Nikolai Semenovich Leskov lived and died as an incomprehensible and unrecognized writer. His literary biography was extremely unsuccessful. A huge talent, which he himself was well aware of, and next - complete rejection by both right and left critics. It was they who created the opinion of N.S. Leskov as an unimportant writer.
Literary activity (briefly)
Initially, N. Leskov was published in “Domestic Notes”, in a large prominent magazine, which was published for almost 70 years. Under the direction of A.A. Kraevsky magazine adopted a Western liberal orientation, and later, when it was owned by N.A. Nekrasov and M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin - a revolutionary democratic direction. Leskov did not approve of extremes, and critics of all stripes beat him both on the left and on the right. The left, after the novel “Nowhere”, attributed N. Leskov anti-democratic views. The right (A.A. Katkov) after the novel "On the Knives" demanded greater adaptation to their interests. A. N.S. Leskov wanted to work freely, without pointers. No one was going to like him. And it was published by small, inconspicuous publications. The writer died in the arms of his son in complete oblivion. L. Tolstoy called him "our Russian writer," but that was after the death of N. Leskov. In 1881, one short story again attracted for some time ambiguous attention to the writer. She had a very unusual genre. The “Lefty” is filled with such a masterly possession of the word that it was received with fervor, if not irony.
History of the work
In 1881, a new novel by the writer was published in three issues of the journal Rus. And in 1882 - a separate book after a series of revisions. Flushed and essence were pointed, but the genre has not changed. Lefty is a tragic work. It we will consider in this article.
The work is accompanied by jokes and jokes, a distortion of words, but this is a conditional genre. “Left-hander” is a story heard by N. Leskov from an old gunsmith, a native of Tula, in Sestroretsk. Where the fable started about the competition between our masters and the English is unknown. But, apparently, she came either from Tula, or from Izhma, or from Sestroretsk. In any case, the tale (genre) "Left-handed" disgraces foreigners with their skills. This is the pride of our Russian gunsmiths. In the same story, one of the reasons for our failures in the Crimean War is revealed.
Folk mythology
The story "Lefty" genre has a very original. Its peculiarity is that it is not always clear which person it is from. But from the very beginning, the language is painted very peculiarly. This is typical of Leskov in general. His language in all works is virtuoso and weaves magical lace from words. In “Lefty”, due to the plot used, it is colored by humor and tragedy.
The writer, according to readers, tells a folk story. For almost thirty years she was supplemented by rumors and speculation. The writer says that earlier no one had heard of the Lefthander (the main character and his affairs), that this was completely his invention. Such a hoax was needed so that the writer was as if not involved in the story “Left-handed”. The genre of the work required just such an approach.
Visit of Sovereign Alexander I to England
The first three chapters tell how the emperor after the Vienna Congress visited foreign countries, accompanied by a true patriot, the chieftain of the Don Cossacks Platov. The British most of all tried to prove that they are superior to the Russian people in everything. In their Kunstkamera, the British showed various military devices. Especially outstanding was the pistol of an unknown master. Alexander gasped and wondered at everything.
Platov took out a screwdriver, turned the lock in his pistol, and under it was an inscription that it was made by a Russian master in Tula. The British were terribly embarrassed and showed into the small-scope a clockwork flea that was dancing a quadrille. The sovereign bought it for a lot of money, and Platov deeply angered at heart. So begins the story of Leskov. Lefty, whose genre is already determined by speech techniques, will continue to operate in Russia.
How a flea got to Tula, and then to Petersburg
How long, how short the time flew, but the chieftain Platov brought the flea to Tula and ordered the most skilled craftsmen to surpass the skill of the English. Platov went to the Don, and on the way back he decided to pick up what the craftsmen would do. After praying, they set to work in great secrecy. Only it was heard how hammers were tapping. Returning from the Don, Platov took the box with a flea. He saw that she was exactly the same as she was. The chieftain was angry and took an oblique Lefty with him.
Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich examined it with a small scope and saw that she was only lying and moving her mustache. They dragged Lefty by the whirlwinds, and he explained that the flea should be looked into the strongest small scope. He looked at Nikolai Pavlovich and saw horseshoes on each flea's foot. He hugged the dirty master, kissed and ordered to send to England. If you ask: “What is the genre of“ Lefty ”story?”, Then we can answer that in style
it is a tale. In fact, the work of the masters was done by the most skillful, but completely meaningless. This is a plot tale device, which in addition has a very unusual coloring of words.
In England and again in St. Petersburg
In London, they examined a flea and wrote slander about it (a combination of two words: feuilleton and slander). They began to persuade Lefty to stay, but he, having examined their weapons factories, was eager to return to his homeland.
On the ship, the Lefthander and the subscriber arranged a competition - whoever gets drunk, and when the ship docked in the St. Petersburg harbor, the drunk Lefty was taken to the police station, and then they were taken to the hospital for the poorest in the cold.
When Lefty was dying, his last words were: “Tell the sovereign that the guns should not be cleaned with bricks. From this they are not suitable for shooting. " With these words he died. But they did not pass on his words to the tsar - there is nothing left-handed to interfere in state affairs.
N. Leskov concludes his tale with the words that one should not forget such traditions in which the national spirit is deeply captured. The popular story was told by Leskov ("Lefty"). Genre Writing called a tale. He is very stylized, but has a very serious theme, patriotic and bitter, like so much more that the master of the word N. S. wrote. Leskov.