Note: The title reads Skaz o tul'skom kosom Levshe i o stal'noy blokhe, "The Tale of Cross-Eyed Lefthander from Tula and the Steel Flea". It is also known by the shorter title Левша (Levsha, "The Lefthander").

Synopsis: Styled as a folk tale, this story tells of a left-handed arms craftsman from Tula (traditionally a center of the Russian armaments industry) who outperformed his English colleagues by providing a clockwork steel flea they'd made with horseshoes and inscriptions on them.