The idea of the people in the history of one city. Power and people in the "History of one city" (Saltykov-Shchedrin M
Leskov's story "Lefty" reveals a very fascinating and rather complex problematic. It is interesting that the author's aspiration to write as simply, accessible and a little ironic as possible about serious things that cause a lot of controversy was not properly appreciated by Leskov's contemporaries. Critics categorically did not recognize the literary value of the work and hinted at the dubiousness of the writer's creative abilities. The thing is that the original publications of Lefty, dated 1881 (in the magazine) and 1882 (separate edition), were published with the author's annotation. Leskov himself pointed out that the named story is a guild legend recorded by him, retold by an old gunsmith. This information was taken literally by many, therefore, in subsequent reprints, the preface was excluded from the text. In fact, the entire development of events, the behavior and characters of the heroes is the implementation of an exclusively author's vision of the topic of confrontation between Russian and foreign masters. Nikolai Leskov took as a basis for the plot just a short proverb about an English steel flea grounded by Tula, popular among the gunsmiths of that time.
"Lefty" is considered to be a story. Although quite a solid volume, the division into 20 chapters, the sequence of presentation, a clearly distinguished plot line covering a large time period, are more characteristic of the story. But the choice of genre definition is easy to explain. The story is much closer to folklore, and Leskov chose just this kind of artistic narration, emphasizing in the original title that the created story is a tale. In addition, the author considered all the events in which the main character did not take part, only a preparatory stage, focusing the readers' attention on the fate of the Lefty. It was the choice of the named form of presentation that allowed the writer to most vividly recreate the picture of the life of a genius master from among the people. The author used the image of a narrator clearly close to the depicted social environment, who freely uses colloquial expressions, replaces foreign concepts with invented or distorted words. So in a peculiar way the writer introduces an element of satire into the story "Lefty" and openly expresses his attitude to the described events and heroes. This is a rather bold act, because the narrative involves not only fictional characters, but also real historical figures (both emperors, Platov). Leskov is not shy about giving a negative assessment to the actions of the ruling elite, which gives preference to foreign inventions and neglects the talents of Russian craftsmen. In addition, the author raises the question of moral qualities - the soulless attitude of representatives of the authorities to ordinary people. And in contrast to this - the patriotism of Lefty, who, even dying, thinks about the welfare of the Motherland.
To independently verify the relevance of the topic and the artistic quality of the text, it is worth reading the story "Lefty" completely online on our website. It can also be downloaded for free.
"Lefty" (full title: "The Tale of the Tula scythe Lefty and the steel flea") is a story by Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov, written and published in 1881. Leskov included the story in his collection of works The Righteous.
First published in the magazine "Rus", in 1881, № 49, 50 and 51 under the title "The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea (Tsehovaya Legend)". First printed in a separate edition in 1882. When published in "Rus", as well as in a separate edition, the story was accompanied by a preface:
“I can't say where exactly the first fable about the steel flea was born, that is, whether it started in Tula, Izhma or Sestroretsk, but, obviously, it came from one of these places. In any case, the tale of the steel flea is a special weapons-making legend, and it expresses the pride of Russian gun-makers. It depicts the struggle of our masters with the English masters, from which ours emerged victoriously and the British were completely shamed and humiliated. Here, some secret reason for the military failures in the Crimea is clarified. I recorded this legend in Sestroretsk based on a tale there from an old gunsmith, a native of Tula, who moved to the Sister River during the reign of Emperor Alexander the First. The narrator was still in good spirits and fresh memory two years ago; he eagerly recalled the old days, greatly honored Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich, lived "according to the old faith," read divine books and bred canaries. People treated him with respect. "
Subsequently, it was excluded by the author, since the criticism took it literally and considered "Lefty" just a record of an old legend.
The plot of the work combines fictional and real historical events.
The events of the story begin around 1815. Emperor Alexander I visited England during a trip to Europe, where, among other wonders, he was shown a tiny steel flea that could dance. The emperor acquired a flea and brought it home to St. Petersburg.
A few years later, after the death of Alexander I and the accession to the throne of Emperor Nicholas I, a flea was found among the belongings of the deceased sovereign and could not understand what the meaning of "nymphosoria" was. The Don Cossack Platov, who accompanied Alexander I on a trip to Europe, appeared in the palace and explained that this was an example of the art of English mechanics, but immediately noticed that Russian craftsmen knew their job just as well.
Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich, who was confident in the superiority of the Russians, instructed Platov to make a diplomatic trip to the Don and at the same time visit the factories in Tula in transit. Among the local craftsmen one could find those who could adequately respond to the challenge of the British.
While in Tula, Platov summoned three of the most famous local gunsmiths, including an artisan named "Lefty", showed them a flea and asked them to come up with something that would surpass the British plan. Returning on the way back from the Don, Platov again looked into Tula, where the trio continued to work on the order. Taking Lefty with unfinished, as the dissatisfied Platov believed, work, he went straight to St. Petersburg. In the capital, under a high magnification microscope, it turned out that the Tula people surpassed the British, having shod a flea on all legs with tiny horseshoes.
The Emperor and the whole court were delighted, Lefty received an award. The Tsar ordered to send the shod flea back to England to demonstrate the skill of Russian craftsmen, and also send Lefty. In England, Lefty was shown local factories, work organization and was offered to stay in Europe, but he refused.
Lefty
The tale of the Tula oblique left-hander and the steel flea
1
When Emperor Alexander Pavlovich graduated from the Vienna Council, he wanted to travel around Europe and see miracles in different states. He traveled all the countries and everywhere, through his affection, always had the most internecine conversations with all sorts of people, and everyone surprised him with something and wanted to bow to their side, but with him was the Don Cossack Platov, who did not like this declension and, missing his housekeeping, all the sovereign beckoned home. And as soon as Platov notices that the sovereign is very interested in something foreign, then all the escorts are silent, and Platov will now say: so and so, and we have our own at home just as well, and will take something away.
The British knew this, and by the time the sovereign arrived, they had invented various tricks in order to captivate him with his strangeness and distract him from the Russians, and in many cases they achieved this, especially in large gatherings where Platov could not speak French completely; but he was little interested in this, because he was a married man and considered all French conversations to be trifles that were not worth imagination. And when the British began to call the sovereign to all their zeigauses, arms and soap and saw factories, in order to show their superiority over us in all things and be famous for that, Platov said to himself:
- Well, this is a Sabbath. Until then, I still put up with it, but I can't go on. Whether or not I can speak, I won't betray my people.
And as soon as he said to himself such a word, the sovereign says to him:
- So and so, tomorrow we are going with you to watch their armory cabinet of curiosities. There, - he says, - such natures of perfection, that as you look, you will no longer argue that we Russians, with our meaning, are worthless.
Platov did not reply to the emperor, only he lowered his horny nose into a shaggy cloak, but came to his apartment, ordered the orderly to bring in a flask of Caucasian vodka-sour from the cellar, pulled a good glass, prayed to God on the travel fold, covered himself with a burka and snored so that all the house, the British, no one was allowed to sleep.
I thought the morning was wiser than the night.
2
The next day the Tsar and Platov went to the Cabinet of Curiosities. The sovereign did not take any of the Russians with him anymore, because the carriage was given to them with two seats.
They come to a large building - an undescribed entrance, corridors to infinity, and the rooms are one in one, and, finally, in the main hall there are various huge busters, and in the middle under the valdahin stands Abolon half-vedera.
The sovereign looks back at Platov: is he very surprised and what he is looking at; and he walks with his eyes downcast, as if he sees nothing - he only twists a ring from his mustache.
The British immediately began to show various surprises and to explain what they had adapted to for military circumstances: sea boremometers, mantones of foot regiments, and for the cavalry, tar waterproofs. The Tsar rejoices at all this, everything seems to him very well, but Platov keeps his anticipation, that for him everything means nothing.
The sovereign says:
- How is this possible - why is there such insensibility in you? Is nothing surprising to you here?
And Platov answers:
- One thing is surprising to me here, that my Don's fellows fought without all this and drove out two or ten tongues.
The sovereign says:
- This is recklessness.
Platov answers:
“I don’t know what to attribute to, but I don’t dare to argue and must be silent.
And the British, seeing such an interruption between the sovereign, now brought him to Abolon himself, half-Vedera, and took from one of his hands the Mortimer rifle, and from the other a pistol.
“Here,” they say, “what our productivity is,” and they serve the gun.
The sovereign looked calmly at the Mortimerov rifle, because he has such in Tsarskoe Selo, and then they give him a pistol and say:
- This is a pistol of unknown, inimitable skill - our admiral pulled it out from the belt of the robber chieftain in Candelabria from his belt.
The Emperor glanced at the pistol and could not get enough of it.
I got excited terribly.
“Ah, ah, ah,” he says, “how is it ... how can it even be done so subtly! - And he turns to Platov in Russian and says: - Now, if I had at least one such master in Russia, I would be very happy and proud of it, but I would make that master noble right now.
And Platov, in response to these words, at the same moment lowered his right hand into his large trousers and pulled out a rifle screwdriver from there. The British say: "It does not open," and he, not paying attention, well, pick the lock. Turned once, turned two - the lock and pulled out. Platov shows the sovereign the dog, and there is a Russian inscription on the sugib itself: "Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula."
The British are surprised and push each other:
- Oh-de, we gave a blunder!
And sovereign Platov says sadly:
“Why did you embarrass them so much, I feel very sorry for them now. Let's go.
They sat down again in the same two-seated carriage and drove off, and the sovereign was at the ball that day, while Platov blew out an even larger glass of sour liquor and slept in a sound Cossack sleep.
He was also glad that he had embarrassed the British, and put the Tula master on the point of view, but it was also annoying: why did the sovereign regret the British for such a case!
“Through what was the sovereign upset? Thought Platov, “I don’t understand that at all,” and in this reasoning he got up twice, crossed himself and drank vodka, until he forced himself into a deep sleep.
And the British did not sleep at that very time either, because they were too sick. While the sovereign was having fun at the ball, they staged such a new surprise for him that they took away all of Platov's imagination.
3
The next day, when Platov appeared to the emperor good morning, he said to him:
- Let us now lay down a two-seater carriage, and go to the new cabinet of curiosities to watch.
Platov even dared to report that it’s not enough, they say, to look at foreign products and whether it’s better to go to Russia, but the sovereign says:
- No, I still wish to see other news: they praised me how they make the first grade of sugar.
The British show the sovereign everything: what different first grades they have, and Platov looked, looked and suddenly said:
- Show us your sugar factories rumor?
And the British do not know what it is rumor... They whisper, wink at each other, repeat to each other: "Rumor, rumor", but they cannot understand that it is this kind of sugar that we make, and must confess that they have all the sugar, but no "rumor".
Platov says:
“Well, there’s nothing to brag about. Come to us, we will give you tea with the real rumor of the Bobrin plant.
And the sovereign pulled his sleeve and said quietly:
- Please don't spoil my politics.
Then the British called the sovereign to the very last cabinet of curiosities, where they have collected mineral stones and nymphosoria from all over the world, from the largest Egyptian ceramide to the transdermal flea, which is impossible to see with the eyes, and its bite is between the skin and the body.
The Emperor went.
We examined the ceramides and all sorts of stuffed animals and went out, and Platov thought to himself:
"Here, thank God, everything is all right: the sovereign is not surprised at anything."
But as soon as they came to the very last room, their workers in jackets and aprons were standing and holding a tray on which there was nothing.
The Emperor was suddenly surprised that he was being served an empty tray.
- What does it mean? - asks; and the English masters answer:
“This is our humble tribute to your Majesty.
- What is this?
- But, - they say, - would you like to see a speck?
The Emperor looked and saw: surely, the tiniest speck of dust was lying on the silver tray.
The workers say:
- Please let your finger spit and take it in your palm.
- What is this speck to me?
- This, - they answer, - is not a speck, but a nymphosoria.
- Is she alive?
- Not at all, - they answer, - not alive, but from pure Aglitsky steel in the image of a flea we forged, and in the middle there is a plant and a spring. Please turn the key: she will begin to dance now.
The sovereign was curious and asked:
- And where is the key?
And the English say:
- Here is the key in front of your eyes.
“Why,” the sovereign says, “I don’t see him?”
- Because, - they answer, - that it is necessary in a small scope.
A small scope was brought in, and the emperor saw that the key was really on the tray next to the flea.
- Excuse me, - they say, - to take her in the palm of your hand - she has a clockwork hole in her belly, and the key has seven turns, and then she will go to dance ...
Forcibly the sovereign grabbed this key and forcibly could hold it in a pinch, and in another pinch he took the flea and just inserted the key, when he felt that she was starting to drive with her antennae, then she began to touch her legs, and finally suddenly jumped and on one fly a direct dance and two probabilities to one side, then to the other, and so in three probabilities she danced the whole kavril.
The sovereign immediately ordered the British to give a million in whatever money they wanted - they want in silver patches, they want in small banknotes.
The British asked that they be released in silver, because they do not know a lot about the pieces of paper; and then now they showed another trick of theirs: they gave the flea as a gift, but they did not bring the case for it: without the case, neither it nor the key can be kept, because they will get lost and they will be thrown into the litter. And the case for her is made of a solid diamond nut - and her place in the middle is squeezed out. They did not submit this, because they say that the case is state-owned, and they have strict about the state-owned, although for the sovereign - you cannot sacrifice.
Platov was very angry because he says:
- What is this fraud for! The gift was made and a million received for it, and still not enough! The case, he says, always belongs to every thing.
But the sovereign says:
- Leave, please, it's none of your business - don't spoil my politics. They have their own custom. - And asks: - How much is that nut, in which the flea is located?
The British put another five thousand for this.
Sovereign Alexander Pavlovich said: "Pay", and he himself lowered the flea into this nut, and with it the key, and in order not to lose the nut itself, he lowered it into his golden snuffbox, and ordered to put the snuffbox in his travel box, which is all lined prelamut and fish bone. The Emperor honorably dismissed the Aglitsk masters and told them: "You are the first masters in the whole world, and my people cannot do anything against you."
They were very pleased with this, but Platov could not say anything against the words of the sovereign. He just took a small scope and, without saying anything, put it in his pocket, because "it belongs here," he says, "and you already took a lot of money from us."
The sovereign did not know this until his arrival in Russia, but they left soon, because the sovereign became melancholy from military affairs and he wanted to have a spiritual confession in Taganrog with priest Fedot. On the way, they had very little pleasant conversation with Platov, therefore they had completely different thoughts: the sovereign thought that the British had no equal in art, and Platov argued that ours too would look at anything - they could do everything, but only they had no useful learning ... And he imagined to the sovereign that the English masters had completely different rules of life, science and food, and each person had all the absolute circumstances in front of him, and therefore he had a completely different meaning.
The sovereign did not want to listen to this for a long time, and Platov, seeing this, did not intensify. So they drove in silence, only Platov would come out at each station and, out of frustration, would drink a leavened glass of vodka, take a bite of a salted lamb, light his root pipe, into which a whole pound of Zhukov’s tobacco entered at once, and then he would sit down and sit next to the tsar in the carriage in silence. The sovereign looks in one direction, and Platov sticks out his chubuk through the other window and smokes into the wind. So they reached St. Petersburg, and the Tsar did not take Platov to the priest Fedot.
- You, - he says, - are incontinent to spiritual conversation and you smoke so much that I have soot in my head from your smoke.
Platov was left with a grudge and lay down at home on the annoying couch, and so he lay and smoked Zhukov tobacco without stopping.
4
An amazing flea made of black blued steel remained with Alexander Pavlovich in a box under a fishbone until he died in Taganrog, giving it to priest Fedot, so that he would hand it over to the empress when she calmed down. Empress Elisaveta Alekseevna looked at the flea's probabilities and smiled, but did not engage in it.
“Mine,” he says, “is now a widow’s business, and no amusements are seductive to me,” and when I returned to Petersburg, I passed on this curiosity with all the other jewels as an inheritance to the new sovereign.
At first, Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich also did not pay any attention to the flea, because at sunrise it was confused, but then once he began to revise the box he had inherited from his brother and took out a snuff-box from it, and a diamond nut from the snuff-box, and found a steel flea in it, which had not been wound up for a long time and therefore did not work, but lay still, like numb.
The Emperor looked and was surprised.
- What a trifle this is, and why is it here with my brother in such preservation!
The courtiers wanted to throw it out, but the sovereign says:
- No, it means something.
Anichkin Bridge called a chemist from Anichkin's nasty pharmacy, who weighed poisons on the smallest scales, and they showed him, and now he took a flea, put it on his tongue and said: "I feel cold, like from strong metal." And then he slightly dented it with his tooth and announced:
- As you wish, but this is not a real flea, but a nymphosoria, and it is made of metal, and this work is not ours, not Russian.
The Emperor ordered to find out now: where does this come from and what does it mean?
They rushed to look at the cases and the lists, but nothing was written in the cases. They began to ask the other - no one knows anything. But, fortunately, the Don Cossack Platov was still alive and even still lay on his annoying bite and smoked his pipe. As soon as he heard that there was such anxiety in the palace, he got up from the ukushche, hung up the receiver and appeared to the sovereign in all orders. The sovereign says:
- What do you want from me, courageous old man?
And Platov answers:
- I, your majesty, do not need anything for myself, since I drink and eat what I want and am happy with everything, and I, - he says, - came to report about this nymphosoria, which they found: this, - he says, - and so it was , and this is how it happened in front of my eyes in England - and here she has a key, and I have their own small scope, through which you can see it, and with this key you can start this nymphosoria through the belly, and she will jump in whatever space and side of the likelihood to do.
They brought it in, she went to jump, and Platov said:
- This, - he says, - Your Majesty, for sure, that the work is very delicate and interesting, but only we should not be surprised at this with the delight of feelings alone, but we should subject it to Russian revisions in Tula or in Sesterbek, - then Sestroretsk was called Sesterbek. - Can't our masters surpass this, so that the British do not pretend over the Russians.
Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich was very confident in his Russian people and did not like to yield to any foreigner, he answered Platov:
- It is you, courageous old man, you speak well, and I instruct you to believe this matter. I don't need this box anyway now, with my worries, and you take it with you and don't lie down on your annoying bite, but go to the quiet Don and have internecine conversations with my donors about their life and devotion and what they like. And when you go through Tula, show my Tula masters this nymphozoria, and let them think of it. Tell them from me that my brother was surprised at this thing and praised strangers who did nymphozoria more than anyone else, and I hope on my own that they are no worse than anyone. They will not say my word and will do something.
5
Platov took a steel flea and, as he drove through Tula to the Don, showed it to the Tula gunsmiths and conveyed the words of the sovereign to them, and then asks:
- How can we be now, Orthodox?
The gunsmiths answer:
- We, father, we feel the gracious word of the sovereign and we can never forget it because he relies on his people, but how we should be in the present case, we cannot say in one minute, because the English nation is also not stupid, but rather even cunning, and the art in it with great meaning. Against it, they say, it is necessary to take a thought and with God's blessing. And you, if your grace, like our sovereign, has confidence in us, go to your quiet Don, and leave us this flea, as it is, in a case and in a golden royal snuff box. Take a walk along the Don and heal the wounds that you took for your fatherland, and when you go back through Tula, stop and follow us: by that time, God willing, we will come up with something.
Platov was not entirely happy with the fact that the Tula people took so much time and, moreover, did not say clearly what exactly they were hoping to arrange. He asked them one way or another, and in every manner he slyly spoke to them in the Don language; but the Tula did not yield to him in cunning, because they immediately had such a plan, according to which they did not even hope that Platov would believe them, but wanted to directly fulfill their bold imagination, and then give it back.
- We ourselves do not know what we will do, but we will only hope in God, and perhaps the king's word for our sake will not be ashamed.
So Platov wags his mind, and so do the Tula.
Platov wagged, wagged, but he saw that he could not get over the Tula, gave them a snuffbox with a nymphozoria and said:
- Well, there is nothing to do, let, - he says, - it will be your way; I know what you are, well, at one point, there is nothing to do - I believe you, but just look, so as not to replace the diamond and do not spoil the English fine work, but do not mess around for long, because I am driving a helluva lot: two weeks will not pass, how I will turn from the quiet Don back to Petersburg - then I must certainly have something to show the Emperor.
The gunsmiths completely reassured him:
- Fine workmanship. - they say, - we will not damage and we will not exchange a diamond, and two weeks is enough for us, and by the time you come back, you will have something worthy to present to the sovereign splendor.
A what exactly, they never said that.
6
Platov left Tula, and three gunsmiths, the most skillful of them, one oblique left-hander, a birthmark on his cheek, and the hairs on his temples were torn out during training, said goodbye to their comrades and their family, yes, without saying anything to anyone, they took their bags, put go there that you need edible and disappeared from the city.
We only noticed that they had gone not to the Moscow outpost, but in the opposite direction, the Kiev side, and thought that they had gone to Kiev to worship the reposed saints or to advise there with one of the living holy men, who always abide in Kiev in abundance. ...
But this was only close to the truth, and not the truth itself. Neither time nor distance allowed the Tula craftsmen to go on foot to Kiev in three weeks, and even then have time to do the shameful work for the English nation. It would be better if they could go to Moscow to pray, which is only "two ninety miles away," and many saints rest there too. And in the other direction, to Orel, the same "two ninety", but for Oryol to Kiev again another good five hundred miles. You won't make such a path soon, and, having made it, you will not soon have a rest - your legs will be glazed for a long time and your hands will shake.
Some even thought that the craftsmen had boasted in front of Platov, and then, as they thought it over, they got cold feet and now they completely fled, taking with them both the Tsar's golden snuffbox, and the diamond, and the Aglitsky steel flea in a case that caused them trouble.
However, such an assumption was also completely unfounded and unworthy of the skillful people on whom the nation's hope now rested.
7
The Tula, people who are smart and knowledgeable in the metal business, are also known as the first experts in religion. Their native land is full of their glory in this respect, and even Saint Athos: they are not only masters of singing with the Babylonians, but they know how to paint the picture "evening bell", and if one of them devotes himself to greater service and goes to monasticism, then such are reputed to be the finest monastic economists, and from them come the most capable collectors. On Saint Athos they know that the Tula people are the most profitable people, and if it were not for them, then the dark corners of Russia probably would not have seen very many sacred places of the distant East, and Athos would have lost many useful offerings from Russian generosity and piety. Now the "Athos Tula" take holy places all over our homeland and masterfully collect fees even where there is nothing to take. Tulyak is full of church piety and a great practitioner of this work, and therefore those three masters who undertook to support Platov and the whole of Russia with him did not make mistakes, heading not to Moscow, but to the south. They went not to Kiev at all, but to Mtsensk, to the district town of the Oryol province, in which there is an ancient "stone-cut" icon of St. Nicholas, who sailed here in the most ancient times on a large stone cross along the Zusha River. This icon is of the form of "formidable and fearful" - the saint of Myr-Lycia is depicted on it "full-length", all clothed with silver-covered clothes, and with a dark face and holding a temple on one hand, and "military overpowering" in the other. This "overcoming" was the meaning of the thing: St. Nikolai is generally a patron of trade and military affairs, and "Nikola of Mtsensk" in particular, and the Tula people went to bow to him. They served a prayer service at the icon itself, then at the stone cross, and finally returned home at night and, without telling anyone, set to work in a terrible secret. All three of them came together in one house to the left-hander, the doors were locked, the shutters in the windows were closed, the icon lamp was lit in front of Nikoly's image and began to work.
Day, two, three sit and do not go anywhere, everyone pokes with hammers. They forge something like that, but what they forge is unknown.
Everyone is curious, but no one can find out anything, because the workers do not say anything and do not appear outside. Different people went to the house, knocked on the door under different views to ask for fire or salt, but the three artisans do not open up to any demand, and even what they eat is unknown. They tried to scare them, as if the house next door was on fire - they would not jump out in fright and then show up what they had forged, but nothing took these cunning craftsmen; once only the left-handed man leaned out over his shoulders and shouted:
- Burn yourself, but we have no time, - and again hid his plucked head, slammed the shutter, and got down to their business.
Only through small cracks was it possible to see how the light was shining inside the house, and you could hear that thin hammers were being pushed along the ringing anvils.
In a word, the whole business was conducted in such a terrible secret that nothing could be learned, and, moreover, it lasted until the very return of the Cossack Platov from the quiet Don to the sovereign, and during all this time the masters did not see or talk to anyone.
8
Platov rode very hastily and with ceremony: he himself sat in a carriage, and on the box two whistling Cossacks with whips on either side of the driver sat down and watered him without mercy so that he could ride. And if any Cossack falls asleep, Platov himself pokes his foot out of the carriage, and rushes even more angrily. These incentive measures worked so successfully that nowhere the horses could be kept at any station, and always a hundred jumps jumped past the stopping place. Then the Cossack will again act over the coachman, and they will turn back to the entrance.
So they rolled up to Tula - they also flew at first a hundred jumps beyond the Moscow outpost, and then the Cossack acted on the coachman with a whip in the opposite direction, and began to harness new horses at the porch. Platov, however, did not leave the carriage, but only ordered the whistler to bring the artisans, whom he had left the flea, to him as soon as possible.
One whistler ran, so that they could go as soon as possible and carry him work, with which they were supposed to shame the British, and this whistler ran away a little when Platov sent after him again and again to send new ones as soon as possible.
He dispersed all the whistlers and began to send out ordinary people from the curious audience, and even he himself, out of impatience, puts his legs out of the carriage and wants to run out of impatience, but he still creaks his teeth - everything is not showing up to him soon.
So at that time everything was required very accurately and in speed, so that not a single minute for Russian usefulness was wasted.
9
The Tula masters, who were doing an amazing job, were just finishing their work at that time. The whistlers ran up to them out of breath, but ordinary people, from a curious audience, did not run at all, because out of habit on the way their legs fell apart and fell, and then out of fear, so as not to look at Platov, they hit home and hid anywhere.
The whistlers, however, came running up, now they screamed and, as they see that they were not opening, now without ceremony they tore the bolts at the shutters, but the bolts were so strong that they did not move at all, they pulled the doors, and the doors were locked from the inside with an oak bolt. Then the whistlers took a log from the street, hooked it with it in a fireman's manner under a roof jam and the entire roof from a small house immediately and knocked it down. But the roof was removed, and they themselves have now tumbled down, because the masters in their cramped mansion had such a sweaty spiral from the restless work in the air that an unfamiliar person could not breathe even once from a fresh fever.
The ambassadors shouted:
- What are you, such-and-such, bastards, doing, and even such a spiral you dare to make mistakes! Or there is no god in you after that!
And they answer:
- We are now, we are hammering the last carnation and, as we hammer it, then we will take out our work.
And the ambassadors say:
- He will eat us alive until that hour and will not leave his soul for the sake of remembrance.
But the masters answer:
- He will not have time to swallow you, because while you were talking here, we already have this last nail nailed down. Run and say that we are carrying it now.
The whistlers ran, but not confidently: they thought that the masters would deceive them; and therefore they run, run and look back; but the craftsmen followed them and hurried so very quickly that they did not even dress quite properly for the appearance of an important person, and on the way they fasten the hooks in the caftans. Two of them had nothing in their hands, and the third, a left-handed man, had a royal box in a green case with an English steel flea.
10
The whistlers ran up to Platov and said:
- Here they are here!
Platov now to the masters:
- Is it ready?
- Everything, - they answer, - it's ready.
- Serve here.
And the carriage is already harnessed, and the driver and the postilion are in place. The Cossacks immediately sat down next to the driver and lifted the whips above him and so they held them.
Platov tore off the green cover, opened the box, took out a gold snuff-box from the cotton wool, and a diamond nut from the snuff-box, - he saw: the English flea was there as it was, and there was nothing else besides it.
Platov says:
- What is this? And where is your work, with which you wanted to comfort the Emperor?
The gunsmiths answered:
- This is our job.
Platov asks:
- In what does she enclose herself?
And the gunsmiths answer:
- Why explain this? Everything here is in your mind - and provide.
Platov shrugged his shoulders and shouted:
- Where is the flea key?
- And right there, - they answer. - Where is the flea, here is the key, in one nut.
Platov wanted to take the key, but his fingers were scanty: he caught, caught, - he could not grab either the flea or the key from its abdominal plant and suddenly got angry and began to swear in words in the Cossack manner.
- That you, scoundrels, did nothing, and even, perhaps, ruined the whole thing! I'll take your head off!
And the Tula answered him:
- It is in vain that you offend us so much, - we must endure all insults from you, as from the sovereign ambassador, but only because you doubted us and thought that we were similar to deceiving the sovereign's name, - we now have no secret of our work. say, if you please take us to the sovereign - he will see what kind of people we are with him and whether he is ashamed of us.
And Platov shouted:
- Well, you are lying, you scoundrels, I will not part with you like that, and one of you will go to Petersburg with me, and I will try to find out what your tricks are.
And with this he reached out his hand, grabbed the scruff of the oblique left-hander by the scruff of his scruffy fingers, so that all the hooks from the Kazakin flew off, and threw him into his carriage at his feet.
- Sit, - he says, - here until Petersburg itself, like a pubel, - you will answer me for everyone. And you, - he says with a whistle, - now the guide! Do not yawn, so that the day after tomorrow I will be with the Tsar in Petersburg.
The masters only dared to tell him for their comrade, why, they say, are you taking him away from us so without tugament? he cannot be followed back! And Platov, instead of answering, showed them a fist - so terrible, bumpy and all cut, somehow fused together - and, threatening, said: "Here's a tugament for you!" And he says to the Cossacks:
- Guyda, guys!
Cossacks, coachmen and horses - everything worked at once, and drove off the left-hander without a tugament, and a day later, as Platov ordered, they drove him up to the sovereign's palace and even, galloping properly, drove past the columns.
Platov got up, picked up the medals and went to the sovereign, and ordered the whistling Cossacks to watch the oblique left-hander at the entrance.
11
Platov was afraid to appear in front of the sovereign, because Nikolai Pavlovich was terribly wonderful and memorable - he did not forget anything. Platov knew that he would certainly ask him about the flea. And at least he was not afraid of any enemy in the world, but then he got cold feet: he entered the palace with a casket and quietly set it down in the hall behind the stove. Hiding the box, Platov appeared to the sovereign in the office and began to report as soon as possible about the internecine conversations among the Cossacks on the quiet Don. He thought so: in order to occupy the sovereign with this, and then, if the sovereign himself remembers and starts talking about the flea, he must submit and answer, and if he does not speak, then keep silent; tell the cabinet valet to hide the box, and put the left-handed Tula left-hander in the serf kazamat without a time limit so that he can sit there until a certain time, if necessary.
But Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich did not forget about anything, and as soon as Platov finished about internecine conversations, he immediately asked him:
- And what, how did my Tula masters justify themselves against the Aglitsa nymphosoria?
Platov answered in the way that it seemed to him.
- Nymphozoria, - he says, - Your Majesty, everything is in the same space, and I brought her back, and the Tula masters could not have done anything more amazing.
The sovereign replied:
- You are a courageous old man, and this, which you are reporting to me, cannot be.
Platov began to assure him and told him how the whole thing was, and how he went so far as to say that the Tula asked him to show the flea to the emperor, Nikolai Pavlovich slapped him on the shoulder and said:
- Serve here. I know that mine cannot deceive me. Something beyond the concept has been done here.
12
They took out a box from behind the stove, removed the cloth cover from it, opened a gold snuffbox and a diamond nut - and in it the flea lies as it used to be and as it lay.
The Emperor looked and said:
- What a dashing! - But he did not diminish his faith in Russian masters, but ordered to call his beloved daughter Alexandra Nikolaevna and ordered her:
... "Pop Fedot" was not taken out of the wind: Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, before his death in Taganrog, confessed to the priest Alexei Fedotov-Chekhovsky, who after that was called "the confessor of his majesty" and liked to put this completely random circumstance in front of everyone. This Fedotov-Chekhovsky, obviously, is the legendary “priest Fedot”. (Note by N. S. Leskov.)
Who does not know the story of a Russian craftsman who proved to the whole world that our craftsmen are the best specialists in their field. The story "Lefty" was written by Nikolai Leskov in 1881 and is included in his collection of works The Righteous.
The events of this work date back to about 1815, it mixes real and fictional historical episodes. I would like to advise you to read not only the summary of Leskov's story "Lefty", but also to pay attention to this story in its entirety. The work is easy to read, it captures with an interesting story about a simple artisan from Tula. He is not only good at his job, he has unique abilities and love for his profession and homeland.
N. Leskov. "Lefty". Summary of the story: two sovereigns
At the end of the Vienna Council, the Russian sovereign decides to take a ride through Europe in order to see various miracles in foreign countries. Under the emperor is the Cossack Platov, who is not surprised at other people's wonders. He is sure that in Russia one can find no worse. But in England they come across the Cabinet of Curiosities, in which "nymphosoria" are collected from all over the world. There the sovereign acquires a mechanical flea. She is not only very small, she also knows how to dance "dance". Soon, from military affairs, Emperor Alexander I has a melancholy, he returns to Russia and dies.
The emperor becomes his successor. Several years after accession to the throne, he finds a flea among the belongings of the deceased sovereign and cannot understand what the meaning of this "nymphosoria" is. And only the Don Cossack Platov could explain that this is an example of the skill of English mechanics. Nicholas I was always confident in the superiority of his compatriots. He instructs Platov to go on a diplomatic mission to the Don and to visit local factories in Tula. The Tsar had no doubt that there could be found masters who could adequately respond to this challenge.
N. Leskov. "Lefty". Brief summary of the story: Tula artisans
Platov takes a flea and goes to the Don through Tula. He shows this product to the Tula craftsmen and gives them a period of two weeks so that they come up with and do something that can be shown to the sovereign and wipe their nose to the British. Three masters take on the job, one of whom is Lefty. They gather and go to the district town of Mtsensk to venerate the icon of St. Nicholas located there. Having done this, the craftsmen return home and get to work. Nobody knows what exactly they are doing. The townspeople are very curious about what is happening outside the walls of the workshop, but the work is carried out in great secrecy.
N. Leskov. "Lefty". A summary of the story: the return and indignation of Platov
By the due date, Platov sets off on his return journey. All the way, he urges the Cossacks accompanying him, he can't wait to see the work. Arriving in Tula, he immediately goes to the masters, but they do not open the doors, as they finish the work. Only Platov is impatient, he forces the Cossacks to knock down the door with a log. But the masters are adamant and ask you to wait a little longer. After a while they come out. Two of them go empty-handed, and the third carries the same "English" flea. There is no limit to Platov's indignation, he does not understand what exactly was done. And the masters answer only one thing, that everything is already in plain sight, and they advise the sovereign to carry the flea. There is nothing left for Platov, only to return to Petersburg, but he takes Lefty with him so that he will answer for everyone.
N. Leskov. "Lefty". Story Summary: Lefty Goes to England
Seeing that the Tula masters, the emperor is delighted and sends Lefty to take her as a gift to the British. In England, Lefty demonstrates the skill of Russian craftsmen. There he was shown the local factories, told how their work was organized, and offered to stay. Only Lefty yearns for his homeland, he refuses the offer and sets off, despite the storm.
N. Leskov. "Lefty". Summary of the story: Lefty's return to Russia
Returning home, Lefty makes a bet with the biker about which of them will drink the other. They drink all the way, and it comes to the point that they see devils in the sea. In St. Petersburg, a drunken Englishman is taken to the embassy's house, and Lefty is taken to the quarter. There, gifts are taken from him, documents are required, and then he is sent on an open sleigh to a hospital for the common people, where all people of an unknown class are accepted to die. Before his death, Lefty thinks about his state, asks to convey to the emperor that in England guns are not cleaned with bricks and that they should not do this in our country, otherwise they are not suitable to shoot. But his order remains unanswered.
Today, both Leskov himself and Levsha are related to the affairs of bygone days, but one should not forget folk legends. The story about Lefty accurately conveys the spirit of that era, and the author himself laments that if the words of the master reached the sovereign, the outcome would be completely different.