In his biography "Nikolai
Gogol" Nabokov observes that is:"more reasonable to forget that Gogol's exaggerated concern
with noses was based on the fact of his own being abnormally long and to treat
Gogol's olfactivism... as a literary trick allied to the broad humor of
carnivals in general and to Russian nose-humor in particular. We are nose-gay
and nose-sad "(p 3-5). I
thought it would be interesting to check in Pale Fire whether VN's
references to noses might help the reader to spot Russians, or
Zemblans, disguised as Americans...
Shade mentions "nose", explicitly,
only twice: (67)
the Persian shape/
Of nose and eyebrow, you have kept it all ...
(932) Old Zembla’s fields
[...] And slaves
make hay between my mouth and nose.
In contrast, from Foreword to the Index, CK brings in
the nose, but it doesn't really indicate "a nasal leitmotiv"
( although a freudian reference is a constant shared in Gogol's biography
and PF, as in CK's comments on line 929 and also where they
were applied to feminine traits (snubnose) as distinct
from a male's.
Anyway, I found no popular Russian
nosey-humor to help me along with this hypothesis concerning Prof. Botkin
or Kinbote's identities*.
I noticed that both Kinbote and Gradus must have
suffered from a congested nose ( nose drops, nose-blowing...),
if the word "congestion" in CK's instance has a different meaning
from "Thurgus the Third"s turgid and
congested plum.
In Gogo'ls biography VN describes a childhood
illness: "pueritus scribendi". I tried to find out
what it means but, at least in the internet, I only reached Russian
sites, although the name sounds Latin. Why didn't VN translate? What does
it mean?
...............................................................................................................................................................................................................
* CK,Foreword: February and March in Zembla (the two last of
the four "white-nosed months," as we call them)
Line 27:
Sherlock Holmes [...] A hawk-nosed, lanky, rather likable private detective...
Lines 47-48: Into these roses and thorns there walked a black
shadow: a tall, pale, long-nosed, dark-haired young minister
[...]Sybil was alternatively huddle-shaking and blowing her
nose
Line 71: Otar, a pleasant and cultured adeling with a
tremendous nose and sparse hair [...]two girls...their kitten noses pink, their eyes green and
sleepy
Line 149: A sleepy and sullen expression blurred whatever
appeal her snub-nosed round face might have had for the local
shepherds
Line 596:Gradus was a voracious reader of [...]the
multilingual literature that comes with nose drops and digestive
tablets;
Line 691: I looked around me with enchantment and physical
wellbeing despite the congestion in my nose.
Line
894: Don’t you see [...] the astounding similarity of features — of the
upper part of the face, and the eyes, yes, the eyes, and the nose bridge? [...]
Line
929: [...] By picking the nose in spite of all commands to the contrary,
[...]the analytic teacher knows [...]
Line 949: As usual he started his blurry daily existence by blowing his
nose.[...]We see his melancholy nose with its crooked ridge and grooved
tip [...] Gradus had recognized the great rugged frame, the erect carriage,
the high-bridged nose...
Index: Thurgus the Third, surnamed The Turgid [...] stout and bald, his nose like a congested
plum, his martial mustache bristling with obsolete
passion