-------- Original Message --------
--- On Mon, 3/9/09, jansymello <jansy@AETERN.US> wrote:
...
> JM: May we practice with it?
Please.
> For example, where lies the lake?
Lakes Omega, Ozero, and Zero are to the south. I have no
idea whether one of them, or a connection between two of
them, is where Hazel drowned--maybe there's another lake.
If so, I don't know which one Lake Road goes to. I'm
afraid I haven't given any thought to Exton, Bridgeroad,
etc.
> ("I cannot understand why from
> the lake I could make out our front porch when I'd take
> Lake Road to school...The fragile vista, the frame house
> between Goldsworth and Wordsmith on its square of
> green."),
I've never been able to understand that either.
> how does the sunset (taking place at the left
> of your drawing) promote reflections from Sutton's
> windows which may be seen by Shade?
I did think about that one. I can come up with three
possibilities. If Dr. Sutton's house is a little west
of north from Shade's, Shade can see it, and if it's
turned a little counterclockwise, Shade can see the side
of it that faces a little south of west, which is lit
by the setting sun. (Even though the sun sets a little
north of west in July.)
Second, Shade likes to "rhyme and roam". Maybe Dr.
Sutton's house is a little north of east, and Shade
paced to some part of his house or yard where he
could see its west-facing windown, then (with the
next rhyme in mind), sat back down in his "Nest"
long enough for his foot to fall asleep before Kinbote
visited him.
Third, maybe Shade can't see those windows from his
Nest but knows they're sunlit at that time of day. Or
doesn't care whether they're sunlit but just likes the
sound of the line. He's not on oath.
(Fourth, maybe Nabokov didn't bother working all this
out.)
> I haven't attempted
> to see the shadows cast by the sun in the last scene.
Of course, only Sybil's is mentioned. I assumed she was
a little farther from the house than Shade, and his
direct view of her was blocked by some part of the Nest
or by a tree or shrub.
> Do you think that Shade's house, instead of lying in
> "parallel" to Goldsworth's, could offer one
> corner to enable Kinbote to roam about and have only one
> side of it closed to peeping?
Unless I'm missing something, n. 47-48 says he had to
walk uphill to see the north side of Shade's house and
downhill to see the south side. True, this is after the
foliage grows, but in the Foreword Kinbote only mentions
Shade's living-room window, so I think it's much more
likely that from his house he can only peep into one side.
> Perhaps all the houses may be
> turned a little?
Certainly. It's common to build houses aligned with the
compass points, but definitely not universal. I drew
it the way I did for simplicity.
> We might also add a swing to the shagbark
Or the phantom of a swing.
> or the garbage can with its noisy lid in Shade's
> backyard...
Anywhere you want, with a box hedge frequented by a boxer.
> Your drawing made everything much easier to follow or to
> imagine.
...
I'm delighted that you found it useful.
> I haven't yet really started to
> stroll along your avenues and my present questions must be
> easy to answer.
I'm looking forward to the hard ones.
Jerry Friedman