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>SS notes to CK[ the worthy Zule ("chessrook") Bretwit, granduncle
of Oswin
Bretwit (q.v., q.v., as the crows say)...in what language "Zule" is
the "chessrook"?] : Not in russian.
MR: (via the net) A chess-rook in the arms of ZULEISTEIN is termed a
zule,
and this is borne on an escutcheon surtout by the Earls of ROCHFORD.
Rook
in Old French is Rok.
>What kind of a black "car" is Sylvia O' Donnell's "mowntrop"? What
is
a "mascana fruit"? ( still on note to 691)
MR: The passage states that the car is a Rolls-Royce. The 'mowntrop' is
likely a grassy path within the weedy field where Kinbote landed. In
C.603
Kinbote says "A mow (in Zemblan _muwan_) is the field next to a barn."
Thus, the 'mown-' refers to the field, and the 'trop' (from the Greek
for 'turning') signifies a path which turns off from the main road.
As for'mascana fruit,' it might be related to 'mascar,' Spanish for 'to
chew'. Or to 'mascara,' meaning the color Tuscan red. In VN's
story "Lebeda" (1932) the tale's young hero takes Sunday gymnastics and
boxing lessons with Monsieur "Mascara," who comes on weekdays to give
his
father fencing and boxing lessons. Monsieur "Mascara" is described as
"a
diminutive elderly Frenchman made of gutta-percha and black bristle."
Mascara is based on VN's real-life family trainer, Loustalot.
Matt Roth