Summary of "The Old Genius" by N. Leskov

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Outstanding prose writer Nikolai Semenovich Leskov at the very beginning of his career was better known as Stebnitsky. It was his literary pseudonym. A summary of the "Old Genius" will present the reader with another well-known work by this author. It was written in 1884.

What does helping people do

How often many people have heard the phrase: "Do not do good - you will not get evil." So it happened in this work of Leskov. It is with such a case that the summary of the "Old Genius" begins. An elderly landowner mortgaged her home to lend money to a high society dandy.

This man had an impeccable reputation at first glance. He bore one of the most famous names, occupied an excellent position in society and had a good rank with a rather big salary. Moreover, the woman knew the mother of this dandy well. This was the last good reason that prompted the landowner to lend him money.

Return the money or be left homeless

Having received a considerable amount, the debtor left for St. Petersburg. But when it's time to pay back the borrowedmoney, he began to hide from the elderly landowner. The unfortunate woman tried her best to return the borrowed amount, but to no avail. It was time to buy back the house she had mortgaged, but there was no money to do so.

Together with the old landowner, her daughter, who was disabled, and her granddaughter lived. And this whole family was now in danger of being left without a roof over their heads. Of course, they did not have the money to buy back their own stupidly mortgaged house. And the debtor himself continued to hide. This is how Leskov N. S. begins his work. "The Old Genius" is a story describing the behavior and actions of people who can often be found in everyday life.

Where to find justice, or a trip to St. Petersburg

In order not to stay under the open sky, the poor old woman had to go to St. Petersburg in search of her debtor. She asked a neighbor to look after her sick daughter and granddaughter. Arriving in the city, she immediately went to court. At first everything went very well. The decision was made in her favor, and the old woman was glad that she would soon get her money back. But from that moment on, new difficulties began.

In order to enforce the court decision, it was necessary to force the debtor to sign on some official paper. And since he had great connections, no one could do it. And everyone explained that it was better for the old landowner to forget about this debt altogether. As it turned out, the unfortunate grandmother was far from the firsta victim caught in the clever nets of this swindler. But she did not believe these stories, thinking that in fact her debtor was a good person. It was just the way things were in his life. What will the summary of the "Old Genius" tell about next?

Time is running out, or Meeting with a genius

Grandma did not lose hope and continued to beat the thresholds of other instances. But everyone told her the same thing: catch your debtor, let him sign the paper, and the matter will be settled. But how to do that? And this is where a new character appears. It will be further described in the summary.

Leskov, whose old genius is a certain Ivan Ivanovich, begins to talk about him rather superficially. This man offered his grandmother to solve her problem for five hundred rubles, that is, to force the swindler to sign a paper. And who he is, where he works and what position he holds, is not yet known to the reader. He himself considered himself a genius, and the elderly landowner believed him. But still I decided to wait a little longer.

Time is up, or Help from a stranger

Summary of "Old Genius" continues to describe the torment of an old woman who no longer has time. She learned that her house was up for sale. Once she nevertheless caught her debtor, but this did not lead to anything. He did not sign the paper. But the landowner was informed that the next day this dandy was going abroad with his girlfriend. The woman had no choice but to pay Ivan Ivanovich for help.

Whatevent describes further summary? Leskov, whose old genius came up with a cunning plan, did not leave the poor old woman penniless. Ivan Ivanovich with an elderly landowner went in search of some mysterious assistant. Allegedly, it was impossible to do without his help in this matter.

The old lady couldn't understand anything at first and just trusted the old genius. Having diligently traveled around several places where the person they needed could be, Ivan Ivanovich finally found a suitable candidate and sent him to the bathhouse. And he sent the exhausted old woman to rest.

How does the full content end? "Old genius" (Leskov N. S.): the last pages of the work

Waking up the next morning, the old genius gave the found assistant a drink of vodka. And after some time, the three of them went to the station, from where the swindler who had deceived the old woman was supposed to leave. Soon the landowner saw how he appeared with his girlfriend and began to drink tea with pleasure. The old genius (a summary of the chapters will describe this particular fragment in as much detail as possible) ordered his assistant to act.

This man began to walk around the tea-drinking swindler. First forward, then back. And so several times. Finally, stopping near the old woman's debtor, he rudely asked him why he was looking so strangely. To this, the fraudster very calmly said that he was just busy drinking tea. But the assistant did not lag behind, diligently trying to provoke a scandal. And then quite unexpectedly hungthe unlucky dandy gets three slaps.

Naturally, the police were called, and it was then that they presented this schemer, who had deceived the unfortunate landowner, a paper that he had to sign. The debtor needed to go abroad, and with such a debt he would not have been released. Therefore, he preferred to pay off immediately.

This is how N. S. Leskov restored justice in his work. The old genius who came up with such a cunning plan in a seemingly hopeless situation can rightfully arouse admiration. And not only from the old landowner, but also from any reader who closely followed the story.