Subject
bog and devils
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In Russian we have a saying: bylo by boloto, a cherti budut (if there is a bog, there would be devils in it).* According to M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826-89), the author of Gospoda Golovlyovy ("The Golovlyovs") who is as important in Ada** as the author of Byloe i dumy ("Bygones and Meditations"), this saying is always true. As I pointed out before, in a letter to V. G. Chertkov (there is chyort, devil, in Chertkov) Tolstoy speaks of Herzen and mentions boloto (bog):
"??????? ? ???? ????? ??????????? ?????? ?????, ????? ?? ?????? ???? ??????? ? ??????, ? ?? ??? ??????, ????? ? ?????? ???????? ? ??????? ????????: ?? ??????. ? ???? ????????????? ??????????? ?????, ?????? ? ??????, ?????, ????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?? ????, ????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ??????? ??????. ???? ????, ???? ??????? [Herzen], ?????????? ?? ????, ???, ???????????, ???????? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ? ??????? ? ?????????: ?? ??????."
There must be cherti (devils) in Ardis, Daniel Veen's pseudo-paradisical country estate situated in the marshy Ladore region. Veen being Dutch for "peat bog," the name Demon Veen (of Daniel's first cousin, the father of Van and Ada) blends, as it were, evil spirit with peat bog. Paradoxically, Bog means in Russian "God." God backwards is dog. Cf. cherti sobach'i (hell curs, canine devils) mentioned by Demon's mad wife Aqua (1.3) and Daniel Veen in his deathbed delirium (2.10).
On Demonia (aka Antiterra, Earth's twin planet on which Ada is set) they have Log instead of Bog. While Roman B and the Cyrillic counterpart of Roman V (which looks rather like the Cyrillic counterpart of Roman L - ? or ? in certain fonts - turned upside down) look alike, Roman L looks like the Cyrillic counterpart of Roman G (?) turned upside down. G is the initial of Golovlyov, Golovin (Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich), Gogol (cf. Merezhkovsky's Gogol' i chyort, "Gogol and the Devil") and Gorky (who favored the phrase cherti drapovye, "devils in rags"). The hero of Gorky's story Vas'ka krasnyi ("Red Vaska"), vyshibala (bouncer) in a brothel (the position overlooked by Eric Veen in his Villa Venus project: 2.3), reminds one of Red Veen (aka Durak*** Veen), Daniel Veen's nickname (1.1).
Golovin + Lyovka = Golovlyov + Kain = golovka + Lyovin
Lyovka - pejor., Leo; cf. Demon's words to Van: "that gene missed you, but I've seen it in my hairdresser's looking-glass when refusing to have him put Cremlin on my bald spot; and you know who had it too - my aunt Kitty, who married the banker Bolenski**** after divorcing that dreadful old wencher Lyovka Tolstoy, the writer" (1.38)
Kain - Russian spelling of Cain (cf. Van'ka Kain, a Russian folklore figure, and Iudushka Golovlyov, the main character in Saltykov's family chronicle; Iudushka is a diminutive form of Iuda, Judas)
golovka - dim. of golova, head
Lyovin - a character in Tolstoy's Anna Karenin who marries Kitty Shcherbatski
*variant: bylo by koryto, a svin'i budut (if there is a trough, there would be sows around it); in a letter to his wife from Boldino jealous Pushkin famously quotes this saying; at least one of Marina's lovers, G. A. Vronsky, does resemble a sow (moreover, "Gavronsky," as Ada once calls her mother's lover, reminds one of khavron'ya, obsolete Russian for "sow")
**see in Zembla my article THE NAKED TRUTH, OR THE READER'S SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION IN ADA'S QUELQUE CHOSE UNIVERSITY
***Russ., fool
****O + Bolenski = Obolenski (Tolstoy's daughter Maria was married to N. L. Obolenski and his niece Elizaveta, to L. D. Obolenski); Anna Karenin's maiden name was Oblonski (Obolenski - e), her brother Stepan Arkadievich (Stiva Oblonski) is a wencher
Now to something quite different: my long absence from the List was caused by a serious computer disaster. Although the problem has been eliminated, the loss of a lot of data and important material is great and some difficulties still remain. All Word files (including my translation of Ada and the articles) have been saved, but I lost forever all my mail. My inbox and address book are now empty. I would ask my friends on the List and the subscribers with whom I was in touch to come to my rescue and send me short emails (or even empty messages) to my new address: skylark1970@mail.ru (note: the old "skylark" address is no longer valid!!) to help me restore my address book and renew the contacts. Thank you very much in advance!!! I was in despair all these days.
Alexey Sklyarenko
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"??????? ? ???? ????? ??????????? ?????? ?????, ????? ?? ?????? ???? ??????? ? ??????, ? ?? ??? ??????, ????? ? ?????? ???????? ? ??????? ????????: ?? ??????. ? ???? ????????????? ??????????? ?????, ?????? ? ??????, ?????, ????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?? ????, ????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ??????? ??????. ???? ????, ???? ??????? [Herzen], ?????????? ?? ????, ???, ???????????, ???????? ??? ??? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ? ??????? ? ?????????: ?? ??????."
There must be cherti (devils) in Ardis, Daniel Veen's pseudo-paradisical country estate situated in the marshy Ladore region. Veen being Dutch for "peat bog," the name Demon Veen (of Daniel's first cousin, the father of Van and Ada) blends, as it were, evil spirit with peat bog. Paradoxically, Bog means in Russian "God." God backwards is dog. Cf. cherti sobach'i (hell curs, canine devils) mentioned by Demon's mad wife Aqua (1.3) and Daniel Veen in his deathbed delirium (2.10).
On Demonia (aka Antiterra, Earth's twin planet on which Ada is set) they have Log instead of Bog. While Roman B and the Cyrillic counterpart of Roman V (which looks rather like the Cyrillic counterpart of Roman L - ? or ? in certain fonts - turned upside down) look alike, Roman L looks like the Cyrillic counterpart of Roman G (?) turned upside down. G is the initial of Golovlyov, Golovin (Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich), Gogol (cf. Merezhkovsky's Gogol' i chyort, "Gogol and the Devil") and Gorky (who favored the phrase cherti drapovye, "devils in rags"). The hero of Gorky's story Vas'ka krasnyi ("Red Vaska"), vyshibala (bouncer) in a brothel (the position overlooked by Eric Veen in his Villa Venus project: 2.3), reminds one of Red Veen (aka Durak*** Veen), Daniel Veen's nickname (1.1).
Golovin + Lyovka = Golovlyov + Kain = golovka + Lyovin
Lyovka - pejor., Leo; cf. Demon's words to Van: "that gene missed you, but I've seen it in my hairdresser's looking-glass when refusing to have him put Cremlin on my bald spot; and you know who had it too - my aunt Kitty, who married the banker Bolenski**** after divorcing that dreadful old wencher Lyovka Tolstoy, the writer" (1.38)
Kain - Russian spelling of Cain (cf. Van'ka Kain, a Russian folklore figure, and Iudushka Golovlyov, the main character in Saltykov's family chronicle; Iudushka is a diminutive form of Iuda, Judas)
golovka - dim. of golova, head
Lyovin - a character in Tolstoy's Anna Karenin who marries Kitty Shcherbatski
*variant: bylo by koryto, a svin'i budut (if there is a trough, there would be sows around it); in a letter to his wife from Boldino jealous Pushkin famously quotes this saying; at least one of Marina's lovers, G. A. Vronsky, does resemble a sow (moreover, "Gavronsky," as Ada once calls her mother's lover, reminds one of khavron'ya, obsolete Russian for "sow")
**see in Zembla my article THE NAKED TRUTH, OR THE READER'S SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION IN ADA'S QUELQUE CHOSE UNIVERSITY
***Russ., fool
****O + Bolenski = Obolenski (Tolstoy's daughter Maria was married to N. L. Obolenski and his niece Elizaveta, to L. D. Obolenski); Anna Karenin's maiden name was Oblonski (Obolenski - e), her brother Stepan Arkadievich (Stiva Oblonski) is a wencher
Now to something quite different: my long absence from the List was caused by a serious computer disaster. Although the problem has been eliminated, the loss of a lot of data and important material is great and some difficulties still remain. All Word files (including my translation of Ada and the articles) have been saved, but I lost forever all my mail. My inbox and address book are now empty. I would ask my friends on the List and the subscribers with whom I was in touch to come to my rescue and send me short emails (or even empty messages) to my new address: skylark1970@mail.ru (note: the old "skylark" address is no longer valid!!) to help me restore my address book and renew the contacts. Thank you very much in advance!!! I was in despair all these days.
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/