From Don Johnson:
The quote at
bottom unearthed by the indefatigable Jansy is an informative gem in
relation to PF. Here, as in PF, the Red Admiral appears to a harbinger of
death (first--the dog Tom; second, Marta [rather than her husband, the intended
victim]). This "mortality marker" is made even clearer in DN's
translation (which, of course, incorporates only changes made
by VN). In the original Russian, there is no Die toten Seelen (Gogol's Dead
Souls)--only an unspecified "book." Similarly, the Russian describes (in my own
literal translation) "Two men in top hats went by; their top hats--like corks in
water, swam by over the fence. It was completely incomprehensible why they were
wearing top hats."(Near end of chapter II.) DN's translation reads "Two men in
top hats, diplomats or undertakers, went by: the top hats
and black coats floated by along the fence."
Both of
these revisions clearly establish the immanency of death as signaled by the Red
Admiral--just as it does in PF.
VN apparently inserted the 1962 PF echoes into the 1968 KQKn English
version. BTW, Jane Grayson in her NABOKOV TRANSLATED provides a close comparison
of the Russian and English texts of KQKn noting the extensive alterations, but,
does not (so far as I recall) comment on the significance above items. It
is not often that an author has the opportunity to "back-quote" a later
work.
Congratulations to Jansy on her
find!
Best, Don
-------------------------------------------------------------
JM:
Speaking of prospective events, what about this
long paragraph, written in 1927, if set in relation to the last lines
of Pale Fire? He...
"sat in a canvas chair by a garden table
and...gazed into the garden...A cold late-afternoon lucency penetrated the...
air; the sharp blue shadows of the young trees stretched along the sunny
lawn...The gardener had already twice taken hold of his
wheelbarrow...the sun still bore down triumphantly on the right from
behind the corner of the count's villa, which stood on higher ground with taller
trees...The cloudlets in one part of the pale clean sky had funny
curls... At last having heard all there was to hear and told all there was to
tell, the gardener moved off with his wheelbarrow,turning with
geometrical precision at the intersections of gravel paths, and Tom, rising
lazily, proceeded to walk after him like a clockwork toy,
turning when the gardener turned. Die toten Seelen by
a Russian author...slid onto the flags of the floor...Two men in top hats,
diplomats or undertakers, went by... Out of nowhere came a Red Admiral butterfly, settled on the edge
of the table, opened its wings and began to fan them slowly as if in breathing.
The dark-brown ground was bruised here and there, the scarlet band had faded,
the fringes were frayed - but the creature was still so lovely, so
festive..."