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The Prisoner of the Caucasus (story)

The Prisoner of the Caucasus is an 1872 novella written by Leo Tolstoy for his ABC book. The story, originally intended for rural children, is written in simplified language. It was inspired by an incident from the Caucasian War that had happened to Tolstoy himself in June 1853 near Grozny. The title contains an allusion to the 1821 poem by Pushkin. It is included in the English-language compilation Twenty-Three Tales.

Plot
The story is about two Russian soldiers kidnapped by the mountaineers for ransom and about the long months they spent in custody in a remote aul. They tried to escape twice, were caught the first time, but succeeded the second. Tolstoy's brother-in-law recounted the 1853 incident in the following words: == Importance ==
Importance
After his religious conversion, Tolstoy declared (in his treatise What Is Art?) this novella to be his greatest artistic achievement (along with his story God Sees the Truth, But Waits). In Russia, The Prisoner of the Caucasus is one of Tolstoy’s best known works, included in the school curriculum since Soviet times. The 1996 Russian film Prisoner of the Mountains incorporates some plot details from Tolstoy's story, with action moved to the First Chechen War in the 1990s. ==See also==
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