Subject
ADA's L disaster
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There is a saying that goes back to the Bible: "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's "(Matthew: 22: 21). In Russian, we simply say: кесарю - кесарево,* а Богу - богово. On Antiterra, where they have Log instead of Bog (Russian for "God"), this would become: кесарю - кесарево, а Логу - логово. Now, logovo** is Russian for "den," "lair." While den = end, lair = liar. Log, Lair, Liar*** all begin with an L. A casual observation that some may find interesting.
*This rare word is also present in the medical term кесарево сечение, "Caesarean section".
**The same three consonants can be found in golova (Russian for "head").
***Russian for "liar" is лгун, or лжец. The latter noun comes from ложь ("lie"), or rather its obsolete form, лжа. One remembers the often repeated words of a character in Chekhov's story My Life: Тля ест траву, ржа - железо, а лжа - душу ("Lice eat grass, rust eats iron, and lying the soul!"). Speaking of iron, here is some alchemy for you: железо + лото = желе + золото (железо means "iron," лото "lotto," желе "jelly," золото "gold").
Btw., Ivan Rukavishnikov was a prolific symbolist writer and poet (1877-1929), who died of alcoholism. In his article The White Corridor (1925) Khodasevich calls him пошлый (vulgar). It seems that he was no relation of uncle Ruka's family.
Alexey Sklyarenko
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*This rare word is also present in the medical term кесарево сечение, "Caesarean section".
**The same three consonants can be found in golova (Russian for "head").
***Russian for "liar" is лгун, or лжец. The latter noun comes from ложь ("lie"), or rather its obsolete form, лжа. One remembers the often repeated words of a character in Chekhov's story My Life: Тля ест траву, ржа - железо, а лжа - душу ("Lice eat grass, rust eats iron, and lying the soul!"). Speaking of iron, here is some alchemy for you: железо + лото = желе + золото (железо means "iron," лото "lotto," желе "jelly," золото "gold").
Btw., Ivan Rukavishnikov was a prolific symbolist writer and poet (1877-1929), who died of alcoholism. In his article The White Corridor (1925) Khodasevich calls him пошлый (vulgar). It seems that he was no relation of uncle Ruka's family.
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/