-------- Original Message --------
In his note to line 1000, Kinbote compares his feelings toward Shade’s
poem
to the feeling “one has for a fickle, young creature who has been
stolen
and brutally enjoyed by a black giant.” Once the boy returns, “we kiss
those heavy wet eyelids and caress that polluted flesh” (PF 297). The
most
famous “black giant” in literature is a Polyphemus-like monster in the
Arabian Nights, but his story bears no resemblance to Kinbote’s black
giant. A more productive connection may, however, be found in a Serbian
folktale called “The Biter Bit.” In this tale, a “black giant” tricks a
father into giving up his eldest son. The black giant carries the boy
away
to the Luckless River, where he is made an apprentice in the art of
witchcraft. After three years the father is allowed to come for his
son,
but the black giant tricks the father again, presenting to him three
birds,
one of which he says is the son. The father, unable to recognize his
son,
cannot decide which bird to choose, so goes home despairing. This
transaction is then repeated a second time, but on the way home the
father
meets an old woman who tells him to choose the bird with tears in its
eyes. The father returns to the Luckless River and this time sees that
one
of the birds, a dove, is crying. The father grasps the bird and
declares “this is my son,” at which point the father suddenly finds
himself
embracing his son again (see Denton, Serbian Folk-Lore, London: W.
Ibister,
1874, 200-214).
The "black giant," abducted boy, and tearful reunion all mirror the
anecdote in PF. I'm curious, however, what the significance might be,
if
indeed one accepts the connection.
Matt Roth