The new book of the outstanding mathematician of our time Vladimir Igorevich Arnold reveals another side of his multifaceted talent - the creation of historical miniatures, amazing in form and content. Simple and vivid statements of their own memories and events of centuries ago always carry a share of humor and appear on the pages of the book so real that you involuntarily feel like a participant in them. And one more wonderful property of Arnold's "Stories": they are always instructive - the human qualities revealed in them in an amazing way echo modernity.