Content-Type: message/rfc822 Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:02:05 -0400 From: "Stanislav Shvabrin" To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] Bilitis Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="=__Part0520CB3D.1__=" --=__Part0520CB3D.1__= Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=__Part0520CB3D.2__=" --=__Part0520CB3D.2__= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear Dmitri Vladimirovich and the List, Could it be Claude Debussy? With every good wish, Stanislav Shvabrin. On Jun 7, 2006, at 6:16 PM, NABOKV-L wrote: > Two comments for Don and List: > > A hurried perusal has not yielded the translator's name, but he should > be advised that (in l'Arbre, "The Tree" verse 3, line 3) "orteils" > means "toes," not "heels." > > As for the fiftth definition of lips, have no qualms about your > imagination, Don. The meaning in question appears elsewhere in Nabokov > (e.g., The Enchanter), and elsewhere in literature. > > Incidentally, I still have somewhere the score of a musical setting of > les Chansons by a very French composer whose name probably should not > escape me but does. > > Best greetings, > > DN > > > Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html > 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 > > > > > > From: "Dmitri Nabokov" > Date: June 7, 2006 8:12:47 AM PDT > To: > Subject: FW: [NABOKV-L] Bilitis.doc > > > Two comments for Don and List: > > A hurried perusal has not yielded the translator's name, but he =20 > should be advised that (in l'Arbre, "The Tree" verse 3, line 3) =20 > "orteils" means "toes," not "heels." > > As for the fiftth definition of lips, have no qualms about your =20 > imagination, Don. The meaning in question appears elsewhere in =20 > Nabokov (e.g., The Enchanter), and elsewhere in literature. > > Incidentally, I still have somewhere the score of a musical setting =20 > of les Chansons by a very French composer whose name probably =20 > should not escape me but does. > > Best greetings, > > DN > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On =20 > Behalf Of D. Barton Johnson > Sent: mercredi, 7. juin 2006 03:13 > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU > Subject: [NABOKV-L] Bilitis.doc > > I thank Mr. Strickland for his informative series of suggestions. =20 > I have pursued at least one of them. It follows: > > > > Don Johnson > > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > > > > > April 23, 2004 > > > > Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s Ada and Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2= =82=AC=E2=84=A2 Chansons de Bilitis: > > The Tree of Knowledge > > > > > > Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 1894 Les Chansons de = Bilitis is one of the =20 > classics of the lesbian canon. The work was something of a =20 > mystification since it purported to be the memoir of a sixth =20 > century B.C Greek courtesan whose tomb had recently excavated on =20 > Cypress. A prose poem of a hundred and forty-three stanzas in the =20 > form of inscriptions on the tomb walls, it recounts Bilitis=D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=84=A2 =20 > girlhood as a goatherd in what is now southern Turkey (then =20 > Pamphilia) near the Mediterrean. She is early introduced to sex by =20 > a newly-married friend and then a young herdsman. She has an =20 > infant whom she deserts at sixteen when she moves to Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne = on =20 > the Isle of Lesbos where she is befriended by the poet Sappho and =20 > has a ten-year liaison with a beloved but faithless mistress. After =20 > a painful break-up, she moves on to Cypress, then a thriving and =20 > decadent community where she establishes herself as a wealthy and =20 > famed courtesan par excellence, while not forsaking the pleasures =20 > afforded by those of her own sex At forty, she retires and writes =20 > her poetic biography which survives on the walls of her tomb. The =20 > entire work, ostensibly translated from the Greek, is the work of =20 > Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs (1870-1924), a twenty-three-year-old Parisian = who =20 > was immersed in the culture of the ancient eastern Mediterranean =20 > and went on to even greater, if transient, fame as the author of =20 > the equally scandalous novel Aphrodite (1906), a tale of bisexual =20 > courtesan life in Alexandria. He wale d=D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2Annunzio, and Oscar Wilde. Les Chansons de Bilitis was = a pan-=20 > European scandal and became a lushly illustrated, privately printed =20 > collector=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s item in many languages. There was = even a Russian =20 > version in 1907. Les Chansons de Bilitis, now mostly forgotten, =20 > makes two fleeting, but explicit appearances in Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2= =84=A2s =20 > ADA =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9C both in connection with lesbianism. > > > > > > Soon after that first Ardis summer, Van encounters Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2= =84=A2s =20 > boarding-school dorm-mate Cordula de Prey who tells him of Ada=D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s letters raving about her visiting cousin. Ada has = mentioned =20 > in a letter to Van that one of her school mates is in love with =20 > her (158). Van inspects Cordula closely: > > > > He had read somewhere (we might recall the precise title if we =20 > tried, not Tiltil, that=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s in Blue Beard...) that = a man can =20 > recognize a Lesbian, young and alone (because a tailored old pair =20 > can fool no one), by a combination of three characteristics: =20 > slightly trembling hands, a cold-in-the-head voice, and that =20 > skidding-in-panic of the eyes if you happen to scan with obvious =20 > appraisal such charms as the occasion might force her to show =20 > (lovely shoulders, for instance)[1]. Nothing whatever of all that =20 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93(yes =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne, = petite isle, by Louis Pierre)=D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=C2=9D seemed to apply to Cordula, who wore a =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB= =9Cgarbotosh=D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 (belted mackintosh) over her terribly unsmart turtle = and held =20 > both hands deep in her pockets as she challenged his stare (164-165). > > > > > > It takes Van a moment to place the source of the presumed traits of =20 > a lesbian =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9C =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93(yes =D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=80=9D Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne, petite isle, by =20 > Louis Pierre)=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D [1]. Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne was the city = on the small =20 > island of Lesbos where Bilitis knew the poet Sappho. Pierre Louis =20 > was the pseudonym of Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs. The name Bilitis is = introduced =20 > a few page later when it is mentioned en passant that Ada and =20 > Lucette=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s governess Ida Larivi=D0=A3=D0=88re = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93had been =20 > platonically and irrevocably in love ever since she had seen =20 > [Marina] in =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CBilitis=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2=D1=82=E2= =82=AC=C2=9D (194). Nor is this the =20 > only lesbian allusion. Cordula=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s =D1=82=E2=82=AC= =C5=93garbotosh=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D and =20 > stance are those of Greta Garbo in a poster promoting her first =20 > talking film-- Eugene O=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2Neil=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84= =A2s Anna Christie. Garbo =20 > was widely rumored to be a lesbian.[2] Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s = first (mis-)=20 > recollection (=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93not Tiltil, that=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84= =A2s in Blue Beard=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D =20 > come from Maurice Maeterlinck=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s play L=D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=84=A2oiseau bleu =20 > (1909) in which the names of the woodcutter=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s = children, =20 > Tyltyl and Mytyl, lead him to Sappho=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s = Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne. > > > > Cordula further fuels Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s suspicions (and = continues the =20 > French theme) with her comments that she and Ada are in the =20 > Advanced French goup that share a dormitory. In his next letter =20 > Van asks Ada whether Cordula is the lezbianochka she had earlier =20 > referred to. Van remains suspicious when Ada denies it. The theme =20 > is reintensified during durig Van miserable rainy-day visit to =20 > Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s school where their meeting is =D1=82=E2=82= =AC=C5=93chaperoned=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D =20 > by Cordula, again in her Garbo outfit. Van is tormented by his =20 > imaginings of their ecstactic =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93twinned =D1=82=E2=82= =AC=D0=86entwinement,=D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=D0=86: Corada, Adula=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (168). He imagines = taking revenge by =20 > telling the pair of the sexual antics of Cordula=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2= s cousin at =20 > Riverlane, but contents himself with a literary discussion of =20 > Proust=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s characters, Marcel and Albertine, whose = actions make =20 > sense only if the reader knows the narrator is =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93a = pansy=D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=C2=9D =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9C a fatal flaw since author=D1=82= =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s life should be =20 > extraneous to his art. The lesbian theme is enacted throughout =20 > the novel by Ada and Lucette and echoed here and there in allusions =20 > to Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s and Cordula=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s = schoolmate, the tribadka Vanda =20 > (!) Broom. Cf. the French tribade defined by the four-volume 1957 =20 > Emile Littr=D0=A3=D0=89 Dictionnaire as a =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Terme = qu=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2on =20 > =D0=A3=D0=89vite d=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2employer. Femme qui abuse de = son sexe avec une =20 > autre femme=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (584). > > > > The above, more or less explicit allusions to Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1= =82=20 > =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Chansons de Bilitis do not exhaust its presence in = Ada, =20 > although we now enter upon more slippery ground. Let us call this =20 > new theme =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93The Tree of Knowledge.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2= =9D > > > > > > For the big picnic on Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s twelfth birthday and = Ida=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s =20 > forty-second jour de f=D0=A3=D0=8Ate, the child was permitted to wear = her =20 > lolita =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86, a rather long, but very airy and ample, = black skirt =20 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86. . > She had stepped into it, naked, =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86 and pulled it on = with a =20 > brisk jiggle of the hips which provoked her governess=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2= =84=A2s =20 > familiar rebuke: mais ne te tr=D0=A3=D0=89mousse pas comme =D0=A3=D0=87a = quand tu =20 > mets ta jupe! Une petite fille de bonne maison, etc. Per contra, =20 > the omission of panties was ignored by Ida Larivi=D0=A3=D0=88re, a = bosomy =20 > woman of great and repulsive beauty (in nothing but corset and =20 > gartered stockings at the moment) who was not above making secret =20 > concessions to the heat of the dog-days herself; but in tender =20 > Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s case the practice had deprecable effects. = The child =20 > tried to assuage the rash in the soft arch, with all its =20 > accompaniment of sticky, itchy, not altogether unpleasurable =20 > sensations, by tightly straddling the cool limb of a Shattal apple =20 > tree, much to Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s disgust as we shall see more = than once. =20 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86.Neither hygiene, nor sophistication of taste, = were, as Van =20 > kept observing, typical of the Ardis household (I-13 77-78). > > > > A few days later find the children climbing the shattal tree at the =20 > bottom of the garden (I-15, pp. 94-95) > > > > Her bare foot slipped, and the two panting youngsters tangled =20 > ignominiously among the branches, in a shower of drupes and leaves, =20 > clutching at each other, and the next moment, as they regained a =20 > semblance of balance, his expressionless face and cropped head were =20 > between her legs and a last fruit fell with a thud =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80= =9D the =20 > dropped dot of an inverted exclamation point. She was wearing his =20 > wristwatch and a cotton frock. > (=D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CRemember?=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CYes, of course, I remember: you kissed me here, = on the =20 > inside =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CAnd you started to strangle me with those = devilish knees =20 > of yours =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CI was seeking some sort of support.=D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=84=A2) > That might have been true, but according to a later =20 > (considerably later!) version they were still in the tree, and =20 > still glowing, when Van removed a silk thread of larva web from his =20 > lip and remarked that such negligence of attire was a form of =20 > hysteria. > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CWell,=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 answered Ada, = straddling her favorite =20 > limb, =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9Cas we all know byow, Mlle La Rivi=D0=A3=D0=88r= e de Diamants has =20 > nothing against a hysterical little girl=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s not = wearing =20 > pantalets during l=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2ardeur de la canicule.=D1=82=E2= =82=AC=E2=84=A2 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CI refuse to share the ardor of your little = canicule with =20 > an apple tree.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 > > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CIt is really the Tree of Knowledge =D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=80=9D this specimen =20 > was imported last summer =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86 from the Eden National = Park =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86 > > > > For a detailed exegesis, I refer the reader to Brian Boyd=D1=82=E2=82=AC= =E2=84=A2s =20 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Annotations to Ada 15: Part I Chapter 15=D1=82=E2=82= =AC=C2=9D in issue 44 =20 > of The Nabokovian (65ff). For our purposes, it suffices to remark =20 > two things. The identification of the Edenic shattal as the =D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=C5=93Tree of Knowledge,=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D i.e., carnal = knowledge, and of Ada=D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s slip (with its =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93lip-to-lips=D1=82= =E2=82=AC=C2=9D consequences) as =20 > =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93The Fall.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D Pay particular note = to the first excerpt in =20 > which Ada arouses herself by rubbing her genitalia against the tree =20 > branch. Van is not yet on the scene. > > > > Now=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9Dwhat might this have to do with Lou=D0=A3=D0= =9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Les =20 > Chansons de Bilitis? The image of a young girl masturbating again =20 > a tree limb is not a frequent one in world literature but, as it =20 > happens, it is precisely the scene that opens The Songs of Bilitis. > > > > > > > > > I > L'ARBRE > > Je me suis d=D0=A3=D0=89v=D0=A3=D0=8Atue pour monter =D0=A3 un arbre; > mes cuisses nues embrassaient l'=D0=A3=D0=89corce lisse > et humide; mes sandales marchaient sur les > branches. > > Tout en haut, mais encore sous les feuilles > et =D0=A3 l'ombre de la chaleur, je me suis mise =D0=A3 > cheval sur une fourche =D0=A3=D0=89cart=D0=A3=D0=89e en balan=D0=A3=D0= =87ant > mes pieds dans le vide. > > Il avait plu. Des gouttes d'eau tombaient et > coulaient sur ma peau. Mes mains =D0=A3=D0=89taient > tach=D0=A3=D0=89es de mousse, et mes orteils =D0=A3=D0=89taient > rouges, =D0=A3 cause des fleurs =D0=A3=D0=89cras=D0=A3=D0=89es. > > Je sentais le bel arbre vivre quand le vent > passait au travers; alors je serrais mes > jambes davantage et j'appliquais mes l=D0=A3=D0=88vres > ouvertes sur la nuque chevelue d'un rameau. > > > THE TREE > > I undressed to climb a tree; my naked thighs embraced the smooth =20 > and humid bark; my sandals climbed upon the branches. > High up, but still beneath the leaves and shaded from the heat, I =20 > straddled a wide-spread fork and swung my feet into the void. > It had rained. Drops of water fell and flowed upon my skin. My =20 > hands were soiled with moss and my heels were reddened by the =20 > crushed blossoms. > I felt the lovely tree living when the wind passed through it; so I =20 > locked my legs tighter, and crushed my open lips to the hairy nape =20 > of a bough. > > > > Lest the reader think I have an overactive imagination, please note =20 > that the next chapter but one (in which they first kiss) opens with =20 > a double entendre: > > > > > The hugest dictionary in the library said under Lip: =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB= =9CEither =20 > of a pair of fleshy folds surrounding an orifice.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2= > Mileyshiy Emile, as Ada called Monsieur Littr=D0=A3=D0=89, spoke thus: = =D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=CB=9CPartie ext=D0=A3=D0=89rieure et charnue qui forme le = contour de la =20 > bouche... Les deux bords d=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2une plaie simple=D1=82= =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 (we =20 > simply speak with our wounds; wounds procreate) =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9C...C= =D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2est le membre qui l=D0=A3=D0=88che.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2= =84=A2 Dearest Emile! > > Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s choice from =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93the = hugest dictionary,=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D =20 > (Merriam-Webster II) is in fact the fifth among the definitions. =20 > The first locates =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93lips=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D at the = opening of the mouth. =20 > English =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93lips=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D and the French = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93l=D0=A3=D0=88vres=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D =20 > refer to both the upper and lower orifices and presumably are =20 > cognate with the Latin labium, pl. labia. Also perhaps of note is =20 > that Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s shattal tree is from Edenic Asia Minor = as is =20 > Bilitis herself. Their positions astraddle the branch leave no =20 > doubt about which lips are intended. They are, by the way, about =20 > the same age. > > > > Ada is not the first Nabokov work to cite Les Chansons de Bilitis. =20 > The protagonist of Podvig (Glory) Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s = fourth novel =20 > (1932) flees revolutionary Russia aboard a freighter. Seventeen-=20 > year-old Martin is seduced by a flamboyant Petersburg society =20 > poetess. After their arrival in Athens, Alla presents him with =20 > Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Chansons de Bilitis = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93in the cheap =20 > edition illustrated with the naked forms of adolescents, from which =20 > she would read to him, meaningfully pronouncing the French, in the =20 > early evening on the Acropolis, the most appropriate place, one =20 > might say=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (30). (=D0=B0=C2=90=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0= =9B=D0=B0=D0=90 =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86 =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E =D0=B0=D0=9F= =D0=B1=20 > =E2=82=ACie=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0=D0=94e =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=C5=A0 = =D0=B0=C2=90=D0=B1=E2=80=9E=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B1=E2=80=B9, = =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B1=20 > =E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=90 =D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0= =B1=C6=92 "=D0=B0=C5=B8e=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=98 =D0=B0=E2=80= =98=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=20 > =E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B1=C5=A0", =D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B0=D0=95= =D0=B1=CB=86=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=95 =20 > =D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9Di=D0=B0=D0=95= , =D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B1=C5=BD=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B1=E2=80= =9A=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=20 > =E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0= =B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=95 =D0=B1=E2=80=9E=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=93=D0=B1=C6=92= =D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B0=D0=98 =20 > =D0=B0=D0=93=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B1=E2=80=B9=D0=B1=E2=80=A6=D0=B1= =C5=A0 =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0= =B1=C2=81=D0=B1=20 > =E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=C5=A0, [38] = =D0=B0=D0=98 =D0=B1=E2=80=A1=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0= =D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=90 =20 > =D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B1=C6=92 =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9B= =D0=B1=C6=92=D0=B1=E2=80=A6=D0=B1=C5=A0, =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=E2=80=B9=D0=B1= =20 > =E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0=95= =D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B1=C5=92=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=9E =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B1=20 > =E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0= =B1=C2=81=D0=B1=C2=8F =D0=B1=E2=80=9E=D0=B1=20 > =E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B1=E2=80=A0=D0=B1=C6=92=D0=B0=D0=97= =D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9Ai=D0=B1=C2=8F =D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=9E= =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0=90, =20 > =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B1=E2=80= =A1=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B1=C5=A0, =D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=90 = =D0=B0=C2=90=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0=B1=20 > =E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9Be, =D0=B0=D0=9D= =D0=B0=D0=90 =D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9C= =D0=B1=C5=A0, =D0=B1=20 > =E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0=B1=C5=A0 =D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0= =B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B1=C5=92, =D0=B0=D0=9F= =D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B1=E2=80=A6=20 > =D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B1=C2=8F=D0=B1=E2=80=B0=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0= =9C=D0=B1=C5=A0 =D0=B0=D0=9Ce=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B1=E2=80=9Ae). The low = opinion of =20 > the thirty-year-old Nabokov of Les Chansons de Bilitis is evident. =20 > But perhaps it had once been otherwise. > > > > One of Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s themes is the Ardis library from = which Van =20 > filches erotic reading material for himself and Ada, whose access =20 > is strictly regulated. Nabokov has remarked that between the ages =20 > of ten and fifteen in St. Petersbburg he probably read more =20 > fiction and poetry=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9DEnglish, Russian, and French = -- than in =20 > any other five-year period in my life=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (SO-42). The = Nabokov =20 > family library has long since been dispersed but its printed =20 > catalogue survives: Sistematicheskii katalog Biblioteki Vladimira =20 > Dmitrievicha Nabokova. (S-Peterburg: Tovarishchestvo =20 > Xudozhestvennoi Pechati, 1904). Item numbers 372 & 373 are =D1=82=20 > =E2=82=AC=C5=93Louys, P. Aphrodite. Paris, 1901=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D = and =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Louys, P. =20 > Les Chansons de Bilitis, Paris MDCCCXCVIII=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (1898). > > > > * Be it noted that Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s three infallible = characteristics for =20 > recognizing lesbians are to be found in Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC= =E2=84=A2 novella =20 > where short hair and skimpy bosoms are the typifying traits. > > > > D. Barton Johnson, Editor NABOKV-L > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [1] Be it noted that Les Chansons do not, in fact, remark these =20 > features. > > [2] For details, see my NABOKV-L note =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Ada & = Garbo=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D of =20 > August 30, 2003. > > Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB > > Contact the Editors > > All private editorial communications, without exception, are read =20 > by both co-editors. > > Visit Zembla > > View Nabokv-L Policies > > Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB > > Contact the Editors > > All private editorial communications, without exception, are read =20 > by both co-editors. > > Visit Zembla > > View Nabokv-L Policies > > Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB > > Contact the Editors > > All private editorial communications, without exception, are read =20 > by both co-editors. > > Visit Zembla > > View Nabokv-L Policies > > > > > 4 > > > > Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB > > Contact the Editors > > All private editorial communications, without exception, are read =20 > by both co-editors. > > Visit Zembla > > View Nabokv-L Policies > > Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB > > Contact the Editors > > All private editorial communications, without exception, are read =20 > by both co-editors. > > Visit Zembla > > View Nabokv-L Policies > > Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB > > Contact the Editors > > All private editorial communications, without exception, are read =20 > by both co-editors. > > Visit Zembla > > View Nabokv-L Policies > >
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html 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 Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html 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 --=__Part0520CB3D.2__= Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Description: HTML Dear= Dmitri Vladimirovich and the List,=C2=A0

Could it be=C2=A0Claude = Debussy?

With every good wish,

Stanislav Shvabrin.
<= FONT class=3D"Apple-style-span" size=3D"6">
On Jun 7, 2006, = at 6:16 PM, NABOKV-L wrote:

Two comments for Don and List:

A hurried = perusal has not yielded the translator's name, but he should
be advised that (in l'Arbre, "The Tree" verse 3, =C2=A0 =C2=A0 line 3) "orteils"
means "toes," not "heels."
As for the fiftth definition of lips, have no = qualms about your
imagination, Don. The meaning in = question appears elsewhere in Nabokov
(e.g., The = Enchanter), and=C2=A0 elsewher= e in literature.

Incidentally, I still have somewhere the score of a musical = setting of
les Chansons by a very French = composer whose name probably should not
escape me = but does.


DN


Contact = the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm




From: "Dmitri Nabokov" <cangrande@bluewin.ch>
Date: June 7, 2006 8:12:47 AM PDT
Subject: FW: [NABOKV-L] Bilitis.doc


Two comments for Don and = List:
=C2=A0
=
A hurried perusal has not yielded the translator's name, = but he should be advised that (in=C2=A0l'Arbre,=C2=A0"The=C2=A0Tre= e" verse 3,=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 line 3) "orteils" means = "toes," not "heels."
=C2=A0
As for the fiftth definition of lips, = have no qualms about your imagination, Don. The meaning in question = appears elsewhere in Nabokov (e.g., The Enchanter),=C2=A0and = =C2=A0elsewhere in literature= .
=C2=A0
Incidentally, I still have somewhere the score=C2=A0of a=C2=A0musical = setting of=C2=A0les Chansons=C2=A0by=C2=A0a very French composer = whose name probably should not escape me but does.
=C2=A0<= /DIV>
Best greetings,
=C2=A0
DN
=C2=A0=C2= =A0
=C2=A0-----Original = Message-----
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On = Behalf Of D. Barton Johnson
Sent: mercredi, 7. juin 2006 = 03:13
To: NABOKV-L@= LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: [NABOKV-L] Bilitis.doc

I thank Mr. Strickland for his = informative series of suggestions.=C2=A0 = I have pursued at least one of them. It follows:

=C2=A0

<= FONT face=3D"Arial Black" size=3D"3">Don = Johnson

--------------------------------= ---------------------

=C2=A0

=C2=A0<= /FONT>

=C2=A0

=C2=A0

= April 23, 2004

=

=C2=A0=

Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s Ada= and Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Chansons de Bilitis: =

The = Tree of Knowledge

=C2=A0

<= SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt">=C2=A0

Pierre = Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 = 1894 Les Chansons de Bilitis=C2=A0 = is one of the classics of the lesbian canon.=C2=A0 The work was something of a mystification since it = purported to be the memoir of a sixth century B.C Greek courtesan whose = tomb had recently excavated on Cypress. =C2=A0A = prose poem of a hundred and forty-three stanzas in the form of inscriptions= on the tomb walls, it recounts Bilitis=D1=82= =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 girlhood as a goatherd in what is now southern = Turkey = (then Pamphilia) near the Mediterrean. She is early introduced to sex by a newly-married = friend and then a young herdsman. =C2=A0<= /SPAN>She has an infant whom she deserts at sixteen when she moves to = Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne on the Isle of Lesbos where she is befriended by the poet Sappho and has a ten-year liaison with a beloved = but faithless mistress. After a painful break-up, she moves on to Cypress, = then a thriving and decadent community where she establishes herself as a = wealthy and famed courtesan par excellence, while not forsaking the pleasures afforded by those of her own = sex=C2=A0 At forty, she retires = and writes her poetic biography=C2=A0 = which survives on the walls of her tomb. The entire work, ostensibly= translated from the Greek, is the work of Pierre Lo= u=D0=A3=D0=9Fs (1870-1924), a twenty-three-year-old Parisian who = was immersed in the culture of the ancient eastern Mediterranean and went = on to even greater, if transient, fame as the author of the equally = scandalous novel Aphrodite (1906), a tale of =C2=A0bisexual courtesan life in Alexandria. He was to = become a friend of Andr=D0=A3=D0=89 Gide, = Claude Debussy, Maurice Maeterlinck, Gabriele d=D1= =82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2Annunzio, and Oscar Wilde. Les Chansons de = Bilitis was a pan-European = scandal and became a lushly illustrated, privately printed collector=D1=82= =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s item in many languages. There was even a Russian = version in 1907. Les Chansons de Bilitis, now mostly forgotten, makes two fleeting, but explicit appearances in = Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s ADA =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9C = both in connection with lesbianism. =C2=A0

=C2=A0

=C2=A0

Soon after that first Ardis = summer, Van encounters Ada=D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=84=A2s boarding-school dorm-mate Cordu= la de Prey who tells him of Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC= =E2=84=A2s letters raving about her visiting cousin. Ada has = mentioned in a letter to Van that one of her school mates is in love with = =C2=A0her (158).=C2=A0 Van inspects Cordula closely:

=C2=A0

=C2=A0He had read = somewhere (we might recall the precise title if we tried, not Tiltil, that=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s in Blue = Beard...) that a man can recognize a Lesbian, young and alone (because a = tailored old pair can fool no one), by a combination of three characteristi= cs: slightly trembling hands, a cold-in-the-head voice, and that skidding-i= n-panic of the eyes if you happen to scan with obvious appraisal such = charms as the occasion might force her to show (lovely shoulders, for = instance)[1]. Nothing = whatever of all that =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93(yes =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D = Mytil=D0=A3=D0= =88ne, petite = isle, by Louis Pierre)=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D seemed to apply to = Cordula, who wore a =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9Cgarbotosh=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 (belted = mackintosh) over her terribly unsmart turtle = and held both hands deep in her pockets as she challenged his stare = (164-165).

= =C2=A0

=C2=A0<= /P>

It takes Van a moment to place the source of the presumed traits of = a lesbian =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9C =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93(yes =D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=80=9D Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne, petite isle, by Louis Pierre)=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D = [1]. Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne was the city on the = small island of Lesbos where Bilitis knew the poet Sappho. = Pierre Louis was the pseudonym of Pierre Lou= =D0=A3=D0=9Fs. The name Bilitis is = introduced a few page later when it is mentioned en passant that Ada and Lucette=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s governess Ida Larivi=D0=A3=D0=88re =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93had been platonically= and irrevocably in love ever since she had seen [Mari= na] in =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9C<= I style=3D"mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Bilitis=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84= =A2=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (194). No= r is this the only lesbian allusion. Cordula=D1=82= =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93garb= otosh=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D and stance are those of Greta Garbo in a poster promoting her first talking = film-- Eugene O=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2Neil=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s Anna Christie. =C2=A0Garbo was widely rumored to be a lesbian.<= SPAN style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black'; mso-fareast-font= -family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; = mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: = 9.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">[2] Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s first (mis= -)recollection (=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93not Tilt= il, that=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s in Blue Beard=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D= come from Maurice Maeterlinck=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s play L=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2ois= eau bleu = (1909) in which the names of the woodcutter=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s = children, Tyltyl and Mytyl, lead him to Sappho=D1=82=E2=82= =AC=E2=84=A2s =C2=A0Mytil=D0=A3=D0=88ne.

=C2=A0

Cordula= further fuels Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s suspicions= (and continues the French theme) with her comments that she and = Ada are in = the Advanced French goup that share a = dormitory.=C2=A0 In his next = letter Van asks =C2=A0Ada whether = Cordula is the lezbianochka =C2=A0sh= e had earlier referred to. Van remains suspicious when Ada denies it. The = theme is reintensified during durig Van miserable rainy-day visit to Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s school where their = meeting is =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93chaperoned=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D by Cordula, again in her Garbo<= /SPAN> outfit. Van is tormented by his imaginings of their ecstactic =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93twinned =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86e= ntwinement,=D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86: Corada, = Adula=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (168). He = imagines taking revenge by telling the pair of=C2=A0 the sexual antics of Cordula=D1= =82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s cousin at Riverlane, but contents himself with a literary discussion of Proust=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s characters, Marcel and Albertine, whose actions make sense only if the = reader knows the narrator is =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93a pansy=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2= =9D =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9C a fatal flaw since author=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84= =A2s life should be extraneous to his art. The lesbian theme is enacted = =C2=A0=C2=A0throughout the novel by Ada and Lucette and echoed here and there in allusions to Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s and Cordula=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s schoolmate, the tribadka =C2=A0Vanda (!) Broom. Cf. the French tribade defined by the four-volume 1957 Emile Littr=D0=A3=D0= =89=C2=A0 Dictionnaire = as a =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Terme qu=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2on =D0=A3=D0=89vite d=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2em= ployer. Femme qui abuse de son sexe = avec une autre = femme=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (584).

=C2=A0

The above, more or = less explicit allusions to Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Chansons de = Bilitis do not exhaust its = presence in Ada, = although we now enter upon more slippery ground. Let us call this new = theme =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93The Tree of Knowledge.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D =

=C2=A0

=C2=A0

For the big picnic on Ada= =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s twelfth birthday and Ida=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2= =84=A2s forty-second jour de = f=D0=A3=D0=8Ate, = the child was permitted to wear her lolita =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86, a rather long, but very airy and ample, black = skirt =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86. .

She had stepped = into it, naked, =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86 and pulled it on with a brisk jiggle = of the hips which provoked her governess=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s familiar = rebuke: mais ne te tr=D0=A3=D0=89mousse pas com= me =D0=A3=D0=87a quand tu mets= ta jupe= ! Une petite fille de bonne maison<= FONT face=3D"Arial Black" size=3D"3">, etc. Per = contra, the omission of panties was ignored by Ida Larivi=D0=A3=D0=88re, a = bosomy woman of great and repulsive beauty (in nothing but corset and = gartered stockings at the moment) who was not above making secret = concessions to the heat of the dog-days herself; but in tender Ada=D1=82=E2= =82=AC=E2=84=A2s case the practice had deprecable effects. The child tried to assuage the rash in the soft arch, with all its = accompaniment of sticky, itchy, not altogether unple= asurable sensations, by tightly straddling the cool limb of a Shattal apple tree, much to Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2= =84=A2s disgust as we shall see more than once. =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86.Neith= er hygiene, nor sophistication of taste, were, as Van kept observing, = typical of the Ardis household (I-13 77-78).=

=C2=A0

A = few days later find the children climbing the shatta= l tree at the bottom of the garden (I-15, pp. 94-95)

=C2=A0

=C2=A0

Her bare foot = slipped, and the two panting youngsters tangled ignominiously among the = branches, in a shower of drupes and leaves, clutching at each other, and = the next moment, as they regained a semblance of balance, his expressionles= s face and cropped head were between her legs and a last fruit fell with a = thud =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D the dropped dot of an inverted exclamation = point. She was wearing his wristwatch and a cotton frock.=

=C2=A0=C2=A0 = (=D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CRemember?=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2

=C2=A0= =C2=A0 =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CYes, of course, I remember: you kissed = me here, on the inside =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2

=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CAnd you started = to strangle me with those devilish knees of yours =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D= =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2

=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB= =9CI was seeking some sort of support.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2)<= /SPAN>

=C2=A0= =C2=A0=C2=A0 That might have been true, but according to a later = (considerably later!) version they were still in the tree, and still = glowing, when Van removed a silk thread of larva web from his lip and = remarked that such negligence of attire was a form of hysteria.<= /SPAN>

=C2=A0= =C2=A0=C2=A0 =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CWell,=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 = answered Ada, straddling her favorite limb, = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9Cas we all know byow, Mlle La Ri= vi=D0=A3=D0=88re de Diamants has = nothing against a hysterical little girl=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s not = wearing pantalets during l=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2ardeur de la canicule.= =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2

=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CI refuse to share the ardor of your little = canicule with an apple tree.=D1=82=E2=82=AC= =E2=84=A2

=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB= =9CIt is really the Tree of Knowledge =D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9D this = specimen was imported last summer =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86 from the Ede= n = National = Park =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86=C2= =A0

=C2=A0

For a detailed exegesis, I refer the reader to = Brian Boyd=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Annotations to = Ada 15: Part I Chapter 15=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D in issue 44 of = The Nabokovian<= /SPAN> (65ff). For our purposes, it suffices to remark two = things. The identification of the Edenic = shattal as the =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Tree of = Knowledge,=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D i.e., carnal knowledge, and of Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s slip (with its = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93lip-to-lips=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D =C2=A0consequences) as =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93The = Fall.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D Pay particular note to the first excerpt in = which Ada arouses herself by rubbing her genitalia against the tree = branch.=C2=A0 Van is not yet on = the scene.

=C2=A0=

Now=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=80=9Dwhat might this have to do with=C2=A0 Lou=D0=A3= =D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Les= Chansons de Bilitis?=C2=A0 The image of a young girl = masturbating again a tree limb is not a frequent one in world literature = but, as it happens, it is precisely the scene that opens The Songs of Bilitis.<= O:P>

=C2=A0

=C2=A0<= /FONT>

=C2=A0

=C2=A0=

=C2=A0<= /P>

=C2=A0

I

L'ARBRE

=C2=A0

=C2=A0Je = me suis d=D0=A3=D0=89v= =D0=A3=D0=8Atue pour monter =D0=A3=C2=A0 un arbre= ;

=C2=A0mes cuisses nues embrassaient l'=D0=A3=D0=89corce = lisse

=C2=A0et humide; mes sandales marchaient sur les<= /P>

=C2=A0branches.

=C2=A0=

=C2=A0To= ut en haut, mais encore sous les feuilles

<= P class=3D"MsoNormal" style=3D"MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; = MARGIN-RIGHT: 0.5in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in">=C2=A0et =D0=A3= =C2=A0 l'ombre de la chaleur, je me suis mise =D0=A3=C2=A0

=C2=A0cheval sur une= fourche =D0=A3=D0=89c= art=D0=A3=D0=89e en balan=D0=A3=D0=87ant

=C2=A0mes pieds dan= s le vide.

=C2=A0

=C2=A0Il avait plu.=C2=A0 = Des gouttes d'e= au tombaient et

=C2=A0coulaient sur ma peau.=C2=A0 M= es mains =D0=A3=D0=89taient

=C2=A0tach=D0=A3=D0=89es de mousse, et mes = orteils =D0=A3=D0=89ta= ient

=C2=A0ro= uges, =D0=A3=C2=A0 cause des fleurs =D0=A3=D0=89cras=D0=A3=D0=89es<= /SPAN>.

=C2=A0

=C2=A0Je sentais le bel arbre vivre quand le vent

=C2=A0passait au travers; alors je = serrais mes

=C2=A0jambes davantage et j'appl= iquais mes l=D0= =A3=D0=88vres

=C2=A0ouvertes sur = la nuque chevelue d'un rameau.

=C2=A0=

=C2=A0

THE = TREE

=C2=A0

I undressed to climb a tree; my naked thighs = embraced the smooth and humid bark; my sandals climbed upon the branches. =

High up, but still beneath the leaves and = shaded from the heat, I straddled a wide-spread fork and swung my feet = into the void.

It had rained. Drops of water = fell and flowed upon my skin. My hands were soiled with moss and my heels = were reddened by the crushed blossoms.

I felt the = lovely tree living when the wind passed through it; so I locked my legs = tighter, and crushed my open lips to the hairy nape of a bough.

=C2=A0

=C2=A0

Lest=
 the reader think I have an overactive imagination, please note that the =
next chapter but one (in which they first kiss) opens with a double entendre: =
=C2=A0

=C2=A0

=C2=A0=

The hugest dictionary = in the library said under Lip: =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CEither of a pair of = fleshy folds surrounding an orifice.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2

Mileyshiy Emile, as = Ada called Monsieur Littr=D0=A3=D0=89, spoke thus: =D1=82=E2=82=AC=CB=9CPartie= ext=D0=A3=D0=89rieure et charnue qui forme le contour de = la bouche... Les deux<= /SPAN> bords d=D1=82= =E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2une plaie = simple=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 (we simply speak with our = wounds; wounds procreate) =D1=82=E2= =82=AC=CB=9C...C=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2est = le membre qui l=D0=A3= =D0=88che.=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Dearest Emile!=C2=A0

=C2=A0

Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC= =E2=84=A2s choice from =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93the hugest dictionary,=D1=82=E2= =82=AC=C2=9D (Merriam-Webster II) is in fact the fifth among the definition= s. The first locates =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93lips=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D =C2=A0at the opening of the mouth. = English =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93lips=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D and the French = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93l=D0=A3=D0=88vres= =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D = refer to both the upper and lower orifices and presumably are cognate with = the Latin labium, pl. labia.=C2=A0 Also perhaps of note is that Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s shattal = tree is from Edenic Asia Minor as is Bilitis herself. Their positions astraddle = the branch leave no doubt about which lips are intended. They are, by the = way, about the same age.

=C2=A0

Ada is not the first Nabokov work to cite Les Chansons de = Bilitis. The protagonist of Podvig = (Glory) Nabokov=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s fourth novel (1932) flees = revolutionary Russia aboard a freighter. Seventeen-year-old Martin is seduced by a = flamboyant Petersburg society = poetess.=C2=A0 After their = arrival in Athens, Alla presents him with Pierre Lou=D0=A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 Chansons de Bilitis = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93in the cheap edition illustrated with the naked forms = of adolescents, from which she would read to him, meaningfully pronouncing = the French, in the early evening on the Acropolis, the most appropriate = place, one might say=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (30).=C2=A0 (=D0=B0=C2= =90=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=90 =D1=82=E2=82=AC=D0=86 =D0=B0=D0=9F= =D0=B0=D0=9E =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B1=E2=82=ACie=D0=B0=D0= =97=D0=B0=D0=94e =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=C5=A0 =D0=B0=C2=90=D0=B1=E2=80=9E=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0= =D0=9D=D0=B1=E2=80=B9, =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B0=D0=90=D0= =B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=90 =D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0=9C= =D0=B1=C6=92 "=D0=B0=C5=B8e=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=98 = =D0=B0=E2=80=98=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0= =98=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B1=C5=A0", =D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B1=CB=86=D0=B0=D0= =95=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=95 =D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0=D0= =94=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9Di=D0=B0=D0=95, = =D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B1=C5=BD=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B1=E2=80=9A= =D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0= =90=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=95 =D0=B1=E2=80=9E=D0=B0= =D0=98=D0=B0=D0=93=D0=B1=C6=92=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B0= =D0=98 =D0=B0=D0=93=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B1=E2=80=B9=D0=B1=E2=80=A6= =D0=B1=C5=A0 =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0= =9E=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=C5= =A0, [38] =D0=B0=D0=98 =D0=B1=E2=80=A1=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0= =90=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B0=D0=90 =D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B1=C6=92 = =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B1=C6=92=D0=B1=E2=80=A6=D0=B1=C5=A0= , =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B1=E2=80=B9=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0= =D0=98=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0=9B=D0=B1=C5=92=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0= =D0=9E =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=98=D0=B0=D0=97=D0= =B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B1=C2=8F =D0=B1=E2=80=9E=D0=B1=E2=82= =AC=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B1=E2=80=A0=D0=B1=C6=92=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B1=C2= =81=D0=B0=D0=9Ai=D0=B1=C2=8F =D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9B= =D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0=90, =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94= =D0=B0=D0=92=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B1=E2=80=A1=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B1=C5= =A0, =D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=90 =D0=B0=C2=90=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0=B1=E2=82=AC=D0=B0= =D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9Be, =D0=B0=D0=9D=D0=B0=D0=90 =D0=B1=C2=81= =D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B1=C5=A0, =D0=B1=E2=80= =9A=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0=B1=C5=A0 =D0=B1=C2=81=D0=B0=D0=9A=D0=B0=D0= =90=D0=B0=D0=97=D0=B0=D0=90=D0=B1=E2=80=9A=D0=B1=C5=92, =D0=B0=D0=9F=D0=B0= =D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B1=E2=80=A6=D0=B0=D0=9E=D0=B0=D0=94=D0=B1=C2=8F=D0=B1= =E2=80=B0=D0=B0=D0=95=D0=B0=D0=9C=D0=B1=C5=A0 =D0=B0=D0=9Ce=D0=B1=C2=81= =D0=B1=E2=80=9Ae). The = low opinion of the thirty-year-old Nabokov = of Les Chansons de Bilitis is evident. But perhaps it had once been = otherwise.

=C2=A0=

One of Ada=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s themes is the Ardis library from which Van filches erotic = reading material for himself and Ada, whose access is strictly regulated. = Nabokov has remarked that between the ages = of ten and fifteen in St. Petersbburg he = probably read=C2=A0 more=C2=A0 fiction and poetry=D1=82=E2=82=AC= =E2=80=9DEnglish, Russian, and French -- than in any other five-year = period in my life=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (SO-42). The = Nabokov family library has long since been dispersed but its = printed catalogue survives: Sistematicheskii katalog Biblioteki Vladimira = Dmitrievicha Nabokova<= /SPAN>. (S-Peterburg: Tovarishchestvo Xudozhestven= noi Pechati, 1904). Item numbers 372 = & 373 are =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Louys,=C2=A0 P.=C2=A0 Aphrodite. Paris, 1901=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D and = =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Louys, P. Les Chansons de Bilitis, Paris MDCCCXCVIII=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D (1898).

=C2=A0

* Be it = noted that Van=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2s three infallible characteristics = for recognizing lesbians are to be found in Lou=D0= =A3=D0=9Fs=D1=82=E2=82=AC=E2=84=A2 novella where short hair and = skimpy bosoms are the typifying traits.

=C2=A0

D. Barton Johnson, = Editor NABOKV-L

=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2= =A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0= =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2= =A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0= =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2= =A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0= =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2= =A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0= =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2= =A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 =

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[1]=C2=A0 Be it noted that Les Chansons do not, in fact, remark these = features.

[2] For details, = see my NABOKV-L note =D1=82=E2=82=AC=C5=93Ada= & Garbo=D1=82=E2=82=AC=C2=9D of = August 30, 2003.<= /P>

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