From a blog that purports to offer “a picture guide” to read V.Nabokov ( where I first searched for references to “a knuckle of walnuts”): http://botanicalnabokov.blogspot.com.br/2013/08/walnuts-tomatoes-bananas.html
Dated 2014/02/24 - internal parasite resembling the written word 'deified' First thing that came into my mind was naturally, a mitochondrion. It looks like the written “ deified ” (YES IT DOES!).
The endosymbiotic theory was first presented by a Russian botanist, according to the Wikipedia. (Endosymbiotic theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.). Ada was published in 1969, and in the 1960s, this theory was sort of proved by the discovery of the individual DNA of the mitochondria and plastids. So, these inner-cell organizations are originally internal parasites. VN naturally knew this. He was a scientist, and this theory is really a big one.It is obvious, I think…. or not?? Am I the only one??? Other option may be the Golgi Body which has a shape of cursive writing, but not a parasite in its origin.
Ada 104.19-21:
What (Ada asks) are eyes anyway? Two holes in the mask of life. What (she asks) would they mean to a creature from another corpuscle or milk bubble whose organ of sight was (say) an internal parasite resembling the written word 'deified'? What, indeed, would a pair of beautiful (human, lemurian, owlish) eyes mean to anybody if found lying on the seat of a taxi?
