It is unlikely that there will be those who are not familiar with the story of the Lefthander, a horseshoe flea. The story of the brilliant N.S. Leskova, published in 1881 (a separate edition - 1882), is included in the compulsory school curriculum.
This work is the basis of the wonderful animated film "Left-Handed". The very expression “shoe a flea” entered the vocabulary and began to mean the high skill of Russian craftsmen.
Ingenious fiction
“The Tale of the Tula oblique Lefthander and the steel flea” is written in a beautiful witty language, it is easy to read, and the tormenting story of a brilliant craftsman leaves absolutely nobody indifferent. The story has entered real life so much that most people do not question whether the legendary Lefty existed in real life and whether a savvy flea remained after it.
And the fact that the craftsman of all trades and the result of his work is very disappointing is the result of the ingenious imagination of Nikolai Semenovich Leskov. Left-handed people did not exist, documents confirming the fact of horseshoeing of an English steel miniature and its further transfer to England, also in reality do not exist.
Highly developed Western engineering
However, a savvy flea, which has become a symbol of the unsurpassed skill of Russian craftsmen, is available (and not one), but all copies were created much later than the events described in the story.
Actually, the tale is a continuation of the statement made by MV Lomonosov: "and the Russian land can give birth to its own Newtons." A miniature metal flea, a miracle of mechanics, was bought from the British by the Russian Tsar, the winner of Napoleon. Of course, in the demonstration of the unique product to Alexander I there was both a hint and a reproach: "but we are smarter and better than you anyway."
Great return
A savvy flea is the answer to an “arrogant neighbor.” The tiny dancing insect was savvy. True, the flea stopped dancing because of the severity of the paws - the Russian craftsmen "did not finish universities." To understand the worthiness of a return gift, one must imagine how the fleas look.
Actually, of all this little attractive picture, only one fact is interesting - it has six legs. All six Lefty and two of his comrades and shoe. The corresponding size of the carnations was driven into microscopic horseshoes. According to the story, Russian craftsmen did all operations with a metal insect without a “small scope”, since they had an “eye-shot” according to the Lefty himself.
Brilliant prototype
The shocked engineers of foggy Albion invited the craftsmen to study with them. And this fact took place in reality. Masters from Tula, A. M. Surnin, were invited to study Russian weapons in England, where he quickly gained recognition and became an assistant owner at one of the best factories of Henry Knock. Almost all experts consider Surnin, who went to study in England a hundred years before writing a brilliant tale, to be Lefty's prototype, although his fate was much happier than the fate of the hero of the work. A.M. Surnin, who died in 1811, returned to his native Tula, took a good post at the local arms factory. This master did an incredible amount to introduce advanced English developments in the arms production of Russia, which played a big role in the victory of Russian weapons in the Patriotic War of 1812. There were legends about his skill, which gave Leskov the idea to describe the interesting life of Tula gunsmiths, who by their skill could surprise foreigners and really create something that fits the definition of a Russian miracle.
"There is no prophet in his own country"
No wonder the word craftsman has such synonyms as a craftsman, handyman and creator. There are many products of Russian craftsmen in all crafts, but few names are known. This is because among the representatives of the upper strata of society, domestic products and local craftsmen were never held in high esteem, and everything foreign was extolled to heaven. But is the first Russian steam engine of the Cherepanov brothers not a Russian miracle?
The real ingenious craftsman who savvy a flea
But back to the savvy flea. This product has become a measure of craftsmanship. And it goes without saying that the Russian craftsman was written to reach this standard and shoe a flea. For the first time this was done by a wonderful artist Nikolai Sergeevich Aldunin, who died in 2009.
This masterly master of horseshoe stuffed on a real euthanized flea. Talking about this masterpiece, which Aldunin himself did not consider as such (his best achievement was a microcopy of a real T-34 tank planted on an apple seed), it is again necessary to recall how fleas look. Their paws are hairy, nature is not provided for horseshoes. An amazing master cut the hairs, removed the claws and made the lightest horseshoes from 999 gold. You can imagine how small they are by looking at such data: 22 million such horseshoes can be made from one gram of gold. Isn't that brilliant?
A fairy tale come true
A craftsman who had a flea, lived with us at the same time. He has amazing masterpieces about which not so much and was often told in mass media. All his works differ not only in sizes that do not fit into the head, but also in the fact that they are exact copies of real samples, as well as, of course, beauty and grace. It was a real creator and a Russian ingenious craftsman, who in fact carried out the invention of Leskov.
Museum of Microminiatures
The pioneer, as a rule, also has successors. And now a savvy flea, like a caravan of camels in the eye of a needle, are indispensable indicators of the skill of a microminiaturist.
Now in St. Petersburg the Russian Left-Handed Museum is open, with 60 exhibits in its permanent collection, among which, of course, are the above-mentioned brilliant examples of the excellence of the skills of microminiaturists. Presented and a rose in a thread, and books on a section of a poppy seed. A savvy flea occupies a central place in the museum, because it is a symbol legend sung by Leskov.
Modern creators
The most famous living Russian microminiaturists are A. Rykovanov (Petersburg), A. Konenko (Kazan), and Vl. Aniskin (Omsk). Their ingenious works have been awarded many international competitions. The wonderful master Anatoly Konenko presented his first savvy flea to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.
