[Illustration: Decoration] The Steel Flea _Translated from the Russian of_ NIKOLAI SEMYONOVITCH LYESKOFF BY ISABEL F. HAPGOOD [Illustration: Decoration] _Privately printed for the_ COMPANY OF GENTLEMEN ADVENTURERS at The Merrymount Press, Boston 1916 [Illustration: Decoration] _Copyright, November 22, 1890, by Isabel F. Hapgood_ Preface I cannot tell precisely where the first germ of the Legend concerning the Steel Flea had its birth--that is to say, whether it originated in Tula, the Izhma, or Sestroryetzk; but, evidently, it came from one of these places. In any case, the tale of the Steel Flea is a legend which distinctly belongs to the Armorers' Guild and expresses the pride of Russian gunsmiths. It depicts a contest between our workmen and English workmen, from which our artisans emerged the victors, having utterly routed and humiliated the Englishmen. Herein, also, is explained a certain secret cause of military disasters in the Crimea. I jotted down this Legend in Sestroryetzk from the lips of an aged gunsmith, an emigrant from Tula, who had removed to the Sestra River during the reign of Alexander the First. The narrator was still hale and hearty two years ago, and of sound memory; he was fond of recalling the days of yore, cherished great respect for the Emperor Nikolai Pavlovitch, 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 this circumstantial prefatory statement, and the accusation which was brought against this "legend" on its first appearance by one over-clever critic,--viz., that it was ancient and threadbare in public knowledge,--the fact remains that the Author invented every syllable of it. Tula is the Sheffield of Russia, being the seat of the Government gun-works, and possessed of innumerable shops engaged in the manufacture and sale of all sorts of metal goods. Sestroryetzk, on the shore of Finland, opposite Kronstadt, is the site of a gun-factory, founded by Peter the Great in 1714. "The ancient faith" means that the old gunsmith belonged to "The Old Believers," also called the _Raskolniki_--a sect which insists that the proper, Orthodox manner of making the sign of the Cross is with the thumb and forefinger, instead of with the thumb and first two fingers; and which refused to accept the correction of typographical errors in the Church Service books ordered by the Patriarch Nikon, in the reign of Peter the Great's father. In the early days they were harshly treated, and even burned themselves alive rather than accept the "heresy" of the "State Church." Nowadays, no attention is paid to them, officially or otherwise. The Steel Flea[2] I