Chapter 1
Russian Emperor Alexander decided to travel around European countries to see the wonders of technology and weapons. The Don Cossack Platov traveled with him. The Emperor was surprised at the overseas masters, but Platov did not admire anything. He was sure that there were curiosities at home and no worse than those overseas. The British invited the sovereign to the armory of the Kunstkamera. They wanted to show that the Russians can’t do anything and are no good. Upset, Platov drank vodka and went to bed, deciding that the morning was wiser than the evening.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 13 – summary
They took Lefty to the Tsar - exactly what he was wearing: one trouser leg was in his boot, the other was dangling, and the leg was old, the hooks did not fasten, and the collar was torn. Lefty bowed, and Nikolai Pavlovich asked him: what did they do with the flea in Tula? Lefty explained that a flea needs to be examined under a microscope at every heel it steps on. As soon as the Tsar looked at the flea's heel, he beamed all over - he took Lefty, how unkempt and dusty he was, unwashed, hugged him and kissed him, announcing to the courtiers:
– I knew that my Russians would not deceive me. Look: they, the scoundrels, shoed the English flea into horseshoes!
Chapter 2
In the Kunstkamera, the Russian emperor began to be shown technical and weapons achievements, busts and rooms. The sovereign liked everything, he admired and praised foreign masters. Platov responded to this by saying that his fellows, without any technological advances, took languages and fought better than the British. The king was brought to the statue of Abolon and shown two weapons: Mortimer's gun, a pistol. The Emperor became excited, Platov took a screwdriver from his pocket and untwisted the pistol. Inside he showed the king the inscription. This was the name of the Russian gunsmith Ivan Moskvin from Tula. The British were discouraged. The king was upset. Returning to the night, the Cossack could not understand why he had upset the sovereign.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 2 – summary
Just the next day, the Emperor and Platov went to the Kunstkamera - a very large building, with a statue of “Abolon of Polveder” in the middle. The British began to show various military surprises: storm meters, merblue mantons, tar waterproof cables. Alexander was amazed at all this, but Platov turned his face away and said that his fellow Don people fought without all this and drove away twelve years ago.
Read the article Characteristics of Lefty, the hero of Leskov’s tale (with quotes from the text). See also summaries of other works by N. S. Leskov: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, The Enchanted Wanderer, The Old Genius, The Stupid Artist, The Man on the Clock.
At the end, the British showed the Tsar a pistol of inimitable skill, which one of their admirals pulled out from the belt of the robber chieftain. They themselves did not know who made the pistola. But Platov rummaged through his large trousers, pulled out a screwdriver, turned it, and took out the lock from the pistol. And on it there was a Russian inscription: made by Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula.
The British were terribly embarrassed.
Chapter 3
Not knowing how else to amaze the Russian emperor, the British took him to a sugar factory. But here Platov brought his own fly in the ointment. He invited them to his homeland to taste molvo. They didn't know what it was. They took the tsar to the last chamber of curiosities. An empty tray was served. Alexander was surprised. The Englishmen asked to take a closer look at the tray and pointed out the smallest speck. The emperor saw her. It turns out that it was a clockwork flea made of durable steel. There was a spring installed inside that made the flea dance. The flea key could only be seen under a microscope. The amazed king bought the flea for a million and put it in a precious case. He named the English masters first. We went to Russia, but on the way we almost didn’t talk, everyone remained to their own opinion.
Other characters
- Platov - ataman of the Don Cossacks, who served under Alexander Pavlovich, and then under Nikolai Pavlovich.
- Alexander Pavlovich is a Russian emperor who was given a clockwork flea while traveling in England.
- Nikolai Pavlovich is a Russian emperor who ordered Tula masters to improve the English flea.
- Tula craftsmen are gunsmiths who managed to fill horseshoes with a microscopic clockwork flea brought by Alexander Pavlovich from England.
- English craftsmen - gunsmiths and engineers who recognized the art of Tula. They persuaded Lefty not to leave for Russia and introduced him to various technical innovations.
- Martyn-Sokolsky is a doctor who tried to convey Lefty’s last request.
- Chernyshev - Minister of Foreign Affairs.
And we also have:
for the most impatient -
A very brief summary of “Lefty”
for the most sociable -
The main characters of "Lefty"
for the busiest -
Reader's diary "Lefty"
for the coolest -
Read “Lefty” in full
Chapter 9
The common people fled out of fear. The whistlers began to knock down the doors, but they were closed with an oak bolt and simply did not give in. The couriers began to remove the logs from the roof and removed all of it. The air in the craftsmen’s house was so stale that it almost knocked everyone off their feet. The gunsmiths explained that they only had to hammer in the last nail. The whistlers ran to report that the masters had completed the job. They ran with caution, checking to see if the gunsmiths were running away. One of the masters held the same snuff box in his hands.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 9 – summary
Platov's Cossacks, having reached Levsha's house, began to knock, but no one opened it. They pulled the bolts on the shutters, but they were very strong. Then the Cossacks took a log from the street, put it under the roof like a fireman, and immediately tore the entire roof off the house. And the craftsmen shouted from there that they were hammering in the last nail, and then the work would be taken away right away.
The Cossacks began to hurry them. The Tula residents sent the Cossacks to the ataman, and they themselves ran after, fastening the hooks in their caftans as they went. The left-handed man carried in his hand a royal box with an English steel flea.
Chapter 13
The Emperor ordered a small scope to be brought to him. The king began to spin the steel toy, examining and looking for changes, but did not notice anything. He ordered Lefty to be brought to him. He asked why their work was not visible. He explained that it is necessary to examine every heel of the steel insect. The king was surprised, it was very small, but the master insisted. The Emperor of Rus' looked through the microscope and began to shine. He took the unwashed, beaten guy and kissed him. And he told everyone who was in the hall that the Russians had shoed the overseas flea.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 10 – summary
The gunsmiths came running to Platov. He opened the box and saw: there was a flea lying there, just as it was. The ataman became angry and began to scold the Tula people. But they said: let him take their work to the Tsar - he will see whether he should be ashamed of his Russian people.
Platov was afraid that the masters had spoiled the flea. He shouted that he would take one of them, the scoundrels, with him to Petersburg. The ataman grabbed the slanting Lefty by the collar, threw him into the carriage at his feet and rushed off with him, even without a “tugament” (document).
Immediately upon arrival, Platov put on his orders and went to the Tsar, and Lefty ordered the Cossacks to stand guard at the entrance to the palace.
Chapter 14
Lefty added that the names of the artisans are engraved on the horseshoes. When asked where his name was, the guy explained that he made the nails with which the horseshoes were nailed, and they were small, so he couldn’t put his name there. The king asked where the gunsmiths got such a small scope. Lefty explained that they did not have any equipment, the eye was aimed so that it could see small details without a microscope. The chieftain apologized to the artisan and gave him 100 rubles. Nikolai decided to send the flea back to England. The courier was chosen from among scholars who knew languages. Lefty had to be with him to show the work and skill of the Russians. The Tula gunsmith was changed into clothes and sent abroad.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 6 – summary
The flea was left with three of the most skilled Tula gunsmiths - one of them was left-handed, with a birthmark on his cheek, and the hair on his temples was torn out during training. These gunsmiths, without telling anyone, took their bags, put food in them and left somewhere out of the city. Others thought that the masters had boasted in front of Platov, and then chickened out and ran away, taking away the diamond nut, which was a case for a flea. However, such an assumption was completely unfounded and unworthy of the skilled people on whom the hope of the nation now rested.
Chapter 15
The courier took the savvy insect to the British, but did not take Lefty with him. The foreigners wanted to see who the skilled craftsman was. They came to the hotel, began to drink, feed, and ask questions. There was only one goal - to understand how he learned everything. But the master was illiterate and had never heard of arithmetic. Science in Russia for Lefty followed two textbooks: “The Psalter” and “The Half-Dream Book.” What kind of books these were, the British did not know. The English masters invited Lefty to stay and promised to send his parents money. No amount of persuasion had any effect on the Russian guest.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 3 – summary
The next day, Alexander and Platov went to the new chambers of curiosities. The British, deciding to wipe Platov’s nose, brought a tray to the Emperor there. It seemed to be empty, but in fact there was a small mechanical flea lying on top, like a speck. Through a “small scope”, Alexander Pavlovich examined a key next to the flea. The flea had a winding hole on its belly. After seven turns of the key, the flea in it began to dance “cavril”.
The Emperor immediately ordered the English craftsmen to give a million for this flea and told them: “You are the first masters in the whole world, and my people cannot do anything against you.”
On the way back to Russia with the Tsar, Platov was more silent and only out of frustration drank a leavened glass of vodka at each station, snacked on a salted lamb and smoked his pipe, which included a whole pound of Zhukov’s tobacco at once.
Chapter 18
Real doctors began to treat the Englishman and quickly got him back on his feet. The entire embassy tried to help him recover. They took the left-handed man to the block, threw him on the floor, and began to demand documents. They stripped him of his new clothes and took away his watch and money. They decided to send the patient to a free hospital. They carried him on a sleigh, without covering him with anything, cold and undressed. Nowhere was Lefty accepted without documents. He ended up in a people's hospital for all classes. Where they come to die.
The half-skipper recovered and ran to look for his Russian friend.
Summary by chapter
Chapters 1-2 The book begins with Alexander I traveling through Europe after the Napoleonic Wars, admiring the wonders of Western science. But Ataman Platov, who accompanies the emperor, assures that there are no less skilled craftsmen in Russia.
At the end of the journey, the sovereign arrives in England. Here he admires the level of technological progress, complaining that the Russians are far from the British. But Platov sticks to his line. When Alexander I is presented with a “pistol” of the finest workmanship, the ataman unwinds the mechanism and shows everyone the inscription: “made by Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula.”
Chapter 3 The British were not going to give up. The next day, the Russian emperor was taken to the cabinet of curiosities, where “nymphosoria and mineral gems from all over the world” were collected. There the king was shown a miniature clockwork flea. When they twisted her with a tiny key, she jumped and danced. Alexander I was so fascinated by this mechanism that he bought it for a million.
Chapters 4-5 The insect was kept in a snuff-box until the monarch died, and then it was inherited by the widow Elizaveta Alekseevna, and then by Alexander’s brother, Nicholas the First. For a long time he could not understand what kind of speck the deceased kept so carefully. At that time, the old Platov was called to the court, since he was a close associate of the previous king. The chieftain brought a “small scope” so that the new emperor could see how the flea “danced the dance.” But Nicholas I was not known for kowtowing to the West and ordered the mechanism to be transferred to domestic craftsmen. They had to improve it and outdo the British.
Fulfilling the order of the sovereign, the ataman went to the gunsmiths in the famous city of Tula. They accepted the challenge, but did not tell Platov how they were going to remake the iron insect, only asking for two weeks. Platov agreed and went to his home on the Don.
Chapters 6-9 3 craftsmen, including Lefty, undertook to fulfill the emperor’s order. And suddenly the masters mysteriously disappeared from Tula along with the wonderful insect. The common people, having discovered this, decided that the masters were afraid to get down to business, so they simply ran away.
But in fact, the craftsmen went to Mtsensk to pray in front of the miraculous icon. Having returned, they took refuge in the hut of the protagonist, without communicating with anyone, without even opening the windows, but only working day and night.
When the agreed period expired, Platov again arrived in Tula. Messengers from him came to the gunsmiths. But they had not yet finished work, and therefore did not answer the knock. The doors were locked with a strong sledgehammer; the assault on the messengers yielded nothing. Then the couriers dismantled the roof. But at that moment the craftsmen finished their work and handed them a snuff box with a flea.
Tula craftsmen are working on a flea
Chapters 10-12 Platov felt that nothing had been done and began rudely asking the Tula people about the result of two weeks of work. They were offended, saying that they would only show their craft to the emperor. Platov ordered Lefty to be tied up, thrown into a sleigh and taken to St. Petersburg. He was afraid that the Tulians had ruined the mechanism, and therefore took one of the culprits with him, so as not to fall into disgrace with the emperor himself.
Nicholas I wanted to see the work of Russian masters. Platov reluctantly replied that they simply kept the mechanism and returned it. The dejected king ordered to get a flea. But she didn't dance anymore.
An enraged Platov ran out of the chambers and began to beat Lefty, cursing him with abusive words. But the master stubbornly insisted that the team had completed the work, but it could only be seen through a “small scope.”
Chapter 13 Left-handed was brought to the king so that he could explain what should be looked at through a microscope. It turned out - on the paws. Tula craftsmen filled the insect with horseshoes, so that, having become heavy, it could no longer jump and jump. Lefty explained that the craftsmen even stamped their names on the horseshoes. But this is visible only through a more powerful “small scope”. And since Lefty made nails for horseshoes, he did not engrave his name because there was no space.
Lefty shows the emperor a flea through a microscope
Chapters 14-15 The Tsar was delighted that his subjects had surpassed foreign craftsmen, and ordered Lefty to go to England to demonstrate the result of his work to the local craftsmen. They washed Lefty at the Tulyanovskie Baths, cut his hair and dressed him up. They assigned a courier to him, and sent him to Foggy Albion.
The English found out what Lefty had done with the flea, and they began to look after him, give him food and water, and ask him where he had learned such wisdom. But it turned out that the Tulchan
“he doesn’t know arithmetic at all, but in Russia he studied with the sexton from the Psalter and the Half-Dream Book.”
And the craftsmen did not look into the “small scope”, but they have a trained eye. The surprised British persuaded Lefty to stay with them, promised him big earnings, and promised to send money to his parents in Tula. But the Russian master refused.
Chapter 16 Then the British decided to keep Lefty, striking his imagination with an unprecedented level of technical progress. He was invited to various factories and factories.
Lefty only noticed that
“The workers here are kept well-fed and content.”
But otherwise, the foreign guest was of the opinion that in Russia things could be no worse. Lefty was especially interested in how old guns were polished in England. The Tul resident refused the offer to marry and settle in Britain, speaking disapprovingly of the appearance and outfits of English women.
Chapters 17-20 They supplied Lefty with money, gave him a gold watch, and the master left for his homeland on the “Solid Earth” Sea. On the ship, the master argued with the half-skipper who would outdrink whom. As a result, both began to imagine devils, and the captain ordered the drunkards to be locked in the hold. Upon the ship's arrival in St. Petersburg, the half-skipper and Lefty became seriously ill.
At the English embassy, the sailor was quickly put on his feet. But Lefty was taken to a poor neighborhood, where his clothes and watch were immediately taken away. Since there were no “tugaments” with the patient, not a single hospital wanted to admit him. And Lefty was sent to the infirmary for the poor.
The recovered half-skipper found his dying friend and did everything for the doctor, Martyn Sokolsky, to visit him. But it turned out to be too late. Lefty's last words were
“Tell the sovereign that the British don’t clean their guns with bricks.”
Martyn Sokolsky reported this to Chernyshev, but he only waved it off, because
“That’s why there are generals in Russia.”
Only in this last chapter does the author move away from the “fairy tale” genre, allowing himself to philosophize. The Russian land gave birth to many talents, but the “age of machines” made them unnecessary.
Chapter 19
Surprisingly, the Englishman found his Russian friend lying on the floor. Lefty wanted to convey two words (the secret of an overseas country) to the sovereign. The Englishman was amazed. He spoke about his human soul, and they kicked him out. They advised me to contact Platov, maybe he could help the gunsmith. Platov sent half a skipper to Commandant Skobelev, who sent a doctor to the master. The doctor could no longer do anything; Lefty was dying. He asked to tell the king that in England weapons are not cleaned with bricks. The doctor went to Count Chernyshev, but he didn’t even listen, not understanding the meaning of anyone’s words. I told the doctor to be silent. The master's advice died with him, but could have changed the course of the battles.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 7 – summary
Three masters went to the city of Mtsensk, Oryol province, to venerate the local icon of St. Nicholas the Pleasant. After serving a prayer service with her, the gunsmiths returned to Tula, locked themselves in Lefty’s house and set to work in terrible secrecy.
All that could be heard from the house was the tapping of hammers. All the townspeople were curious about what was going on there, but the artisans did not respond to any demand. They tried to penetrate them, pretending that they had come to ask for fire or salt, they even tried to scare them that the house next door was on fire. But Lefty just stuck his plucked head out of the window and shouted: “Burn yourself, but we have no time.”
Chapter 20
Here the style of the text changes, because this chapter is the reflections of the author himself. He regrets that there are no more such masters, machines have appeared, and the people's imagination has dried up. The author is glad that they remember the old days.
The Tale of Lefty is the story of the destinies of many talented people. A summary helps you see the storyline of the work, but you can only understand the peculiarities of Nikolai Leskov’s language while reading the full text of the story.
This concludes the brief retelling of the story “Lefty”, which includes only the most important events from the full version of the work!
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 14 – summary
All the courtiers were amazed, and Lefty explained: if they had a better microscope, they would have seen that on each flea horseshoe there was a name: which Russian master made that horseshoe. Only Lefty's name was not there, because he worked on a smaller scale: he forged nails for horseshoes. The Emperor asked how the Tula people did this work without a microscope. And Lefty said: due to poverty, we don’t have a small scope, but we already have a sharp eye.
Ataman Platov asked Lefty for forgiveness for pulling his hair, and gave the gunsmith a hundred rubles. And Nikolai Pavlovich ordered the savvy flea to be escorted back to England and sent along with the courier to Lefty, so that the British would know what kind of masters we have in Tula. They washed Lefty in the baths, dressed him in a caftan from a court singer and took him abroad.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 17 – summary
They drank like this all the way to Riga's Dynaminde - and got to the point where they both saw the devil crawling out of the sea. Only the half-skipper saw the red devil, and Lefty saw the dark one, like a black African. The half-skipper picked up Lefty and carried him overboard to throw him, saying: the devil will immediately give you back to me. They saw this on the ship, and the captain ordered them both to be locked down, but they should not be served hot water, because the alcohol might ignite in their stomachs.
They took them to St. Petersburg, then they laid them out on different carts and took the Englishman to the envoy's house, and Lefty to the police station.
Illustration by N. Kuzmin for the tale by N. S. Leskov
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 19 – summary
The half-skipper soon found Lefty. He was still lying on the floor in the corridor. The Englishman ran to Count Kleinmichel and made a noise:
- Is that possible? Even though he has an Ovechkin’s fur coat, he has the soul of a man.
The Englishman was immediately kicked out for talking about the soul of a little man. They advised him to run to Ataman Platov, but he said that he had now received his resignation. The half-skipper finally got him to send Doctor Martyn-Solsky to Lefty. But when he arrived, Lefty had already finished, only saying one last time:
“Tell the sovereign that the British don’t clean their guns with bricks: let them not clean ours either, otherwise, God bless war, they’re not good for shooting.”
And with this fidelity, Lefty crossed himself and died. The doctor conveyed his words to Count Chernyshev, but he told him not to interfere in military affairs. The brick cleaning continued until the Crimean campaign. And if Lefty’s words had been brought to the attention of the sovereign in due time, the war in Crimea would have taken a completely different turn.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 16 – summary
The British began to take Lefty around their factories. He really liked their economic practices: every worker was always well-fed, dressed in a vest, and worked not with a boilie, but with training. In front of everyone, a multiplication dowel hangs in plain sight, and he makes calculations using it.
But most of all Lefty looked at the old guns. He stuck his finger into the barrel, ran it along the walls, sighed and was surprised that the Russian generals in England never did this.
Then Lefty got sad and said that he wanted to go home. The British put him on a ship, and it went into the “Solid Earth” Sea. For the autumn journey, Lefty in England was given a flannelette coat with a windbreaker over his head. He sat on the deck in it, looked into the distance and kept asking: “Where is our Russia?”
On the ship, Lefty became friends with an English half-skipper. They began to drink vodka together and made an “Aglitsky parey” (bet): if one drinks, then the other will certainly drink too, and whoever drinks the other gets the heck of it.
Leskov “Lefty”, chapter 15 – summary
The British looked at the flea with the strongest microscope - and now in the “public” reports they wrote enthusiastic “slander” about it. For three days the British pumped Lefty full of wine, and then asked where he studied and how long he knew arithmetic?
The left-handed man replied that he did not know arithmetic at all, and that all his science was based on the Psalter and the Book of Dreams. In the sciences, he says, we are not advanced, but we are faithful to our fatherland.
Then they began to invite the Tula resident to stay in England, promising to pass on more education to him. But Lefty did not want to accept their faith, saying: “Our books are thicker than yours, and our faith is more complete.” The British promised to marry him and already wanted to make Lefty a “grand deva” with their girl. But Lefty said that since he doesn’t feel any serious intentions towards a foreign nation, then why fool the girls?
