Who shoed the flea's last name from the story. Shod flea - Russian miracle

It is unlikely that there will be those who are not familiar with the story of Lefty, who shod a flea. The story of the brilliant N.S. Leskov, published in 1881 (in a separate edition - 1882), is included in the compulsory school curriculum.

This work is the basis of the wonderful animated film "Lefty". The very expression "to shoe a flea" entered the lexicon and began to mean the high skill of Russian craftsmen.

ingenious fiction

“The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea” is written in beautiful witty language, easy to read, and the poignant story of a brilliant craftsman leaves absolutely no one indifferent. The story has entered real life so much that most people do not question whether the legendary Lefty existed in real life and whether a savvy flea remained after him.

And it is very disappointing that the folk jack of all trades and the result of his work are the fruit of the brilliant imagination of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov. There was no left-handed person, and there are no documents confirming the fact of forging a steel English miniature and its further transfer to England.

Highly developed Western engineering

However, a savvy flea, which has become a symbol of the unsurpassed skill of Russian craftsmen, is available (and more than one), but all copies were created much later than the events described in the story.

Actually, the tale is a continuation of the statement expressed by M. V. Lomonosov: “and the Russian land can give birth to its own Newtons.” A miniature metal flea, a marvel of mechanics, was bought from the English by the Russian tsar, the conqueror of Napoleon. Of course, in the demonstration of a unique product to Alexander I, there was both a hint and a reproach: "but we are still smarter and better than you."

Wonderful return gift

The answer is "arrogant neighbor." The tiny dancing insect was shod. True, the flea stopped dancing because of the heaviness of its paws - Russian craftsmen "did not graduate from universities." To understand the worthiness of a return gift, one must imagine

Actually, from all this little attractive picture, only one fact is interesting - she has six paws. All six Lefty and two of his comrades and shod. Carnations of appropriate size were driven into microscopic horseshoes. According to the story, Russian craftsmen did all operations with a metal insect without a “fine scope”, since their eye was, according to Levsha himself, “shooting”.

ingenious prototype

The shocked engineers of foggy Albion invited the craftsmen to study with them. And this fact took place in reality. Russian gunsmith A. M. Surnin from Tula was invited to England for training, where he quickly achieved recognition and became an assistant to the owner at one of the best factories of Henry Knock. Surnin, who went to study in England a hundred years before writing a brilliant tale, is considered by almost all experts to be the prototype of Lefty, although his fate was much happier than the fate of the hero of the work. A. M. Surnin, who died in 1811, having returned to his native Tula, took a good post at the local arms factory. This master did an incredible amount to introduce advanced English developments into the arms production of Russia, which played a big role in the victory of Russian weapons in the Patriotic War of 1812. There were legends about his skill, which gave Leskov the idea to describe the most interesting life of Tula gunsmiths, who were able to surprise foreigners with their skill and really create something that would fit the definition of a Russian miracle.

"There is no prophet in his own country"

No wonder the word craftsman has such synonyms as a craftsman, a jack of all trades and a creator. There are many products of Russian craftsmen in all crafts, but few names are known. This is because among representatives of the upper strata of society, domestic products and local craftsmen have never been held in high esteem, and everything foreign has been extolled to the skies. Isn't the first domestic steam locomotive of the Cherepanov brothers a Russian miracle?

A real brilliant craftsman who shoed a flea

But back to the savvy flea. This product has become a measure of craftsmanship. And it goes without saying that the Russian craftsman was destined to achieve this standard and shoe a flea. This was first done by the remarkable artist Nikolai Sergeevich Aldunin, who died in 2009.

This virtuoso master of horseshoe stuffed a real euthanized flea. Talking about this masterpiece, which Aldunin himself did not consider as such (he considered his best achievement to be a microcopy of a real T-34 tank planted on an apple seed), it is again necessary to remember what fleas look like. Their paws are hairy, not intended for horseshoes by nature. An amazing master cut the hairs, removed the claws and made the lightest horseshoes from 999 gold. How small they are can be imagined by reading the following data: 22 million of these horseshoes can be made from one gram of gold. Isn't that brilliant?

Fairy tale come true

The craftsman who shoed the flea lived with us at the same time. He has amazing masterpieces that have not been talked about much and often in the media. All his works are distinguished not only by their sizes that do not fit in the head, but also by the fact that they are exact copies of real samples, as well as, of course, beauty and grace. This was a real creator and a Russian brilliant craftsman who in fact carried out Leskov's invention.

Museum of microminiatures

The pioneer, as a rule, has successors. And now a shoeed flea, like a caravan of camels in the eye of a needle, are obligatory indicators of the skill of a microminiaturist.

Now the museum "Russian Lefty" has been opened in St. Petersburg, in the permanent collection of which there are 60 exhibits, among them, of course, there are the above-mentioned brilliant examples of the perfection of the skill of microminiaturists. There is also a rose in a hair, and books on the cut of a poppy seed. The shod flea occupies a central place in the museum, because it is a legend-symbol sung by Leskov.

Modern creators

The most famous living Russian microminiaturists are A. Rykovanov (Petersburg), A. Konenko (Kazan), Vl. Aniskin (Omsk). Their brilliant work has won awards at many international competitions. The wonderful craftsman Anatoly Konenko gave his first shoed flea to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

Legal place of storage

But what about the birthplace of Lefty? Here, in the weapons museum, the famous Aldunin shod flea was kept. Tula is very proud of this exhibit, because it is the first wingless insect with horseshoes in Russia. Most recently, this legend moved from the Museum of Weapons to the "Old Tula Pharmacy", located on Lenin Avenue - the main artery of the city.

Few people know that the person who shoed the flea is no longer alive.
There is very little information on the web about this artist.
Little is said about his death.
Camel caravan
In the eye of a needle
Height 0.25-0.20 mm. Gold 999.9

Irina, the artist's widow: "My dearly beloved husband Nikolai Sergeevich Aldunin died on September 9, 2009 due to coincidence, mainly due to the unprofessionalism and carelessness of medical workers (I will not say which and in which institutions). He was only 53 years old, he could have created many more amazing works, but apart from personal grief, I am very sad that all those who were interested in him during his lifetime (journalists, colleagues, friends, etc.) very quickly forgot about him, many do not even know, that he is no more..."

Tula samovar
Tula samovar
Height - 1.2 mm. Made from 12 parts

Microminiature master Aldunin Nikolai Sergeevich was born on September 1, 1956 in the village of Yuzhnaya Lamovatka, Voroshilovgrad Region. Of all natural and artificial materials, from childhood I fell in love with metals and metal products. Working as a locksmith, and then as a turner at industrial enterprises, I learned all the secrets of metalworking. With some inner instinct, he immediately unmistakably selected the cutting mode for metals, this made it possible to increase the number of products, improving their quality.

A.S. Pushkin
Portrait on rice grain
Height 1 mm

Nikolay considered the existing "metal technology" to be imperfect. About fifteen years ago he got the idea to shoe a flea. I wanted to prove that it was not in vain that N. Leskov sang and glorified the Tula Masters to the whole world. I prepared for two years, and then sat down at the microscope. Three months later, when he finished the work, he realized that he "found himself" in the existing "technology of metals" Nikolay considered imperfect. About fifteen years ago he got the idea to shoe a flea. I wanted to prove that it was not in vain that N. Leskov sang and glorified the Tula Masters to the whole world. I prepared for two years, and then sat down at the microscope. Three months later, when he finished the work, he realized that he "found himself" in the existing "technology of metals" Nikolay considered imperfect. About fifteen years ago he got the idea to shoe a flea. I wanted to prove that it was not in vain that N. Leskov sang and glorified the Tula Masters to the whole world. I prepared for two years, and then sat down at the microscope. Three months later, when he finished the work, he realized that he "found himself" in the existing "technology of metals" Nikolay considered imperfect. About fifteen years ago he got the idea to shoe a flea. I wanted to prove that it was not in vain that N. Leskov sang and glorified the Tula Masters to the whole world. I prepared for two years, and then sat down at the microscope. Three months later, when I finished the work, I realized that I "found myself" in a microminiature. He quit his job and decided to take seriously this very difficult and interesting craft. Nikolai believed that a person's achievement of goals in life depends on desire: the higher the goal, the greater the desire should be.

Russian ruble
Diameter - 0.88 mm
Material - 999.9 gold

Work on the flea began with the preparation of a micrometric instrument. One cutter, 2 microns thick, sharpened for 6-7 hours in a row. Wife Irina goes to bed, he sits sharpening. Wakes up, he sharpens. What did you grind on? This is the master's secret. Diamond paste of 3 - 5 microns turned out to be rough. I was looking for my compositions. Worked at night. He tied a scarf around his head and put on cotton clothes. Microminiatures are very sensitive to static electricity that artificial fabrics accumulate. Just touch them with a charged chisel - she, as if alive, jumped somewhere to the side. Having dressed, Aldunin sat down in the kitchen and waited motionless for a couple of hours until the dust settled. And only then did he start working. For three months he sharpened horseshoes, forged carnations and shod flea paws. And when he scored the last carnation, he slept for almost a week.

Shod flea
With saddle and stirrups

Here is what the master himself said about his flea: “After all, their paws are empty inside, but hairy outside. I did depilation on my paws, trimmed my claws, put on a pedicure, so to speak, and then only proceeded to the horseshoe. I calculated that two and a half thousand pieces could fit on one match head of these horseshoes. At the very tips of four of the six flea feet, gold horseshoes sparkle. Each has three cloves. One flea horseshoe Aldunin weighs 0.00000004419 grams. From one gram of gold, 22,629,544 horseshoes will be obtained. That is, you can shoe more than 5 million fleas. The width of each horseshoe is 40 microns, the length is 50, the diameter of the stud caps is 5 at all (1000 microns in 1 millimeter).

May you live happily ever after
rice grain
The height of the letters is 0.14 mm. Material-gold 999.9 samples.

“It's a brand for the Tula region, after all,” says the microminiaturist. - And I was the first Tula resident, 150 years after the release of "Lefty" by Leskov, who shod a flea. Bloch was supposed to be the first. After all, if I was simply engaged in microminiature, the Tula people would not forgive me for this. And all the time they asked: “When will you kick a flea?”. And then I decided all at once. So that there are no questions. And now I have a flea with a saddle and a bridle, with a stirrup, everything is as it should be.

Three-line Mosin rifle
On rice grain
Length - 3 mm. Material - 999.9 gold

Aldunin's shod flea, together with a microscopic Mosin rifle, located on a grain of rice (the length with a bayonet is less than 3 mm, there is a moving bolt!), Is included in the exposition of the Tula Museum of Weapons.

Tank T34/85
Located on a longitudinal section of apple grain
Case length - 2 mm. Number of parts - 257. Material - 999.9 gold

The master microminiaturist considers the T34/85 tank to be his most difficult work. Case length - 2 mm. The microminiature is located on a longitudinal section of an apple grain. “I made the tank for six months for the 60th anniversary of the Victory. I almost never left the house, only for food in the store. In general, during serious work, I try not to appear on the street, so as not to gain negative emotions. In general, I love military subjects, and I made this tank with the meticulousness of a true fan of military equipment, - says Nikolai Sergeevich. - Assembled from 257 separate parts!

Ostankino Tower
Located on apple grain
Height - 6.3 mm. Material - 999.9 gold

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Ostankino television tower, the craftsman made an exact copy of it, only 850 thousand times smaller. On it, through a microscope, all antennas, satellite dishes and even the Seventh Heaven restaurant are clearly visible.
According to Nikolai, representatives of political circles and show business often turned to him - they ordered gifts, for example, a portrait of a famous singer on a grain of rice or a shoeed flea for a politician.

N.V. Gogol
Portrait on rice grain

The craftsman completed about a hundred works. All masterpieces were performed by Nikolay Aldunin from 999.9 pure gold. According to him, this was dictated by severe necessity, because a microscopic part made of any other metal could rust before our eyes.

Bike
Located on a sewing needle
Length - 2 mm.

Legends have already begun to circulate about Aldunin, the master of microminiatures, here is what we read in one of the blogs: in order to achieve ideal hand movements, Nikolai learned to play more than 20 stringed musical instruments. Because of this, he can create such amazing things.

L.N. Tolstoy
Portrait on rice grain

On September 1, Nikolai Aldunin, a talented master, celebrated his 53rd birthday at the hospital. He spent 2 months in the hospital at the Vishnevsky Institute with complications after the surgery. He had chronic pancreatitis. On September 9, Nikolai developed severe internal bleeding, which he could not endure. He left as he lived, fighting and furiously wresting every new day from a serious illness. “I do not pray, but only ask God to give me a little time to finish what I did not have time to do,” he said to his friend Alexander Bogatyrev, saying goodbye on May 19 in Moscow. And the microminiaturist had many plans and new unique ideas...

AKM-47 assault rifle
Located across the match
Length - 1.625 mm. Consists of 34 parts. Material - gold 585 and 999.9 samples. Production time - 6 months.

“In the near future, I am going to start creating a new work - a Mercedes, 15 cm long, made of gold, silver and platinum,” Nikolai Sergeevich planned. - Moreover, it will contain details of a real car. I will pay special attention to the dashboard: all the arrows, numbers, buttons ... ”There was an idea to forge a flea out of metal. And so that she throws out a square dance like Leskov's to the music of "Tula forged weapons for centuries." It is a pity that his plans were not destined to come true.

According to his deep conviction, it is impossible to teach the philosophy and psychology of the skill of performing miniature masterpieces. He constantly emphasized: "I'm not an artist!" At the same time, Nikolai Aldunin put the elegance and beauty of the execution of an idea in the first place in his work. But, probably, the most important secret of Nikolai was that he sat down to work only in a good mood, in a state of harmony and love for himself and the world, moreover what was to be done.

Interview with the master of microminiature in 2002, the first milestone was taken - a flea was shod ...

Even from school, many people know the entertaining story of Nikolai Leskov about the glorious master Lefty, who was able to shoe a flea. The exact name of this work is "The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea." The shod flea has become a microminiature of the remarkable master of the 20th century, Nikolai Aldunin. Of course, the craftsman was inspired for such work by the creation of Nikolai Leskov.

How Lefty Shoed a Flea

The Tula region has long been famous for its weapons business. So the legend of the blacksmith Levsha glorifies the Tula masters. The plot of Leskov's story mixes real events with fictional ones. The story takes place around 1815. Once, while traveling through Europe, Emperor Alexander I looked into England. There he was able to observe various curiosities, among which was a dancing steel flea. The tsar bought a curiosity and brought it to Russia.

Several years passed, the emperor died, and Nicholas I ascended the throne. To explain the essence of the overseas miracle, the Don Cossack Platov, who once accompanied Alexander I on a European tour, was invited to the door. So Platov said that Russian architects can make a creation no worse than the British.

After that, Platov was instructed by the sovereign to visit the Tula craftsmen and interest them in creating their curiosity in response to the British. Among the three craftsmen was a blacksmith nicknamed Lefty. Platov gave the flea to the masters and asked them to create something unusual.

What did the Tula craftsmen come up with. After some time, it turned out that they were able to shoe each leg of a flea with small horseshoes. The emperor was able to verify this with the help of a "melkoscope".

Everyone in the palace was delighted, and Lefty was awarded a trip to Europe. He was supposed to deliver his creation to England and demonstrate the skill of the masters from the Tula region. So it became a symbol of the Tula region. The fate of Lefty was tragic, he soon died after excessive drinking.

Lefty Prototypes

There is a version that there was no such blacksmith from Tula. There is no evidence that such a savvy flea existed. Most likely, this version was invented by the people themselves. But some scientists believe that Lefty had prototypes.

At the end of the 18th century, indeed, two blacksmiths from Tula were introduced by Prince Potemkin to England. They were Yakov Leontiev and Alexei Surnin. They had to learn how to make exquisite metal crafts. As a result, they mastered the art of weapons production. Alexey Surnin departed seven years later for Russia and was able to introduce his knowledge into the arms business. The fact of the stay of the Tula masters in England really was, and the writer invented the image of Lefty.

Brief information about Sergey Nikolaevich Aldunin

Today, a savvy flea really exists, and with it many other masterpieces in the form of microminiatures. The author of these creations is Nikolai Sergeevich Aldunin (1956). He was a native of the Voroshilovgrad region and lived a very short life. Nikolai Sergeyevich passed away at the age of only 53. First of all, he was remembered as a master shoeing a flea.

Since childhood, he was interested in metals and products made from them. He had the practical skills of a locksmith, turner, mastered the secrets of metalworking. Most of all, he was remembered for his microminiatures made under a microscope. Today the master is no longer alive, he lived only 53 years, died in 2009.

Work on the famous microminiature

Once the idea came to him to prove that Leskov's glorification of the Tula masters was not in vain. Aldunin decided to shoe a flea. Preparation for work lasted two years, and the microminiature itself was prepared for three months. Everything was done under a microscope. The master worked mainly at night. First he made horseshoes, then carnations. As a result, the master shod with these carnations. Aldunin performed each of his actions between heartbeats. This is how the savvy flea turned out. A photo of the miniature can be seen below.

What can be seen in this image? In front of the audience is a tiny dried flea with six legs, four of which are shod with golden horseshoes. The weight of one such horseshoe is only 0.00000004419 g.

Other works of the craftsman

After the successful work with the flea, Aldunin decided to devote himself entirely to working with small miniatures. One of them is called "Camel Caravan". It is made of gold in the eye of a needle. Under the microscope, you can see a caravan of seven camels and three palm trees.

A real masterpiece is the work "Tula Samovar". This is a small samovar standing on a needle. It consists of 12 parts and has a height of 1.2 mm.

Nikolai Sergeevich was able to make several miniatures on rice grains. So he engraved a portrait of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy, two wedding rings and the inscription "Council and love" made of gold.

A few more works were done on the cut of apple grain. One of these products is the Ostankino TV Tower. A masterpiece is a small model of a tank made of gold. Aldunin was also able to make the Russian ruble just 0.88 mm in size.

The master's plans were to create a metal flea so that she would dance a quadrille to the song "Tula forged weapons for centuries." But, unfortunately, he did not manage to carry out his plan.

Sergei Nikolaevich believed that a special philosophy and psychology was needed to create miniatures. In the first place in the performance of his work were beauty and grace. Harmony and love for oneself, the world, good mood are the key to the success of a famous craftsman.

Where is the shod flea stored

Since the main craft of the master glorified Tula and this region, it is there that the shod flea is kept. In the Museum of Weapons in the Tula Kremlin, it was kept for many years. Many were able to observe a small miracle through a microscope. Now the microminiature is stored in the old pharmacy in Tula.

Famous craftsmen

Today in Russia there are several craftsmen who revive folk traditions and turn incredible legends into reality.

Master Yuri Deulin lives in Yekaterinburg. Making unusual products has been his dream since childhood. As a schoolboy, Yura was able to carve a balalaika out of bone, to which strings were even attached. The guy's product was placed in the school museum. To date, Yuri has become a professional master. Unique and original exhibits come out of his hands.

One of his works is the "Statue of Liberty", which fits in the eye of a needle. Portraits of celebrities (Peter I, Pope) the craftsman was able to make a size of just 1 mm. Deulin made a small copy of the Faberge egg. A sensational piece is the black pearl box, which holds a 3.7 mm long car.

The microminiature also fascinated the artist and architect from Omsk, Anatoly Konenko. He also began his work by shoeing a flea. Today, the master keeps a whole collection of his products. Among them is a small grasshopper playing the violin. The train moving along the railroad is unique (the composition is placed on a human hair).

A craftsman from Siberia, Vladimir Aniskin, can boast of amazing products. His work is simply captivating. On a cut of a poppy seed, he managed to make an airfield on which he placed 20 aircraft. In his arsenal there is also a savvy flea made of steel and platinum.

Master Dmitry Igumnov lives in Yaroslavl. He managed to shoe a mouse. In his collection there is a small frying pan with a diameter of 1 cm, on which pancakes can be baked.

Russia has not forgotten about its talented craftsmen; a museum of microminiatures "Russian Lefty" has been opened in St. Petersburg. Visitors can view wonderful exhibits with the help of magnifying devices.

Book of Records "Lefty"

The writer N. Leskov created a beautiful image of Lefty as an exponent of the national character. This name has already become a household name and symbolizes enterprising Russian people with a special grasp, always achieving their goal. It is not for nothing that a Book of Records called "Lefty" was created in Russia. It includes famous people who glorified the country in various areas of life.

No wonder one of the news portals in Tula is called "Flea Info". "Be savvy" - this is the motto of this site, which hosts the most interesting Tula news.

Illustration by V. Britvin

After the end of the Vienna Council, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich decides "to travel around Europe and see miracles in different states." The Don Cossack Platov, who is with him, is not surprised at the “curiosities”, because he knows that in Russia “his own is no worse.”

In the very last cabinet of curiosities, among the "nymphosoria" collected from all over the world, the sovereign buys a flea, which, although small, can dance "danse". Soon, Alexander "becomes melancholy from military affairs", and he returns to his homeland, where he dies. Nikolai Pavlovich, who ascended the throne, appreciates the flea, but, since he does not like to yield to foreigners, he sends Platov along with the flea to the Tula masters. Platov "and with him the whole of Russia" volunteered to support three Tula. They go to bow to the icon of St. Nicholas, and then lock themselves in the house at the oblique Lefty, but, even after finishing the work, they refuse to give Platov the “secret”, and he has to take Lefty to Petersburg.

Nikolai Pavlovich and his daughter Alexandra Timofeevna discover that the "abdominal machine" in the flea does not work. The enraged Platov executes and beats Lefty, but he does not admit to damage and advises to look at the flea through the most powerful "melkoscope". But the attempt turns out to be unsuccessful, and Lefty orders "to bring just one leg into the details under the microscope." Having done this, the sovereign sees that the flea is "shoeed on horseshoes." And Lefty adds that with a better “fine scope” one could see that on every horseshoe the “craftsman’s name” is displayed. And he himself forged carnations, which could not be seen in any way.

Platov asks Lefty for forgiveness. The left-hander is washed in the "Tulyanovsk Baths", cut and "formed", as if he has some kind of "commissioned rank", and sent to take a flea as a gift to the British. On the road, Lefty does not eat anything, “supporting” himself with wine alone, and sings Russian songs throughout Europe. When questioned by the British, he admits: “We have not gone into the sciences, and therefore the flea no longer dances, only faithfully devoted to their fatherland.” Lefty refuses to stay in England, referring to his parents and the Russian faith, which is "the most correct." The English cannot seduce him with anything, further with an offer to marry, which Lefty rejects and disapproves of the clothes and thinness of the English women. At the English factories, Lefty notices that the workers are well fed, but what interests him most is the state of the old guns.

Soon, Lefty begins to yearn and, despite the approaching storm, boards the ship and does not stop looking towards Russia. The ship enters the "Hardland Sea", and Lefty makes a bet with the skipper who will outdrink whom. They drink until the "Riga Dinaminde", and when the captain locks the debaters, they already see devils in the sea. In St. Petersburg, the Englishman is sent to the embassy house, and Lefty is sent to the quarter, where they demand a document from him, take away gifts, and then take him in an open sleigh to the hospital, where "an unknown class is accepted to die." The next day, the "Aglitsky" half-skipper swallows the "kutta-percha" pill and, after a short search, finds his Russian "comrade". Lefty wants to say a few words to the sovereign, and the Englishman goes to "Count Kleinmichel", but the half-spikeman does not like his words about Lefty: "even though a sheep's coat, so is the soul of a man." The Englishman is sent to the Cossack Platov, who "has simple feelings." But Platov finished his service, received a "full puple" and sent him to "commandant Skobelev." He sends a doctor from the spiritual rank of Martyn-Solsky to Lefty, but Lefty is already “ended”, asks to tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks, otherwise they are not suitable for shooting, and “with this fidelity” he crosses himself and dies. The doctor reports Levsha's last words to Count Chernyshev, but he does not listen to Martyn-Solsky, because "in Russia there are generals for this," and the guns continue to be cleaned with bricks. And if the emperor had heard the words of Lefty, then the Crimean War would have ended otherwise

Now these are already “deeds of bygone days”, but the tradition must not be forgotten, despite the “epic character” of the hero and the “fabulous warehouse” of the legend. The name of Lefty, like many other geniuses, has been lost, but the folk myth about him accurately conveyed the spirit of the era. And although the machines do not pander to "aristocratic prowess, the workers themselves remember the old days and their epic with a "human soul", with pride and love.

retold

Chapter first

When Emperor Alexander Pavlovich graduated from the Vienna Council, he wanted to travel around Europe and see miracles in different states. He traveled all over the countries and everywhere, through his affectionateness, he always had the most internecine conversations with all sorts of people, and everyone surprised him with something and wanted to bend to their side, but with him was the Don Cossack Platov, who did not like this inclination and, missing his own housekeeping, all the sovereign beckoned home. And as soon as Platov notices that the sovereign is very interested in something foreign, then all the escorts are silent, and Platov will now say: “so and so, and we have our own at home just as well, and he will take something.
The English knew this, and before the sovereign's arrival, they invented various tricks to captivate him with his foreignness and distract him from the Russians, and in many cases they achieved this, especially in large meetings where Platov could not speak French completely; but he was little interested in this, because he was a married man and considered all French conversations to be trifles that are not worth imagining. And when the British began to call the sovereign to all their zeihaus, weapons and soap and saw factories, in order to show their superiority over us in all things and be famous for that, Platov said to himself:
- Well, here's the coven. So far, I have endured, but no longer. Whether I can speak or not, I won't betray my people.
And as soon as he said such a word to himself, the sovereign said to him:
- So and so, tomorrow you and I are going to watch their weapons cabinet of curiosities. There, - he says, - there are such natures of perfection that as you look, you will no longer argue that we Russians are no good with our significance.
Platov did not answer the sovereign, he only lowered his rough nose into a shaggy cloak, and came to his apartment, ordered the batman to bring a flask of Caucasian vodka from the cellar [Kizlyarki - Approx. author], rattled a good glass, prayed to God on the travel fold, covered himself with a cloak and snored so that no one in the whole house could sleep for the British.
I thought: the morning is wiser than the night.

Chapter Two

The next day the sovereign went with Platov to the Kunstkammers. The sovereign did not take any more of the Russians with him, because they were given a carriage with two seats.
They arrive at a large building - an indescribable entrance, corridors ad infinitum, and rooms one to one, and, finally, in the main hall itself there are various huge busters, and in the middle under the Baldakhin stands Abolon polvedersky.
The sovereign looks back at Platov: is he very surprised and what is he looking at; and he walks with his eyes lowered, as if he sees nothing, - only rings come out of his mustache.
The British immediately began to show various surprises and explain what they had adapted to for military circumstances: sea wind meters, merblue mantons of foot regiments, and tar waterproof cables for cavalry. The emperor rejoices at all this, everything seems very good to him, but Platov keeps his anticipation that everything means nothing to him.
The Sovereign says:
- How is that possible - why are you so insensitive? Is there anything that surprises you here? And Platov answers:
- It’s one thing that’s surprising to me here that my good fellows fought without all this and drove out the language for twelve.
The Sovereign says:
- It's reckless.
Platov says:
- I don’t know what to attribute it to, but I don’t dare to argue and I must remain silent.
And the English, seeing such a quarrel between the sovereign, now brought him to Abolon himself of half a vedere and take from him Mortimer's gun from one hand, and a pistol from the other.
- Here, - they say, - what is our productivity, - and they give a gun.
The emperor calmly looked at Mortimer's gun, because he has such in Tsarskoye Selo, and then they give him a pistol and say:
- This is a pistol of unknown, inimitable skill - our admiral at the robber chieftain in Candelabria pulled it out from his belt.
The sovereign looked at the pistol and could not get enough of it.
Went terribly.
- Ah, ah, ah, - he says, - how is it ... how can it even be done so subtly! - And he turns to Platov in Russian and says: - Now, if I had at least one such master in Russia, I would be very happy and proud of it, and I would immediately make that master noble.
And Platov, at these words, at the same moment lowered his right hand into his big trousers and dragged a rifle screwdriver from there. The English say: "It does not open," and he, not paying attention, well, pick the lock. Turned once, turned twice - the lock and pulled out. Platov shows the sovereign a dog, and there, on the very bend, a Russian inscription is made: "Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula."
The English are surprised and push each other:
- Oh, de, we gave a blunder!
And the emperor sadly says to Platov:
- Why did you embarrass them very much, I feel very sorry for them now. Let's go.
They sat down again in the same two-seater carriage and drove off, and the sovereign was at the ball that day, and Platov blew out an even larger glass of sour drink and slept soundly like a Cossack.
He was also happy that he embarrassed the British, and put the Tula master on the point of view, but it was also annoying: why did the sovereign regret the English under such a case!
“Through what is this sovereign upset? - thought Platov, - I don’t understand it at all, ”and in this reasoning he got up twice, crossed himself and drank vodka, until he forcibly brought himself into a sound sleep.
And the British, at that very time, also did not sleep, because they too were spinning. While the emperor was having fun at the ball, they arranged such a new surprise for him that they took away all of Platov's imagination.

Chapter Three

The next day, as Platov appeared to the sovereign with good morning, he said to him:
- Let them now lay a two-seater carriage, and we will go to the new cabinets of curiosities to look.
Platov even dared to report that it’s not enough, they say, to look at foreign products and isn’t it better to gather in Russia, but the sovereign says:
- No, I still want to see other news: they praised me how they make the first grade sugar.
Go.
The Englishmen show the sovereign everything: what different first grades they have, and Platov looked, looked, and suddenly said:
- And show us your sugar factories?
And the British don't even know what a rumor is. They whisper, wink, repeat to each other: “Rumor, rumor,” but they cannot understand that we are making such sugar, and they must admit that they have all the sugar, but there is no “rumor”.
Platov says:
Well, there's nothing to brag about. Come to us, we will give you tea with the real rumor of the Bobrinsky plant.
And the emperor pulled his sleeve and said quietly:
- Please don't spoil my politics.
Then the British called the sovereign to the very last cabinet of curiosities, where they collected mineral stones and nymphosoria from all over the world, starting from the largest Egyptian ceramide to a skin flea that cannot be seen by the eyes, and its bite is between the skin and the body.
The Emperor has gone.
They examined the ceramides and all sorts of stuffed animals and went out, and Platov thought to himself:
“Here, thank God, everything is fine: the sovereign is not surprised at anything.”
But as soon as they came to the very last room, and here their workers in laced vests and aprons were standing and holding a tray on which there was nothing.
The sovereign was suddenly surprised that an empty tray was being served to him.
- What does this mean? - asks; and the English masters answer:
- This is our humble offering to Your Majesty.
- What is this?
- And here, - they say, - would you like to see a mote?
The emperor looked and saw: for sure, the tiniest mote lies on a silver tray.
Workers say:
- Kindly slobber your finger and take it in your palm.
- What do I need this speck for?
- This, - they answer, - is not a mote, but a nymphosoria.
- Is she alive?
- No way, - they answer, - not alive, but from pure English steel in the image of a flea we forged, and in the middle there is a winding and a spring in it. If you please turn the key: she will now begin to dance.
The sovereign became curious and asked:
- Where is the key?
And the English say:
- Here is the key before your eyes.
- Why, - the sovereign says, - I do not see him?
- Because, - they answer, - that it is necessary in a small scope.
They gave me a small scope, and the emperor saw that there really was a key on the tray near the flea.
- If you please, - they say, - take her in the palm of your hand - she has a clockwork hole in her tummy, and the key has seven turns, and then she will dance ...
Forcibly the sovereign grabbed this key and could hardly hold it in a pinch, and he took a flea in another pinch and only inserted the key, when he felt that she was starting to drive with her antennae, then she began to touch her legs, and finally suddenly jumped and on the same flight a straight dance and two beliefs to one side, then to another, and so in three variations she danced the whole kavril.
The sovereign immediately ordered the British to give a million, with whatever money they themselves want - they want in silver nickels, they want in small banknotes.
The English asked to be released in silver, because they don't know much about paperwork; and then now they showed their other trick: they gave the flea as a gift, but they didn’t bring a case for it: without a case, neither it nor the key can be kept, because they will get lost and thrown into the rubbish. And their case for it is made of a solid diamond walnut - and a place in the middle is squeezed out for it. They did not submit this, because the cases, they say, are official, but they are strict about official ones, although for the sovereign - you can’t donate.
Platov was very angry, because he says:
Why is this a scam! They made a gift and received a million for it, and still not enough! The case, he says, always belongs to every thing.
But the Emperor says:
- Leave, please, it's none of your business - do not spoil my politics. They have their own custom. - And he asks: - How much is that nut worth, in which the flea fits?
The British put another five thousand for it.
Sovereign Alexander Pavlovich said: “Pay,” and he himself dropped the flea into this nut, and with it the key, and in order not to lose the nut itself, he dropped it into his golden snuffbox, and ordered the snuffbox to be put in his travel box, which is all lined with prelamut and, fish bone. The emperor honorably released the English masters and told them: “You are the first masters in the whole world, and my people cannot do anything against you.”
They were very pleased with this, but Platov could not utter anything against the words of the sovereign. He just took the melkoscope and, without saying anything, slipped it into his pocket, because “it belongs here,” he says, “and you already took a lot of money from us.”
Sovereign, he did not know this until his arrival in Russia, but they left soon, because the sovereign became melancholy from military affairs and he wanted to have a spiritual confession in Taganrog with priest Fedot [“Pop Fedot” was not taken out of the wind: Emperor Alexander Pavlovich before On his death in Taganrog, he confessed to the priest Alexei Fedotov-Chekhovsky, who after that was called "His Majesty's confessor", and liked to make this completely accidental circumstance appear to everyone. It is this Fedotov-Chekhovsky, obviously, who is the legendary "priest Fedot". (Author's note.)]. On the way, they had very little pleasant conversation with Platov, because they became completely different thoughts: the sovereign thought that the British had no equal in art, and Platov argued that ours would look at anything - they can do everything, but only they have no useful teaching . And he imagined the sovereign that the English masters had completely different rules for life, science and food, and each person had all the absolute circumstances in front of him, and because of that 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. So they rode in silence, only Platov would come out at each station and, out of vexation, drink a glass of leavened vodka, eat a salted lamb, light his root pipe, into which Zhukov’s whole pound of tobacco was included at once, and then sit down and sit next to the tsar in the carriage in silence. The sovereign looks in one direction, and Platov sticks out the chibouk through the other window and smokes into the wind. So they reached St. Petersburg, and the emperor Platov did not take him at all to the priest Fedot.
“You,” he says, “are intemperate in spiritual conversation, and you smoke so much that I have soot in my head from your smoke.
Platov remained offended and lay down at home on an annoying couch, and so he lay there and smoked tobacco without ceasing Zhukov.

Chapter Four

The amazing flea made of English blued steel remained with Alexander Pavlovich in a casket under a fishbone until he died in Taganrog, giving it to priest Fedot, so that he would hand it over later, to the Empress, when she calmed down. The Empress Elisaveta Alekseevna looked at the flea beliefs and grinned, but did not bother with it.
“Mine,” she says, “now it’s a widow’s business, and no amusements are seductive to me,” and when she returned to Petersburg, she handed over this curiosity with all other jewelry as a legacy to the new sovereign.
Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich at first also did not pay any attention to the flea, because at sunrise there was confusion, but then once he began to review the box he had inherited from his brother and took out a snuff box from it, and a diamond nut from the snuff box, and found a steel flea in it, which had not been wound up for a long time and therefore did not act, but lay quietly, as if numb.
The emperor looked and was surprised.
- What kind of trifle is this and why does my brother have it here in such preservation!
The courtiers wanted to throw it away, but the sovereign says:
- No, it means something.
They called a chemist from Anichkin Bridge from a disgusting pharmacy, who weighed poisons on the smallest scales, and they showed him, and he now took a flea, put it on his tongue and said: “I feel cold, like from strong metal.” And then he slightly crushed it with his tooth and announced:
- As you wish, but this is not a real flea, but a nymphosoria, and it is made of metal, and this work is not ours, not Russian.
The emperor ordered to find out now: where did this come from and what does it mean?
They rushed to look at the deeds and the lists, but nothing was recorded in the deeds. They began to ask the other one, - no one knows anything. But, fortunately, the Don Cossack Platov was still alive and even still lay on his annoying couch and smoked his pipe. As soon as he heard that there was such unrest in the palace, he now got up from the couch, threw down his pipe and appeared before the sovereign in all orders. The Sovereign says:
- What do you want from me, brave old man?
And Platov answers:
“Your Majesty, I don’t need anything for myself, since I drink and eat what I want and am satisfied with everything, and I,” he says, “came to report about this nymphosoria that they found: this,” he says, “it was so and so it was , and this is how it happened before my eyes in England - and here she has a key with her, and I have their own small scope, through which you can see it, and with this key you can wind this nymphosoria through the belly, and it will jump in any space and to the side of the belief to do.
They started it, and she went to jump, and Platov says:
“This,” he says, “your Majesty, it’s for sure that the work is very subtle and interesting, but only we should not be surprised at this with one delight of feelings, but we should subject it to Russian revisions in Tula or in Sesterbek,” then Sestroretsk was called Sesterbek , - can not our masters surpass this, so that the British do not exalt themselves over the Russians.
Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich was very confident in his Russian people and did not like to yield to any foreigner, and he answered Platov:
- It's you, a courageous old man, you speak well, and I instruct you to believe this business. I don’t care about this box now with my troubles, but you take it with you and don’t lie down on your annoying couch anymore, but go to the quiet Don and have internecine conversations there with my Don people about their life and devotion and what they like. And when you go through Tula, show my Tula masters this nymphosoria, and let them think about it. Tell them from me that my brother was surprised at this thing and praised strangers who made nymphosoria the most, and I hope on my own that they are no worse than anyone. They will not utter my word and will do something.

Chapter Five

Platov took a steel flea, and as he went through Tula to the Don, he showed it to the Tula gunsmiths and conveyed the words of the sovereign to them, and then asked:
- How should we be now, Orthodox?
Gunsmiths answer:
- We, father, feel the gracious word of the sovereign and we can never forget it because he hopes for his people, but how we should be in the present case, we cannot say in one minute, because the English nation is also not stupid, but rather cunning, and art in it with great meaning. Against her, - they say, - one must take thought and with God's blessing. And you, if your grace, like our sovereign, has confidence in us, go to your quiet Don, and leave this flea for us, as it is, in a case and in a golden royal snuffbox. Walk along the Don and heal the wounds that you mistook for your fatherland, and when you go back through Tula, stop and send for us: by that time, God willing, we’ll think of something.
Platov was not entirely satisfied that the Tula people were demanding so much time and, moreover, they did not say clearly what exactly they hoped to arrange. He asked them in one way or another, and in every way he spoke to them slyly in Don; but the Tula people did not in the least 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, but wanted to fulfill their bold imagination directly, and then give it away.
They say:
We ourselves do not yet know what we will do, but we will only hope in God, and perhaps the word of the king for our sake will not be put to shame.
So Platov wags his mind, and Tula too.
Platov wobbled and wobbled, but he saw that he couldn’t twist the tula, handed them a snuffbox with nymphosoria and said:
- Well, there is nothing to do, let, - he says, - be your way; I know what you are like, well, alone, there’s nothing to do - I believe you, but just look, so as not to replace the diamond and don’t spoil the English fine work, but don’t bother for long, because I travel a lot: two weeks won’t pass, like I will turn back from the quiet Don to Petersburg - then I must certainly have something to show the sovereign.
The gunsmiths completely reassured him:
“We won’t do fine work,” they say, “we won’t damage it and we won’t exchange the diamond, but two weeks is enough time for us, and by the time you return back, you will have something worthy to present to the sovereign splendor.
What exactly, they didn't say.

Chapter six

Platov left Tula, and the gunsmiths, three people, the most skilled of them, one oblique left-hander, a birthmark on his cheek, and the hairs on his temples were torn out during training, said goodbye to his comrades and to their family, yes, without saying anything to anyone, took their bags, put there what you need to eat and disappeared from the city.
They only noticed that they did not go to the Moscow outpost, but to the opposite, Kyiv side, and thought that they went to Kyiv to bow to the resting saints or to advise there with one of the living holy men who always stay in Kyiv in abundance .
But that was only close to the truth, not the truth itself. Neither time nor distance allowed the Tula craftsmen to go on foot to Kyiv in three weeks, and even then to have time to do work that was shameful for the English nation. It would be better if they could go to pray in Moscow, which is only “two ninety miles away”, and there are many saints resting there. And in the other direction, to Orel, the same "two ninety", but beyond Orel to Kyiv again a good five hundred miles. You won’t make such a path soon, and having done it, you won’t rest soon - for a long time your legs will be glassy and your hands will shake.
Others even thought that the craftsmen had boasted in front of Platov, and then, after thinking it over, they got cold feet and now completely fled, taking with them both the royal gold snuffbox, and the diamond, and the English steel flea in a case that caused them trouble.
However, such an assumption was also completely unfounded and unworthy of skillful people, on whom the hope of the nation now rested.

Chapter Seven

Tulyaks, smart people and knowledgeable in metal work, are also known as the first experts in religion. In this respect, their native land is full of glory, and even Saint Athos: they are not only masters of singing with the Babylonians, but they know how the picture “evening bells” is written, and if one of them devotes himself to greater service and goes to monasticism, then such are reputed to be the best monastic stewards, and they make the most able collectors. On Holy Athos they know that the Tula people are the most profitable people, and if not for them, then the dark corners of Russia would probably not have seen very many saints of the distant East, and Athos would have lost many useful gifts from Russian generosity and piety. Now the "Athos Tula" carry saints all over our homeland and skillfully collect fees even where there is nothing to take. Tulyak is full of church piety and a great practitioner of this matter, and therefore those three masters who undertook to support Platov and all of Russia with him did not make a mistake, heading not to Moscow, but to the south. They did not go to Kyiv at all, but to Mtsensk, to the county town of the Oryol province, in which there is an ancient “stone-cut” icon of St. Nicholas; sailed here in the most ancient times on a large stone cross along the Zusha River. This icon is of the “terrible and terrible” type - the saint of Mir-Lycian is depicted on it “in full growth”, all dressed in silver-plated clothes, and his face is dark and holds a temple on one hand, and in the other a sword - “military overpowering”. It was in this “overcoming” that the meaning of the thing lay: St. Nikolai is generally the patron of trade and military affairs, and the “Mtsensk Nikola” in particular, and the Tula people went to bow to him. They served a prayer service at the very icon, then at the stone cross, and finally returned home “at night” and, without telling anyone anything, set to work in a terrible secret. All three of them came together in one house to the left-hander, locked the doors, closed the shutters in the windows, lit the icon lamp in front of Nikolai's image and began to work.
For a day, two, three, they sit and do not go anywhere, everyone taps with hammers. They forge something like that, but what they forge - nothing is known.
Everyone is curious, but no one can find out anything, because the workers do not say anything and do not show themselves outside. Different people went to the house, knocked on the doors under different forms to ask for fire or salt, but the three artisans do not open up to any demand, and even what they eat is unknown. They tried to frighten them, as if a house was on fire in the neighborhood, - would they jump out in a fright and then show up what they had forged, but nothing took these cunning craftsmen; once only the left-hander leaned up to his shoulders and shouted:
- Burn yourself, but we have no time, - and again he hid his plucked head, slammed the shutter, and set to work.
Only through small slits could one see how a light gleamed inside the house, and one could hear that thin hammers were pounding on ringing anvils.
In a word, the whole business was conducted in such a terrible secret that nothing could be found out, and, moreover, it continued until the very return of the Cossack Platov from the quiet Don to the sovereign, and during all this time the masters did not see anyone and did not talk.

Chapter Eight

Platov rode very hastily and with ceremony: he himself sat in a carriage, and on the goats two whistling Cossacks with whips on both sides of the driver sat down and watered him without mercy so that he galloped. And if a Cossack dozes off, Platov himself will kick him out of the carriage, and they will rush even more angrily. These measures of inducement were so successful that nowhere could the horses be kept at any station, and always a hundred gallops jumped past the stopping place. Then again the Cossack will act back on the coachman, and they will return to the entrance.
So they rolled into Tula - they also flew at first a hundred jumps beyond the Moscow outpost, and then the Cossack acted on the coachman with a whip in the opposite direction, and they began to harness new horses at the porch. Platov did not get out of the carriage, but only ordered the whistler to bring the artisans to him as soon as possible, to whom he had left a flea.
One whistler ran so that they would go as soon as possible and carry him the work that should have put the British to shame, and a little more this whistler ran away, when Platov sent new ones after him over and over again, so that as soon as possible.
He dispersed all the whistlers and began to send simple people from the curious public, and even he himself puts his legs out of the carriage from impatience and wants to run from impatience, but he grinds his teeth - everything is still not shown to him soon.
So at that time everything was required very neatly and quickly, so that not a single minute of Russian usefulness would be wasted.

Chapter Nine

The Tula masters, who did an amazing job, at that time were just finishing their work. The whistlers ran up to them out of breath, and ordinary people from the curious public did not run at all, because, out of habit, their legs scattered and fell down along the way, and then out of fear, so as not to look at Platov, they hit home and hid anywhere.
The whistlers, however, jumped in, now screamed, and as they saw that they did not unlock, now, without ceremony, they pulled the bolts at the shutters, but the bolts were so strong that they did not give in the least, they pulled the doors, and the doors were locked on the inside with an oak bolt. Then the whistle-blowers took a log from the street, poked it in a fireman's manner under the roofing bolt and the entire roof from the small house at once and turned it off. But they took off the roof, and they themselves fell down now, because the masters in their close mansion from breathless work in the air became such a sweaty spiral that an unaccustomed person from a fresh fad and once could not breathe.
The ambassadors shouted:
- What are you, such and such, bastards doing, and even dare to make mistakes with such a spiral! Or in you after that there is no God!
And they answer:
- We are now hammering in the last carnation and, as soon as we score, then we will carry out our work.
And the ambassadors say:
- He will eat us alive until that hour and will not leave us at the mention of the soul.
But the masters answer:
- He will not have time to absorb you, because while you were talking here, we already have this last nail hammered in. Run and say what we are carrying now.
The whistlers ran, but not with assurance: they thought that the masters would deceive them; and therefore they run, run and look back; but the craftsmen followed them and hurried so very quickly that they were not even quite properly dressed for appearing to an important person, and on the go they fasten the hooks in their caftans. Two of them had nothing in their hands, and the third, a left-hander, had a royal casket with an English steel flea in a green case.

Chapter Ten

The whistlers ran up to Platov and said:
- Here they are!
Platov now to the masters:
- Is it ready?
- Everything, - they answer, - it's ready.
- Give it here.
Filed.
And the carriage is already harnessed, and the driver and the postilion are in place. The Cossacks immediately sat down next to the coachman and raised their whips over him and waved them like that and hold on.
Platov tore off the green cover, opened the box, took out a golden snuffbox from the cotton wool, and a diamond nut out of the snuffbox - he sees: the English flea lies there as it was, and there is nothing else besides it.
Platov says:
- What is it? And where is your work, with which you wanted to console the sovereign?
The gunsmiths replied:
- That's our job.
Platov asks:
- What does she mean by herself?
And the gunsmiths answer:
- Why explain it? Everything here is in your mind - and provide for.
Platov shrugged his shoulders and shouted:
- Where is the key to the flea?
- And right there, - they answer, - Where there is a flea, there is a key, in one nut.
Platov wanted to take the key, but his fingers were bony: he caught, he caught, he could not grasp either the flea or the key to her abdominal plant, and suddenly he got angry and began to swear words in the Cossack manner.
Shouted:
- Why didn't you scoundrels do anything, and even, perhaps, ruined the whole thing! I'll take your head off!
And the Tula people answered him:
- In vain you offend us like that - we from you, as from the sovereign's ambassador, must endure all insults, but only because you doubted us and thought that we were even similar to deceive the sovereign's name - we now do not give you the secret of our work let's say, but if you please, take us to the sovereign - he will see what kind of people we are with him and whether he has any shame for us.
And Platov shouted:
“Well, you’re lying, scoundrels, I won’t part with you like that, but one of you will go to Petersburg with me, and I’ll try to find out what your tricks are there.
And with that, he stretched out his hand, grabbed the left-handed left-hander by the collar with his short fingers, so that all the hooks from the Cossack flew off, and threw him into the carriage at his feet.
“Sit down,” he says, “here until St. Petersburg itself, like a pubel, you will answer me for everyone. And you, - says the whistlers, - now the guide! Do not yawn, so that the day after tomorrow I will be in St. Petersburg with the sovereign.
The masters only dared to say to him for a comrade that how, they say, are you taking him away from us without a tugament? he can't be followed back! And Platov, instead of answering, showed them his fist - so terrible, bumpy and all chopped up, somehow fused - and, threatening, says: “Here is a tugament for you!” And he says to the Cossacks:
- Guys, guys!
The Cossacks, coachmen and horses all worked at once and drove off the left-hander without a tugament, and a day later, as Platov ordered, they drove him to the sovereign's palace and even, having galloped properly, drove past the columns.
Platov got up, picked up the orders and went to the sovereign, and ordered the oblique left-hander to watch the whistling Cossacks at the entrance.

Chapter Eleven

Platov was afraid to show himself in front of the sovereign, because Nikolai Pavlovich was terribly wonderful and memorable - he did not forget anything. Platov knew that he would certainly ask him about the flea. And so, at least he was not afraid of any enemy in the light, but then he chickened out: he entered the palace with a casket and quietly placed it in the hall behind the stove. Having hidden the casket, Platov appeared in the sovereign's office and quickly began to report on the internecine conversations among the Cossacks on the quiet Don. He thought this: in order to occupy the sovereign with this, and then, if the sovereign himself remembers and speaks about the flea, he must file and answer, and if he does not speak, then remain silent; order the cabinet valet to hide the box, and to put the Tula left-hander in the fortress cell without a time limit, so that he could sit there until the time, if necessary.
But Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich did not forget anything, and as soon as Platov had finished talking about internecine conversations, he immediately asked him:
- And what, how did my Tula masters justify themselves against the English nymphosoria?
Platov answered in the way that seemed to him.
“Nymphosoria,” he says, “your Majesty, everything is in the same space, and I brought it back, but the Tula masters could not do anything more amazing.
The emperor replied:
- You are a courageous old man, and this, what you report to me, cannot be.
Platov began to assure him and told him how the whole thing had happened, and how he went so far as to say that the Tula people asked him to show the sovereign his flea, Nikolai Pavlovich clapped him on the shoulder and said:
- Give it here. I know that mine cannot deceive me. Something beyond the concept is done here.

Chapter Twelve

They took out a casket from behind the stove, removed the cloth cover from it, opened a golden snuffbox and a diamond nut - and in it lies a flea, which it was before and how it lay.
The emperor looked and said:
- What a dashing! - But he did not diminish his faith in Russian masters, but ordered to call his beloved daughter Alexandra Nikolaevna and ordered her:
- You have thin fingers on your hands - take a small key and start the abdominal machine in this nymphosoria as soon as possible.
The princess began to turn the little key, and the flea now moved its antennae, but did not touch its legs. Alexandra Nikolaevna pulled the whole factory, but the nymphosoria still doesn’t dance and doesn’t throw out a single version, as before.
Platov turned green all over and shouted:
- Oh, they are dog rogues! Now I understand why they didn't want to tell me anything there. It's good that I took one of their fools with me.
With these words, he ran out to the entrance, caught the left-hander by the hair and began to ruffle back and forth so that shreds flew. And when Platov stopped beating him, he recovered and said:
- I already had all my hair torn out during my studies, but now I don’t know why I need such a repetition?
- This is because, - says Platov, - that I hoped for you and enlisted, and you spoiled a rare thing.
Lefty says:
- We are very pleased that you vouched for us, but we did not spoil anything: take it, look into the strongest small scope.
Platov ran back to talk about the smallscope, but the left-hander only threatened:
- I'll tell you, - he says, - such-and-such-such, I'll ask you more.
And he ordered the whistlers to twist their elbows back even more tightly to the left-hander, and he himself climbs the steps, out of breath and reads a prayer: “Good king, good mother, pure and pure,” and further, as necessary. And the courtiers, who are standing on the steps, all turn away from him, they think: Platov has been caught and now they will drive him out of the palace, - therefore they could not stand him for his courage.

Chapter Thirteen

As Platov brought Levshina's words to the sovereign, he now happily says:
- I know that my Russian people will not deceive me. - And he ordered to bring a melkoscope on a pillow.
At that very moment, the melkoscope was brought in, and the sovereign took the flea and put it under the glass, first upside down, then sideways, then belly, in a word, they turned it on all sides, but there was nothing to see. But the sovereign did not lose his faith even here, but only said:
- Bring this gunsmith down here to me now.
Platov reports:
- It would be necessary to dress him up - he was taken in what, and now he is in a very evil form.
And the sovereign replies:
- Nothing - enter as it is.
Platov says:
- Now go yourself, such and such, answer before the eyes of the sovereign.
And the lefty says:
- Well, I'll go and answer.
He wears what he was: in shawls, one leg is in a boot, the other is dangled, and the ozyamchik is old, the hooks do not fasten, they are lost, and the collar is torn; but nothing, do not be embarrassed.
“What is it? - thinks. - If the sovereign wants to see me, I must go; and if I don’t have a tugament, then I didn’t cause it and I’ll tell you why it happened like that.
As the left-hander ascended and bowed, the sovereign now says to him:
- What is it, brother, does it mean that we looked this way and that, and put it under a small scope, but we don’t see anything remarkable?
And the lefty says:
- Is that how you, Your Majesty, deigned to look?
The nobles nod to him: they say, you don’t say so! but he does not understand how it should be in a courtly manner, with flattery or cunning, but speaks simply.
The Sovereign says:
- Leave him to be wiser, - let him answer as he can.
And now he explained:
- We, - he says, - that's how they put it, - And he put the flea under the small scope. - Look, - he says, - himself - you can't see anything.
Lefty says:
“So, Your Majesty, it’s impossible to see anything, because our work against this size is much more secret.
The Emperor asked:
- How is it necessary?
- It is necessary, - he says, - to bring just one of her legs in detail under the entire melkoscope and look separately at every heel with which she steps.
Have mercy, tell me, - says the sovereign, - this is already very small!
- But what to do, - answers the left-hander, - if only in this way our work can be noticed: then everything and surprise will turn out.
They laid it down, as the left-hander said, and the sovereign, as soon as he looked into the upper glass, beamed all over - he took the left-hander, which he was untidy and dusty, unwashed, hugged him and kissed him, and then turned to all the courtiers and said:
- You see, I knew better than anyone that my Russians would not deceive me. Look, please: after all, they, rogues, have shod an English flea on horseshoes!

Chapter Fourteen

Everyone began to come up and look: the flea really was shod on all legs with real horseshoes, and the left-hander reported that this was not all amazing.
- If, - he says, - there was a better smallscope, which magnifies at five million, then you would deign, - he says, - to see that on each horseshoe the master's name is displayed: which Russian master made that horseshoe.
- And your name is here? - asked the sovereign.
- Not at all, - answers the left-hander, - I don't have one.
- Why not?
“Because,” he says, “I worked smaller than these horseshoes: I forged carnations with which the horseshoes were clogged, no melkoscope can take it there.
The Emperor asked:
- Where is your melkoscope with which you could make this surprise?
The lefty replied:
- We are poor people and because of our poverty we do not have a small scope, but we have shot our eyes like that.
Then the other courtiers, seeing that the left-handed business had burned out, began to kiss him, and Platov gave him a hundred rubles and said:
- Forgive me, brother, that I tore you by the hair.
Lefty says:
- God will forgive, - this is not the first time such snow on our heads.
And he didn’t talk anymore, and he didn’t have time to talk to anyone, because the sovereign ordered this savvy nymphosoria to be put down right away and sent back to England - like a gift, so that they would understand that we were not surprised. And the sovereign ordered that a special courier, who was learned in all languages, carried the flea, and that he was also left-handed and that he himself could show the British the work and what kind of masters we have in Tula.
Platov baptized him.
- Let, - he says, - there will be a blessing over you, and on the road I will send you my own sour. Don't drink a little, don't drink a lot, but drink sparingly.
So I did and sent it.
And Count Kiselvrode ordered that the left-hander be washed in the Tulyakovo national baths, cut off at the barbershop and dressed in a ceremonial caftan from the court chorister, in order to make it look like he had some kind of rank on him.
How they molded him in such a manner, gave him tea with Platov's sour on the road, tightened his belt as tight as possible so that his intestines did not shake, and took him to London. From here, with the left-hander, foreign views went.

Chapter fifteen

The courier with the left-hander drove very quickly, so that from Petersburg to London they did not stop anywhere to rest, but only at each station the belts were already tightened by one badge so that the intestines and lungs would not get mixed up; but as a left-hander, after being presented to the sovereign, by Platov’s order, from the treasury, a portion of wine was supposed to be plenty, then, without eating, he supported himself with this alone and sang Russian songs throughout Europe, only did the refrain in a foreign way: “Ay lyuli - se tre zhuli ".
As soon as the courier brought him to London, he appeared to the right person and gave the casket, and put the left-hander in a hotel room, but he soon became bored here, and even wanted to eat. He knocked on the door and pointed to the mouth of the attendant, who now led him into the catering room.
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 and show himself in his mouth - the British guess and serve, but not always what is needed, but he does not accept what is not suitable for him. They served him their preparation of hot studing on fire, - he says: “I don’t know that you can eat this,” and did not eat it; they changed it for him and gave him another dish. Also, I didn’t drink their vodka, because it’s green - it seems like it’s seasoned with vitriol, but I chose what’s most natural and waits for the courier in the cool for an eggplant.
And those persons to whom the courier handed over the nymphosoria, this very minute examined it in the most powerful small scope and now in the public statements a description, so that tomorrow the slander will be released to the general public.
- And this master himself, - they say, - we now want to see.
The courier escorted them to the room, and from there to the food reception hall, where our left-hander was already fairly reddened, and said: “Here he is!”
The British left-handers are now clap-clap on the shoulder and, like an even self, by the hands. “Comrade,” they say, “comrade is a good master, “we will talk with you later, and now we will drink to your well-being.”
They asked for a lot of wine, and the left-hander the first glass, but he politely did not drink the first: he thinks, maybe you want to poison him out of annoyance.
- No, - he says, - this is not order: there is no longer a master in Poland - eat ahead yourself.
The English tried all the wines in front of him and then they began to pour him. He stood up, crossed himself with his left hand and drank to their health.
They noticed that he was crossing himself with his left hand, and asked the courier:
- Is he a Lutheran or a Protestant?
The courier says:
- No, he is not a Lutheran or a Protestant, but of the Russian faith.
- And why is he baptized with his left hand?
The courier said:
He is left-handed and does everything with his left hand.
The British became even more surprised - and they began to pump up both the left-hander and the courier with wine, and so they managed for three whole days, and then they say: "Now that's enough." According to the symphony of water with an erfix, they accepted and, completely refreshed, began to ask the left-hander: where did he study and what did he study and how long does he know arithmetic?
Lefty says:
- Our science is simple: but the Psalter and the Half Dream Book, and we do not know arithmetic at all.
The English looked at each other and said:
- It is amazing.
And Lefty answers them:
- We have it all over the place.
- And what is this, - they ask, - for the book in Russia "Sleep Book"?
“This,” he says, “is a book referring to the fact that if in the Psalter King David did not clearly reveal anything about fortune-telling, then an addition is guessed in the Half-Dream Book.
They say:
- It's a pity, it would be better if you knew at least four rules of addition from arithmetic, then it would be much more useful for you than the entire Polusonnik. Then you could realize that in every machine there is a force calculation; otherwise you are very skillful in your hands, and you didn’t realize that such a small machine, as in a nymphosoria, is designed for the most accurate accuracy and cannot carry its horseshoes. Through this, now nymphosoria does not jump and dance does not dance.
Lefty agreed.
- About this, - he says, - there is no doubt that we have not gone into the sciences, but only faithfully devoted to our fatherland.
And the English say to him:
- Stay with us, we will give you a great education, and you will become an amazing master.
But the left-hander did not agree to this.
- I have, - he says, - there are parents at home.
The British called themselves to send money to his parents, but the left-hander did not take it.
- We, - he says, - are committed to our homeland, and my aunt is already an old man, and my parent is an old woman and used to go to church in her parish, and it will be very boring for me here alone, because I'm still in the bachelor rank.
“You,” they say, “get used to it, accept our law, and we will marry you.”
- This, - answered the left-hander, - can never be.
- Why is that?
- Because, - he answers, - that our Russian faith is the most correct, and as our right-wingers believed, descendants should also believe in the same way.
- You, - say the English, - do not know our faith: we contain the same Christian law and the same gospel.
- The gospel, - answers the left-hander, - indeed, everyone has one, but only our books are thicker against yours, and our faith is fuller.
- Why can you judge it like that?
- We have that - answers - there is all the obvious evidence.
- What kind?
- And such, - he says, - that we have both idolized icons and coffin heads and relics, but you have nothing, and even, except for one Sunday, there are no emergency holidays, and for the second reason - to me with an Englishwoman, although I got married in law, it will be embarrassing to live.
- Why is it so? - they ask. - Do not neglect: ours also dress very cleanly and housekeeping.
The lefty says:
- I do not know them.
The English answer:
- It doesn't matter the essence - you can find out: we will make you a grand devout.
Lefty was ashamed.
“Why,” he says, “it’s useless to fool the girls.” And he denied it.
The British were curious:
- And if, - they say, - without a grande deux, then how do you act in such cases in order to make a pleasant choice?
The left-hander explained our position to them.
“With us,” he says, “when a man wants to discover a detailed intention about a girl, he sends a colloquial woman, and as she makes an excuse, then they politely go into the house together and look at the girl without hiding, but with all kinship.
They understood, but answered that they did not have colloquial women and that such a habit was not common, and the left-hander said:
- This is all the more pleasant, because if you do such a thing, then you need to do it with a detailed intention, but as I don’t feel this for a foreign nation, then why fool the girls?
The British liked him in these judgments of his, so that they again went over his shoulders and knees, clapping their hands pleasantly, and they themselves ask:
- We would, - they say, - only through one curiosity would like to know: what vicious signs have you noticed in our girls and why are you running around them?
Here the left-hander answered them frankly:
- I don’t defame them, but I just don’t like that the clothes are somehow waving on them, and you can’t make out what they are wearing and for what purpose; here is one thing, and below it another is pinned, and on the hands are some kind of legs. Quite accurately, the sapage monkey is a plush talma.
The English laughed and said:
- What is the obstacle for you?
- There are no obstacles, - the left-hander answers, - but I'm only afraid that it will be a shame to watch and wait for her to figure it out from all this.
- Really, - they say, - your style is better?
- Our style, - answers, - in Tula is simple: everyone in their laces, and even big ladies wear our laces.
They also showed him to their ladies, and there they poured tea for him and asked:
- Why are you grimacing?
He answered that we, he says, are not accustomed very sweetly.
Then he was given a bite in Russian.
It is shown to them that it seems to be worse, and he says:
- For our taste, that way it tastes better.
The British could not bring him down with anything, so that he would be seduced by their life, but only persuaded him to stay for a short time, and at that time they would take him to different factories and show all their art.
- And then, - they say, - we will bring him on our ship and deliver him alive to Petersburg.
To this he agreed.

Chapter Sixteen

The British took the lefty in their hands, and sent the Russian courier back to Russia. Although the courier had a rank and was trained in various 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. He looked at all their production: both metal factories and soap-saw factories, and all their economic arrangements, he liked him very much, especially with regard to the working content. Every worker they have is constantly full, dressed not in scraps, but on everyone a capable tunic waistcoat, shod in thick anklets with iron knobs, so that they don’t cut their feet on anything anywhere; does not work with a boilie, but with training and has a clue. In front of each in plain sight hangs a multiplication dolbit ”and an erasable tablet at hand: everything that the master does, he looks at the dolbit and checks with the concept, and then writes one thing on the tablet, erases the other and neatly reduces: what is written on the tsifirs, then and put on comes out. And the holiday will come, they will gather in a couple, take a stick in their hands and go for a walk decorously and nobly, as they should.
The left-hander had seen enough of all their life and all their work, but most of all he paid attention to such an Object that the British were very surprised. He was not so interested in how new guns were made, but in what form the old ones were. Everything goes around and praises, and says:
- This is what we can do.
And when he gets to the old gun, he puts his finger in the barrel, moves along the walls and sighs:
- This, - he says, - against ours is not an example of the most excellent.
The English could not guess what the left-hander notices, and he asks:
- Can't, - he says, - I know that our generals have ever looked at this or not? They tell him:
Those who were here must have been watching.
- And how, - he says, - were they with a glove or without a glove?
“Your generals,” they say, “are parade, they always wear gloves; so it was here too.
Lefty didn't say anything. But suddenly he began to get bored restlessly. He yearned and yearned and said to the English:
- Thank you humbly at all the treats, and I am very pleased with everything and everything that I needed to see, I have already seen, and now I rather want to go home.
They couldn't hold him any longer. You can’t let him go by land, because he didn’t know how to speak all languages, but it wasn’t good to swim on water, because it was autumn, stormy time, but he stuck: let him go.
- We were looking at the storm meter, - they say, - there will be a storm, you can drown; it's not that you have the Gulf of Finland, but here is the real Tverdizemye Sea.
- It's all the same, - he answers, - where to die, - everything is the only one, the will of God, but I want to return to my native place, because otherwise I can get a kind of insanity.
They didn’t hold him by force: they fed him, rewarded him with money, gave him a gold watch with a trepeter as a keepsake, and for the coolness of the sea on the late autumn journey they gave him a flannel coat with a wind hood on his head. They dressed very warmly and took the left-hander to the ship that was going to Russia. Here they placed a left-hander in the best possible way, like a real gentleman, but he did not like to sit in the closing room with other gentlemen and was ashamed, but he would go on deck, sit under a present and ask: “Where is our Russia?”
The Englishman whom he asks will point his hand in that direction or wave his head, and he will turn his face there and look impatiently in his native direction.
As soon as they left the buffet in the Solid Earth Sea, his desire for Russia became so intense that it was impossible to calm him down. The water supply has become terrible, but the left-hander doesn’t go down to the cabins - he sits under a present, puts on his hood and looks to the fatherland.
Many times the English came to a warm place to call him down, but in order not to be bothered, he even began to kick.
- No, - he answers, - it’s better for me outside; otherwise a guinea pig will become with me under the roof from the fluttering.
So all the time I didn’t go until a special occasion, and because of this I really liked one half-skipper, who, to the grief of our left-hander, knew how to speak Russian. This half-skipper could not be surprised that a Russian land man can withstand all the bad weather anyway.
- Well done, - he says, - Rus! Let's drink!
Lefty drank.
And the half-skipper says:
- More!
Left-handed and drank some more, and got drunk.
The skipper asks him:
- What secret are you taking from our state to Russia?
Lefty says:
- It's my business.
- And if so, - answered the half-skipper, - then let's keep the English parey with you.
Lefty asks:
- Which?
“So that you don’t drink anything alone, but drink everything equally: that one, then certainly the other,” and whoever outdrinks whom, that’s the hill.
The left-hander thinks: the sky is clouding, the belly is swelling - the boredom is great, and the Putin is long, and you can’t see your native place behind the wave - it will still be more fun to bet.
- Well, - he says, - go!
- Just to be honest.
- Yes perishing this, - says, - do not worry.
They agreed and shook hands.

Chapter Seventeen

They started betting back in the Solid Earth Sea, and they drank until the Riga Dinaminda, but they all walked on an equal footing and did not concede to each other and were so neatly equal that when one, looking into the sea, saw how the devil was climbing out of the water, so now it’s the same thing happened to the other. Only the half-skipper sees the trait of the redhead, and the left-hander says that he is dark as a murine.
Lefty says:
- Cross yourself and turn away - this is the devil from the abyss.
And the Englishman argues that "this is a sea eye."
- Do you want, - he says, - I will throw you into the sea? Don't be afraid - he will give you back to me now.
And the lefty says:
- If so, then throw it.
The half-skipper took him by the backs and carried him to the side.
The sailors saw this, stopped them and reported to the captain, and he ordered them both to be locked up downstairs and given rum and wine and cold food so that they could both drink and eat and stand their wager - and they were not to serve hot studing with fire, because they can burn alcohol in their guts.
So they were brought locked up to Petersburg, and not one of them won a bet with each other; and then they laid them out on different wagons and took the Englishman to the messenger's house on the Aglitskaya embankment, and the left-hander - to the quarter.
Hence, their fate began to differ greatly.

Chapter Eighteen

As soon as they brought the Englishman to the embassy's house, they immediately called a doctor and a pharmacist to him. The doctor ordered to put him in a warm bath with him, and the pharmacist immediately rolled up a gutta-percha pill and put it into his mouth himself, and then both took it together and laid it on a feather bed and covered it with a fur coat on top and left it to sweat, and so that no one would interfere with him, everything The order was given to the embassy so that no one dares to sneeze. The doctor and the pharmacist waited until the half-skipper fell asleep, and then another gutta-percha pill was prepared for him, they put it on the table near his head and left.
And the left-hander was dumped on the floor in the quarter and asked:
- Who is this and where is she from, and do you have a passport or some other document?
And he, from illness, from drinking, and from long squirming, has become so weak that he does not answer a word, but only groans.
Then they immediately searched him, took off his colorful dress and his watch with a trepeter, and took the money, and the bailiff himself ordered to be sent to the hospital in an oncoming cab free of charge.
The policeman led the left-hander to put on a sled, but for a long time he could not catch a single oncoming one, because the cabbies run from the policemen. And the left-hander lay on the cold paratha all the time; then he caught a police cab driver, only without a warm fox, because they hide a fox in a sleigh under themselves in such a case, so that the policemen's legs get cold sooner. They drove a left-hander so uncovered, but when they start transferring from one cab to another, they drop everything, and they start picking it up - they tear the ears so that they come to memory.
They brought him to one hospital - they don’t accept him without a tugament, they brought him to another - and there, they don’t accept him, and so on to the third, and to the fourth - until the very morning they dragged him along all the remote crooked paths and transplanted everything, so that he was beaten all over. Then one assistant doctor told the policeman to take him to the common people's Obukhvinsk hospital, where everyone of an unknown class is accepted to die.
Here they ordered to give a receipt, and to put the left-hander on the floor in the corridor until the disassembly.
And the English half-skipper at this very time got up the next day, swallowed another gutta-percha pill in his gut, ate a chicken with a lynx for a light breakfast, washed it down with an erfix and said:
- Where is my Russian comrade? I'll go look for him.
I got dressed and ran.

Chapter Nineteen

In an amazing manner, the half-skipper somehow very soon found the left-hander, only they had not yet laid him on the bed, and he was lying on the floor in the corridor and complaining to the Englishman.
- I would, - he says, - two words to the sovereign must certainly be said.
The Englishman ran to Count Kleinmichel and made a noise:
- Is it possible! He, - he says, - even though he has an Ovechkin coat, has the soul of a man.
The Englishman is now out of there for this reasoning, so as not to dare to commemorate the soul of a little man. And then someone said to him: "You'd better go to the Cossack Platov - he has simple feelings."
The Englishman reached Platov, who was now back on the couch. Platov listened to him and remembered the left-hander.
- Well, brother, - he says, - I know him very briefly, I even pulled him by the hair, but I don’t know how to help him in such an unfortunate time; because I have already completely served my time and have received a full pull - now they don’t respect me anymore - and you quickly run to the commandant Skobelev, he is capable and also experienced in this part, he will do something.
The half-skipper also went to Skobelev and told him everything: what illness the left-hander had and why it had happened. Skobelev says:
- I understand this disease, only the Germans cannot treat it, but here you need some doctor from the clergy, because they have grown up in these examples and can help; I will now send the Russian doctor Martyn-Solsky there.
But only when Martyn-Solsky arrived, the left-hander was already running out, because the back of his head was split on parat, and he could only clearly pronounce:
- Tell the sovereign that the British do not clean their guns with bricks: even if they don’t clean ours, otherwise, God forbid, they are not suitable for shooting.
And with this fidelity, the left-hander crossed himself and died. Martin-Solsky immediately went, reported this to Count Chernyshev in order to bring it to the sovereign, and Count Chernyshev shouted at him:
“Know,” he says, “your emetic and laxative, and don’t interfere in your own business: in Russia there are generals for this.
The sovereign was never told, and the purge continued until the very Crimean campaign. At that time, they began to load guns, and the bullets dangle in them, because the barrels were cleared with bricks.
Here Martyn-Solsky reminded Chernyshev about the left-hander, and Count Chernyshev said:
“Go to hell, placid pipe, don’t interfere in your own business, otherwise I’ll admit that I never heard about this from you, and you’ll get it.”
Martyn-Solsky thought: "He really will unlock it," - he remained silent.
And if they brought the left-handed word to the sovereign in due time, in the Crimea, in a war with the enemy, it would have been a completely different turn.

Chapter Twenty

Now all this is already “the affairs of bygone days” and “traditions of antiquity”, although not deep, but there is no need to rush to forget these traditions, despite the fabulous warehouse of the legend and the epic character of its protagonist. The left-hander's own name, like the names of many of the greatest geniuses, is forever lost to posterity; but as a myth personified by folk fantasy, it is interesting, and its adventures can serve as a recollection of an era, the general spirit of which is captured aptly and correctly.
Such masters as the fabulous left-hander, of course, no longer exist in Tula: machines have evened out the inequality of talents and talents, and genius is not torn in the struggle against diligence and accuracy. Favoring the rise of earnings, the machines do not favor artistic prowess, which sometimes exceeded the measure, inspiring popular imagination to compose such fabulous legends as the present one.
Workers, of course, know how to appreciate the benefits brought to them by the practical devices of mechanical science, but they remember the former antiquity with pride and love. This is their epic, and, moreover, with a very "human soul."