The originality of the language in the story 8220 Lefty 8221

Story by N.S. Leskov’s “Lefty” is a special work. The author’s idea arose from a folk joke about how “the British made a flea out of steel, but our Tula people shod it and sent it back.” Thus, the story initially assumed closeness to folklore not only in content, but also in the manner of narration. The style of “Lefty” is very unique. Leskov managed to bring the genre of the story as close as possible to oral folk art, namely skaz, while at the same time preserving certain features of a literary author's story.

The originality of the language in the story “Lefty” is manifested primarily in the very manner of narration. The reader immediately gets the feeling that the narrator was directly involved in the events described. This is important for understanding the main ideas of the work, because the emotionality of the main character makes you worry with him, the reader perceives a somewhat subjective view of the actions of other characters in the story, but it is this subjectivity that makes them as real as possible, the reader himself is transported to those distant times.

In addition, the fairy-tale style of narration serves as a clear sign that the narrator is a simple person, a hero from the people. He expresses not only his thoughts, feelings and experiences, behind this generalized image stands the entire working Russian people, living from hand to mouth, but caring about the prestige of their native country. With the help of descriptions of views on the life of gunsmiths and craftsmen through the eyes not of an outside observer, but of a sympathetic fellow, Leskov raises eternal problem: why is the fate of the common people, who feed and clothe the entire upper class, indifferent to those in power, why are craftsmen remembered only when it is necessary to maintain the “prestige of the nation”? Bitterness and anger can be heard in the description of Lefty's death, and the author especially clearly shows the contrast between the fate of the Russian master and the English half-skipper, who found themselves in a similar situation.

However, in addition to the tale-like manner of narration, one can note the rather widespread use of vernacular in the story. For example, in the descriptions of the actions of Emperor Alexander I and the Cossack Platov, such colloquial verbs appear as “to ride” and “to jerk”. This not only once again demonstrates the narrator’s closeness to the people, but also expresses his attitude towards the authorities. People understand perfectly well that their pressing problems do not concern the emperor at all, but they do not get angry, but come up with naive excuses: Tsar Alexander, in their understanding, is the same simple person, he may want to change the life of the province for the better, but he is forced to deal with more important matters. The absurd order to conduct “internecine negotiations” is put by the narrator into the mouth of Emperor Nicholas with secret pride, but the reader guesses Leskov’s irony: the naive artisan is trying his best to show the significance and importance of the imperial personality and does not suspect how much he is mistaken. Thus, a comic effect arises from the incongruity of overly pompous words.

Also, the stylization of foreign words causes a smile; the narrator, with the same proud expression, speaks about Platov’s “aspiration”, about how the flea “dances,” but he doesn’t even realize how stupid it sounds. Here Leskov again demonstrates the naivety of ordinary people, but besides this, this episode conveys the spirit of the times, when sincere patriotism still hid a secret desire to be like enlightened Europeans. A particular manifestation of this is the adaptation of names of works of art that are too inconvenient for a Russian person into the native language; for example, the reader learns about the existence of Abolon Polvedersky and is again surprised in equal measure by both the resourcefulness and, again, the naivety of the Russian peasant.

Even Russian words must be used in a special way by fellow Lefty; he again, with an important and sedate look, reports that Platov “could not quite” speak French, and authoritatively notes that “he doesn’t need it: he’s a married man.” This is an obvious verbal alogism, behind which lies the author’s irony, caused by the author’s pity for the man, and, moreover, the irony is sad.

From the point of view of the uniqueness of the language, special attention is drawn to neologisms caused by ignorance of the thing that the man is talking about. These are words such as “busters” (chandelier plus bust) and “melkoskop” (so named, apparently, according to the function it performs). The author notes that in the minds of the people, objects of lordly luxury have merged into an incomprehensible tangle, people do not distinguish busts from chandeliers, they are so in awe of their senseless pompousness of palaces. And the word “melkoskop” became an illustration of another idea of ​​Leskov: Russian masters are wary of the achievements of foreign science, their talent is so great that no technical inventions will defeat the master’s genius. However, at the same time, in the finale, the narrator sadly notes that machines have nevertheless supplanted human talent and skill.

The originality of the language of the story “Lefty” lies in the manner of narration, in the use of vernacular and neologisms. With the help of these literary techniques, the author managed to reveal the character of Russian craftsmen; the reader is shown bright, original images of Lefty and the narrator.

Story by N.S. Leskov’s “Lefty” is a special work. The author’s idea arose from a folk joke about how “the British made a flea out of steel, but our Tula people shod it and sent it back.” Thus, the story initially assumed closeness to folklore not only in content, but also in the manner of narration. The style of “Lefty” is very unique. Leskov managed to bring the genre of the story as close as possible to oral folk art, namely skaz, while at the same time preserving certain features of literary

The originality of the language in the story “Lefty” is manifested primarily in the very manner of narration. The reader immediately gets the feeling that the narrator was directly involved in the events described. This is important for understanding the main ideas of the work, because the emotionality of the main character makes you worry with him, the reader perceives a somewhat subjective view of the actions of other characters in the story, but it is this subjectivity that makes them as real as possible, the reader himself is transported to those distant times.

In addition, the fairy-tale style of narration serves as a clear sign that the narrator is a simple person, a hero from the people. He expresses not only his thoughts, feelings and experiences, behind this generalized image stands the entire working Russian people, living from hand to mouth, but caring about the prestige of their native country. With the help of descriptions of views on the life of gunsmiths and craftsmen through the eyes not of an outside observer, but of a sympathetic fellow, Leskov raises an eternal problem: why the fate of the common people, who feed and clothe the entire upper class, is indifferent to those in power, why are craftsmen remembered only when they need to support “prestige of the nation”? Bitterness and anger can be heard in the description of Lefty's death, and the author especially clearly shows the contrast between the fate of the Russian master and the English half-skipper, who found themselves in a similar situation.

However, in addition to the tale-like manner of narration, one can note the rather widespread use of vernacular in the story. For example, in the descriptions of the actions of Emperor Alexander I and the Cossack Platov, such colloquial verbs appear as “to ride” and “to jerk”. This not only once again demonstrates the narrator’s closeness to the people, but also expresses his attitude towards the authorities. People understand perfectly well that their pressing problems do not concern the emperor at all, but they do not get angry, but come up with naive excuses: Tsar Alexander, in their understanding, is the same simple person, he may want to change the life of the province for the better, but he is forced to deal with more important matters. The absurd order to conduct “internecine negotiations” is put by the narrator into the mouth of Emperor Nicholas with secret pride, but the reader guesses Leskov’s irony: the naive artisan is trying his best to show the significance and importance of the imperial personality and does not suspect how much he is mistaken. Thus, a comic effect arises from the incongruity of overly pompous words.

Also, the stylization of foreign words causes a smile; the narrator, with the same proud expression, speaks about Platov’s “aspiration”, about how the flea “dances,” but he doesn’t even realize how stupid it sounds. Here Leskov again demonstrates the naivety of ordinary people, but besides this, this episode conveys the spirit of the times, when sincere patriotism still hid a secret desire to be like enlightened Europeans. A particular manifestation of this is the adaptation of names of works of art that are too inconvenient for a Russian person into the native language; for example, the reader learns about the existence of Abolon Polvedersky and is again surprised in equal measure by both the resourcefulness and, again, the naivety of the Russian peasant.

Even Russian words must be used in a special way by fellow Lefty; he again, with an important and sedate look, reports that Platov “could not quite” speak French, and authoritatively notes that “he doesn’t need it: he’s a married man.” This is an obvious verbal alogism, behind which lies the author’s irony, caused by the author’s pity for the man, and, moreover, the irony is sad.

From the point of view of the uniqueness of the language, special attention is drawn to neologisms caused by ignorance of the thing that the man is talking about. These are words such as “busters” (chandelier plus bust) and “melkoskop” (so named, apparently, according to the function it performs). The author notes that in the minds of the people, objects of lordly luxury have merged into an incomprehensible tangle, people do not distinguish busts from chandeliers, they are so in awe of their senseless pompousness of palaces. And the word “melkoskop” became an illustration of another idea of ​​Leskov: Russian masters are wary of the achievements of foreign science, their talent is so great that no technical inventions will defeat the master’s genius. However, at the same time, in the finale, the narrator sadly notes that machines have nevertheless supplanted human talent and skill.

The originality of the language of the story “Lefty” lies in the manner of narration, in the use of vernacular and neologisms. With the help of these literary techniques, the author managed to reveal the character of Russian craftsmen; the reader is shown bright, original images of Lefty and the narrator.

Story by N.S. Leskova "Lefty"– this is a special work. The author’s idea arose from a folk joke about how “the British made a flea out of steel, but our Tula people shod it and sent it back.” Thus, the story initially assumed closeness to folklore not only in content, but also in the manner of narration. The style of "Lefty" is very unique. Leskov managed to bring the genre of the story as close as possible to oral folk art, namely skaz, while at the same time preserving certain features of a literary author's story.

The originality of the language in the story "Lefty" is manifested primarily in the very manner of narration. The reader immediately gets the feeling that the narrator was directly involved in the events described. This is important for understanding the main ideas of the work, because the emotionality of the main character makes you worry with him, the reader perceives a somewhat subjective view of the actions of other characters in the story, but it is this subjectivity that makes them as real as possible, the reader himself is transported to those distant times.

In addition, the fairy-tale style of narration serves as a clear sign that the narrator is a simple person, a hero from the people. He expresses not only his thoughts, feelings and experiences, behind this generalized image stands the entire working Russian people, living from hand to mouth, but caring about the prestige of their native country. With the help of descriptions of views on the life of gunsmiths and craftsmen through the eyes not of an outside observer, but of a sympathetic fellow, Leskov raises an eternal problem: why the fate of the common people, who feed and clothe the entire upper class, is indifferent to those in power, why are craftsmen remembered only when they need to support "prestige of the nation"? Bitterness and anger can be heard in the description of Lefty's death, and the author especially clearly shows the contrast between the fate of the Russian master and the English half-skipper, who found themselves in a similar situation.

However, in addition to the tale-like manner of narration, one can note the rather widespread use of vernacular in the story. For example, in descriptions of the actions of Emperor Alexander I and the Cossack Platov, such colloquial verbs appear as “to ride” and “to jerk.” This not only once again demonstrates the narrator’s closeness to the people, but also expresses his attitude towards the authorities. People understand perfectly well that their pressing problems do not concern the emperor at all, but they do not get angry, but come up with naive excuses: Tsar Alexander, in their understanding, is the same simple person, he may want to change the life of the province for the better, but he is forced to deal with more important matters. The absurd order to conduct “internecine negotiations” is put by the narrator into the mouth of Emperor Nicholas with secret pride, but the reader guesses Leskov’s irony: the naive artisan is trying his best to show the significance and importance of the imperial personality and does not suspect how much he is mistaken. Thus, a comic effect arises from the incongruity of overly pompous words.

Also, the stylization of foreign words causes a smile; the narrator, with the same proud expression, speaks about Platov’s “aspiration”, about how the flea “dances,” but he doesn’t even realize how stupid it sounds. Here Leskov again demonstrates the naivety of ordinary people, but besides this, this episode conveys the spirit of the times, when sincere patriotism still hid a secret desire to be like enlightened Europeans. A particular manifestation of this is the adaptation of names of works of art that are too inconvenient for a Russian person into the native language; for example, the reader learns about the existence of Abolon Polvedersky and is again surprised in equal measure by both the resourcefulness and, again, the naivety of the Russian peasant.

Even Russian words must be used by fellow Lefty in a special way; he again, with an important and sedate look, reports that Platov “could not quite” speak French, and authoritatively notes that “he doesn’t need it: he’s a married man.” This is an obvious verbal alogism, behind which lies the author’s irony, caused by the author’s pity for the man, and, moreover, the irony is sad.

From the point of view of the uniqueness of the language, special attention is drawn to neologisms caused by ignorance of the thing that the man is talking about. These are words such as “busters” (chandelier plus bust) and “melkoskop” (so named, apparently, according to the function it performs). The author notes that in the minds of the people, objects of lordly luxury have merged into an incomprehensible tangle, people do not distinguish busts from chandeliers, they are so in awe of their senseless pompousness of palaces. And the word “melkoskop” became an illustration of another idea of ​​Leskov: Russian masters are wary of the achievements of foreign science, their talent is so great that no technical inventions will defeat the genius of the master. However, at the same time, in the finale, the narrator sadly notes that machines have nevertheless supplanted human talent and skill.

The writer’s work is distinguished by a unique manner of presentation using his own style of narration, which allows him to convey folk speech motifs with the greatest accuracy.

The artistic feature of the writer’s works is the presentation literary stories in the form of tales in which the narrator introduces himself as a participant in the event being described, while the speech style of the work reproduces the lively intonations of oral stories. It should be noted that Leskovsky tale does not have the traditions of Russian folk tales, since it is presented in the form of stories based on popular rumor, allowing one to understand the authenticity of the author’s narrative.

In the images of narrators in his tales, the author uses various representatives of society who lead the story in accordance with their upbringing, education, age, and profession. The use of this manner of presentation makes it possible to give the work brightness and vitality, demonstrating the richness and diversity of the Russian language, which complements the individual characteristics of the characters in Leskov’s stories.

For creating satirical works When writing them, the writer uses verbal play using witticisms, jokes, linguistic curiosities, combined with unclear-sounding foreign phrases, and sometimes deliberately distorted, outdated and incorrectly used words. The linguistic manner of Leskov's works is accurate, colorful, and richly variegated, allowing him to convey numerous simple dialects of Russian speech, thereby differing from the classical forms of the refined, strict literary style of that period of time.

Identity artistic style The writer is also distinguished by the characteristic logical structure of his works, in which various literary techniques are used in the form of unusual rhymes, self-repetition, colloquialisms, puns, tautologies, diminutive suffixes that form the author's colloquial manner of word formation.

IN storylines Leskov's tales reveal a combination of everyday, everyday stories about ordinary people and fairy-tale motifs of legends, epics, fantasies, which allows readers to present the work in the form of an amazing, unique, charismatic phenomenon.

The originality of the narrative style

Leskov started his own literary activity at a fairly mature age, but it was precisely this maturity that allowed the author to form his own style, his own narrative manner. A distinctive feature of Leskov is the ability to quite accurately convey the folk style of speech. He really knew what people were saying, and he knew it incredibly accurately.

Here it should be noted a very significant fact that readers can observe in the tale of Lefty. There are a lot of so-called folk words that stylize the narrative as a story that one man could tell to another. At the same time, all these words were invented by Leskov himself, he did not take and retell folk speech, but he was so competent in this aspect of the language that he himself actually came up with some innovations for such speech, moreover, innovations that looked quite harmonious and, perhaps, , after publication, the works really began to be used by ordinary people in their communication.

Also worthy of special attention is the genre invented by Leskov for Russian literature, and this genre is the tale. Etymologically, the term goes back to the word fairy tale and the verb to say, that is, to tell a story.

The tale, however, is not a fairy tale and stands out as a completely special genre, which is distinguished by its versatility and originality. It is most similar to a story that one person could tell to another somewhere in a tavern, or during a break at work. In general, it is something like a popular rumor.

Also, a tale, a typical example of which is the work (most famous by Leskov) “The Tale of the Tula Oblique Left-Hander Who Shoed a Flea,” is to some extent an epic work. As you know, the epic is distinguished by the presence of some grandiose hero who has special qualities and charisma. The tale, in turn, is based, as it were, on a true story, but from this story it makes something incredible, epic and fabulous.

The manner of presentation leads the reader to think about some kind of narrator and about the friendly communication that occurs between the reader and this narrator. So the Tale of the Lefty, for example, comes from the persona of some gunsmith from near Sestroretsk, that is, Leskov says: they say, these stories come from the people, they are real.

By the way, such a narrative style, which is further supported by the characteristic structure of the work (where there are amazing rhythms and rhymes, self-repetitions that again lead to the idea of ​​colloquial speech, puns, vernacular, colloquial manner of word formation) often leads the reader to the idea of ​​the authenticity of the story. For some critics, the tale of the left-hander created the impression of a simple retelling of the stories of Tula artisans; ordinary people sometimes even wanted to find this left-hander and find out details about him. At the same time, the left-hander was completely invented by Leskov.

This is the peculiarity of his prose, which combines, as it were, two realities. On the one hand, we see stories about everyday life and ordinary people, on the other hand, fairy tale and epic are intertwined here. In fact, in this way Leskom conveys an amazing phenomenon.

Thanks to the tale and his style, Leskov managed to understand how to convey the experience of the consciousness of an entire people. After all, what does it consist of? From stories, legends, tales, fantasies, fictions, conversations, conjectures that are superimposed on everyday reality.

This is what ordinary people exist and “breathe” with, this is their originality and beauty. Leskov, in turn, was able to capture this beauty.

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Realizing the place and significance of N.S. Leskov in the literary process, we always note that he is an amazingly original writer. The external dissimilarity of his predecessors and contemporaries sometimes made him see in him a completely new phenomenon, which had no parallel in Russian literature. Leskov is brightly original, and at the same time you can learn a lot from him.He is an amazing experimenter who gave birth to a whole wave of artistic searches in Russian literature; He is a cheerful, mischievous experimenter, and at the same time extremely serious and deep, setting himself great educational goals.

Leskov’s creativity, one might say, knows no social boundaries. He brings out in his works the most people different classes and circles: and landowners - from the rich to the semi-poor, and officials of all stripes - from the minister to the quarterly, and the clergy - monastic and parish - from the metropolitan to the sexton, and military men of various ranks and types of weapons, and peasants, and people from the peasantry - soldiers, artisans and every working person. Leskov willingly shows different representatives of the nationalities of Russia at that time: Ukrainians, Yakuts, Jews, Gypsies, Poles... Leskov’s versatility of knowledge of the life of each class, estate, and nationality is amazing. Leskov's exceptional life experience, his vigilance, memory, and his linguistic flair were needed to describe the life of the people so closely, with such knowledge of everyday life, economic structure, family relationships, folk art, and the folk language.

With all the breadth of coverage of Russian life, there is a sphere in Leskov’s work to which his most significant and famous works belong: this is the sphere of life of the people.

Who are the heroes of Leskov’s most beloved works by our readers?

Heroes" Sealed angel" - mason workers, "Left-handed" - blacksmith, Tula gunsmith, " Toupee artist"- serf hairdresser and theatrical make-up artist

To place a hero from the people at the center of the narrative, it is necessary First of all, master his language, be able to reproduce the speech of different layers of the people, different professions, destinies, ages. The task of recreating the living language of the people in a literary work required special art, when Leskov used the form of skaz.

The tale in Russian literature comes from Gogol, but was especially skillfully developed by Leskov and glorified him as an artist. The essence of this manner is that the narration is not conducted on behalf of a neutral, objective author; the narrative is narrated by a narrator, usually a participant in the events being reported. The speech of a work of art imitates the living speech of an oral story. Moreover, in a fairy tale, the narrator is usually a person from a different social circle and cultural layer to which the writer and the intended reader of the work belong. Leskov’s story is told by either a merchant, or a monk, or an artisan, or a retired mayor, or a former soldier. . Each narrator speaks in a way that is characteristic of his education and upbringing, his age and profession, his concept of himself, his desire and ability to impress his listeners.

This manner gives Leskov’s story a special liveliness. The language of his works, unusually rich and varied, deepens the social and individual characteristics of his heroes, and becomes for the writer a means of subtle assessment of people and events. Gorky wrote about Leskov's tale:"...The people of his stories often talk about themselves, but their speech is so amazingly alive, so truthful and convincing that they stand before you as mysteriously tangible, physically clear, as people from the books of L. Tolstoy and others, otherwise to say, Leskov achieves the same result, but with a different technique of mastery."

To illustrate Leskov’s storytelling style, let’s take some tirade from "Lefty" This is how the narrator describes, based on Lefty's impressions, the living and working conditions of English workers : “Every worker they have is constantly well-fed, is not dressed in rags, but each one is wearing a capable tunic vest, shod in thick boots with iron knobs, so as not to get his feet on anything; he works not with a boilie, but with training and has for himself concepts. In front of everyone, in plain sight, hangs a multiplication dot, and under his hand is an erasable board: all the master does is look at the dot and compare it with the concept, and then he writes one thing on the board, erases another, and neatly puts together what is written on the numbers. , that’s what actually happens.”

The narrator did not see any English workers. He dresses them according to his imagination, combining a jacket with a vest. He knows that they work there “according to science”; in this regard, he himself has only heard about the “multiplication dot”, which means that a master who works not “by eye”, but with the help of “digits”, must check his products with it. The narrator, of course, does not have enough familiar words; he distorts or uses unfamiliar words incorrectly. “Shiblets” become “schiglets” - probably by association with panache. The multiplication table turns into a “chicken” - obviously because the students “chuck” it. Wanting to designate some kind of extension on the boots, the narrator calls it a knob, transferring to it the name of the extension on a stick.

Popular storytellers often reinterpret strange-sounding foreign words into Russian., which, with such alteration, receive new or additional meanings; Leskov especially willingly imitates this so-called “folk etymology” ". Thus, in “Lefty” the barometer turns into a “storm meter”, the “microscope” into a “melkoskop”, the “pudding” into a “studying” " etc. Leskov, who passionately loved puns, wordplay, witticisms, and jokes, filled “Levsha” with linguistic oddities. But their set does not give the impression of excess, because the immense brightness of the verbal patterns is in the spirit of folk buffoonery. And sometimes a verbal game not only amuses, but behind it there is a satirical denunciation.

The narrator in a tale usually addresses some interlocutor or group of interlocutors, the narrative begins and progresses in response to their questions and comments. At the core "Toupee artist" - the story of an old nanny to her pupil, a nine-year-old boy. This nanny is a former actress of the Oryol serf theater of Count Kamensky. This is the same theater that is described in Herzen’s story “The Thieving Magpie” under the name of the theater of Prince Skalinsky. But the heroine of Herzen’s story is not only a highly talented, but, due to exceptional life circumstances, also an educated actress. Leskov’s Lyuba is an uneducated serf girl, with natural talent capable of singing, dancing, and performing roles in plays “by sight” (that is, by hearsay, following other actresses). She is not able to tell and reveal everything that the author wants to tell the reader, and she cannot know everything (for example, the master’s conversations with his brother). Therefore, not the entire story is told from the perspective of the nanny; part of the events are presented by the author with the inclusion of excerpts and small quotes from nanny's story.

In Leskov's most popular work - "Lefty" we encounter a tale of a different kind. There is no author, no listeners, no narrator. More precisely, the author’s voice is heard for the first time after the completion of the tale: in the final chapter, the writer characterizes the story told as a “fabulous legend,” an “epic” of the masters, “a myth personified by folk fantasy.”

(*10) The narrator in “Lefty” exists only as a voice that does not belong to a specific, named person. This is, as it were, the voice of the people - the creator of the “gunsmith legend”.

"Lefty"- not an everyday tale, where the narrator narrates events he has experienced or personally known to him; here he retells a legend created by the people, as folk storytellers perform epics or historical songs. As in folk epic, in "Lefty" a number of historical figures act: two kings - Alexander I and Nicholas I, ministers Chernyshev, Nesselrode (Kiselvrode), Kleinmichel, ataman of the Don Cossack army Platov, commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress Skobelev and others.

Contemporaries did not appreciate either “Lefty” or Leskov’s talent in general.They believed that Leskov was excessive in everything: he applied bright colors too thickly, put his characters in too unusual positions, forced them to speak in an exaggeratedly characteristic language, and strung too many episodes onto one thread. and so on.

Most associated with the creativity of the people "Lefty". At the very basis of its plot lies a comic saying in which the people expressed admiration for the art of Tula masters: "The Tula people shoed a flea". Used by Leskov and popularly used legends about the skill of Tula gunsmiths. Also in early XIX century, an anecdote was published about how an important Russian gentleman showed an expensive English pistol to a craftsman at the Tula Arms Factory, and he, taking the pistol, “unscrewed the trigger and showed his name under the screw.” In “Lefty,” Platov arranges the same demonstration to prove to Tsar Alexander that “we have our own at home just as well.” In the English “armoury cabinet of curiosities”, (*12) taking the especially praised “pistol” in his hands, Platov unscrews the lock and shows the tsar the inscription: “Ivan Moskvin in the city of Tula.”

As we see, love for the people, the desire to discover and show the best sides of the Russian folk character they did not make Leskov a panegyrist, did not prevent him from seeing the features of slavery and ignorance that his history imposed on the people. Leskov does not hide these traits in the hero of his myth about the brilliant master. The legendary Lefty and his two comrades managed to forge and attach horseshoes with nails to the legs of a steel flea made in England. On each horseshoe “the artist’s name is displayed: which Russian master made that horseshoe.” These inscriptions can only be seen through a “microscope that magnifies five million times.” But the artisans did not have any microscopes, but only “shot eyes.”

This is, of course, a fabulous exaggeration, but it has a real basis. Tula craftsmen have always been especially famous and are still famous for their miniature products, which can only be seen with the help of a strong magnifying glass.

Admiring the genius of Lefty, Leskov, however, is far from idealizing the people as they were, according to historical conditions, at that time. Lefty is ignorant, and this cannot but affect his creativity. The art of the English craftsmen was manifested not so much in the fact that they cast the flea from steel, but in the fact that the flea danced, wound up with a special key. Savvy, she stopped dancing. And the English masters, cordially welcoming Lefty, sent to England with a savvy flea , indicate that he is hampered by a lack of knowledge: "...Then you could have realized that in every machine there is a calculation of force, otherwise you are very skilled in your hands, but you did not realize that such a small machine, like in the nymphosoria, is designed for the most accurate accuracy and does not have shoeings cannot. Now the nymphosoria does not jump and dance through this.” Leskov attached great importance to this point. In an article devoted to the tale of Lefty, Leskov contrasts Lefty’s genius with his ignorance, and his (ardent patriotism) with the lack of concern for the people and homeland in the ruling clique. Leskov writes: “The reviewer of “New Time” notes that in Lefty I had the idea to bring out not one person, and that where it says “Lefty”, you should read “Russian people”.

Lefty loves his Russia with a simple-hearted and ingenuous love. He cannot be tempted by an easy life in a foreign land. He is eager to go home because he is faced with a task that Russia needs to complete; thus she became the goal of his life. In England, Lefty learned that the muzzles of guns should be lubricated, and not cleaned with crushed bricks, as was customary in the Russian army then, - which is why “bullets dangle in them” and guns, “God bless war, (...) are not suitable for shooting ". With this he hurries to his homeland. He arrives sick, the authorities did not bother to provide him with a document, the police completely robbed him, after which they began to take him to hospitals, but they would not admit him anywhere without a “tugament”, they threw the patient onto the floor, and finally, “the back of his head split on the paratha” . Dying, Lefty thought only about how to bring his discovery to the king, and still managed to inform the doctor about it. He reported to the Minister of War, but in response he received only a rude shout: “Know (...) your emetic and laxative, and don’t interfere with your own business: in Russia there are generals for that.”

In the story" Stupid artist" the writer depicts a rich count with an “insignificant face” that exposes an insignificant soul. This is an evil tyrant and tormentor: people he dislikes are torn to pieces by hunting dogs, executioners torment them with incredible tortures. Thus, Leskov contrasts truly courageous people from the people with “gentlemen”, maddened by immense power over people and imagining themselves courageous, because they are always ready to torment and to destroy people at their own whim or caprice - of course, with the hands of others. There were enough such “foreign hands” at the service of the masters: both serfs and civilians, servants and people appointed by the authorities to assist in every possible way the “powers of this world.” The image of one of the master's servants is vividly depicted in "The Stupid Artist." This is pop. Arkady, undaunted by the torture that threatens him, perhaps fatal, tries to save his beloved girl from the abuse (*19) of her by a depraved master. The priest promises to marry them and hide them at his place for the night, after which both hope to get into the “Turkish Khrushchuk”. But the priest, having previously robbed Arkady, betrays the fugitives to the count's people sent to search for the escaped ones, for which he receives a well-deserved spit in the face.

"Lefty"

ORIGINALITY OF NARRATION. LANGUAGE FEATURES. While discussing the genre uniqueness of the story, we said nothing about such a definition of the genre as “skaz”. And this is no coincidence. The tale as a genre of oral prose implies a focus on oral speech, narration on behalf of a participant in the event. In this sense, “Lefty” is not a traditional tale. At the same time, skaz can also be called such a way of storytelling, which involves “separation” of the narrative from the participant in the events himself. In “Lefty” exactly this process occurs, especially since the word “fable” is used in the story, suggesting the fantastic nature of the narrative. The narrator, being neither a witness nor a participant in the events, actively expresses his attitude to what is happening in various forms. At the same time, in the tale itself one can detect the originality of the position of both the narrator and the author.

Throughout the story the style of narration changes. If at the beginning of the first chapter the narrator outwardly unsophisticatedly sets out the circumstances of the emperor’s arrival in England, then successively talks about the events taking place, using colloquialisms, outdated and distorted forms of words, different types of neologisms etc., then already in the sixth chapter (in the story about the Tula masters) the narrative becomes different. It does not completely lose its colloquial character, however becomes more neutral, distorted forms of words and neologisms are practically not used . By changing the narrative style, the author wants to show the seriousness of the situation described.. It doesn't happen by chance even high vocabulary, when the narrator characterizes “the skilled people on whom the hope of the nation now rested.” The same kind of narrative can be found in the last, 20th chapter, which obviously, to summarize, contains the author's point of view, so its style differs from that of most of the chapters.

The narrator’s calm and apparently dispassionate speech often includes expressively colored words(for example, Alexander Pavlovich decided to “travel” around Europe), which becomes one of the forms of expressing the author’s position, deeply hidden in the text.

The narrative itself skillfully emphasizes intonation features of characters' speech(cf., for example, the statements of Alexander I and Platov).

According to I.V. Stolyarova, Leskov “directs readers’ interest to the events themselves”, which is facilitated by the special logical structure of the text: most of the chapters have an ending, and some have a kind of beginning, which makes it possible to clearly separate one event from another. This principle creates the effect of a fantastic manner. It can also be noted that in a number of chapters, it is at the end that the narrator expresses the author’s position: “And the courtiers who are standing on the steps all turn away from him, thinking: “Platov got caught and now they’ll drive him out of the palace,” that’s why they couldn’t stand him for bravery” (end of chapter 12).

It is impossible not to note the use of various techniques that characterize the features of not only oral speech, but also folk poetry in general: tautologies(“they shod on horseshoes”, etc.), peculiar forms of verbs with prefix(“I admired”, “send”, “clap”, etc.), words with diminutive suffixes(“palm”, “little belly”, etc.). It is interesting to pay attention to the entered text of the saying(“morning is wiser than night”, “snow on your head”). Sometimes Leskov can modify them.

ABOUT the mixing of different manners of narration is evidenced by the nature of neologisms. They can go into more detail describe an object and its function(two-seater carriage), scene(busters - combining the words busts and chandeliers, the writer gives a more complete description of the room in one word), action(whistles - whistle and messengers accompanying Platov), ​​designate foreign curiosities(marble coats - camel coats, etc.), the state of the characters (waiting - waiting and agitation, an annoying couch on which long years lay Platov, characterizing not only the hero’s inaction, but also his wounded pride). The appearance of neologisms in Leskov is in many cases due to literary play.

“Thus, Leskov’s tale as a type of narration was not only transformed and enriched, but also served to create a new genre variety: the tale. A fairy tale is distinguished by its great depth of coverage of reality, approaching in this sense the novel form. It was Leskov’s fairy tale that contributed to the emergence of a new type of truth-seeker, who can be put on a par with the heroes of Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky” (Mushchenko E.G., Skobelev V.P., Kroychik L.E. S. 115). The artistic originality of “Lefty” is determined by the task of searching for special forms of expressing the author’s position to assert the strength of national character.