It's probably a mangled paraphrase of a sentence from The Reunion, where Lev tries to recall the name of a black poodle that once got lost in the woods. When he retraces his most recent steps, walking slowly across the square, past the post office and the beggar woman, he seems to have shown memory the way, for his begging is about to get answered:

Suddenly he stopped short. Somewhere in his memory there was a hint of motion, as if something very small had awakened and begun to stir. The word was still invisible, but its shadow had already crept out as from behind a corner, and he wanted to step on that shadow to keep it from retreating and disappearing again..

- Philip Klop

P.S. Nabokov sent out a special greeting card to everyone recalling the dog's name.

2014-10-27 2:10 GMT+01:00 NABOKV-L, English <nabokv-l@holycross.edu>:

Brian Boyd writes:

A correspondent has asked for the source of the following alleged Nabokov quote. It sounds plausible, but it sets off no bells:

"the shadow of an object which is not yet present.”

Brian Boyd

--
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Co-Editor, NABOKV-L

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