Describing Victor Vitry隆炉s film version of his novel Letters from Terra, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in Ada) mentions horses who wore hats because of the hot weather:
Vitry dated Theresa隆炉s visit to Antiterra as taking place in 1940, but 1940 by the Terranean calendar, and about 1890 by ours. The conceit allowed certain pleasing dips into the modes and manners of our past (did you remember that horses wore hats 隆陋 yes, hats 隆陋 when heat waves swept Manhattan?) and gave the impression 隆陋 which physics-fiction literature had much exploited 隆陋 of the capsulist traveling backward in terms of time. Philosophers asked nasty questions, but were ignored by the wishing-to-be-gulled moviegoers. (5.5)
Horses wearing hats bring to mind Dekol隆炉tirovannaya loshad隆炉 (隆掳The Horse in a D篓娄collet篓娄 Dress,隆卤 1927), Hodasevich隆炉s essay on Mayakovski. In his essay Hodasevich mentions vitrina nemetskogo magazina (the shop window of a German shop in Moscow):
"搂庐搂脩搂帽搂脺搂脿搂脫搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脹 -- 搂谩搂脿搂茂搂盲 搂芒搂脩搂脪搂脿搂茅搂脰搂脭搂脿 搂脺搂脻搂脩搂茫搂茫搂脩". 搂拢搂脵搂脮搂脿搂芒. 搂垄搂铆搂脻 搂脷 搂脿搂茫搂盲搂脩搂脻搂茫搂帽 搂谩搂脿搂茂搂盲搂脿搂脼 搂谩搂脿搂脮搂脿搂脽搂脺搂脿搂脫, 搂脪搂脰搂脵搂脮搂脰搂脻搂卯搂脽搂脷搂脺搂脿搂脫, 搂脪搂脿搂茫搂帽搂脺搂脿搂脫 搂谩搂芒搂脿搂茫搂盲搂脿 搂脷 "搂脪搂脿搂茫搂帽搂脺搂脿搂脫 搂脮搂氓搂莽搂脿搂脫搂脽搂铆搂莽". 搂垄搂铆搂脻 搂盲搂脩搂脺搂脷搂脼 搂谩搂脰搂芒搂脰搂脮 搂脫搂脿搂脹搂脽搂脿搂脹, 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩 搂脫搂脿搂茫搂莽搂脷搂毛搂脩搂脻 搂脷 "搂谩搂氓搂脴搂脩搂脻" 搂谩搂脿搂脮搂脿搂脽搂脺搂脷 搂脷搂脽搂盲搂脰搂脻搂脻搂脷搂脭搂脰搂脽搂猫搂脷搂脷 搂脷 搂脪搂氓搂芒搂脴搂氓搂脩搂脵搂脷搂脷, 搂脫搂铆搂脺搂芒搂脷搂脺搂脷搂脫搂脩搂帽 搂脪搂芒搂脩搂脽搂卯 搂脷 搂谩搂脿搂莽搂脩搂脪搂毛搂脷搂脽搂氓 搂茫 搂茂搂茫搂盲搂芒搂脩搂脮搂铆 搂卤搂脿搂脻搂脷搂盲搂脰搂莽搂脽搂脷搂茅搂脰搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脼搂氓搂脵搂脰搂帽. 搂陋 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩, 搂脫 搂脽搂脩搂茅搂脩搂脻搂脰 搂脫搂脿搂脹搂脽搂铆, 搂茫搂脿搂茅搂脷搂脽搂帽搂脻 搂谩搂脿搂脮搂谩搂脷搂茫搂脷 搂脺 搂脽搂脰搂脼搂猫搂脰搂脰搂脮搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脼 搂脻搂氓搂脪搂脺搂脩搂脼, 搂脫搂芒搂脿搂脮搂脰 搂脵搂脽搂脩搂脼搂脰搂脽搂脷搂盲搂脿搂脭搂脿:
搂鲁 搂脺搂芒搂脷搂脺搂脿搂脼: "搂楼搂脰搂脹搂茅搂脻搂脩搂脽搂脮 搂冒搂脪搂脰搂芒 搂脩搂脻搂脻搂脰搂茫!" -
搂炉搂脰搂脼搂猫搂铆 搂茫 搂谩搂脿搂脻搂帽 搂氓搂脪搂脷搂芒搂脩搂脻搂脷搂茫搂卯.
搂陋 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩, 搂脪搂脷搂帽 搂茫搂脰搂脪搂帽 搂脫 搂脭搂芒搂氓搂脮搂卯, 搂谩搂脩搂盲搂芒搂脷搂脿搂盲搂脷搂茅搂脰搂茫搂脺搂脷 搂脿搂芒搂脩搂盲搂脿搂芒搂茫搂盲搂脫搂脿搂脫搂脩搂脻 搂氓 搂谩搂脩搂脼搂帽搂盲搂脽搂脷搂脺搂脩 搂鲁搂脺搂脿搂脪搂脰搂脻搂脰搂脫搂氓, 搂谩搂脰搂芒搂脰搂脮 搂脭搂脰搂脽搂脰搂芒搂脩搂脻-搂脭搂氓搂脪搂脰搂芒搂脽搂脩搂盲搂脿搂芒搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脼 搂脮搂脿搂脼搂脿搂脼, 搂盲搂脩搂脼, 搂脭搂脮搂脰 搂盲搂脰搂谩搂脰搂芒搂卯 搂谩搂脩搂脼搂帽搂盲搂脽搂脷搂脺 搂掳搂脺搂盲搂帽搂脪搂芒搂冒 搂脷 搂脼搂脿搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脫搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脹 搂茫搂脿搂脫搂脮搂脰搂谩! 搂陋 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩 搂茅搂脷搂盲搂脩搂脻 搂脺搂芒搂脿搂脫搂脿搂脴搂脩搂脮搂脽搂铆搂脰 搂茫搂盲搂脷搂莽搂脷:
搂掳 搂谩搂脩搂脽搂盲搂脩搂脻搂脿搂脽搂铆 搂脫搂脰搂脽搂茫搂脺搂脷搂莽 搂脺搂脿搂脺搂脿搂盲搂脿搂脺
搂拢搂铆搂盲搂芒搂脰搂脼 搂脽搂脩搂锚搂脷 搂锚搂盲搂铆搂脺搂脷! --
搂茂搂盲搂氓 搂谩搂脿搂脵搂脿搂芒搂脽搂氓搂冒 搂脽搂脰搂茅搂脩搂帽搂脽搂脽搂氓搂冒 搂谩搂脩搂芒搂脿搂脮搂脷搂冒 搂脽搂脩 搂颅搂脰搂芒搂脼搂脿搂脽搂盲搂脿搂脫搂脩:
搂炉搂脰 搂茫搂脼搂脰搂冒搂盲, 搂茅搂盲搂脿 搂脻搂脷, 搂脺搂脿搂脼搂脩搂脽搂脮搂脷搂芒搂铆
搂鹿搂氓搂脴搂脷搂脰 搂脷搂脵搂脿搂芒搂脫搂脩搂盲搂卯 搂脼搂氓搂脽搂脮搂脷搂芒搂铆
搂掳 搂芒搂氓搂茫搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脰 搂锚搂盲搂铆搂脺搂脷?
搂陋 搂谩搂脰搂脫搂猫搂脿搂脼 搂谩搂脿搂脭搂芒搂脿搂脼搂毛搂脷搂脺搂脿搂脫 搂脪搂铆搂脻 搂脿搂脽, 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩 搂脫搂脿搂脮搂脷搂脻 搂脿搂芒搂脮搂氓 搂莽搂氓搂脻搂脷搂脭搂脩搂脽搂脿搂脫 搂脭搂脰搂芒搂脿搂脷搂茅搂脰搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脼 搂谩搂芒搂脷搂茫搂盲搂氓搂谩搂脿搂脼 搂脪搂芒搂脩搂盲搂卯 搂脽搂脰搂脼搂脰搂猫搂脺搂脷搂脰 搂脼搂脩搂脭搂脩搂脵搂脷搂脽搂铆. 搂陋 搂脿搂茫搂盲搂脩搂脻搂茫搂帽 搂脷搂脼, 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩, 搂谩搂脿搂茫搂脻搂脰 搂掳搂脺搂盲搂帽搂脪搂芒搂帽, 搂谩搂脷搂茫搂脩搂脻 搂脵搂脽搂脩搂脼搂脰搂脽搂脷搂盲搂铆搂脹 搂脼搂脩搂芒搂锚: "搂颅搂脰搂脫搂脿搂脹, 搂脻搂脰搂脫搂脿搂脹!" (搂脼搂氓搂脵搂铆搂脺搂脩 搂隆. 搂颅搂氓搂芒搂卯搂脰).
搂卤搂脩搂忙搂脿搂茫 搂谩搂脿搂脭搂芒搂脿搂脼搂脩 搂脷 搂脼搂脿搂芒搂脮搂脿搂脪搂脿搂帽 -- 搂脫搂脿搂盲 搂脷搂茫搂盲搂脷搂脽搂脽搂铆搂脹 搂谩搂脩搂忙搂脿搂茫 搂庐搂脩搂帽搂脺搂脿搂脫搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脿. 搂隆 搂脽搂脩 搂茅搂盲搂脿 搂脿搂脪搂芒搂氓搂锚搂脷搂脫搂脩搂脰搂盲搂茫搂帽 搂谩搂脿搂脭搂芒搂脿搂脼, 搂脰搂脼搂氓 搂脪搂铆搂脻搂脿 搂脷 搂脰搂茫搂盲搂卯 搂脫搂茫搂脳 搂芒搂脩搂脫搂脽搂脿: 搂脫搂脰搂脽搂茫搂脺搂脩搂帽 搂脻搂脷 搂脺搂脿搂脺搂脿搂盲搂脺搂脩, 搂脫搂脷搂盲搂芒搂脷搂脽搂脩 搂脻搂脷 搂脽搂脰搂脼搂脰搂猫搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脼搂脩搂脭搂脩搂脵搂脷搂脽搂脩 搂脫 搂庐搂脿搂茫搂脺搂脫搂脰, 搂茫搂莽搂脫搂脩搂茅搂脰搂脽搂脽搂铆搂脹 搂脻搂脷 搂脵搂脩 搂脭搂脿搂芒搂脻搂脿 搂脪搂氓搂芒搂脴搂氓搂脹 -- 搂盲搂脿搂脻搂卯搂脺搂脿 搂脪搂铆 搂盲搂脿搂盲, 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂脽搂脩搂脮搂脿 搂脭搂芒搂脿搂脼搂脷搂盲搂卯.
According to Hodasevich, Mayakovski隆炉s blood-thirsty verses 隆掳Let隆炉s wipe our bayonets on the knickers of Viennese cocottes隆卤 is a shameful parody of the lines in Lermontov隆炉s Borodino: 隆掳Daren't the commanders rip foreign uniforms on Russian bayonets?" In Borodino Lermontov mentions koni, lyudi (horses, men):
搂漏搂脰搂脼搂脻搂帽 搂盲搂芒搂帽搂茫搂脻搂脩搂茫搂卯 - 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂脽搂脩搂锚搂脷 搂脭搂芒搂氓搂脮搂脷,
搂鲁搂脼搂脰搂锚搂脩搂脻搂脷搂茫搂卯 搂脫 搂脺搂氓搂茅搂氓 搂脺搂脿搂脽搂脷, 搂脻搂冒搂脮搂脷
As did our chests 篓C earth's hollows trembled;
The steeds, the men all disassembled.
In the old Russian alphabet the letter L (Lermontov隆炉s initial) was called lyudi. In his poem Yubileynoe (隆掳The Anniversary Poem,隆卤 1924) Mayakovski points out that his name begins with an M, says that after his death he and Pushkin will stand almost beside each other and mentions Nadson and Nekrasov (the poets who in the alphabet are between Mayakovski and Pushkin):
搂卤搂脿搂茫搂脻搂脰 搂茫搂脼搂脰搂芒搂盲搂脷
搂脽搂脩搂脼
搂茫搂盲搂脿搂帽搂盲搂卯 搂谩搂脿搂茅搂盲搂脷 搂茅搂盲搂脿 搂芒搂帽搂脮搂脿搂脼:
搂脫搂铆 搂脽搂脩 搂卤搂脰,
搂脩 搂帽
搂脽搂脩 搂茂搂庐.
搂卢搂盲搂脿 搂脼搂脰搂脴 搂脽搂脩搂脼搂脷?
搂茫 搂脺搂脰搂脼 搂脫搂脰搂脻搂脷搂盲搂脰 搂脵搂脽搂脩搂盲搂卯搂茫搂帽?!
搂鹿搂脰搂芒搂脰搂茫搂茅搂氓搂芒
搂茫搂盲搂芒搂脩搂脽搂脩 搂脼搂脿搂帽
搂谩搂脿搂茂搂盲搂脩搂脼搂脷 搂脽搂脷搂毛搂脩.
搂庐搂脰搂脴搂脮搂氓 搂脽搂脩搂脼搂脷
- 搂脫搂脿搂盲 搂脪搂脰搂脮搂脩 -
搂谩搂脿搂脵搂脩搂盲搂脰搂茫搂脩搂脻搂茫搂帽 搂炉搂脩搂脮搂茫搂脿搂脽
搂庐搂铆 搂谩搂脿搂谩搂芒搂脿搂茫搂脷搂脼,
搂茅搂盲搂脿搂脪 搂脰搂脭搂脿
搂脺搂氓搂脮搂脩-搂脽搂脷搂脪搂氓搂脮搂卯
搂脽搂脩 搂禄搂脩!
搂隆 搂炉搂脰搂脺搂芒搂脩搂茫搂脿搂脫
搂卢搂脿搂脻搂帽,
搂茫搂铆搂脽 搂谩搂脿搂脺搂脿搂脹搂脽搂脿搂脭搂脿 搂隆搂脻搂脳搂锚搂脷,-
搂脿搂脽 搂脷 搂脫 搂脺搂脩搂芒搂盲搂铆,
搂脿搂脽 搂脷 搂脫 搂茫搂盲搂脷搂莽,
搂脷 搂盲搂脩搂脺
搂脽搂脰搂谩搂脻搂脿搂莽 搂脽搂脩 搂脫搂脷搂脮.
搂漏搂脽搂脩搂脰搂盲搂脰 搂脰搂脭搂脿?
搂脫搂脿搂盲 搂脿搂脽
搂脼搂氓搂脴搂脷搂脺 搂莽搂脿搂芒搂脿搂锚搂脷搂脹.
搂驴搂盲搂脿搂盲
搂脽搂脩搂脼 搂脺搂脿搂脼搂谩搂脩搂脽搂脷搂帽 -
搂谩搂氓搂茫搂脺搂脩搂脹 搂茫搂盲搂脿搂脷搂盲.
Nekrasov is the author of Korobeyniki (隆掳The Peddlers,隆卤 1861). The characters in Ilf and Petrov隆炉s novel Dvenadtsat隆炉 stulyev (隆掳The Twelve Chairs,隆卤 1928) include Varfolomey Korobeynikov, the compiler of the Mirror of Life Index. Alfavit 篓C zerkalo zhizni (the Mirror of Life Index) brings to mind Flavita, as the Russian Scrabble is called on Antiterra (aka Demonia, Earth隆炉s twin planet on which Ada is set). Describing Flavita, Van mentions 隆庐Madhatters:隆炉
That was why she [Ada] admitted 隆庐Flavita.隆炉 The name came from alfavit, an old Russian game of chance and skill, based on the scrambling and unscrambling of alphabetic letters. It was fashionable throughout Estoty and Canady around 1790, was revived by the 隆庐Madhatters隆炉 (as the inhabitants of New Amsterdam were once called) in the beginning of the nineteenth century, made a great comeback, after a brief slump, around 1860, and now a century later seems to be again in vogue, so I am told, under the name of 隆庐Scrabble,隆炉 invented by some genius quite independently from its original form or forms. (1.36)
Alfavit is Russian for 隆掳alphabet.隆卤 Zerkalo (mirror) brings to mind Lewis Carroll隆炉s Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1872). The characters in Lewis Carroll隆炉s Alice隆炉s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) include the Hatter who is sometimes called 隆掳the Mad Hatter.隆卤 At a Mad Tea-Party the Dormouse (a character in Alice隆炉s Adventures in Wonderland) tells a story about three little sisters who lived at the bottom of a well and drew everything that begins with an M:
'They were learning to draw,' the Dormouse went on, yawning and rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; 'and they drew all manner of things 隆陋 everything that begins with an M 隆陋 '
'Why with an M?' said Alice.
'Why not?' said the March Hare.
Alice was silent.
The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: ' 隆陋 that begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness 隆陋 you know you say things are "much of a muchness" 隆陋 did you ever see such a thing as a drawing of a muchness?
In VN隆炉s Russian version of Alice隆炉s Adventures in Wonderland, Anya v strane chudes (1923), the sisters drew not memory (in Russian, pamyat隆炉), but mysli (thoughts):
- 搂掳搂脽搂脷 搂氓搂茅搂脷搂脻搂脷搂茫搂卯 搂茅搂脰搂芒搂谩搂脩搂盲搂卯 搂脷 搂茅搂脰搂芒搂盲搂脷搂盲搂卯, - 搂谩搂芒搂脿搂脮搂脿搂脻搂脴搂脩搂脻 搂脿搂脽, 搂脵搂脰搂脫搂脩搂帽 搂脷 搂谩搂芒搂脿搂盲搂脷搂芒搂脩搂帽 搂脭搂脻搂脩搂脵搂脩 (搂脰搂脼搂氓 搂脽搂脩搂茅搂脷搂脽搂脩搂脻搂脿 搂莽搂脿搂盲搂脰搂盲搂卯搂茫搂帽 搂茫搂谩搂脩搂盲搂卯), - 搂茅搂脰搂芒搂谩搂脩搂脻搂脷 搂脷 搂茅搂脰搂芒搂盲搂脷搂脻搂脷 搂脫搂茫搂帽搂脺搂脷搂脰 搂脫搂脰搂毛搂脷, 搂脫搂茫搂脳, 搂茅搂盲搂脿 搂脽搂脩搂茅搂脷搂脽搂脩搂脰搂盲搂茫搂帽 搂茫 搂脪搂氓搂脺搂脫搂铆 搂庐.
- 搂掳搂盲搂茅搂脰搂脭搂脿 搂脷搂脼搂脰搂脽搂脽搂脿 搂茫 搂庐.? - 搂茫搂谩搂芒搂脿搂茫搂脷搂脻搂脩 搂隆搂脽搂帽.
- 搂掳搂盲搂茅搂脰搂脭搂脿 搂脪搂铆 搂脽搂脰搂盲? - 搂茫搂脺搂脩搂脵搂脩搂脻 搂庐搂脩搂芒搂盲搂脿搂脫搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脹 搂漏搂脩搂帽搂猫.
搂庐搂脰搂脴 搂盲搂脰搂脼 搂鲁搂脿搂脽搂帽 搂脵搂脩搂脺搂芒搂铆搂脻 搂脭搂脻搂脩搂脵搂脩 搂脷 搂脽搂脰搂脵搂脩搂脼搂脰搂盲搂脽搂脿 搂脵搂脩搂脮搂芒搂脰搂脼搂脩搂脻; 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩 搂脴搂脰 搂潞搂脻搂帽搂谩搂脽搂脷搂脺 搂脰搂脭搂脿 搂莽搂脿搂芒搂脿搂锚搂脰搂脽搂卯搂脺搂脿 搂氓搂毛搂脷搂谩搂脽搂氓搂脻, 搂脿搂脽 搂谩搂芒搂脿搂茫搂脽搂氓搂脻搂茫搂帽 搂茫 搂盲搂脿搂脽搂脰搂脽搂卯搂脺搂脷搂脼 搂脫搂脷搂脵搂脭搂脿搂脼 搂脷 搂茫搂脺搂脿搂芒搂脿搂脭搂脿搂脫搂脿搂芒搂脺搂脿搂脹 搂谩搂芒搂脿搂脮搂脿搂脻搂脴搂脩搂脻:
- ...搂茫 搂脪搂氓搂脺搂脫搂铆 搂庐., 搂脺搂脩搂脺, 搂脽搂脩搂谩搂芒搂脷搂脼搂脰搂芒, 搂脼搂铆搂锚搂脰搂脻搂脿搂脫搂脺搂脷, 搂脼搂脰搂茫搂帽搂猫, 搂脷 搂脼搂铆搂茫搂脻搂脷, 搂脷 搂脼搂脩搂脻搂脿搂脫搂脩搂盲搂脿搂茫搂盲搂脷... 搂脫搂脷搂脮搂脰搂脻搂脷 搂脻搂脷 搂脫搂铆 搂脺搂脿搂脭搂脮搂脩-搂脽搂脷搂脪搂氓搂脮搂卯 搂茅搂脰搂芒搂盲搂脳搂脴 搂脼搂脩搂脻搂脿搂脫搂脩搂盲搂脿搂茫搂盲搂脷?
In a letter of Oct. 4-6, 1888, to Suvorin Chekhov says that he is cross with Russkaya mysl隆炉 (隆掳Russian Thought,隆卤 a literary magazine, 1880-1918) and with the entire Moscow literature:
搂鹿搂盲搂脿 搂脴搂脰 搂脺搂脩搂茫搂脩搂脰搂盲搂茫搂帽 «搂虏搂氓搂茫搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脹 搂脼搂铆搂茫搂脻搂脷», 搂盲搂脿 搂盲搂脩搂脼 搂茫搂脷搂脮搂帽搂盲 搂脽搂脰 搂脻搂脷搂盲搂脰搂芒搂脩搂盲搂脿搂芒搂铆, 搂脩 搂脺搂脿搂谩搂茅搂脳搂脽搂铆搂脰 搂茫搂脷搂脭搂脷, 搂脺搂脿搂盲搂脿搂芒搂铆搂脰 搂茫搂盲搂脿搂脻搂卯搂脺搂脿 搂脴搂脰 搂谩搂脿搂脽搂脷搂脼搂脩搂冒搂盲 搂脫 搂脻搂脷搂盲搂脰搂芒搂脩搂盲搂氓搂芒搂脰, 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂茫搂脫搂脷搂脽搂卯搂帽 搂脫 搂脩搂谩搂脰搂脻搂卯搂茫搂脷搂脽搂脩搂莽. 搂卢 搂盲搂脿搂脼搂氓 搂脴搂脰 搂脪搂脷搂脪搂脻搂脷搂脿搂脭搂芒搂脩搂忙搂脷搂茅搂脰搂茫搂脺搂脷搂脹 搂脿搂盲搂脮搂脰搂脻 搂脫搂脰搂脮搂脳搂盲 搂盲搂脩搂脼 搂脮搂脩搂脼搂脩. 搂娄搂茫搂脻搂脷 搂脮搂脷搂脺搂脩搂帽 搂氓搂盲搂脺搂脩, 搂脺搂脿搂盲搂脿搂芒搂脩搂帽 搂脻搂脰搂盲搂脷搂盲 搂脫 搂谩搂脿搂脮搂脽搂脰搂脪搂脰搂茫搂卯搂脰, 搂脼搂脿搂脴搂脰搂盲 搂谩搂芒搂脰搂脵搂脷搂芒搂脩搂盲搂卯 搂茫搂脫搂脿搂脹搂茫搂脺搂氓搂冒, 搂脺搂脿搂盲搂脿搂芒搂脩搂帽 搂脺搂脿搂谩搂脩搂脰搂盲搂茫搂帽 搂脫 搂脽搂脩搂脫搂脿搂脵搂脰 搂脷 搂脫 搂脻搂氓搂脴搂脩搂莽 搂脷 搂脮搂氓搂脼搂脩搂脰搂盲, 搂茅搂盲搂脿 搂茂搂盲搂脿 搂莽搂脿搂芒搂脿搂锚搂脿, 搂盲搂脿 搂盲搂脩搂脺 搂脮搂脿搂脻搂脴搂脽搂铆 搂谩搂芒搂脰搂脵搂脷搂芒搂脩搂盲搂卯 搂莽搂氓搂脮搂脿搂脴搂脽搂脷搂脺搂脷 搂脷 搂谩搂脿搂茂搂盲搂铆 搂脼搂氓搂脮搂芒搂脿搂茫搂盲搂卯 搂脺搂脿搂谩搂茅搂脳搂脽搂铆搂莽 搂茫搂脷搂脭搂脿搂脫... 搂鲁搂脰搂芒搂脮搂脷搂盲 搂帽 搂脽搂脩 «搂虏搂氓搂茫搂茫搂脺搂氓搂冒 搂脼搂铆搂茫搂脻搂卯» 搂脷 搂脽搂脩 搂脫搂茫搂冒 搂脼搂脿搂茫搂脺搂脿搂脫搂茫搂脺搂氓搂冒 搂脻搂脷搂盲搂脰搂芒搂脩搂盲搂氓搂芒搂氓!
According to Chekhov, the editors of Russkaya mysl隆炉 are kopchyonye sigi (the smoked whitefish) who have as much taste for literature as a pig has for oranges. Sigi is plural of sig (whitefish). Sig Leymanski is the main character in Van隆炉s novel Letters from Terra:
Poor Van! In his struggle to keep the writer of the letters from Terra strictly separate from the image of Ada, he gilt and carmined Theresa until she became a paragon of banality. This Theresa maddened with her messages a scientist on our easily maddened planet; his anagram-looking name, Sig Leymanksi, had been partly derived by Van from that of Aqua隆炉s last doctor. When Leymanski隆炉s obsession turned into love, and one隆炉s sympathy got focused on his enchanting, melancholy, betrayed wife (n篓娄e Antilia Glems), our author found himself confronted with the distressful task of now stamping out in Antilia, a born brunette, all traces of Ada, thus reducing yet another character to a dummy with bleached hair.
After beaming to Sig a dozen communications from her planet, Theresa flies over to him, and he, in his laboratory, has to place her on a slide under a powerful microscope in order to make out the tiny, though otherwise perfect, shape of his minikin sweetheart, a graceful microorganism extending transparent appendages toward his huge humid eye. Alas, the testibulus (test tube 隆陋 never to be confused with testiculus, orchid), with Theresa swimming inside like a micromermaid, is 隆庐accidentally隆炉 thrown away by Professor Leyman隆炉s (he had trimmed his name by that time) assistant, Flora, initially an ivory-pale, dark-haired funest beauty, whom the author transformed just in time into a third bromidic dummy with a dun bun.
(Antilia later regained her husband, and Flora was weeded out. Ada隆炉s addendum.) (2.2)
The characters in Dostoevski隆炉s novel Bednye lyudi (隆掳Poor Folk,隆卤 1846), written in an epistolary form, include Theresa, an old servant woman who brings Makar Devushkin隆炉s letters to Varenka Dobrosyolov and Varenka隆炉s letters to Makar. The Antiterran L disaster in the beau milieu of the 19th century seems to correspond to the mock execution of Dostoevski and the Petrashevskians on Jan. 3, 1850, in our world. Dostoevski is the author of Brat隆炉ya Karamazovy (隆掳Brothers Karamazov,隆卤 1880). In Ilf and Petrov隆炉s novel Zolotoy telyonok (隆掳The Golden Calf,隆卤 1931) Koreyko (a secret Soviet millionaire) receives a telegram from brothers Karamazov: Gruzite apel隆炉siny bochkakh (隆掳Load oranges barrels隆卤).
Apel隆炉siny (oranges) in Chekhov隆炉s letter to Suvorin and in the telegram received by Koreyko bring to mind Ronald Oranger (old Van隆炉s secretary). In his letter to Suvorin Chekhov says that artists and poets should despise the wisdom of smoked whitefish, just as a wild duck that flies high in the sky despises a domesticated one that rummages in manure and thinks that it is good. 隆掳The Wild Duck隆卤 (1884) is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. According to Theresa (in Vitry隆炉s film version of Van隆炉s novel), on Terra Norway is an outstanding country:
In 1905, Norway with a mighty heave and a long dorsal ripple unfastened herself from Sweden, her unwieldy co-giantess, while in a similar act of separation the French parliament, with parenthetical outbursts of vive 篓娄motion, voted a divorce between State and Church. Then, in 1911, Norwegian troops led by Amundsen reached the South Pole and simultaneously the Italians stormed into Turkey. In 1914 Germany invaded Belgium and the Americans tore up Panama. In 1918 they and the French defeated Germany while she was busily defeating Russia (who had defeated her own Tartars some time earlier). In Norway there was Siegrid Mitchel, in America Margaret Undset, and in France, Sidonie Colette. In 1926 Abdel-Krim surrendered, after yet another photogenic war, and the Golden Horde again subjugated Rus. In 1933, Athaulf Hindler (also known as Mittler 隆陋 from 隆庐to mittle,隆炉 mutilate) came to power in Germany, and a conflict on an even more spectacular scale than the 1914篓C1918 war was under way, when Vitry ran out of old documentaries and Theresa, played by his wife, left Terra in a cosmic capsule after having covered the Olympic Games held in Berlin (the Norwegians took most of the prizes, but the Americans won the fencing event, an outstanding achievement, and beat the Germans in the final football match by three goals to one). (2.2)
A Norwegian novelist, Siegrid Undset was a favorite writer of Marina Tsvetaev (隆掳the wife of a double agent and poet of genius,隆卤 as VN calls her in his autobiography Speak, Memory, 1951). In Chapter Fourteen of SM VN describes his years in Berlin (1922-37) and in Paris (1937-40) and, among other writers whom he met in exile, mentions Hodasevich:
Vladislav Hodasevich used to complain, in the twenties and thirties, that young 篓娄migr篓娄 poets had borrowed their art form from him while following the leading cliques in modish angoisse and soul-reshaping. I developed a great liking for this bitter man, wrought of irony and metallic-like genius, whose poetry was as complex a marvel as that of Tyutchev or Blok. He was, physically, of a sickly aspect, with contemptuous nostrils and beetling brows, and when I conjure him up in my mind he never rises from the hard chair on which he sits, his thin legs crossed, his eyes glittering with malevolence and wit, his long fingers screwing into a holder the half of a Caporal Vert cigarette. There are few things in modern world poetry comparable to the poems of his Heavy Lyre, but unfortunately for his fame the perfect frankness he indulged in when voicing his dislikes made him some terrible enemies among the most powerful critical coteries. Not all the mystagogues were Dostoevskian Alyoshas; there were also a few Smerdyakovs in the group, and Hodasevich隆炉s poetry was played down with the thoroughness of a revengeful racket. (2)
In his poem Silentium! (1830) Tyutchev says: mysl隆炉 izrechyonnaya est隆炉 lozh隆炉 (a thought once uttered is untrue). In Ada Silentium is Greg Erminin隆炉s motorcycle. At the family dinner Van tells Demon that he vainly tried to find a Silentium with a side car:
隆庐Vague. I ordered a Roseley like yours but it won隆炉t be delivered before Christmas. I tried to find a Silentium with a side car and could not, because of the war, though what connection exists between wars and motorcycles is a mystery. But we manage, Ada and I, we manage, we ride, we bike, we even jikker.隆炉 (1.38)
Alexander Blok is the author of Neznakomka (隆掳Incognita,隆卤 1906), a poem directly alluded to in Ada (3.3), Dvenadtsat隆炉 (隆掳The Twelve,隆卤 1918) and Nochnaya Fialka (隆掳The Night Violet,隆卤 1906), a poem subtitled 隆掳a Dream.隆卤 Nox being Latin for 隆掳night,隆卤 Blok隆炉s 隆掳Night Violet隆卤 brings to mind Violet Knox, Van隆炉s typist who marries Ronald Oranger:
Violet Knox [now Mrs Ronald Oranger. Ed.], born in 1940, came to live with us in 1957. She was (and still is 隆陋 ten years later) an enchanting English blonde with doll eyes, a velvet carnation and a tweed-cupped little rump [.....]; but such designs, alas, could no longer flesh my fancy. She has been responsible for typing out this memoir 隆陋 the solace of what are, no doubt, my last ten years of existence. A good daughter, an even better sister, and half-sister, she had supported for ten years her mother隆炉s children from two marriages, besides laying aside [something]. I paid her [generously] per month, well realizing the need to ensure unembarrassed silence on the part of a puzzled and dutiful maiden. Ada called her 隆庐Fialochka隆炉 and allowed herself the luxury of admiring 隆庐little Violet隆炉 隆庐s cameo neck, pink nostrils, and fair pony-tail. Sometimes, at dinner, lingering over the liqueurs, my Ada would consider my typist (a great lover of Koo-Ahn-Trow) with a dreamy gaze, and then, quick-quick, peck at her flushed cheek. The situation might have been considerably more complicated had it arisen twenty years earlier. (5.4).
Alyosha Karamazov and Smerdyakov (mentioned by VN in Speak, Memory) are characters in 隆掳Brothers Karamazov.隆卤 The Golden Horde that again subjugated Rus (on Terra as imagined by Vitry) brings to mind the lines in VN隆炉s poem O pravitelyakh (隆掳On Rulers,隆卤 1944):
搂碌搂脼搂脷搂芒搂脩搂脰搂盲 搂茫搂脿 搂茫搂脺搂氓搂脺搂脷 搂脷搂茫搂盲搂脿搂芒搂脷搂脺:
搂脵搂脩 搂庐搂脩搂脼搂脩搂脰搂脼 搂脫搂茫搂脳 搂盲搂脿搂盲 搂脴搂脰 搂庐搂脩搂脼搂脩搂脹.
搂拢 搂茫搂脩搂脼搂脿搂脼 搂脮搂脰搂脻搂脰, 搂脽搂脰搂脻搂卯搂脵搂帽 搂脴搂脰 搂脽搂脩搂脼 搂茫 搂脭搂脿搂芒搂帽
搂谩搂脿搂茫搂盲搂氓搂谩搂脷搂盲搂卯, 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂茅搂脷搂脽搂脿搂脫搂脽搂铆搂脹 搂卢搂脷搂盲搂脩搂脹,
搂脺搂氓搂茅搂氓 搂脻搂脷搂锚搂脽搂脷搂莽 搂脫搂脰搂脺搂脿搂脫 搂谩搂芒搂脷搂茫搂茅搂脷搂盲搂脩搂脫搂锚搂脷搂脹
搂脺 搂脷搂茫搂盲搂脿搂芒搂脷搂脷 搂茫搂脺搂芒搂脿搂脼搂脽搂脿搂脹 搂茫搂脫搂脿搂脰搂脹,
搂脿搂盲 搂茂搂盲搂脿搂脭搂脿, 搂脫搂谩搂芒搂脿搂茅搂脰搂脼, 搂脽搂脰 搂茫搂盲搂脩搂脫搂锚搂脰搂脹
搂脽搂脷 搂脻搂氓搂茅搂锚搂脰, 搂脽搂脷 搂脫搂脰搂茫搂脰搂脻搂脰搂脹.
The historian dies of sheer boredom:
On the heels of Mamay comes another Mamay.
Does our plight really force us to do
what did bureaucratic Cathay
that with heaps of superfluous centuries
augmented her limited history
(which, however, hardly became
either better or merrier)?
VN隆炉s footnotes:
Line 29/Mamay. A particularly evil Tartar prince of the fourteenth century.
Line 35. One recalls Stalin隆炉s hilarious pronouncement: 隆掳Life has grown better, life has grown merrier!隆卤
At the end of 隆掳On Rulers隆卤 VN mentions his late namesake:
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).
Describing the family dinner in Ardis the Second, Van mentions Richard Leonard Churchill隆炉s novel about a certain Crimean Khan, 隆掳A Great Good Man:隆卤
Van remembered that his tutor隆炉s great friend, the learned but prudish Semyon Afanasievich Vengerov, then a young associate professor but already a celebrated Pushkinist (1855-1954), used to say that the only vulgar passage in his author隆炉s work was the cannibal joy of young gourmets tearing 隆庐plump and live隆炉 oysters out of their 隆庐cloisters隆炉 in an unfinished canto of Eugene Onegin. But then 隆庐everyone has his own taste,隆炉 as the British writer Richard Leonard Churchill mistranslates a trite French phrase (chacun 篓陇 son gout) twice in the course of his novel about a certain Crimean Khan once popular with reporters and politicians, 隆庐A Great Good Man隆炉 隆陋 according, of course, to the cattish and prejudiced Guillaume Monparnasse about whose new celebrity Ada, while dipping the reversed corolla of one hand in a bowl, was now telling Demon, who was performing the same rite in the same graceful fashion. (1.38)
Darkbloom (隆庐Notes to Ada隆炉): Great good man: a phrase that Winston Churchill, the British politician, enthusiastically applied to Stalin.
Churchill definitely peresolil (隆掳put in too much salt,隆卤 as we say of a person who grossly exaggerated something). Peresolil (隆掳Overdoing it,隆卤 1885) is a story by Chekhov. As to pereperchil (put in too much pepper), it brings to mind 隆掳Pig and Pepper,隆卤 a chapter in Alice隆炉s Adventures in Wonderland. 隆掳A Clever Piggy隆卤 is an article in the Russian-language newspaper Golos (Logos) that the male nurse Dorofey reads during Van隆炉s visit to Rack (who is dying in Ward Five of the Kalugano hospital):
Van drew in his useless weapon. Controlling himself, he thumped it against the footboard of his wheelchair. Dorofey glanced up from his paper, then went back to the article that engrossed him 隆陋 'A Clever Piggy (from the memoirs of an animal trainer),' or else 'The Crimean War: Tartar Guerillas Help Chinese Troops.' A diminutive nurse simultaneously stepped out from behind the farther screen and disappeared again. (1.42)
Actually, golos means 隆掳voice.隆卤 A concierge at Van隆炉s hotel compares Dorothy Vinelander隆炉s voice to a brass trumpet:
Lucien, something of a wit, soon learned to recognize Dorothy隆炉s contralto: 隆庐La voix cuivr篓娄e a t篓娄l篓娄phon篓娄,隆炉 隆庐La Trompette n隆炉篓娄tait pas contente ce matin,隆炉 et cetera. (3.8)
Darkbloom (隆庐Notes to Ada隆炉): la voix etc.: the brassy voice telephoned隆颅 the trumpet did not sound pleased this morning.
In 隆掳The Twelve Chairs隆卤 Ilf and Petrov compare the voice of Vorobyaninov隆炉s mother-in-law, Mme Petukhov, to that of Richard the Lionheart:
搂陇搂脿搂脻搂脿搂茫 搂氓 搂脽搂脰搂脳 搂脪搂铆搂脻 搂盲搂脩搂脺搂脿搂脹 搂茫搂脷搂脻搂铆 搂脷 搂脭搂氓搂茫搂盲搂脿搂盲搂铆, 搂茅搂盲搂脿 搂脰搂脼搂氓 搂谩搂脿搂脵搂脩搂脫搂脷搂脮搂脿搂脫搂脩搂脻 搂脪搂铆 搂虏搂脷搂茅搂脩搂芒搂脮 搂颅搂卯搂脫搂脷搂脽搂脿搂脰 搂鲁搂脰搂芒搂脮搂猫搂脰, 搂脿搂盲 搂脺搂芒搂脷搂脺搂脩 搂脺搂脿搂盲搂脿搂芒搂脿搂脭搂脿, 搂脺搂脩搂脺 搂脷搂脵搂脫搂脰搂茫搂盲搂脽搂脿, 搂谩搂芒搂脷搂茫搂脰搂脮搂脩搂脻搂脷 搂脺搂脿搂脽搂脷.
Her voice was so strong and fruity that it might well have been envied by Richard the Lionheart, at whose shout, as is well known, horses used to kneel. (chapter I 隆掳Bezenchuk and The Nymphs隆卤)
Richard Leonard Churchill (the author of a novel about a certain Crimean Khan) blends Richard the Lionheart with Winston Churchill.
Dorothy Vinelander reads to her ill brother (Ada隆炉s husband) old issues of the Golos Feniksa:
Darkbloom (隆庐Notes to Ada隆炉): Russ., The Phoenix Voice, Russian language newspaper in Arizona.
Phoenix in Russian spelling, Feniks brings to mind VN隆炉s Russian nom de plume, Sirin (Phoenix and Sirin are fairy tale birds; in her memoirs Italics are Mine Nina Berberova compares VN to Phoenix). In Chapter Fourteen of Speak, Memory VN says that the author that interested him most was Sirin:
But the author that interested me most was naturally Sirin. He belonged to my generation. Among the young writers produced in exile he was the loneliest and most arrogant one. Beginning with the appearance of his first novel in 1925 and throughout the next fifteen years, until he vanished as strangely as he had come, his work kept provoking an acute and rather morbid interest on the part of critics. Just as Marxist publicists of the eighties in old Russia would have denounced his lack of concern with the economic structure of society, so the mystagogues of 篓娄migr篓娄 letters deplored his lack of religious insight and of moral preoccupation. Everything about him was bound to offend Russian conventions and especially that Russian sense of decorum which, for example, an American offends so dangerously today, when in the presence of Soviet military men of distinction he happens to lounge with both hands in his trouser pockets. Conversely, Sirin隆炉s admirers made much, perhaps too much, of his unusual style, brilliant precision, functional imagery and that sort of thing. Russian readers who had been raised on the sturdy straightforwardness of Russian realism and had called the bluff of decadent cheats, were impressed by the mirrorlike angles of his clear but weirdly misleading sentences and by the fact that the real life of his books flowed in his figures of speech, which one critic has compared to 隆掳windows giving upon a contiguous world 隆颅 a rolling corollary, the shadow of a train of thought.隆卤 Across the dark sky of exile, Sirin passed, to use a simile of a more conservative nature, like a meteor, and disappeared, leaving nothing much else behind him than a vague sense of uneasiness. (2)
In his review of Van隆炉s Letters from Terra the poet Max Mispel discerned the influence of Ben Sirine, an obscene ancient Arab:
The only other compliment was paid to poor Voltemand in a little Manhattan magazine (The Village Eyebrow) by the poet Max Mispel (another botanical name 隆陋 隆庐medlar隆炉 in English), member of the German Department at Goluba University. Herr Mispel, who liked to air his authors, discerned in Letters from Terra the influence of Osberg (Spanish writer of pretentious fairy tales and mystico-allegoric anecdotes, highly esteemed by short-shift thesialists) as well as that of an obscene ancient Arab, expounder of anagrammatic dreams, Ben Sirine, thus transliterated by Captain de Roux, according to Burton in his adaptation of Nefzawi隆炉s treatise on the best method of mating with obese or hunchbacked females (The Perfumed Garden, Panther edition, p. 187, a copy given to ninety-three-year-old Baron Van Veen by his ribald physician Professor Lagosse). His critique ended as follows: 隆庐If Mr Voltemand (or Voltimand or Mandalatov) is a psychiatrist, as I think he might be, then I pity his patients, while admiring his talent.隆炉 (2.2)
The names Max Mispel and Mandalatov begin with an M.
Alexey Sklyarenko