Transfiguration ability as Russian national character's ability (based on the short story "Ice Drift" by Maxim Gorky, 1912)
It is told about positive responses of the first readers of the short story “Ice Drift” in the article. Interpretation and features of its perception during later period is stated. In the 1960s, display of “outstanding qualities of the Russian person from the people” by Maxim Gorky was of the greatest importance for researchers (Vsevolod Keldysh) as well as new psychologism characterised by a frontage to discrepancy of a human soul (Sergey Bocharov). Pointing out talent and wisdom of the ordinary person in the image of Maxim Gorky, Aleksandr Tsirulyov sees “dialectics of revolutionary thinking” in “Ice Drift”. Mikhail Golubkov describes sudden changes of character of the main character with the words “it has trans-figured” which are close to our understanding of its main line. Having analysed chime motif which is one of the main ones in the short story, as well as feature of development of the image of Osip; having noted that it occurs on a musical background of the sounding bell; having connected it with the chronotope of “Ice Drift”, we came to a conclusion that trans- figuration ability is crucial in the Russian national character and that the short story “Ice Drift” corresponds to canons of a genre of the easter short story.