Among the names that derive from professions Kinbote (the author of a wonderful book on surnames) mentions Rymer and Botkin:
With commendable alacrity, Professor Hurley produced an Appreciation of John Shade's published works within a month after the poet's death. It came out in a skimpy literary review, whose name momentarily escapes me, and was shown to me in Chicago where I interrupted for a couple of days my automobile journey from New Wye to Cedarn, in these grim autumnal mountains.
A Commentary where placid scholarship should reign is not the place for blasting the preposterous defects of that little obituary. I have only mentioned it because that is where I gleaned a few meager details concerning the poet's parents. His father, Samuel Shade, who died at fifty, in 1902, had studied medicine in his youth and was vice-president of a firm of surgical instruments in Exton. His chief passion, however, was what our eloquent necrologist calls "the study of the feathered tribe," adding that "a bird had been named for him: Bombycilla Shadei" (this should be "shadei," of course). The poet's mother, nee Caroline Lukin, assisted him in his work and drew the admirable figures of his Birds of Mexico, which I remember having seen in my friend's house. What the obituarist does not know is that Lukin comes from Luke, as also do Locock and Luxon and Lukashevich. It represents one of the many instances when the amorphous-looking but live and personal hereditary patronymic grows, sometimes in fantastic shapes, around the common pebble of a Christian name. The Lukins are an old Essex family. Other names derive from professions such as Rymer, Scrivener, Limner (one who illuminates parchments), Botkin (one who makes bottekins, fancy footwear) and thousands of others. My tutor, a Scotsman, used to call any old tumble-down buildings a "hurley-house." But enough of this. (note to Line 71)
In Klyuchevski¡¯s essay Evgeniy Onegin i ego predki ("Eugene Onegin and his Forefathers," 1887) Onegin¡¯s great-grandfather (who lived in days of Peter¡¯s reform) regrets that his teacher who made him write Latin verses did not show to him how to make boots:
§¯§à §Ó§â§Ö§Þ§ñ §ê§Ý§à, §â§Ñ§Ù§Ô§à§â§Ñ§Ý§Ñ§ã§î §á§Ö§ä§â§à§Ó§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ §â§Ö§æ§à§â§Þ§Ñ, §Ú §é§Ú§ß§à§Ó§ß§à§Ô§à §Ý§Ñ§ä§Ú§ß§Ú§ã§ä§Ñ §ã §Ö§Ô§à §Ó§Ú§â§ê§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Ú §Ó§ã§Ö§ð §Ô§â§Ñ§Þ§Ñ§ä§Ú§é§ß§à§ð §Þ§å§Õ§â§à§ã§ä§î§ð §ß§Ñ§Ù§ß§Ñ§é§Ú§Ý§Ú §Ü§à§Þ§Ú§ã§ã§Ñ§â§à§Þ §Õ§Ý§ñ §á§â§Ú§×§Þ§Ñ §Ú §à§ä§á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ü§Ú §Ó §Ñ§â§Þ§Ú§ð §ã§à§Ý§Õ§Ñ§ä§ã§Ü§Ú§ç §ã§Ñ§á§à§Ô. §´§å§ä-§ä§à, §â§Ñ§Ù§Ô§Ý§ñ§Õ§í§Ó§Ñ§ñ §ã§Ñ§á§à§Ø§ß§í§Ö §ê§Ó§í §Ú §á§à§Õ§à§ê§Ó§í §Ú §á§à§Þ§ß§ñ §Ô§à§ã§å§Õ§Ñ§â§Ö§Ó§å §Õ§å§Ò§Ú§ß§Ü§å, §à§ß §Ó§á§Ö§â§Ó§í§Ö §á§à§é§å§Ó§ã§ä§Ó§à§Ó§Ñ§Ý §ã§Ö§Ò§ñ §ß§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ü§à §ã§à §ã§Ó§à§Ú§Þ §Ô§â§å§Ù§à§Þ §Ü§Ú§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§à§Û §å§é§×§ß§à§ã§ä§Ú §Ú §ã§à §Ó§Ù§Õ§à§ç§à§Þ §ã§á§â§Ñ§ê§Ú§Ó§Ñ§Ý: §Ù§Ñ§é§Ö§Þ §ï§ä§à§ä §Ü§Ú§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §ß§Ö§ç§Ñ§Û, §å§é§Ú§Ó§ê§Ú§Û §Þ§Ö§ß§ñ §ã§ä§â§à§é§Ú§ä§î §Ó§Ú§â§ê§Ú, §ß§Ö §á§à§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Ý §Þ§ß§Ö, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §ê§î§ð§ä §Ü§à§Ø§Ñ§ß§í§Ö §ã§à§Ý§Õ§Ñ§ä§ã§Ü§Ú§Ö §ã§á§Ú§â§Ú§Õ§í?
Kozhanye soldatskie spiridy (as Klyuchevski jokingly calls boots) and gosudareva dubinka (the tsar¡¯s cudgel) bring to mind Spirtom snachala gorel ya stogradusnym (¡°At first I was burning like pure alcohol¡±), the first line of one of Solovyov¡¯s acrostics in the cycle Safo (1892):
§³§á§Ú§â§ä§à§Þ §ã§ß§Ñ§é§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §Ô§à§â§Ö§Ý §ñ §ã§ä§à§Ô§â§Ñ§Õ§å§ã§ß§í§Þ,
§¡§Õ§ã§Ü§à§Ö §á§Ý§Ñ§Þ§ñ §ä§à§Þ§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à §Ø§Ô§Ý§à...
§¶§Ñ§Ü§Ö§Ý§à§Þ §ß§í§ß§Ö §Ö§Ý§Ö§Û§ß§í§Þ §Ú §â§Ñ§Õ§à§ã§ä§ß§í§Þ
§°§Ü§à§Ý§à §£§Ñ§ã §ñ §á§í§Ý§Ñ§ð §ã§Ó§Ö§ä§Ý§à.
Vasiliy Klyuchevski (1841-1911) was a historian. The philosopher and poet Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900) was a son of Sergey Solovyov (1820-79), another famous historian. The name Solovyov comes from solovey (nightingale). The epithet stogradusnyi (centigrade) used by Solovyov has Gradus (the name of Shade¡¯s murderer) in it. According to Kinbote, almost all of Gradus¡¯ relatives were in the liquor business:
By an extraordinary coincidence (inherent perhaps in the contrapuntal nature of Shade's art) out poet seems to name here (gradual, gray) a man, whom he was to see for one fatal moment three weeks later, but of whose existence at the time (July 2) he could not have known. Jakob Gradus called himself variously Jack Degree or Jacques de Grey, or James de Gray, and also appears in police records as Ravus, Ravenstone, and d'Argus. Having a morbid affection for the ruddy Russia of the Soviet era, he contended that the real origin of his name should be sought in the Russian word for grape, vinograd, to which a Latin suffix had adhered, making it Vinogradus. His father, Martin Gradus, had been a Protestant minister in Riga, but except for him and a maternal uncle (Roman Tselovalnikov, police officer and part-time member of the Social-Revolutionary party), the whole clan seems to have been in the liquor business. (note to Line 17)
Vinograd (1824) is a poem by Pushkin (the author of Eugene Onegin who planned to write ¡°The History of Peter¡±). Solovyov¡¯s acrostics are addressed to Sofia Martynov (a married woman whose surname comes from Martin). Martynov was the name of Lermontov¡¯s adversary in his fatal duel. Lermontov believed that he was a descendant of Thomas of Learmont, a 13th century Scottish laird and prophet who is also known as Thomas the Rhymer.
The word spiridy used by Klyuchevski is pseudo-Latin for lapti (shoes of bast). In Six: XLI: 3 of EO Pushkin mentions the herdsman plaiting his pyostryi lapot¡¯ (pied shoe of bast):
§±§à§Õ §ß§Ú§Þ (§Ü§Ñ§Ü §ß§Ñ§é§Ú§ß§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ü§Ñ§á§Ñ§ä§î
§£§Ö§ã§Ö§ß§ß§Ú§Û §Õ§à§Ø§Õ§î §ß§Ñ §Ù§Ý§Ñ§Ü §á§à§Ý§Ö§Û)
§±§Ñ§ã§ä§å§ç, §á§Ý§Ö§ä§ñ §ã§Ó§à§Û §á§×§ã§ä§â§í§Û §Ý§Ñ§á§à§ä§î,
§±§à§×§ä §á§â§à §Ó§à§Ý§Ø§ã§Ü§Ú§ç §â§í§Ò§Ñ§â§Ö§Û;
§ª §Ô§à§â§à§Ø§Ñ§ß§Ü§Ñ §Þ§à§Ý§à§Õ§Ñ§ñ,
§£ §Õ§Ö§â§Ö§Ó§ß§Ö §Ý§Ö§ä§à §á§â§à§Ó§à§Ø§Õ§Ñ§ñ,
§¬§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §ã§ä§â§Ö§Þ§Ô§Ý§Ñ§Ó §Ó§Ö§â§ç§à§Þ §à§ß§Ñ
§¯§Ö§ã§×§ä§ã§ñ §á§à §á§à§Ý§ñ§Þ §à§Õ§ß§Ñ,
§¬§à§ß§ñ §á§â§Ö§Õ §ß§Ú§Þ §à§ã§ä§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§Ý§ñ§Ö§ä,
§²§Ö§Þ§ñ§ß§ß§í§Û §á§à§Ó§à§Õ §ß§Ñ§ä§ñ§ß§å§Ó,
§ª, §æ§Ý§×§â §à§ä §ê§Ý§ñ§á§í §à§ä§Ó§Ö§â§ß§å§Ó,
§¤§Ý§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Ò§Ö§Ô§Ý§í§Þ§Ú §é§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ö§ä
§±§â§à§ã§ä§å§ð §ß§Ñ§Õ§á§Ú§ã§î ¡ª §Ú §ã§Ý§Ö§Ù§Ñ
§´§å§Þ§Ñ§ß§Ú§ä §ß§Ö§Ø§ß§í§Ö §Ô§Ý§Ñ§Ù§Ñ.
Beneath it (as begins to drip
spring rain upon the herb of fields)
the herdsman, plaiting his pied shoe of bast,
sings of the Volga fishermen;
and the young townswoman
spending the summer in the country,
when she on horseback headlong
ranges, alone, over the fields,
before it halts her steed,
tightening the leathern rein
and, turning up the gauze veil of her hat,
with skimming eyes reads
the simple scripture¡ªand a tear
dims her soft eyes.
Flyor ot shlyapy (the gauze veil of her hat) in the stanza¡¯s line 11 brings to mind Fleur de Fyler, the younger daughter of Countess de Fyler (Queen Blenda¡¯s favorite lady-in-waiting) who attempts to seduce young Charles Xavier (the heir to Zemblan throne):
I do not know what advice or command her mother had given Fleur; but the little thing proved a poor seducer. She kept trying, as one quietly insane, to mend a broken viola d¡¯amore or sat in dolorous attitudes comparing two ancient flutes, both sad-tuned and feeble. Meantime, in Turkish garb, he lolled in his father¡¯s ample chair, his legs over its arms, flipping through a volume of Historia Zemblica, copying out passages and occasionally fishing out of the nether recesses of his seat a pair of old-fashioned motoring goggles, a black opal ring, a ball of silver chocolate wrapping, or the star of a foreign order. (note to Line 80) In Shakespeare¡¯s Timon of Athens (Act IV, Scene 3) Timon addresses the gold and calls it ¡°bright defiler of Hymen¡¯s purest bed:¡± O THOU sweet king killer, and dear divorce | |
¡¯Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler | |
Of Hymen¡¯s purest bed! thou valiant Mars; | |
Thou ever young, fresh, loved, and delicate wooer, | |
Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow | |
That lies on Dian¡¯s lap! thou visible god, | |
That solder¡¯st close impossibilities, | |
And mak¡¯st them kiss; that speak¡¯st with every tongue, | |
To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts! | |
Think, thy slave, man, rebels; and by thy virtue | |
Set them into confounding odds, that beasts | |
May have the world in empire. The characters of Shakespeare¡¯s Richard III include the Scrivener. At the beginning of Shakespeare¡¯s Macbeth (Act I, Scene 1) the Second Witch mentions the hurlyburly: When shall we three meet again When the hurlyburly's done, That will be ere the set of sun. In his Sonet (¡°The Sonnet,¡± 1830) Pushkin says that tvorets Makbeta (the author of Macbeth) loved its [the sonnet¡¯s] play. Kinbote believes that, to be completed, Shade¡¯s unfinished poem needs but one line (Line 1000): ¡°I was the shadow of the waxwing slain.¡± But, like some sonnets, it also seems to need a coda (Line 1001): ¡°By its own double in the windowpane.¡± Dvoynik (¡°The Double,¡± 1846) is a short novel by Dostoevski. In one of his humorous poems Solovyov makes fun of Tolstoy¡¯s attempt to make boots and quotes the words of Dostoevski (who said that for the nihilists ¡°the boots were higher than Shakespeare¡±): §¯§Ö§Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §ß§Ö§Ü§ä§à §Ú§Ù§â§×§Ü: «§³§Ñ§á§à§Ô§Ú §ã§å§ä§î §Ó§í§ê§Ö §º§Ö§Ü§ã§á§Ú§â§Ñ». §¥§Ñ§Ò§í §á§à §ã§Ý§à§Ó§å §ã§Ö§Þ§å §á§â§Ö§Ó§Ù§à§Û§ä§Ú §Ò§â§Ú§ä§Ñ§ß§è§Ñ, §ã§Ñ§á§à§Ø§ß§í§Þ §§Ö§Ó §´§à§Ý§ã§ä§à§Û §Þ§Ñ§ã§ä§Ö§â§ã§ä§Ó§à§Þ §Ù§Ñ§ß§ñ§Ý§ã§ñ, §Ú §ã§Ý§Ñ§Ó§í §Õ§à§ã§ä§Ú§Ô§ß§å§Ý. §§î§Ù§ñ §Ý§Ú §Õ§Ñ§Ý§î§ê§Ö §Ú§Õ§ä§Ú, §â§à§ã§ã§Ú§ñ§ß§Ö, §Ó §Ú§ã§Ü§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ú §ã§Ý§Ñ§Ó§í? §£§ñ§ë§å§ð §²§Ö§á§Ú§ß §ã§ä§ñ§Ø§Ñ§Ý, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ: «§³§Ñ§á§à§Ô§Ú, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §ä§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Ö, §£§Ù§ñ§Ó§ê§Ú, §´§à§Ý§ã§ä§à§Ô§à §ã§Ñ§á§à§Ô §à§ß §ß§Ñ§é§Ñ§Ý §é§Ú§ã§ä§Ú§ä§î §å§ã§Ö§â§Õ§ß§à. In a letter of 1¡6, 1871, to Fet (the poet who was married to Maria Botkin) Tolstoy (who was reading Xenophon and Homer in the original) says that Fet¡¯s skin that he had promised as parchment for Tolstoy¡¯s diploma of Greek is in danger: §Á §ß§Ú§é§Ö§Ô§à §ß§Ö §á§Ú§ê§å, §Ñ §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §å§é§å§ã§î. §ª, §ã§å§Õ§ñ §á§à §ã§Ó§Ö§Õ§Ö§ß§î§ñ§Þ, §Õ§à§ê§Ö§Õ§ê§Ú§Þ §Õ§à §Þ§Ö§ß§ñ §à§ä §¢§à§â§Ú§ã§à§Ó§Ñ, §Ó§Ñ§ê§Ñ §Ü§à§Ø§Ñ, §à§ä§Õ§Ñ§Ó§Ñ§Ö§Þ§Ñ§ñ §ß§Ñ §á§Ö§â§Ô§Ñ§Þ§Ö§ß§ä §Õ§Ý§ñ §Þ§à§Ö§Ô§à §Õ§Ú§á§Ý§à§Þ§Ñ §Ô§â§Ö§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à, §ß§Ñ§ç§à§Õ§Ú§ä§ã§ñ §Ó §à§á§Ñ§ã§ß§à§ã§ä§Ú. §¯§Ö§Ó§Ö§â§à§ñ§ä§ß§à §Ú §ß§Ú §ß§Ñ §é§ä§à §ß§Ö §á§à§ç§à§Ø§Ö, §ß§à §ñ §á§â§à§é§×§Ý §¬§ã§Ö§ß§à§æ§à§ß§ä§Ñ §Ú §ä§Ö§á§Ö§â§î ¨¤ livre ouvert §é§Ú§ä§Ñ§ð §Ö§Ô§à. §¥§Ý§ñ §¤§à§Þ§Ö§â§Ñ §Ø§Ö §ß§å§Ø§Ö§ß §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §Ý§Ö§Ü§ã§Ú§Ü§à§ß §Ú §ß§Ö§Þ§ß§à§Ô§à §ß§Ñ§á§â§ñ§Ø§Ö§ß§Ú§ñ. Tolstoy mentions his, Turgenev¡¯s and Fet¡¯s friend Borisov, a local landowner whose wife Nadezhda (Fet¡¯s sister, born Shenshin) went mad. According to Kinbote, Limner is one who illuminates parchments. In his EO Commentary (vol. II, pp. 178-179) VN describes Notbek¡¯s illustrations in The Nevski Almanac and mentions the transient amazon who stops to read the epitaph on Lenski¡¯s grave: The funniest picture, however, is the one with which Notbek illustrates Six: XLI (referring to the transient amazon who stops to read the epitaph on Lenski¡¯s grave). It depicts an enormous female calmly sitting on a horse as on a bench, with both her legs dangling down one flank of her slender microcephalous white steed, near a formidable marble mausoleum. The whole series of six illustrations reminds one of the artwork produced by inmates of lunatic asylums. It seems that Botkin (Shade¡¯s, Kinbote¡¯s and Gradus¡¯ real name) writes Pale Fire (the book whose title was borrowed from Shakespeare¡¯s Timon of Athens) in a madhouse. An American scholar of Russian descent, Professor Vsevolod Botkin went mad and became Shade, Kinbote and Gradus after the suicide of his daughter Nadezhda (Hazel Shade of her father¡¯s poem). Nadezhda means ¡°hope.¡± There is a hope that after Kinbote completes his work on Shade¡¯s poem and commits suicide (on Oct. 19, 1959, the Lyceum anniversary) Botkin will be whole (or ¡°full¡±) again. The ¡°real¡± name of Shade¡¯s wife Sybil seems to be Sofia Botkin (born Lastochkin). The characters of VN¡¯s story The Vane Sisters (1951) that ends in an acrostic include Sybil Vane. |
Alexey Sklyarenko