The works of the genius of Russian literature, Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), were included in the Golden Writing Fund of the XIX century. He belonged to a noble and wealthy family, was related to the princes Golitsyns, Trubetskoys, and on mother - to A.S. Pushkin.
Leo Tolstoy: a brief biography
The father of the writer (1794 - 1837) - Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, lieutenant colonel, participated in the liberation war of 1812. Mother - Princess Volkonskaya Maria Nikolaevna. She lived only 40 years (1790-1830).
Leo was born in the family estate of mother Yasnaya Polyana (modern Tula region). He had 3 older brothers and a younger sister.
In 1843, the future writer became a student at Kazan University, who dropped out of his 3rd year. Since the spring of 1847 he freely, for his pleasure, lived in Yasnaya Polyana. In 1851 - 1855 he left for the Caucasus, where he entered the artillery brigade and received the rank of officer. During this period, the journal Sovremennik published Tolstoy's first work, Childhood. Participated in military campaigns.
In 1857 - 1861 Leo Tolstoy traveled to Europe, from which the writer left a negative impression. In 1861, he returned to Yasnaya Polyana and took up the affairs of the estate. He arranged the life of peasants, opened schools, and began to publish a pedagogical journal. In 1862, at the age of 34, he married 17-year-old Sophia Bers (1844-1919). I was happy in marriage. Over 17 years of marriage, the wife gave birth to Leo Tolstoy 13 children.
He began to write actively after marriage. He wrote a lot for children. One of the most interesting and action-packed is Leo Tolstoy's short story "Leap". All in all, about 300 works came out from under his pen â novels and novels, journalistic texts, plays, short stories and tales.
Tolstoyâs works âWar and Peaceâ, âSevastopol Storiesâ, âAnna Kareninaâ, âChildhoodâ and âBoyhoodâ are widely known.
Instructive story for children
In 1880, at the age of 52, Leo Tolstoy wrote Leap. The genre of this work is a story. Unlike a fairy tale (a fantastic, invented story), a story is a true story, a true story. The heroes of the story are idle sailors (crowd), the captainâs 12-year-old son , the shipâs captain and a mischievous monkey.
The text consists of 4 parts:
- Introduction - a description of the place of events and characters.
- Outset - a mischievous monkey takes the hat from the boy, the son of the captain, and climbs the mast of the vessel with it. Everyone is laughing. The boy is wounded and annoyed, begins the pursuit of the monkey to regain his good.
- The climax - carried away, the captainâs son climbs the shipâs highest mast. He is in serious danger. Information will help to clearly imagine the huge risk to a childâs life: information on the mast mast, which Tolstoy describes in his story âLeapâ, could reach 25 m (this is the height of an 8-story building), decks were made of solid (âstoneâ) wood .
- Decoupling - by decisive action, the captain saves the life of his son.
The story "Leap" (Tolstoy): summary
The ship was returning from circumnavigation. It was a quiet day. The sailors were bored on the deck. Unexpectedly for all, a nimble monkey took his hat from the 12-year-old son of the captain and, together with the trophy, began to climb up the masts. The people cheered up. Enraged and wounded by ridicule, the little boy rushed to catch up with the monkey. In the heat of pursuit, he climbed to the top of the ship âs highest mast! The sailors were seriously afraid that the boy would lose his balance and crash on the deck of the ship. Suddenly, the captain came out of the cabin - the father of the guy. Immediately appreciating the seriousness of the situation, he aimed his gun at his son and cried out so that he would jump into the sea without hesitation. The boy jumped. The sailors rushed into the water and saved him. But the captain, seeing that his son was no longer in danger, covered his face with his hands and fled to the cabin. Briefly, but brightly, capaciously, and very instructively, Tolstoy wrote Leap.
Characters of heroes
In each of his works, the writer L.N. describes interesting and extraordinary human characters. Tolstoy. "Leap" is no exception.
So, sailors (people, crowd) are short-sighted, loving entertainments and ridicule. The boy, the 12-year-old son of the captain, is proud, courageous, young, reckless, reckless, his psychological attitude is âI can, I can do anythingâ. As the son of a captain, the boy feels his importance in society, is afraid to let his father down.
The captain is very fond of his son, capable of decisive action. This is a man of action, he has a very quick reaction, he knows how to orient himself with lightning speed and is not afraid to make decisions. Smart, proud and independent.
Conclusions on the text
Tolstoy's story "Leap" is a very thoughtful and instructive work. If you think about it, it will become clear that the boy was not at all sorry for the hat. What prompted him to such a reckless act? These are the taunts of the sailors and the unwillingness to let their father down. He, proud and courageous, fearlessly rushed to defend his dignity. But he committed a rash act that almost cost him his life. And only the decisive actions of the captain - a loving father - prevented the tragedy.
It was no accident that Leo Tolstoy wrote Leap for Children. He calls on young reckless daredevils not to betray the ridicule of the idle crowd, to compare the goal with risk, to think about their actions, not to succumb to momentary resentment. And he emphasizes that loving parents are always in a hurry to help their children, trying to protect them from trouble.
Questions and answers on the text
- Where does the main action of the story "Leap" take place? (On the deck of the ship).
- Where did the ship come from? (From round-the-world travel. This is an important refinement, since it can be used to evaluate the approximate structure of the vessel, the height of the main mast).
- How old is the boy - the captainâs son?(He was 12 years old).
- Who was the father of the boy? (Captain of the ship).
- What prompted the little boy to rush to take away his hat from the monkey and climb higher and higher in pursuit? (Having a highly developed sense of self-esteem, he, due to his youth, could not bear the ridicule of sailors).
- At what approximately height did the boy climb? (To the height of an 8-storey building).
- Why didn't capital cry when he saw what trouble his son was facing, but cry after the danger had receded? (His goal was to save his son. He did not allow himself to relax. After he cried from an excess of feelings, rejoicing that his beloved son had avoided mortal danger).
- What did Tolstoy want to tell his story "Leap"? (Do not give in to recklessness because of the stupid ridicule of others).