Composition on the topic: The fate of the master in Russia in the story Lefty, Leskov. The tragic fate of a talented person in the tale "Lefty" Everyone knows the sad story of the left-hander Zakharov

The highest attention to Lefty is ostentatious. He was “washed” in the “national” baths, cut his hair, dressed in a ceremonial caftan, taken from the court chorister, and taken to London. However, he goes all the way "not eating", supporting himself with only Platov's sour. Publicly kissing Lefty, the sovereign did nothing to protect him from new "surprises".

In the description of the amazing work of the Tula masters, which at the same time elevates them above their overseas rivals and reveals their weakness, Leskov’s disturbing thought about Russian backwardness, lack of enlightenment, which fetters the great strengths and capabilities of the people, dooming them to a series of defeats and failures, is reflected. .

Leskov is far from overestimating the possibilities of the people. The result of the inspired work of the Tula masters is fraught with an "insidious" duality: they really manage to create a miracle - to shoe a "nymphosoria", but a flea shod "by eye" can no longer "dance dance".

"Nymphosoria ... does not dance and does not throw out a single version, as before."

Artist N. Kuzmin

The Russian masters, who showed amazing audacity of imagination, did not know the "calculation of strength", and Lefty has to agree with this.

How did the British react to Lefty?

A. TyurinLefty among the British

In contrast to their compatriots, the British show a touching, truly human concern for all the "little things" that ensure the well-being of Lefty's journey.

Russians do not see Lefty as a person worthy of respect; the British are attentive and helpful, because they know how to appreciate talented people.
The development of the main intrigue has long ended, the results of the competition of talents of the two nations have already been determined, but the writer is still interested not only in the result of this competition - who wins? - but also something else: the position of a talented person in Russia, his personal destiny, the measure of life opportunities allotted to him for the realization of his natural talent.

Thoughts about rejection and even open mockery in Russia of smart, talented, but belonging to the lower classes of individuals, were one of the most important, exciting writer Nikolai Leskov, topics. In one of his letters, he once noted that a simple, hardworking and at the same time immensely talented man in our country is taken for granted, that which will always be and that which makes no sense to patronize.

Leskov categorically disagrees with this trend, believing that any person has the right to have normal living and working conditions, and a talented person who works at full strength for the good of his homeland has a doubly right to this. His tale "Lefty" is just some kind of proof of the tragic fate of the Russian people and the need for drastic changes.

In the tale, the true defenders of the glory of their homeland are the masters from Tula, who managed to shoe a flea, who, in a competition of talents with the British, were able not only to demonstrate their boundless talent, but also to maintain dignity and a sense of patriotism.

Lefty is one of the Tula masters, whom it was decided to take with him to the sovereign, and then to Europe in order to demonstrate his work. He has done the impossible, but is not arrogant, accepts the need to meet with the sovereign as a working moment. He comes to the meeting in his old clothes. He did not try to flatter the emperor, did not try to please him, spoke quietly, calmly and simply, as he knew how. Everyone around marveled at this simplicity, tried to hint at the need to be more helpful. The left-hander, of course, understood that the ruler of the country was standing in front of him, but this did not affect his manner of communication in any way. He treated everyone modestly and respectfully, whether it was the sovereign or his fellow worker. For the Lefty, all people are equal.

Indeed, manners, expensive clothes are insignificant compared to true talent: clothes can wear out, manners can be forgotten in certain situations, but talent will always remain with a person.

The left-hander, thanks to his ingenuity and golden hands, who reached the emperor and abroad, became a very unhappy person. In fact, the new environment did not understand him at all. Yes, and temporary increased attention to the peasant is only ostentatious. They washed him in a bath, changed his clothes and took him with him to London. But he spends all the way without eating even a piece and maintains his strength only with Platov's sour. The emperor publicly kisses Lefty, but does nothing to make his life better or at least really thank him for what he has done.

In contrast to the Russians, the British show human concern for Lefty, strive to create all the conditions for a good trip for him. Compatriots do not see in the master a person who deserves even a drop of respect; for them he is a slave, obliged to do all this. The British invite Lefty to their place, promising a decent job and pay. But despite this, our master dreams only of Russia, and longs to return home as soon as possible. To your dark closet.

He returned to St. Petersburg, in a sick state, as he drank all the way to argue with the skipper. However, upon arrival, the skipper is sent to the hospital, where he is quickly brought to his senses, about the simple man Left-hander, dragged all night with exceptional negligence from the doors of one hospital to another, and, without receiving proper help, dies. A person who glorified his country, instead of honor and respect, received complete indifference. Lefty was not accepted in hospitals, as he did not have a document and money.

But Lefty was not mentally broken until the very last minute of his life: he was only worried about how to have time to convey the information that the British do not clean their guns with bricks, and this makes them last longer. He turned out to be the only wise man with an open soul, the only patriot of his country among the mass of heartless people who lost their purity of soul in pursuit of fame and material wealth.

The tale of Lefty, who shod a flea, became a legend, and Lefty himself became a symbol of the boundless talent of a simple Russian person, often oppressed and forgotten.

The true arbiters of events aimed at exalting the glory of Russia are Lefty and his comrades in the tale - those Tula masters, whose art is entrusted with the English curiosity. It is they who show by their behavior true dignity, calm firmness of spirit, full consciousness of national responsibility. Thinking over the current situation, they judge it, not allowing any overlap of assessments in one direction or another: “... the English nation is also not stupid, but rather cunning, and art in it has great meaning. against her,

They say - you need to take it thinking and with God's blessing.

Such behavior, free from empty vanity, contrasts especially vividly with the pettiness of the motives of the Russian tsars.

In this turn of the plot, the writer's favorite thought about “little great people” who, standing aside from historical events, decide the historical destinies of the country, finds expression. “These direct and reliable people,” Leskov would speak of them with respect and warmth in his later story “The Man on the Clock”, approaching L. Tolstoy in his assessment of the democratic masses.

However, this extremely respectful attitude of the writer towards the Tula masters does not at all exclude mild irony towards them in the tale. Leskov is far from idealizing people's possibilities here, he soberly assesses them. The writer took into account the role of socio-historical circumstances that limit the creative forces of the people, imposing on many Russian inventions the seal of clownish eccentricity or practical inconsistency.

From this point of view, for understanding the general meaning of the tale, it is fundamentally important that the very result of the “breathless”, selfless and inspired work of the Tula masters is fraught with an “insidious” duality of impression: they really manage to create a miracle - to shoe a “nymphosoria”. However, their dominance is not absolute. An eye-savvy flea can no longer “dance dance”. The "improved" English curiosity is at the same time hopelessly broken.

In the development of the plot, this moment, regrettable for the prestige of Russian invention, receives its definite explanation, which is important for understanding the general idea of ​​the tale. As the British rightly judge, the Russian masters, who showed amazing audacity of imagination, obviously did not know the “calculation of strength”, and Lefty has to agree with this: “There is no doubt about this, that we did not go into the sciences ...”

Thus, in depicting the amazing work of the Tula masters, which at the same time elevates them above their overseas rivals and reveals their well-known weakness, Leskov’s bitter, disturbing thought about Russian ignorance, which cruelly oppresses and fetters great forces, expresses itself, alien to any conciliatory and apologetic tendencies. and the possibilities of the people, dooming them to a series of defeats and failures.

The question of what a Russian person can do immediately entails other equally important questions in Leskov’s tale: how does this person live, does he, like the English masters, have “absolute circumstances” for the development of his talent, what attitude he has towards himself? is confronted by those in power, how his fate develops.

True, neither the narrator nor Lefty himself, who have become accustomed to a certain order of things that has long been established in Russia (contrasting with the one that Platov and Lefty saw in England), do not ask themselves these questions, but the writer takes special measures to ensure that they inevitably inevitability rose in the minds of his readers.

Telling, for example, with what “ceremony” Platov traveled, fulfilling the sovereign’s order, Leskov paints the figures of “whistling” Cossacks, who sit on both sides of the driver’s irradiation and throughout the entire journey constantly douse their driver with blows of whips. fortunately, nowhere could the horses be kept at any station, and always a hundred jumps jumped past the stopping place.

The narrator himself does not emphasize such details, he talks about them in passing, casually, as if by the way. However, all these “little things” of Russian life included in his narrative - the cunning cutting of coachmen, Platov’s rude abuse of Tula masters, the almost arrest of Levsha, who was being taken to St. order, accumulating in themselves the general spirit of Russian life of the Nikolaev times with its unbridled autocracy of some and lack of rights of others, a spirit that inspires the author with the most bitter feeling.

Saturated with sorrowful details of the death of Lefty, the last chapters of the story focus the reader's attention even more insistently on the situation of the individual in Russia, where "it's scary for a person." A talented master, an artist of his craft, deeply devoted to his homeland, dies forgotten by everyone in the corridor of the Obukhov hospital for the poor, without having time to serve his country with the last advice. Such a completion of the plot, containing a bitter paradox, enhances the sound of the humanistic theme of the tale - the tragic fate of a talented person in Russia, doomed to kill a lot of opportunities in himself without worthy use.

(No Ratings Yet)

related posts:

1. One of the best works of N. S. Leskov is the well-known fairy tale “Lefty”. It was in it that the author managed to create the image of a talented Russian person who is distinguished by his diligence and sense of humor. Thus, Leskov showed not an individual, but a whole people, because, in fact, Russia has always been famous for its courage and originality. First of all, it should be noted that [...]
2. For me, Leskov N.S. has always been a special artist: in his work there are no superfluous words, no lengthy reasoning of the author. His prose is paintings, almost like photographs, but slightly embellished so that it is not so sad to look at reality. In the first place, in my opinion, among all his works is “Lefty”. This tale has amazing properties: [...] ...
3. The life of the people is the main theme of the work of N. S. Leskov. In his works, he did not try to teach people how to live. The author simply imbued with the life of ordinary people. He did not invent the heroes of his stories, he took them from life: eccentrics, good-natured people, generous, harmless. In the talent of the Russian people, the writer saw the purity and righteous path of his country and his people. Here […]...
4. Lefty has an amazing literary fate. Appearing in print, this thing immediately gained popularity, but the criticism met it ambiguously. Leskov was accused of lack of patriotism, of mockery of the Russian people, but critics agreed on one thing: the author had heard enough of the stories of Tula artisans and “cooked” his “Lefty” out of them. Meanwhile, the tale was invented by the author from the first to the last [...] ...
5. The tale of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov “Lefty” is a work of amazing fate. Many critics believed that Leskov was laughing at the Russian people in it, that he simply collected the stories of Tula artisans into one work. This suggests that Leskov knew very well the life of the people, their character, speech and customs. Leskov came up with this work himself - such a wonderful writer [...] ...
6. Together with a huge number of beautiful works of the last century, those “eternal questions” that so worried the Russian classics and which someone tried to solve by preaching “non-resistance to evil by violence”, someone by building their own “crystal palace”, also came to modern literature. someone called for the overthrow of the hated system by force ... Times have changed, but the problems remain the same: “what is good and [...] ...
7. “Fate leads a person, but a person goes because he wants to, and he is free not to want.” V. Grossman. The theme of the tragic fate of a person in a totalitarian state is one of the most important in the works of A. Platonov, A. Solzhenitsyn, V. Grossman, Yu. Dombrovsky ... And this tragedy lies not only in the bloody arbitrariness and lawlessness of the Stalinist regime. The repressions that hit millions of innocent […] ...
8. The 19th-century Russian writer N. S. Leskov was an expert on Russian patriarchal life. He was called a writer of everyday life for his excellent knowledge of the psychology and customs of the peasantry, artisans and workers' artels, officials of various ranks, the clergy, the intelligentsia and the military. He became famous as an original master of the Russian language and a talented satirist, denouncing the injustice of the authorities. In the 60s of the XIX century, when Leskov began his [...]
9. Leskov Nikolai Semenovich 1831-1895 Left-hander (the tale of the Tula oblique left-hander and the steel flea) The genre of the work resembles a fairy tale or a legend, the text contains a lot of old expressions and words, thanks to which we quietly fall into that era. This is a story about the unprecedented skill of Tula gunsmiths, about the simple Russian people who believe in God and with zeal [...] ...
10. Sholokhov is one of those writers for whom reality is often revealed in tragic situations and destinies. The story “The Fate of a Man” is a true confirmation of this. For Sholokhov, it was very important to succinctly and deeply concentrate the experience of the war in the story. Under the pen of Sholokhov, this story becomes the embodiment of human destinies in the war, a story about the greatness, strength and beauty of an ordinary Russian [...] ...
11. In this story, Sholokhov portrayed the fate of an ordinary Soviet man who went through the war, captivity, experienced a lot of pain, hardships, losses, deprivations, but was not broken by them and managed to keep the warmth of his soul. For the first time we meet the main character Andrei Sokolov at the crossing. We get an idea of ​​him through the impression of the narrator. Sokolov is a tall, round-shouldered man with large dark hands, eyes […]...
12. The question of fate, a prosperous life path, worried people, probably, throughout the history of mankind. Why are some people happy and calm, while others are not, why are some people favored by fate, while others are pursued by evil fate? In the Explanatory Dictionary, we find several definitions for the concept of “fate”: “a combination of circumstances that do not depend on the will of a person, the course of life events”; “share, fate”; "story […]...
13. The fate of the master in Russia N. S. Leskov wrote many works about the people. This is one of the first Russian writers who described a simple Russian peasant with all his individual traits. At first, contemporaries did not appreciate Leskov's work, as it seemed incomprehensible to them, but over time, the writer's contribution to the field of literature became obvious. He has worked in various genres, […]
14. The genre is defined by the author himself - it is a tale, a work of oral folk art, based on traditions, legends. The language of the tale is unusual: many words are distorted, as if they were pronounced by an illiterate person: “melkoscope” (microscope), “ceramides” (pyramids), etc. This is one of the means of humorous depiction. This is a story about the unprecedented skill of Tula gunsmiths, about the simple Russian people who believe in [...] ...
15. Sholokhov Mikhail Alexandrovich is a talented writer who touched on military topics in the work “The Fate of a Man”. The author closely links the life of the protagonist and the fate of his homeland, because in the biography of one person he manages to show the fate of the powerful Russian people. The content of the work is a collision of a person with the harsh trials of life and an attempt to defend the right to exist. Sholokhov wrote [...]
16. The heroes of Ostrovsky's plays are most often women. Of course, these women are extraordinary and extraordinary personalities. Suffice it to recall the heroine of the drama "Thunderstorm" Katerina. She is so emotional and impressionable that she stands apart from other characters in the play. The fate of Katerina is somewhat similar to the fate of another heroine of Ostrovsky. In this case, we are talking about the play "Dowry". Larisa Ogudalova had to experience indifference and [...] ...
17. "Mermaid" is an experience of a drama from folk life, created on the basis of a semi-legendary plot, but deeply social in its content. The tragic fate of a girl from a peasant environment, seduced and abandoned by the prince, is not only a case typical of Ancient Russia and included in folk legends, but no less common in the time of the poet himself. Perhaps he also wanted to create a truly [...] ...
18. Option III No matter how high our aspirations, the war still remained a human tragedy for us from its first to the last day ... K. Simonov Every day we hear many times: “in the war”, “about the war”, “in the war” . It's strange: we pass by our ears, we don't flinch, we don't even stop. Because no time? Or because, “everyone” knowing [...]
19. Option I A lot of songs have been sung about the war, Only you don't blame me, What again, what again about this, About the long-past war. V. Lifshits War is grief, tears. She knocked on every house, brought misfortune: mothers lost their sons, wives lost their husbands, children were left without fathers. Thousands of people have gone through the crucible of war, [...] ...
20. // variant The whole globe under the feet. I live. I breathe. I sing. But in my memory, those who died in battle are always with me. S. Shchipachev Modest greatness of the Russian people... What is behind this line? Let's take a look at ancient times. Our glorious ancestors stopped the Tatar-Mongolian horde near the borders of Europe, liberated Europe from the rule of Napoleon, defeated the fascist armies and saved them from enslavement [...] ...
21. How do you understand the word "fate"? Have you ever thought about the fate of some person, about the fate of an entire nation, about your own fate? Dictionaries interpret fate in different meanings. The most common are the following: 1. In philosophy, mythology - an incomprehensible predetermination of events and actions. 2. In everyday usage: fate, share, coincidence, life path. Orthodoxy opposes the idea of ​​fate with Divine Providence, [...] ...
22. The whole globe is under your feet. I live. I breathe. I sing. But in my memory, those who died in battle are always with me. S. Shchipachev Modest greatness of the Russian people... What is behind this line? Let's take a look at ancient times. Our glorious ancestors stopped the Tatar-Mongolian horde near the borders of Europe, liberated Europe from the rule of Napoleon, defeated the fascist armies and saved the peoples from enslavement. It […]...
23. 1. The cruel customs of the city of Kalinov. 2. Boar and Wild. 3. Life and death of Katerina. The plays of A. N. Ostrovsky allow us, modern readers, to plunge into the life of the Russian merchant class. The writer so reliably shows any, even insignificant details of the merchant's life, that we have no reason to doubt his veracity. After reading the drama “Thunderstorm”, I began to think about the depth of [...] ...
24. Oliver Twist is a boy who had a terrible ordeal, but such was the then reality. It was the author who wanted to show reality when describing the adventures of little Oliver. The criminal world Was cruel, and in order to be saved, once there, you must keep the core of goodness inside yourself. The novel "The Adventures of Oliver Twist" was written by the English writer Charles Dickens over the course of two years. AT […]...
25. Vasily Semenovich Grossman portrayed the Great Patriotic War in his novel “Life and Fate” as an event in history that decides the fate of not only Russia, but the whole world. The writer was able to reflect in this work the heroism of people in the war, the fight against the crimes of the Nazis, as well as the full truth about the events that took place then inside the country: exile to Stalinist camps, arrests and all […]...
26. War is a great lesson for all people. The works of writers allow us, who were born in peacetime, to understand how much hardship and grief the Great Patriotic War brought to the Russian people, how difficult it is to rethink moral values ​​in the face of death, and how terrible death is. Therefore, I believe that the humanistic significance of works about the war, especially those in which the main attention [...] ...
27. Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" was written in the 50-60s of the XIX century. This is the time when serfdom existed in Russia, but the arrival of a new force was already clearly visible - the intellectuals of the commoners. A new topic has appeared in the literature - the position of women in the family and society. The central place in the drama is occupied by the image of Katerina. Relationship with the rest of the characters in the play and [...] ...
28. "Tales of Belkin" diary of provincial Russia. Here is the "martyr of the fourteenth class" collegiate registrar, the caretaker of one of the thousands of small postal stations, the poor official Samson Vyrin, and the retired hussar officer Silvio, and rich nobles, and small ones, many others. The revelation of the social and artistic significance of The Stationmaster was initiated by Dostoevsky in the story Poor Folk Through the mouth of Makar Devushkin, Dostoevsky expressed judgment […]...
29. Medical activity of Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born in May 1891 in Kyiv in the family of an associate professor of the Kyiv Theological Academy. After graduating from the gymnasium, in 1909 he entered the medical faculty of the Imperial University of St.. Vladimir, who graduated in 1916 and was immediately drafted into the army. For several months he worked as a military doctor in [...] ...
30. I got acquainted with the work of Mikhail Alexandrovich “The Fate of a Man” in the 9th grade at a literature lesson. I found this work very interesting, one might even say that it impressed me. I read it in one breath. This story is about the beauty of the soul of an ordinary Soviet person, Andrei Sokolov, who talks about his life, full of torment and obstacles. In this piece […]...
31. Lefty visiting the British Lefty is the protagonist of Nikolai Leskov's story "Lefty", a talented Russian master gunsmith who shoed a steel flea. The story was published in 1881 and bore the full title “The Tale of the Tula Oblique Lefty and the Steel Flea”. In it, the author tells about how Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, having visited England, bought a steel flea with [...] ...
32. Andrei Platonov became known to a wide range of readers only recently, although the most active period of his work fell on the twenties of the XX century. The writer reflected in his works the life of the first post-revolutionary decades with unusual completeness and foresight. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Platanov’s most important works were created: the novel “Chevengur”, the novels “For the future”, “Doubting [...]
33. Like a true artist, Oleksandr Dovzhenko infinitely loved his Ukrainian people, whose fate deeply worried the artist. The writer was captivated by the fact that despite the darkness and poverty, the Ukrainian people managed to preserve the purity of souls, willfulness and high morality. A. Dovzhenko speaks about the tragedy of people's fate, trials and suffering during the Second World War, with burning pain and angry passion [...] ...
34. War is grief, tears. She knocked on every house, brought misfortune: mothers lost their sons, wives lost their husbands, children were left without fathers. Thousands of people went through the crucible of war, experienced terrible torment, but they survived and won. We won the most difficult of all wars that mankind has endured so far. And those people are still alive who […]
35. The tragic fate of Katerina A. N. Ostrovsky's drama "Thunderstorm" was written in a difficult time for Russia. In the second half of the 19th century, the country was on the verge of the abolition of serfdom, which could not but be reflected in the work of the classics. The author perfectly described the life and life of the Russian merchants, emphasizing even minor details so that the reader can plunge into the atmosphere of that time. Home […]...
36. When war breaks into the peaceful life of people, it always brings grief and misfortune, violates the usual order of things. The Great Patriotic War, which dragged on for five long years, became a real disaster for many countries, and especially for Russia. The fascists transgressed human laws, so they themselves found themselves outside of all laws. All Soviet people rose to defend the Fatherland. The war gave them […]
37. M. Sholokhov posed and resolved serious philosophical and moral problems in his works. In all the works of the writer, in one context or another, the interweaving of two main themes is traced: the theme of man and the theme of war. In The Fate of a Man, Sholokhov reminds the reader of the disasters that the Great Patriotic War brought to the Russian people, of the stamina of a man who withstood all the torment and [...] ...
38. Through the title of a work of art, the authors express their position. It can reflect the essence of the story, name the key character or a specific episode. The title of the story by M. A. Sholokhov suggests the generalized fate of mankind. Already many years after the war, Sholokhov wrote The Fate of a Man (1957), taking the life story of a simple Soviet man as the basis for the plot. Narration [...]...

The music of songs on a school theme sounds

Of the writers of the second half of the 19th century, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and by the very end of the century, Chekhov made the greatest contribution to the knowledge of Russia. But next to them rises another figure, a huge, angular, not fully studied figure of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov.

His work is vast. Among the writer's books are novels, satirical stories, chronicles. He created everyday and travel essays, a series of brilliant short stories, and classic stories.

But Leskov also created a gallery of positive images, and sharply original ones at that.

Historical stories are imbued with this originality, turning their content into the past, which has received the name "deaf time".

At the center of most of Leskov's historical stories is a "righteous man" - a man of noble ideas, great talent, living in an "unrighteous" social world. The nation brings forward "righteous" from all walks of life, but most of all from among the common people.

So in the story "Lefty" the author draws the fate of a man without a name, a gunsmith Lefty, the fate of a Russian genius. Genius creates ... a trifle. The poor man “in shawls and a dilapidated azyamchik”, who studied “according to the Psalter and the Half-Dream Book”, who did not know “a little arithmetic”, managed to work something “beyond the concept” - he shod a London flea with the smallest Tula horseshoes and also engraved on them the names of Russian workers.

This is a paradox, but, according to Leskov, a person in Russia is completely in the grip of a paradox, for Russian life is a tragic farce.

Patriotism and Lefty's talent were used to satisfy the vanity of "sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich." The left-hander is helpless and unnecessary when he wants to accomplish a civic feat. It is necessary not for the tsar, but for Russia.

“Tell the sovereign that the British don’t clean their guns with bricks: even if they don’t clean ours, otherwise, God forbid, they are not good for shooting,” says the dying Lefty. But Count Chernyshov, to whom the doctor conveys the last words of the master, shouts to the sluggish Aesculapius: “Do not interfere in your own business! In Russia, there are generals for this!”. Lefty's words die with him, and in the Crimean company this turns into a disaster for Russia.

The drama of Lefty is the historical drama of the motherland, where the dominance of “parade generals”, the silence, the lack of rights of the people are all over.

Here is the scene where Platov accepts work from the Tula masters. How much humor and sarcasm is here at the same time! Drawing the worthlessness of the ruling elite, the author writes: “Platov wanted to take the key, but his fingers were bony: he caught it - he couldn’t grab either the flea or the key to its abdominal plant.” And now the anger from impotence is transferred to Lefty:

“... he stretched out his hand, grabbed the oblique 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.” And Lefty went to report to the king instead of a “pubel” / poodle /. There are a great many such words, turns of speech that require “translation” in the story. The language in this "tale" is unusual.

All foreign words are turned in the most ingenious way: barometers - “buremeters”, microscope - “fine-scope”, feuilleton - “slander”. It seems that after Gogol there was no writer in Russia who could capture the living flutter of the word so well. That is why the art of the prose tale, begun in literature by Rudy Panko, was raised by Leskov to the height of a national artistic phenomenon.

Unusual language, unusual situations. So the king looked at the names of the masters on the horseshoe of the English flea, but the name of Lefty is not there. And why? But because the master "worked smaller than these horseshoes." He forged carnations, with which the horseshoes were clogged. And then no “melkoskop” will take it. How simply and casually an illiterate Russian peasant explained all this to the Tsar. And what great art lies behind his words! The master behaves with dignity in this situation. He did an ordinary job, he thinks. What's wrong here? Only in vain did Platov rip him off by the hair!

One recalls the words of the peasants Saltykov-Shchedrin: “We are decent people, we can all do it!” And indeed, Lefty, accustomed to beatings and shaking, calmly says to Platov’s apologies: “God will forgive! This is not the first time such snow on our heads!” The scenes of Lefty's stay abroad are interesting. No matter how the British cajoled him, no matter how they begged him to stay forever. Lefty answered: “I have parents at home.” One word - parents. How many other words are there? This is the homeland, and the clan, and the native side, which is not bribed and not sold.

Lefty behaves very worthily in England, he did not drop the honor of Russia, but how did she meet him after returning? It is impossible to read these lines without pain: "... they have just searched him, they took off his colorful dress and his watch with a trepetir, and took his money ...".

Lefty lay on the “cold parapet”, and he died in the common people’s Obukhvinsk hospital, thinking about Russia before his death: “That’s not how we clean our guns!”

With his work, Leskov had the greatest influence on Chekhov, where we see “abnormal phenomena” in normal stories. We see the new righteous in Gorky's stories "The Tsar's clerks" and the provincial life of Kuprin.

“ As an artist of the word, Leskov N.S. it is quite worthy to stand next to such creators of literature as L. Tolstoy, Gogol, Turgenev, Goncharov.

Leskov's talent, in strength and beauty, is not much inferior to the named authors, and in the breadth of coverage of the phenomena of life, his subtle knowledge of the language, he rarely exceeds the named predecessors,” said M. Gorky.

These words forever confirm the place of Nikolai Leskov in the history of Russian literature.

N.S. Leskov. "Lefty".

3 o'clock Theme: "The fate of the left-hander"

I . Checking homework.

II . Working with text and analysis.

- As shown by Platov and NikolaiI in chapters 11 and 12?

(The narrator’s sympathies are more and more inclined towards the tsar: “Nikolai Pavlovich was terribly wonderful and memorable - he didn’t forget anything.” Platov replies in disbelief: “I know that mine can’t deceive me.” Platov, on the other hand, “got scared”, “ even though he was not afraid of any enemy in the world "that he would have to answer to the sovereign for the unfulfilled work of the Tula masters. Platov, without understanding, vents the evil on the left-hander:" he caught the left-hander by the hair and began to pull back and forth so that shreds flew. nevertheless, the narrator's respect for Platov is preserved: "the courtiers ... everyone turns away from him, they think: Platov has been caught and now they will drive him out of the palace - that's why they could not stand him for his courage.")

We read chapter 13 on roles.

- How is the left-hander depicted? How does he get along with the king and his entourage?

(The left-hander, as Platov says, was “in a very evil form”: “in shawls, one trouser leg is in a boot, the other is dangled, and the ozyamchik is old, the hooks are not fastened, they are lost, and the collar is torn.” Let us pay attention to the diminutive suffixes that reinforce the impression of a pitiful left-handed appearance. However, he behaves quite confidently, "does not embarrass himself", talks to the king boldly, "simply", and not like courtiers - "with flattery or cunning". The king is opposed to nobles in the spirit of popular ideas about the "good king" , so he carefully listens to the left-hander, talks with him almost on an equal footing, and realizing what the masters did, he “hugged ... and kissed” the unwashed, uncleaned left-hander.)

We read chapter 14 on roles.

- How was the left-hander rewarded for his amazing skill?

(“Platov gave him a hundred rubles and said: “Forgive me, brother, that I tore your hair off.” Let us recall that Tsar Alexander I gave the British a million rubles for a flea. there are craftsmen in Tula." Let us note that relations with Platov are improving for the left-hander - he even sent his "sour drink" for the road.)

- Tell us about the adventures of the left-hander in England.

(Retelling of chapters 15 and 16 - 2-3 people.)

Why do the British try to get the lefty drunk? How did he surprise foreigners? What struck him with the English masters?

(The British want to find out the secret of the Tula masters. They can’t believe that the left-hander doesn’t even know arithmetic. They offer the left-hander to stay: “we will give you more education.” The left-hander agrees to stay, they take him to the factories and show everything. turned, ... like the old (guns) in what form. "The British cannot understand what is so surprising to the left-hander.)

- Why did the left-hander get bored in England and hurried home?

(The left-hander examines the old guns and solves the mystery of the English weapon. We find out what’s the matter only at the end of the tale. Already before his death, the left-hander orders to tell the sovereign that “the British don’t clean their guns with bricks: even if they don’t clean ours, otherwise ... they are not good for shooting.")

- What qualities of a left-hander are shown in these episodes?

(Patriotism, devotion to one’s work, one’s homeland, ardent love for it, diligence, ingenuity, self-esteem, amazing talent and, at the same time, amazing ignorance.)

- Why did the English "half-skipper" bet with a lefty?

(He wanted to find out what secret the left-handed person was bringing to Russia, and therefore decided to get him drunk. So, until St. Petersburg, no one could drink anyone else.)

- What was the fate of the participants in the bet after arriving in St. Petersburg?

(The Englishman was brought to the embassy’s house, a doctor and a pharmacist were called to see him, they treated him and looked after him. The left-hander, who did not have a “tugament”, was taken to the police station, “in the quarter”, “dumped on the floor”, searched , took away watches and money, dragged them to hospitals and eventually brought them to "the common people's Obukhvinsk hospital, where they accept everyone to die of an unknown class.")

- Why weren't the last words of the left-hander conveyed to the sovereign?

(The Minister of War, Count Chernyshev, is shown as a self-confident and distant person. According to the narrator, he did not listen to the left-hander's dying order, and because of this, Russia was defeated in the Crimean campaign.)

- Who is to blame for the terrible fate of the left-hander?

(Irresponsible people are to blame, representing power, arrogant and ungrateful, but able to appreciate talent. The brilliant master was essentially killed. He was not seduced by the proposals of the British, but strove for his beloved homeland, where death awaited him.)

What impression did Leskov's story make on you?

(Despite the fact that the tale ends tragically - the left-hander dies in a hospital for the poor, his general pathos is optimistic, expresses pride in the talents that the Russian land is rich in, for the patriotism of the people. This idea is also in the last chapter of the story.)

- How is the last chapter 20 different from the rest? What is the main idea of ​​this chapter?

(This is an epilogue. It differs from the tale in style: this is the author’s speech, his remark about the theme of the tale. The author regrets those glorious times when such masters as the left-hander worked. He expresses the conviction that machines only ruin the “artistic prowess” , and appreciates the fact that today's workers remember the old days "with pride and love",)

III . Description of illustrations and oral drawing

Consider the drawings of N. Kuzmin and Kukryniksy, depicting a left-hander.

- How did the artists see the left-hander? What is your idea of ​​a lefty?

(In Kuzmin’s drawing, a left-hander is depicted when he examines the “English flea” and wonders how the British can be surpassed. The drawing conveys the sharpness of the left-hander, his tenacious mind. Obukhvinskaya hospital "looks completely helpless - he is dragged like a bag of bones by a mighty policeman. These drawings, rather, have accusatory pathos.)

We listen to options for the image of a left-hander - 3-4 people.

So, the drawings convey the main thoughts of the author: on the one hand, pride in the talent and patriotism of the Russian people, on the other hand, a bitter feeling from his humiliation and lack of rights, irresponsible and criminal attitude towards him on the part of the authorities.