Maurice Couturier: Here is the French original of the
"Express" interview of Nabokov.(cf. attach)
JM: Couturier added a note to the French
original of the Paris Nabokov Interview. I compared it with the translation
he'd already sent to the List. Now I'm puzzled by his commentary related to
"wishful thinking," .i.e, What did he wish for? How would he
correct his original translation?
Je m’étais dit : il y a beaucoup de bons lecteurs de par
le monde, on le lira. Mais je m’imaginais qu’il paraîtrait dans une édition
limitée, restreinte, réservée à quelques lettrés (I
just noticed I mistranslated that ; wishful thinking ?).
I told myself: there are many good readers around the
world, it will be read. But I didn’t expect it to come out in a limited,
restricted edition, reserved for a few men of letters.