In the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" the author attempted a religious interpretation of Russian reality. In the image of Ivan Flyagin, Leskov portrayed a truly Russian character, revealing the basis of the mentality of our people, which is closely connected with Orthodoxy. In modern realities, he dressed the parable of the prodigal son and thereby again raised the eternal questions that mankind has been asking for more than a century.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov created his story in one breath. The whole job took less than a year. In the summer of 1872, the writer traveled to Lake Ladoga, the very place where the action in The Enchanted Wanderer takes place. It was not by chance that the author chose these protected areas, because the islands of Valaam and Korelu, the ancient dwellings of monks, are located there. On this trip, the idea of ​​the work was born.

By the end of the year, the work was completed and acquired the name "Black Earth Telemak". The author invested in the title a reference to ancient Greek mythology and a reference to the scene. Telemachus is the son of King Ithaca Odysseus and Penelope, the heroes of Homer's poem. He is known for going fearlessly in search of his missing parent. So Leskov's character set off on a long and dangerous journey in search of his destiny. However, the editor of Russkiy vestnik M.N. Katkov refused to publish the story, referring to the "dampness" of the material and pointing out the discrepancy between the title and the content of the book. Flyagin is an apologist for Orthodoxy, and the writer compares him with a pagan. Therefore, the writer changes the title, but refers the manuscript to another publication, the Russkiy Mir newspaper. It was published there in 1873.

The meaning of the name

If everything is clear with the first version of the title, then the question arises, what is the meaning of the title "The Enchanted Wanderer"? Leskov invested in it no less interesting idea. Firstly, it indicates the rich life of the hero, his wanderings, both on earth and within his inner world. Throughout his life, he went to the realization of his mission on earth, this was his main search - the search for his place in life. Secondly, the adjective indicates Ivan's ability to appreciate the beauty of the world around him, to be fascinated by it. Thirdly, the writer uses the meaning "witchcraft", because often the character acts unconsciously, as if not of his own free will. He is led by mystical forces, visions and signs of fate, and not by reason.

The story is also called so because the author indicates the ending already in the title, as if fulfilling a destiny. The mother predicted the future for her son, promising him to God even before birth. Since then, he has been under the spell of fate, aimed at fulfilling his destiny. The wanderer does not walk independently, but under the influence of predestination.

Composition

The structure of the book is nothing more than a modernized and composition of a tale (a folklore work that implies an oral impromptu story with certain genre features). Within the framework of a tale there is always a prologue and an exposition, which we also see in The Enchanted Wanderer, in the scene on the ship where the travelers get to know each other. This is followed by the narrator's memoirs, each of which has its own plot outline. Flyagin tells the story of his life in the style that is characteristic of people of his class, moreover, he even conveys the speech characteristics of other people who are the heroes of his stories.

In total, there are 20 chapters in the story, each of which follows, not obeying the chronology of events. The Storyteller arranges them at his own discretion, based on the hero's random associations. So the author emphasizes that Flyagin lived his whole life as spontaneously as he talks about it. Everything that happened to him is a series of interconnected accidents, just like his narrative is a string of stories connected by vague memories.

It was not by chance that Leskov added the book to the cycle of legends about the Russian righteous, because his creation was written according to the canons of life - a religious genre based on the biography of the saint. The composition of The Enchanted Wanderer confirms this: first we learn about the special childhood of the hero, filled with signs of fate and signs from above. Then his life is described, filled with allegorical meaning. The climax is the battle with temptation and demons. In the end, God helps the righteous to endure.

What is the story about?

Two travelers talk on deck about a suicidal deacon and meet a monk who travels to holy places to escape temptation. People become interested in the life of this "hero", and he willingly shares his story with them. This biography is the essence of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer". The hero comes from serfs, served as a coachman. His mother could hardly bear the child and in her prayers she promised God that the child would serve him if she was born. She herself died in childbirth. But the son did not want to go to the monastery, although he was haunted by visions calling for him to fulfill his promise. While Ivan was stubborn, many troubles happened to him. He became the culprit in the death of a monk who dreamed of him and foreshadowed several "deaths" before Flyagin came to the monastery. But even this forecast did not make the young man think, who wanted to live for himself.

At first, he almost died in an accident, then he lost his lordly grace and sinned by stealing horses from the owner. For sin, he really did not get anything and, having made false documents, was hired as a nanny to a Pole. But even there he did not stay long, again violating the master's will. Then, in a battle for a horse, he accidentally killed a man, and in order to avoid prison, he went to live with the Tatars. There he worked as a doctor. The Tatars did not want to let him down, so they forcibly captured him, although there he got a family and children. Later, strangers brought fireworks, with which the hero scared the Tatars away and fled. By the grace of the gendarmes, he, like a runaway peasant, ended up in his native estate, from where he was expelled as a sinner. Then he lived for three years with the prince, whom he helped to choose good horses for the army. One evening he decided to get drunk and squandered government money on the gypsy Grusha. The prince fell in love with her and ransomed her, and later fell out of love and drove her away. She asked the hero to take pity on her and kill her, he pushed her into the water. Then he went to war instead of the only son of poor peasants, accomplished a feat, acquired the rank of officer, retired, but could not get a peaceful life, so he came to the monastery, where he really liked it. This is what the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" is written about.

Main characters and their characteristics

The story is rich in characters from a variety of classes and even nationalities. The images of the characters in the work "The Enchanted Wanderer" are as multifaceted as their motley, heterogeneous composition.

1. Ivan Flyagin is the main character of the book. He is 53 years old. This is a gray-haired old man of enormous growth with a swarthy open face. This is how Leskov describes him: “He was a hero in the full sense of the word, and, moreover, a typical, simple-hearted, kind Russian hero, reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets in the beautiful picture of Vereshchagin and in the poem of Count A. K. Tolstoy.” This is a kind, naive and simple-hearted person, possessing outstanding physical strength and courage, but devoid of bragging and swagger. He is frank and sincere. Despite his low birth, he has dignity and pride. This is how he talks about his honesty: “Only I didn’t sell myself either for big money or for small ones, and I won’t sell myself.” In captivity, Ivan does not betray his homeland, since his heart belongs to Russia, he is a patriot. However, even with all his positive qualities, the man committed many stupid, random acts that cost the lives of other people. So the writer showed the inconsistency of the Russian national character. Maybe that's why the character's life story is complex and eventful: he was a prisoner of the Tatars for 10 years (from the age of 23). After some time, he enters the army and serves in the Caucasus for 15 years. For the feat, he earned an award (George Cross) and the rank of officer. Thus, the hero acquires the status of a nobleman. At the age of 50, he enters a monastery and receives the name Father Ishmael. But even in the church service, the wanderer seeking the truth does not find peace: demons come to him, he has the gift of prophecy. The exorcism of demons did not work, and he is released from the monastery on a journey to holy places in the hope that this will help him.
2. Pear- a passionate and deep nature, conquering everyone with its languid beauty. At the same time, her heart is true only to the prince, which betrays her strength of character, devotion and honor. The heroine is so proud and adamant that she asks to be killed, because she does not want to interfere with the happiness of her treacherous lover, but she cannot belong to another. Exceptional virtue contrasts in her with demonic charm that destroys men. Even Flyagin commits a dishonorable act for her sake. A woman, combining positive and negative forces, after death takes the form of either an angel or a demon: either protecting Ivan from bullets, or embarrassing his peace in the monastery. So the author emphasizes the duality of female nature, in which mother and temptress, wife and lover, vice and holiness coexist.
3. Characters noble origin are presented caricatured, negatively. So, the owner of Flyagin appears before the reader as a tyrant and a hard-hearted person who does not feel sorry for the serfs. The prince is a frivolous and selfish scoundrel, ready to sell himself for a rich dowry. Leskov also notes that the nobility itself does not give privileges. In this hierarchical society, they are given only by money and connections, which is why the hero cannot get a job as an officer. This is an important characteristic of the nobility.
4. Gentiles and foreigners also has its own characteristics. For example, the Tatars live as they have to, they have several wives, many children, but there is no real family, and, therefore, no true love either. It is no coincidence that the hero does not even remember his children who remained there, no feelings arise between them. The author defiantly characterizes not individuals, but the people as a whole, in order to emphasize the absence of individuality in him, which is not possible without a single culture, social institutions - all that the Orthodox faith gives Russians. The writer also got the gypsies, dishonest and thieving people, and the Poles, whose morality is cracking. Getting acquainted with the life and customs of other peoples, the enchanted wanderer understands that he is different, he is not on the same path with them. It is also indicative that he does not develop relationships with women of other nationalities.
5. clergy characters severe, but not indifferent to the fate of Ivan. They have become for him a real family, a brotherhood that worries about him. Of course, they don't immediately accept it. For example, Father Ilya refused to confess a fugitive peasant after a vicious life among the Tatars, but this severity was justified by the fact that the hero was not ready for initiation and still had to pass worldly trials.

Topic

• In the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" the main theme is righteousness. The book makes one think that the righteous is not the one who does not sin, but the one who sincerely repents of sins and wants to atone for them at the cost of self-denial. Ivan searched for the truth, stumbled, made mistakes, suffered, but God, as is known from the parable of the Prodigal Son, is more precious to God who returned home after long wanderings in search of the truth, and not to the one who did not leave and took everything on faith. The hero is righteous in the sense that he took everything for granted, did not resist fate, walked without losing his dignity and without complaining about the heavy burden. In search of the truth, he did not turn to profit or passion, and in the finale he came to true harmony with himself. He realized that his highest destiny was to suffer for the people, “to die for the faith”, that is, to become something greater than himself. A great meaning appeared in his life - service to the motherland, faith and people.
• The theme of love is revealed in Flyagin's relationship with the Tatars and Grusha. It is obvious that the author cannot imagine this feeling without unanimity, conditioned by one faith, culture, paradigm of thinking. Although the hero was blessed with wives, he could not love them even after the birth of joint children. Pear also did not become his beloved woman, because he was fascinated by only the outer shell, which he immediately wanted to buy, throwing government money at the feet of the beauty. Thus, all the feelings of the hero turned not to an earthly woman, but to abstract images of the homeland, faith and people.
• The theme of patriotism. Ivan more than once wanted to die for the people, and in the finale of the work he was already preparing for future wars. In addition, his love for his homeland was embodied in a quivering longing for the fatherland in a foreign land, where he lived in comfort and prosperity.
• Faith. The Orthodox faith, which permeates the entire work, had a huge impact on the hero. She showed herself both in form and in content, because the book resembles the life of a saint, both in composition and in ideological and thematic terms. Leskov considers Orthodoxy a factor that determines many properties of the Russian folk character.

Problems

The rich range of problems in the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" contains the social, spiritual, moral and ethical problems of the individual and the whole people.

• Search for the truth. In an effort to find his place in life, the hero stumbles upon obstacles and does not overcome all of them with dignity. Sins, which have become a means to overcome the path, become a heavy burden on the conscience, because he does not withstand some tests and makes mistakes in choosing the direction. However, without mistakes, there is no experience that led him to realize his own belonging to a spiritual brotherhood. Without trials, he would not have suffered his truth, which is never easy. However, the price for a revelation is invariably high: Ivan became a kind of martyr and experienced real spiritual torment.
• Social inequality. The plight of the serfs becomes a problem of gigantic proportions. The author not only depicts the sad fate of Flyagin, whom the master brought to injury by sending him to the quarry, but also individual fragments of the lives of other ordinary people. Bitter is the lot of old people who almost lost their only breadwinner, who was taken into recruits. The death of the hero's mother is terrible, because she was dying in agony without medical care and any help at all. The attitude towards serfs was worse than towards animals. For example, horses worried the master more than people.
• Ignorance. Ivan could have realized his mission faster, but no one was involved in his education. He, like his entire class, did not have a chance to go out into the people, even acquiring a free one. This restlessness is demonstrated by the example of Flyagin's attempt to settle in the city even in the presence of the nobility. Even with this privilege, he could not find a place for himself in society, since no recommendation can replace education, education and manners that were not learned in the stable or in the quarry. That is, even a free peasant became a victim of his slave origin.
• Temptation. Any righteous person suffers from the misfortune of demonic power. If we translate this allegorical term into everyday language, it turns out that the enchanted wanderer struggled with his dark sides - selfishness, desire for carnal pleasures, etc. No wonder he sees Grusha in the form of a tempter. The desire, once experienced in relation to her, did not give him rest in his righteous life. Perhaps he, accustomed to wandering, could not become an ordinary monk and come to terms with a routine existence, and he clothed this craving for active actions, new searches in the form of a “demon”. Flyagin is an eternal wanderer who is not satisfied with passive service - he needs flour, a feat, his own Golgotha, where he will ascend for the people.
• Homesickness. The hero suffered and languished in captivity in an inexplicable desire to return home, which was stronger than the fear of death, stronger than the thirst for comfort with which he was surrounded. Because of his escape, he experienced real torture - horse hair was sewn into his feet, so he could not escape all these 10 years of captivity.
• Faith problem. In passing, the author told how Orthodox missionaries died in an attempt to baptize the Tatars.

Main idea

The soul of a simple Russian peasant comes off before us, which is illogical, and sometimes even frivolous in its actions and deeds, and most terrible of all, that it is unpredictable. It is impossible to explain the actions of the hero, because the inner world of this seemingly commoner is a labyrinth in which one can get lost. But no matter what happens, there is always a light that will lead you on the right path. This light for the people is faith, an unshakable faith in the salvation of the soul, even if life has darkened it with sins. Thus, the main idea in the story "The Enchanted Wanderer" is that every person can become a righteous man, you just need to let God into your heart, repenting of evil deeds. Nikolai Leskov, like no other writer, was able to understand and express the Russian spirit, about which A.S. Pushkin. The writer sees a simple peasant, who embodied the entire Russian people, a faith that many deny. Despite this seeming denial, the Russian people do not stop believing. His soul is always open to miracles and salvation. To the last, she is looking for something holy, incomprehensible, spiritual in her existence.

The ideological and artistic originality of the book lies in the fact that it transfers the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son to the contemporary realities of the author and shows that Christian morality does not know time, it is relevant in every century. Ivan was also angry at the usual way of things and left his father's house, only the church was his home from the very beginning, so his return to his native estate did not bring him peace. He left God, indulging in sinful pleasures (alcohol, mortal combat, theft) and sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire of depravity. His path was a heap of accidents, in it N. S. Leskov showed how empty and absurd life is without faith, how aimless its course is, which always brings a person to the wrong place where he would like to be. As a result, like his biblical prototype, the hero returns to the roots, to the monastery, which his mother bequeathed to him. The meaning of the work "The Enchanted Wanderer" lies in finding the meaning of being, which calls Flyagin to selfless service to his people, to self-denial for the sake of a higher goal. Ivan could not do anything more ambitious and correct than this dedication of himself to all mankind. This is his righteousness, this is his happiness.

Criticism

The opinions of critics about Leskov's story, as always, were divided due to the ideological differences of the reviewers. They expressed their views depending on the journal in which they published, because the editorial policy of the media of those years was subject to a certain direction of the publication, its main idea. There were Westernizers, Slavophiles, Soil-Christians, Tolstoyans, and so on. Some of them, of course, liked The Enchanted Wanderer due to the fact that their views found their justification in the book, and someone categorically disagreed with the author’s worldview and what he called the “Russian spirit”. For example, in the journal "Russian wealth" critic N.K. Mikhailovsky expressed his approval of the writer.

In terms of the richness of the plot, this is perhaps the most remarkable of Leskov's works, but in him the absence of any center is especially striking, so that, in fact, there is no plot in it, but there is a whole series of plots strung together like beads on a thread, and each bead by itself can be very conveniently taken out, replaced by another, or you can string as many beads as you like on the same thread.

A critic from the Russian Thought magazine spoke equally enthusiastically about the book:

A truly wonderful collection of lofty examples of virtues, capable of touching the most callous soul, with which the Russian land is strong and thanks to which the “city stands” ...

N. A. Lyubimov, one of the publishers of Russky Vestnik, on the contrary, refused to print the manuscript and justified the refusal to publish it by the fact that “the whole thing seems to him more like raw material for making figures, now very vague, than a finished description of something in the reality of the possible and the happening. This remark was eloquently answered by B. M. Markevich, who was the first listener of this book and saw what a good impression it made on the public. He considered the work to be something "highly poetic". He especially liked the descriptions of the steppe. In his message to Lyubimov, he wrote the following lines: “His interest is maintained equally all the time, and when the story ends, it becomes a pity that it has ended. It seems to me that there is no better praise for a work of art.”

In the newspaper "Warsaw Diary", the reviewer emphasized that the work is close to the folklore tradition and has a truly folk origin. The hero, in his opinion, has a phenomenal, typically Russian endurance. He talks about his troubles in a detached way, as about other people's misfortunes:

Physically, the hero of the story is the brother of Ilya Muromets: he endures such torture at the nomads, such an environment and living conditions that he is not inferior to any hero of antiquity. In the moral world of the hero, that complacency prevails, which is so characteristic of the Russian simple man, by virtue of which he shares his last crust of bread with his enemy, and in the war, after the battle, gives help to the wounded enemy on an equal basis with his own.

Reviewer R. Disterlo wrote about the peculiarities of the Russian mentality, depicted in the image of Ivan Flyagin. He stressed that Leskov managed to understand and display the ingenuous and submissive nature of our people. Ivan, in his opinion, was not responsible for his actions, his life, as it were, was given to him from above, and he put up with it, as with the weight of the cross. L. A. Annensky also described the enchanted wanderer: “Leskov’s heroes are inspired, enchanted, mysterious, intoxicated, foggy, insane people, although according to their inner self-esteem they are always “innocent”, always righteous.”

The literary critic Menshikov spoke about the artistic originality of Leskov's prose, emphasizing, along with the originality, the shortcomings of the writer's style:

His style is wrong, but rich and even suffers from the vice of wealth: satiety.

It is impossible to demand from the pictures what you demand. This is a genre, and a genre must be taken by one measure: is it skillful or not? What are the directions here? Thus it will turn into a yoke for art and strangle it, as an ox is crushed by a rope tied to a wheel.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

The story was written in 1872. The original name is "Black Earth Telemak". In terms of its content and artistic structure, it bears all the main features of Lesk's literary talent, being classical in this respect. This was precisely what Gorky had in mind when he advised young writers to learn from Leskov.

Typifying Russian reality, the writer here quite consciously develops a realistic trend in literature. Comparing the hero of The Enchanted Wanderer with Telemachus, Don Quixote and Chichikov, Leskov rejected the idea of ​​a purely adventure story, which they tried to impose on him. “... Why should the face of the hero himself be obliterated by all means? .. - he writes in January 1874, after the publication of the story. - And Don Quixote, and Telemak, and Chichikov? Why not go side by side with both the environment and the hero? I know and hear that The Enchanted Wanderer reads vividly and makes a good impression...”

It is no accident that Leskov mentions the works of Cervantes, Fénelon, and Gogol.

He emphasizes the idea of ​​an organic connection in realistic art of character and circumstances, hero and environment.

In the first publication (in the Russkiy Mir newspaper in 1873), the story was called The Enchanted Wanderer, His Life, Experiences, Opinions and Adventures. Story. Dedicated to Sergei Yegorovich Kushelev. Leskov leads his hero Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin through many life trials, during which his character is developed and shaded.

“The Enchanted Wanderer should be published immediately (by winter) in one volume with Lefty under the same general title“ Well Done ”,” he wrote in 1886.

Life Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin accepts with all its motley, many-sided and complex content. The “enchanted hero” does not feel the desire to remove the spell of life from himself, and all its difficulties are shattered by his unshakable spiritual stamina.

The measure of the justice of thoughts and deeds is determined by Flagin himself. He does not recognize any other criterion for evaluating a person, except for the court of his own conscience. However, at the heart of this belief is not egoism, but a deep faith in man.

Flyagin is a harmonious personality in his own way. He is devoid of religious fanaticism, and although he "does not disbelieve," he believes that "there is no benefit from all these prayers."

He loves work, treats all work conscientiously, but he shows himself as a true "artist" in dealing with horses, where he has no equal,

He is also characterized by a high feeling of love for the motherland and his people. Living in captivity for many years, he directs all his thoughts and aspirations towards one goal, in order to "return home and see his fatherland."

Flyagin is ready to "die for the people" if he sees that he is in danger.

The hero of Leskov, slightly surprised that he “died” many times, but never “died”, in the end he himself believed that constant balancing on the edge of death was his lot in life, his destiny. Flyagin's calmness and equanimity are based on his own experience, which indicates that the forces of evil, including death itself, are powerless to triumph in the fight against him.

People like Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, according to the writer, personify the essence of life and are indestructible, like life itself.

P. 51. Valaam is an island on Lake Ladoga, where a monastery was built at the beginning of the 14th century. Chukhonian - Finnish.

P. 52. Was he a novice or a tonsured monk... - A novice in Russian monasteries was a name given to those preparing to become monks and performing various obediences: church services and household chores. Tongue - a rite of initiation into monasticism, accompanied by a cruciform cutting of hair on the head of the initiate.

Kamilavka - a black cap that the monks wore under the hood (under the hood).

P. 53. ... reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets in the beautiful painting by Vereshchagin and in the poem by Count A. K. Tolstoy. - This refers to the painting by V. V. Vereshchagin “Ilya Muromets at the feast of Prince Vladimir” and the ballad by A. K. Tolstoy "Ilya Muromets".

A diocese is an ecclesiastical administrative unit.

Filaret (Drozdov) (1782-1876) - Metropolitan of Moscow, theologian, one of the most reactionary figures of the higher clergy.

P. 54. St. Sergius is a well-known figure of the Russian church of the XIV century, Sergius of Radonezh (1314-1392), the founder of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and a number of other monasteries.

P. 55. Stratopedarch - head of the military camp. P. 56. Trinity, spirits day - religious holidays of the Christian cult.

Hieromonk - a monk in the rank of priest.

Ryasofor - wearing monastic clothes in the monastery without tonsure.

Monk - a monk, a monk, a hermit.

P. 57. Cantonists - the sons of soldiers in serf Russia, attached from the day of birth to the military department and preparing for soldier's service in special cantonist schools Remonter - an officer who purchases horses for the army.

P. 58. Raray John (1827-1866) - a famous American horse trainer, the founder of the humane method of training. In Russia he demonstrated his system in 1857.

Vsevolod-Gabriel from Novgorod, whom I greatly respected for his youth ... - Vsevolod-Gabriel Mstislavich, Prince of Novgorod, canonized (died in 1137).

Muravny - covered with glaze, vitreous shell.

P. 62. Count K. - refers to S. M. Kamensky (1771-1835), a landowner known for his despotism.

Vorok (vorki) - corral, barnyard.

An old-fashioned blue banknote was paid. - A banknote is a five-ruble paper banknote.

P. 63. Postilion (German) - a coachman, sitting on a horse in a harness with quadruples or gears.

Bityutsky. - Bityugs - a breed of strong draft horses bred in the Voronezh province, along the banks of the Bityug River.

Oborkatotsya - get used to, adapt.

Kofishenok (German) - the court rank of the caretaker for tea, chocolate, coffee.

Asp and basilisk ... - here: a mythical creature, a dragon, a serpent.

P. 64. P... deserts - presumably Predtecheva deserts (a monastery in the Oryol province).

Vzvolochek (vzvolochek) - hill, mound.

P. 66. ...we went... to the newly-appeared relics...- We are talking about the relics of the first Voronezh Bishop Mitrofiy, the “discovery” of which took place in 1832.

P. 67. Drawbars, drawbars - a pair of horses harnessed on both sides of a drawbar (single shaft) attached to the front axle of the wagon.

Saddle - riding horse (here: postillion).

P. 73. For the horses we took three hundred rubles, of course, in the then way, for a banknote ... - that is, for paper money, which was estimated in the 30-40s of the XIV century at twenty-seven kopecks of silver for one ruble banknote. _

Assessor - an elected member of the county court or court chamber from the nobility.

P. 74. ... from Mitrofaniya ... - from the Voronezh Mitrofanevsky Monastery.

P. 76. Liman - a wide mouth of a river flowing into the sea, a sea bay.

P. 77. Saracens - a nomadic wild tribe in Arabia. P. 80. Lancer - mounted warrior from light cavalry units. P. 81. Tubo, pil, aport (French) - stop, bring, give. Borzo - soon, quickly.

P. 84. Koshma (eastern) - felt made of sheep's wool, felted bedding.

Khan Dzhangar - led the Bukey Kirghiz horde in the Astrakhan region. He was listed as a Russian subject, was in the public service. At the same time he was widely known as a horse trader.

Ryn-sands (naryn (Kazakh) - narrow sand) - a ridge of sandy hills in the lower reaches of the Volga.

Derbyshs (dervishes) are Muslim mendicant monks.

P. 85. Seliksa - a village in the south of the Penza province.

P. 86. ... on the game ... - Igren - horse color: red with a light, white mane and tail.

Mordovian Ishim is a village to the east of Penza.

P. 88. Kurokhtan - brown-gray steppe bird.

P. 95. Sabur - an aloe plant.

Kalgan root is a plant used as a spice and medicine.

P. 99. Koch - a nomadic area.

P. 102. Tavolozhka (meadowsweet, Volzhanka) is a shrub whose strong trunks were used for ramrods and whips.

Chiliznik (chiliga) - steppe wormwood.

S. 103. Chlup (chlup) - the tip of the sacrum of a bird.

P. 105. Mohammed (Mohammed) (c. 571-632) - the founder of the Mohammedan (Muslim) religion, set forth in the Koran.

Missionary (lat.) - a person sent by the church for religious propaganda among the Gentiles.

S. 108. Lamb - here: lamb, lamb.

P. 110. We climbed ... under the stakes - that is, in the wagons.

P. 113. Penance-punishment for offenses against the charters of the church.

P. 114. Keremeti - according to Chuvash beliefs, good spirits that live in the forests.

P. 115

P. 117. Magnetism was the name given to hypnosis at that time.

P. 119. Do not latosh - do not fuss; latoha (lotoha) - vanity.

Hrapok (snoring) - the middle and lower part of the bridge of the horse.

P. 120. Kila - hernia, tumor.

Arkhaluk - poddevka, quilted. P. 124. Slender - gentle, thin.

P. 128. ...Job in the dung...- According to one of the biblical legends, God, in order to test Job's faith, struck him with leprosy, and Job had to leave the city and sit in ashes and dung.

S. 131. Lontryga (lantriga) - spendthrift, reveler.

P. 132. Chetminei (Cheti Menei) - the church book "Lives of the Saints".

P. 138. Banknotes - paper money of various denominations: blue tits - five rubles, gray ducks - ten rubles, red scythes - twenty-five rubles, white swans - one hundred and two hundred rubles.

P. 139. Police officer - head of the district police, chairman of the Zemstvo court.

P. 140. "Shuttle" - a romance based on the words of a poem by D. V. Davydov "And my little star" ("The sea howls, the sea groans ...").

P. 142. Captain - squadron commander, captain of light cavalry in the tsarist army.

P. 143. Konik - a chest, a chest with a lifting lid.

P. 150. Obelma - set, heap.

S. 164. Perezniyal - rotted.

Odnodvorki girls - residents of a farm, zaimka, a single settlement.

Madder - from the word "madder" - a plant whose root is used as a dye.

P. 165. ... at the old sides ... - The side is a hollow tree in which bees are found.

P. 168. Accident - the former Avar Khanate. Since 1864 - the Avar district (the territory on which Dagestan is currently located).

The potion is here: gunpowder.

S. 169. Otrokovitsa - a teenage girl.

P. 172. The collegiate secretary is one of the fourteen classes (“ranks”) of the table of ranks introduced by Peter I.

P. 173. Apotheosis (Greek) - here: a solemn final picture in a theatrical performance.

P. 174. Small tonsure is a rite of initiation into the spiritual rank of a junior rank without imposing strict rules.

Senior tonsure - a rite of initiation into monks for life with the imposition of strict rules.,

P. 175. A rosary - a string of beads, a belt with knots for counting prayers said and bows made.

P. 179. Schemnik is a monk leading a strict, ascetic lifestyle.

Sources:

• Leskov N. S. Novels and stories / Comp. and note. L. M. Krupchanova.- M.: Mosk. worker, 1981.- 463 p.

annotation: The book includes: “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District”, “The Enchanted Wanderer”, “Lefty”, “Dumb Artist” and other works by N. S. Leskov.

Updated: 2011-05-15

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Useful material on the topic

• Analysis and structure of The Enchanted Wanderer. What is the meaning of the title "The Enchanted Wanderer"? Themes and issues of The Enchanted Wanderer

“The Enchanted Wanderer” N.S. Leskova

Leskov's story "The Enchanted Wanderer" dates back to 1873. Initially, it was called "Black Earth Telemak". The image of the wanderer Ivan Flyagin summarizes the remarkable features of people who are energetic, talented by nature, inspired by boundless love for people. It depicts a man from the people in the intricacies of his difficult fate, not broken, even though "he died all his life and could not die in any way." In the story, a kaleidoscope of pictures of serf Russia appears, many of which anticipate Leskov's satirical works of the 80s and 90s.

"The Enchanted Wanderer" was Leskov's favorite hero, he put him next to "Lefty". “The Enchanted Wanderer should immediately (before winter) be published in one volume with “Lefty” under one common title: “Well Done,” he wrote in 1866.

The kind and simple-minded Russian giant is the main character and the central figure of the story. This man with a childish soul is distinguished by irrepressible fortitude, heroic mischief and that excess in hobbies, which is so alien to the moderation of virtuous bourgeois heroes. He acts at the behest of duty, often on the intuition of feeling and in an accidental outburst of passion. However, all his actions, even the strangest ones, are invariably born from his inherent philanthropy. He strives for truth and beauty through mistakes and bitter repentance, he seeks love and generously gives love to people. The “enchanted wanderer” is a type of “Russian wanderer” (in the words of Dostoevsky). Of course, Flyagin has nothing in common with the noble "superfluous people" - Aleko, Onegin, whom Dostoevsky had in mind. But he, too, seeks and cannot find himself. He does not need to humble himself and desire to work in his native field. He is already humble and, by his muzhik rank, is faced with the need to work. But he has no peace. In life, he is not a participant, but only a wanderer, “Black Earth Telemak”.

In the story, the life of the protagonist is a chain of adventures so diverse that each of them, being an episode of one life, at the same time can make up a whole life. Count K.'s postillion, a fugitive serf, a babysitter, a Tatar prisoner, a coneser at the prince-repairer, a soldier, a knight of St. George - a retired officer, a "reference officer" in the address desk, an actor in a booth, and, finally, a monk in a monastery - and that's it this is for one life, not yet completed.

The very name of the hero turns out to be inconsistent: “Golovan” is a nickname in childhood and adolescence; "Ivan" - that's what the Tatars call him) this name here is not so much a proper one as a common noun: "they have everything if an adult Russian person is Ivan, and a woman is Natasha, and they call boys with Kolka"); under the false name of Peter Serdyukov, he serves in the Caucasus: having gone to the soldiers for another, he, as it were, inherits his fate, and after the expiration of his service life, he can no longer regain his name. And finally, having become a monk, he is called “Father Ishmael”, nevertheless always remaining himself - the Russian man Ivan Severyanych Flyagin.

Creating this image, Leskov will not forget anything - neither childish spontaneity, nor the peculiar “artistry” and narrow “patriotism” of the “warrior”. For the first time in a writer, the personality is so multifaceted, so free, so released to its will.

There is the deepest meaning in the very wandering of the Leskovsky hero; it is on the roads of life that the “enchanted wanderer” comes into contact with other people, these unexpected meetings put the hero in front of problems, the very existence of which he had not even suspected before.

Ivan Severyanych Flyagin at first sight strikes with his originality: “He was a man of enormous stature, with a swarthy, open face and thick, wavy, lead-colored hair; his gray cast so strangely ... he was in the full sense of the word a hero, reminiscent of grandfather Ilya Muromets in the beautiful picture of Vereshchagin and in the poem of Count A. K. Tolstoy. It seemed that he would not have walked in duckweed, but would have sat on a “chubar” and rode in bast shoes through the forest and lazily sniffed how “dark forest smells of resin and strawberries”.

The story about the taming of the horse does not seem to be connected at all with the previous two, but its finale - the death of the tamed horse - evokes the death of the exiled deacon. And here and there there is violence against a free being of nature. Both man and animal that have shown disobedience are broken and cannot bear it. With the story of the taming of the horse, the narrative of Flyagin's “extensive past vitality” begins, and this episode is not accidentally “taken out” from the sequential chain of events. It's like a kind of prologue to the biography of the hero.

According to the hero, his destiny is that he is the “prayed” and “promised” son, is obliged to devote his life to serving God.

Ivan Severyanych Flyagin lives primarily not with his mind, but with his heart, and therefore the course of life imperiously carries him along, that is why the circumstances in which he finds himself are so diverse. The path that the hero of the story goes through is the search for his place among other people, his vocation, comprehension of the meaning of his life efforts, but not with reason, but with his whole life and his destiny. Ivan Severyanych Flyagin does not seem to be interested in the questions of human existence, but with his whole life, with its bizarre course, he answers them in his own way.

The theme of “going through the throes” develops regardless of the fact that the hero does not attach much importance to it. Ivan Severyanych's story about his life seems almost implausible precisely because it all fell to the lot of one person. “What a drum you are, brother: they beat you, they beat you, and they still won’t finish you,” the doctor, who listened to the whole story, tells him.

Leskov's hero is destitute of life, robbed by it from the very beginning, but in the process of life itself, he multiplies the spiritual wealth a hundredfold, which he is endowed with by nature. His exclusivity grows on Russian folk soil and is all the more significant because the hero answers everything with his own heart, and not with the constructions of the mind. The idea here is opposed by something unconditional, which withstands the most difficult tests.

In the unhurried narration of Leskov's heroes, visible features of the recent past arose and the figures of real people loomed. Therefore, “The Enchanted Wanderer” reveals to the reader the main theme of Leskov’s work - the theme of the formation of a person, the painful torment of his spirit in the struggle of passions and prudence, in the hero’s difficult knowledge of himself. Behind the incident, the case arose in these works of the life of the individual.

The writer's heightened interest in national culture, the subtlest sense of all shades of folk life made it possible for him to create a kind of artistic world and develop an original, artistic, unique - "Leskovsky" way of depicting. Leskov knew how to portray the life of the people, merged into one with the people's worldview, deeply rooted in national history. Leskov believed and knew how to show that the people are able to deeply “understand the public good and serve it without being forced, and, moreover, serve with exemplary self-sacrifice even in such terrible historical moments when the salvation of the fatherland seemed impossible.” Deep faith in the great power of the people and love for the people gave him the opportunity to see and comprehend the "inspiration" of people's characters. In The Enchanted Wanderer, for the first time in Lesk's work, the theme of folk heroism is fully developed. Despite many unattractive features, realistically noted by the author, the collective semi-fairytale image of Ivan Flyagin appears before us in all its grandeur, nobility of soul, fearlessness and beauty and merges with the image of the heroic people. “I really want to die for the people,” says the enchanted wanderer . The “black-earth Telemak” deeply experiences his involvement in his native land. What a great feeling lies in his unpretentious story about loneliness in Tatar captivity: “... There is no bottom to the depths of anguish ... You see, you don’t know where, and suddenly a monastery or a temple is indicated in front of you, and you remember the baptized land and cry.”

In The Enchanted Wanderer, Leskov speaks of a “good Russian hero”, about “good innocence”, about a “kind soul”, about a “good and strict life”. The life of the described heroes is full of wild, evil and cruel impulses, but in the hidden source of all human actions and thoughts lies kindness - unearthly, ideal, mystical. It does not open among people in its pure form, because kindness is a state of the soul that has come into contact with the deity.

Those heroes who are closest to his heart, Leskov always compares with the heroes of epics and fairy tales. N. Pleschunov draws the following conclusion, arguing about the "Enchanted Wanderer": "...there is a hunch that this" Charmed Wanderer "is the people under the serfdom, seeking, waiting for the hour of their deliverance." Not only the heroes of The Enchanted Wanderer, but also many other images of the writer were “icons”, but not in the sense that they were essentially religious, but in the fact that their most significant features were reflected by the writer “statically”, “traditionally” , in the spirit of religious genres, genres of folklore and ancient Russian literature: lives and parables, legends and legends, legends, anecdotes and fairy tales.

The hero of the story is called an enchanted wanderer, and in this title the whole worldview of the writer appears. Charm is a wise and blessed fate, which, like the miraculous icon in the “Sealed Angel”, itself puts a person in various temptations. Even in moments of rebellion against her, she slowly and imperceptibly cultivates divine self-denial in a person, preparing a decisive change in his consciousness. Each life event casts some kind of shadow into the soul, preparing in it woeful doubts, quiet sadness about the vanity of life.

The religious perception of the world, the tendency to superstition correspond to the level of consciousness of the majority of Leskov's heroes, are determined by the traditions and ideas about the world around them gravitating over them. However, under the cover of religious thoughts and reasoning of his heroes, the writer managed to see a completely worldly, ordinary attitude to life and even (which is especially significant) was able to critically treat the official religion and the church. Therefore, the work “The Enchanted Wanderer” has not lost its deep meaning to this day.

Whatever a religious person from the common people looks at, everything acquires a wonderful meaning for him. He sees God in manifestations - and these manifestations seem to him to be one airy chain that connects him with the last refuge of the spirit. Making his worldly path, he sheds on it the light of his infantile faith, having no doubt that the path leads him to God. This idea runs through the whole story of Leskov "The Enchanted Wanderer". His details are striking in their originality, and in places, through the thick colors of everyday description, one feels the writer's nature, with its diverse, obvious and secret passions.

A deep sense of moral beauty, alien to corrupting indifference, "overcomes the spirit" of the Leskovsky righteous. The native environment communicates by its living example not only inspired impulses, but the "strict and sober mood" to their "healthy soul, which lived in a healthy and strong body."

Leskov loved all of Russia as it is. He took it as an old fairy tale. This is a fairy tale about an enchanted hero. He portrayed Russia holy and sinful, wrong and righteous. Before us is an amazing country of amazing people. Where else can you find such righteous, craftsmen, eccentrics? But all of her froze in charm, froze in her unexpressed beauty and holiness, and she had nowhere to put herself. There is courage in it, there is scope, there is a great talent, but everything is dormant, everything is fettered, everything is enchanted.

“Enchanted Russia” is a conditional, literary term. This is a cumulative image, recreated by the artist in his work, incorporating some aspects of historical reality. These are the hidden great forces that Leskov saw in his people. This is an “old tale” about him.

Bibliography:

1. A. Volynsky “N.S. Leskov”;

2. V. Yu. Troitsky “Writer of the Russian Land”, “Leskov the Artist”;

3. L. Krupchanov “Thirst for Light”;

4. G. Gunn “The Enchanted Russia of Nikolay Leskov”.

5. B. Dykhanova “The Sealed Angel” and “The Enchanted Wanderer” by N. S. Leskov.

The hero of N.S. Leskov's story "The Enchanted Wanderer" (1873) is a serf who grew up in the count's stable. At the beginning of his life, this is a generously gifted “wild”, a kind of “natural person”, exhausted under the burden of irrepressible vital energy, which sometimes pushes him to the most reckless actions. The enormous natural force, which “swells so lively” through his veins, makes young Ivan Severyanych related to the legendary heroes of Russian epics Ilya Muromets and Vasily Buslaev. The author notes the similarity with the first of them on the very first pages of the story. Thus, it is immediately made clear that this is a "soil" character, which has deep roots in Russian life and Russian history. For a long time, the heroic strength of Ivan Severyanych seemed to be dormant in him. Being in the power of infantile spontaneity, for the time being he lives outside the categories of good and evil, showing in his risky actions extreme carelessness, reckless insolence, fraught with the most dramatic consequences. In the excitement of a fast ride, without wanting it himself, he destroys an old monk who happened to meet him, who fell asleep on a cart of hay. At the same time, young Ivan is not particularly burdened by the misfortune that has occurred, but the murdered monk now and then appears to him in dreams and pesters him with his questions, predicting the hero of the trials that he has yet to go through.

However, the inherent artistry inherent in the "enchanted hero" eventually takes him to a new, higher level of existence. The sense of beauty, organically inherent in Ivan Severyanych, as it develops, gradually ceases to be only an inner experience - it is enriched with a feeling of ardent affection for those who arouse admiration in him. The development of these feelings is presented in one of the central episodes of the story, depicting the meeting of Ivan Severyanych with the gypsy Grusha. Leskovsky's hero, who has long been fascinated by the beauty of a horse, suddenly discovers a new beauty - the beauty of a woman, talent, a human soul. The charm experienced by Pear makes it possible for Ivan's soul to fully open up. He was able to understand another person, to feel someone else's suffering, to show brotherly selfless love and devotion.

The death of Grusha, who could not bear the betrayal of her lover-prince, was so much experienced by Ivan that, in essence, she again made him a “different person”, and that one, the former, “crossed out” everything. He rises to a new moral height: self-will, the randomness of actions is replaced by the purposefulness of all actions, now subordinated to a high moral impulse. Ivan Severyanych thinks only about how he could "suffer" and thereby atone for sin. Obeying this attraction, he goes to the Caucasus instead of a young recruit. For a military feat, he is presented for a reward, promoted to an officer, but Ivan is dissatisfied with himself. On the contrary, the voice of conscience awakens in him more and more, which pushes him to do a severe judgment on his past life and realize himself as a "great sinner."

At the end of his life, Ivan Severyanych is obsessed with the idea of ​​heroic self-sacrifice in the name of the fatherland. He is getting ready to go to war. Calmly and simply, he tells his random fellow travelers that he "really wants to die for the people."

The image of the “enchanted hero” created by the writer contains a broad generalization that makes it possible to comprehend the present and future of the people. According to the author, the people are a baby hero, only entering the stage of historical action, but having an inexhaustible supply of forces necessary for this.

The concept of "artistry" in Leskov is associated not only with the natural talent of a person, but also with the awakening of his soul, with the strength of character. A true artist, in the view of the writer, is a person who has overcome the "beast" in himself, the primitive egoism of his "I".

The work of Leskov, who in his own way was able to deeply understand the contradictions of contemporary Russian life, penetrate into the peculiarities of the national character, vividly capture the features of the spiritual beauty of the people, opened up new perspectives for Russian literature.

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov is a remarkable Russian writer of the 19th century, a real artist and a magician of figurative words. He came to his calling late, almost thirty years old. In the future, he devoted himself entirely to literature, worked without rest and never lacked ideas, material.

Leskov captivated readers with surprisingly versatile knowledge of the life of each class, nationality. In the ability to reproduce the speech of different strata of the people, he has no equal.

In his works, the master of the artistic word criticizes Russian reality, the landowners - tyrants, the clergy. Satirically sharply, he denounces bribery, a riotous lifestyle, toadying to superiors.

The writer paid much attention to the problem of the people. He admired the talents, kindness and honesty of a simple Russian person, his responsiveness to someone else's grief.

The history of creation and a brief analysis of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer"

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov

The date of writing the work is 1872. Leskov goes to Valaam, in these holy places the author of truly folk stories comes up with the idea to write a story about a wanderer.

This is a chronicle of the life of one hero. There is no central event in it, to which the rest would be drawn. Various episodes of the story follow each other.

The narrator, Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, already an elderly man, begins the story of his life from childhood. The difficult trials that fell to his lot are connected by one thread.

The story of the main character is very unusual. This is a folk hero of the era of serfdom, possessing great physical strength. He is bold, sincere and straightforward to the point of naivety, responsive to the grief of others.

The talent of Ivan Severyanych lies in a heightened sense of beauty. He feels the beauty in nature, in feminine charm, in the word. His speech is captivating with its unique poetry. Despite the misdeeds, the reader feels a pure and noble soul in the hero.

Flyagin passionately loves his homeland. With age, his patriotism becomes wider and more conscious. The man anticipates the coming war, he dreams of taking part in it and dying for his native land.

A large number of episodes in the story makes it possible to reveal the character of Flyagin, to oppose the folk hero with characters from a different environment. Leskov shows the serf as a strong, bright personality, and the nobles as ignoble and weak people.

The main characters of the story "The Enchanted Wanderer"

Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin (Golovan) - a monk, in the past a coneser;

Grushenka is a young beauty - a gypsy.

Minor Heroes

The Count and Countess are the first owners of Flyagin.

A gentleman from Nikolaev who took Ivan as a nanny for his little daughter.

The girl's mother and her new husband.

The prince is the owner of the factory, for whom Golovan served as a cones.

Khan Dzhangar - steppe horse breeder, horse trader.

Brief retelling of the story by chapters

Chapter 1

The ship's passengers sail on Lake Ladoga and stop at Korela along the way. After visiting the village, a conversation about this dull place comes up. An unknown traveler in monastic attire enters the dispute.

With his appearance, the man resembles a real Russian hero. He says that he was a koneser, a connoisseur of horses.

Many times the main character died and all could not die. Amazed listeners ask to tell his life story.

Chapter 2

Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, the son of a coachman, was born a serf in the Oryol province. His mother begged for his appearance with God and died immediately after giving birth. The boy spent all his childhood at the stable and learned to understand horses very well. When Ivan grew up, he was put as a postilion on six horses.

Once he took the count to visit. Along the way, they met a sleeping monk on a haystack. Flyagin accidentally, for fun, spotted the unfortunate man to death. At night, the murdered man came to Golovan and said that Ivan was promised to God by his mother. The monk sounded a sign: the guy will die many times and will not die, in the end he is destined to go to blacks.

After some time, the young coachman took the count and his wife to Voronezh. On the way, he miraculously coped with naughty horses, almost died, but saved the gentlemen. By this act, the hero earned their special favor.

Chapter 3

At home in the stable, Golovan breeds two pigeons. The cat got into the habit of carrying little chicks. Angry, the young man severely whipped the thief and cut off her tail. As punishment, Ivan was severely flogged and forced to break stones for the path. Unable to bear the humiliation, the guy decided to commit suicide. He was saved from death by a gypsy who offered to join the robbers together.

Chapter 4

At the request of a cunning gypsy, Flyagin steals two horses from the master's stables. The young man does not want to steal anymore and decides to go to the assessor as a fugitive. He issues a fake passport for a silver cross. Ivan comes to town to get a job. There he meets a gentleman who takes Flyagin as a nanny for his little daughter. This gentleman's wife ran away with a repairman.

The doctor advises Golovan to bury the girl in the sand in order to cure her, to straighten her legs. The young man does this every day while walking on the estuary. There he meets the child's mother. A heartbroken woman with tears begs to give the child. The protagonist refuses out of a sense of responsibility to the owner.

Chapter 5

The lady brings her new husband to the estuary. He offers a thousand rubles in exchange for a girl. Flyagin begins to tease and mock the repairman. It comes down to a fight.

A gentleman with a weapon appears on the shore. Ivan, seeing the love of these young people and feeling pity for the woman and child, does not take money and leaves with the new masters for Penza. In the city, he is forced to leave the newlyweds, since he does not have a passport.

The main character goes to the fair. There he sees the horse trader Khan Dzhangar. The Tartar sells a beautiful mare, for which various gentlemen offer a lot of money.

Two Asians sit down to flog each other with whips for a bet. As a result of a bloody duel, Chepkun Yemgurcheev wins a horse.

Chapter 6

Khan Dzhangar puts up a beautiful horse for sale. The repairman really wants to buy a horse, but he does not have enough money. Flyagin sits down to flog the master with the Tatar Savakirey and beats the unfortunate man to death. Russian gentlemen want to take the criminal to the police. Asians hide Ivan and take him to the steppe.

Golovan lived in Ryn-sands for ten years. He treated horses and helped women. So that the Russian could not escape, he was “bristled”: they sewed a chopped horse mane into the soles of his feet. Overcoming the wild pain, the slave learned to walk on twisted legs, almost on his ankles. The Tatars, in their own way, took pity on him and gave him two wives. The main character lived like this for five years, his wives gave birth to children, then Ivan ended up in another steppe to Agashimola.

Chapter 7

In a new place, Flyagin again received two wives, who gave birth to eight children from him. The Orthodox prisoner did not consider them his own, since the offspring were unbaptized.

For a long period, Ivan could not get used to the steppes. He yearned for his native place. At night, the unfortunate man crawled out behind the headquarters and prayed with tears in his eyes.

Chapter 8

Golovan lost hope of ever returning home. He seemed to have turned into an insensitive statue and no longer wanted to pray.

Two Russian missionaries come to the Tatars. They are trying to convert the Tatars to their faith. But Asians do not believe in a good god, they can only be led to another religion by fear.

Ivan begs the monks to help him free himself from captivity, in response he hears a refusal. Later, he finds one of the travelers killed on the lake and buries according to Christian custom. The second Ivan was never able to find, but I am sure that the Asians killed him too.

Chapter 9

A year later, two strange people from Khiva came to the headquarters, who did not know a word either in Russian or in some other language understandable to Asians. They wanted to buy horses.

Strangers began to frighten the Tatars with their fiery god Talafoy. At night, the visitors disappeared, and Flyagin found the box they had left behind. It contained fireworks.

Ivan frightened the Tatars, frightened by the explosions, and forced them to accept the Orthodox faith. With caustic earth, he etched the stubble from his feet and escaped from captivity.

For three days Golovan walked across the steppe and went to the river bank to the fishermen. All night he drank vodka with them and talked about himself. In the morning the former prisoner went to Astrakhan.

In the city, he began to drink heavily and woke up in prison. He is sent from prison to his homeland. The widowed count ordered Ivan to be whipped, then gave him a passport and set him free.

Chapter 10

Free Ivan begins to go to fairs. He makes money by helping wealthy gentlemen choose good horses. The gypsies are angry with the connoisseur and are eager to take revenge on him.

Golovan meets a gentleman who hires him as a coneser. At times, the main character goes into a binge, but really wants to end this bad deed. The master completely trusts Ivan, large sums of money are always kept by the coneser.

Chapter 11

One day Flyagin goes to a tavern with a lot of money. In a tavern he meets a strange man. He declares that he has a special talent and can wean Ivan from drunkenness. To do this, he forces Ivan to drink with him. Together they get very drunk, both are thrown out of the establishment.

Chapter 12

Under the influence of a conspiracy, a man begins to imagine various devilry. The man with whom Ivan drank in a tavern does various hypnotic actions on him. Golovan is afraid that he will take money from him, but they are safe. Suddenly he sees that he was left alone, and enters the first house he comes across.

Chapter 13

He ends up in a hut with a huge number of people. There Ivan sees a very beautiful Gypsy Grusha. The girl charms him with her songs. The lover spends all the money of the master on her, and he had about 5 thousand.

Chapter 14

After the conspiracies of the magnetizer, Flyagin no longer drinks. The prince tells him that he also fell in love with a gypsy and threw out five thousand for her. Now the beauty lives in his house.

Chapter 15

The kind, but changeable gentleman quickly lost interest in Grusha - uneducated and monotonous. He increasingly leaves her alone with Golovan. The gypsy does not know that the prince in the city has a former wife, who never became official, Evgenia Semyonovna, from whom he has a daughter.

Once a deceived woman, very kind, she is loved by many residents of the city. The prince gave his daughter a profitable house, and this is how they live. But the prince's main thought is now about a new passion.

Ivan arrives in the city and stays with Evgenia Semyonovna. Soon his owner should also be there.

Chapter 16

Flyagin overhears a conversation between Evgenia Semyonovna and the prince. He tells the woman that he wants to buy a cloth factory and marry the leader's daughter. He decides to marry a gypsy to his coneser.

Golovan is engaged in factory affairs in the city. Returning home, he learns that the prince has taken Grusha somewhere, who is about to give birth.

Chapter 17

Before the wedding of the master, the gypsy comes to the call of Ivan, who is looking for her in the forest. She cries and says that she came back for death.

Chapter 18

The heartbroken girl tells that the prince secretly took her to the forest and assigned three guards to her. The unfortunate woman managed to deceive them and fled.

Grusha asks to help her - to kill her: "You will not kill me, I will become the most shameful woman to all of you in revenge." Ivan tries to dissuade Grusha. She assures that she will not be able to live after the marriage of the traitor. She threatens to kill the newlyweds. All in a frenzy

Grusha wants to swim across the lake and kill the bride. The conversation takes place on the steep shore of the lake, and on the other side a brightly lit house is visible and music is heard - a wedding is being celebrated there.

Ivan pushes Grusha, she slips on a slippery bank and falls off a cliff into the river.

Chapter 19

Terrified, Ivan flees from that place, it seems to him that a demon is chasing him. Along the way, he meets a couple of old people. A husband and wife are saddened that their son is being taken into the army. Flyagin takes pity on the elderly, calls himself Pyotr Serdyukov, and goes into recruitment.

The main character ends up in the Caucasus and serves there for 15 years. The Colonel praises him for his heroism in battle. Ivan replies that he is not a good fellow at all, but a great sinner, and tells the officer his story.

For military merit, Golovan is given a rank, an order and dismissed. The service in the address table is not going well with him, and the man decides to go to the artists. There he stands up for a young actress, Ivan is expelled from the troupe.

Left without food and shelter, the wanderer finally decides to leave for a monastery, begging for his sins and praying for the soul of the murdered girl. He becomes a novice, for the senior tonsure Flyagin considers himself unworthy.

Chapter 20

The listeners ask if Ivan was tempted in the monastery by a demon. He tells that the devil appeared to him in the guise of a young gypsy. Once, because of visions, Golovan knocked down all the candles near the icon. As punishment, he was put in a cellar. There, the novice had the gift of prophecy.

Now the enchanted wanderer is sailing to Solovki for pilgrimage. He is going to war and wants to bow to the saints before he dies.

This ends the amazing life story of Ivan Severyanovich Flyagin, a detailed list of his good and bad deeds. The protagonist travels the world in search of the meaning of his earthly existence. The hard road leads him to God. This is the main idea of ​​the tragicomedy of the great Russian writer.

Here is the text in abbreviation, but from it it is clear what the story is about. To feel all the magic of Leskov's artistic word, to understand the meaning and characteristics of all images and characters, you need to read the text of the work in full.