The Steel Flea
Translated from the Russian of
Nikolai Semyonovitch Lyeskoff
BY
ISABEL F. HAPGOOD
Privately printed for theCompany of Gentlemen Adventurers
at The Merrymount Press, Boston
1916
Copyright, November 22, 1890, by Isabel F. Hapgood
Preface
I cannot tell precisely where the first germ of the Legend concerningthe Steel Flea had its birth—that is to say, whether it originated inTula, the Izhma, or Sestroryetzk; but, evidently, it came from one ofthese places.
In any case, the tale of the Steel Flea is a legend which distinctlybelongs to the Armorers' Guild and expresses the pride of Russiangunsmiths. It depicts a contest between our workmen and Englishworkmen, from which our artisans emerged the victors, having utterlyrouted and humiliated the Englishmen.
Herein, also, is explained a certain secret cause of military disastersin the Crimea.
I jotted down this Legend in Sestroryetzk from the lips of an agedgunsmith, an emigrant from Tula, who had removed to the Sestra Riverduring the reign of Alexander the First. The narrator was still haleand hearty two years ago, and of sound memory; he was fond of recallingthe days of yore, cherished great respect for the Emperor NikolaiPavlovitch, lived "according to the ancient faith," read devout books,and bred canary-birds. People treated him with much consideration.[1]
FOOTNOTE:
[1] TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. In spite of thiscircumstantial prefatory statement, and the accusation which wasbrought against this "legend" on its first appearance by oneover-clever critic,—viz., that it was ancient and threadbare inpublic knowledge,—the fact remains that the Author invented everysyllable of it. Tula is the Sheffield of Russia, being the seat of theGovernment gun-works, and possessed of innumerable shops engaged in themanufacture and sale of all sorts of metal goods.
Sestroryetzk, on the shore of Finland, opposite Kronstadt, is the siteof a gun-factory, founded by Peter the Great in 1714.
"The ancient faith" means that the old gunsmith belonged to "The OldBelievers," also called the Raskolniki—a sect which insists that theproper, Orthodox manner of making the sign of the Cross is with thethumb and forefinger, instead of with the thumb and first two fingers;and which refused to accept the correction of typographical errorsin the Church Service books ordered by the Patriarch Nikon, in thereign of Peter