kurgan + Tirza = Krug + tiran
+ az = krug + partizan - p = uragan + zikkurat + r
- ruka
kurgan - Russ., burial
mound; cf. Tirza's dvoinoy kurgan in Lermontov's
Sashka; cf. Kurgan, a city in Russia, E of the Ural Mountains, on the
Tobol river
Tirza - female given
name; a character in Lermontov's
Sashka
Krug - Adam Krug,
the hero of VN's Bend Sinister
tiran - Russ., tyrant;
cf. Istreblenie tiranov ("Tyrants Destroyed"), a story by
VN
az - Russ. obs., I; the
letter A was called az in the old Russian alphabet
(azbuka)
krug - Russ., circle;
cf. Krug ("The Circle"), a story by VN
partizan - Russ.,
guerilla; cf. the newspaper article male-nurse Dorofey reads in
Ada (1.42): 'The Crimean War: Tartar Guerillas Help Chinese
Troops'
uragan - Russ.,
hurricane; cf. hurricane Lolita mentioned in VN's Pale
Fire
zikkurat - Russ.,
ziggurat, a temple in the form of a pyramidal tower; cf. in Ada (2.8):
'Tower,' she [Ada] murmured in reply to his [Van's]
questioning glance, just as she used to do on those honeyed mornings in the
past, when checking up on happiness: 'And you?' 'A regular
ziggurat.'
ruka - Russ.,
arm, hand; cf. VN's Uncle Ruka, V. I. Rukavishnikov
mons = sonm = son [nos] + m = som + n = nom [mon] + s = mason
[osman] - a = somnenie + p - penie = somnambulist + maniya -
maniambulist - ya
mons - Lat., mountain;
cf. mons pubis (mons Veneris), an anatomical term
sonm - Russ. obs.,
assembly; swarm
son - Russ.,
dream
nos - Russ., nose; cf.
Gogol's story "The Nose"
som - Russ., sheat; a
sheat-fish, or rather its absense, plays a role in Gorky's "The Life of Klim
Samgin"
nom - Fr., name; cf.
"she [Marina] employed mon petit nom, Vanya,
Vanyusha" (5.6)
mon - Fr., my
(possessive first person pronoun)
mason - Russ.,
Freemason
osman - Russ.,
Ottoman
somnenie - Russ.,
doubt
penie - Russ.,
singing
somnambulist - a person
who walks in his/her sleep
maniya - Russ.,
mania
maniambulist - a person
who walks, as Ada's Van Veen and Vekchelo do, on his/her
hands
ya - Russ., I
(first person pronoun); Ñ, the last letter of Russian
alphabet
Speaking of the name Shura (diminutive of
Aleksandr/Aleksandra), there is Shura Shlezinger (a woman) in Doctor
Zhivago. Like Ada's Cordula Tobak, she had several successive
husbands.
Alexey Sklyarenko