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more Tolstoy in ADA
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Speaking of Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy and possible allusions to his works in Ada, the slang phrase propustit' cherez tabak* ("use violence," apparently a pun on passer a tabac, "to beat up") occurs in Tolstoy's novel "The Emigres" and several short stories. Tabak is, of course, Russian for "tobacco." In Ada, Tobak is Cordula's first husband, the shipowner. Lucette goes on her last journey onboard his liner Tobakoff (3.5).
Passer a tabac brings to mind the Russian phrase nyukhat' kobylu ("to smell at a punishment-bench") used by Pushkin in Boris Godunov. Because kobyla is Russian for "mare" (cf. Zemski's jument), this phrase is rather ambiguous.
Alexey Sklyarenko
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Passer a tabac brings to mind the Russian phrase nyukhat' kobylu ("to smell at a punishment-bench") used by Pushkin in Boris Godunov. Because kobyla is Russian for "mare" (cf. Zemski's jument), this phrase is rather ambiguous.
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/