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love as electricity: Heine, Chekhov & Nabokov
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Electricity was banned on Antiterra, the planet on which Ada is set, after the so-called L disaster (1.3). What does L stand for? Perhaps, love (lyubov', Liebe)? Below are two fragments, in which love is explained as being a kind of electricity.
Chapter Seven of Heine's "The Baths of Lucca" begins as follows:
"Was Pruegel sind, das weiss man schon; was aber die Liebe ist, das hat noch keiner herausgebracht. Einige Naturphilosophen haben behauptet, es sei eine Art Elektrizitaet. Das ist moeglich; denn im Momente des Verliebens ist uns zumute, als habe ein elektrischer Strahl aus dem Auge der Geliebten ploetzlich in unser Herz eingeschlagen. Ach! diese Blitze sind die verderblichsten, und wer gegen diese einen Ableiter erfindet, den will ich hoeher achten als Franklin."
from chapter IV of Chekhov's tale "Tri goda" ("Three Years", 1895):
"Panaurov expounded didactically what being in love was, and what it was due to:
'We have in it an example of the action of electricity,' he said in French addressing the lady. 'Every man has in his skin microscopic glands which contain currents of electricity. If you meet a person whose currents are parallel with your own, then you get love'."
In the same chapter the hero, Alexey Laptev, refers to himself as Romeo and to his bride, as Juliet:
"Romeo and Juliet!" he said, as he shut the novel, and he laughed. "I am Romeo, Nina. You may congratulate me. I made an offer to Yulia Belavin today."
The setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is Verona. The city and its main square, La Bra, are described in Heine's "The Journey from Munich to Genoa" (chapters XXIV-XXV):
"Auf dem Platze La Bra spaziert, sobald es dunkel wird, die schoene Welt von Verona oder sitzt dort auf kleinen Stuehlchen vor den Kaffeebuden and schluerft Sorbett und Abendkuehle und Musik."
It seems to me that Goethe, too, speaks of Verona and mentions La Bra in his "The Italian Journey". (Apologies, I quote Heine in German. There must be an English translation, but I failed to find it in the Internet.)
La Bra + pah = palabra + h
La Bra + ardors = Lara + Bras d'Or
La Bra + Cain = Calabrian
Calabrian + b = Caliban + rab = Casablanca + rib - cas
Verona = Verna + o = Vena [Neva] + or = Venera [Erevan] + o - e = vorona + e - o = Lenore Raven + p - Perlen
pah - Ada's favorite expletive, the very first word Van hears her say (1.5)
palabra - Sp., word; cf. "De palabra nace razon...", Ursus's verses in Hugo's L'homme qui rit
ardors - pl. of ardor; cf. Ada, or Ardor; cf. "'Ada, our ardors and arbors' - a dactylic trimeter that was to remain Van Veen's only contribution to Anglo-American poetry" (1.12)
Lara - female given name, a diminutive of Larisa; cf. Lara Antipov, the heroine of Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago"; cf. Eugene and Lara, the play based on a famous Russian romance; Marina (Van's and Ada's mother) plays its heroine in a stage version; Demon (the two children's father) becomes Marina's lover between the two scenes of this play (1.2)
Bras d'Or - a Canadian island near the Atlantic coast; on Antiterra, an American province; Prince Peter Zemski, Van's and Ada's ancestor, was Governor of Bras d'Or (1.1); famous cognac
Cain - the first son of Adam and Eve; cf. in Chekhov's "Three years" (ch. IX): "'Come, what were Adam's sons called?' 'Abel and Canel,' Lida whispered. 'Cain and Abel,' Laptev corrected her."
Calabrian - of or pertaining to Calabria, a province in S Italy; cf. in Ada (1.39): "She [Marina] sent a footman to investigate the situation and tell those Gipsy politicians, or Calabrian laborers, that Squire Veen would be furious if he discovered trespassers camping in his woods."
Caliban - Prospero's slave in Shakespeare's The Tempest
rab - Russ., slave
Casablanca - a city and sea-port in NW Morocco
rib - a bone in the vertebrate body; God made Eve of Adam's rib
cas - Fr., case; cf. Van's words to Lucette: "'Spotting Bergson,' said the assistant lecher, 'rates a B minus dans ton petit cas, hardly more." (2.5)
Verna - on Antiterra, a place in S Patagonia: "...to the burning tip of Patagonia, Captain Grant's Horn, a Villa in Verna" (2.1); Russ., faithful (fem. sing.)
Vena - Russian name of Vienna; vena - Russ., vein
or - Fr., gold; cf. Bras d'Or ("golden arm")
Venera - Russ., Venus
Erevan - Armenia's capital
vorona - Russ., crow
Lenore Raven - another play in which Marina played the heroine (1.2)
Perlen - Germ., pearls; cf. Heine: "Du hast Diamanten und Perlen..." (1824)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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Chapter Seven of Heine's "The Baths of Lucca" begins as follows:
"Was Pruegel sind, das weiss man schon; was aber die Liebe ist, das hat noch keiner herausgebracht. Einige Naturphilosophen haben behauptet, es sei eine Art Elektrizitaet. Das ist moeglich; denn im Momente des Verliebens ist uns zumute, als habe ein elektrischer Strahl aus dem Auge der Geliebten ploetzlich in unser Herz eingeschlagen. Ach! diese Blitze sind die verderblichsten, und wer gegen diese einen Ableiter erfindet, den will ich hoeher achten als Franklin."
from chapter IV of Chekhov's tale "Tri goda" ("Three Years", 1895):
"Panaurov expounded didactically what being in love was, and what it was due to:
'We have in it an example of the action of electricity,' he said in French addressing the lady. 'Every man has in his skin microscopic glands which contain currents of electricity. If you meet a person whose currents are parallel with your own, then you get love'."
In the same chapter the hero, Alexey Laptev, refers to himself as Romeo and to his bride, as Juliet:
"Romeo and Juliet!" he said, as he shut the novel, and he laughed. "I am Romeo, Nina. You may congratulate me. I made an offer to Yulia Belavin today."
The setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is Verona. The city and its main square, La Bra, are described in Heine's "The Journey from Munich to Genoa" (chapters XXIV-XXV):
"Auf dem Platze La Bra spaziert, sobald es dunkel wird, die schoene Welt von Verona oder sitzt dort auf kleinen Stuehlchen vor den Kaffeebuden and schluerft Sorbett und Abendkuehle und Musik."
It seems to me that Goethe, too, speaks of Verona and mentions La Bra in his "The Italian Journey". (Apologies, I quote Heine in German. There must be an English translation, but I failed to find it in the Internet.)
La Bra + pah = palabra + h
La Bra + ardors = Lara + Bras d'Or
La Bra + Cain = Calabrian
Calabrian + b = Caliban + rab = Casablanca + rib - cas
Verona = Verna + o = Vena [Neva] + or = Venera [Erevan] + o - e = vorona + e - o = Lenore Raven + p - Perlen
pah - Ada's favorite expletive, the very first word Van hears her say (1.5)
palabra - Sp., word; cf. "De palabra nace razon...", Ursus's verses in Hugo's L'homme qui rit
ardors - pl. of ardor; cf. Ada, or Ardor; cf. "'Ada, our ardors and arbors' - a dactylic trimeter that was to remain Van Veen's only contribution to Anglo-American poetry" (1.12)
Lara - female given name, a diminutive of Larisa; cf. Lara Antipov, the heroine of Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago"; cf. Eugene and Lara, the play based on a famous Russian romance; Marina (Van's and Ada's mother) plays its heroine in a stage version; Demon (the two children's father) becomes Marina's lover between the two scenes of this play (1.2)
Bras d'Or - a Canadian island near the Atlantic coast; on Antiterra, an American province; Prince Peter Zemski, Van's and Ada's ancestor, was Governor of Bras d'Or (1.1); famous cognac
Cain - the first son of Adam and Eve; cf. in Chekhov's "Three years" (ch. IX): "'Come, what were Adam's sons called?' 'Abel and Canel,' Lida whispered. 'Cain and Abel,' Laptev corrected her."
Calabrian - of or pertaining to Calabria, a province in S Italy; cf. in Ada (1.39): "She [Marina] sent a footman to investigate the situation and tell those Gipsy politicians, or Calabrian laborers, that Squire Veen would be furious if he discovered trespassers camping in his woods."
Caliban - Prospero's slave in Shakespeare's The Tempest
rab - Russ., slave
Casablanca - a city and sea-port in NW Morocco
rib - a bone in the vertebrate body; God made Eve of Adam's rib
cas - Fr., case; cf. Van's words to Lucette: "'Spotting Bergson,' said the assistant lecher, 'rates a B minus dans ton petit cas, hardly more." (2.5)
Verna - on Antiterra, a place in S Patagonia: "...to the burning tip of Patagonia, Captain Grant's Horn, a Villa in Verna" (2.1); Russ., faithful (fem. sing.)
Vena - Russian name of Vienna; vena - Russ., vein
or - Fr., gold; cf. Bras d'Or ("golden arm")
Venera - Russ., Venus
Erevan - Armenia's capital
vorona - Russ., crow
Lenore Raven - another play in which Marina played the heroine (1.2)
Perlen - Germ., pearls; cf. Heine: "Du hast Diamanten und Perlen..." (1824)
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/