Subject
Boyd on Walruses: morzh. Karamzin's "Poor Liza" VN's Lucette
From
Date
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Dear Alexey, Alexander and others,
I think Alexander's suggestion that ADA's " 'I told him to turn,' she said,
'somewhere near Morzhey ('morses' or 'walruses,' a Russian pun on
"morges'-maybe a mermaid's message) . . . '" includes a pun on "Mort j'ai"
(Dead I am) is a superb find, reminiscent of of Gennady Barabtarlo's
decoding of the pseudo-opera-Italian "Mali è trano t'amesti" in Invitation
to a Beheading as "smert' mila, èto taina" (death is nice-that's a secret).
It certainly ties in with the links between Lucette as "bird of paradise"
and "mermaid in the groves of Atlantis," and with Letters from Terra and its
micromermaid, and Terra as in part a next world, and hence messages from
beyond (see my Nabokov's ADA for all this).
However, that does not in the least preclude there being another level, the
Russian pun that the sentence signals. Russians "of a certain age" (in their
late 70s and 80s) have independently told me of their amusement at this pun,
Russians who have been émigrés since the 1920s and brought up in an émigré
world closer to Nabokov's than ours is. It was Simon Karlinsky who first
brought it to my attention, back in 1983, as I recall, when he told me he
just exploded with laughter when he came on this sentence for the first
time. Another, an engineer with a taste for literature and Nabokov but no
knowledge of Nabokov scholarship also reported a similar reaction. I take
this to be very solid evidence that Nabokov's cue "'walruses,' a Russian pun
on Morzhey" works exactly as Nabokov had intended it to on readers in the
know.
All the more so as Lucette is persistently associated with an obsession with
losing her virginity to Van and with sexual organs. Take for instance this
dialogue:
"Are you still half-a-martyr--I mean half-a-virgin?" inquired Van.
"A quarter," answered Lucette. "Oh, try me, Van! My divan is black
with yellow cushions."
"You can sit for a minute in my lap."
"No--unless we undress and you ganch me."
"My dear, as I've often reminded you, you belong to a princely
family but you talk like the loosest Lucinda imaginable. Is it a fad in your
set, Lucette?"
Previously, she has punned "in an Ophelian frenzy on the female
glans," and of course she suffers Ophelia's fate, death (suicide) by
drowning. Ophelia herself, of course, memorably revolves in her madness
around the idea of loss of virginity and around sexual puns: "And I maid at
your window, / To be your Valentine. / Then up he rose, and donn'd his
clo'es, / And dupp'd the chamber door, / Let in the maid that out a maid /
Never departed more. . . . / Young men will do't if they come to't-- / By
Cock they are to blame."
That Cock is as little accidental as the Cock in Cockloft (a term
for attic I don't think I have ever heard outside of ADA: a quick Google
search suggests "attic" is about 1500 times more common), the scene where
Van and Ada tumble each other at the beginning of the novel, contemporaneous
with Lucette's learning by heart the poem Van seduces her into wanting to
memorize, or the cock in "twin cock crosses" (again, "cock cross" is a term
I have never heard used of a faucet outside of ADA, and it's surely too much
to believe that in a scene where Lucette encounters Van penetrating Ada, the
word "cock" is accidental or innocent).
And it's the same with the "walrus cock" a Russian-at least a
Russian of Nabokov's approximate vintage-is invited to hear in Ada's "I told
him to turn . . . somewhere near Morzhey" etc. This is the turning point of
Nabokov's most complex, multilingual and playful novel, since it is the very
moment when the Ardis of time flips, when the arrow that seems to be
hurtling down toward doom for Van and Ada turns around, against all
expectation (cf the "lunette" passage in Transparent Things on the other
thred). It seems only right that this turning point, Morges, should be
simultaneously a real Swiss town on Ada's intended trajectory between "Mont
Roux" and Geneva, and a pun in two foreign languages, on sex in one, and
death in the other, in this novel where the two are so related.
Brian Boyd
-----Original Message-----
From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 7:26 AM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Re: morzh. Karamzin's "Poor Liza" VN's Lucette
I have to admit that the non-phallic solution offered by Alexander Dolinin
is most probably right. Karamzin is the author of "Poor Liza." It is his
most famous novella that tells the sad story of a girl who drowns herself
because she was left by her lover. In one of my future Nabokovian "essays,"
I hope to prove that there is a complicated connection between Karamzin's
poor Liza and Lucette, as well as between the chapter of Karamzin's "Letters
of a Russian Traveller" that is dedicated to Lyon and the L disaster in ADA.
And I think somebody (our Editor?) has already pointed out the incest motifs
in Karamzin's novella "The Island of Bornholm."
I hope nobody is much too disappointed to learn more about the anatomy of
walruses and Russian foul language.
Alexey
---------------------------------------
EDNOTE. The "Bednaya Liza"/Lucette thought is interesting, albeit with the
Nabokovian twist that Lucette drowns herself because the guy WON"T go bed
with her.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 3:57 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: RE: morzh. ADA Scholarship Marches On!
>
> With all due respect to the ingenuity of comments on Ada's Russian
> pun, I would like to suggest a non-phallic interpretation of
> "Morzhey." Alexey
is
> right when he says that in Russian only the adjective "morzhovyi" can
> be used as a part of an obscene phrase in combination with "khui,"
> "kher" or "khren" (see Roman Jakobson's early article "On Realism in
> Art" in which
he
> discusses the epithets "morzhovyi" and "gollandksii" in Russian
> phallic expletives). When Ada punningly reads the French toponym
> Morges (a town on Lake Geneva specifically mentioned in Karamzin's
> "Letters of a Russian
> Traveller") as the plural of Russian "morzh" (+es) and uses it in a
> genitive case ("Morzhey"), it brings about a phonetic shift and hence
> creates a French anagram of "J'ai mort" (usually followed by "de
> rire")--a succinct message from Lucette.
>
> Alexander Dolinin
>
>
>
> At 08:32 AM 12/5/04 -0800, you wrote:
> >Dear Brian,
> >
> >I don't remember having seen kh. m. in the Kunstkammer (anyway, it
> >was
long
> >time ago that I last visited it), but I know that the poet Igor'
> >Guberman has one at his house. I saw him demonstrating it to the
> >interviewer in a
TV
> >program. If I remember correctly, it (the thin straight bone
> >resembling a school teacher's pointer) was about 80 cm long.
> >
> >A Russian's first jump after "morzh" would be not what you think, but
> >a person who bathes in winter. The people, who enjoy bathing in
> >ice-holes
in
> >the Neva, or in other frozen rivers or lakes, are called "morzhi."
> >But I do not question in the least your Morzhey connection with Lucette.
As
> >to the Usrsus dialogue and its possible echoes in Lucette's message,
> >I
think
> >it's the case when "the size is important."
> >
> >Alexey
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 5:53 AM
> > > > Subject: Fwd: RE: morzh
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Dear Alexey,
> > > > >
> > > > > Quite right, in my haste I was short-circuiting "khuy morzhovyi"
and
> > > > "morzh"
> > > > > itself. But that doesn't affect the connection with Lucette,
> > > > > since
in
> >a
> > > > > verbal association a Russian's likely first jump after "morzh"
will
> > > > usually
> > > > > be to "khuy." I don't think the Ursus passage makes that any
stronger.
> > > But
> > > > > as a matter of interest, just how big is the "khuy morzhovyi"
> > > > > in
> >Peter's
> > > > > Kunstkammer, or in the wild?
> > > > >
> > > > > Brian Boyd
> > > > >
> > > > > EDNOTE. In the interest of scolarship, I went over to Peter's
> > > Kunstkammer
> > > > last
> > > > > time I was in S-Pb. It was, alas, its vykhodnoi den' so I
> > > > > failed
to
> >see
> > > > the
> > > > > museum's most famous exhibit.
> > > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > > > Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 1:05 PM
> > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > Subject: Fw: morzh
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear Brian,
> > > > >
> > > > > I doubt that "morzh" can mean "cock" or "prick" in Russian.
> > > > > At
least
> > > not
> > > > in
> > > > > the modern Russian. But it can be used with the famous Russian
> > > > three-letter
> > > > > word for cock as an epithet, "morzhovyi" (of walrus). The
> > > > > whole
phrase
> > > ("X
> > > > > > morzhovyi") is generally used as an obuse. But, if we
> > > > > > disregard
> >this,
> > > > > > the genital organ of a walrus is pretty long, and you
> > > > > > remember
the
> > > > > > following dialogue between Lucette and Van in part 2, chapter 8:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "...it looked to me at least eight inches long -"
> > > > > > "Seven and a half" murmured modest Van, whose hearing the
> > > > > > music
> > > > impaired.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Lucette, who is obsessed with sex, means Van's scar, not his
penis
> > > > > > ("the ladder, not the lad") this time, but he is too drunk
> > > > > > to
> > > understand
> > > > > that.
> > > > > > Lucette, in her turn, is probably aware (although she is
> > > > > > even
more
> > > > > > drunk
> > > > > than Van) of the fact that Van misunderstands
> > > > > > her, and she knows why he
> > > > > > misunderstands her (because she had seen him making love to
> > > > > > Ada
in a
> > > > > > previous chapter). So, "Morzhey" could indeed be a message
> > > > > > from Lucette,
> > > > > but
> > > > > > via "morzhovyi".
> > > > > >
> > > > > best,
> > > > > Alexey
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 9:03 PM
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > ---
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Dear Jansy, (Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > > > > > > <jansy@aetern.us>)
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Yes, but "twin cock crosses" is a very accurate
> > > > > > > description of old-style faucets (W2: cock, 6a: A faucet,
> > > > > > > tap, or valve or
the
> >like
> > > > > > > for starting, stopping or regulating flow); it foes not
literally
> > > > > > > refer to a penis. At
> > > > > > the
> > > > > > > same time, of course, Ada's other grip catches at Van's valve.
And
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > twin
> > > > > > > cock crosses also bring to mind the watery twins Marina
> > > > > > > and
Aqua
> > > > > > > (who
> > > > > has
> > > > > > a
> > > > > > > problem with tapwater), and their foreshadowing of Ada and
> >Lucette,
> > > > > > > who bursts into the room in the same sentence, just after
Van's
> > > > orgasm.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Nabokov keeps "penis" out of his text, as Jeff observes,
> > > > > > > yet
one
> >of
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > key
> > > > > > > moments of the novel is Ada's decision to return to Van at
Mont
> > > > > > > Roux, in
> > > > > > > 1922: "'I told him to turn,' she said, 'somewhere near
> > > > > > > Morzhey
> > > > ('morses'
> > > > > > or
> > > > > > > 'walruses,' a Russian pun on 'Morges'--maybe a mermaid's
> >message)."
> > > > > > "Morzh"
> > > > > > > in this sense is vulgar Russian for "cock" or "prick," and
> > > > > > > as
"the
> > > > > > mermaid's
> > > > > > > message" indicates (Lucette has been explicitly called a
mermaid
> > > > > > > shortly before), and the Ophelia-like punning on private
> > > > > > > parts
> >also
> > > > > > > suggests (Lucette puns extensively on clitoris and other
sexual
> > > > > > > terms, especially
> > > > > > in
> > > > > > > III.5, but again Nabokov eschews "clitoris" itself), Ada's
> >decision
> > > > > > > to return to Van seems to have something to do with dead
Lucette.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Viktor Krivulin's poem, Jeff's translation and Jeff's and
Alexey's
> > > > > > > commentary are delightful.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Brian Boyd
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 3:58 PM
> > > > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov.
> > > > > > > Translation
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Dear Jeff,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > You wrote that although Nabokov was always very precise in
> > > > > > > his
> > > > > terminology
> > > > > > > "this precision rarely if ever extended to human genital
organs".
> > > > > > > And yet, the examples you offered were all only applicable
> > > > > > > to
the
> > > > > "penis"
> > > > > > > ...
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I sellected only one paragraph with VN=B4s euphemisms for
> > > > > > > the female
> > > > > sex
> > > > > > an=
> > > > > > > d
> > > > > > > adjacent parts in "Ada" : "where she strained across the
> > > > > > > low
tub
> >to
> > > > > turn
> > > > > > on
> > > > > > > both taps and then bent over to insert the bronze chained
plug; it
> > > > > > > got sucked in by itself, however, while he steadied her
> > > > > > > lovely
> >lyre
> > > > > > > and next moment was at the suede-soft root, was gripped,
> > > > > > > was
deep
> > > > > > > between the familiar, incomparable, crimson-lined lips.
> > > > > > > She
caught
> > > > > > > at the twin cock crosses, thus involuntarily increasing
> > > > > > > the sympathetic volume of the
> > > > > > water=
> > > > > > > =B4s
> > > > > > > noise, and Van emitted a long groan of deliverance" (
> > > > > > > Penguin
ed,
> > > pag.
> > > > > > 308).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Anyway, I enjoyed your sentence about "a penis is never
> > > > > > > simply
a
> > > > > > > penis
> > > > > for
> > > > > > > Nabokov" which nicely contrasts with Freud=B4s: " a cigar
> >sometimes
> > > > > > > is
> > > > > > only =
> > > > > > > a
> > > > > > > cigar".
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > > > > Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 6:07 PM
> > > > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov.
> > > > > > > Translation
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Thank you Alexey Skylarenko for pointing out the
shortcomings of
> > > > > > > > my translation, especially the major goof in the second
stanza
> > > > > > > > (about which more below).
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > As Alexey notes, "'Mgnove' is a truncated (and
> > > > > > > > nonexisting)
form
> > > > > > > > of 'mgnovenie,' a moment." This form wonderfully
> > > > > > > > embodies
the
> > > > > "fragment"
> > > > > > > > mentioned in the first stanza. Another of the charms of
> > > > > > > > the
> >first
> > > > > > > > stanza
> > > > > > > is
> > > > > > > > the artistry which which the verb "zaselo" (got stuck)
> > > > > > > > is literally stuck in the phrase "v moei golove" (in my
head):
"v
> > > > > > > > moei zaselo golove." (Which calls to my mind the
> > > > > > > > masterful
first
> > > > > > > > sentence of Alain Robbe-Grillet's _La jalousie_ [of
> > > > > > > > which
> >Nabokov
> > > > > > > > said in a French interview published in 1959, "C'est le
> > > > > > > > plus
> >beau
> > > > > > > > roman d'amour depuis Proust"], in which the structure
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > of the sentence serves as a textual analog of the image
> >described:
> > > > > > > > "Now
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > > > shadow of the column--the column which supports the
southwest
> > > > > > > > corner of
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > > > roof--divides the corresponding corner of the veranda
> > > > > > > > into
two
> > > > > > > > equal
> > > > > > > parts."
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > As for stanza two, I would like to explain one reason
> > > > > > > > why I misread the text as implying that it was Nabokov
> > > > > > > > who
"conceal[s]
> > > > > > > > the genital organ / With metaphysical delight." Nabokov
> > > > > > > > was
> >always
> > > > > > > > precise in his terminology (cf., inter alia, Peter
> > > > > > > > Lubin's
paper
> > > > > > > > in ZEMBLA), but this precision
> > > > > > > rarely
> > > > > > > > if ever extended to human genital organs. So far as I
> > > > > > > > can
> >recall,
> > > > > > > > Nabokov does not once in his published prose or poetry
> > > > > > > > use
the
> > > > > > > > word "penis." (He
> > > > > > > > *does* use the term in one of his letters to Edmund Wilson.
If I
> > > > > > > > recall correctly, he says, in reference to the sex
> > > > > > > > scenes in
one
> > > > > > > > of Wilson's books, that despite their frankness, they
> > > > > > > > are
not
> > > > > > > > arousing, in fact they are about as arousing as "trying
> > > > > > > > to
open
> >a
> > > > > > > > can of tuna
> > > > > with
> > > > > > > one's penis."
> > > > > > > > Incidentally, the delivery of this line by Dmitri
> > > > > > > > Nabokov
> >playing
> > > > > > > > his father during a performance of Terry Quinn's "Dear
Bunny,
> >Dear
> > > > > Volodya,"
> > > > > > > > was, for me, a delightful moment of shared hilarity
> > > > > > > > during
the
> > > > > > > > 1998
> > > > > > > Cornell
> > > > > > > > Nabokov Centenary Festival.)
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Whether the "pryshchushchii persik" (spurting peach) or
"priap"
> > > > > > > > (priapus) in Chapter XIII of Prignlashenie na kazn'
(Invitation
> >to
> > > > > > > > a Beaheading), or the much more famous "scepter of my
passion"
> >in
> > > > > > > > Lolita, a penis is never simply a penis for Nabokov. Few
> >writers,
> > > > > > > > it might be argued, have so artistically concealed "the
genital
> > > > organ"
> > > > > with
> > > > > > > "metaphysical delight."
> > > > > > > > Hence my too-hasty willingness to see Nabokov as the
concealer
> >in
> > > > > > > > stanza two rather than as the explainer of this concealment.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Finally, as I mentioned to Alexey in a personal message
thanking
> > > > > > > > him for his corrections, I was also distracted by the
> > > > > > > > fact
that
> >I
> > > > > > > > had composed a more ribald, even less literal, but
> > > > > > > > rhymed
> >version
> > > > > > > > of the second stanza, not sent to the list, in which I
replaced
> > > > > > > > "genital organ" with "cock" and rendered "polotenchikom"
> > > > > > > > as
> >"with
> > > a
> > > > > sock."
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Again, my apologies to Mr. Krivulin, and now to The Red
> > > > > > > > Hot
> >Chili
> > > > > > > > Peppers as well.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Jeff Edmunds
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > At 10:24 AM 12/2/2004 -0800, you wrote:
> > > > > > > > >----- Forwarded message from sklyarenko@users.mns.ru -----
> > > > > > > > > Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 19:36:39 +0300
> > > > > > > > > From: alex <sklyarenko@users.mns.ru>
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >Thank you, Jeff Edmunds, for your translation and for
providing
> >a
> > > > > > > > >link to
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > > > >complete version of this poem. I found it on a
> > > > > > > > >different
web
> >page
> > > > > > > > >(http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/krivulin4.html) where the
> > > > > > > > >poem
was
> > > > > > > > >published without the four last lines.
> > > > > > > > >The poem's strange title apparently needs a short
commentary.
> > > > > > > > >"Mgnove" is
> > > > > > > a
> > > > > > > > >truncated (and nonexisting) form of "mgnovenie," a
> > > > > > > > >moment,
and
> > > > > > > > >the whole
> > > > > > > title
> > > > > > > > >plays on the first line of Pushkin's famous poem "Ya
> > > > > > > > >pomnyu chudnoe mgnoven'ye"
> > > > > > > > >(I remember a wondrous moment)addressed to Anna Kern
> > > > > > > > >(who
was
> >to
> > > > > > > > >become Pushkin's mistress a couple of years after he
> > > > > > > > >had
> >written
> > > > > > > > >that
> > > > > > > poem).
> > > > > > > That's
> > > > > > > > >why "mgnove" is compared to a fragment of some antique
statue
> >in
> > > > > > > > >lines
> > > > > > > 3-4.
> > > > > > > > >I think the translation is marvelous, but I would like
> > > > > > > > >to
> >correct
> > > > > > > > >one
> > > > > > > little
> > > > > > > > >mistake. The author of the poem doesn't want Nabokov to
conceal
> > > > > > > > >the
> > > > > > > genital
> > > > > > > > >organ (of the statue) with metaphysical delight, he
> > > > > > > > >wants
him
> >to
> > > > > > > > >explain why it is concealed. Also, styd i sram (the
> > > > > > > > >phrase
> >occurs
> > > > > > > > >in ADA, ch. 38) means simply "shame."
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >Krivulin has also a poem entitled Chetvyortaya Sestra
> > > > > > > > >("The Fourth
> > > > > > > > >Sister") that
> > > > > > > > >might have been inspired (and might be not) by
> > > > > > > > >Chekhov's well-known play
> > > > > > > "The
> > > > > > > > >Four Sisters" (again, see ADA).
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >Alexey
> > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson
> > > > > > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 3:36 AM
> > > > > > > > > Subject: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov.
> > > > > > > > >Translation
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > EDNOTE. With thanks to Jeff Edmunds on ZEMBLA's
Birthday.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The version of this poem that reached me via the
> > > > > > > > > list
was
> >both
> > > > > > > > > garbled
> > > > > > > and
> > > > > > > > > truncated, perhaps as a result of the encoding. The
> >apparently
> > > > > > > complete
> > > > > > > > > version is available at
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/prim/krivulin4.html
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > about two-thirds of the way down the page.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Below is an English version, composed hastily and
> >immediately
> > > > > > > > > postprandially. It is whimsical, ugly, unrhymed, and
> >probably
> > > > > > > > > wrong in
> > > > > > > at
> > > > > > > > > least three ways. My apologies to Viktor Krivulin.
> > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Marvelous Moment
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Why did you, marvelous moment,
> > > > > > > > > Get stuck in my head
> > > > > > > > > Like a fragment from the naughty bits
> > > > > > > > > Of some antique statue?
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Let Nabokov explain
> > > > > > > > > The meaning of Russian diffidence and
> > > > > > > > > Shame, and conceal the genital organ
> > > > > > > > > With metaphysical delight
> > > > > > > > > As with a wisp of cloth --
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Why? What for and from whom?
> > > > > > > > > Harmony is deity
> > > > > > > > > On line, connected to us
> > > > > > > > > So that we don't see, but we know,
> > > > > > > > > There is something there, where there is nothing
> > > > > > > > >
> >
> >----- End forwarded message -----
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----
I think Alexander's suggestion that ADA's " 'I told him to turn,' she said,
'somewhere near Morzhey ('morses' or 'walruses,' a Russian pun on
"morges'-maybe a mermaid's message) . . . '" includes a pun on "Mort j'ai"
(Dead I am) is a superb find, reminiscent of of Gennady Barabtarlo's
decoding of the pseudo-opera-Italian "Mali è trano t'amesti" in Invitation
to a Beheading as "smert' mila, èto taina" (death is nice-that's a secret).
It certainly ties in with the links between Lucette as "bird of paradise"
and "mermaid in the groves of Atlantis," and with Letters from Terra and its
micromermaid, and Terra as in part a next world, and hence messages from
beyond (see my Nabokov's ADA for all this).
However, that does not in the least preclude there being another level, the
Russian pun that the sentence signals. Russians "of a certain age" (in their
late 70s and 80s) have independently told me of their amusement at this pun,
Russians who have been émigrés since the 1920s and brought up in an émigré
world closer to Nabokov's than ours is. It was Simon Karlinsky who first
brought it to my attention, back in 1983, as I recall, when he told me he
just exploded with laughter when he came on this sentence for the first
time. Another, an engineer with a taste for literature and Nabokov but no
knowledge of Nabokov scholarship also reported a similar reaction. I take
this to be very solid evidence that Nabokov's cue "'walruses,' a Russian pun
on Morzhey" works exactly as Nabokov had intended it to on readers in the
know.
All the more so as Lucette is persistently associated with an obsession with
losing her virginity to Van and with sexual organs. Take for instance this
dialogue:
"Are you still half-a-martyr--I mean half-a-virgin?" inquired Van.
"A quarter," answered Lucette. "Oh, try me, Van! My divan is black
with yellow cushions."
"You can sit for a minute in my lap."
"No--unless we undress and you ganch me."
"My dear, as I've often reminded you, you belong to a princely
family but you talk like the loosest Lucinda imaginable. Is it a fad in your
set, Lucette?"
Previously, she has punned "in an Ophelian frenzy on the female
glans," and of course she suffers Ophelia's fate, death (suicide) by
drowning. Ophelia herself, of course, memorably revolves in her madness
around the idea of loss of virginity and around sexual puns: "And I maid at
your window, / To be your Valentine. / Then up he rose, and donn'd his
clo'es, / And dupp'd the chamber door, / Let in the maid that out a maid /
Never departed more. . . . / Young men will do't if they come to't-- / By
Cock they are to blame."
That Cock is as little accidental as the Cock in Cockloft (a term
for attic I don't think I have ever heard outside of ADA: a quick Google
search suggests "attic" is about 1500 times more common), the scene where
Van and Ada tumble each other at the beginning of the novel, contemporaneous
with Lucette's learning by heart the poem Van seduces her into wanting to
memorize, or the cock in "twin cock crosses" (again, "cock cross" is a term
I have never heard used of a faucet outside of ADA, and it's surely too much
to believe that in a scene where Lucette encounters Van penetrating Ada, the
word "cock" is accidental or innocent).
And it's the same with the "walrus cock" a Russian-at least a
Russian of Nabokov's approximate vintage-is invited to hear in Ada's "I told
him to turn . . . somewhere near Morzhey" etc. This is the turning point of
Nabokov's most complex, multilingual and playful novel, since it is the very
moment when the Ardis of time flips, when the arrow that seems to be
hurtling down toward doom for Van and Ada turns around, against all
expectation (cf the "lunette" passage in Transparent Things on the other
thred). It seems only right that this turning point, Morges, should be
simultaneously a real Swiss town on Ada's intended trajectory between "Mont
Roux" and Geneva, and a pun in two foreign languages, on sex in one, and
death in the other, in this novel where the two are so related.
Brian Boyd
-----Original Message-----
From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 7:26 AM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Re: morzh. Karamzin's "Poor Liza" VN's Lucette
I have to admit that the non-phallic solution offered by Alexander Dolinin
is most probably right. Karamzin is the author of "Poor Liza." It is his
most famous novella that tells the sad story of a girl who drowns herself
because she was left by her lover. In one of my future Nabokovian "essays,"
I hope to prove that there is a complicated connection between Karamzin's
poor Liza and Lucette, as well as between the chapter of Karamzin's "Letters
of a Russian Traveller" that is dedicated to Lyon and the L disaster in ADA.
And I think somebody (our Editor?) has already pointed out the incest motifs
in Karamzin's novella "The Island of Bornholm."
I hope nobody is much too disappointed to learn more about the anatomy of
walruses and Russian foul language.
Alexey
---------------------------------------
EDNOTE. The "Bednaya Liza"/Lucette thought is interesting, albeit with the
Nabokovian twist that Lucette drowns herself because the guy WON"T go bed
with her.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 3:57 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: RE: morzh. ADA Scholarship Marches On!
>
> With all due respect to the ingenuity of comments on Ada's Russian
> pun, I would like to suggest a non-phallic interpretation of
> "Morzhey." Alexey
is
> right when he says that in Russian only the adjective "morzhovyi" can
> be used as a part of an obscene phrase in combination with "khui,"
> "kher" or "khren" (see Roman Jakobson's early article "On Realism in
> Art" in which
he
> discusses the epithets "morzhovyi" and "gollandksii" in Russian
> phallic expletives). When Ada punningly reads the French toponym
> Morges (a town on Lake Geneva specifically mentioned in Karamzin's
> "Letters of a Russian
> Traveller") as the plural of Russian "morzh" (+es) and uses it in a
> genitive case ("Morzhey"), it brings about a phonetic shift and hence
> creates a French anagram of "J'ai mort" (usually followed by "de
> rire")--a succinct message from Lucette.
>
> Alexander Dolinin
>
>
>
> At 08:32 AM 12/5/04 -0800, you wrote:
> >Dear Brian,
> >
> >I don't remember having seen kh. m. in the Kunstkammer (anyway, it
> >was
long
> >time ago that I last visited it), but I know that the poet Igor'
> >Guberman has one at his house. I saw him demonstrating it to the
> >interviewer in a
TV
> >program. If I remember correctly, it (the thin straight bone
> >resembling a school teacher's pointer) was about 80 cm long.
> >
> >A Russian's first jump after "morzh" would be not what you think, but
> >a person who bathes in winter. The people, who enjoy bathing in
> >ice-holes
in
> >the Neva, or in other frozen rivers or lakes, are called "morzhi."
> >But I do not question in the least your Morzhey connection with Lucette.
As
> >to the Usrsus dialogue and its possible echoes in Lucette's message,
> >I
think
> >it's the case when "the size is important."
> >
> >Alexey
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 5:53 AM
> > > > Subject: Fwd: RE: morzh
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Dear Alexey,
> > > > >
> > > > > Quite right, in my haste I was short-circuiting "khuy morzhovyi"
and
> > > > "morzh"
> > > > > itself. But that doesn't affect the connection with Lucette,
> > > > > since
in
> >a
> > > > > verbal association a Russian's likely first jump after "morzh"
will
> > > > usually
> > > > > be to "khuy." I don't think the Ursus passage makes that any
stronger.
> > > But
> > > > > as a matter of interest, just how big is the "khuy morzhovyi"
> > > > > in
> >Peter's
> > > > > Kunstkammer, or in the wild?
> > > > >
> > > > > Brian Boyd
> > > > >
> > > > > EDNOTE. In the interest of scolarship, I went over to Peter's
> > > Kunstkammer
> > > > last
> > > > > time I was in S-Pb. It was, alas, its vykhodnoi den' so I
> > > > > failed
to
> >see
> > > > the
> > > > > museum's most famous exhibit.
> > > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > > > Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2004 1:05 PM
> > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > Subject: Fw: morzh
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear Brian,
> > > > >
> > > > > I doubt that "morzh" can mean "cock" or "prick" in Russian.
> > > > > At
least
> > > not
> > > > in
> > > > > the modern Russian. But it can be used with the famous Russian
> > > > three-letter
> > > > > word for cock as an epithet, "morzhovyi" (of walrus). The
> > > > > whole
phrase
> > > ("X
> > > > > > morzhovyi") is generally used as an obuse. But, if we
> > > > > > disregard
> >this,
> > > > > > the genital organ of a walrus is pretty long, and you
> > > > > > remember
the
> > > > > > following dialogue between Lucette and Van in part 2, chapter 8:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "...it looked to me at least eight inches long -"
> > > > > > "Seven and a half" murmured modest Van, whose hearing the
> > > > > > music
> > > > impaired.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Lucette, who is obsessed with sex, means Van's scar, not his
penis
> > > > > > ("the ladder, not the lad") this time, but he is too drunk
> > > > > > to
> > > understand
> > > > > that.
> > > > > > Lucette, in her turn, is probably aware (although she is
> > > > > > even
more
> > > > > > drunk
> > > > > than Van) of the fact that Van misunderstands
> > > > > > her, and she knows why he
> > > > > > misunderstands her (because she had seen him making love to
> > > > > > Ada
in a
> > > > > > previous chapter). So, "Morzhey" could indeed be a message
> > > > > > from Lucette,
> > > > > but
> > > > > > via "morzhovyi".
> > > > > >
> > > > > best,
> > > > > Alexey
> > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 9:03 PM
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > ---
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Dear Jansy, (Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > > > > > > <jansy@aetern.us>)
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Yes, but "twin cock crosses" is a very accurate
> > > > > > > description of old-style faucets (W2: cock, 6a: A faucet,
> > > > > > > tap, or valve or
the
> >like
> > > > > > > for starting, stopping or regulating flow); it foes not
literally
> > > > > > > refer to a penis. At
> > > > > > the
> > > > > > > same time, of course, Ada's other grip catches at Van's valve.
And
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > twin
> > > > > > > cock crosses also bring to mind the watery twins Marina
> > > > > > > and
Aqua
> > > > > > > (who
> > > > > has
> > > > > > a
> > > > > > > problem with tapwater), and their foreshadowing of Ada and
> >Lucette,
> > > > > > > who bursts into the room in the same sentence, just after
Van's
> > > > orgasm.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Nabokov keeps "penis" out of his text, as Jeff observes,
> > > > > > > yet
one
> >of
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > key
> > > > > > > moments of the novel is Ada's decision to return to Van at
Mont
> > > > > > > Roux, in
> > > > > > > 1922: "'I told him to turn,' she said, 'somewhere near
> > > > > > > Morzhey
> > > > ('morses'
> > > > > > or
> > > > > > > 'walruses,' a Russian pun on 'Morges'--maybe a mermaid's
> >message)."
> > > > > > "Morzh"
> > > > > > > in this sense is vulgar Russian for "cock" or "prick," and
> > > > > > > as
"the
> > > > > > mermaid's
> > > > > > > message" indicates (Lucette has been explicitly called a
mermaid
> > > > > > > shortly before), and the Ophelia-like punning on private
> > > > > > > parts
> >also
> > > > > > > suggests (Lucette puns extensively on clitoris and other
sexual
> > > > > > > terms, especially
> > > > > > in
> > > > > > > III.5, but again Nabokov eschews "clitoris" itself), Ada's
> >decision
> > > > > > > to return to Van seems to have something to do with dead
Lucette.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Viktor Krivulin's poem, Jeff's translation and Jeff's and
Alexey's
> > > > > > > commentary are delightful.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Brian Boyd
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson [mailto:chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu]
> > > > > > > Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2004 3:58 PM
> > > > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov.
> > > > > > > Translation
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Dear Jeff,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > You wrote that although Nabokov was always very precise in
> > > > > > > his
> > > > > terminology
> > > > > > > "this precision rarely if ever extended to human genital
organs".
> > > > > > > And yet, the examples you offered were all only applicable
> > > > > > > to
the
> > > > > "penis"
> > > > > > > ...
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I sellected only one paragraph with VN=B4s euphemisms for
> > > > > > > the female
> > > > > sex
> > > > > > an=
> > > > > > > d
> > > > > > > adjacent parts in "Ada" : "where she strained across the
> > > > > > > low
tub
> >to
> > > > > turn
> > > > > > on
> > > > > > > both taps and then bent over to insert the bronze chained
plug; it
> > > > > > > got sucked in by itself, however, while he steadied her
> > > > > > > lovely
> >lyre
> > > > > > > and next moment was at the suede-soft root, was gripped,
> > > > > > > was
deep
> > > > > > > between the familiar, incomparable, crimson-lined lips.
> > > > > > > She
caught
> > > > > > > at the twin cock crosses, thus involuntarily increasing
> > > > > > > the sympathetic volume of the
> > > > > > water=
> > > > > > > =B4s
> > > > > > > noise, and Van emitted a long groan of deliverance" (
> > > > > > > Penguin
ed,
> > > pag.
> > > > > > 308).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Anyway, I enjoyed your sentence about "a penis is never
> > > > > > > simply
a
> > > > > > > penis
> > > > > for
> > > > > > > Nabokov" which nicely contrasts with Freud=B4s: " a cigar
> >sometimes
> > > > > > > is
> > > > > > only =
> > > > > > > a
> > > > > > > cigar".
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > > > > > > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > > > > Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 6:07 PM
> > > > > > > Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov.
> > > > > > > Translation
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Thank you Alexey Skylarenko for pointing out the
shortcomings of
> > > > > > > > my translation, especially the major goof in the second
stanza
> > > > > > > > (about which more below).
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > As Alexey notes, "'Mgnove' is a truncated (and
> > > > > > > > nonexisting)
form
> > > > > > > > of 'mgnovenie,' a moment." This form wonderfully
> > > > > > > > embodies
the
> > > > > "fragment"
> > > > > > > > mentioned in the first stanza. Another of the charms of
> > > > > > > > the
> >first
> > > > > > > > stanza
> > > > > > > is
> > > > > > > > the artistry which which the verb "zaselo" (got stuck)
> > > > > > > > is literally stuck in the phrase "v moei golove" (in my
head):
"v
> > > > > > > > moei zaselo golove." (Which calls to my mind the
> > > > > > > > masterful
first
> > > > > > > > sentence of Alain Robbe-Grillet's _La jalousie_ [of
> > > > > > > > which
> >Nabokov
> > > > > > > > said in a French interview published in 1959, "C'est le
> > > > > > > > plus
> >beau
> > > > > > > > roman d'amour depuis Proust"], in which the structure
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > of the sentence serves as a textual analog of the image
> >described:
> > > > > > > > "Now
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > > > shadow of the column--the column which supports the
southwest
> > > > > > > > corner of
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > > > roof--divides the corresponding corner of the veranda
> > > > > > > > into
two
> > > > > > > > equal
> > > > > > > parts."
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > As for stanza two, I would like to explain one reason
> > > > > > > > why I misread the text as implying that it was Nabokov
> > > > > > > > who
"conceal[s]
> > > > > > > > the genital organ / With metaphysical delight." Nabokov
> > > > > > > > was
> >always
> > > > > > > > precise in his terminology (cf., inter alia, Peter
> > > > > > > > Lubin's
paper
> > > > > > > > in ZEMBLA), but this precision
> > > > > > > rarely
> > > > > > > > if ever extended to human genital organs. So far as I
> > > > > > > > can
> >recall,
> > > > > > > > Nabokov does not once in his published prose or poetry
> > > > > > > > use
the
> > > > > > > > word "penis." (He
> > > > > > > > *does* use the term in one of his letters to Edmund Wilson.
If I
> > > > > > > > recall correctly, he says, in reference to the sex
> > > > > > > > scenes in
one
> > > > > > > > of Wilson's books, that despite their frankness, they
> > > > > > > > are
not
> > > > > > > > arousing, in fact they are about as arousing as "trying
> > > > > > > > to
open
> >a
> > > > > > > > can of tuna
> > > > > with
> > > > > > > one's penis."
> > > > > > > > Incidentally, the delivery of this line by Dmitri
> > > > > > > > Nabokov
> >playing
> > > > > > > > his father during a performance of Terry Quinn's "Dear
Bunny,
> >Dear
> > > > > Volodya,"
> > > > > > > > was, for me, a delightful moment of shared hilarity
> > > > > > > > during
the
> > > > > > > > 1998
> > > > > > > Cornell
> > > > > > > > Nabokov Centenary Festival.)
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Whether the "pryshchushchii persik" (spurting peach) or
"priap"
> > > > > > > > (priapus) in Chapter XIII of Prignlashenie na kazn'
(Invitation
> >to
> > > > > > > > a Beaheading), or the much more famous "scepter of my
passion"
> >in
> > > > > > > > Lolita, a penis is never simply a penis for Nabokov. Few
> >writers,
> > > > > > > > it might be argued, have so artistically concealed "the
genital
> > > > organ"
> > > > > with
> > > > > > > "metaphysical delight."
> > > > > > > > Hence my too-hasty willingness to see Nabokov as the
concealer
> >in
> > > > > > > > stanza two rather than as the explainer of this concealment.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Finally, as I mentioned to Alexey in a personal message
thanking
> > > > > > > > him for his corrections, I was also distracted by the
> > > > > > > > fact
that
> >I
> > > > > > > > had composed a more ribald, even less literal, but
> > > > > > > > rhymed
> >version
> > > > > > > > of the second stanza, not sent to the list, in which I
replaced
> > > > > > > > "genital organ" with "cock" and rendered "polotenchikom"
> > > > > > > > as
> >"with
> > > a
> > > > > sock."
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Again, my apologies to Mr. Krivulin, and now to The Red
> > > > > > > > Hot
> >Chili
> > > > > > > > Peppers as well.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Jeff Edmunds
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > At 10:24 AM 12/2/2004 -0800, you wrote:
> > > > > > > > >----- Forwarded message from sklyarenko@users.mns.ru -----
> > > > > > > > > Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 19:36:39 +0300
> > > > > > > > > From: alex <sklyarenko@users.mns.ru>
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >Thank you, Jeff Edmunds, for your translation and for
providing
> >a
> > > > > > > > >link to
> > > > > > > the
> > > > > > > > >complete version of this poem. I found it on a
> > > > > > > > >different
web
> >page
> > > > > > > > >(http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/krivulin4.html) where the
> > > > > > > > >poem
was
> > > > > > > > >published without the four last lines.
> > > > > > > > >The poem's strange title apparently needs a short
commentary.
> > > > > > > > >"Mgnove" is
> > > > > > > a
> > > > > > > > >truncated (and nonexisting) form of "mgnovenie," a
> > > > > > > > >moment,
and
> > > > > > > > >the whole
> > > > > > > title
> > > > > > > > >plays on the first line of Pushkin's famous poem "Ya
> > > > > > > > >pomnyu chudnoe mgnoven'ye"
> > > > > > > > >(I remember a wondrous moment)addressed to Anna Kern
> > > > > > > > >(who
was
> >to
> > > > > > > > >become Pushkin's mistress a couple of years after he
> > > > > > > > >had
> >written
> > > > > > > > >that
> > > > > > > poem).
> > > > > > > That's
> > > > > > > > >why "mgnove" is compared to a fragment of some antique
statue
> >in
> > > > > > > > >lines
> > > > > > > 3-4.
> > > > > > > > >I think the translation is marvelous, but I would like
> > > > > > > > >to
> >correct
> > > > > > > > >one
> > > > > > > little
> > > > > > > > >mistake. The author of the poem doesn't want Nabokov to
conceal
> > > > > > > > >the
> > > > > > > genital
> > > > > > > > >organ (of the statue) with metaphysical delight, he
> > > > > > > > >wants
him
> >to
> > > > > > > > >explain why it is concealed. Also, styd i sram (the
> > > > > > > > >phrase
> >occurs
> > > > > > > > >in ADA, ch. 38) means simply "shame."
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >Krivulin has also a poem entitled Chetvyortaya Sestra
> > > > > > > > >("The Fourth
> > > > > > > > >Sister") that
> > > > > > > > >might have been inspired (and might be not) by
> > > > > > > > >Chekhov's well-known play
> > > > > > > "The
> > > > > > > > >Four Sisters" (again, see ADA).
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >Alexey
> > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > > > > From: Donald B. Johnson
> > > > > > > > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > > > > > > Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 3:36 AM
> > > > > > > > > Subject: Fwd: Re: Krivulin poem re Nabokov.
> > > > > > > > >Translation
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > EDNOTE. With thanks to Jeff Edmunds on ZEMBLA's
Birthday.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The version of this poem that reached me via the
> > > > > > > > > list
was
> >both
> > > > > > > > > garbled
> > > > > > > and
> > > > > > > > > truncated, perhaps as a result of the encoding. The
> >apparently
> > > > > > > complete
> > > > > > > > > version is available at
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > http://www.vavilon.ru/texts/prim/krivulin4.html
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > about two-thirds of the way down the page.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Below is an English version, composed hastily and
> >immediately
> > > > > > > > > postprandially. It is whimsical, ugly, unrhymed, and
> >probably
> > > > > > > > > wrong in
> > > > > > > at
> > > > > > > > > least three ways. My apologies to Viktor Krivulin.
> > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Marvelous Moment
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Why did you, marvelous moment,
> > > > > > > > > Get stuck in my head
> > > > > > > > > Like a fragment from the naughty bits
> > > > > > > > > Of some antique statue?
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Let Nabokov explain
> > > > > > > > > The meaning of Russian diffidence and
> > > > > > > > > Shame, and conceal the genital organ
> > > > > > > > > With metaphysical delight
> > > > > > > > > As with a wisp of cloth --
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Why? What for and from whom?
> > > > > > > > > Harmony is deity
> > > > > > > > > On line, connected to us
> > > > > > > > > So that we don't see, but we know,
> > > > > > > > > There is something there, where there is nothing
> > > > > > > > >
> >
> >----- End forwarded message -----
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
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