The collection includes quotes from the story "Lefty" - "The Tale of the Tula scythe Lefty and the steel flea":

• So, your majesty, nothing is impossible to see, because our work against this size is much more secret.
• … He told everything: what kind of illness Lefty has and why it has become. I understand this disease, only the Germans cannot treat it ...
• Although he has an ovechkin's fur coat, so is the soul of chelovechkin
• ... We have not wondered in the sciences, but only faithful to our fatherland .... Our Russian faith is the most correct ... ... I wish rather to my native place, because otherwise I can get a kind of insanity.

• Tula people, smart people and knowledgeable in the metal business ...
• … We must take it with a thought and with God's blessing. The Tula ... are also known as the first experts in religion. The Tulyak is full of church piety and a great practitioner of this work ... We ourselves do not know what we will do, but we will only hope in God ...
• Everyone began to approach and look: the flea, indeed, was shod to all its feet on real horseshoes, and the left-hander reported that this was not all surprising.
• ... One can hear that thin hammers are being pushed along the sonorous anvils. Tula masters who did an amazing job ...
• The proper name of the left-hander, like the names of many of the greatest geniuses, is forever lost to posterity; but as a myth personified by folk fantasy, he is interesting, and his adventures can serve as a memory of an era, the general spirit of which has been captured aptly and correctly.
• ... I have, - he says, - there are parents at home ... ... my darling * is already an old man, and my parent is an old woman and are used to going to church in her parish ... (* daddy - that is, father)
• Because, - he says, - I worked smaller than these horseshoes: I forged carnations, with which the horseshoes were hammered - no small scope can take there anymore.
• 
  ... I worked smaller than these horseshoes: I forged carnations, with which the horseshoes were hammered - no small scope can take there anymore.
• He led the policeman to put the left-hander on the sled, but for a long time he could not catch a single counterpart, because the cabbies were running from the police. And all this time the left-hander lay on the cold parate; then he caught a city cabman, only without a warm fox, because they hide the fox in the sleigh under themselves so that the police would sooner get cold feet.
• And if they had brought the left-handed words to the sovereign in due time, in the Crimea, in the war with the enemy, there would have been a completely different turn.
• They dressed very warmly and took the left-hander to the ship that was sailing to Russia. Here they placed the left-hander in his best form, like a real master, but he did not like to sit with other gentlemen in the closure and was ashamed, but he would go to the deck, sit down with a present and ask: “Where is our Russia? "
• The British are left-handed now, clap-clap on the shoulder and, as an equal, for their hands: "comrade, they say, comrade is a good master, - we will talk with you in time after, and now we will drink to your well-being."
• He is left-handed and does everything with his left hand.
• The Englishman reached Platov, who was now lying on the couch again: Platov had listened to him and remembered about the left-hander.
• But it was only when Martyn-Solsky arrived that the left-hander was already over, because the back of his head had split against the paratha, and he could only articulate one thing:
• The British took the left-hander into their own hands, and sent the Russian courier back to Russia. Although the courier had a rank and was taught in different languages, they were not interested in him, but they were interested in the left-hander, and they went to drive the left-hander and show him everything.
• Our science is simple: according to the Psalms and according to Half-Dream, but we do not know arithmetic in the least. We have it so ubiquitous ...
• He is wearing what he was wearing: in garments **, one leg is in a boot, the other is dangling, and the little ozzard *** is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are lost, and the collar is torn; but nothing, not embarrassed.
• We, - he says, - are committed to our homeland, and my old man is already an old man, and my parent is an old woman and are accustomed to going to church in her parish, and I will be very bored here alone, because I am still a bachelor.
• The courier escorted them to their room, and from there to the food reception hall, where our left-hander had already turned a lot of brown, and said: here he is!
• The left-hander thinks: the sky is cloudy, the belly is swollen, - the boredom is great, but Putin is long and the native place behind the wave is invisible - it will still be more fun to bet.
• The left-hander looked at all their life and all their work, but most of all he paid attention to such a subject that the British were very surprised. He was not so interested in how the new guns are made, but how the old ones are in what form.
• The courier, as he brought him to London, appeared to whomever needed and gave the box, and put the left-hander in the hotel room, but he soon became bored and wanted to eat.
• We are poor people and because of poverty we do not have our own small-scope, but we have so aimed our eyes.

• He walks in what he was: in garments, one leg is in a boot, the other is dangling, and the little hole is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are confused, and the collar is torn; but nothing, not embarrassed.
• And with this loyalty, the left-hander crossed himself and died.
• The British could not bring him down with anything, so that he would be seduced by their life ...
• They drove the left-hander so uncovered, but how they start replanting from one cab to another, they drop everything, and they pick it up, they tear the fish soup so that it will come to mind.
• one oblique left-hander, a birthmark on the cheek, and the hairs on the temples were torn out during training
• The British could not guess what a left-handed person was noticing, and he asks:
• Gunsmiths are three people, the most skillful of them, one scythe Lefty ... ... unworthy of skillful people, on whom the nation's hope now rested ... .three artisans do not deny any demand ...
• And Lefty replies: Well, that's the way I go, and I will answer ... and the collar is torn; but nothing, not embarrassed.
• 
  Platov left Tula, and three gunsmiths, the most skillful of them, one oblique left-hander, a birthmark on his cheek, and torn off the hair on his temples, said goodbye to his comrades and his family, yes, without saying anything to anyone, took their handbags , put what you need edible there and disappeared from the city.
• And Count Kiselvrode ordered that the left-hander be washed in the Tulikovo national baths, shaved in the hairdresser's and dressed in a ceremonial caftan from the court choir, so that it looked like he was wearing some kind of honored rank.
• The half-skipper went to Skobelev and told everything: what a disease the left-hander had and why it had become.
• … I am still in the bachelor's rank.
• The left-hander sat down at the table and sits, but he doesn't know how to ask something in English. But then he guessed: again he would simply knock on the table with his finger, but he would show himself in his mouth - the British guess and serve, only not always what is needed, but he does not accept what is not suitable for him.
• ... The Tula did not yield to him in cunning, because they immediately had such a plan, according to which they did not even hope that Platov would believe them ... So Platov wags his mind, and so do the Tula. Platov wagged, wagged, but he saw that he couldn't get over the Tula ... ... nothing took these cunning masters ...
• They asked for a lot of wine and for the left-hander the first glass, but he was the first to drink with politeness: he thinks maybe you want to poison with annoyance.
• ... One oblique Lefty, a birthmark on the cheek, and on the temples the hair was torn out during training ...
• Of course, there are no such masters as the fabulous left-hander in Tula: machines have equalized the inequality of talents and talents, and genius is not torn in the struggle against diligence and accuracy.
• ... On the way, the hooks in the caftans are fastened ... ... by the scruff of the oblique Lefty, so that all the hooks from the Kazakin flew off ...
• Then they ordered to give a receipt, and to put the left-hander on the floor in the corridor until dismantling.
• ... Yes, the entire roof from the small house was immediately removed ... from the masters in their cramped mansion ... (from the word mansion)
• In an amazing manner, the half-skipper somehow very soon found the left-hander, only they hadn't put him on the bed yet, and he was lying on the floor in the corridor and complaining to the Englishman.
• ... After all, they, rascals, shod an English flea on horseshoes! ...

Topics of the issue: quotes characterizing the left-handed person, as well as sayings, sayings, phrases, aphorisms and quotes from the story "Lefty" - "The Tale of the Tula scythe Lefty and the steel flea" - the story was written by Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov in 1881.

Armsmith Levsha is the main character in N. Leskov's story. An interesting tale, which has become the plot of animated and feature films, theatrical performances, conveys the essence of the life of Russian talent.

The image and characteristics of the Lefty in the story "Lefty" help to imbue with the events of the history of Russia, to understand how and how a simple Tula gunsmith lived.

Lefty's appearance

The master armourer Lefty remained known to everyone only by his nickname. Nobody knows his real name. The nickname is given for skillful use of the left hand. Even being baptized is more convenient for the master with the left. This ability surprised the British. Overseas engineers did not even imagine that it is possible to become a skilled craftsman, not owning a right hand.

The left-hander suffers from strabismus. This characteristic is even more striking. How did the oblique man manage to forge the smallest details for a miniature flea? What is his visual acuity that he works without any microscopes and complex magnifying devices? Moreover, it performs the thinnest part of the product.

Other special features:

• a speck on the face;
• absence of "hairs" on the temples.

"... one oblique Lefty, there is a birthmark on the cheek, and the hairs on the temples were torn out during training ..."

The teacher tore for the boy's hair, which means that the guy managed to be not a particularly diligent and diligent student.

The peasant dresses modestly because of poverty:

• worn out peasant shoes (sparrows);
• kazakin on hooks.

He walks in what he was: in garments, one leg is in a boot, the other is dangling, and the little hole is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are confused, and the collar is torn; but nothing, not embarrassed.

The guy is not shy about his appearance. I got used to it. In the story, there is no feeling of inconvenience when the boy is changed, that is, the clothes do not mean anything to him. It is scary to read the pages where he is stripped in the hospital and left practically naked on the cold floor. Someone really liked his new suit.

The image of a talent from the hinterland

The left-hander lives in the city of Tula in a small house. A cramped horomina - this is how the narrator characterizes him. The couriers who arrived with Platov tried to enter the hut, but failed. The doors were so strong that they remained standing, having withstood numerous blows of the heroic force. The roof of the house was removed faster, along the log. The tightness is proved by the staleness of the air, which, when the roof was removed, rose so high above the house that there was not enough air for everyone around. The poor peasant loves his parents. When asked to stay in England, the first reason why he refuses new living conditions is his old parents. He affectionately calls his father a darling, and his mother an old woman. Lefty does not have his own family yet, he is not married.

I'm still bachelor.

The character of a hero from the people

Lefty is one of the three most skilled craftsmen in the city of Tula gunsmiths. This means that among all the gunsmiths of the ancient city, only those who are very talented were chosen. It is even difficult to imagine how many real artisans live in the city of arms production. According to the narrator, the entire Russian nation hopes for Lefty and his friends. The task facing the masters is to prove that Russian artisans can do everything better than others, in this story, better than the English.

The craftsmen are hardworking and persistent. They did not give the work before completion, not fearing the wrath of the chieftain, they brought everything to the end.

Special personality traits

The main character has many of his own individual characteristics, but at the same time, his personality traits make Lefty a symbol of the whole Russian people, kind and talented.

Education. The gunsmith was not trained to read and write, not educated, like practically all the peasantry in Russia in those years. His school consisted of two textbooks: "Psalter" and "Half-Dream". Talent lives in a master by nature. He managed to open it.

Cunning. A simple craftsman does not give out ideas that three gunsmiths had about an English craft. He is silent in England, not trusting his thoughts to overseas engineers. Cunning in a good way, without evil and intent.

Faith in God. The masters did not begin their work without the blessing of the higher divine powers. They went to the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Gunsmiths hope for themselves and for help from above.

Determination and courage. The master is not afraid to meet the Russian emperor. Do not bother with torn clothes. He knows that, together with his friends, he fulfilled his order, he is ready to answer for the work. He boldly tells the king that they engraved their names on the horseshoes, what his work was.

It is necessary to take it thoughtfully and with God's blessing.

Loyal to the Russian people, the oblique craftsman Levsha did not stay abroad, did not seek benefits for himself, even dying, he thought about how to help the Motherland. The patriotism of a simple peasant is striking.

(1831 - 1895) - Russian writer, publicist and memoirist. He entered the history of Russian literature as the author of the novel "Cathedrals", as well as numerous stories and stories, among which the most famous were "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", "The Sealed Angel", "The Enchanted Wanderer" and "Lefty."

We have selected 10 quotes from his works:

The name of Lefty has become a household name in Russia for a long time. This is the name of a skilled craftsman who has no equal in his work. The story of N. Leskov, which gave birth to Lefty, was published in 1881 as part of the collection "The Righteous" and had the full title "The Tale of the Tula oblique Lefty and the steel flea."

In order to write an essay based on the story about Lefty, you will need to know the characteristics of her characters and direct quotes confirming them. We recommend that you read the original text carefully, and use the quotes below to clarify specific details.

Lefty

The protagonist of the story is a person with physical disabilities:

"... the Tula braid Levsha ..."

“- Why does he cross himself with his left hand?<…>

- He is left-handed and does everything with his left hand. "

"... one oblique Lefty, there is a birthmark on the cheek, and the hairs on the temples were torn out"

By profession, he is a gunsmith, and one of the three most famous Russian craftsmen specializing in metal weapons, who, however, can fulfill any order, even the most unusual:

"Tula, people are smart and knowledgeable in the metal business ..."

"... armourers three people, the most skilled of them, one scythe Lefty ..."

"... three artisans do not open up to any demand ..."

"Tula masters who did an amazing job ..."

The left-hander is entrusted with the most delicate work:

"... you can hear that thin hammers are punching out on sonorous anvils"

"... I worked smaller than these horseshoes: I forged carnations, which the horseshoes were clogged with, - no small scope can take there anymore"

In modern realities, Lefty and his colleagues would be called real workaholics:

“... All three of them came together in one house to Lefty, the doors were locked, the shutters in the windows were closed.<…>Day, two, three sit and do not go anywhere, everyone pokes with hammers. They are forging something like that, but it is unknown what they are forging. "

One of the main features of Lefty and his colleagues, the author calls the cunning of the mind, in which they cannot be surpassed even by the courtiers:

"... the Tula did not yield to him in cunning, because they immediately had such a plan, according to which they did not even hope that Platov would believe them ..."

“So Platov wags his mind, and so do the Tula. Platov wagged, wagged, but he saw that he couldn't get over the Tula ... "

"... nothing took these cunning craftsmen ..."

Despite his skill and celebrity, Lefty belongs to the poor:

"We are poor people and because of our poverty we do not have our own small scope, but we have so aimed our eyes."

He lives in a small house with old parents:

"... yes, the whole roof from the small house was immediately removed ..."

"... I have, - he says, - I have parents at home"

"... my darling is already an old man, and my parent is an old woman and got used to going to church in her parish ..."

Lefty is not married:

"... I am still in the bachelor rank"

The main character dresses modestly:

“He is wearing what he was wearing: in garments, one leg is in a boot, the other is wobbling, and the little hole is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are lost, and the collar is torn; but nothing, not embarrassed "

It is difficult to call him truly literate:

"Our science is simple: according to the Psalter and according to Half-Dream, but we do not know arithmetic at all"

Like his fellow countrymen, Lefty, who received such an "education", is a believer who starts any business, only through prayer receiving a blessing from above:

"The Tulyaks ... are also known as the first experts in religion"

"Tulyak is full of church piety and a great practitioner of this business ..."

"... it is necessary to take it thinking and with God's blessing"

"We ourselves do not know what we will do, but we will only hope in God ..."

"... our Russian faith is the most correct ..."

The costs of religious education explain his readiness for forgiveness, which is why he so easily perceives Platov's unjust beatings:

- Forgive me, brother, that I tore you by the hair.<…>

- God will forgive - this is not the first time we have such a snow on our heads.

Leskov, however, endowed Levsha with a sense of his own dignity, courage and determination:

"And Levsha replies:" Well, that's the way I'll go and answer. "

“… And the collar is torn; but nothing, not embarrassed "

Worthy of respect and devotion to the Lefty homeland:

"... we have not wondered in the sciences, but only faithful to our fatherland"

"... I want to go to my native place as soon as possible, because otherwise I can get a kind of insanity"

"The British could not bring him down with anything, so that he would be seduced by their life ..."

The main character of "Skaz" is subject to a typical Russian disease - unrestrained drunkenness:

"I understand this disease, only the Germans cannot cure it ..."

However, even dying in poverty and oblivion, Lefty thinks not about himself, but about how to finally benefit the fatherland, trying to convey to the tsar the overseas secret that guns should not be cleaned with bricks:

"Tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks: let it not be cleaned here either, otherwise, God save the war, they are not good for shooting."

"And with this loyalty Lefty crossed himself and died"

"Such masters as the fabulous Lefty, now, of course, are no longer in Tula: machines have equalized the inequality of talents and talents ..."

Platov

A Cossack, originally from the Don, a participant in the war of 1812, in which he earned awards:

"... my Donets, well done without all this, fought and drove out two or ten tongues"

"... now I got up from the ukushchee, dropped the pipe and appeared to the sovereign in all orders"

"Platov got up, picked up the medals and went to the sovereign ..."

Appearance is remarkable - "prominent" nose and mustache:

“Platov didn’t answer the Emperor, he only lowered his horny nose into a shaggy cloak ...”

"... and he goes<…>only from the whiskers of the ring twists "

Special signs: wounded hands:

"Platov wanted to take the key, but his fingers were scanty: he was catching, catching, - he just could not grab ...."

"... showed his fist - so terrible, crimson and all chopped up, somehow fused ..."

At the time of the narration, Platov accompanies Alexander I on European trips:

“... Emperor Alexander Pavlovich graduated from the Vienna Council, then he wanted to travel around Europe ...<…>with him was the Don Cossack Platov ... "

The character is distinguished by courage, which is recognized by those around him:

"What do you want from me, courageous old man?"

"It is you, courageous old man, you speak well ..."

The courtiers don't like him too much:

"And the courtiers<…>they could not stand him for his bravery "

In addition, a brilliant military man is rather uneducated, from the point of view of the same courtiers, for example, he does not know and does not want to know foreign languages:

"... especially in large gatherings where Platov could not quite speak French ..."

"... and considered all French conversations to be trifles that are not worth imagination"

He does not at all consider education useless, moreover, he considers it necessary for Russian masters:

“... the sovereign understood that the English had no equal in art, and Platov argued that ours would look at what - they could do everything, but only they had no useful teaching. And he represented to the sovereign that the Anglic masters had completely different rules of life, science and food ... "

The courtier is convinced that Russian cannot be worse than foreign:

"... Platov will now say: so and so, and we have our own at home just as well, - and he will take something away ..."

"The sovereign rejoices at all this, everything seems to him very well, but Platov keeps his anticipation, that for him everything means nothing."

He may even go for theft if he thinks it will be useful for Russia:

"... and Platov<…>I took a small scope and, without saying anything, let it down into my pocket, because "it belongs here," he says, "and you took a lot of money from us anyway."

“He asked them one way or another, and in every manner he slyly spoke to them in Don; but the Tula did not yield to him in cunning ...<…>So Platov wags his mind, and so do the Tula. Platov wagged, wagged, but he saw that he couldn't get over the Tula ... "

He does not like it when artificial difficulties are created, but he can sincerely sympathize:

"You'd better go to the Cossack Platov - he has simple feelings"

Can't stand waiting:

“… But it still creaks its teeth - everything is still not shown to him soon. So at that time everything was required very accurately and in speed, so that not a single minute for Russian usefulness was wasted "

He also always drives with maximum speed, and he does not spare either people or animals:

"Platov rode very hastily and with ceremony: he himself was sitting in a carriage, and on the box two whistling Cossacks with whips on either side of the driver sat down and watered him without mercy so that he could ride."

"And if any Cossack falls asleep, Platov will poke him out of the carriage with his foot, and they will rush even angrier."

If it seems to him that the case is deliberately delayed, then it becomes frankly cruel:

"He will eat us alive until that hour and will not leave his soul for the sake of remembrance."

Can easily offend forced people:

"It is in vain that you offend us so much - from you, as from the sovereign ambassador, we must endure all insults ..."

“… How, they say, do you take him away from us so without tugament? he cannot be followed back! And Platov showed them a fist instead of answering ... "

However, he is religious:

"... I fumbled a good glass, I prayed to God on a travel folding cart ..."

"... and in this reasoning, he got up twice, crossed himself and drank vodka, until he forced himself into a deep sleep"

Platov is not a cardboard character at all. Despite all his courage declared at the beginning of the story, he is quite sophisticated in court rules, knows perfectly well the cool temper of Nicholas I and not only does not climb unnecessarily on the rampage, but is even frankly afraid of the new sovereign:

"... I dare not argue and must be silent"

<…>

At the end of the story, he complains that:

"... I have already completely served and received full pupletion - now I am no longer respected ..."

An interesting fact. Platov's prototype - the real Count Platov died during the reign of Alexander I, commanding the Don Cossack army until his death.

Alexander I

Emperor Alexander I, at the time of the story, travels across Europe and makes the impression of a "gentle" sovereign on the foreign environment:

"... everywhere, through his gentleness, he always had the most internecine conversations with all sorts of people ..."

The king is greedy for everything interesting, especially if it is of foreign origin:

"The British ... invented various tricks to captivate him with their strangeness and distract from the Russians, and in many cases they achieved this ..."

“The British immediately began to show various surprises and explain what's what…. The sovereign rejoices at all this, everything seems to him very good ... "

The sovereign is very generous, while not less weak in character. For the fact that the British "give" him a steel flea, he pays them a huge amount:

"The sovereign immediately ordered the British to give a million, whatever money they want - they want it in silver patches, they want it in small banknotes."

Moreover, if foreign masters refuse to give a cover for their product, Alexander, not wanting to spoil international relations, also pays for it, motivating it by the fact that:

“Leave, please, it's none of your business - don't spoil my politics. They have their own custom "

Suppressed by the superiority of the British, he absolutely does not want to believe in Russian craftsmanship:

"... The sovereign thought so that the British have no equal in art ..."

"... You will no longer argue that we, Russians, are worthless with our meaning."

Despite Platov's courage in proving to him that it is all about education and proper organization, Alexander does not take his objections seriously:

“And he imagined to the sovereign that the Anglic masters had completely different rules of life, science and food, and each person had all the absolute circumstances in front of him, and therefore he had a completely different meaning. The sovereign did not want to listen to this for a long time, and Platov, seeing this, did not intensify "

Moreover, the sovereign (the winner of Napoleon) in Leskov's description is so spineless and sensitive that even military affairs lead him into depression, from which he eventually dies:

"... The sovereign became melancholy from military affairs and he wanted to have a spiritual confession in Taganrog with priest Fedot"

Nicholas I

A minor character, the Russian sovereign, who inherits the English steel flea. Acts as a strong person who knows how to divide matters into major and minor:

"Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, at first, also did not pay any attention to the flea, because at sunrise it was confused ..."

Knows how to respect the merits of others:

"It is you, a courageous old man, who speak well, and I instruct you to believe this matter."

He knows how to instill fear and respect even for such a brave courtier like Platov:

“Platov was afraid to appear in front of the sovereign, because Nikolai Pavlovich was awfully wonderful and memorable ..<…>And at least he was not afraid of any enemy in the world, but here he got cold feet ... "

Has excellent memory:

"... Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich did not forget about anything ..."

Unlike its predecessor, it refuses superiority to foreign masters over Russians:

"Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich was very confident in his Russian people ..."

“... my brother was surprised at this thing and the strangers who did nymphozoria, praised most of all, and I hope on my own that they are no worse than anyone. They will not say my word and will do something "

"... he relies on his people ..."

At the heart of the confrontation between Nikolai and foreign masters, first of all, lies his own pride:

"... did not like to give in to any foreigner ..."

“What a dashing thing! - But he did not diminish his faith in Russian masters ... "

“Serve here. I know that mine cannot deceive me. Something beyond the concept has been done here. "

"I know that my Russian people will not deceive me"