башня + маяк + н
= башмак + няня = баня + мышьяк + машина
- мышь - аи [= баня + маньяк + ш - ь = баня + яма
+ кунштюк - тюк - у]
башня -
tower
маяк - lighthouse; the
name Mayakovski, of VN's "late namesake", comes from
маяк
н - n; cf. of Mme Larin:
"and Russian Nash as a French N knew how to nasalize" (EO,
Two: XXXIII: 6-7)
башмак - shoe; the name
Bashmachkin, of the hero of Gogol's The Overcoat, comes from
башмак; cf. Венерин башмачок, the lady's slipper (orchid); cf. old Paar
of Chose, Zapater of Aardvark and the entire footwear motif in
Ada
няня - nurse; cf.
Filatievna, Tatiana's old nurse in Pushkin's Eugene Onegin; she is
played by an Eskimo woman in a stage version in which Marina plays the heroine
(1.2); cf. Anna Pimenovna Nepraslinov, Marina's late nurse ("housekeeper")
whose grave was photographed by Kim Beauharnais (2.7); cf. Ruby Black,
Van's barely pubescent wet-nurse
баня - bath; cf. "On the
nurse's advice, Tatiana, planning that night to conjure, has on the quiet
ordered in the bathhouse a table to be laid for two" (EO, Five: X: 1-4);
satirical play (1929) by Mayakovsky
мышьяк - arsenic; cf.
Demon's words to Ada: "The last time I saw you was in April when you wore a
raincoat with a white and black scarf and simply reeked of some arsenic stuff
after seeing your dentist" (1.38)
машина - machine; cf.
Hamlet's remark enacted in Ada by Van: "Whilst the machine is to him"
(2.5)
мышь - mouse; one of the
many animals mentioned in EO
аи - Ay, the
famous champagne Pushkin compares to a fickle mistress in EO; cf.
Aï, the champagne Van, Ada and Lucette drink at "Ursus" (2.8)
[маньяк - maniac
яма - pit; cf. about Aqua: "It was now the forming of black pits
(yamï, yamishchi) in her mind, between the
dimming sculptures of thought and recollection, that tormented her phenomenally"
(1.3); novel about brothels (1909-17) by Kuprin
кунштюк - trick, Kunststück
тюк - bale,
package]
Alexey Sklyarenko
(anagramaniac)