Summary of "The Man on the Clock" (Leskov N. S.)

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

And again we have a Russian classic - Leskov, "The Man on the Clock" (summary follows). The work was written and published in 1887, but its title sounded different - "The Salvation of the Perishing". Subsequently, the author changed the title in order to show the reader that the story told is not just an entertaining, somewhere even a curious incident from everyday life, which can be forgotten after a while, but a deep question about what a person’s duty is, and for whom or what it you need to perform, or maybe you don’t need to at all …

Summary: “The Man on the Clock” by Leskov N. S

It was 1839. Winter that year was warm. The snow gradually melted, drops were heard during the day, and the ice on the Neva became very thin.

Guard in the Winter Palace, where Tsar Nicholas livedPavlovich, occupied a company of "Izmailovites" under the command of Miller. The time was quiet, serene, so it was not difficult to keep watch. The only thing that was required to be done rigorously was exactly to stand on the post.

It's a quiet good night. The palace fell asleep. Guards are posted. But suddenly the silence was broken by the distant cry of a man drowning in the river. What to do? A simple soldier Postnikov did not dare to leave his post. This was a terrible violation of the Charter, and threatened with serious punishment up to and including execution. But the moaning did not stop, and led the sentry into a stupor. He was a sensitive person, and could not help but give a helping hand to the suffering, but at the same time, the arguments of reason spoke of the opposite - he is a soldier and his duty is to fully obey the order. But the groans from the side of the river were coming closer and closer, the desperate floundering of the perishing man was already heard. Postnikov turned around again - not a soul around, could not stand it and left his post.

The Man on the Clock summary doesn't end there. The rescued and the savior were completely wet. Here, at the right time, an officer was driving along the embankment. Barely explaining what had happened, Plotnikov handed the victim, who did not understand anything, into the hands of the gentleman, took the gun and quickly went back to the booth.

The officer, realizing that the rescued person from fright does not remember or understand anything, decided to take him to the bailiff and say that he saved the drowning man at the risk of his life. The policemen drew up a report, but with their characteristic suspiciousness they were surprisedhow did Mr. Officer himself get out of the water dry?

Duty or Honor?

Continuing the summary of "The Man on the Watch", let's return to the main character: the wet, trembling Postnikov was replaced from his post and assigned to the commander Miller. There he confessed everything, and at the end he added that the officer took the rescued man to the Admir alty unit. Nikolai Ivanovich Miller realized that a terrible misfortune hung over him: the officer would tell the details of the night incident to the bailiff, and the bailiff would immediately report what had happened to the chief police chief Kokoshkin, who, in turn, would bring to the attention of the sovereign, and the “fever” would go, and the "heads" of those who violated the Charter will fly.

There was no time to argue for a long time, and he sent an alarming note to Lieutenant Colonel Svinin… The battalion commander was in despair. The only thing he could do in such a situation was to immediately put Postnikov in a punishment cell and go to bow to General Kokoshkin.

But the police chief didn't know anything. The bailiff decided not to disturb the general. The incident was a common thing, and besides, he was unpleasant that the drowning man was pulled out not by a policeman from his unit, but by a palace officer.

Kokoshkin was flattered that Svinin came to him for advice and decided to help him. He took advantage of the rogue officer's boast, gave him a medal, and the case was closed. But what to do with Postnikov? They decided to punish him with more than one hundred rods in order to “protect themselves, just in case later.”

When the sentence was carried out, Svinin visited the soldier in the infirmary and ordered to bring him some sugarand tea. The compassionate sentry was glad, because after sitting under arrest for three days, he expected much worse…

Summary of The Man on the Clock: Conclusion

At the end of the story, the author talks about the justice of God and the earth. The soul of a simple soldier Postnikov is humble. He faced a difficult choice, which of the intricate "hierarchy" of debts should be performed first: the duty of a soldier or the duty of a man? He chose the latter, and did good for the sake of good, without expectation of any reward. But Leskov regrets that earthly justice is on the opposite shore from God's supervision, and that he lacks the faith to accept in this case the joy of God from "the behavior of Postnikov's meek soul created by him …". The summary of “The Man on the Clock” (N. S. Leskova), of course, cannot convey all the subtlety and depth of the plot, so reading the original is highly recommended.