The incredible adventures of the Russian "Robinson Crusoe"

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The novel about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe has long been a classic. It is known that the plot was based on a real story that happened with a Scottish sailor. Few people know that almost the same story happened in Russia 150 years ago. But the Russian "Robinson Crusoe" ended up on an island not in hot Africa, but off the coast of the cold Sea of Okhotsk.

In 1882, a note by the writer Alexander Sibiryakov about the "Russian Robinson" appeared in the journal "Russian Starina". Its prototype was Sergey Petrovich Lisitsyn. A hereditary nobleman, a graduate of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Imperial St. Petersburg University and a cornet of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment.

The son of an officer of the Russian army who died in the battle near Silistria, Sergei Lisitsyn was brought up by his aunt in the Sosnovka estate of the Kursk province. Graduated from the University with a PhD in Mathematical Sciences. But the young nobleman was not attracted to teaching and scientific activities. He entered the Life Guards Hussar Regiment.

The bright life of the capital's guardsman was extinguished by a duel with the regimental adjutant. All survived, but the magnificent hussar mentik had to be replaced with the dull coat of an official. Become another St. Petersburg "Akaki Akakievich" retired hussar? It is unbearable! Therefore, he enthusiastically accepted the invitation of a relative who served in Alaska to leave for the edge of the American continent. And one day in 1847, the 24-year-old capital's whip stepped on the deck of the ship under the St. Andrew's flag.

The retired cornet Lisitsyn was received very friendly in the officer's wardroom. But a hussar, he is a retired hussar. Once a drunken guest uttered impudences in the face of the ship's commander and was sent under arrest. And from his cabin he began to incite the guard sailors to mutiny. The captain ordered to twist the instigator, blindfold him and land him on a deserted shore.

When the prisoner freed himself from his bonds and tore off the blindfold from his eyes, on the horizon he saw a departing ship. The noble captain left him not only suitcases with clothes, three pairs of boots, a sheepskin coat (the Sea of Okhotsk is not a tropical ocean), a pair of pistols, a saber, a dagger, a supply of sugar and tea, a gold pocket watch, a folding knife, a pound of crackers, two flasks of vodka, but also writing materials with a supply of writing paper, clean notebooks, razor and tea utensils, flint, a supply of matches, pencils, paints, drawing paper, 2800 rubles in credit notes and even 200 Havana cigars.

All this was accompanied by an excellent gun with 26 charges and a note from the ship commander: “Dear Sergei Petrovich! According to the Naval Regulations, you should be condemned to death. But for the sake of your youth and your wonderful talents, and most importantly, the kind heart I noticed, I give you life … I sincerely wish that solitude and need will correct your unhappy character. Time and reflection will teach you to appreciate my indulgence, and if fate ever brings us together again, which I sincerely desire, then we will not meet enemies. A. M."

The nobleman Lisitsyn never did anything with his own hands: on the estate he was served by serfs, and a batman took care of him in the regiment. Knowing that the ship was sailing in the Sea of Okhotsk, he hoped that it was left on one of the pieces of land in the Aleutian or Kuril Islands. But he soon became convinced that his situation could not be worse. He was gripped by fate in the pincers of two seas. The cold Sea of Okhotsk splashed in front of him, and behind him the dense "green sea of taiga" rustled. And in it - bears, wolves, lynxes, poisonous snakes …

For a week, the "Russian Robinson" made himself a house with a stove, made furniture. He made a sling, a bow and arrows (prudently deciding to save the cartridges for the gun). And rightly so - in winter a hungry wolf pack rushed into his house - he killed 8 predators point-blank with a gun. And before that he shot a bear, providing himself with a warm fur coat and a supply of bear meat. I caught fish, collected and dried mushrooms.

But what is Robinson without Friday? On April 12, Sergei Lisitsyn was walking along the shore, assessing the consequences of spring storms, and saw a man lying prone. Without strength and feelings. It turned out that Vasily, that was the name of the unfortunate man, was from the transport going to Russian America. The ship gave a leak, everyone escaped from it, and he and his son were forgotten. The ship was found nearby. In addition to the 16-year-old boy, there were two shepherd dogs, cats, 8 Kholmogory cows, a bull, 16 oxen, 26 sheep, food supplies, tools, barley and rye seeds, and also a weapon, a telescope, two telescopes, a samovar, a construction and garden tool.

Seven months of loneliness completely wiped away all arrogance of the nobility from the "master". With such a household and with two more pairs of strong and skillful hands, over the summer they not only renovated the house and the bathhouse, but also learned how to make butter, sour cream, cheese and cottage cheese. We plowed the field and reaped the harvest of barley and rye. Organized an abundant catch of sea and river fish. We began collecting and processing mushrooms, berries and forest herbs. In a word, we have healed as a working commune.

From time to time, Chinese smugglers tried to attack the commune. So the ship's cannon came in handy. Once the warships of the Russian fleet approached this coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, sent to defend our borders from uninvited Chinese guests. Russian sailors helped the settlers to recapture the Chinese. In 1857, the writer Alexander Sibiryakov met with the hospitable owner of the copper and gold mines in the Amur region, Sergei Lisitsyn. He once found deposits of copper ore and gold, being alone. He was also appointed by the government to govern these lands. Vasily "Friday" was with him. His son studied at Moscow University.

And at St. Petersburg University, at the expense of Lisitsyn, both sons of the ship's commander studied, who once landed a troubled hussar on a deserted coast. Having become a rich man, Sergei Petrovich found the old man, saw him off on his last journey and took upon himself all the care of his children. The history of the "Russian Robinson" ended richer than the literary one. And more human.