JM:Thanks for the fascinating link
with images of enshrined squirrels and Belochka dancers. In Kubrick's movie ( I
cannot remember if it also appears in the original Lolita ) there is a
stuffed squirrel in Q camp. I suggest a follow up in Zembla ( A Resolved Discord (Pnin) by
Gennady Barabtarlo)
In a book about "Myths of Origin" I
discovered that squirrels arose from the metamorphosis of a founding-god's
left-over "vair" shoes in Japan. I'll try to find the correct reference and
image to post later on. In Pnin these animals are very
feminine, ungrateful and cruel ( besides, they are associated with
fountains!)
A.S ( to CK): Yes, the author of
Dushen'ka ("Little Psyche", 1783) is Bogdanovich (1743-1803), not Batyushkov
(1787-1855). In his article on the former (1939), Khodasevich says that in
writing his poem Bogdanovich imitated La Fontaine rather than Apuleius whose
tale he probably didn't even know. Only one line from Bogdanovich's poem is now
memorable: Vo vsekh ty, Dushen'ka, naryadakh khorosha ("you are beautiful,
little Psyche, in every attire")...
JM: Rich posting, Alexey. Quite a
treat!
CK linked Hebe's cup to Apuleius and Psyche,
but I think she was mistaken. Past postings have already dealt with
that subject since Hebe's cup and Zeus is a theme that reappears in "ADA" (Zeus
homosexual loves and earthy Bouteillans)
SKB: PS:
"Picadillos" could also be an L Carroll 'blend,' meaning TINY sins (Greek pic[o]
- replacing pec-?)
JM: If you had the advantage of
speaking Portuguese your reading would be different (
Sin=pecado; Picadillos= picadinho?, ie:in shreds. Pica, in glorious
isolation, is equally "in-dick-ative" and no minging wincing shreds about
it )
.