Focus red hammer. Book: Red Hammer

George Sand

Title: Buy the book "The Red Hammer": feed_id: 5296 pattern_id: 2266 book_author: Sand Georges book_name: Red Hammer

In my previous fairy tale, dear children, I told you the secret of the wind and roses. Now I will tell you the history of the stone. But I will deceive you if I say that stones speak like flowers. Even if they said something when they were hit, only one sound would reach us without words. Everything in nature has a voice, although only humans can speak. A flower equipped with organs also takes part in the life of the universe.

Stones do not live, they are nothing more than part of a huge body - a planet, and we can consider this huge body a living being. Individual parts of his skeleton cannot be recognized as living beings, just as it is impossible to say that the joints of our fingers or parts of our skull are a whole person.

The stone I want to tell you about was a wonderful stone; do not imagine, however, that you could put it in your pocket; each of its sides was a good one and a half arshins in length and width. Once he was torn from the carnelian mountain, and was himself a carnelian; it was not one of those ordinary blood-colored cobblestones with which our roads are strewn, it was distinguished by a soft pink color, furrowed with amber veins and transparent as crystal. Its magnificent glassy mass was produced by the action of subterranean fires on the earth's crust, and after it was separated from its rock, it lay calmly and silently for several centuries, which I cannot count, in the grass, sparkling in the sun.

But then one day he was noticed by a fairy nicknamed the Beauty of the Waters. The Fairy Beauty of the Waters was very fond of calm, clear streams, because her favorite flowers and herbs grew next to them.

The fairy was very angry with the stream, since it had previously, swollen from snow melting in the mountains, flooded with its muddy and stormy waves the carpet of flowers and herbs that she had admired so much the day before.

Sitting on a large stone and looking at the devastation caused by the streams, she reasoned like this:

The Fairy of the Ice Mountains, my worst enemy, will soon drive me out of this space, just as she has already driven me out of the places above, which have now turned into a heap of ruins.

These cliffs, torn off by avalanches, these barren mountain deserts, where flowers no longer bloom, where birds no longer sing their songs, and where cold and death reign senselessly, threaten every minute to expand their borders into my flowering meadows and fragrant groves. I cannot resist any longer: here death wants to triumph over life, deaf and blind fate is against me. If I could still know the intentions of my enemy, I would try to fight, but his secrets are known only by violent streams, the multi-voiced, vague talk of which is incomprehensible to me.

As soon as they reach my lakes and my winding slopes, they fall silent and silently roll down. How can I get them to tell me what they know about those mountainous areas from which they are fleeing and where I have no access?

After thinking a little more, the fairy stood up, looked around her and fixed her gaze on the stone, which she had previously treated with disdain, as an inanimate and useless object. But then the idea occurred to her to place this stone across the inclined stream bed. She, however, did not take the trouble to push this block of stone, she simply blew on it, the block immediately lay across the flow of the stream and, with its own weight, cut so deeply into the sand that it was now very difficult to move it.

Then the fairy began to peer and listen.

The stream, obviously dissatisfied with this obstacle, first hit it with force, thinking to clear a path for itself, then it rushed around and pressed against the sides of the stone until it dug a groove on each side, after which it rushed into these grooves, making a muffled groan.

Well, your speeches are still of little use, the fairy thought, but wait, I’ll squeeze you so hard that I’ll get an answer from you. And at the same time she gave a click to the carnelian block, which broke into four parts.

So strong is the fairy's finger.

The water, encountering four obstacles instead of just one, stumbled with a running start and then, rushing in all directions in fussy rivulets, muttered like a fool, in such a patter that nothing could be understood. Then the fairy again split the stone and made eight pieces out of four, which calmed the flow and made her speak more smoothly and clearly. After this, the fairy began to understand the talk of the stream, and since streams are generally talkative by nature and do not know how to keep secrets, the fairy soon learned that the queen of the glaciers had decided to take possession of her home and drive her away even further.

Then the Beauty of the Waters took her favorite plants into the hem of her dress, woven from the sun's rays, and left, forgetting in the middle of the stream the poor fragments of a large stone, which remained lying there until the stubborn waves carried them away or ground them into powder.

The stone is resigned and a great philosopher by nature.

From that stone, whose adventures I began to tell you, only one of those eight pieces survived, into which the fairy split it.

This piece was almost the size of your head and almost as round, because the water, washing away the remaining fragments, polished it with its waves for a long time. I don’t know whether he was happier than the rest of his comrades, or whether the water treated him more kindly, but only he arrived in the best possible condition, smoothly polished, to the threshold of the reed hut where strange people lived.

They were savages, covered with animal skins, overgrown with long hair and beards, either because they did not have scissors to cut their hair, or because it seemed more convenient to them to walk in this form, in which they were perhaps right.

But if these primitive people had not yet invented scissors, which I am not entirely sure of, then this did not prevent them from being very skilled cutlers. The man who lived in the said hut was even known as a good gunsmith. He did not know how to adapt iron to his work, but rough stones in his hands turned into intricate tools and formidable weapons for war.

From what has been said, you can guess that these people belonged to the Stone Age, which merges in the darkness of time with the era of the first Celtic settlements.

One of the gunsmith's sons found on the ground a beautiful stone, which is the hero of my story, and thinking that it was one of those unnecessary fragments that were scattered in large quantities around his father's workshop, he began to play with it, rolling it in different directions. But the father, amazed by the bright color of the stone and its transparency, took it away from his son and called his other children to admire the find. There was no rock in the entire area from which such a stone could be torn off. The gunsmith gave orders to his household to watch all the stones that would be brought by the stream, but in vain they watched and waited, the water did not bring them another such stone, and this single sample remained in the workshop of the head of the family as a rare, precious specimen.

A few days later, a blue man came from the mountain and asked the gunsmith for the weapon that had previously been ordered for him. This man had naturally white skin, but his face and body were painted with the juice of a plant from which the leaders and warriors extracted paint for themselves, which is still known among the Indians as war paint. That’s why he was painted azure blue from head to toe, and the gunsmith’s family looked at him with admiration and respect.

The weapon for which the blue man came to the gunsmith consisted of an axe, the most massive and sharpest of which had never been seen in the entire Stone Age. This formidable weapon was given to him in exchange for two bear skins.

Having paid, the blue man was about to leave, but then the gunsmith showed him his carnelian stone and offered to make him an ax or hammer. The blue man was delighted with the beauty of this stone and asked to make him a hammer that could also serve as a knife for skinning animals killed during the hunt.

So, from this beautiful stone an excellent weapon was made. Although sharpening stones were not known at that time, the patience of the workers overcame all difficulties, and the weapons were perfectly polished. To the naive delight of the blue man, one of the gunsmith's sons, an extremely talented and skillful child, drew the image of a doe on one side of the blade using a sharp fragment. Another worker, also very skilled in sharpening, inserted this blade into a wooden handle, split in the middle and reinforced at the edges with ropes made of plant fibers, finely woven and very strong. The blue man paid twelve deer skins for this treasure and triumphantly took the purchase with him to his huge cave; I must tell you that he was the elder of a powerful tribe, acquired great wealth by hunting and often won victories in war.

Of course, you know what a cave is? You have probably seen these gaping holes among fields, now cultivated, but then overgrown with forests and covered with swamps.

Many of these caves are flooded with water, while those located in higher areas contain ashes, bones, fragments of pottery and stones laid in the shape of a hearth.

It must be assumed that primitive peoples liked to live close to water, as evidenced by those settlements built over lakes, which were later found in such abundance and about which you have probably heard.

As for me, it seems to me that in different areas like ours, where water is such a rarity, things happened like this: next to the source of the dig, they dug a deep well if possible and, if necessary, artificially changed the flow of the stream itself and diverted its waters into These deep reservoirs were then built on stilts to build a spacious dwelling, rising like an island in a funnel. The roof of this inconspicuous dwelling was level with the ground, which was a necessary precaution against the attack of wild animals and the invasion of enemy hordes.

The Blue Man lived in one of these large caves, which was surrounded by many others less spacious and deep; several families settled in these latter, who were ready to obey his will, so that he would provide them with his protection.

The blue man walked around all these dwellings into which he penetrated, making his way through trees spanned in the form of bridges, he warmed himself at each fireplace, talking favorably with the owners, and at the same time showed his wonderful pink hammer, letting everyone know that he had received it in a gift from some deity. I don’t know whether they really believed him in this or just pretended to believe, but they began to look at the pink hammer as an invincible talisman, and when the enemy raided the possessions of this tribe, everyone rushed into battle with enthusiastic confidence in their strength. Confidence breeds courage, and courage breeds strength.

The enemy was defeated, the red hammer was stained with the blood of the vanquished.

The glory of the new exploit was added to the glory of the previous exploits of the blue man, and the enemy, struck by horror, nicknamed him the Red Hammer; this nickname remained with all his fellow tribesmen and descendants.

The hammer brought happiness to its owner, for whom success began to constantly smile both in war and in hunting; he died at a ripe old age, having never once experienced those unfortunate accidents that are inseparable from military life. He was buried according to the custom of that time under a huge mound, and a red hammer was placed in the grave with him, despite the fact that his relatives really wanted to keep this hammer. Willy-nilly, they had to submit to religious customs that protected respect for the memory of the dead.

So, our stone, after a short period of activity and glory, was plunged into the darkness of non-existence. Soon the tribe of the Red Hammer had reason to regret the buried talisman, since the hostile tribes, long kept in fear by the courage of the great leader, now appeared in numerous hordes, devastated the country, stole the herds and destroyed the homes. This misfortune forced one of the descendants of the Red Hammer to be the first to break religious custom and dig up the grave of his ancestor. To do this, he secretly went to the mound and dug up a talisman, which he carefully hid in his cave. But since he could not admit this sacrilegious act to anyone, he was not allowed to use this excellent weapon on the battlefield and support the courage of his fellow tribesmen through it. The hammer, finding itself in a hand devoid of energy and courage, since its new owner was a man more superstitious than brave, lost its strength, and the defeated tribe, scattered by the enemy, was forced to look for a new homeland and new homes. The conquered caves were occupied by the victors, and many centuries passed before the once famous hammer, hidden between two stones, saw the light of God again. It was already so forgotten that when one day an old woman, chasing a rat in her kitchen, accidentally found it, no one could tell her what use this stone hammer was intended for. At that time they already knew how to cast and make things from bronze, and since the peoples of this era had no history, they did not remember what service stone had provided them in the past.

Be that as it may, the old woman liked the hammer, and since it had a knife on one side, she began to peel vegetables for soup with it. The hammer-knife turned out to be very convenient for this use, despite the fact that time had destroyed its smart handle, held together with fibers. Its blade was still very sharp, and it became the old woman’s favorite knife. But when she died, the children decided to play with him, and he suffered so much in their hands that he became good for nothing.

When the Iron Age came, this despised weapon was forgotten on the edge of a dry and half-filled well. People built new homes for themselves on the surface of the earth and planted various plantations around them.

The ax and spade came into use; people began to speak, think and act completely differently than in the past; the famous red hammer again became a simple stone and plunged into an undisturbed sleep among the grasses that surrounded it.

Several more years passed, when suddenly one day a peasant, chasing a hare who had taken refuge in a dry well, cut his foot on the sharp edge of a red hammer, since before that he had taken off his shoes to make it easier for himself to run.

The peasant picked up the hammer, thinking of making flints out of it for a gun, took it to his hut and forgot it in the corner. During the grape harvest, he used it as a stopper for his vats, and then threw it into the garden, where the heads of cabbage, proudly growing on the soil that had remained uncultivated for a long time, covered the poor hammer with their shadow and again gave him the opportunity to calm down from all the vicissitudes. to which the whim of man subjected him.

A hundred years later, the gardener came across it with his spade, and since the place where the peasant’s garden had once been was now occupied by a park adjacent to a rich castle, the gardener took the hammer down to the owner of the castle and announced to him:

Your Excellency, I somehow found between the asparagus beds one of those old hammers that you are so keen on.

The Count praised the gardener for his antique flair and was delighted with the find. The red hammer was one of the best examples of primitive art, and despite all the damage of time, it still retained clear traces of human work. All the friends at home and all lovers of antiquities admired him. There has been much debate about which era it belongs to. In its form it resembled a weapon of the most primitive times, but its carving and polishing were reminiscent of products of a later period. Obviously, it belonged to a transitional era, perhaps it was brought into the country by some people from foreign lands, in any case, geologists decided that it could not be of local origin, since in that entire area there were no traces of carnelian stones.

In their disputes, geologists lost sight of only one circumstance, namely, that water serves as a conductor for all kinds of rocks, and archaeologists never took into account that the history of industry cannot be subsumed under precise, unchangeable rules and that fantasy or the ingenuity of some single artisan, more gifted than the rest, will take its toll. The design inscribed on the blade was still quite well preserved, and scientists examined it carefully; Obviously, the artist wanted to depict some kind of animal on it, but no one could decide whether it was a horse, a deer, a cave bear or a mammoth.

After the hammer had been examined and inspected from all sides, it was placed on a velvet cushion. It took pride of place in the count's collection and remained there for a good dozen years.

But the count died childless, and the countess came to the opinion that the deceased spent too much money on his collections and that it would be much more prudent to use this money to buy lace and new carriages for her ladyship.

She ordered all this old rubbish to be sold, wanting to quickly clear the castle rooms of it. From the entire collection she selected only a few carved stones and a few gold medals suitable for her dress. Since the carnelian that served as the material for the red hammer was of remarkable beauty, the countess commissioned the jeweler to make belt clasps from it. But when the fragments of the red hammer were adapted to this new use, the countess did not like the work, and she gave the clasps to her six-year-old niece, who began to dress her doll in them.

However, the girl soon got tired of this heavy and massive decoration, and she decided to make soup out of it, yes, dear children, nothing more or less than soup for a doll. You know better than me that doll soup includes all kinds of drugs: flowers, grains, shells, white or red beans - everything goes into use, you just need to boil this mixture in a tin saucepan over an imaginary fire. It so happened that the countess's niece did not have enough carrots for her soup, and the bright color of the carnelian caught her eye, and she crushed it with an iron into small pieces, with which she tinted the soup; the doll would really have to eat the treat offered to it with great appetite.

If the red hammer were a living creature, that is, if he were capable of thinking, then no matter what thoughts would come to his mind about his strange fate. It’s no joke: to be a rock, and then turn into a fragment, to serve in this form as an instrument in the hands of a fairy and make a stream reveal the secret plans of the spirit ruling among the mountain snows, to later be known as the talisman of a warlike tribe, to bring glory to an entire people, to be a scepter in the hands of a blue man , from here descend to the humble role of a kitchen knife and serve for peeling some vegetables in a semi-wild life, again achieve a kind of greatness in the hands of a lover of antiquities, show off on a velvet pillow and excite the surprise of scientists, and in the end turn into an imaginary carrot in the hands little girl, without even having the honor of whetting the spoiled doll’s appetite!

However, the red hammer was not completely destroyed, a piece the size of a nut remained from it, the footman, sweeping the room, picked up this piece and sold it for half a franc to a stone cutter, and the stone cutter made three rings from this last fragment, which he sold for one franc per piece. The carnelian ring is a very beautiful thing, but it is easy to break or lose. One of the three rings mentioned exists to this day: it was given to a thrifty little girl, who wears it, not suspecting that it is the last fragment of the famous red hammer, which itself was only a fragment from the fairy rock. This is the fate of all inanimate objects on earth, they exist only insofar as we attach value to them, they do not have a soul with the help of which they could be reborn, they quickly turn to dust, but even in this form they still serve for the benefit of all living things . Life knows how to adapt everything to its goals, and what is destroyed by the action of time and the human hand is resurrected in new forms and by the grace of that beneficent fairy who does not allow anything to disappear without a trace, who restores everything and begins the destroyed work again. You know the name of this fairy queen well; her name is nature.

Good old test. I don’t even remember what I answered the first time) Well, let’s go

This test will surprise you! No paper, pencil or calculator needed. Just follow the instructions - as quickly as you can, but don't
read the next questions until you finish the previous one. There is no need to write down tasks and answers, do the math in your head. You will be stunned
result.

How much will

15+6?
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21
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3+56?
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59
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89+2
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91
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12+53
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65
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75+26
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101
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25+52
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77
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63+32
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95
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I know computing is hard work, but the finish line is in sight...
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A bit more...
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123+5
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128
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FAST! THINK ABOUT TOOL AND COLOR!
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Scroll below...
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A bit more...
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A little bit more...
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You just had a red hammer in mind, didn't you?
If not, then you are among the 2% of people who have “different” or “out-of-the-box” thinking.
98% of people answer "red hammer" in this test. If you don't believe it,
check with your relatives and friends.

Associate Professor of the Department of Defectology and Clinical Psychology of the Institute of Psychology and Education of KFU Ildar Abitov, who will take part in the test, spoke about the results of the test, which surprises with its results.

Recently, the news feed on social networks has been flooded with the results of such a test: you watch a video in which you are asked to perform various mathematical calculations, and at the end of them the inscription appears: “Quickly guess the tool and color.” Records show that 75% of those taking the test choose the red hammer. And this is quite understandable, says Ildar Ravilyevich.

Such tests are so-called trap games associated with overcoming mental canons. Test items increase cognitive load so that a person is unable to think about the answer.

The test first focuses only on counting, and then we are asked a basic question about associations. Moreover, they ask to “answer quickly” without hesitation. The brain is happy - a break. And we answer in the way that is easier for us, automatically snatching information from memory.

The brain confidently selects the most significant signs in a given situation and operates with them, without being distracted by secondary ones.

And the answer is chosen based on the frequency of use of objects - what we most often encounter in life, what we deal with among this class of objects.

Psychologists call this test “Distractive Mathematics.” Oral counting disperses thought processes so that they do not lead associations in the “unnecessary” direction.

Counting in the test is needed in order to “relax” the brain, or rather, tense one hemisphere, thereby “freeing” the other. Then archetypal images will emerge more clearly. If this is a class of instruments, then we choose associations that lie on the surface: a male instrument is a hammer,

We are talking about stable cultural semantic connections. If you ask them to name furniture, I think the vast majority will name a chair or a table, and this does not in any way indicate their degree of creativity or the fact that men and women think with different hemispheres. Rather, it is related to the degree of functionality of the item, our expert believes. A hammer is the most “masculine” tool, because it’s not for nothing that even now, when you can’t go anywhere without a hammer drill, everyone says about an incompetent man: “He doesn’t even know how to drive a nail!” And scissors are used by women for manicures and for all kinds of needlework more often than other tools.

The choice of color was most likely also influenced by sexual dimorphism: according to , red, the color of energy and activity, is characteristic of men, and green, the color of growth and life, characterizes women. This is also the color in which the handles of plumbing, carpentry, and other similar tools are most often painted so that they catch the eye.

Green scissors for women are also understandable: in our country the handles were traditionally covered with green enamel.

By the way, everyone took similar prank tests in childhood. Remember? You need to answer quickly, without hesitation.

– What color is the paper?
- White.

– What color is the toilet?
- White.

– What color is the snow?
- White.

-What does the cow drink?
- Milk.

So, choosing a red hammer does not mean that you are one of the “standard” people who have stereotyped thinking. Rather, your cultural semantic connections are too clearly developed and you can easily become a winner in the game of Associations.