many talented people. Summary helps to see storyline works, but you can feel the peculiarities of the language of Nikolai Leskov only while reading the full text of the story.

This is where it ends brief retelling story "Lefty", which includes only the most important events from full version works!

The theme of patriotism was often raised in the works of Russian literature late XIX century. But only in the story "Lefty" is it connected with the idea of ​​the need for careful attitude to the talents that ennoble the face of Russia in the eyes of other countries.

History of creation

The story "Lefty" first began to be published in the magazine "Rus" Nos. 49, 50 and 51 from October 1881 under the title "The Tale of the Tula Lefty and the Steel Flea (Shop Legend)". The idea for creating the work by Leskov was a well-known joke among the people that the British made a flea, and the Russians "shod it, but sent it back." According to the testimony of the writer's son, his father spent the summer of 1878 in Sestroretsk, visiting a gunsmith. There, in a conversation with Colonel N. E. Bolonin, one of the employees of the local arms factory, he found out the origin of the joke.

In the preface, the author wrote that he was only retelling a legend known among gunsmiths. This well-known technique, once used by Gogol and Pushkin to give special credibility to the narrative, in this case did Leskov a disservice. Critics and the reading public literally accepted the words of the writer, and subsequently he had to specifically explain that he was still the author, and not the reteller of the work.

Description of the artwork

Leskov's story in terms of genre would be most accurately called a story: it presents a large temporal layer of the narrative, there is a development of the plot, its beginning and end. The writer called his work a story, apparently in order to emphasize the special “narrative” form of narration used in it.

(The emperor with difficulty and interest examines a savvy flea)

The action of the story begins in 1815 with the trip of Emperor Alexander I with General Platov to England. There, the Russian Tsar is presented with a gift from local craftsmen - a miniature work steel flea, which knows how to “drive with antennae” and “sort out with legs”. The gift was intended to show the superiority of English masters over Russian ones. After the death of Alexander I, his successor Nicholas I became interested in the gift and demanded to find craftsmen who would be "no worse than anyone". So in Tula, Platov called three craftsmen, among them Lefty, who managed to shoe a flea and put the name of the master on each horseshoe. The left-hander, however, did not leave his name, because he forged carnations, and “no small scope can take it there anymore.”

(But the guns at the court cleaned everything in the old fashioned way)

Lefty was sent to England with a "savvy nymphosoria" so that they would understand that "we are not surprised." The British were amazed by the jewelry work and invited the master to stay, showed him everything they had been taught. Lefty himself knew how to do everything. He was struck only by the condition of the gun barrels - they were not cleaned with crushed bricks, so the accuracy of firing from such guns was high. The left-hander began to get ready to go home, he had to urgently tell the Sovereign about the guns, otherwise "God forbid, they are not good for shooting." From longing, Lefty drank all the way with an English friend "half-skipper", fell ill and, upon arrival in Russia, was near death. But until the last minute of his life, he tried to convey to the generals the secret of cleaning guns. And if the words of Lefty were brought to the Sovereign, then, as he writes

Main characters

Among the heroes of the story there are fictional and there are personalities who really existed in history, among them: two Russian emperors, Alexander I and Nicholas I, ataman of the Don Army M.I. Platov, prince, agent of Russian intelligence A.I. Chernyshev, Doctor of Medicine M. D. Solsky (in the story - Martyn-Solsky), Count K. V. Nesselrode (in the story - Kiselvrode).

(Left-handed "nameless" master at work)

The main character is a gunsmith, left-handed. He has no name, only a craftsman's feature - he worked with his left hand. Leskovsky Lefty had a prototype - Alexei Mikhailovich Surnin, who worked as a gunsmith, was studying in England and passed on the secrets of the case to Russian masters after returning. It is no coincidence that the author did not give the hero his own name, leaving the common noun - Lefty, one of the types of the righteous depicted in various works, with their self-denial and sacrifice. The personality of the hero has pronounced national traits, but the type is shown to be universal, international.

It is not for nothing that the only friend of the hero, about whom it is told, is a representative of another nationality. This is a sailor from the English ship Polskipper, who served his "comrade" Levsha a bad service. In order to dispel the longing of a Russian friend for his homeland, Polskiper made a bet with him that he would outdrink Lefty. A large amount of vodka drunk became the cause of the illness, and then the death of the yearning hero.

Lefty's patriotism is opposed to the false commitment to the interests of the Fatherland of other heroes of the story. Emperor Alexander I is embarrassed in front of the British when Platov points out to him that Russian masters can do things no worse. Nicholas I's sense of patriotism is based on personal vanity. Yes, and the brightest "patriot" in Platov's story is such only abroad, and having arrived at home, he becomes a cruel and rude feudal lord. He does not trust Russian craftsmen and is afraid that they will spoil the English work and replace the diamond.

Analysis of the work

(Flea, savvy Lefty)

The work is distinguished by its genre and narrative originality. It resembles in genre a Russian tale based on a legend. It has a lot of fantasy and fabulousness. There are also direct references to the plots of Russian fairy tales. So, the emperor hides the gift first in a nut, which he then puts in a golden snuffbox, and the latter, in turn, hides in a travel box, almost the same as the fabulous Kashchei hides the needle. In Russian fairy tales, tsars are traditionally described with irony, just as both emperors are presented in Leskov's story.

The idea of ​​the story is the fate and place in the state of a talented master. The whole work is permeated with the idea that talent in Russia is defenseless and not in demand. It is in the interests of the state to support it, but it rudely destroys talent, as if it were a useless, ubiquitous weed.

Another ideological theme of the work was the opposition of true patriotism folk hero the vanity of characters from the upper strata of society and the rulers of the country themselves. Lefty loves his fatherland selflessly and passionately. Representatives of the nobility are looking for a reason to be proud, but they do not bother to make the life of the country better. This consumer attitude leads to the fact that at the end of the work the state loses one more talent, which was thrown as a sacrifice to the vanity of the general, then the emperor.

The story "Lefty" gave literature the image of another righteous man, now on the martyr's path of serving the Russian state. The originality of the language of the work, its aphorism, brightness and accuracy of the wording made it possible to parse the story into quotations that were widely distributed among the people.

In 1881 N.S. Leskov creates a brilliant tale "Lefty". Today, the Wise Litrecon will try to briefly and clearly state the main events from this work in order to remind the reader of the plot of the book. It is important to understand that in this article it is presented in detail and exactly according to the work, so that not a single living soul finds fault with your knowledge of the text. If there are 5 minutes left before the lesson, it's better to go to.

(1102 words) Once, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, together with the Cossack Platov, went on a trip to Europe. They saw many wonderful things during the trip, and the Cossack made sure that foreigners could not persuade the sovereign to their side. England lay in the way of the heroes. The English masters wanted to captivate the king with various tricks, but the vigilant fellow traveler did everything possible to prevent this from happening.

The British took the Russian guests to the Kunstkamera, showed them various curiosities that Alexander I liked very much, but could not attract Platov, who firmly stood his ground, arguing that even without an improved military equipment our warriors were able to fight and even drive away the large army of Napoleon, which included twelve nations. The Europeans did not miss the opportunity to show the tsar and the Cossack Mortimer's gun and pistol. It turns out that all this exists in Russia (there was even a Tula stamp on the pistol). Although the British boast of their achievements, they do not know what St. Petersburg sugar molvo is.

The only thing they managed to surprise both the tsar and Platov was a small flea made of blued steel - so small that it could only be seen through a microscope. She was accompanied by a key, turning which you could see how she dances. The British presented this curiosity to the Russian Tsar “as a gift”, while receiving a decent amount of money. Alexander Pavlovich was pleased and called the English masters the first in the whole world. Platov did not dare to say anything against it, he only took a microscope with him so that the flea could be examined.

It's time to return home. Platov remained of his opinion - he believed that the Russian masters lacked learning, but at the same time they could do everything, no matter what they looked at, and the sovereign believed that the British had no equal in art.

The tsar died shortly after returning to his homeland, and ordered the outlandish flea to be given to the priest Fedot, to whom he confessed before his death, so that he would hand it over to Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna. However, she did not want to deal with this curiosity and handed it over to the new ruler as a legacy.

When the new king discovered the flea, he was quite surprised by it. They began to look for someone who could explain what it is, and in the end they found that the “courageous old man” Platov knows everything. The ruler ordered him to show the miracle to the Russian masters, which the Cossack went to perform.

Once in Tula, Platov met three gunsmiths there, including an oblique left-hander, who assured the hero that by the time the Cossack returned from the glorious quiet Don, they would come up with something cunning. As soon as Platov left, the craftsmen went to the temple to pray to the icon of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of trade and military affairs. And upon their return, they immediately set to work, and without interruption worked harmoniously and stubbornly in anticipation of Platov.

After some time, the Cossack Platov returns with his assistants, and finds out that the masters are locked up in the house and do not let anyone in. Having removed the roof from the hut, the assistants ensured that the masters went outside. When the masters brought out the finished goods, Platov could not notice the difference between the flea before the start of work and after it was completed. Angry, he called the Tula masters scoundrels and took with him one of the masters - a left-hander, whom he was preparing to throw in prison if the sovereign did not remember this assignment related to the flea.

However, the sovereign did not forget about the order that he gave Platov, and demanded from him a story about how our masters showed themselves against the English. For a long time they could not understand what had changed in the flea, because when they began to wind it up, it no longer danced. Out of annoyance, Platov began to wag the left-hander, but, as it turned out, in vain. It turned out that the Tula masters shod it! The work was done so skillfully that it could only be seen with the most powerful microscope. And the small carnations themselves, with which the horseshoes were fastened, were made by hand by a left-hander. The shod flea was sent to England as a gift and to show that Russian craftsmen are also capable of creating amazing things.

For faithful service, Platov rewarded the left-hander with a hundred rubles, and Count Kiselvrode ordered that the masters be washed, cut, dressed up and sent to London.

There, the British for a long time could not extort his secret from the left-hander and were rather surprised to learn that he did not have higher education that all he read was a hymnal and a dream book. Having fed and watered him, the foreigners tried with all their might to persuade the left-hander to stay with them - they offered to marry him to an Englishwoman, convert him to their faith, etc. But the master remained adamant.

The left-handers were shown the conditions in which English craftsmen work - everyone was well-fed and dressed, well-shod so as not to injure their feet, everyone was well trained and everyone had an erasable board to make calculations. The hero managed to see many outlandish things, but the main thing that he understood was that the British do not clean their guns with bricks, as they did with us, and therefore it is much easier for Europeans to shoot. The left-hander remembered his generals, and he became so sad that he wanted to return to his homeland. A storm was approaching the sea, about which the cunning English warned the hero, but the master was adamant - he was sure that fate would overtake the person anyway. There is nothing to do - they equipped the left-hander on the road.

It was quite a long swim, the sea was raging, but despite this, the left-hander continued to sit under the tarpaulin on the deck, waiting for Russia to appear. Then it happened that the hero managed to get acquainted with the sub-skipper, who understood Russian, and began to drink with him on a dare - who is more. In the end, the sub-skipper almost threw the lefty overboard, but the sailors noticed this in time and took them both down. After arriving in St. Petersburg, the Englishman went to the house on the Aglitskaya embankment, and the left-hander was sent to the quarter. The fate of the foreigner turned out to be much happier - he was immediately provided with a bed and medicine, and the poor left-hander was taken for a long time by cabs from the hospital to the hospital, where they did not accept him without documents, and finally they put him in the common people's Obukhvinskaya hospital, where everyone was accepted to die. There he was found by his friend and drinking companion, the skipper, who after that immediately went to Count Kleinmichel, who, however, drove the Englishman away, and then he went to Platov. The old Cossack had already retired, and therefore advised him to turn to the commandant Skobelev. He said that the Germans did not know how to treat the disease of the left-hander and sent the Englishman to Dr. Martyn-Solsky. But when the latter arrived where the left-hander was, he was already ending. The master only managed to inform that the Russian soldiers should not clean their guns with bricks, after which he died. Martyn-Solsky informed Count Chernyshev about this, but he did not even begin to listen. Maybe that is why it was so difficult for the Russians to fight during the Crimean War. But listen to the count doctor and take into account the words of the left-hander, the war would have taken a completely different turn.

Now in Tula you will not meet such masters as the left-hander and his fellow gunsmiths. Machines equalized the inequality of talents and talents, but thereby ruined the artistic prowess, which very often exceeded the measure and inspired popular imagination to compose such legends. The myth associated with the left-hander is interesting, and his adventures serve as a recollection of a bygone era, the spirit of which is quite aptly and truly captured. One should not forget about the prowess of Russian craftsmen and national heroes, who are reflected in the folk epic with a “human soul”.

He loved to travel abroad and admire the wonders there. So, after the end of the Vienna Council, he decided to ride around some European countries. With him was the Don Cossack Platov, whom overseas "curiosities" did not surprise at all, since he believed that "his own is no worse. " Having visited the Kunstkamera, they saw many wonderful "nymphosoria" collected from all over the world.

So, for example, one Englishman decided to show a fine workmanship pistol. Platov took it, and opened the lock with a screwdriver in order to proudly show everyone the inscription on the weapon: "Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula." The British were sad, but decided to show other curiosities. In the last cabinet of curiosities, the sovereign bought a mechanical steel flea for a million, which, if turned on with a key, she began to dance. It was especially interesting to watch her in the "melkoscope". On the way back, Platov argued that ours could do better, only they needed learning.

After the death of the sovereign, the flea was inherited, who ascended the throne to Nikolai Pavlovich. He did not like to lag behind foreigners, therefore he sent Platov to the Tula masters so that they would surpass the British with their work. Three of the best gunsmiths, led by a master nicknamed "Lefty", volunteered to support Platov in this difficult task. There was little time, and they decided to go to Kyiv, either to pray to local saints, or to seek advice from experienced craftsmen. Then they went to Mtsensk, where they bowed to the icon of St. Nicholas, and only after that they began to work. However, the work was carried out in a terrible secret, so no one knew what they were doing.

When the work was completed, Lefty did not reveal his secret even to Platov, and he had to be taken to St. Petersburg. When examining the flea, the emperor and his daughter Alexandra Timofeevna discovered that the mechanism in the flea did not work. Platov decided to punish Levsha. Then he advised to look through the small scope and carefully examine the leg of the flea. And then the sovereign sees that the flea is "shoeed on horseshoes." At the same time, Lefty added that if you take a closer look, you can see that the name of the master is engraved on the horseshoes. After that, all the courtiers were delighted, they praised the master. Platov asked Levsha for forgiveness, took him to the Tulyanov Baths, for a haircut and “shaping”, as if he had some kind of rank. Then it was decided to send Lefty with a flea to the British.

On the way, Lefty did not eat, but only drank wine and sang Russian songs throughout Europe. To all the questions of the British, he answered that in Russia science is simple, there is no arithmetic, but only the teaching of the Psalter. They said that arithmetic is useful to learn. That way they could calculate that the horseshoes are too heavy for the flea, which is why it doesn't dance anymore. They invited Lefty to stay with them and study, as he would have made an excellent master. But Lefty refused, saying that he was a supporter of his homeland. Then they offered him to accept their faith and marry an Englishwoman. Lefty said that English women are too skinny and wear ugly clothes. Tula ladies are more to his liking. The only thing that seduced him was the English factories, where the workers are fed, and the old guns in good condition are contained.

Soon, Lefty was completely bored and began to ask to go home. Despite the approaching storm in the "Solid Sea", he still set off. In parting, the British gave him money and gifts. On the way back, he stood on the deck and looked to see if his native expanses were visible. One skipper offered Lefty a bet to drink more. They got drunk to hell, the captain decided to lock them in the hold until they arrived. In St. Petersburg, the Englishman was sent to the embassy house on the Anglitskaya Embankment, and Lefty was sent to the quarter, where they demanded documents from him, took away all the gifts and took him in a sleigh to the hospital, where people of the "unknown" class were usually sent to die.

The next day, the Englishman swallowed some kind of pill and went to look for his Russian "comrade". When he found him lying on the floor in the corridor, he immediately ran to complain to Count Kleinmichel about the poor treatment of the patient. He advised to turn to Platov. Platov, in turn, sent him to commandant Skobelev. And Skobelev sent Dr. Martyn-Solsky to the patient. When the doctor arrived, Lefty was already dying. As it turned out, the loaders, carrying him, dropped him and broke his head. Before his death, he asked to tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks, and ours is not worth it. With this he died.

Dr. Martyn-Solsky reported last words Tula master to Count Chernyshev, but he did not want to listen, said that "there are generals in Russia for this." So they continued to clean the guns with bricks. It turns out that if the last words of Lefty had reached the sovereign, then Crimean War would have ended differently. And now it's a matter of "past days." Lefty, like many other geniuses, has long been forgotten, but the folk myth about him remains.