That Spark of Life
| "That Spark of Life" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Pavel Bazhov | |
| Original title | Живинка в деле |
| Translator | Eve Manning |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
| Genre(s) | skaz |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Krasny Borets |
| Publication type | Periodical |
| Media type | Print (newspaper, hardback and paperback) |
| Publication date | 17 October 1943 |
| Series | The Malachite Casket collection (list of stories) |
"That Spark of Life" (Russian: Живинка в деле, romanized: Zhivinka v dele) is a short story (skaz) written by Pavel Bazhov. It was first published in Krasny Borets in October, 1943. It was later included in The Malachite Casket collection. In the 1950s it was translated from Russian into English by Eve Manning
This is one of the most popular stories of the collection. It generated a Russian catchphrase "spark of life" meaning "creativity", "initiative", or "great interest in something".
A docufiction feature film Tales of the Ural Mountains (Russian: Сказы уральских гор, romanized: Skazy uralskikh gor), released by Sverdlovsk Film Studio in 1968, included a live-action adaptation of "That Spark of Life".