Subject
Krug
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The hero of Bend Sinister (1947) is the philosopher Adam Krug. Krug means in Russian "circle" and in German "mug; jug" (cf. Russian kruzhka).* One is reminded of Derzhavin's poem "Philosophers, Drunk and Sober" (1789) and Pushkin's celebrated poem "Winter Evening" (1825), with its famous refrain: Vyp'yem s gorya; gde zhe kruzhka? Serdtsu budet veseley. (Let us drink from grief; where is the jug? / The heart will be gayer.)
*In the language spoken in Padukgrad and Omigod ("a mongrel blend of Slavic and Germanic"), kruv means "crow" and kruvka, "bed."
Adam Krug + Paduk = drug + pauk + damka
Adam Krug + root = dramaturg + oko
(Paduk - Krug's former schoolmate, the Ruler; drug - Russ., friend; pauk - spider; damka - king, at draughts; dramaturg - playwright, dramatist; oko - eye)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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*In the language spoken in Padukgrad and Omigod ("a mongrel blend of Slavic and Germanic"), kruv means "crow" and kruvka, "bed."
Adam Krug + Paduk = drug + pauk + damka
Adam Krug + root = dramaturg + oko
(Paduk - Krug's former schoolmate, the Ruler; drug - Russ., friend; pauk - spider; damka - king, at draughts; dramaturg - playwright, dramatist; oko - eye)
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/