Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831-1895) - the famous Russian writer. Many of his works are in school. Explore one of the most famous stories of the writer will help a brief summary. Leskov wrote The Old Genius in 1884, and in the same year the story was published in the Fragments magazine. Then it was reprinted many times.
Chapter one
In it, we get acquainted with an elderly woman, we learn that she came to St. Petersburg on a “blatant case”. The old woman was kind and somehow felt sorry for the son of an unfamiliar woman, giving him money in debt.
The young man had a difficult situation - either he lost money in cards, or because of a passing hobby he lost his money. He told the old woman that he needed to somehow get to Peter. She felt sorry for the man and gave him a loan.
But he was in no hurry to give them away, on the contrary, he pretended not to receive those letters in which the woman asked to pay him a debt. At first the messages were soft, but because the debtor did not answer, they became more severe. However, this did not lead to anything.
And in the care of my grandmother was a sick daughter and a young granddaughter. In order to lend then, the old woman mortgaged her house, and now the family consisting of only women was in danger - they could lose their homes and stay on the street. This is a summary. Leskov wrote The Old Genius in five chapters, then we move on to the second.
Second chapter
We learn from it that the lawyer won the case, and the court decided to repay the debt. But the positive news ended, because the man was skillfully hiding, and he had a powerful relative. Therefore, no one wanted to mess with him.
Representatives of the law, state people sympathized with the grandmother, they said that they feel sorry for her, but let her leave this empty idea. The woman was sincerely perplexed, she knew that he was not a poor man and could well repay a debt.
They explained to her that he took the money not only from her, but was not used to giving it away. Representatives of the law hinted to the supplicant that he could cause trouble if she did not calm down. They said that it was better for her to walk quietly along Nevsky Prospekt or to go home. But she believed that the debtor is a good person, he just "got the hell out of it."
The woman was told that she could go with her business to the higher authorities. This she did. A brief summary will also tell about this. "Old genius" - Leskov so called one intelligent person. Whom, you will learn about this later.
Third chapter
It begins with the fact that a middle-aged woman went to the higher authorities, only this did not lead to a positive result. There she was told that they did not know where the wanted person was. The old woman said in which man a house can be, they objected to her, saying that this was his wife’s house, and she did not answer for her husband’s debts, and he didn’t live there.
An elderly woman did not know what to do. Then she began to hint that she would give one or even three thousand rubles in gratitude when the debtor was found. But this did not help either.
In this chapter we learn about one of the main characters of the story, which for the time being remained in the shadows. A brief summary will tell about him. "Old genius" - Leskov so named this person, and why - it will soon become clear.
The woman told the interlocutor, on behalf of whom the narrative was being conducted, that one person was taking up the case. He called himself Ivan Ivanovich and assured that for 500 rubles he could take the debt. The old woman decided to think, but it was no longer possible to put off, and why, he writes about this later in his work Leskov (“The Old Genius”). A summary will notify you immediately.
Chapter Four
Her storyteller begins with the fact that an old woman came to him. She was saddened by the news that Christmas was approaching, and the mortgaged house would soon be sold. Another elderly woman said that she saw a debtor who went arm in arm with a woman. The old woman hurried after the couple, started screaming that the man owed her. However, no one helped her, on the contrary, they told her that you can not scream in a crowded place. While they sorted it out, the man and his companion left.
But an elderly woman managed to find out that tomorrow this dandy with a rich lady is going abroad, most likely, forever. Therefore, it was necessary to act immediately.
It turns out that she had already met with Ivan Ivanovich, gave him a deposit of 100 rubles and promised to bring another 400. But the old woman did not have the whole amount. She had only 250 rubles, and 150 asked the storyteller, saying that she would definitely return them.
He was also a kind man, thought that even if a woman could not give this money away, he would not become impoverished. That was Leskov himself. The "Old Genius" (the contents of this story in summary, you are reading now) proceeds to the next episode.
This chapter ends with the fact that the narrator, having given the money, began to look forward to a denouement of events. What ended the case, will tell a further summary. Leskov wrote the “Old Genius” chapter by chapter; the exposition in the reduction follows the same structure.
Chapter 5 final
It was the third day of the Christmas holidays. The old woman, as the author says, “flew” to him in a traveling dress and immediately gave 150 rubles, and then showed a check for 15 thousand. The narrator realized that everything ended well, but wanted to know the details.
The woman said that she met with Ivan Ivanovich, he said that you need to go look for the “Serbian fighter”. So the author speaks of a man, a participant in the wars of Serbia with Turkey. Not immediately, but they found this person, then they discussed everything.
The next morning, the trio went to the station, from which the debtor was leaving abroad. The old woman pointed out to Ivan Ivanovich who was the cause of her misfortunes, they hid, and a former military man entered the arena of theatrical performance.
Several times he slowly walked past the debtor who was drinking tea, and then asked sternly why he was looking at him like that. The warrior provoked a scandal, hit the dandy. The police approached them. After identifying the personalities, the policeman showed the paper, because of which the debtor could not go abroad. It was a court decision. He quickly paid the debt with interest. This story ended so well.
Leskov, “Old Genius”: the characters of the story (positive)
There are several of them. Of course, this is a persistent and courageous old woman who went to St. Petersburg to save herself, her daughter and granddaughter. Otherwise, they would lose their homes. The narrator is also the hero of the work, since without him 150 rubles it would hardly have ended so well. Clever Ivan Ivanovich, to whom Leskov gave the nickname “Genius”, “Serbian fighter” are also goodies in the story.