What Men Live By

Mikhail is the strange man whom Semyon finds naked and freezing on the roadside. He later becomes an unofficial member of Matryona and Semyon’s family, moving in with them and working as Semyon’s shoemaking apprentice. From his very first appearance, Mikhail exudes a mysterious energy. Not only is he strong and uninjured (which strikes Semyon as strange, considering his very vulnerable position when he was out naked in the road), but he also refuses to explain how he ended up there, or to shed any light on his past in general. Indeed, over the course of the next six years, Mikhail divulges very little about himself. He is a hard worker and a very talented shoemaker who quickly masters everything that Semyon teaches him, but he remains quiet and serious, seeming to hold himself slightly apart from the rest of the family. That Mikhail only smiles three times—at seemingly odd moments and with a strange, private intensity—also increases his aura of mystery. Mikhail also seems to understand things that are not clear to the other characters. For instance, he knows to make the rich gentleman light slippers even before the man’s death is announced. At the end of the story, Mikhail explains his mysterious presence by revealing himself to be an angel; having disobeying God, he was sent to earth in the form of a mortal to learn three lessons.