Subject
Leo Tolstoy on Barbara Braun (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. The below prompted me to wonder if VN's use of cypher in
ADA might, in part, been suggested by the Tolstoy example cited below, And
then, there was Uncle Ruka, of course.
-------------
From: Anatoly Vorobey <mellon@pobox.com>
I have followed with fascination the recent outburst of
messages about the mysterious Barbara Braun, whom she could
signify, what allusions hide behind her conspiciously
German name, etc. I certainly can't add anything valuable of
my own after the wonderful message of Dieter Zimmer, but
perhaps I can hide behind what appears to be a highly
relevant, outrageously funny, and probably familiar quotation.
The time (Russia) and the place (about 130 years ago) are
of course firmly linked in our memory with the glorious name
of that genius of Russian prose, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Although
few remember that, there also lived at about the same time
in Russia (in a place very Nabokovianly called "Clear Clearing")
another writer, one Leo Tolstoy (Leo, and not Lev, for he
definitely was not a ballerina). None of Tolstoy's works reached
the heights of Dostoyevsky's masterpieces, of course; but some
of his novels enjoyed moderate commercial success at the time.
One of them in particular, a novel named _War and the World_
(now almost completely forgotten), was somewhat famous at the time
and even competed with _The Idiot_ for a few weeks on the NYTimes
bestseller list. It is in that novel that Leo Tolstoy pronounces
his opinion on the Barbara Braun affair, himself being quite
unaware of that:
-----------
One of his brother
Masons had revealed to Pierre the following prophecy concerning Napoleon,
drawn from the Revelation of St. John.
In chapter 13, verse 18, of the Apocalypse, it is said:
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the
number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his
number is Six hundred threescore and six.
And in the fifth verse of the same chapter:
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to
continue forty and two months.
The French alphabet, written out with the same numerical values as the
Hebrew, in which the first nine letters denote units and the others tens,
will have the following significance:
a b c d e f g h i k
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
l m n o p q r s
20 30 40 50 6 70 80 90
t u v w x y z
100 110 120 130 140 150 160
Writing the words L'Empereur Napoleon in numbers, it appears that the
sum of them is 666, and that Napoleon therefore the beast foretold in the
Apocalypse. Moreover, by applying the same system to the words
quarante-deux, * which was the term allowed to the beast that "spoke
great things and blasphemies," the same number 666 was obtained; from
which it followed that the limit fixed for Napoleon's power had come in the
year 1812 when the French emperor was forty-two. This prophecy pleased
Pierre very much and he often asked himself what would put an end to the
power of the beast, that is, of Napoleon, and tried by the same system of
using letters as numbers and adding them up, to find an answer to the
question that engrossed him. He wrote the words L'Empereur Alexandre,
La nation russe and added up their numbers, but the sums were either more
or less than 666. Once when making such calculations he wrote down his
own name in French, Comte Pierre Besouhoff, but the sum of the numbers
did not come right. Then he changed the spelling, substituting a z for
the s and adding de and the article le, still without obtaining the desired
result. Then it occurred to him: if the answer to the question were
contained in his name, his nationality would also be given in the answer.
So he wrote Le russe Besuhof and adding up the numbers got 671. This was
only five too much, and five was represented by e, the very letter elided
from the article le before the word Empereur. By omitting the e, though
incorrectly, Pierre got the answer he sought. L'russe Besuhof made 666.
This discovery excited him. How, or by what means, he was connected with
the great event foretold in the Apocalypse he did not know, but he did
not doubt that connection for a moment. His love for Natasha, Antichrist,
Napoleon, the invasion, the comet, 666, L'Empereur Napoleon, and L'russe
Besuhof- all this had to mature and culminate, to lift him out of that
spellbound, petty sphere of Moscow habits in which he felt himself held
captive and lead him to a great achievement and great happiness.
--------
Sincerely yours,
Anatoly.
--
Anatoly Vorobey,
mellon@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~mellon/
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly" - G.K.Chesterton
ADA might, in part, been suggested by the Tolstoy example cited below, And
then, there was Uncle Ruka, of course.
-------------
From: Anatoly Vorobey <mellon@pobox.com>
I have followed with fascination the recent outburst of
messages about the mysterious Barbara Braun, whom she could
signify, what allusions hide behind her conspiciously
German name, etc. I certainly can't add anything valuable of
my own after the wonderful message of Dieter Zimmer, but
perhaps I can hide behind what appears to be a highly
relevant, outrageously funny, and probably familiar quotation.
The time (Russia) and the place (about 130 years ago) are
of course firmly linked in our memory with the glorious name
of that genius of Russian prose, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Although
few remember that, there also lived at about the same time
in Russia (in a place very Nabokovianly called "Clear Clearing")
another writer, one Leo Tolstoy (Leo, and not Lev, for he
definitely was not a ballerina). None of Tolstoy's works reached
the heights of Dostoyevsky's masterpieces, of course; but some
of his novels enjoyed moderate commercial success at the time.
One of them in particular, a novel named _War and the World_
(now almost completely forgotten), was somewhat famous at the time
and even competed with _The Idiot_ for a few weeks on the NYTimes
bestseller list. It is in that novel that Leo Tolstoy pronounces
his opinion on the Barbara Braun affair, himself being quite
unaware of that:
-----------
One of his brother
Masons had revealed to Pierre the following prophecy concerning Napoleon,
drawn from the Revelation of St. John.
In chapter 13, verse 18, of the Apocalypse, it is said:
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the
number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his
number is Six hundred threescore and six.
And in the fifth verse of the same chapter:
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to
continue forty and two months.
The French alphabet, written out with the same numerical values as the
Hebrew, in which the first nine letters denote units and the others tens,
will have the following significance:
a b c d e f g h i k
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
l m n o p q r s
20 30 40 50 6 70 80 90
t u v w x y z
100 110 120 130 140 150 160
Writing the words L'Empereur Napoleon in numbers, it appears that the
sum of them is 666, and that Napoleon therefore the beast foretold in the
Apocalypse. Moreover, by applying the same system to the words
quarante-deux, * which was the term allowed to the beast that "spoke
great things and blasphemies," the same number 666 was obtained; from
which it followed that the limit fixed for Napoleon's power had come in the
year 1812 when the French emperor was forty-two. This prophecy pleased
Pierre very much and he often asked himself what would put an end to the
power of the beast, that is, of Napoleon, and tried by the same system of
using letters as numbers and adding them up, to find an answer to the
question that engrossed him. He wrote the words L'Empereur Alexandre,
La nation russe and added up their numbers, but the sums were either more
or less than 666. Once when making such calculations he wrote down his
own name in French, Comte Pierre Besouhoff, but the sum of the numbers
did not come right. Then he changed the spelling, substituting a z for
the s and adding de and the article le, still without obtaining the desired
result. Then it occurred to him: if the answer to the question were
contained in his name, his nationality would also be given in the answer.
So he wrote Le russe Besuhof and adding up the numbers got 671. This was
only five too much, and five was represented by e, the very letter elided
from the article le before the word Empereur. By omitting the e, though
incorrectly, Pierre got the answer he sought. L'russe Besuhof made 666.
This discovery excited him. How, or by what means, he was connected with
the great event foretold in the Apocalypse he did not know, but he did
not doubt that connection for a moment. His love for Natasha, Antichrist,
Napoleon, the invasion, the comet, 666, L'Empereur Napoleon, and L'russe
Besuhof- all this had to mature and culminate, to lift him out of that
spellbound, petty sphere of Moscow habits in which he felt himself held
captive and lead him to a great achievement and great happiness.
--------
Sincerely yours,
Anatoly.
--
Anatoly Vorobey,
mellon@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~mellon/
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly" - G.K.Chesterton