What folklore images are reflected in the left-hander. Leskov N. Levsha, Folklore traditions in the work of one of the Russian writers of the 19th century. (N.S. Leskov. “Left-handed.”). Individual traits in the image of the Tula master

The topic of patriotism was often raised in works of Russian literature late XIX century. But only in the story “Lefty” is it connected with the idea of ​​the need careful attitude to 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 in October 1881 under the title “The Tale of the Tula Lefty and the steel flea(Workshop legend)." The idea for Leskov’s creation of the work was the popular joke that the British made a flea, and the Russians “shod it and 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 authenticity to the narrative, in in this case did Leskov a disservice. Critics and the reading public literally took the writer’s words, and subsequently he had to specifically explain that he was, after all, the author, and not a reteller of the work.

Description of the work

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

(The Emperor examines the savvy flea with difficulty and interest)

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 steel flea that can “drive with its antennae” and “switch with its legs.” The gift was intended to show the superiority of English masters over Russians. 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 masters, among them Lefty, who managed to shoe a flea and put the name of the master on each horseshoe. The left-handed man did not leave his name, because he forged nails, and “no small scope can take it there.”

(But the guns at court were cleaned the old fashioned way.)

Lefty was sent to England with a “savvy nymphosoria” so that they would understand that “this is not surprising to us.” The British were amazed by the jewelry work and invited the master to stay and showed him everything they had learned. Lefty could do everything himself. He was struck only by the condition of the gun barrels - they were not cleaned with crushed bricks, so the shooting accuracy from such guns was high. Lefty began to get ready to go home, he urgently needed to tell the Emperor about the guns, otherwise “God bless the war, they are not suitable for shooting.” Out of melancholy, Lefty drank all the way with his English friend “half-skipper”, fell ill and upon arrival in Russia found himself near death. But before last minute life tried to convey to the generals the secret of cleaning guns. And if Lefty’s words had been brought to the attention of the Emperor, then, as he writes,

Main characters

Among the heroes of the story there are fictional and real personalities who existed in history, among them: two Russian emperors, Alexander I and Nicholas I, ataman of the Don Army M.I. Platov, prince, Russian intelligence agent 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 peculiarity - he worked with his left hand. Leskov's Lefty had a prototype - Alexey Mikhailovich Surnin, who worked as a gunsmith, studied in England and, after returning, passed on the secrets of the business to Russian craftsmen. It is no coincidence that the author did not give the hero given name, leaving the common noun - Lefty is one of those depicted in different works the type of righteous person, with their self-denial and sacrifice. The hero's personality has pronounced national traits, but the type was created to be universal, international.

It is not for nothing that the hero’s only friend, about whom the story is told, is a representative of a different nationality. This is a sailor from the English ship Polskipper, who did his “comrade” Lefty a disservice. To dispel the longing of his Russian friend for his homeland, Polskipper made a bet with him that he would outdrink Lefty. Large quantity drinking vodka became the cause of the illness and then the death of the yearning hero.

Lefty's patriotism is contrasted with the false commitment to the interests of the Fatherland of the other heroes of the story. Emperor Alexander I is embarrassed in front of the British when Platov points out to him that Russian craftsmen can do things just as well. Nicholas I's sense of patriotism is mixed with personal vanity. And the brightest “patriot” in Platov’s story is such only abroad, and upon arriving home, he becomes a cruel and rude serf owner. 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 differs in genre and narrative originality. It resembles the genre of a Russian fairy tale, based on a legend. There is a lot of fantasy and fabulousness in it. There are also direct references to the plots of Russian fairy tales. So, the emperor first hides the gift in a nut, which he then puts in a golden snuff box, and the latter, in turn, hides in a travel box, almost the same way as the fabulous Kashchei hides a needle. In Russian fairy tales, tsars are traditionally described with irony, just as in Leskov's story both emperors are presented.

The idea of ​​the story is the fate and place in the state of a talented master. The entire 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 brutally destroys talent, as if it were a useless, ubiquitous weed.

Another ideological theme the work became a contrast between real patriotism folk hero the vanity of characters from the upper classes 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 do not give themselves the trouble to make life in the country better. This consumer attitude leads to the fact that at the end of the work the state loses another talent, which was sacrificed to the vanity of first 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 wording made it possible to parse the story into quotes that were widely circulated among the people.

Composition

1. The best features of the Russian people are Lefty.
2. The hero’s originality and talent.
3. Lefty's patriotism.
4. The tragedy of the image.

Leskov is a most original Russian writer, alien to any outside influences. Reading his books, you feel Rus' better...
M. Gorky

N. S. Leskov based his famous tale “Lefty” on a folk joke about how “the British made a flea out of steel, and our Tula people shod it and sent it back to them.”

With the power of artistic imagination, the writer created the image of a talented hero-nugget. Lefty is the embodiment of natural Russian talent, hard work, patience and cheerful good nature. The image of Lefty embodied the best features of the Russian people: intelligence, modesty, originality. How many are unknown to anyone? craftsmen it was in Rus'!

The whole story is imbued with a feeling of deep patriotism. Undoubtedly important point is the fact that “Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich was very confident in his Russian people, and did not like to yield to any foreigner.” This is what he told the Cossack Platov, ordering him to convey it to the Tula craftsmen: “Tell them from me that my brother was surprised at this thing and praised the strangers who made the ciliates most of all, but I hope for my own people that they are no worse than anyone. They won’t take my word, they’ll do something.”

Before any big or small matter in Rus', people always asked for God's blessing. And the craftsmen in Leskov’s story pray in front of the icon of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of trade and military affairs. The strict secret under which they did their work suggests that the Russian people did not like to flaunt themselves. The main thing for them was to get the job done, not to disgrace their working honor. We tried to scare them, as if the house next door was on fire, but nothing would stop these cunning masters. Once only Lefty stuck out up to his shoulders and shouted: “Burn yourself, but we have no time.” The sad thing is that many such nuggets of Russia lived in a terrible situation of trampled human dignity. And, unfortunately, the “anarchic-intoxicated element” had power over many of them, aggravating their already sad situation. Any tyrant could inadvertently, through negligence, indifference, or simply stupidity, ruin a talent. The submission of Lefty, taken away from God knows where native land without “tugament” he sadly talks about this. “The masters only dared to say to him on behalf of his comrade, how can you take him away from us without any tugment? It will be impossible to follow him back!” But the answer to them was only Platov’s fist. And this humility, combined with self-esteem, confidence in one’s skillful hands, and genuine modesty is clearly reflected by Leskov in the character of Lefty.

His answer to Platov, when he, without understanding, beats him and pulls his hair, evokes respect: “I already had all my hair torn out during my studies, but now I don’t know why I need such repetition?” And confident in his work, he further says with dignity: “We are very pleased that you vouched for us, and we didn’t spoil anything: take a look through the strongest microscope.”

Lefty is not ashamed to appear before the sovereign himself in his “old little house”, whose collar is torn. There is no servility or servility in him. The natural simplicity with which he answers the sovereign without embarrassment surprises the nobles, but all their nods and hints about how to deal with the sovereign in a courtly manner with flattery and cunning lead nowhere. The sovereign himself says: “Leave him... let him answer as best he can.” With this Leskov once again emphasizes that the main thing in a person is not appearance and manners (anyone can be dressed and taught manners), but his talent, his ability to bring benefit and joy to people. After all, it was Lefty who interested the British, and not the courier, although he “had a rank and was learned in various languages.”

Lefty's patriotism, even in its naive simplicity, evokes sincere sympathy and respect. It is constantly emphasized by the author: “We are all committed to our homeland,” “I have parents at home,” “Our Russian faith is the most correct, and as our forefathers believed, our descendants should believe the same.” The British even poured him tea out of respect, “in Russian style, with a bite of sugar.” And what they offered to Lefty, appreciating his talent and inner dignity, but “the British could not bring him down, so that he would be seduced by them...”.

His longing for his homeland is all the stronger because no comforts, amenities, or innovations could keep Lefty in a foreign land: “As they left the buffet into the Solid Earth Sea, his desire for Russia became such that it was impossible to calm him down...” And what could be more annoying, more deplorable and more absurd than Lefty’s behavior on the ship when returning from England? The “anarchic-intoxicated element” played a tragic role in his fate.

The fate of the hero Leskov is deeply tragic. With what indifference he was greeted in his homeland! Lefty dies senselessly and unknown, as often happened in Russian history, amazing talents perished, neglected by their contemporaries and bitterly mourned by their descendants. “They were transporting Lefty so uncovered, and when they transferred him from one cab to another, they would drop everything, but when they picked him up, they would tear his ears so that he would remember. They brought him to one hospital - they wouldn’t admit him without a certificate, they brought him to another - and they wouldn’t admit him there, and so on to the third, and to the fourth - until the very morning they dragged him along all the remote crooked paths and kept changing them, so that he was completely beaten.” Being already near death, Lefty thinks not about his life, but about his Fatherland and asks to convey to the sovereign what struck him most about the British: “Tell the sovereign that the British don’t clean their guns with bricks, even if they don’t clean ours, but then God bless war, they are not suitable for shooting.”

The tale of Lefty, who shod a steel flea, soon after it was written became a legend in Russia, and the hero himself became a symbol amazing art folk craftsmen, a genuine type of Russian folk character, his amazing spiritual simplicity, inner human dignity, talent, patience and honesty. The writer himself agreed with the general idea of ​​the reviewer of “New Time” that “where “left-handed” stands, one should read “Russian people.”

Other works on this work

We are presenting a report by a student of the 10th humanities class at the Topaler Readings 2015.

Zhirnova Sasha. Features of the story by N.S. Leskov “Lefty” and its film adaptations

(before the start of the report, a cartoon is displayed on the screen from the beginning until 00:25 sec)

Introduction

Many of us must have been familiar with this old soviet cartoon based on the story "Lefty". However, even those who have carefully read Leskov’s story are unlikely to think about how accurately this seemingly simple film adaptation conveys the main features of not only Leskov’s work, but also the entire so-called “folk epic”.

Features of the genre

To reveal characteristic features story “Lefty”, first of all, one should turn to the genre of the tale in which the story is written. A tale is a genre with a focus on the spoken word (that is, the recreation or imitation of speech), or a genre in which the narrator and the author do not coincide. Most likely, “Lefty” belongs to the second type of tale, which explains the need to publish a preface to the story: “Of course, the preface was obvious literary device, designed to justify the introduction of a personified narrator, a bearer of a special speech structure, that is, to motivate the tale narrative form of the story" (E.L. Beznosov, ""The Tale of the Tula Left-Hander..." as folk epic»: ).

In a cartoon, unlike a story, the separation of author and narrator is not so obvious, because although they speak in different languages, compositionally, the author’s speech is in no way separated from the narrator’s speech and begins almost immediately after it.

(here you need to show the cartoon from 40:50 minutes to the end)

However, we should not forget that the tale is not the only genre to which the story “Lefty” belongs. Leskov does not fit into the “mainstream” of Russian literature of his time at all - there are no so-called “big ideas” in his works, he is interested in an anecdote, which he writes about in his “Literary Explanation”, published after readers, having read the preface, in which said that the author heard the story about Lefty from an old Tula master, they began to reproach Leskov for the fact that his role in the story was purely shorthand. “As for the most knowledgeable English flea from Tula, this is not a legend at all, but a short joke or joke, like the “German monkey”, which “the German invented, but she couldn’t sit down (she kept jumping), and the Moscow furrier took her tail sewn on, - she sat down.” In this monkey and in the flea there is even the same idea and the same tone, in which there is perhaps much less boasting than gentle irony over his ability to improve any overseas cunning,” he writes.

So what is a joke? First of all, this is an intricate story that does not pretend to be plausible, which is clearly reflected in the story, where there is a lot of implausibility: from anachronisms (Platov’s arrival in St. Petersburg, mentioned in the story, could not have happened before 1826, while Platov died already in 1818, which Leskov certainly knew about) to the fairy-tale elements, which will be discussed below.

Popular print tradition

Speaking about a joke in Russian literary tradition, it is impossible not to recall lubok, or lubok pictures, which were very popular among the third estate in the period from the 18th to the 19th centuries. Distinctive feature Such pictures were characterized by the simplicity of the drawing technique and composition, as well as, depending on the genre, the instructiveness or intricacy of the depicted plot.

(here you need to show several examples of popular prints, for example: “Mice are burying a cat”, “Battle of Kulikovo”:).

The creators of the cartoon very accurately captured the spirit of the story, as if it had come out of one of these popular prints, and filmed “Lefty” in exactly this style.

(here you can turn on the cartoon in one place and compare the image with popular prints)

Epic

But, in my opinion, the most important thing in the cartoon is not even the reproduction of popular print tradition, but the preservation and correct presentation of the features of the folklore-epic genre, which are noticeable here almost more than in the original story.

This applies, for example, to the character and image of the heroes, as A.A. wrote about. Gorelov: “The overturning of the entire Russian historical world into the folklore sphere gave the characters of Leskov’s tale those features that make it possible to see in each owner of a real-historical name not a genuine figure of history, but a certain oral-folk version of his activity, to imply behind each name some kind of merit deserved by its bearer in history, among the people, a reputation, an idea accepted and spread by general rumor.” First of all, we should remember the image of Ataman Platov, who “when he heard that there was such unrest in the palace, he now rose from his couch and appeared to the sovereign in all orders.”

(here you need to show an episode from the cartoon where Platov arrives in St. Petersburg, 13:10)

In the same article, E.L. Beznosov writes: “Platov’s continuous lying on the “annoying couch” and equally endless smoking of a pipe speaks of the same kind of [supernatural] abilities for an incredibly long time from the everyday point of view. This indicates that the narrator of the story about the left-hander puts it in folklore forms, as if he thinks in clichéd folklore images.” These folklore images include Platov’s extraordinary way of riding, which is also reflected in the cartoon.

(episode with a trip to Tula, 14:30)

No less important is the image of a jewel stored in several containers, which can be found in many folk tales and epics (for example, we all remember the fairy tale about Koshchei the Immortal).

(episode with buying a flea, 9:57)

Bottom line

All these and many other features of the story, reflected in the film adaptation, serve one purpose, and this purpose is not to humiliate the Russian people, as some thought, and not to flatter them, as others thought, but to explore (namely explore) the amazing Russian character depicted not even in the nameless left-handed master, but in the epic nature of the narrative, which is created in the cartoon with the help of detail, general style and adherence to Russian traditions.

The image of the Russian people in the tale “Lefty” by N. S. Leskov

In most of the works of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov, a special folk type of hero is depicted - a man, a bearer of high moral qualities, a righteous man. These are the characters in the works “The Enchanted Wanderer”, “The Man on the Clock” and others. Leviticus - main character“The Tale of the Tula Oblique Left-Hander and the Steel Flea” is one such image.

Outwardly, the left-hander is modest and unattractive. He is oblique, “there is a birthmark on his cheek, and the hair on his temples was torn out during training.” He is poorly dressed, “one trouser leg is in a boot, the other is dangling, and the collar is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are lost, and the collar is torn.” Platov is even ashamed to show his left-hander to the Tsar. He is uneducated and inexperienced in communicating with noble people.

But this person turns out to be the only positive hero of the work. He does not see a big problem in his own ignorance, but not because he is stupid. Length common man there is something more important than one’s own person. “We are not advanced in science, but only faithfully devoted to our fatherland,” - this is how the left-hander answers the surprised Englishmen who noticed his ignorance.

Lefty - true patriot of his fatherland. He does not speak loud words about love for his homeland. However, he never agrees to stay in England, although he is promised all sorts of benefits. "We<…>committed to their homeland,” is his answer.

Lefty, being a skilled craftsman, does not boast of his talent. Inspecting the factories and workshops of the British, he sincerely praised the guns, recognizing their superiority: “This<…>There is no example against ours.” Once in Europe, the left-hander does not get lost. He behaves confidently, with dignity, but without arrogance. The innate culture of a simple person evokes respect.

The life of a left-handed person is full of difficulties. But he does not despair, does not complain about fate, but tries to live as best he can, and resignedly endures Plato’s lawlessness when he takes him to St. Petersburg without a passport. This speaks of such folk traits as life wisdom and patience.

Leskov portrays to readers one of the best representatives of the people, a simple Russian man with excellent moral qualities. But at the same time, a left-handed person is susceptible to the main Russian vice - drunkenness. He could not refuse numerous invitations from the British to drink. Illness, drunkenness, a difficult return home by sea, lack of medical care, indifference of others - all this destroyed the left-hander.

Leskov admires the left-handed man, admires his talent and spiritual beauty, sympathizes with him hard fate. The image drawn by the writer is a symbol of the Russian people, strong, talented, but unnecessary to their own government.

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Leskov N. S.

An essay on a work on the topic: Folklore traditions in the work of one of the Russian writers of the 19th century. (N. S. Leskov. “Left-handed.”)

Few nineteenth-century writers made such extensive use of folklore and folk traditions in his creativity. Deeply believing in the spiritual power of the people, he is nevertheless far from idealizing them, from creating idols, from “idol liturgy for the peasant,” using Gorky’s expression. The writer explained his position by the fact that he “studied the people not from conversations with St. Petersburg cab drivers”, but “grew up among the people” and that “it was not appropriate for him to either raise the people on stilts or put them under his feet.”
Confirmation of the writer’s objectivity can be “The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea,” which was assessed at one time by critics as “a set of clownish expressions in the style of ugly foolishness” (A. Volynsky). Unlike other fairy tale works by Leskov, the narrator from the folk environment does not have specific features. This anonymous person speaks on behalf of an indefinite multitude, as its unique mouthpiece. There are always various rumors among the people, passed on from mouth to mouth and in the process of such transmission acquire all sorts of conjectures, assumptions, and new details. The legend is created by the people, and it appears in “Lefty” that it is so freely created, embodying the “voice of the people.”
It is interesting that in the first printed editions Leskov introduced the following preface to the story: “I wrote down this legend in Sestroretsk according to a local tale from an old gunsmith, a Tula native, who moved to the Sister River during the reign of Emperor Alexander the First. The narrator two years ago was still in good forces and in fresh memory; he readily recalled the old days, greatly honored Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, lived “according to the old faith,” read divine books and bred canaries.” The abundance of “reliable” details left no room for doubt, but everything turned out to be true. a literary hoax, which was soon exposed by the author himself: “...I composed this whole story in the month of May last year, and Lefty is a person I made up.” Leskov will return to the question of the fictional nature of Lefty more than once, and in his lifetime collected works he will remove the “preface” completely. Leskov needed this very hoax to create the illusion that the author was not involved in the content of the tale.
However, with all the outward simplicity of the narrative, this story by Leskov also has a “double bottom.” Embodying popular ideas about Russian autocrats, military leaders, about people of another nation, about themselves, the simple-minded narrator knows nothing about what the author who created him thinks about the same thing. But Leskov’s “secret writing” makes it possible to clearly hear the author’s voice. And this voice will tell that the rulers are alienated from the people, neglecting their duty to them, that these rulers are accustomed to power, which does not need to be justified by the presence of its own merits, that it is not the supreme power that is concerned with the honor and fate of the nation, but ordinary Tula men. They protect the honor and glory of Russia and constitute its hope.
However, the author will not hide the fact that the Tula craftsmen, who managed to shoe the English flea, essentially ruined the mechanical toy, because “they were not good at science,” that they, “deprived of the opportunity to make history, made jokes.”
England and Russia (Oryol region, Tula, St. Petersburg, Penza), Revel and Merrekul, the Ukrainian village of Peregudy - such is the “geography” of Leskov’s stories and tales in just one book. People different nations Here they enter into the most unexpected connections and relationships. The “truly Russian person” sometimes puts foreigners to shame, sometimes he finds himself dependent on their “system.” Finding the universal in life different nations and trying to understand the present and future of Russia in connection with the course of historical processes in Europe, Leskov was at the same time clearly aware of the uniqueness of his country. At the same time, he did not fall into the extremes of Westernism and Slavophilism, but maintained the position of objective artistic research. How did a “through-and-through Russian” writer and a man who passionately loved Russia and his people manage to find a measure of such objectivity? The answer lies in Leskov’s work itself.
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