"The fiat ruble", an analysis of Leskov's story. Nikolai Leskov - fiat ruble

Nikolay Leskov

fiat ruble

Chapter one

There is a belief that by magical means you can get an unchangeable ruble, that is, such a ruble that, no matter how many times you give it out, it is still whole in your pocket. But in order to get such a ruble, you need to endure great fears. I don’t remember all of them, but I know that, by the way, you need to take a black cat without a single mark and carry it to sell on Christmas night to the crossroads of four roads, of which one must certainly lead to the cemetery.

Here you have to stand, shake the cat harder, so that it meowed and close your eyes. All this must be done a few minutes before midnight, and at midnight someone will come and begin to trade the cat. The buyer will give a lot of money for the poor animal, but the seller must certainly demand only ruble, - no more, no less than one silver ruble. The buyer will impose more, but you must persistently demand a ruble, and when, finally, this ruble is given, then you must put it in your pocket and hold it with your hand, and leave yourself as soon as possible and not look back. This ruble is inexchangeable or non-expenditure, that is, no matter how much you give it as payment for something, it still appears in your pocket again. To pay, for example, one hundred rubles, you only need to put your hand into your pocket a hundred times and take out a ruble from there every time.

Of course, this belief is empty and insufficient; but there are ordinary people who are inclined to believe that fiat rubles can really be mined. When I was a little boy, and I believed it too.

Chapter Two

Once, during my childhood, the nanny, putting me to bed on Christmas night, said that now in our village very many do not sleep, but guess, dress up, tell fortunes and, among other things, earn themselves a "irreplaceable ruble." It spread to the point that people who went to get an unchangeable ruble are now the worst of all, because they have to face the devil at a distant crossroads and bargain with him for a black cat; but on the other hand, the greatest joys await them ... How many beautiful things can be bought for a non-transferable ruble! What would I do if I came across such a ruble! I was then only eight years old, but I had already been in Orel and Kromy in my life and knew some of the excellent works of Russian art brought by merchants to our parish church for the Christmas fair.

I knew that in the world there are yellow gingerbread, with molasses, and white gingerbread with mint, there are columns and icicles, there is such a delicacy called "rez", or noodles, or even more simply - "shmotya", there are simple nuts and red-hot; and for a rich pocket they bring both raisins and dates. In addition, I saw pictures of generals and many other things that I could not buy, because they gave me a simple silver ruble for my expenses, and not without a transfer. But the nanny bent over me and whispered that today it would be different, because my grandmother has a non-transferable ruble and she decided to give it to me, but I must be very careful not to lose this wonderful coin, because it has one magical , a very capricious property.

- Which? I asked.

“Grandma will tell you that. You sleep, and tomorrow, when you wake up, your grandmother will bring you an unchangeable ruble and tell you how to handle it.

Seduced by this promise, I tried to fall asleep at that very moment, so that the expectation of the fiat ruble would not be tedious.

Chapter Three

The nurse did not deceive: the night flew by like a brief moment, which I did not notice, and my grandmother was already standing over my bed in her big cap with ruffled marmots and holding in her white hands a brand new, pure silver coin beaten off in the fullest and most excellent caliber.

“Well, here’s a non-transferable ruble for you,” she said. Take it and go to church. After mass, we old people will go to the father, Father Vasily, to drink tea, and you alone, completely alone, you can go to the fair and buy whatever you yourself want. You bargain for a thing, put your hand in your pocket and give out your ruble, and it will again end up in your own pocket.

- Yes, I say - I already know everything.

And I myself squeezed the ruble in my palm and hold it as tightly as possible. Grandma continues:

- The ruble is coming back, it's true. This is his good property - he also cannot be lost; but on the other hand, it has another property, which is very unprofitable: a fiat ruble will not be transferred in your pocket as long as you buy things with it that you or other people need or use, but once you spend at least one penny to complete uselessness - your ruble will disappear in an instant.

Nikolay Semyonovich Leskov

FIXED RUBLE

Chapter one

There is a belief that by magical means you can get an unchangeable ruble, that is, a ruble that, no matter how many times you give it out, it is still whole in your pocket. But in order to get such a ruble, you need to endure great fears. I don’t remember all of them, but I know that, by the way, you need to take a black cat without a single mark and carry it to sell on Christmas night to the crossroads of four roads, of which one must certainly lead to the cemetery.

Here you have to stand, shaking the cat harder, so that it meows, and close your eyes. All this must be done a few minutes before midnight, and at midnight someone will come and start trading the cat. The buyer will give a lot of money for the poor animal, but the seller must certainly demand only a ruble - no more, no less than one silver ruble. The buyer will impose more, but you must persistently demand a ruble, and when, finally, this ruble is given, then you must put it in your pocket and hold it with your hand, and leave yourself as soon as possible and not look back. This ruble is inexchangeable or non-expenditure - that is, no matter how much you give it in payment for something - it still appears in your pocket again. To pay, for example, one hundred rubles, you only need to put your hand into your pocket a hundred times and take out a ruble from there every time.

Of course, this belief is empty and insufficient; but there are ordinary people who are inclined to believe that fiat rubles can really be mined. When I was a little boy, and I believed it too.

Chapter Two

I knew that in the world there are yellow gingerbread, with molasses, and white gingerbread with mint, there are columns and icicles, there is such a delicacy called “rez”, or noodles, or even simpler “shmotya”, there are simple and hardened nuts ; and for a rich pocket they bring both raisins and dates. In addition, I saw paintings with generals and many other things that I could not outbid everyone, because they gave me a simple silver ruble for my expenses, and not without a transfer. But the nanny bent over me and whispered that it would be different today, because my grandmother has a non-transferable ruble, and she decided to give it to me, but I must be very careful not to lose this wonderful coin, because it has one magical, very capricious property.

- Which? I asked.

“Grandma will tell you that. You sleep, and tomorrow, when you wake up, your grandmother will bring you an unchangeable ruble and tell you how to handle it.

Seduced by this promise, I tried to fall asleep at that very moment, so that the expectation of the fiat ruble would not be tedious.

Chapter Three

The nurse did not deceive me: the night flew by like a brief moment, which I did not notice, and my grandmother was already standing over my bed in her big cap with ruffled marmots and holding in her white hands a brand new, clean silver coin beaten off in the fullest and most excellent caliber .

“Yes,” I say, “I already know all that.

And I myself squeezed the ruble in my palm and hold it as tightly as possible. Grandma continues:

- The ruble is coming back, it's true. This is his good property - he also cannot be lost; but on the other hand, it has another property, which is very unfavorable: an unchangeable ruble will not be transferred in your pocket as long as you buy things with it that you or other people need or use, but if you waste at least one penny to complete uselessness - your ruble will disappear in an instant.

“Oh,” I say, “grandmother, I am very grateful to you that you told me this; but believe me, I am not so small as not to understand what is useful and what is useless in the world.

Grandmother shook her head and, smiling, said that she had doubts; but I assured her that I knew how to live in a rich position.

“Very well,” said the grandmother, “but, nevertheless, you still remember well what I told you.

- Be calm. You will see that I will come to Father Vasily and bring wonderful purchases for the feast for the eyes, and my ruble will be intact in my pocket.

- I'm very happy, we'll see. But still, don't be presumptuous; remember that distinguishing the necessary from the empty and superfluous is not at all as easy as you think.

“In that case, can you walk around the fair with me?”

Grandmother agreed to this, but warned me that she would not be able to give me any advice or stop me from being carried away and making mistakes, because someone who owns a non-transferable ruble cannot expect advice from anyone, but must be guided by your mind.

“Oh, my dear grandmother,” I answered, “you won’t need to give me advice, I’ll just look at your face and read everything I need in your eyes.

- In this case, let's go. - And the grandmother sent the girl to tell Father Vasily that she would come to him later, but for now we went with her to the fair.

Chapter Four

The weather was good - moderate frost with little humidity; the air smelled of peasant white onuche, bast, millet, and sheepskin. There are a lot of people, and everyone is dressed up in what is best. Boys from rich families received everything from their fathers for their pocket expenses a penny and have already spent this capital on the purchase of clay whistles, at which the most troubled concert was given. The poor children, who were not given a penny, stood under the wattle fence and only licked their lips enviously. I saw that they would also like to master similar musical instruments in order to merge with all their souls in common harmony, and ... I looked at my grandmother ...

Clay whistles were not necessary and were not even useful, but my grandmother's face did not express the slightest reproach at my intention to buy all the poor children a whistle. On the contrary, the kind face of the old woman even expressed pleasure, which I took for approval: I immediately put my hand into my pocket, took out my fiat ruble and bought a whole box of whistles, and they gave me a few change from it. Dropping the change into my pocket, I felt with my hand that my fiat ruble was intact and was already lying there again, as it was before the purchase. Meanwhile, all the children received a whistle, and the poorest of them suddenly became as happy as the rich, and whistled with all their might, and my grandmother and I went on, and she said to me:

- You did well, because poor children need to play and frolic, and whoever can make them some joy, he is in vain in no hurry to take advantage of his opportunity. And to prove that I'm right, put your hand in your pocket again and try, where is your fiat ruble?

I lowered my hand and ... my fiat ruble was in my pocket.

“Aha,” I thought, “now I understand what it is, and I can act more boldly.

Chapter Five

I went to a shop where there were chintzes and kerchiefs, and bought all our girls a dress, some pink, some blue, and the old ladies each a small headscarf; and every time I put my hand into my pocket to pay money, my fiat ruble was still in its place. Then I bought for the housekeeper's daughter, who was to be married, two carnelian cufflinks and, to be honest, I grew shy; but my grandmother still looked good, and my ruble, after this purchase, also ended up safely in my pocket.

- The bride is going to dress up, - said the grandmother, - this is a memorable day in the life of every girl, and it is very commendable to make her happy, - with joy, every person boldly sets out on a new path of life, and a lot depends on the first step. You did very well to please the poor bride.

Then I bought myself a lot of sweets and nuts, and in another shop I took a large book called the Psalter, just like the one that lay on the table at our cowgirl. The poor old woman was very fond of this book, but the book also had the misfortune to please the captive calf, who lived in the same hut with the cowgirl. The calf, for its age, had too much free time and busied itself with chewing the corners of all the pages of the Psalter in the happy hour of leisure. The poor old woman was deprived of the pleasure of reading and singing those psalms in which she found consolation for herself, and she grieved very much about this.

"Unchangeable ruble"

Chapter one

The buyer will impose more, but you must persistently demand a ruble, and when, finally, this ruble is given, then you must put it in your pocket and hold it with your hand, and leave yourself as soon as possible and not look back. This ruble is inexchangeable or non-expenditure - that is, no matter how much you give it as payment for something - it still appears in your pocket again. To pay, for example, one hundred rubles, you only need to put your hand into your pocket a hundred times and take out a ruble from there every time.

Of course, this belief is empty and insufficient; but there are ordinary people who are inclined to believe that fiat rubles can really be mined.

When I was a little boy, and I believed it too.

Chapter Two

I knew that in the world there are yellow gingerbread, with molasses, and white gingerbread with mint, there are columns and icicles, there is such a delicacy called "rez", or noodles, or even simpler "shmotya", there are simple and hardened nuts ; and for a rich pocket they bring both raisins and dates. In addition, I saw paintings with generals and many other things that I could not outbid everyone, because they gave me a simple silver ruble for my expenses, and not without a transfer. But the nanny bent over me and whispered that it would be different today, because my grandmother has a non-transferable ruble, and she decided to give it to me, but I must be very careful not to lose this wonderful coin, because it has one magical, very capricious property.

Which? I asked.

Grandma will tell you this. You sleep, and tomorrow, when you wake up, your grandmother will bring you an unchangeable ruble and tell you how to handle it.

Seduced by this promise, I tried to fall asleep at that very moment, so that the expectation of the fiat ruble would not be tedious.

Chapter Three

Well, here’s a non-transferable ruble for you,” she said. - Take it and go to church. After mass, we old people will go to the father, Father Vasily, to drink tea, and you alone, completely alone, you can go to the fair and buy everything you yourself want. You bargain for a thing, put your hand in your pocket and give out your ruble, and it will again end up in your own pocket.

Yes, I say, I already know all this.

And I myself squeezed the ruble in my palm and hold it as tightly as possible. Grandma continues:

The ruble is coming back, it's true. This is his good property - he also cannot be lost; but on the other hand, it has another property, which is very unprofitable: a fiat ruble will not be transferred in your pocket as long as you buy things with it that you or other people need or use, but if you waste at least one penny to complete uselessness -

your ruble will disappear in an instant.

Oh, - I say, - grandmother, I am very grateful to you that you told me this; but believe me, I am not so small as not to understand what is useful and what is useless in the world.

Grandmother shook her head and, smiling, said that she had doubts; but I assured her that I knew how to live in a rich position.

Fine, - said the grandmother, - but, nevertheless, you still remember well what I told you.

Be calm. You will see that I will come to Father Vasily and bring wonderful purchases for the feast for the eyes, and my ruble will be intact in my pocket.

Very happy - we'll see. But still, don't be presumptuous; remember that distinguishing the necessary from the empty and superfluous is not at all as easy as you think.

In that case, can you walk around the fair with me?

Oh, my dear grandmother, - I answered, - you will not need to give me advice, - I will just look at your face and read everything that I need in your eyes.

Let's go this time. - And the grandmother sent the girl to tell her father

Vasily that she would come to him later, but for now we went with her to the fair.

Chapter Four

You did well, because poor children need to play and frolic, and whoever can make them any joy, he is in vain not in a hurry to take advantage of his opportunity. And to prove that I'm right, put your hand in your pocket again and try, where is your fiat ruble?

I lowered my hand and ... my fiat ruble was in my pocket.

Aha, - I thought, - now I understand what's the matter, and I can act more boldly.

Chapter Five

The bride is going to dress up, - said the grandmother, - this is a memorable day in the life of every girl, and it is very commendable to make her happy, - every person boldly sets out on a new path of life with joy, and a lot depends on the first step. You did very well to please the poor bride.

Then I bought myself a lot of sweets and nuts, and in another shop I took a large book "Psalter", just like the one that lay on the table at our cowgirl. The poor old woman was very fond of this book, but the book also had the misfortune to please the captive calf, who lived in the same hut with the cowgirl. The calf, for its age, had too much free time and was busy chewing the corners of all the sheets in the happy hour of leisure.

"Psalter". The poor old woman was deprived of the pleasure of reading and singing those psalms in which she found consolation for herself, and she grieved very much about this.

I was sure that buying a new book for her instead of the old one was not an empty and unnecessary thing, and that's exactly what happened: when I put my hand in my pocket, my ruble was back in its place.

I began to buy wider and larger - I took everything that, in my opinion, was necessary, and even bought things that were too risky - so, for example, I bought our young coachman Konstantin a stacked waist belt, and a cheerful shoemaker Yegorka - harmony. The ruble, however, was still at home, and I no longer looked at my grandmother's face and did not interrogate her expressive eyes. I myself was the center of everything - everyone looked at me, everyone followed me, they talked about me.

Look what our barchuk Mikolash is like! He alone can buy up an entire fair, he, you know, has an unchangeable ruble.

And I felt in myself something new and unfamiliar until then. I wanted everyone to know about me, everyone followed me and everyone talked about me.

How smart, rich and kind I am.

I became restless and bored.

Chapter six

And at that very moment, out of nowhere, the fattest of all the fair tradesmen came up to me and, taking off his cap, began to say:

I am fatter than everyone here and more experienced than everyone, and you will not deceive me. I know that you can buy everything at this fair because you have a fiat ruble. This is not a joke to surprise the whole parish, but, however, there is something that you cannot buy even for this ruble.

Yes, if it is an unnecessary thing, then, of course, I will not buy it.

How is it "unnecessary"? I wouldn't even tell you what you don't need. And you pay attention to who surrounds us with you, despite the fact that you have an unchangeable ruble. So you bought yourself only sweets and nuts, otherwise you all bought useful things for others, but this is how these others remember your good deeds: now everyone has forgotten you.

I looked around me and, to my extreme surprise, I saw that the pot-bellied merchant and I were standing, indeed, only the two of us, and there was absolutely no one around us. Grandmother was not there either, but I forgot about her, and the whole fair fell off to the side and surrounded some long, dry man, who wore a long striped waistcoat over his sheepskin coat, and on it glassy buttons were sewn, from which, when he turned from side to side, a faint, dim glow emanated.

That was all that the long, lean man had in him that was attractive, and yet everyone followed him and everyone looked at him, as if at the most remarkable work of nature.

I see nothing good in this,” I said to my new companion.

So be it, but you should see how everyone likes it. Look -

even your coachman Konstantin with his smart belt, and the shoemaker Yegorka with his harmony, and the bride with cufflinks, and even the old cowgirl with her new book, follow him. And there is nothing to say about the kids with whistles.

I looked around, and in fact, all these people really surrounded the man with glassy buttons, and all the boys on their whistles squealed about his glory.

A feeling of annoyance stirred within me. It seemed to me that all this was terribly insulting, and I felt a duty and a calling to become higher than a man with glass.

And you think I can't be bigger than him?

Yes, I think so, - answered the fat man.

Well, now I will prove to you that you are wrong! I exclaimed, and quickly running up to a man in a waistcoat over a sheepskin coat, I said:

Listen, would you like to sell me your vest?

Chapter Seven

The man with the glass turned in front of the sun, so that the buttons on his waistcoat emitted a dull gleam, and answered:

If you please, I will sell it to you with great pleasure, but only it is very expensive.

Please don't worry and tell me your price for the vest as soon as possible.

He smiled very slyly and said:

However, I see you are very inexperienced, as one should be at your age - you do not understand what is the matter. My waistcoat is worth absolutely nothing, because it does not shine and does not warm, and therefore I give it to you for nothing, but you will pay me a ruble for each glassy button sewn on it, because these buttons, although they also do not shine and do not warm, but they can shine a little for a minute, and everyone likes it very much.

Fine, - I answered, - I give you a ruble for each of your buttons. Take off your vest.

I put my hand into my pocket and took out one ruble from there, then put my hand down again for the second time, but... my pocket was empty... My fiat ruble never came back... it was gone... it disappeared... it I didn't, and everyone was looking at me and laughing.

I wept bitterly and... woke up...

Chapter Eight

It was morning; my grandmother was standing by my bed, in her big white cap with frilled marmots, and holding in her hand a brand new silver ruble, which was an ordinary Christmas present that she gave me.

I realized that everything I saw happened not in reality, but in a dream, and hastened to tell what I was crying about.

Well, said Grandmother, your dream is good, especially if you want to understand it properly. In fables and fairy tales, a special hidden meaning is often hidden. An unchangeable ruble - in my opinion, this is a talent that

Providence gives a person at his birth. Talent develops and grows stronger when a person manages to preserve vigor and strength in himself at the crossroads of four roads, from one of which a cemetery should always be visible. An unchangeable ruble is a force that can serve truth and virtue, for the benefit of people, which for a person with a good heart and a clear mind is the highest pleasure. Everything that he does for the true happiness of his neighbors will never diminish his spiritual wealth, but on the contrary, the more he draws from his soul, the richer it becomes. A man in a vest over a warm short fur coat - there is vanity, because a vest over a short fur coat is not needed, just as it is not necessary that they follow us and glorify us. Vanity darkens the mind. Having done something - very little in comparison with what you could still do, owning a costless ruble, you already began to be proud of yourself and turned away from me, which for you in your dream depicted the experience of life. You have already begun to work not for good for others, but for everyone to look at you and praise you. You wanted to have glasses that were not needed for anything, and -

your ruble has melted. This is how it should have been, and I am very happy for you that you received such a lesson in a dream. I would very much like this Christmas dream to remain in your memory. And now let's go to church and after mass we will buy everything that you bought for the poor people in your dream.

Except one, my dear.

Grandma smiled and said:

Well, of course, I know you won't buy a vest with glassy buttons anymore.

No, I will not buy also the goodies that I bought in a dream for myself.

Grandmother thought and said:

I see no need for you to deprive yourself of this little pleasure, but... if you want much greater happiness in return, then... I understand you...

And suddenly she and I both embraced and, saying nothing more to each other, we both burst into tears. Grandmother guessed that I did not want all my little money to lime that day for myself. And when this was done by me, my heart was filled with such joy as I had never experienced before.

In this deprivation of myself of small pleasures for the benefit of others, I experienced for the first time what people call a fascinating word - complete happiness, in which you do not want anything else.

Everyone can try to make my experience in his current position, and I am sure that he will find in my words not a lie, but the true truth.

Nikolay Leskov - fiat ruble, read text

See also Nikolai Leskov - Prose (stories, poems, novels ...):

Non-lethal Golovan
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Deception
CHAPTER ONE Just before Christmas we were driving south, and, sitting in the wagon, d...

Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (1831 - 1895) dedicated "Christian children" your story "Unchangeable ruble", which was first published in the children's magazine "Sincere Word" (1883. No. 8) with the subtitle "Christmas story".

The writer skillfully combines entertainment and teaching, while not forgetting to adhere to the basic laws of the Christmastide genre. Relying on the children's love for fiction, fantasy, Leskov from the very first lines tries to captivate the little reader with an entertaining belief - fabulous and at the same time representing a kind of “practical interest” for a child who began to receive the first pocket money: “There is a belief that by magical means you can get an unchangeable ruble, i.e. such a ruble, which, no matter how many times you give it out, it is still whole in your pocket.

The author immediately warns that it is very difficult to get such a treasure, “you need to endure great fears” (7, 17). The description of these “fears” creates, on the one hand, the Christmas flavor of the traditional “terrible” narrative, and on the other hand, one of the interesting features of child psychology is taken into account - the “craving” for the terrible, which helps the child overcome real fear. Hence - the so-called "horror stories" in oral children's creativity.

Leskov seems to be telling such a “horror story” with all its signs: midnight, a crossroads of four roads, a cemetery, a black cat, an unknown alien, etc. For an adult, the grin of the writer is obvious, who collected here, almost parodied the entire usual arsenal of folklore stories about evil spirits. But the wise author hastens to reassure the little reader, who can really be frightened or take everything as a guide to action: “Of course, this belief is empty and insufficient; but there are ordinary people who are inclined to believe that fiat rubles can really be mined. When I was a little boy, I believed it too” (7, 18).

Thus, the motif of the miraculous, inseparable from the character of the protagonist, the child, is very subtly and carefully woven into the narrative fabric. This is how the world of folklore and the world of children intersect. Indeed, according to Leskov, “in infantile naivety” there is “the originality and insight of the people’s mind and sensitivity of feeling” (7, 60).

The writer successfully fulfills one of the main requirements of children's literature - the main action unfolds dynamically, there are no lengths and protractedness. According to Leskov himself, made, however, in relation to his other work, the main thing in the creative process is “to eradicate the lengths and mannerisms and achieve a difficult-to-give simplicity.”

The little hero of the story becomes the owner of the coveted "irreplaceable ruble" - a Christmas gift from his grandmother. But in order not to lose a wonderful object, it is necessary, as in a fairy tale, to comply with a condition, a vow.

This is very difficult precisely because it requires an inexperienced child to make the right choice in a situation where everything is full of temptations and can easily be confusing: “an unchangeable ruble will not be transferred in your pocket as long as you buy things for it, you and others necessary or useful, but once you waste at least one penny to complete uselessness, your ruble will disappear at the same moment ”(7, 19).

Thus, gradually, an orientation is given to the active work of thought and feeling, “after all, it is not at all so easy to distinguish the necessary from the empty and superfluous” (7, 19). In addition, “one who owns a non-transferable ruble cannot expect advice from anyone, but must be guided by his own mind” (7, 20).

Pictures from the fair, where the boy is going with his grandmother, are drawn in bright colors - clearly, colorfully, convexly. At the same time, there is an elusive touch of ghostliness in this expressive specificity. After all, the main action of the story is the dream of a child, although even an experienced reader cannot guess this until the very end. A well-known artistic technique in children's literature (cf .: "The Town in the Snuffbox" by V.F. Odoevsky) Leskov works out to perfection: the border between dream and reality, between miracle and reality is so unsteady that one can flow into another.

Here there is no fantasyless straightforwardness of the “mass” Christmas story, when the author immediately declares that the hero dozed off and he dreamed of some kind of miracle, as, for example, in the story of K.S. Barantsevich "What did the north wind do?". In Leskov, the absence of a clear boundary between fantasy and reality makes the reader's imagination and conjecture actively turn on. So, for example, one can imagine that after each purchase made by the boy correctly, the grandmother imperceptibly dropped another ruble into her grandson's pocket, and the boy could make sure that "the unchangeable ruble was intact" (7, 20).

The mutual permeability of sleep and reality is especially evident in the finale of the story, when the Christmas adventure, already realized by the hero as a dream, turns into real action: “I wanted to all my little money lime this day not for myself» (7, 25). Thus, in the practice of real action, the formation of the consciousness and moral feeling of the child takes place. The boy himself derives an altruistic axiom: “In this deprivation of myself of small pleasures for the benefit of others, I first experienced what people call a fascinating word - complete happiness» (7, 25).

There is also a kind of drama in this situation, which is also necessary in works for children. The inexperienced hero did not know one important rule - the absolute disinterestedness of the gift. And when he is faced with ingratitude, it causes resentment. Those for whom he did good deeds: the coachman, and the shoemaker, and the poor children, and "even the old cowgirl with her new book" (7, 23) - quickly forgot about the little benefactor and chased the tinsel, followed the strange man , who has a striped vest with glassy buttons over a short fur coat. The boy is jealous of this fleeting vain success and makes the mistake of intending to buy buttons, “which do not shine and do not warm, but can shine a little for a minute, and everyone really likes it” (7, 23).

The transparent allegory contains an understandable Christmas antithesis: the true light of selfless love opposes the “weak, dim brilliance” (7, 22) of empty vanity and vanity. It is clear that the choice in favor of the latter is immediately punished: “My pocket was empty ... My fiat ruble has not returned ... it disappeared ... it disappeared ... it was not there, and everyone looked at me and laughed. I wept bitterly and... woke up (7, 24).

So the original twist gets the coverage of the Christmas motif of "laughing and crying." At the same time, the well-known pedagogical idea about the “awakened” and “unawakened” child is being realized: we have before us an awakened - in the literal and figurative sense - a child, his heart and mind are awakened.

The “moral” and “lesson” necessary in the Christmas story are summed up in the words of the grandmother. Despite the fact that the didactic setting is obvious here, there is no boring edification in the story, the lesson is given in the form of a popular device for interpreting a dream. At the end, as it were, the lesson is summed up, the repetition of the past - the knowledge acquired by the child on his own is consolidated. Thus, morality becomes not abstract, but living, concrete.

Leskov makes a high level of artistic generalization and philosophical understanding accessible to children's perception: “ fiat ruble- in my opinion, this is a talent that Providence gives a person at his birth. Talent develops and grows stronger when a person manages to preserve vigor and strength in himself at the crossroads of four roads, from one of which a cemetery should always be visible. fiat ruble- this is a force that can serve truth and virtue, for the benefit of people<...>A man in a vest over a warm sheepskin coat - yes bustle because the vest is over a short fur coat not needed, just as it is not necessary that they follow us and glorify us. Vanity obscures the mind" (7, 24).

"The fiat ruble" with its dynamic plot, in which real and fantastic plans are harmoniously combined, where there are no ready-made pedagogical recipes, and the "moral tail" (N.A. Dobrolyubov's expression) is not turned into a "spinal column" - one of the best Christmas stories written for children.

Noteworthy in many respects is the autobiographical (“Birchuk Mikolash”), attractive image of the protagonist - a child - an impressionable boy with a developed imagination, thinking, active, independent (in contrast to the well-behaved and faceless "babies" of most Christmas compositions for children). This living image is also found in other Christmas stories of Leskov, addressed to children - "The Beast", "Scarecrow".

Leskov acted as a professional children's writer and with good reason could be proud of his Christmas story, which stood out not only against the background of the "mass" Christmas fiction in Russia, but also received recognition in Europe with its developed Christmas literary tradition. “Have you heard or not,” Leskov asked his brother Alexei Semenovich in a letter dated December 12, 1890, “that the Germans, from whom we still splintered Christmas literature, were also forced on us. The famous Berlin "Echo" came out as a Christmas issue with my Christmas story "Wunderrubel" "The fiat ruble". Thus, it is not privy councilors and "game-cutters", but we, "obvious beggars", that are forcing Europe little by little to recognize mental Russia and reckon with its creative forces. We don’t have to read everything under the children’s trees of their Gaklander - let them listen to ours<...>How much concession from the German was necessary, so that, with their attitude to the Christmas edition number, instead of their Gaklender, or Landau, or Shpilhagen, they could give a foreigner, and even a Russian! .. Really, this is even a triumph of the nation!

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Nikolay Leskov

fiat ruble

Chapter one

Of course, this belief is empty and insufficient; but there are ordinary people who are inclined to believe that fiat rubles can really be mined. When I was a little boy, and I believed it too.

Chapter Two

- Which? I asked.

“Grandma will tell you that. You sleep, and tomorrow, when you wake up, your grandmother will bring you an unchangeable ruble and tell you how to handle it.

Seduced by this promise, I tried to fall asleep at that very moment, so that the expectation of the fiat ruble would not be tedious.

Chapter Three

- Yes, I say - I already know everything.

And I myself squeezed the ruble in my palm and hold it as tightly as possible. Grandma continues:

“Oh,” I say, “grandmother, I am very grateful to you that you told me this; but believe me, I am not so small as not to understand what is useful and what is useless in the world.

Grandmother shook her head and, smiling, said that she had doubts; but I assured her that I knew how to live in a rich position.

“Very well,” said the grandmother, “but, nevertheless, you still remember well what I told you.

- Be calm. You will see that I will come to Father Vasily and bring wonderful purchases for the feast for the eyes, and my ruble will be intact in my pocket.

- I'm very happy, we'll see. But still, don't be presumptuous: remember that distinguishing the necessary from the empty and superfluous is not at all as easy as you think.

“In that case, can you walk around the fair with me?”

“Oh, my dear grandmother,” I answered, “you won’t need to give me advice, I’ll just look at your face and read everything I need in your eyes.

“We’re going at this time,” and the grandmother sent the girl to tell Father Vasily that she would come to him later, but for now we went with her to the fair.

Chapter Four

The weather was good - moderate frost, with little humidity; the air smelled of peasant white onuche, bast, millet, and sheepskin. There are a lot of people, and everyone is dressed up in what they have the best. Boys from wealthy families received everything from their fathers for their pocket expenses a penny and have already spent this capital on the purchase of clay whistles, which gave the most troubled concert. The poor children, who were not given a penny, stood under the wattle fence and only licked their lips enviously. I saw that they would also like to master similar musical instruments in order to merge with all their souls in common harmony, and ... I looked at my grandmother ...

I lowered my hand and ... my fiat ruble was in my pocket.

“Aha,” I thought, “now I understand what it is, and I can act more boldly.

Chapter Five

I went to a shop where there were chintzes and kerchiefs, and bought all our girls a dress, some pink, some blue, and the old ladies each a raspberry headscarf; and every time I put my hand into my pocket to pay money, my fiat ruble was still in its place. Then I bought for the housekeeper's daughter, who was to be married, two carnelian cufflinks and, to be honest, I grew shy; but my grandmother still looked good, and after this purchase my ruble ended up safely in my pocket.

- The bride is going to dress up, - said the grandmother: - this is a memorable day in the life of every girl, and it is very commendable to make her happy, - every person boldly sets out on a new path of life with joy, and a lot depends on the first step. You did very well to please the poor bride.

Then I bought myself a lot of sweets and nuts, and in another shop I took a large book of the Psalms, exactly the same as the one that lay on the table at our cowgirl. The poor old woman was very fond of this book, but the book also had the misfortune to please the calf of the pedigree, who lived in the same hut with the cowgirl. The calf, for its age, had too much free time, and was busy chewing the corners of all the pages of the Psalter in the happy hour of leisure. The poor old woman was deprived of the pleasure of reading and singing those psalms in which she found consolation for herself, and she grieved very much about this.

I was sure that buying a new book for her instead of the old one was not an empty and superfluous matter, and this was exactly the case: when I put my hand in my pocket, the ruble was back in its place.

I began to buy more and more - I took everything that, for my reasons, was necessary, and even bought things that were too risky - for example, I bought our young coachman Konstantin a stacked waist belt, and a cheerful shoemaker Yegorka - harmony. The ruble, however, was still at home, and I no longer looked at my grandmother's face and did not interrogate her expressive eyes. I myself was the center of everything - everyone looked at me, everyone followed me, they talked about me.

“Look what our barchuk Mikolash is like! He alone can buy up an entire fair, he, you know, has an unchangeable ruble.

And I felt in myself something new and unfamiliar until then. I wanted everyone to know about me, everyone followed me and everyone talked about me - how smart, rich and kind I am.

I became restless and bored.

Chapter six

And at that very moment, out of nowhere, the most pot-bellied of all the fair tradesmen came up to me and, taking off his cap, began to say:

“I am fatter and more experienced than everyone here, and you will not deceive me. I know that you can buy everything at this fair because you have a fiat ruble. With him, it is not a thing to surprise the whole parish, but, however, there is something that you cannot buy even for this ruble.

- Yes, if this thing is unnecessary, then, of course, I will not buy it.

How is it "unnecessary"? I wouldn't even tell you what you don't need. And you pay attention to who surrounds us with you, despite the fact that you have an unchangeable ruble. So you bought yourself only sweets and nuts, otherwise you all bought useful things for others, but look how these others remember your good deeds: everyone has forgotten you now.

That was all that the long, lean man had in him that was attractive, and yet everyone followed him and everyone looked at him, as if at the most remarkable work of nature.

I see nothing good in this,” I told my new companion.

- So be it, but you should see how everyone likes it. Look - even your coachman Konstantin with his smart belt, and the shoemaker Yegorka with his harmony, and the bride with cufflinks, and even the old cowgirl with her new book, follow him. And there is nothing to say about the kids with whistles.

I looked around, and in fact, all these people really surrounded the man with glassy buttons, and all the boys on their whistles squealed about his glory.

A feeling of annoyance stirred within me. It seemed to me that all this was terribly insulting, and I felt a duty and a calling to become higher than a man with glass.

"And you think I can't be bigger than him?"

“Yes, I think so,” replied the fat man.

Well, I'll prove to you that you're wrong! I exclaimed, and quickly running up to a man in a waistcoat over a sheepskin coat, I said:

“Listen, would you like to sell me your vest?”

Chapter Seven

The glass man turned in front of the sun so that the buttons on his waistcoat emitted a dull gleam, and answered:

- Excuse me, I will sell it to you with great pleasure, but only it is very expensive.

“I ask you not to worry and rather tell me your price for the vest.

He smiled very slyly and said:

“However, I see you are very inexperienced, as one should be at your age, you do not understand what is the matter. My waistcoat is worth absolutely nothing, because it does not shine and does not warm, and therefore I am giving it to you for free, but you will pay me a ruble for each glassy button sewn on it, because these buttons, although they also do not shine and do not warm, but they can shine a little for a minute, and everyone likes it very much.

“Very well,” I answered, “I give you a ruble for each of your buttons. Take off your vest.

- Good.

I put my hand into my pocket and pulled out one ruble, then lowered my hand again for the second time, but... my pocket was empty... My fiat ruble didn't come back... it was gone... it disappeared... it wasn't there, and everyone was looking at me and laughing .

I wept bitterly and... woke up...

Chapter Eight

It was morning; my grandmother was standing by my bed, in her big white cap with ruffle marmots, and holding in her hand a brand new silver ruble, which was an ordinary Christmas present that she gave me.

I realized that everything I saw happened not in reality, but in a dream, and hastened to tell what I was crying about.

“Well,” Grandmother said, “your dream is good, especially if you want to understand it properly.” In fables and fairy tales, a special hidden meaning is often hidden. fiat ruble- in my opinion, this is a talent that Providence gives a person at his birth. Talent develops and grows stronger when a person manages to preserve vigor and strength in himself at the crossroads of four roads, from one of which a cemetery should always be visible. An unchangeable ruble is a force that can serve truth and virtue, for the benefit of people, which for a person with a good heart and a clear mind is the highest pleasure. Everything that he does for the true happiness of his neighbors will never diminish his spiritual wealth, but on the contrary, the more he draws from his soul, the richer it becomes. A man in a vest over a warm sheepskin coat - yes bustle because the vest is over a short fur coat not needed, just as it is not necessary that they follow us and glorify us. Vanity darkens the mind. Having done something - very little in comparison with what you could still do, owning a costless ruble, you already became proud of yourself and turned away from me, which for you in your dream depicted the experience of life. You have already begun to work not for good for others, but for everyone to look at you and praise you. You wanted to have unnecessary glass pieces, and your ruble melted away. It should have been, and I am very happy for you that you received such a lesson in a dream. I would very much like this Christmas dream to remain in your memory. And now let's go to church and after mass we will buy everything that you bought for the poor people in your dream.

“Except one, my dear.

Grandma smiled and said:

- Well, of course, I know that you will no longer buy a vest with glassy buttons.

- No, I will not buy also the goodies that I bought in a dream for myself.

Grandmother thought and said:

“I don’t see the need for you to deprive yourself of this little pleasure, but… if you want a much greater happiness in return, then… I understand you.

And suddenly she and I both embraced and, saying nothing more to each other, we both burst into tears. Grandma guessed what I wanted all my little money lime this day not for myself. And when I did this, my heart was filled with such joy as I had never experienced before. In this deprivation of myself of small pleasures for the benefit of others, I experienced for the first time what people call a fascinating word - complete happiness where you don't want anything else.

Everyone can try to make my experience in his current position, and I am sure that he will find in my words not a lie, but the true truth.

...

First published - the magazine "Intimate Word", 1883.