Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0023768, Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:12:18 +0300

Subject
Greg Erminin
Date
Body
According to my dictionary (Random House Webster), ermine [Russ., gornostay] is also "the rank, position, or status of a king, peer, or judge, esp. one in certain European countries who wears, or formerly wore, a robe trimmed with ermine, as on official or state occasions."

Jesus entered Jerusalem as King of Israel: "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt". (John, 12:15)

Jesus was sometimes called "the son of David" (syn Davidov).

Syn Davidov + de = sny + Avidov + ded = Denis Davydov (de - particule; sny - dreams; Avidov - Baron Klim Avidov; ded - grandfather; Denis Davydov - poet and hussar, 1784-1839).

In a letter ov November 25, 1892, to Suvorin Chekhov mentions Denis Davydov: У одних, смотря по калибру, цели ближайшие – крепостное право, освобождение родины, политика, красота или просто водка, как у Дениса Давыдова, у других цели отдалённые - Бог, загробная жизнь, счастье человечества и т. п. (Some [artists] have more immediate objects—the abolition of serfdom, the liberation of their country, politics, beauty, or simply vodka, like Denis Davydov; others have remote objects—God, life beyond the grave, the happiness of humanity, and so on).

When they meet in Paris (3.2), Van tells Greg Erminin that his father preferred to pass for a Chekhovian colonel.

Btw., here is a poem by VN (written in St. Moritz, on July 10, 1965):

Средь этих лиственниц и сосен,
под горностаем этих гор
мне был бы менее несносен
существования позор:

однообразнее, быть может,
но без сомнения честней,
здесь бедный век мой был бы прожит
вдали от вечности моей.

Among these larches and pines,
under the ermine of these mountains...

Re Armenia: in Pushkin's poem "The Black Shawl" (1820) the young Greek girl whom the hero loved passionately was unfaithful to him with an Armenian:

В покой отдалённый вхожу я один...
Неверную деву лобзал армянин.

I silently entered—alone and amazed;
An Armenian was kissing the girl as I gazed. [pah]

Alexey Sklyarenko

Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en

Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com

Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/







Attachment