figure
Kuzma Lebedkin
Lebedkin
also: Кузьма Лебедкин, Kuzma Lebedkin from Warsaw, Кузьма Лебедкин из Варшавы
A rival master cobbler from Warsaw who has married a rich woman and keeps journeymen; his taunt of Fyodor's poverty sets off the chase that lands Fyodor at the Devil's door, and he reappears inside Fyodor's vision of wealth, humiliated in turn.
Reading notes
- The Cobbler and the Devil §13 Kuzma Lebedkin from Warsaw
A rival cobbler whose boast of having married into money is the immediate provocation that sends Fyodor chasing after him and, by chance, to the Devil's door; his humiliation is later replayed, with Fyodor now in the role of the tormenting rich man, in the story's central ironic reversal.