Subject
QUERY re Attacus moth and chess in "Christmas"
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stanislaw milkowsky wrote:
> This message was originally submitted by stan_milkowsky@HOTMAIL.COM to the
> NABOKV-L list at LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU. ----------------- Message requiring your
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> Dear list,
>
> I▓ve got a couple of questions that require your expertise as well as
> condescension to my ignorance.
>
> Both concern VN▓s short story called ⌠Christmas■ and I▓m referring to the
> Vintage paperback (The Stories of VN. NY: Vintage International, 1997, which
> is paralleled by a Penguin edition in England, if I▓m not mistaken). Page
> numbers are 131-36 (n646).
>
> # 1:
>
> ⌠┘on the wall, instead of a little lump of life, instead of a dark mouse,
> was great *Attacus* moth like those that fly, birdlike, around lamps in the
> Indian dusk■ (p. 136)
>
> Could anyone refer me to an accessible illustrated guide that would have a
> good depiction of the beast (badly needed) and a little something about its
> ways and habits (optional)? I would greatly appreciate if you could point
> out a Nabokovian scholarly article (if there is one) that discusses the
> moth▓s significance and all that.
>
> # 2:
>
> There▓s a gaping whole in my knowledge of VN▓s work and that▓s a very
> superfluous idea of how chess work. In a note to the same story VN▓s says:
> ⌠it oddly resembles the type of chess problem called ⌠selfmate■ (n647). I▓ve
> got a brief explanation of the type all right, but is there any way to find
> a chessboard layout with a problem that would fall under the ⌠selmate■
> category? And what is the trick again? (⌠1: checkmate forced by the side
> that is checkmated √ called also suimate 2: a chess problem in which suimate
> is required■ √ Webster▓s Third Unabriged, 1976 √ not a particularly helpful
> article somehow, at least in my case).
>
> And that is it. I would be exceedingly grateful if you could share with me
> your information or refer me to appropiate books/sites.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Stan. Milkowsky,
> Nizhny-Novgorod
>
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