Presently Mlle
Larivi¨¨re asked Ada to accompany her to a secluded spot. There, the fully clad
lady, with her voluminous dress retaining its stately folds but grown as it
were an inch longer so that it now hid her prunella shoes, stood stock-still
over a concealed downpour and a moment later reverted to her normal height. (1.13)
In Zhivoe o zhivom (¡°A Living Word
about the Living Man,¡± 1932), her memoir essay on Maximilian Voloshin, Marina
Tsvetaev mentions a scene in Henri de R¨¦gnier¡¯s Les
rencontres de Monsieur de Br¨¦ot (a book given to her by Voloshin) in which Monsieur
de Br¨¦ot spies on two ladies and watches them
pissing:
§£§à§ã§Ö§Þ§ß§Ñ§Õ§è§Ñ§ä§í§Û §Ó§Ö§Ü. §±§â§Ú§Ý§Ú§é§ß§í§Û §Ô§à§ã§á§à§Õ§Ú§ß, §ß§à §á§â§Ö§Ó§â§Ñ§ë§Ñ§ð§ë§Ú§Û§ã§ñ,
§Ó§â§Ö§Þ§Ö§ß§Ñ§Þ§Ú, §Ó §æ§Ñ§Ó§ß§Ñ. §±§â§Ñ§Ù§Õ§ß§Ú§Ü §Ó §Ö§Ô§à §Ù§Ñ§Þ§Ü§Ö. §¥§Ó§Ö §Õ§Ñ§Þ§í-§Þ§Ñ§â§Ü§Ú§Ù§í, §Ü§à§ß§Ö§é§ß§à, - §Ô§å§Ý§ñ§ð§ë§Ú§Ö
§á§à §Þ§ß§à§Ô§à§Ý§ð§Õ§ß§à§Þ§å §ã§Ñ§Õ§å §Ú §Ú§ë§å§ë§Ú§Ö §å§Ö§Õ§Ú§ß§Ö§ß§Ú§ñ. §¤§â§à§ä. §´§å§ä §Ó§í§ñ§ã§ß§ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ, §é§ä§à §Þ§Ñ§â§Ü§Ú§Ù§í
§Ú§ã§Ü§Ñ§Ý§Ú §å§Ö§Õ§Ú§ß§Ö§ß§Ú§ñ §Ó§à§Ó§ã§Ö §ß§Ö §Õ§Ý§ñ §Õ§å§ê§Ú, §Ñ §á§à§ä§à§Þ§å, §é§ä§à §ã §å§ä§â§Ñ §ß§Ö §á§Ö§â§Ö§ã§ä§Ñ§Ó§Ñ§ñ §á§î§ð§ä
§Ý§Ú§Þ§à§ß§Ñ§Õ. §³§ä§Ñ§Ý§à §Ò§í§ä§î - §å§Ö§Õ§Ú§ß§ñ§ð§ä§ã§ñ. §±§à§Õ§í§Þ§Ñ§ð§ä §Ô§Ý§Ñ§Ù§Ñ: §å §Ó§ç§à§Õ§Ñ §Ó §Ô§â§à§ä, §Ù§Ñ§ã§Ý§à§ß§ñ§ñ
§ã§à§Ý§ß§è§Ö §Ú §Ó§í§ç§à§Õ, §à§Ô§â§à§Þ§ß§í§Û §æ§Ñ§Ó§ß, §ä§à §Ö§ã§ä§î §ä§à§ä §ã§Ñ§Þ§í§Û Monsieur de Breot.
§£ §ß§Ö§Ô§à§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ú §Ù§Ñ§ç§Ý§à§á§í§Ó§Ñ§ð §Ü§ß§Ú§Ô§å. §¿§ä§å - §Õ§â§ñ§ß§î, §ï§ä§å - §Þ§Ö§â§Ù§à§ã§ä§î
- §Þ§ß§Ö? §³ §Ü§ß§Ú§Ô§à§Û §Ó §â§å§Ü§Ñ§ç §Ú §ã §ß§Ö§Ú§Ù§ì§ñ§ã§ß§Ú§Þ§í§Þ §é§å§Ó§ã§ä§Ó§à§Þ §Ò§â§Ö§Ù§Ô§Ý§Ú§Ó§à§ã§ä§Ú §Ü §ï§ä§Ú§Þ §â§å§Ü§Ñ§Þ §Ù§Ñ
§ä§à, §é§ä§à §ä§Ñ§Ü§å§ð §Õ§â§ñ§ß§î §Õ§Ö§â§Ø§Ñ§ä, §Ú§Õ§å §Ü §ã§Ó§à§Ö§Û §á§â§Ú§ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§Ú§è§Ö §Ú §Ó§Ó§à§Ø§å §Ö§× §ß§Ö§á§à§ã§â§Ö§Õ§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§à
§Ó §Ô§â§à§ä. §£§ã§Ü§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Ó§Ñ§Ö§ä, §Ó§Ö§â§ß§Ö§Û, §Ó§í§ã§Ü§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Ó§Ñ§Ö§ä, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §à§Ø§Ø§×§ß§ß§Ñ§ñ.
- §®§Ú§Ý§í§Û §Õ§â§å§Ô, §ï§ä§à §á§â§à§ã§ä§à - §á§à§â§ß§à§Ô§â§Ñ§æ§Ú§ñ! (§±§Ñ§å§Ù§Ñ.) §©§Ñ §ï§ä§à,
§ã§à§Ò§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§à, §ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý§à §Ò§í §ã§ã§í§Ý§Ñ§ä§î §Ó §³§Ú§Ò§Ú§â§î, §Ñ §ï§ä§à§Ô§à... §á§à§ï§ä§Ñ, §Ó§à §Ó§ã§ñ§Ü§à§Þ §ã§Ý§å§é§Ñ§Ö,
§ß§Ú §Ó §Ü§à§Ö§Þ §ã§Ý§å§é§Ñ§Ö, §ß§Ö §á§å§ã§Ü§Ñ§Û§ä§Ö §é§Ö§â§Ö§Ù §á§à§â§à§Ô! (§±§Ñ§å§Ù§Ñ.) §¯§Ö§é§Ö§Ô§à §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§ä§î - §Þ§Ñ§â§Ü§Ú§Ù§í!
§£§í §Ó§Ú§Õ§Ú§ä§Ö, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §ñ §Ò§í§Ý§Ñ §á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ñ! §®§Ú§Ý§í§Û §Õ§â§å§Ô, §Ó§í§Ò§â§à§ã§î§ä§Ö §ï§ä§å §å§Ø§Ñ§ã§ß§å§ð §Ü§ß§Ú§Ô§å, §Ñ §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§Ô§à
§Ö§Ô§à, §ã §ï§ä§Ú§Þ§Ú (§Ò§â§Ö§Ù§Ô§Ý§Ú§Ó§à) §ç§à§Ý§à§Õ§ß§í§Þ§Ú §Ó§Ú§ã§Ü§Ñ§Þ§Ú... §ã§á§å§ã§ä§Ú§ä§Ö §ã §Ý§Ö§ã§ä§ß§Ú§è§í! §Á §Ó§Ñ§Þ
§Ô§à§Ó§à§â§ð, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Þ§Ñ§ä§î, §Ú §ï§ä§à §Ø§Ö §Ò§í §Ó§Ñ§Þ §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Ý §Ó§Ñ§ê §à§ä§Ö§è - §Ö§ã§Ý§Ú §Ò§í §Ù§ß§Ñ§Ý... §¢§Ö§Õ§ß§í§Û §ª§Ó§Ñ§ß
§£§Ý§Ñ§Õ§Ú§Þ§Ú§â§à§Ó§Ú§é!
The memoirist¡¯s lady friend to whom Marina
Tsvetaev showed that scene in Henri de R¨¦gnier¡¯s book
(and who found it pornographic) addresses the author milyi drug (dear
friend). Milyi drug is the Russian title of Maupassant¡¯s novel Bel
ami. According to Vivian Darkbloom (¡®Notes to Ada¡¯), Maupassant and
his La Parure do not exist on Antiterra. L¡¯ami Luc (3.2) is
a novel by Monparnasse (Mlle
Larivi¨¨re penname). Belle is
Lucette¡¯s name for her governess (Mlle Larivi¨¨re).
In his essay "Henri de R¨¦gnier"
(1910) Maximilian Voloshin points out that de R¨¦gnier married the youngest
daughter of Jos¨¦ Maria de Heredia, "the most perfect and plastic of
Parnassian poets:"
§³§Ñ§Þ§í§Û §ã§à§Ó§Ö§â§ê§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û §Ú §á§Ý§Ñ§ã§ä§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §Ú§Ù §á§à§ï§ä§à§Ó §±§Ñ§â§ß§Ñ§ã§Ñ -
§·§à§Ù§Ö-§®§Ñ§â§Ú§ñ §¿§â§Ö§Õ§Ú§Ñ - §Ó§í§Õ§Ñ§Ý §ã§Ó§à§Ú§ç §Õ§à§é§Ö§â§Ö§Û §Ù§Ñ §Õ§Ó§å§ç §á§à§ï§ä§à§Ó: §ã§ä§Ñ§â§ê§å§ð §Ù§Ñ §±§î§Ö§â§Ñ §§å§Ú§ã§Ñ,
§Þ§Ý§Ñ§Õ§ê§å§ð - §Ù§Ñ §¡§ß§â§Ú §Õ§Ö §²§Ö§ß§î§Ö. §¬§Ñ§Ü §ã§ä§Ñ§â§Ö§ð§ë§Ú§Û §§Ú§â, §à§ß §â§Ñ§Ù§Õ§Ö§Ý§Ú§Ý §ã§Ó§à§× §è§Ñ§â§ã§ä§Ó§à §Ó
§à§Ò§Ý§Ñ§ã§ä§Ú §á§à§ï§Ù§Ú§Ú §Þ§Ö§Ø§Õ§å §ã§Ó§à§Ú§Þ§Ú §Ù§ñ§ä§î§ñ§Þ§Ú.
Heredia¡¯s other daughter was married to Pierre Louys, the author of ¡°The Songs of Bilitis.¡± Mlle Larivi¨¨re fell in love with Marina (Van¡¯s,
Ada¡¯s and Lucette¡¯s stage-struck mother) when she saw her in ¡®Bilitis:¡¯
Yes! Wasn't that a scream? Larivi¨¨re
blossoming forth, bosoming forth as a great writer! A sensational Canadian
bestselling author! Her story 'The Necklace' (La rivi¨¨re de diamants) had become a
classic in girls' schools and her gorgeous pseudonym 'Guillaume de Monparnasse'
(the leaving out of the 't' made it more intime)
was well-known from Quebec to Kaluga. As she put it in her exotic English:
'Fame struck and the roubles rolled, and the dollars poured' (both currencies
being used at the time in East Estotiland); but good Ida, far from abandoning
Marina, with whom she had been platonically and irrevocably in love ever since
she had seen her in 'Bilitis,' accused herself of neglecting Lucette.
(1.31)
In pornographic literature, ¡°golden
downpour¡± means, I believe, a woman urinating on her partner. In ¡°A Living Word
about the Living Man¡± Marina Tsvetaev quotes the famous ¡°undinistic¡± lines of
Maria Papper:
§Á §Ó§Ö§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Ô§à, §ß§Ö§Ø§Õ§Ñ§ß§ß§à§Ô§à,
§¯§Ö§Ó§à§Ù§Þ§à§Ø§ß§à§Ô§à §á§â§à§ê§å,
§ª §à§Õ§ß§à§Û §ã§ä§â§å§×§Û §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ñ§ß§ß§à§Ô§à
§£§Ö§é§ß§í§Û §Þ§â§Ñ§Þ§à§â §à§â§à§ê§å.
I ask for a great, unexpected,
Impossible thing.
And with one spurt of the desirable
I will water the eternal marble.
Papper + mat/tam/Amt = Tapper + map
mat ¨C checkmate, mate; floor-mat, etc.; foul
language
tam ¨C there
Amt ¨C Germ., office, etc.
Tapper ¨C Captain Tapper, Van¡¯s adversary in
a pistol duel in Kalugano; according to Van, Tapper may be the chap who was
thrown out of one of Demon¡¯s gaming clubs for attempting oral intercourse with
the washroom attendant, a toothless old cripple, veteran of the first Crimean
War* ( 1.42); according to Johnny (Van¡¯s second), Tapper is an expert on maps
*Voloshin lived and died in the Crimea. In
1918 VN met him in Yalta.
Alexey Sklyarenko