Leskov's article is of interest in several respects. First of all, this is one of the first evidence of the writer’s passion for Prologues as artistic material. At the same time, in this article the writer, also perhaps for the first time, openly declares his full sympathy with L.N. Tolstoy in his ethical, philosophical and religious quests, his agreement with him, in particular on the issue of the “direction” of his “ common folk stories”, not at all “harmful”, as the reactionary, orthodox-Orthodox criticism declared, but based on writings that have long been accepted by the Christian Church.