Jansy Mello: Welcome back to the List, Carolyn.[C.Kunin greets "Dorogoi Alexey & List" and adds a private joke to JM, often nicknamed "Etsy etsy etsy" by her, after Dmitri Nabokov once complained about her use of "etc etc" in an ancient N-L posting in which she vaguely praised his talents. C.K informs that VN's complete pen name is V.Sirin, following the entry in Grozd' (frost? a ne moroz)' that was signed by V Sirin, Berlin, 1923.[ ]. The sad Chekhovian news is that his great translator, Michael Heim died three months ago in Santa Monica.

A.Sklyarenko: ..."In a letter of February 2, 1900, to I. L. Leont'yev (Shcheglov) Chekhov apologizes for pevuchiy ton bogomolki (singsongy devotional tone): Простите, что я заговорил певучим тоном богомолки."[ ] "The vivisectional alibi" provided by the dead boy (Aqua's and Marina's brother Ivan) seems to suggest that Marina is not as innocent after all.[ ] We have no evidence to incriminate Marina (who would know that some plants are poisonous) poor Aqua's madness and death, but she is certainly responsible for the miscarriage Aqua sufferred after skiing with her sister (who would woosh down fluffy slopes on a bobsleigh a fortnight after giving birth to Van: 1.38) and for making mad Aqua believe that Van was her, Aqua's, son (1.3).

Jansy Mello: Why did Chekhov apologize to I.L.Leont'yev in connection to his sentence about a "singsongy devotional tone." (in what context?) Marina wasn't innocent of her brother's premature death (tuberculosis or poison? I remember a reference to a blob of blood in the hammock he used to lie in), or of having seduced him in their youth or because she was responsible for Aqua's miscarriage?

Nabokov has written harsh words about Van, in SO. I don't remember his criticism of Ada, who certainly deserved a similar treatment. Did Ada see herself as a Russian lady and did she despise the peasants, as suggested by her dismissal of the strong humid smell of fresh mushrooms? Who IS Ada?