Subject
Re: morzh: Ursus/walrus/seabear connection
From
Date
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Dear Jansy,
About Russian scrabble games, Lucette punning on the feminine glans, etc.
please read Don's article "..., or Taking ADA clitorally" (sorry, I can
remember now only the second part of its title). It was published in his
book "The Worlds in Regression: Some Novels of VN"
You are right surmising that the letter L is conspicuously absent from one
of the words in the series. But this word (ROTIK) should be unscrambled
first. Had Lucette known it, she could have composed a longer word in her
scrabble game with Van and Ada: KLITOR (clitoris). But she composes ROTIK
(little mouth) and is "left with her poor initial." The phrase "You examined
and fingered my groove" has bith an erotic subtext and the prophetic
meaning: Van and Ada are to finger Lucette's groove and, by teasing her, to
bring her to an orgasm a week later (part 2, chapter 8).
Yes, it's Lucette's fur-coat that turns her into "a black bear with russet
locks." Her coat is vykhukhol' (as spelled correctly), desman or muskrat,
but Van mistakes it at first for sea-bear. Ursus (latin for "bear") probably
links Lucette to St. Ursula, a legendary British princess who, with 11,000
virgins, is said to have been martyred by the Huns at Cologne. Cf. Lucette's
parfume, Degrasse, or "Eau de grasse" that probably hints at eau de Cologne.
Alexey
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 7:52 PM
Subject: Re: morzh: Ursus/walrus/seabear connection
>
>
> Dear Brian Boyd ( and List),
>
> You brought up the Ursus/walrus/seabear connection which has been
> intriguing me for some time.
> In a way I feel that the List ( for example, by offering your discussion
> with Alexey about Russian words ) helps me with the handicap of not
knowing
> Russian by giving me a "feeeling" of how it appears in Nabokov´s English
> novel.
> VN´s "lettrocalamity" ( which he, sorry, Vivian Darkbloom explains as " a
> play on Ital. elettrocalamita, electromagnet" ) has a relation to the
> "lettre", to the "L" in Lucette´s name.
> Without being familiar with the Russian I can only suspect that certain
> words have hidden indications which I cannot explore, but it is possible
to
> surmise that the "L" may be absent or too conspicuous in the associations
> bt. Kotik, Vrotic,Krolik, Rotik, Likrot or Rotikl, Ritcov or Vrotic - but
a
> verbal metamorphosis is taking place from land-bears and sea-otters to
> mermaids and medusas having "ectric dreams", while I must of necessity be
> left out because of my "ursian illiteracy".
>
> In ADA ( now a Penguin, page 297) we find Lucette speaking:
> '- I got stuck with six Buchstaben in the last round of a Flavita game.
> Mind you, I was eight and had not studied anatomy, but was doing my poor
> little best to keep up with two Wunderkinder. and quickly redistributed
the haphazard sequence which made, say,
> LIKROT or ROTIKL and Ada flooded us both with her raven silks
> as she looked over our heads, and when you had completed the
rearrangement,
> you and she came simultaneously, si je puis le mettre comme ça ( Canady
> French), came falling on the black carpet in a paroxysm of
incomprehensible
> merriment; so finally I quietly composed ROTIK ( 'little mouth' )and was
> left with my own cheap initial (....)'
> 'Okay, okay,' replied her and his tormentor, ' but you know, a medically
> minded Ensligh Scrabbler, having two more letters to cope with, could
make,
> for example, STIRCOIL, a well-known sweat-gland stimulant, or CITROILS,
> which grooms use for rubbing fillies.'
> 'Please stop, Vandemonian',she moaned. 'Read her letter and bring me my
> coat. '
> Her coat, was it her sea-bear coat that turned her into a "black bear
with
> bright russet locks"? ( russet?) Or was it a "desman ('vihuol')"?
> I would thank you two ( Alexey and Boyd) if you could clarify me on the
> above issue that plays not only with "L" ´s "lettrocalamity" but scrabbles
> an excess of Van´s "V", in a game that has become impossible for the poor
> tongue of those who, like me, are non-English and non-Russian natives.
>
> Dmitri, I need to enlist help ( such as Hoffstadter´s or Don´s
> collaborators ) to be able at least to get closer to all those
Wunderkinds
> that jump from Math to Music.
> The word "diástêma", for example, that Umberto Eco described as a sonorous
> memory present during a "musical interval" might be familiar to you, as a
> musician familiar with the Italian. All my Brazilian connections in this
> field could not confirm Eco´s definition: would you ?
>
> Greetings,
> Jansy
>
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 11:53 PM
> > Subject: Fwd: RE: morzh
> >
> >
> > > Dear Alexey,
> > >
> > > Quite right, in my haste I was short-circuiting "khuy morzhovyi" and
> > "morzh"
> > > itself. But that doesn't affect the connection with Lucette, since in
a
> > > verbal association a Russian's likely first jump after "morzh" will
> > usually
> > > be to "khuy." I don't think the Ursus passage makes that any stronger.
> But
> > > as a matter of interest, just how big is the "khuy morzhovyi" in
Peter's
> > > Kunstkammer, or in the wild?
> > >
> > > Brian Boyd
> > >
> > > EDNOTE. In the interest of scolarship, I went over to Peter's
> Kunstkammer
> > last
> > > time I was in S-Pb. It was, alas, its vykhodnoi den' so I failed to
see
> > the
> > > museum's most famous exhibit.
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 1:05 PM
> > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > Subject: Fw: morzh
> > >
> > >
> > > Dear Brian,
> > >
> > > I doubt that "morzh" can mean "cock" or "prick" in Russian. At least
> not
> > in
> > > the modern Russian. But it can be used with the famous Russian
> > three-letter
> > > word for cock as an epithet, "morzhovyi" (of walrus). The whole phrase
> ("X
> > > > morzhovyi") is generally used as an obuse. But, if we disregard
this,
> > > > the genital organ of a walrus is pretty long, and you remember the
> > > > following dialogue between Lucette and Van in part 2, chapter 8:
> > > >
> > > > "...it looked to me at least eight inches long -"
> > > > "Seven and a half" murmured modest Van, whose hearing the music
> > impaired.
> > > >
> > > > Lucette, who is obsessed with sex, means Van's scar, not his penis
> > > > ("the ladder, not the lad") this time, but he is too drunk to
> understand
> > > that.
> > > > Lucette, in her turn, is probably aware (although she is even more
> > > > drunk
> > > than Van) of the fact that Van misunderstands
> > > > her, and she knows why he
> > > > misunderstands her (because she had seen him making love to Ada in a
> > > > previous chapter). So, "Morzhey" could indeed be a message from
> > > > Lucette,
> > > but
> > > > via "morzhovyi".
> > > >
> > > best,
> > > Alexey
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 9:03 PM
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > ---
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear Jansy, (Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>)
> > > > >
> > > > > Yes, but "twin cock crosses" is a very accurate description of
> > > > > old-style faucets (W2: cock, 6a: A faucet, tap, or valve or the
like
> > > > > for starting, stopping or regulating flow); it foes not literally
> > > > > refer to a penis. At
> > > > the
> > > > > same time, of course, Ada's other grip catches at Van's valve. And
> > > > > the
> > > > twin
> > > > > cock crosses also bring to mind the watery twins Marina and Aqua
> > > > > (who
> > > has
> > > > a
> > > > > problem with tapwater), and their foreshadowing of Ada and
Lucette,
> > > > > who bursts into the room in the same sentence, just after Van's
> > orgasm.
> > > > >
> > > > > Nabokov keeps "penis" out of his text, as Jeff observes, yet one
of
> > > > > the
> > > > key
> > > > > moments of the novel is Ada's decision to return to Van at Mont
> > > > > Roux, in
> > > > > 1922: "'I told him to turn,' she said, 'somewhere near Morzhey
> > ('morses'
> > > > or
> > > > > 'walruses,' a Russian pun on 'Morges'--maybe a mermaid's
message)."
> > > > "Morzh"
> > > > > in this sense is vulgar Russian for "cock" or "prick," and as "the
> > > > mermaid's
> > > > > message" indicates (Lucette has been explicitly called a mermaid
> > > > > shortly before), and the Ophelia-like punning on private parts
also
> > > > > suggests (Lucette puns extensively on clitoris and other sexual
> > > > > terms, especially
> > > > in
> > > > > III.5, but again Nabokov eschews "clitoris" itself), Ada's
decision
> > > > > to return to Van seems to have something to do with dead Lucette.
> > > > >
> > > > > Viktor Krivulin's poem, Jeff's translation and Jeff's and Alexey's
> > > > > commentary are delightful.
> > > > >
> > > > > Brian Boyd
> > > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 3:58 PM
> > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov. Translation
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear Jeff,
> > > > >
> > > > > You wrote that although Nabokov was always very precise in his
> > > terminology
> > > > > "this precision rarely if ever extended to human genital organs".
> > > > > And yet, the examples you offered were all only applicable to the
> > > "penis"
> > > > > ...
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I sellected only one paragraph with VN=B4s euphemisms for the
> > > > > female
> > > sex
> > > > an=
> > > > > d
> > > > > adjacent parts in "Ada" : "where she strained across the low tub
to
> > > turn
> > > > on
> > > > > both taps and then bent over to insert the bronze chained plug; it
> > > > > got sucked in by itself, however, while he steadied her lovely
lyre
> > > > > and next moment was at the suede-soft root, was gripped, was deep
> > > > > between the familiar, incomparable, crimson-lined lips. She caught
> > > > > at the twin cock crosses, thus involuntarily increasing the
> > > > > sympathetic volume of the
> > > > water=
> > > > > =B4s
> > > > > noise, and Van emitted a long groan of deliverance" ( Penguin ed,
> pag.
> > > > 308).
> > > > >
> > > > > Anyway, I enjoyed your sentence about "a penis is never simply a
> > > > > penis
> > > for
> > > > > Nabokov" which nicely contrasts with Freud=B4s: " a cigar
sometimes
> > > > > is
> > > > only =
> > > > > a
> > > > > cigar".
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > > Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 6:07 PM
> > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov. Translation
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thank you Alexey Skylarenko for pointing out the shortcomings of
> > > > > > my translation, especially the major goof in the second stanza
> > > > > > (about which more below).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > As Alexey notes, "'Mgnove' is a truncated (and nonexisting) form
> > > > > > of 'mgnovenie,' a moment." This form wonderfully embodies the
> > > "fragment"
> > > > > > mentioned in the first stanza. Another of the charms of the
first
> > > > > > stanza
> > > > > is
> > > > > > the artistry which which the verb "zaselo" (got stuck) is
> > > > > > literally stuck in the phrase "v moei golove" (in my head): "v
> > > > > > moei zaselo golove." (Which calls to my mind the masterful first
> > > > > > sentence of Alain Robbe-Grillet's _La jalousie_ [of which
Nabokov
> > > > > > said in a French interview published in 1959, "C'est le plus
beau
> > > > > > roman d'amour depuis Proust"], in which the structure
> > > > >
> > > > > > of the sentence serves as a textual analog of the image
described:
> > > > > > "Now
> > > > > the
> > > > > > shadow of the column--the column which supports the southwest
> > > > > > corner of
> > > > > the
> > > > > > roof--divides the corresponding corner of the veranda into two
> > > > > > equal
> > > > > parts."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > As for stanza two, I would like to explain one reason why I
> > > > > > misread the text as implying that it was Nabokov who "conceal[s]
> > > > > > the genital organ / With metaphysical delight." Nabokov was
always
> > > > > > precise in his terminology (cf., inter alia, Peter Lubin's paper
> > > > > > in ZEMBLA), but this precision
> > > > > rarely
> > > > > > if ever extended to human genital organs. So far as I can
recall,
> > > > > > Nabokov does not once in his published prose or poetry use the
> > > > > > word "penis." (He
> > > > > > *does* use the term in one of his letters to Edmund Wilson. If I
> > > > > > recall correctly, he says, in reference to the sex scenes in one
> > > > > > of Wilson's books, that despite their frankness, they are not
> > > > > > arousing, in fact they are about as arousing as "trying to open
a
> > > > > > can of tuna
> > > with
> > > > > one's penis."
> > > > > > Incidentally, the delivery of this line by Dmitri Nabokov
playing
> > > > > > his father during a performance of Terry Quinn's "Dear Bunny,
Dear
> > > Volodya,"
> > > > > > was, for me, a delightful moment of shared hilarity during the
> > > > > > 1998
> > > > > Cornell
> > > > > > Nabokov Centenary Festival.)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Whether the "pryshchushchii persik" (spurting peach) or "priap"
> > > > > > (priapus) in Chapter XIII of Prignlashenie na kazn' (Invitation
to
> > > > > > a Beaheading), or the much more famous "scepter of my passion"
in
> > > > > > Lolita, a penis is never simply a penis for Nabokov. Few
writers,
> > > > > > it might be argued, have so artistically concealed "the genital
> > organ"
> > > with
> > > > > "metaphysical delight."
> > > > > > Hence my too-hasty willingness to see Nabokov as the concealer
in
> > > > > > stanza two rather than as the explainer of this concealment.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Finally, as I mentioned to Alexey in a personal message thanking
> > > > > > him for his corrections, I was also distracted by the fact that
I
> > > > > > had composed a more ribald, even less literal, but rhymed
version
> > > > > > of the second stanza, not sent to the list, in which I replaced
> > > > > > "genital organ" with "cock" and rendered "polotenchikom" as
"with
> a
> > > sock."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Again, my apologies to Mr. Krivulin, and now to The Red Hot
Chili
> > > > > > Peppers as well.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Jeff Edmunds
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > At 10:24 AM 12/2/2004 -0800, you wrote:
> > > > > > >----- Forwarded message from sklyarenko@users.mns.ru -----
> > > > > > > Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 19:36:39 +0300
> > > > > > > From: alex <sklyarenko@users.mns.ru>
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >Thank you, Jeff Edmunds, for your translation and for providing
a
> > > > > > >link to
> > > > > the
> > > > > > >complete version of this poem. I found it on a different web
page
> > > > > > >(http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/krivulin4.html) where the poem was
> > > > > > >published without the four last lines.
> > > > > > >The poem's strange title apparently needs a short commentary.
> > > > > > >"Mgnove" is
> > > > > a
> > > > > > >truncated (and nonexisting) form of "mgnovenie," a moment, and
> > > > > > >the whole
> > > > > title
> > > > > > >plays on the first line of Pushkin's famous poem "Ya pomnyu
> > > > > > >chudnoe mgnoven'ye"
> > > > > > >(I remember a wondrous moment)addressed to Anna Kern (who was
to
> > > > > > >become Pushkin's mistress a couple of years after he had
written
> > > > > > >that
> > > > > poem).
> > > > > That's
> > > > > > >why "mgnove" is compared to a fragment of some antique statue
in
> > > > > > >lines
> > > > > 3-4.
> > > > > > >I think the translation is marvelous, but I would like to
correct
> > > > > > >one
> > > > > little
> > > > > > >mistake. The author of the poem doesn't want Nabokov to conceal
> > > > > > >the
> > > > > genital
> > > > > > >organ (of the statue) with metaphysical delight, he wants him
to
> > > > > > >explain why it is concealed. Also, styd i sram (the phrase
occurs
> > > > > > >in ADA, ch. 38) means simply "shame."
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >Krivulin has also a poem entitled Chetvyortaya Sestra ("The
> > > > > > >Fourth
> > > > > > >Sister") that
> > > > > > >might have been inspired (and might be not) by Chekhov's
> > > > > > >well-known play
> > > > > "The
> > > > > > >Four Sisters" (again, see ADA).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >Alexey
> > > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson
> > > > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 3:36 AM
> > > > > > > Subject: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov. Translation
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > EDNOTE. With thanks to Jeff Edmunds on ZEMBLA's Birthday.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The version of this poem that reached me via the list was
both
> > > > > > > garbled
> > > > > and
> > > > > > > truncated, perhaps as a result of the encoding. The
apparently
> > > > > complete
> > > > > > > version is available at
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/prim/krivulin4.html
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > about two-thirds of the way down the page.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Below is an English version, composed hastily and
immediately
> > > > > > > postprandially. It is whimsical, ugly, unrhymed, and
probably
> > > > > > > wrong in
> > > > > at
> > > > > > > least three ways. My apologies to Viktor Krivulin.
> > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Marvelous Moment
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Why did you, marvelous moment,
> > > > > > > Get stuck in my head
> > > > > > > Like a fragment from the naughty bits
> > > > > > > Of some antique statue?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Let Nabokov explain
> > > > > > > The meaning of Russian diffidence and
> > > > > > > Shame, and conceal the genital organ
> > > > > > > With metaphysical delight
> > > > > > > As with a wisp of cloth --
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Why? What for and from whom?
> > > > > > > Harmony is deity
> > > > > > > On line, connected to us
> > > > > > > So that we don't see, but we know,
> > > > > > > There is something there, where there is nothing
> > > > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > ----- End forwarded message -----
> > >
> > > ----- End forwarded message -----
> > >
> > >
> >
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----
About Russian scrabble games, Lucette punning on the feminine glans, etc.
please read Don's article "..., or Taking ADA clitorally" (sorry, I can
remember now only the second part of its title). It was published in his
book "The Worlds in Regression: Some Novels of VN"
You are right surmising that the letter L is conspicuously absent from one
of the words in the series. But this word (ROTIK) should be unscrambled
first. Had Lucette known it, she could have composed a longer word in her
scrabble game with Van and Ada: KLITOR (clitoris). But she composes ROTIK
(little mouth) and is "left with her poor initial." The phrase "You examined
and fingered my groove" has bith an erotic subtext and the prophetic
meaning: Van and Ada are to finger Lucette's groove and, by teasing her, to
bring her to an orgasm a week later (part 2, chapter 8).
Yes, it's Lucette's fur-coat that turns her into "a black bear with russet
locks." Her coat is vykhukhol' (as spelled correctly), desman or muskrat,
but Van mistakes it at first for sea-bear. Ursus (latin for "bear") probably
links Lucette to St. Ursula, a legendary British princess who, with 11,000
virgins, is said to have been martyred by the Huns at Cologne. Cf. Lucette's
parfume, Degrasse, or "Eau de grasse" that probably hints at eau de Cologne.
Alexey
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 7:52 PM
Subject: Re: morzh: Ursus/walrus/seabear connection
>
>
> Dear Brian Boyd ( and List),
>
> You brought up the Ursus/walrus/seabear connection which has been
> intriguing me for some time.
> In a way I feel that the List ( for example, by offering your discussion
> with Alexey about Russian words ) helps me with the handicap of not
knowing
> Russian by giving me a "feeeling" of how it appears in Nabokov´s English
> novel.
> VN´s "lettrocalamity" ( which he, sorry, Vivian Darkbloom explains as " a
> play on Ital. elettrocalamita, electromagnet" ) has a relation to the
> "lettre", to the "L" in Lucette´s name.
> Without being familiar with the Russian I can only suspect that certain
> words have hidden indications which I cannot explore, but it is possible
to
> surmise that the "L" may be absent or too conspicuous in the associations
> bt. Kotik, Vrotic,Krolik, Rotik, Likrot or Rotikl, Ritcov or Vrotic - but
a
> verbal metamorphosis is taking place from land-bears and sea-otters to
> mermaids and medusas having "ectric dreams", while I must of necessity be
> left out because of my "ursian illiteracy".
>
> In ADA ( now a Penguin, page 297) we find Lucette speaking:
> '- I got stuck with six Buchstaben in the last round of a Flavita game.
> Mind you, I was eight and had not studied anatomy, but was doing my poor
> little best to keep up with two Wunderkinder. and quickly redistributed
the haphazard sequence which made, say,
> LIKROT or ROTIKL and Ada flooded us both with her raven silks
> as she looked over our heads, and when you had completed the
rearrangement,
> you and she came simultaneously, si je puis le mettre comme ça ( Canady
> French), came falling on the black carpet in a paroxysm of
incomprehensible
> merriment; so finally I quietly composed ROTIK ( 'little mouth' )and was
> left with my own cheap initial (....)'
> 'Okay, okay,' replied her and his tormentor, ' but you know, a medically
> minded Ensligh Scrabbler, having two more letters to cope with, could
make,
> for example, STIRCOIL, a well-known sweat-gland stimulant, or CITROILS,
> which grooms use for rubbing fillies.'
> 'Please stop, Vandemonian',she moaned. 'Read her letter and bring me my
> coat. '
> Her coat, was it her sea-bear coat that turned her into a "black bear
with
> bright russet locks"? ( russet?) Or was it a "desman ('vihuol')"?
> I would thank you two ( Alexey and Boyd) if you could clarify me on the
> above issue that plays not only with "L" ´s "lettrocalamity" but scrabbles
> an excess of Van´s "V", in a game that has become impossible for the poor
> tongue of those who, like me, are non-English and non-Russian natives.
>
> Dmitri, I need to enlist help ( such as Hoffstadter´s or Don´s
> collaborators ) to be able at least to get closer to all those
Wunderkinds
> that jump from Math to Music.
> The word "diástêma", for example, that Umberto Eco described as a sonorous
> memory present during a "musical interval" might be familiar to you, as a
> musician familiar with the Italian. All my Brazilian connections in this
> field could not confirm Eco´s definition: would you ?
>
> Greetings,
> Jansy
>
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 11:53 PM
> > Subject: Fwd: RE: morzh
> >
> >
> > > Dear Alexey,
> > >
> > > Quite right, in my haste I was short-circuiting "khuy morzhovyi" and
> > "morzh"
> > > itself. But that doesn't affect the connection with Lucette, since in
a
> > > verbal association a Russian's likely first jump after "morzh" will
> > usually
> > > be to "khuy." I don't think the Ursus passage makes that any stronger.
> But
> > > as a matter of interest, just how big is the "khuy morzhovyi" in
Peter's
> > > Kunstkammer, or in the wild?
> > >
> > > Brian Boyd
> > >
> > > EDNOTE. In the interest of scolarship, I went over to Peter's
> Kunstkammer
> > last
> > > time I was in S-Pb. It was, alas, its vykhodnoi den' so I failed to
see
> > the
> > > museum's most famous exhibit.
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 1:05 PM
> > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > Subject: Fw: morzh
> > >
> > >
> > > Dear Brian,
> > >
> > > I doubt that "morzh" can mean "cock" or "prick" in Russian. At least
> not
> > in
> > > the modern Russian. But it can be used with the famous Russian
> > three-letter
> > > word for cock as an epithet, "morzhovyi" (of walrus). The whole phrase
> ("X
> > > > morzhovyi") is generally used as an obuse. But, if we disregard
this,
> > > > the genital organ of a walrus is pretty long, and you remember the
> > > > following dialogue between Lucette and Van in part 2, chapter 8:
> > > >
> > > > "...it looked to me at least eight inches long -"
> > > > "Seven and a half" murmured modest Van, whose hearing the music
> > impaired.
> > > >
> > > > Lucette, who is obsessed with sex, means Van's scar, not his penis
> > > > ("the ladder, not the lad") this time, but he is too drunk to
> understand
> > > that.
> > > > Lucette, in her turn, is probably aware (although she is even more
> > > > drunk
> > > than Van) of the fact that Van misunderstands
> > > > her, and she knows why he
> > > > misunderstands her (because she had seen him making love to Ada in a
> > > > previous chapter). So, "Morzhey" could indeed be a message from
> > > > Lucette,
> > > but
> > > > via "morzhovyi".
> > > >
> > > best,
> > > Alexey
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 9:03 PM
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > ---
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear Jansy, (Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>)
> > > > >
> > > > > Yes, but "twin cock crosses" is a very accurate description of
> > > > > old-style faucets (W2: cock, 6a: A faucet, tap, or valve or the
like
> > > > > for starting, stopping or regulating flow); it foes not literally
> > > > > refer to a penis. At
> > > > the
> > > > > same time, of course, Ada's other grip catches at Van's valve. And
> > > > > the
> > > > twin
> > > > > cock crosses also bring to mind the watery twins Marina and Aqua
> > > > > (who
> > > has
> > > > a
> > > > > problem with tapwater), and their foreshadowing of Ada and
Lucette,
> > > > > who bursts into the room in the same sentence, just after Van's
> > orgasm.
> > > > >
> > > > > Nabokov keeps "penis" out of his text, as Jeff observes, yet one
of
> > > > > the
> > > > key
> > > > > moments of the novel is Ada's decision to return to Van at Mont
> > > > > Roux, in
> > > > > 1922: "'I told him to turn,' she said, 'somewhere near Morzhey
> > ('morses'
> > > > or
> > > > > 'walruses,' a Russian pun on 'Morges'--maybe a mermaid's
message)."
> > > > "Morzh"
> > > > > in this sense is vulgar Russian for "cock" or "prick," and as "the
> > > > mermaid's
> > > > > message" indicates (Lucette has been explicitly called a mermaid
> > > > > shortly before), and the Ophelia-like punning on private parts
also
> > > > > suggests (Lucette puns extensively on clitoris and other sexual
> > > > > terms, especially
> > > > in
> > > > > III.5, but again Nabokov eschews "clitoris" itself), Ada's
decision
> > > > > to return to Van seems to have something to do with dead Lucette.
> > > > >
> > > > > Viktor Krivulin's poem, Jeff's translation and Jeff's and Alexey's
> > > > > commentary are delightful.
> > > > >
> > > > > Brian Boyd
> > > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 3:58 PM
> > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov. Translation
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear Jeff,
> > > > >
> > > > > You wrote that although Nabokov was always very precise in his
> > > terminology
> > > > > "this precision rarely if ever extended to human genital organs".
> > > > > And yet, the examples you offered were all only applicable to the
> > > "penis"
> > > > > ...
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > I sellected only one paragraph with VN=B4s euphemisms for the
> > > > > female
> > > sex
> > > > an=
> > > > > d
> > > > > adjacent parts in "Ada" : "where she strained across the low tub
to
> > > turn
> > > > on
> > > > > both taps and then bent over to insert the bronze chained plug; it
> > > > > got sucked in by itself, however, while he steadied her lovely
lyre
> > > > > and next moment was at the suede-soft root, was gripped, was deep
> > > > > between the familiar, incomparable, crimson-lined lips. She caught
> > > > > at the twin cock crosses, thus involuntarily increasing the
> > > > > sympathetic volume of the
> > > > water=
> > > > > =B4s
> > > > > noise, and Van emitted a long groan of deliverance" ( Penguin ed,
> pag.
> > > > 308).
> > > > >
> > > > > Anyway, I enjoyed your sentence about "a penis is never simply a
> > > > > penis
> > > for
> > > > > Nabokov" which nicely contrasts with Freud=B4s: " a cigar
sometimes
> > > > > is
> > > > only =
> > > > > a
> > > > > cigar".
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > > Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 6:07 PM
> > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov. Translation
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thank you Alexey Skylarenko for pointing out the shortcomings of
> > > > > > my translation, especially the major goof in the second stanza
> > > > > > (about which more below).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > As Alexey notes, "'Mgnove' is a truncated (and nonexisting) form
> > > > > > of 'mgnovenie,' a moment." This form wonderfully embodies the
> > > "fragment"
> > > > > > mentioned in the first stanza. Another of the charms of the
first
> > > > > > stanza
> > > > > is
> > > > > > the artistry which which the verb "zaselo" (got stuck) is
> > > > > > literally stuck in the phrase "v moei golove" (in my head): "v
> > > > > > moei zaselo golove." (Which calls to my mind the masterful first
> > > > > > sentence of Alain Robbe-Grillet's _La jalousie_ [of which
Nabokov
> > > > > > said in a French interview published in 1959, "C'est le plus
beau
> > > > > > roman d'amour depuis Proust"], in which the structure
> > > > >
> > > > > > of the sentence serves as a textual analog of the image
described:
> > > > > > "Now
> > > > > the
> > > > > > shadow of the column--the column which supports the southwest
> > > > > > corner of
> > > > > the
> > > > > > roof--divides the corresponding corner of the veranda into two
> > > > > > equal
> > > > > parts."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > As for stanza two, I would like to explain one reason why I
> > > > > > misread the text as implying that it was Nabokov who "conceal[s]
> > > > > > the genital organ / With metaphysical delight." Nabokov was
always
> > > > > > precise in his terminology (cf., inter alia, Peter Lubin's paper
> > > > > > in ZEMBLA), but this precision
> > > > > rarely
> > > > > > if ever extended to human genital organs. So far as I can
recall,
> > > > > > Nabokov does not once in his published prose or poetry use the
> > > > > > word "penis." (He
> > > > > > *does* use the term in one of his letters to Edmund Wilson. If I
> > > > > > recall correctly, he says, in reference to the sex scenes in one
> > > > > > of Wilson's books, that despite their frankness, they are not
> > > > > > arousing, in fact they are about as arousing as "trying to open
a
> > > > > > can of tuna
> > > with
> > > > > one's penis."
> > > > > > Incidentally, the delivery of this line by Dmitri Nabokov
playing
> > > > > > his father during a performance of Terry Quinn's "Dear Bunny,
Dear
> > > Volodya,"
> > > > > > was, for me, a delightful moment of shared hilarity during the
> > > > > > 1998
> > > > > Cornell
> > > > > > Nabokov Centenary Festival.)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Whether the "pryshchushchii persik" (spurting peach) or "priap"
> > > > > > (priapus) in Chapter XIII of Prignlashenie na kazn' (Invitation
to
> > > > > > a Beaheading), or the much more famous "scepter of my passion"
in
> > > > > > Lolita, a penis is never simply a penis for Nabokov. Few
writers,
> > > > > > it might be argued, have so artistically concealed "the genital
> > organ"
> > > with
> > > > > "metaphysical delight."
> > > > > > Hence my too-hasty willingness to see Nabokov as the concealer
in
> > > > > > stanza two rather than as the explainer of this concealment.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Finally, as I mentioned to Alexey in a personal message thanking
> > > > > > him for his corrections, I was also distracted by the fact that
I
> > > > > > had composed a more ribald, even less literal, but rhymed
version
> > > > > > of the second stanza, not sent to the list, in which I replaced
> > > > > > "genital organ" with "cock" and rendered "polotenchikom" as
"with
> a
> > > sock."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Again, my apologies to Mr. Krivulin, and now to The Red Hot
Chili
> > > > > > Peppers as well.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Jeff Edmunds
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > At 10:24 AM 12/2/2004 -0800, you wrote:
> > > > > > >----- Forwarded message from sklyarenko@users.mns.ru -----
> > > > > > > Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 19:36:39 +0300
> > > > > > > From: alex <sklyarenko@users.mns.ru>
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >Thank you, Jeff Edmunds, for your translation and for providing
a
> > > > > > >link to
> > > > > the
> > > > > > >complete version of this poem. I found it on a different web
page
> > > > > > >(http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/krivulin4.html) where the poem was
> > > > > > >published without the four last lines.
> > > > > > >The poem's strange title apparently needs a short commentary.
> > > > > > >"Mgnove" is
> > > > > a
> > > > > > >truncated (and nonexisting) form of "mgnovenie," a moment, and
> > > > > > >the whole
> > > > > title
> > > > > > >plays on the first line of Pushkin's famous poem "Ya pomnyu
> > > > > > >chudnoe mgnoven'ye"
> > > > > > >(I remember a wondrous moment)addressed to Anna Kern (who was
to
> > > > > > >become Pushkin's mistress a couple of years after he had
written
> > > > > > >that
> > > > > poem).
> > > > > That's
> > > > > > >why "mgnove" is compared to a fragment of some antique statue
in
> > > > > > >lines
> > > > > 3-4.
> > > > > > >I think the translation is marvelous, but I would like to
correct
> > > > > > >one
> > > > > little
> > > > > > >mistake. The author of the poem doesn't want Nabokov to conceal
> > > > > > >the
> > > > > genital
> > > > > > >organ (of the statue) with metaphysical delight, he wants him
to
> > > > > > >explain why it is concealed. Also, styd i sram (the phrase
occurs
> > > > > > >in ADA, ch. 38) means simply "shame."
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >Krivulin has also a poem entitled Chetvyortaya Sestra ("The
> > > > > > >Fourth
> > > > > > >Sister") that
> > > > > > >might have been inspired (and might be not) by Chekhov's
> > > > > > >well-known play
> > > > > "The
> > > > > > >Four Sisters" (again, see ADA).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >Alexey
> > > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson
> > > > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 3:36 AM
> > > > > > > Subject: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov. Translation
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > EDNOTE. With thanks to Jeff Edmunds on ZEMBLA's Birthday.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The version of this poem that reached me via the list was
both
> > > > > > > garbled
> > > > > and
> > > > > > > truncated, perhaps as a result of the encoding. The
apparently
> > > > > complete
> > > > > > > version is available at
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/prim/krivulin4.html
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > about two-thirds of the way down the page.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Below is an English version, composed hastily and
immediately
> > > > > > > postprandially. It is whimsical, ugly, unrhymed, and
probably
> > > > > > > wrong in
> > > > > at
> > > > > > > least three ways. My apologies to Viktor Krivulin.
> > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Marvelous Moment
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Why did you, marvelous moment,
> > > > > > > Get stuck in my head
> > > > > > > Like a fragment from the naughty bits
> > > > > > > Of some antique statue?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Let Nabokov explain
> > > > > > > The meaning of Russian diffidence and
> > > > > > > Shame, and conceal the genital organ
> > > > > > > With metaphysical delight
> > > > > > > As with a wisp of cloth --
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Why? What for and from whom?
> > > > > > > Harmony is deity
> > > > > > > On line, connected to us
> > > > > > > So that we don't see, but we know,
> > > > > > > There is something there, where there is nothing
> > > > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > ----- End forwarded message -----
> > >
> > > ----- End forwarded message -----
> > >
> > >
> >
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----