Where do lefties come from? NS. Leskov "Lefty": description, characters, analysis of the work of Bloch in the tale of the left-hander

Lefty is a Russian miracle, a great master, the hero of the story of the same name by the 19th century writer Nikolai Leskov. This plot has been used in many works of art: artists, composers, and other writers. At the end of the 20th century, the Mariinsky Theater staged an opera by the composer Rodion Shchedrin "Bloch" on the same subject.

Fiction and truth

Leskov's story, published in 1881, has the full title "The Tale of the Tula scythe Lefty and the steel flea." The main event of the story is that a Tula master, nicknamed Lefty, shoots a flea toy popped by English craftsmen. England sends as a gift to the Russian tsar a "robot", a tiny metal flea that can dance when it is turned on. And Lefty makes the work even smaller, shoeing this very flea. Now the flea no longer dances ... but the primacy of Russian miniature masters over foreign ones has been proven.

In reality, such a historical fact as the gift of a toy by England and its shoeing did not exist, or rather, it has not been documented. However, over the centuries, master imitators of the literary hero did appear in Russia.

Lefty prototype - Tula master

It is interesting, however, that there was a Russian master gunsmith from Tula named Surnin. He went to England "for training", like Lefty, but, like the hero, quickly showed his own skills. Surnin was hired as assistant to the owner of the plant, Henry Knock. Surnin was in England for a hundred years before the creation of "Lefty", which many forestry experts consider him to be the prototype of the Lefty. Fortunately, although the fate of Surnin was happier than the fate of Lefty. A.M.Surnin returned to his native Tula, had a high position at a local arms factory and died in 1811 in honor and respect, having done a lot of good for the arms production of Russia, and introducing a number of British developments that played a big role in the victory of Russia in the Patriotic War 1812

Nikolay Aldunin - modern Russian Lefty

However, it was only in the 20th century that a person appeared who actually managed to shoe a flea. This is our contemporary Nikolai Sergeevich Aldunin, who died in 2009 and managed to create a whole museum "Russian Lefty". He shod a real euthanized flea, cutting off its claws on tiny paws (after all, a flea is very uncomfortable and, so to speak, is not intended for shoeing). The horseshoes were gold, the carnations on the horseshoes too, but it was all microscopic! From a gram of gold, you can make 20 million such horseshoes, the master once shared in an interview.

Microminiature Museum

Aldunin created many more miniatures. Today he also has followers. Of course, he worked, in contrast to the literary character, and using a microscope (Leskovsky Levsha said that he had a "sighted eye"). But how great is the varied heritage of the master! This is a T-34 tank on an apple family, a caravan of camels in the eye of a needle, and a rose in a hair ... All of them are exhibited in the traveling museum of microminiatures "Russian Levsha".
Aldunin's followers are miniaturists A. Rykovanov (Petersburg), A. Konenko (Kazan), Vl. Aniskin (Omsk). Their works have traveled half the world, won international competitions.
Today, savvy fleas are in the collection of the President of Russia, and in a number of museums around the world, and in the main museum of Tula, the Old Tula Pharmacy.

Who is a master

Today handicrafts, master classes, teaching creativity are very common. The ability to do something with your own hands is one of the ways to yourself! Also, a number of trainings will help you to get to know yourself faster. It is recommended to do them once a week.

It can be assumed that creativity, even at the simplest level, contributes to the knowledge of oneself. But also at the professional level - the master becomes the one who, knowing himself and loving this business, develops in it.

First exercise: "Your bag"

• Take a sheet, a pencil, and any bag of yours. Place the contents on the table.
• Now select three things that can reveal you as a person: those that reflect your character, human qualities - and state in writing what these things say about you (if something is missing - take another thing from the office, from the apartment ). Now read the text and think about what you just learned and what you knew before. Try to keep within 15 minutes of the exercise and then reflect on it afterwards throughout the day.

Exercise 2: Fictional Hero

This is also a small fifteen minute exercise.

• Think of or remember a movie hero, book, cartoon character who will be like you today.
• Now write what you have in common with this hero. These are character traits, appearance, life situations, and maybe a profession, personal life, family. Complete them with differences.
• Would you like to actually meet such a hero - and why? Write it down.
• Now imagine the character you would like to emulate. Also write down the similarities and differences.
• Now think about how you can use the traits of your sample? Can you get close to them, changing yourself for the better?

Exercise 3: Your Feelings

• Remain in silence and loneliness. Listen to yourself and try to write down your feelings.
• Try to describe your emotional state in three sentences. Another three are physical sensations, perhaps tension, pain, or fatigue. Could this be related to your feelings? Or a psychological state?
• Do you want to start acting yourself now? Do something like hug or hit someone?
• Your task during the implementation of this technique will be to learn how to describe in detail the state at the emotional, psychological and physical level - that is, at the level of body, soul and spirit.

So you can better deal with your feelings, be able to express yourself, develop creative thinking.
Often times, people understand during such trainings that they are afraid of death, tense in the face of anxiety, and cannot find guidance.

How to find your profession, becoming a master of your craft

Work takes about a third of our life and, accordingly, plays a big role in it. It doesn't matter for what and where you work - only for the sake of money, for self-realization or experience. Getting a job that you enjoy and at the same time brings income is real happiness. And here God's help is needed.

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is perhaps the most revered saint in the entire Orthodox world. Being illiterate, many peasants even called him as part of the Holy Trinity. In his life, the saint was a true father for all the inhabitants of the city of Myra in Lycia, of which he was archbishop. Both during his lifetime and after death, he became famous for many wondrous deeds, showing the power of God's grace: through his prayers, the sick were healed, justice was restored, the poor righteous received a reward - wealth.

They pray to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker for all the difficulties associated with work:

• in employment, job search,
• before the interview,
• before important matters and decision-making,
• with difficulties in work,
• about getting rid of risks,
• about business development,
• on timely salary,
• when it is necessary to make a decision on dismissal or further employment in the company.

It is hard to believe in the power of prayer, but many people from all over the world testify to the signs of God at the request of Nicholas the Wonderworker: people facing a serious choice make it right; those who wish to change their jobs and professions wonderfully connect it with the Church and find the happiness of their favorite work among good people.

Prayer to St. Nicholas, who during his lifetime performed miracles of salvation for slandered and ruined people, is an important means of support, including psychological support. You can pray not only about finding a job that will give you material security, but also about finding your professional path.

Prayer for finding a job

A strong prayer for the work of Matrona of Moscow can be read in all the difficulties associated with professional activities:

• difficulties in finding a job,
• quarrels and problems in the team,
• inability to cope with work,
• pressure from superiors or colleagues,
• intrigues and impending dismissal,
• problems with paying wages or low wages for your work.

Prayers for prosperity in work and money are read only about honest deeds. The point is not that you cannot pray about unjust earnings - fraud, debauchery, casino activity, etc. It's just that these deeds are sinful, in principle it is not worth doing them: do not multiply evil on earth, do not prepare yourself for punishment with misfortune. The Lord bless you for good, for sure you have talent that can earn you a good job. Pray and ask God and Saint Matronushka to show him to you.

Prayer to Matrona of Moscow - an appeal for help to her as if she were alive. After all, the saints are our intercessors before God. Everyone needs the support of loved ones, but it is known that in a state of stress, people with their irritability create conflicts in the family. It's time to turn for help to the Heavenly Family - to God the Almighty, the good Father to all of us, the Mother of God, who adopted the human race, and our spiritual brothers and sisters - the saints.

God bless you!

Even from school, many people know the entertaining story of Nikolai Leskov about the glorious master Lefty, who was able to shoe a flea. The exact title of this work is "The Tale of the Tula scythe Lefty and the steel flea." The shod flea has become a microminiature of the remarkable master of the 20th century Nikolai Aldunin. Of course, the craftsman was inspired to such work by the creation of Nikolai Leskov.

How Lefty Shod a Flea

The Tula region has long been famous for its arms business. So the legend about the blacksmith Levsha glorifies the Tula craftsmen. The plot of Leskov's story mixes real events with fictional ones. The legend takes place around 1815. Once, while traveling across Europe, Emperor Alexander I dropped in to England as well. There he was able to observe various curiosities, among which there was a dancing steel flea. The tsar bought a curiosity and brought it to Russia.

Several years passed, the emperor died, and Nicholas I ascended the throne. To explain the essence of the overseas miracle, the Don Cossack Platov, who had once accompanied Alexander I on a European tour, was invited to the door. So Platov said that Russian architects can make a creation no worse than the British.

After that, Platov was instructed by the sovereign to visit the Tula craftsmen and interest them in creating his own curiosity in response to the British. Among the three craftsmen was a blacksmith nicknamed Lefty. Platov gave the flea to the masters and asked them to create something unusual.

What did the Tula craftsmen come up with? After a while, it turned out that they were able to shoe each flea's leg with small horseshoes. The emperor was able to verify this with the help of a "small scope".

Everyone in the palace was delighted, and Lefty was awarded a trip to Europe. He had to deliver his creation to England and demonstrate the skill of the craftsmen from the Tula region. So it became a symbol of the Tula region. The fate of Lefty was tragic, he soon died after drinking too much.

Lefty prototypes

There is a version that there was no such blacksmith from Tula. There is no evidence that such a savvy flea existed. Most likely, this version was invented by the people themselves. But some scholars believe that Lefty had prototypes.

At the end of the 18th century, in fact, two blacksmiths from Tula were recommended by Prince Potemkin to England. They were Yakov Leontiev and Alexey Surnin. They had to learn how to make exquisite metal crafts. As a result, they mastered the art of making weapons. Alexey Surnin left seven years later for Russia and was able to introduce his knowledge into the arms business. The fact that the Tula masters were in England really was, and the writer came up with the image of the Lefty himself.

Brief information about Sergei Nikolaevich Aldunin

Today, the savvy flea really exists, and with it there are many other masterpieces in the form of microminiatures. The author of these creations is Nikolai Sergeevich Aldunin (1956). He was a native of the Voroshilovgrad region and lived a very short life. Nikolai Sergeevich died at the age of 53. First of all, he was remembered as a flea-shod master.

Since childhood, he was interested in metals and metal products. He had the practical skills of a locksmith, a turner, and mastered the secrets of metalworking. Most of all, he was remembered for his microminiatures made under a microscope. Today the master is no longer alive, he lived only 53 years, died in 2009.

Work on the famous miktominatura

Once he got the idea to prove that Leskov's glorification of the Tula masters was not in vain. Aldunin decided to shoe a flea. Preparation for work lasted two years, and the microminiature itself was prepared for three months. Everything was done under a microscope. The master worked mainly at night. First he made horseshoes, then carnations. As a result, the master shod with these carnations. Aldunin performed each of his actions between heartbeats. This is how the savvy flea turned out. A photo of the microminiature can be seen below.

What can you see in this image? Before the audience is a tiny dried flea with six legs, four of which are shod with golden horseshoes. The weight of one such shoe is only 0.00000004419 g.

Other works of the craftsman

After the successful work with the flea, Aldunin decided to devote himself entirely to working with small miniatures. One of them is called the Camel Caravan. It is made of gold in the eye of a needle. In the microscope, you can see a caravan of seven camels and three palm trees.

The work "Tula Samovar" is a real masterpiece. This is a small samovar on a needle. It consists of 12 parts and has a height of 1.2 mm.

Nikolai Sergeevich was able to make several miniatures on rice grains. So he engraved the portrait of A. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy, two wedding rings and the inscription "Advice and Love" in gold.

Several more work was done on the cut of the apple grain. One of these products is the Ostankino TV Tower. The masterpiece is a small model of a tank made of gold. Also, Aldunin was able to make a Russian ruble with a size of only 0.88 mm.

The master's plans were to create a metal flea so that it would dance a square dance to the song "Tula has forged weapons for centuries." But, unfortunately, he did not have time to carry out his plan.

Sergei Nikolaevich believed that creating miniatures requires a special philosophy and psychology. In the first place in the execution of his works were beauty and grace. Harmony and love for oneself, the world, good mood are the key to the success of a famous craftsman.

Where is the shod flea kept?

Since the main craft of the master glorified Tula and this region, it is there that the shod flea is kept. In the Museum of Weapons in the Tula Kremlin, it was kept for many years. Many were able to observe a small miracle under a microscope. Now the microminiature is kept in the old Tula pharmacy.

Famous craftsmen

Today in Russia there are several craftsmen who revive folk traditions and embody incredible legends in reality.

Master Yuri Deulin lives in Yekaterinburg. Making unusual products has become his dream since childhood. As a schoolboy, Yura was able to carve a balalaika from bone, to which strings were even attached. The guy's product was placed in the school museum. Today Yuri has become a professional craftsman. Unique and original exhibits come out of his hands.

One of his works is "The Statue of Liberty", which fits in the eye of a needle. The craftsman was able to make portraits of celebrities (Peter I, Pope) only 1 mm in size. Deulin made a small copy of the Faberge egg. A sensational piece is a black pearl box that can hold a 3.7 mm long car.

The microminiature also captivated the artist and architect from Omsk Anatoly Konenko. He also began his work by shoeing a flea. Today the master already keeps a whole collection of his products. Among them is a small grasshopper playing the violin. The train moving along the railway is unique (the composition is placed on a human hair).

The craftsman from Siberia Vladimir Aniskin can boast of amazing products. His works are simply captivating. On a cut of a poppy seed, he managed to make an airfield, on which he placed 20 aircraft. In his arsenal there is also a savvy flea made of steel and platinum.

Master Dmitry Igumnov lives in Yaroslavl. He managed to shoe a mouse. In his collection there is a small frying pan with a diameter of 1 cm, on which you can bake pancakes.

Russia has not forgotten about its talented craftsmen; in St. Petersburg, a museum of microminiature "Russian Lefty" has been opened. Visitors can view the wonderful exhibits with magnifying devices.

Book of records "Lefty"

The writer N. Leskov created a wonderful image of Lefty as an exponent of the national character. This name has already become a household name and symbolizes enterprising Russian people with a special grasp, always achieving their goal. It is not for nothing that Russia has created a Book of Records called "Levsha". Famous people who glorified the country in certain areas of life fall into it.

No wonder one of the news portals in Tula is called "Bloha info". “Be savvy” is the motto of this site, where the most interesting Tula news are posted.

I have no doubt that many have read the story of the remarkable Russian writer Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov "Lefty". Even more of those who have heard about this story, that is, without reading the story, know the essence: “Is this about shod a flea? Well, they've heard a lot ... ". But it seems that the largest number of those who know the expression "shoe a flea", which means a very delicate skillful work, but do not know where this expression comes from. Now - attention! - a question to everyone who read and did not read the story "Lefty": what was the name of the lefty? Don't look at the book. What is the name and patronymic of the master famous throughout Russia? The question is a little provocative, but in the end you will get the point.

Let me remind you of some of the storylines of the story. The Russian tsar, who is in England and is interested in all sorts of foreign curiosities, is shown a metal flea, a kind of small speck that cannot be grasped by coarse male fingers, except perhaps to invite gentle girlish fingers for this purpose; and if you still lead a flea with a key "through the belly", then it will begin to dance "danse".

What a miracle! What sorcerers these English masters are! The king wanted to buy a flea. The impudent Englishmen with a blue eye asked for a million for her, yes in silver! We stepped in! The Cossack Platov, who was with the tsar, turned white with annoyance - a million for a minute's fun, ugh! Dissuades the tsar, says that in Russia Russian masters can do just as much miracles.
- You don’t spoil my politics! - the tsar answers Platov and pays a million to the British.
It's in Russian!

The British gave the flea, and asked for another five thousand for the case. This is already in English. Skvaligov! Platov began to argue, they say, the case was put in for the thing, but the tsar paid. Then Platov, out of resentment, imperceptibly stuck a small scope (microscope), (even a tuft of wool from a black sheep) to look at a flea enlarged - like a small scope is included in the kit for a flea.

In Russia, the flea was safely forgotten for many years, this is also in Russian, and only the new tsar, sorting out his father's things, discovered a strange box, the meaning of which no one understood. They found Platov, who at that time was already retired, and he explained that there was a steel flea in the case, which could dance if you wind it with a key through the "belly". The new tsar marveled at the art of English masters, and Platov says that Russian masters can still make a surprise. So let them do it, says the king, and orders Platov to do it.

Platov sought out craftsmen in the glorious city of Tula, who promised to create a miracle and, having prayed to God, set to work. Two weeks later, the Tula masters shod this flea, so small that you can't even pick it up with your fingers! And each foot was shod. And without any microscope - "... we shot it like that." Yes, not just shod, but on each smallest horseshoe was engraved with the name of the master, which can only be seen through the smallest small scope. And the left-hander forged carnations for horseshoes, which are much smaller than the horseshoes themselves.
These are the wizards of the Russian masters!

The king, when he found out what the Tula had done, was both surprised and proud of his subjects. He sent the flea back to England so that the British could see the skill of the Russians and not pry too much. And at the same time he sent a left-hander there to explain to the Englishmen what's what.

The British marveled at the skill of the Russian masters and kept asking the left-hander what sciences Russian masters were studying. And the left-hander says: "Our science is simple: according to the Psalms and according to Half-Dream, but we do not know arithmetic in the least ... We have it so everywhere."
Also in Russian!

The British liked the left-hander so much that they began to persuade him to stay in England, they promised a lot of money, they promised the most honorable position and the Englishwoman was economical to boot. But left-handed - not in any! And your faith is not like that, he says to the English, and you don’t know how to marry, and your English women don’t dress like that ... But our faith is fuller, and our gospel is thicker, and idolized icons, and grave heads and relics ... , dear, familiar. And our women "all in their lace."
- We, - he says, - are committed to our homeland, and my old man is already an old man, and my parent is an old woman and are used to going to church in her parish ...
How Russian it is!

Nothing is cute in a foreign land! Everything is wrong, everything is rough. Even sweet English tea is not sweet, and tea tastes better in our way. Home, home! In a word, "the British could not bring him down with anything, so that he would be seduced by their lives," as the author writes.

These pieces of text, which describe the aspiration of the left-hander to his homeland, you read with mute delight; you understand the master, approve - you would have done it yourself - and you love him, simple-minded, intelligent, your own, Russian.

Out of respect for the master, the British show the left-hander both cars, mechanisms, and all sorts of devices, and he looks at all this, he understands and pays attention to the guns, sticks his finger in the barrel. And then he understands one secret, very important in military affairs, and - that's it! I was in a hurry to get home, rather, rather, there is nothing to keep him! The secret must be conveyed to your own!

They sent him by steamer from England to Petersburg, and the left-hander did not even go down to the cabin - he sat on the upper deck and looked towards his homeland. For this, his English half-skipper began to respect and offered to drink. Then he offered a bet - to drink on an equal footing ... We drank, competed ... In short, two fools, a half-skipper and a left-hander, got drunk, only one devil had a redhead, and the other had a gray one. This is our way!

And in St. Petersburg, the honey-streaming legend ends and the leaden Russian everyday life begins. If a drunken Englishman was taken to the embassy house in St. in a police monkey house, if in a modern way, where the police (the sovereign's people) robbed him, took all the money, took his watch, took off his good-quality coat and then, unconscious and half-naked, drove him in the cold around the city, trying to attach him to the hospital. But in hospitals Levsha was not accepted, because he did not have a "tugament" (passport) - "until the morning he was dragged along all the distant curves and everything was transplanted so that he was beaten all over" and the back of his head "cracked (badly)." In short, in his homeland, where he was striving so much, the left-handed, heart-felt, tortured, tortured alive. And not even out of spite. More on carelessness, indifference and stupidity.
How Russian it is!

Before his death, the master managed to tell the doctor the secret that he understood in England:
- Tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks: let them not clean them here either, otherwise, God save the war, they are not good for shooting.
And this is in Russian! The left-hander thinks to the last about his homeland, about business, in spite of any abominations.

The doctor passed this information from the left-handed to the official, but due to official stupidity and cowardice, which is equal to meanness, the information never reached the king. Such are the eternal customs of the Russian bureaucracy. And then they lost the Crimean War. The shotguns were cleaned with bricks.

The ending of the story about the left-hander cannot be read without an inner shudder. A fierce hatred for the soullessness of the Russian state arises! Judge for yourself: the master was not seduced abroad, he strives for his own people, for his homeland, but not just aspires, but carries the most important military secret, and in his homeland the police (the sovereign's people) rob him, torture and actually kill him. So you can see how the left-hander is dragged by the legs up the stairs, and his head beats up the steps. Added to the brutality of the police is the gloomy indifference of the bureaucracy, when without some trashy piece of paper it is impossible to save a person and take a dying person to the hospital. Cynicism and heartlessness.

Over the past 150 years, nothing has fundamentally changed in the Russian state. The same indifference of bureaucrats is everywhere. None of the bosses need anything but their own self-interest. Official greed, laziness and cowardice.
And human life is worthless.
You are nobody and there is no way to call you.
The left-hander has no name.
No, and never has been.

A simple Tula artisan Levsha does not differ in any special characteristics. The man lives in his hometown, takes care of elderly parents and spends a lot of time doing what he loves. And even having received it is possible to radically change his own life, the hero does not betray the simple joys of life.

History of creation

In 1881, a story was published on the pages of the magazine "Rus" entitled "The Tale of the Tula scythe Lefty and the steel flea", the main idea of ​​which was set forth in the preface:

“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. "

Readers and critics took the last phrase literally, and the author of the story - - was accused of simply retelling a forgotten tale. In fact, the story about Lefty was written by Leskov himself.

A possible prototype for the protagonist was the artisan Alexei Mikhailovich Surnin. The man lived for two years in England, where he studied at a factory. After his return, Surnin trained Russian craftsmen and developed new tools for working with metals.

Over time, the name of the protagonist acquired a household name, and researchers and biographers recognized Leskov as the sole author of the patriotic "legend."

Plot

A man nicknamed Lefty lived in the city of Tula and became famous for his own metal works. The hero's appearance, like his skill, was outstanding:

"... there is a birthmark on the cheek, and on the temples the hairs were torn out during training ...".

It was to Levsha and two of his comrades that the Don Cossack Platov turned with the tsar's commission. Nikolai Pavlovich, who ascended the throne after, found in his brother's things a metal flea that the tsar brought from England.

Wanting to prove that no less skillful craftsmen are working in Russia, the monarch sent an old military man in search of the best craftsmen. The men are ordered to make such a curiosity out of metal that will amaze the British.

Having received orders from Platov, the best Tula artisans locked themselves in Lefty's house and spent several days at work. When the Don Cossack returned, he did not show due respect for the efforts of the masters. Platov, who decided that the peasants had conducted him, threw Lefty into the carriage and took the hero to the monarch.

At an audience with the tsar, the Cossack admitted that he had not fulfilled the instructions and brought one of the deceivers from Tula. decided to personally talk with the would-be master. Once in the royal chambers, Lefty, who was not used to talking with such high-ranking officials, explained to the emperor the idea of ​​the masters in popular terms.

The men shod a flea and engraved their own names on the horseshoes. Only Lefty's name was not listed there. The hero did the most delicate work - forging nails for horseshoes.

The Russian court admitted without a doubt that the master had golden hands. To wipe his nose to the British, the emperor decides to send the shod flea back and, along with an unusual gift, send Lefty abroad. So an incredible turn took place in the biography of a simple Tula blacksmith.

After washing the rural peasant and making the hero look more presentable, Platov sends Lefty abroad. In London, where the Russian delegation soon arrived, the skilled craftsman was regarded as an unprecedented miracle.

Local blacksmiths and other artisans asked the brave hero about education and experience. The left-hander admitted without hesitation that he did not even know the basics of arithmetic. Impressed by the talents of a simple Russian peasant, the British tried to lure the master over to their side.

But Lefty, loyal to his homeland and yearning for his parents who remained in Tula, refused the offer to move to England. The only thing the master agreed to was to stay in London to inspect the local factories and plants.

The British showed Lefty the latest craft wonders, but none of the new products impressed the hero. But the old guns aroused unreasonable interest in the Tula resident. After careful examination of the pistols, Lefty asked to go home.

Since the man did not know foreign languages, it was decided to send the artisan by sea. Quite quickly, Lefty found himself a friend - an English half-Squealer who spoke Russian. All the way to Russia, the hero was eaten by impatience. Something he saw in England interested Lefty so much that the man counted the minutes until an audience with the sovereign.

To pass the time, the half-squirter and the artisan decided to hold a competition. The men wanted to check who drinks whom. And by the time they went ashore, both characters were so drunk that they could not speak.

Already in Russia, the Englishman was immediately taken to the embassy, ​​and Lefty, who had forgotten his documents back in Tula, was thrown out on the street. A mortally drunk artisan suffered for a long time on the cold road until the unfortunate man was picked up and taken to the hospital.

The hero was robbed and dropped many times while he was taken to a hospital that receives patients without documents. By the time high-ranking officials became aware of Lefty's adventures, the Tula craftsman had died. The only thing that the hero managed to say to the healer before his death:

"Tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks: let them not clean them here either, otherwise, God forbid, they are not good for shooting."

But no one listened to the advice of an experienced master.

Films and productions

On the territory of the USSR, Leskov's story was perceived as a work for children. It is not surprising that the first film adaptation of the work is an animated film. In 1964 the premiere of the cartoon "Lefty" took place. The text of the story is read by the actor.

In 1986, based on Leskov's story, the film "Lefty" was shot. The filming process took a long time, and the most ambitious scenes were filmed in the Great Palace of Gatchina. The role of the craftsman was played by Nikolai Stotsky.

In 2013, the story of a skilled master served as the basis for an opera work. He was the author of the music for "Levsha". The part of the main character was written especially for the tenor.

Quotes

"Burn yourself, but we have no time."

“If the sovereign wants to see me, I must go; and if there is no tugament with me, then I have not been inflicted on it and I will tell you why it happened like that. "

"This is the only way to notice our work: then everything will be surprised."

"We are poor people and because of our poverty we do not have our own small scope, but we have aimed our eyes like that."

People with a dominant left hand, in other words, left-handers, have always been born. In ancient times, left-handers were considered sorcerers and witches, because they often possessed extraordinary abilities. And such people were burned at the stake. In ancient Russia, left-handers were not allowed to testify in court. The devil was believed to be left-handed.

Fortunately, times have changed, and it has long been known that magic plays no role here. The left-handed person is already being born. Nature created us asymmetrical. Our brain chooses which hand will be dominant. If the right hemisphere of the brain is more developed, then the left hand becomes active, and on the contrary, if the left hemisphere is more developed, then the right hand will be the main hand.

We have selected 5 of the most interesting facts from the life of left-handers:

- Left-handed people are very gifted people who have extraordinary abilities or have some kind of bright talent. For example, the scientist Albert Einstein, the Roman emperor Guy Julius Caesar, the writer Leo Tolstoy, the artist Pablo Picasso, the actress Marilyn Monroe - they were all left-handed. But still, modern psychologists believe that a person's genius does not depend on which hand he has dominant. But left-handed and right-handed thinking is different. And this remains a fact.

- Lefties - people are more creative, active, they do not sit still, they swallow information whole. But here they may have problems with logic... Left-handers are able to grasp information on the fly, they see the whole problem, right-handers need to sort everything out. If a pure left-hander has difficulties with mathematical problems, then it will be easier for him to explain the material in images. Right-handers, on the other hand, prefer logic. They make good analysts and great strategists.

- Statistics indicate that there are many left-handers among successful athletes. Tennis player Rafael Nadal, footballer Pele. Tennis player Martina Navratilova, who is left-handed, held the title of the first racket of the world for nine years. It was an absolute record.

Statistics show that 40 percent of gold medals are won by left-handed athletes.

There are not so many pure left-handers in the world of people. In the animal kingdom, the opposite is true. There are more left-handers. For example, monkeys and polar bears have a stronger left paw. But, as an exception, right-footed ones are also found in the world of fauna, although much less often.

The other side of the coin is that left-handers are more likely to suffer from schizophrenia and alcoholism. However, scientists from different countries disagree about this extraordinary fact.

In order to determine who your child is, you can conduct a simple test. To begin with, we will define the main hand - for this, ask the child to lock the hands in the lock. Which finger is on top - that hand will be the leading one. You can also fold your hands in front of you in the Napoleon's pose (clasp your hands with each other in front of your chest), if the right hand is on top, then it is the main one for the child. Now let's try to identify the leading ear. Ask your child to listen to the ticking of a wristwatch. Whatever ear he reaches for them, then he will be dominant. In order to determine the active eye, you need to make a small round hole in a sheet of paper and ask the child to look into it. Which eye looks into this hole, that one will be the main one. Finally, you can check the child's leg. Just ask him to cross his legs. The leg that will be on top will be the leading one.

If the child did everything left-handed, then in front of you is a pure left-hander, of which there are no more than 10 percent on our planet. And the net right-handers are about 45 percent. If, when performing the test, "left" and "right" are mixed, then your child is a hidden left-hander, there are about 50 percent of such people. There are also ambidexters. There are very few of them. These are people in whom both hands function equally well and the leader does not stand out. Such people have the ability to use both hemispheres at once. Ambidextrous children are better at assimilating new information, more intelligent, and easier to adapt to new conditions. When raising such a child, it must be borne in mind that if both hemispheres of the brain teach a heavy load, then the child may develop neurasthenia, he will be very tired, and headaches may occur.

To avoid this, you need to try to reduce the load on the left hemisphere, which is responsible for intellectual development and logic, and instead develop more on the right hemisphere, which is responsible for creativity. For example, instead of additional math classes, take your child to drawing, dancing, you can enroll your child in a music school. Then the child's brain will not experience excessive stress.

But our world is more suited for right-handers, since they are still the majority. For example, if you take a store. In all supermarkets, the movement along the sales area is counterclockwise. This was invented to make it easier for right-handed customers to put the goods in the basket. The more goods are taken, the faster the store's sales grow.

Marketing move. Sports stadiums follow the same principle. Athletes run counterclockwise around the stadium so that when cornering, the active right foot can keep the runner from falling. Turnstiles in the subway are suitable for right-handers, as well as an opening for a hand in a sewing machine. For left-handers, we managed to find only stationery - scissors, sharpeners, rulers with a mirror scale. And while the rest of the left-handers have to cope on their own.