Lefty: stories

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov 1831-1895 - Russian writer and publicist, author of novellas and stories The Tailor's Apprentice, The Enchanted Angel, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District. The Enchanted Wanderer, The Hare's Remis, The Midnight Men, novels Nowhere and On Knives, chronicles... The Cathedral Men and others. He was born in the village of Gorokhovo of the Oryol district, now Sverdlovsk region, in the family of a daughter of a ruined nobleman and a former seminarian who became an employee of the criminal chamber. Leskov himself served in the court, but did not become an investigator like his father, becoming fascinated with icon painting, Old Belief, and then getting a job in a private firm, traveling across half of Russia for business, getting acquainted with the language and life of the country. Leskov's literary activity began with essays and articles in Petersburg publications such as The Native Notes, Russian Speech, Northern Bee, etc., and at the age of 32 he debuted as a writer. Already in the first novellas, Leskov's unique humor and his unique style emerged - a variety of a special tale, which is so vividly highlighted in the famous Lefty. The basis of this story is an armorer's legend about how the English made a flea out of steel, and our Tula craftsmen shoed it and sent it back to them. A humorous tale of the victory of Russian masters over the English is elevated to the tragic grandeur of an epic, and the unforgettable language, joyful and funny, sprinkled with puns and virtuosic blends of Russian and foreign words, made Lefty a household name. Pygmies, like Lefty, - a portrait from the series The Righteous, conceived by Leskov as a gallery of good people, tells about a small person unexpectedly capable of a great selfless deed. The Christmas story The Ghost in the Engineer's Castle is written in a different - Gothic style, but from mystical-superstitious it grows into a picture of mercy and love, a picture of the transformation of the human soul. Leskov's work was often criticized during the author's lifetime, and after the 1917 revolution, unfortunately, was lost to the reader for a long time, returning only at the end of the 20th century and still remaining relevant.