Kinbote arrives in America descending by parachute.
The Russian phrase upast' s neba ("to fall from
heaven") means that something is heaven-sent to somebody.
"Eto mne s neba upalo", said Chekhov when he was awarded the
Pushkin prize (or, perhaps, was elected a member of Russian
Academy). Kinbote and all his Zembla are heaven-sent (to Shade?).
Apologies, if this was pointed out before.
Alexey Sklyarenko