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tolstoy pushkin nabokov and chert
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well, strictly speaking the old man (starik) was not a peasant but a fisherman and in fact he was not that old
Vladimir Mylnikov: "...strictly speaking the old man (starik) was not a peasant but a fisherman and in fact he was not that old probably around 56 since he has been married to his wife for 33 and 3 years and if you double it the total will be 666...i don't find his wife monstrous - her voice is very different and is motivated by her social status and not by her nature. well, we are mortals suffer from being too greedy very often."
JM: V. Mylnikov added an excelling third six, thereby reaching the "number of the Beast." Now, at last, the Devil has materialized. However, I cannot sympathize with the fisherman: he could have resisted his wife's charms.
I got a collection of "foolish wishes" from the internet, most of them related to sausages and noses*. Pushkin's variation maintains the overall pattern (the husband demands, and complies, with his wife's advice or wishes), probably with a satirical intention.Without Tolstoy's "Devil", the similarity I found between this scheme and Nabokov's "Nursery Tale" disappears for there is no married couple involved. Unless Nabokov skipped this part and Frau Monde stood in lieu of the wife in the fairystory. It still doesn't make sense: the boundless ambition is Erwin's alone.
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* Here are the stories:
1.. The Two-Headed Weaver (The Panchatantra).
2.. The Three Wishes (1001 Nights).
3.. The Ridiculous Wishes (France, Charles Perrault).
4.. The Sausage (Sweden, Gabriel Djurklou).
5.. Loppi and Lappi (Estonia, Friedrich Kreutzwald).
6.. The Wishes (Hungary, W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf).
7.. The Woodman's Three Wishes (England, Thomas Sternberg).
8.. The Three Wishes (England, Joseph Jacobs).
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Vladimir Mylnikov: "...strictly speaking the old man (starik) was not a peasant but a fisherman and in fact he was not that old probably around 56 since he has been married to his wife for 33 and 3 years and if you double it the total will be 666...i don't find his wife monstrous - her voice is very different and is motivated by her social status and not by her nature. well, we are mortals suffer from being too greedy very often."
JM: V. Mylnikov added an excelling third six, thereby reaching the "number of the Beast." Now, at last, the Devil has materialized. However, I cannot sympathize with the fisherman: he could have resisted his wife's charms.
I got a collection of "foolish wishes" from the internet, most of them related to sausages and noses*. Pushkin's variation maintains the overall pattern (the husband demands, and complies, with his wife's advice or wishes), probably with a satirical intention.Without Tolstoy's "Devil", the similarity I found between this scheme and Nabokov's "Nursery Tale" disappears for there is no married couple involved. Unless Nabokov skipped this part and Frau Monde stood in lieu of the wife in the fairystory. It still doesn't make sense: the boundless ambition is Erwin's alone.
.......................................................................................................................................................................
* Here are the stories:
1.. The Two-Headed Weaver (The Panchatantra).
2.. The Three Wishes (1001 Nights).
3.. The Ridiculous Wishes (France, Charles Perrault).
4.. The Sausage (Sweden, Gabriel Djurklou).
5.. Loppi and Lappi (Estonia, Friedrich Kreutzwald).
6.. The Wishes (Hungary, W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf).
7.. The Woodman's Three Wishes (England, Thomas Sternberg).
8.. The Three Wishes (England, Joseph Jacobs).
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/