In VN隆炉s novel Look at the Harlequins! (1974) Vadim Vadimovich (the narrator and main character) mentions his extraordinary grand-aunt, Baroness Bredow, born Tolstoy, who summoned him to look at the harlequins:

I saw my parents infrequently. They divorced and remarried and redivorced at such a rapid rate that had the custodians of my fortune been less alert, I might have been auctioned out finally to a pair of strangers of Swedish or Scottish descent, with sad bags under hungry eyes. An extraordinary grand-aunt, Baroness Bredow, born Tolstoy, amply replaced closer blood. As a child of seven or eight, already harboring the secrets of a confirmed madman, I seemed even to her (who also was far from normal) unduly sulky and indolent; actually, of course, I kept daydreaming in a most outrageous fashion.              

"Stop moping!" she would cry: "Look at the harlequins!       

"What harlequins? Where?"               

"Oh, everywhere. All around you. Trees are harlequins, words are harlequins. So are situations and sums. Put two things together--jokes, images--and you get a triple harlequin. Come on! Play! Invent the world! Invent reality!"               

I did. By Jove, I did. I invented my grand-aunt in honor of my first daydreams, and now, down the marble steps of memory's front porch, here she slowly comes, sideways, sideways, the poor lame lady, touching each step edge with the rubber tip of her black cane. (1.2)

Vesenniy bred (隆掳Vernal Delirium,隆卤 1853) and Arlekin (隆掳The Harlequin,隆卤 1854) are poems by Apollon Maykov. In his autobiography Speak, Memory (1951) VN pairs Maykov with Mayakovski:

After 1923, when she moved to Prague, and I lived in Germany and France, I was unable to visit her frequently; nor was I with her at her death, which occurred on the eve of World War Two. Whenever I did manage to go to Prague, there was always that initial pang one feels just before time, caught unawares, again dons its familiar mask. In the pitiable lodgings she shared with her dearest companion, Evgeniya Konstantinovna Hofeld (1884-1957), who had replaced, in 1914, Miss Greenwood (who, in her turn, had replaced Miss Lavington) as governess of my two sisters (Olga, born January 5, 1903, and Elena, born March 31, 1906), albums, in which, during the last years, she had copied out her favorite poems, from Maykov to Mayakovski, lay around her on odds and ends of decrepit, secondhand furniture. (Chapter Two, 4)

In his poem Eshchyo Peterburg (隆掳Even More St. Petersburg,隆卤 1914) Mayakovski compares a cloud to Leo Tolstoy:

搂拢 搂氓搂锚搂脩搂莽 搂脿搂脪搂芒搂铆搂脫搂脺搂脷 搂盲搂脳搂谩搂脻搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脪搂脩搂脻搂脩,

搂脩 搂茫 搂茫搂脰搂脫搂脰搂芒搂脩 - 搂茫搂脽搂脰搂脭搂脩 搂茫搂脰搂脮搂脰搂脹 -

搂盲搂氓搂脼搂脩搂脽, 搂茫 搂脺搂芒搂脿搂脫搂脿搂脴搂脩搂脮搂脽搂铆搂脼 搂脻搂脷搂猫搂脿搂脼 搂脺搂脩搂脽搂脽搂脷搂脪搂脩搂脻搂脩,

搂脴搂脰搂脫搂脩搂脻 搂脽搂脰搂脫搂脺搂氓搂茫搂脽搂铆搂莽 搂脻搂冒搂脮搂脰搂脹.

搂鹿搂脩搂茫搂铆 搂脽搂脩搂脫搂脷搂茫搂脩搂脻搂脷, 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂脭搂芒搂氓搂脪搂脩搂帽 搂脪搂芒搂脩搂脽搂卯,

搂脵搂脩 搂谩搂帽搂盲搂铆搂脼 搂脽搂脩搂脫搂脷搂茫 搂锚搂脰搂茫搂盲搂脿搂脹.

搂隆 搂茫 搂脽搂脰搂脪搂脩 搂茫搂脼搂脿搂盲搂芒搂脰搂脻搂脩 搂脺搂脩搂脺搂脩搂帽-搂盲搂脿 搂脮搂芒搂帽搂脽搂卯

搂脫搂脰搂脻搂脷搂茅搂脰搂茫搂盲搂脫搂脰搂脽搂脽搂脿, 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂颅搂脰搂脫 搂麓搂脿搂脻搂茫搂盲搂脿搂脹.

隆颅The hours hanged over, like coarse abuse,

after the fifth the sixth hour hanged over.

And from the sky some trash looked

majestically, like Leo Tolstoy.

In his poem Oblako v shtanakh (隆掳A Cloud in Trousers,隆卤 1915) Mayakovski asks the reader:

Vy dumaete, eto bredit malyariya?

You think malaria makes me delirious?

In the poem隆炉s Introduction Mayakovski says that he is twenty-two:

搂碌 搂脼搂脰搂脽搂帽 搂脫 搂脮搂氓搂锚搂脰 搂脽搂脷 搂脿搂脮搂脽搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂茫搂脰搂脮搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脫搂脿搂脻搂脿搂茫搂脩,
搂脷 搂茫搂盲搂脩搂芒搂茅搂脰搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脹 搂脽搂脰搂脴搂脽搂脿搂茫搂盲搂脷 搂脽搂脰搂盲 搂脫 搂脽搂脰搂脹!
搂庐搂脷搂芒 搂脿搂脭搂芒搂脿搂脼搂脷搂脫 搂脼搂脿搂毛搂卯搂冒 搂脭搂脿搂脻搂脿搂茫搂脩,
搂脷搂脮搂氓 隆陋 搂脺搂芒搂脩搂茫搂脷搂脫搂铆搂脹,
搂脮搂脫搂脩搂脮搂猫搂脩搂盲搂脷搂脮搂脫搂氓搂莽搂脻搂脰搂盲搂脽搂脷搂脹.

In my soul there is not a single gray hair,

and there is no senile tenderness in it!

Having made the world huge with my voice隆炉s power,

I walk 篓C handsome,

Twenty-two-year-old.

The action in LATH begins when Vadim (who seems to share with VN his birthday: April 23, 1899) is twenty-two or twenty-three:

Some time during the Easter Term of my last Cambridge year (1922) I happened to be consulted, "as a Russian," on certain niceties of make-up in an English version of Gogol's Inspector which the Glowworm Group, directed by Ivor Black, a fine amateur actor, intended to stage. He and I had the same tutor at Trinity, and he drove me to distraction with his tedious miming of the old man's mincing ways--a performance he kept up throughout most of our lunch at the Pitt. The brief business part turned out to be even less pleasant. Ivor Black wanted Gogol's Town Mayor to wear a dressing gown because "wasn't it merely the old rascal's nightmare and didn't Revizor, its Russian title, actually come from the French for 隆庐dream,' r篓潞ve?" I said I thought it a ghastly idea. (1.1)

Oblako (cloud) differs from yabloko (apple) only in the first letter. At the beginning of 隆掳Vernal Delirium隆卤 Maykov mentions v pochkakh yabloni (in buds the apple trees) and Egoriev den隆炉 (St. George隆炉s Day, April 23):

搂漏搂脮搂脿搂芒搂脿搂脫搂脿, 搂脼搂脷搂脻搂铆搂脹 搂脮搂芒搂氓搂脭! 搂脕 搂谩搂芒搂帽搂脼搂脿 搂脷搂脵 搂脮搂脰搂芒搂脰搂脫搂脽搂脷!
搂垄搂铆搂脻 搂盲搂芒搂脷 搂脮搂脽搂帽 搂脽搂脩 搂脺搂脿搂脽搂脰, 搂脮搂脫搂脰 搂脽搂脿搂茅搂脷 搂茫搂谩搂脩搂脻 搂脫 搂莽搂脩搂芒搂茅搂脰搂脫搂脽搂脰,
搂碌搂茫搂盲搂脩搂脻, 搂脷搂脵搂脼搂氓搂茅搂脷搂脻搂茫搂帽, 搂脽搂脿 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂帽 搂茫搂茅搂脩搂茫搂盲搂脻搂脷搂脫 搂脪搂铆搂脻,
搂陋 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂脽搂脩 搂茫搂茅搂脳搂盲 搂脺搂脿搂茫搂盲搂脰搂脹 搂帽 搂脮搂氓搂锚搂氓 搂脿搂茫搂脫搂脰搂脴搂脷搂脻!
搂碌搂脴 搂脫 搂谩搂脿搂茅搂脺搂脩搂莽 搂帽搂脪搂脻搂脿搂脽搂脷; 搂脴搂氓搂脴搂脴搂脩搂盲 搂脷 搂脫搂卯搂冒搂盲搂茫搂帽 搂谩搂茅搂脳搂脻搂铆;
搂碌搂脴 搂茫搂脫搂脰搂脴搂脰搂脹 搂盲搂芒搂脩搂脫搂脺搂脿搂冒 搂谩搂脿搂脮搂脳搂芒搂脽搂氓搂脻搂脩搂茫搂卯 搂脵搂脰搂脼搂脻搂帽...

搂拢搂茅搂脰搂芒搂脩 搂娄搂脭搂脿搂芒搂卯搂脰搂脫 搂脮搂脰搂脽搂卯 篓C 搂脺搂脩搂脺搂脿搂脹 搂脭搂氓搂芒搂卯搂脪搂脿搂脹 搂脫搂脰搂茫搂脳搂脻搂脿搂脹
搂楼搂脰搂芒搂脰搂脫搂脽搂帽 搂脫搂铆搂脭搂脽搂脩搂脻搂脩 搂茫搂盲搂脩搂脮搂脩 搂茫搂脫搂脿搂脷 搂脫 搂谩搂脿搂脻搂帽!

In his poem Ne zhaleyu, ne zovu, ne plachu隆颅 (隆掳I don隆炉t regret, I don隆炉t call, I don隆炉t weep隆颅隆卤 1921) Esenin (Mayakovski隆炉s main rival) says that everything will pass away, kak s belykh yablon隆炉 dym (like smoke off the white apple-trees) and that he will never be young again. Vadim隆炉s surname (never mentioned in LATH) seems to be Yablonski. As Vadim himself points out, his name and patronymic, Vadim Vadimovich, sounds like Vladimir Vladimirovich (VN隆炉s name and patronymic) in a rapid and slurry Russian mispronunciation. At the end of his poem O pravitelyakh (隆掳On Rulers,隆卤 1944) VN mentions his 隆掳late namesake:隆卤

搂卤搂脿搂脺搂脿搂脹搂脽搂铆搂脹 搂脼搂脿搂脹 搂盲搂脳搂脵搂脺搂脩,

搂谩搂脷搂茫搂脩搂脫搂锚搂脷搂脹 搂茫搂盲搂脷搂莽搂脷 搂脷 搂脫 搂谩搂脿搂脻搂脿搂茫搂脺搂氓,

搂脷 搂脫 搂脺搂脻搂脰搂盲搂脺搂氓, 搂脽搂脩 搂茫搂脩搂脼搂脿搂脼 搂脫搂脿搂茫搂莽搂脿搂脮搂脰

搂脫搂茫搂脰搂茫搂脿搂冒搂脵搂脽搂脿-搂脼搂脰搂毛搂脩搂脽搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脺搂脻搂脩搂茫搂茫搂脩,

搂脺搂脩搂脪搂铆 搂脮搂脿搂脴搂脷搂脻 搂脮搂脿 搂谩搂脿搂脻搂脮搂脽搂帽,

搂脽搂铆搂脽搂茅搂脰 搂脪搂铆 搂芒搂脷搂忙搂脼搂铆 搂脽搂脩搂盲搂帽搂脭搂脷搂脫搂脩搂脻

搂脽搂脩 "搂脼搂脿搂脽搂氓搂脼搂脰搂脽搂盲搂脩搂脻搂脰搂脽",

搂脽搂脩 "搂谩搂脰搂芒搂脰搂谩搂脰搂芒搂茅搂脷搂脻"

搂脷 搂盲搂脩搂脺 搂脮搂脩搂脻搂脰搂脰.

If my late namesake,

who used to write verse, in rank

and in file, at the very dawn

of the Soviet Small-Bourgeois order,

had lived till its noon

he would be now finding taut rhymes

such as 隆掳praline隆卤

or 隆掳air chill,隆卤

and others of the same kind.

VN隆炉s footnotes: Line 52/my late namesake. An allusion to the Christian name and patronymic of Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovski (1893篓C1930), minor Soviet poet, endowed with a certain brilliance and bite, but fatally corrupted by the regime he faithfully served. Lines 58篓C59/隆掳praline隆卤 隆颅 隆掳air chill.隆卤 In the original, monumentalen, meaning 隆掳[he is] monumental隆卤 rhymes pretty closely with Stalin; and pereperchil, meaning 隆掳[he] put in too much pepper,隆卤 offers an ingenuous correspondence with the name of the British politician in a slovenly Russian pronunciation (隆掳chair-chill隆卤).

At the beginning of his essay on Mayakovski, Dekol隆炉tirovannaya loshad隆炉 (隆掳The Horse in a D篓娄collett篓娄 Dress,隆卤 1927), Hodasevich mentions a horse that was dressed to imitate an old Englishwoman and that he saw in a circus in the fall of 1912:

搂卤搂芒搂脰搂脮搂茫搂盲搂脩搂脫搂卯搂盲搂脰 搂茫搂脰搂脪搂脰 搂脻搂脿搂锚搂脩搂脮搂卯, 搂脷搂脵搂脿搂脪搂芒搂脩搂脴搂脩搂冒搂毛搂氓搂冒 搂茫搂盲搂脩搂芒搂氓搂冒 搂脩搂脽搂脭搂脻搂脷搂茅搂脩搂脽搂脺搂氓. 搂拢 搂脮搂脩搂脼搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脹 搂锚搂脻搂帽搂谩搂脺搂脰, 搂茫 搂猫搂脫搂脰搂盲搂脩搂脼搂脷 搂脷 搂谩搂脰搂芒搂卯搂帽搂脼搂脷, 搂脫 搂芒搂脿搂脵搂脿搂脫搂脿搂脼 搂谩搂脻搂脩搂盲搂卯搂脰, 搂茫 搂脺搂脿搂芒搂脿搂盲搂脺搂脷搂脼搂脷 搂芒搂氓搂脺搂脩搂脫搂脩搂脼搂脷 搂脷 搂茫 搂芒搂脿搂脵搂脿搂脫搂铆搂脼 搂芒搂冒搂锚搂脰搂脼 搂脫搂脿搂脺搂芒搂氓搂脭 搂脭搂脷搂脭搂脩搂脽搂盲搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脫搂脿搂芒搂脿搂脽搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脮搂脰搂脺搂脿搂脻搂卯搂盲搂茂, 搂脿搂脽搂脩 搂莽搂脿搂脮搂脷搂盲 搂脽搂脩 搂脵搂脩搂脮搂脽搂脷搂莽 搂脽搂脿搂脭搂脩搂莽, 搂脽搂脰搂脻搂脰搂谩搂脿 搂脫搂铆搂盲搂帽搂脭搂脷搂脫搂脩搂帽 搂脪搂脰搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脽搂脰搂茅搂脽搂氓搂冒 搂锚搂脰搂冒 搂脷 搂茫搂脺搂脩搂脻搂帽 搂脴搂脳搂脻搂盲搂铆搂脰 搂脵搂氓搂脪搂铆.

搂麓搂脩搂脺搂氓搂冒 搂脻搂脿搂锚搂脩搂脮搂卯 搂帽 搂脫搂脷搂脮搂脰搂脻 搂脫 搂猫搂脷搂芒搂脺搂脰 搂脿搂茫搂脰搂脽搂卯搂冒 1912 搂脭搂脿搂脮搂脩. 搂拢搂脰搂芒搂脿搂帽搂盲搂脽搂脿, 搂帽 搂脫搂茫搂脺搂脿搂芒搂脰 搂脵搂脩搂脪搂铆搂脻 搂脪搂铆 搂脰搂脳, 搂脰搂茫搂脻搂脷 搂脪搂铆 搂脽搂脰搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脻搂卯搂脺搂脿 搂脮搂脽搂脰搂脹 搂茫搂谩搂氓搂茫搂盲搂帽, 搂谩搂芒搂脷搂脮搂帽 搂脫 搂掳搂脪搂毛搂脰搂茫搂盲搂脫搂脿 搂茫搂脫搂脿搂脪搂脿搂脮搂脽搂脿搂脹 搂茂搂茫搂盲搂脰搂盲搂脷搂脺搂脷, 搂脽搂脰 搂氓搂脫搂脷搂脮搂脰搂脻 搂盲搂脩搂脼 搂脿搂脭搂芒搂脿搂脼搂脽搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂冒搂脽搂脿搂锚搂氓 搂茫 搂脻搂脿搂锚搂脩搂脮搂脷搂脽搂铆搂脼搂脷 搂茅搂脰搂脻搂冒搂茫搂盲搂帽搂脼搂脷, 搂脫 搂茅搂脳搂芒搂脽搂脿搂脹 搂芒搂氓搂脪搂脩搂莽搂脰, 搂芒搂脩搂茫搂茫搂盲搂脳搂脭搂脽搂氓搂盲搂脿搂脹 搂茅搂氓搂盲搂卯 搂脻搂脷 搂脽搂脰 搂脮搂脿 搂谩搂脿搂帽搂茫搂脩 搂脷 搂脿搂脪搂脽搂脩搂脴搂脩搂脫搂锚搂脰搂脹 搂脭搂脷搂脭搂脩搂脽搂盲搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脰 搂脻搂脿搂锚搂脩搂脮搂脷搂脽搂脿搂脰 搂脮搂脰搂脺搂脿搂脻搂卯搂盲搂茂. 搂卢搂脩搂冒搂茫搂卯: 搂谩搂芒搂脿搂脵搂脫搂脷搂毛搂脰 "搂脮搂脰搂脺搂脿搂脻搂卯搂盲搂脷搂芒搂脿搂脫搂脩搂脽搂脽搂脩搂帽 搂脻搂脿搂锚搂脩搂脮搂卯" 搂脽搂脩搂脮搂脿搂脻搂脭搂脿 搂茫 搂盲搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脫搂脰搂茅搂脰搂芒搂脩 搂氓搂盲搂脫搂脰搂芒搂脮搂脷搂脻搂脿搂茫搂卯 搂脵搂脩 搂冒搂脽搂脿搂锚搂脰搂脹... 搂隆 搂冒搂脽搂脿搂锚搂脩 搂茂搂盲搂脿搂盲 搂脪搂铆搂脻 搂拢搂脻搂脩搂脮搂脷搂脼搂脷搂芒 搂庐搂脩搂帽搂脺搂脿搂脫搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脹. 搂驴搂盲搂脿 搂脪搂铆搂脻搂脿 搂脰搂脭搂脿 搂谩搂脰搂芒搂脫搂脿搂脰 搂谩搂脿搂帽搂脫搂脻搂脰搂脽搂脷搂脰 搂脫 搂脻搂脷搂盲搂脰搂芒搂脩搂盲搂氓搂芒搂脽搂脿搂脹 搂茫搂芒搂脰搂脮搂脰, 搂脷搂脻搂脷 搂脿搂脮搂脽搂脿 搂脷搂脵 搂谩搂脰搂芒搂脫搂铆搂莽. 搂鲁 搂盲搂脰搂莽 搂谩搂脿搂芒 搂脻搂脿搂锚搂脩搂脮搂脷搂脽搂脿搂脹 搂谩搂脿搂茫搂盲搂氓搂谩搂卯搂冒 搂谩搂芒搂脿搂锚搂脰搂脻 搂脿搂脽 搂谩搂脿 搂芒搂氓搂茫搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脹 搂脻搂脷搂盲搂脰搂芒搂脩搂盲搂氓搂芒搂脰 -- 搂脷 搂脽搂铆搂脽搂脰, 搂茫搂脮搂脩搂脳搂盲搂茫搂帽 搂脼搂脽搂脰, 搂茫搂盲搂脿搂脷搂盲 搂氓搂脴搂脰 搂谩搂芒搂脷 搂脺搂脿搂脽搂猫搂脰 搂茫搂脫搂脿搂脰搂脭搂脿 搂谩搂氓搂盲搂脷. 搂卤搂帽搂盲搂脽搂脩搂脮搂猫搂脩搂盲搂卯 搂脻搂脰搂盲 -- 搂脻搂脿搂锚搂脩搂脮搂脷搂脽搂铆搂脹 搂脫搂脰搂脺.

Describing his trip to Leningrad in the late nineteen-sixties, Vadim mentions an Iranian circus company:

In order to draw out my neighbor before he and his riddle vanished, I asked him, in French, if he knew anything about a picturesque group that had boarded our aircraft in Moscow. He replied, with a Parisian grasseyement, that they were, he believed, Iranian circus people touring Europe. The men looked like harlequins in mufti, the women like birds of paradise, the children like golden medallions, and there was one dark-haired pale beauty in black bolero and yellow sharovars who reminded me of Iris or a prototype of Iris.

"I hope," I said, "we'll see them perform in Leningrad."

"Pouf!" he rejoined. "They can't compete with our Soviet circus."

I noted the automatic "our." (5.2)

Esenin is the author of Persidskie motivy (隆掳Persian Motifs,隆卤 1925), a cycle of fifteen poems. The first of Vadim隆炉s three or four successive wives, Iris Black is English. Vadim visits Leningrad in the hope to find his daughter Bel. Isabel (Bel隆炉s full name) and her friend Dora (a lame lady whom Vadim meets in Leningrad) bring to mind Isadora Duncan (one of Esenin隆炉s wives). According to Dora, as a girl she dreamt of becoming a female clown, Madame Byron or Trek Trek. In his poem Vozvrashchenie na rodinu (隆掳Coming Back to my Native Land,隆卤 1924) Esenin mentions a little dog that greeted him po-bayronovski (篓陇 la Byron) with barks at the gate:

搂卤搂脿-搂脪搂脩搂脹搂芒搂脿搂脽搂脿搂脫搂茫搂脺搂脷 搂脽搂脩搂锚搂脩 搂茫搂脿搂脪搂脩搂茅搂脿搂脽搂脺搂脩
搂庐搂脰搂脽搂帽 搂脫搂茫搂盲搂芒搂脰搂茅搂脩搂脻搂脩 搂茫 搂脻搂脩搂脰搂脼 搂氓 搂脫搂脿搂芒搂脿搂盲.

In one of her poems Vadim隆炉s daughter Bel mentions 隆掳M篓娄dor, a dead dog:隆卤

There is a hollow of dimness again in the sequence, but it must have been soon after that, in the same motor court, or in the next, on the way home, that she slipped into my room at dawn, and sat down on my bed隆陋move your legs隆陋in her pyjama top to read me another poem:

In the dark basement, I stroked

the silky head of a wolf.

When the light returned

and all cried: "Ah!,"

it turned out to be only

M篓娄dor, a dead dog.

I again praised her talent, and kissed her more warmly, perhaps, than the poem deserved; for, actually, I found it rather obscure, but did not say so, and presently she yawned and fell asleep on my bed, a practice I usually did not tolerate. Today, however, on rereading those strange lines, I see through their starry crystal the tremendous commentary I could write about them, with galaxies of reference marks and footnotes like the reflections of brightly lit bridges spanning black water. But my daughter's soul is hers, and my soul is mine, and may Hamlet Godman rot in peace. (4.3)

Hamlet Godman is a charlatan critic in Vadim隆炉s novel See under Real (1939) that corresponds to VN隆炉s novel The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (1941). The characters of TRLSK include Mr. Goodman, the author of The Tragedy of Sebastian Knight. According to Vadim, Baroness Bredow wanted him to invent reality.

The dog in Bel隆炉s poem brings to mind a tombstone inscription mentioned by Vadim in his conversation with Iris:

"Splendid. We continue to walk toward the garden gate. Intervals of landscape can be made out between the plane trees on both sides. On your right隆陋please, close your eyes, you will see better隆陋on your right there's a vineyard; on your left, a churchyard隆陋you can distinguish its long, low, very low, wall隆陋"

"You make it sound rather creepy. And I want to add something. Among the blackberries, Ivor and I discovered a crooked old tombstone with the inscription Dors, M篓娄dor! and only the date of death, 1889; a found dog, no doubt. It's just before the last tree on the left side." (1.8)

In Chapter Five of Eugene Onegin Pushkin describes Tatiana隆炉s name-day party and mentions an air to children known: 隆掳R篓娄veillez-vous, belle endormie隆卤 (XXVII: 7-8). In Chapter Two (XXXVII) of EO Lenski visits the grave of Dmitri Larin (Tatiana隆炉s and Olga隆炉s father) and mournfully utters: 隆掳Poor Yorick!隆卤 (Pushkin隆炉s note: 隆掳Hamlet隆炉s exclamation over the skull of the fool, see Shakespeare and Sterne隆卤).

Mayakovski is the author Vot tak ya sdelalsya sobakoy (隆掳This is How I Became a Dog,隆卤 1915), Esenin is the author Sobake Kachalova (隆掳To Kachalov隆炉s Dog,隆卤 1925). Both Mayakovski in his 隆掳Cloud in Trousers隆卤 and Esenin in his 隆掳Coming Back to my Native Land隆卤 mention their sisters. The three of Vadim隆炉s three or four successive wives (Iris Black, Annette Blagovo and Louise Adamson) seem to be his half-sisters. Btw., one of Esenin隆炉s wives, Sofia Tolstoy, was Leo Tolstoy隆炉s grand-daughter.

oblako + Neva/vena/Vena + krin = Nabokov + arlekin

oblako + Yablonski = yabloko + Oblonski

vena 篓C vein

Vena 篓C Russian name of Vienna

krin 篓C obs., lily; in Shengeli隆炉s sonnet Pustynnik (隆掳The Hermit隆卤) nezrimyi rayskiy krin (the invisible paradise lily) ronyaet yabloki (sheds apples)!

Oblonski 篓C Stiva Oblonski, a character in Tolstoy隆炉s Anna Karenin (1877), Anna Arkadievna隆炉s brother

Alexey Sklyarenko