According to Kinbote (one of the three main characters in VN¡¯s novel Pale Fire, 1962), Jakob Gradus (Shade¡¯s murderer) is a son of Martin Gradus, a Protestant minister in Riga:
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 in 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. Martin Gradus died in 1920, and his widow moved to Strasbourg where she soon died, too. (note to Line 17)
In Potestas clavium. Vlast¡¯ klyuchey (¡°Power of the Keys,¡± 1923) Lev Shestov quotes Martin Luther (1483-1546), a leader of the Protestant Reformation who mentions fidei summus gradus (the highest degree of faith) in De servo arbitrio (¡°On the Bondage of the Will,¡± 1525), Luther¡¯s reply to Erasmus of Rotterdam (the author De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio, 1524):
§§ð§ä§Ö§â §à§á§í§ä§à§Þ §ã§Ó§à§Ö§Û §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§Ú §Ò§í§Ý §á§â§Ú§Ó§Ö§Õ§×§ß §Ü §ä§Ñ§Ü§à§Þ§å §á§â§Ú§Ù§ß§Ñ§ß§Ú§ð, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§à§Ö §Õ§Ý§ñ §ß§Ñ§ê§Ö§Ô§à §å§ç§Ñ §Ù§Ó§å§é§Ú§ä, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ü§à§ë§å§ß§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û §á§Ñ§â§Ñ§Õ§à§Ü§ã: "Hic est fidei summus gradus, credere illum esse clementem, qui tam paucos salvat, tam multos damnat, credere justum, qui sua voluntate nos necessario damnabiles facit, ut videatur, referente Erasmo, delectari cruciatibus miserorum et odio potius quam amore dignus. Si igitur ulla ratione comprehendere, quomodo is Deus sit misericors et justus, qui tantam iram et iniquitatem ostendit, non esset opus fide" (De servo arbitrio, §£§Ö§Û§Þ. §Ú§Ù§Õ., §ä. XVIII, 633 §ã§ä§â.), §ä. §Ö.: §Ó§í§ã§ê§Ñ§ñ §ã§ä§Ö§á§Ö§ß§î §Ó§Ö§â§í - §Ó§Ö§â§Ú§ä§î, §é§ä§à §ä§à§ä §Þ§Ú§Ý§à§ã§Ö§â§Õ, §Ü§ä§à §ã§ä§à§Ý§î §ß§Ö§Þ§ß§à§Ô§Ú§ç §ã§á§Ñ§ã§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ú §ã§ä§à§Ý§î §Þ§ß§à§Ô§Ú§ç §à§ã§å§Ø§Õ§Ñ§Ö§ä, §é§ä§à §ä§à§ä §ã§á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ö§Õ§Ý§Ú§Ó, §Ü§ä§à, §á§à §ã§Ó§à§Ö§Þ§å §â§Ö§ê§Ö§ß§Ú§ð, §ã§Õ§Ö§Ý§Ñ§Ý §ß§Ñ§ã §á§â§Ö§ã§ä§å§á§ß§í§Þ§Ú, §ä§Ñ§Ü §é§ä§à, §Ó§í§â§Ñ§Ø§Ñ§ñ§ã§î §ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ñ§Þ§Ú §¿§â§Ñ§Ù§Þ§Ñ, §Ü§Ñ§Ø§Ö§ä§ã§ñ, §é§ä§à §à§ß §â§Ñ§Õ§å§Ö§ä§ã§ñ §Þ§å§Ü§Ñ§Þ §ß§Ö§ã§é§Ñ§ã§ä§ß§í§ç §Ú §ã§Ü§à§â§Ö§Û §Õ§à§ã§ä§à§Ú§ß §ß§Ö§ß§Ñ§Ó§Ú§ã§ä§Ú, §é§Ö§Þ §Ý§ð§Ò§Ó§Ú. §¦§ã§Ý§Ú §Ò§í §ã§Ó§à§Ú§Þ §â§Ñ§Ù§å§Þ§à§Þ §ñ §Þ§à§Ô §Ò§í §á§à§ß§ñ§ä§î, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §ä§Ñ§Ü§à§Û §¢§à§Ô §Þ§à§Ø§Ö§ä §Ò§í§ä§î §ã§á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ö§Õ§Ý§Ú§Ó§í§Þ §Ú §Þ§Ú§Ý§à§ã§Ö§â§Õ§ß§í§Þ, §ß§Ö §Ò§í§Ý§à §Ò§í §ß§å§Ø§Õ§í §Ó §Ó§Ö§â§Ö. §Á §ß§Ö §Þ§à§Ô§å §Ù§Õ§Ö§ã§î §á§â§Ú§Ó§à§Õ§Ú§ä§î §Õ§Ñ§Ý§î§ß§Ö§Û§ê§Ú§ç §á§â§Ú§Ù§ß§Ñ§ß§Ú§Û §§ð§ä§Ö§â§Ñ, §ß§à §ä§à§ä, §Ü§ä§à §á§à§Û§Þ§×§ä §Ó§Ö§ã§î §å§Ø§Ñ§ã §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§Ü§Ñ, §á§â§Ú§Ó§Ö§Õ§×§ß§ß§à§Ô§à §Ü §ä§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Þ §á§â§Ú§Ù§ß§Ñ§ß§Ú§ñ§Þ, §á§à§Û§Þ§×§ä §Ú §ã§Þ§í§ã§Ý §Ü§Ñ§ä§à§Ý§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à potestas clavium.
Luther's own experience forced him to that confession which resounds in our ears like a blasphemous paradox: Hic est fidei summus gradus, credere illum esse clementem, qui tam paucos salvat, tam multos damnat, credere justum, qui sua voluntate nos necessario damnabiles facit, ut videatur, referente Erasmo, delectari cruciatibus miserorum et odio potius quam amore dignus. Si igitur possem ulla ratione comprehendere, quomodo si Deus sit misericors et justus qui tantam iram et iniquitatem ostendit, non esset opus fide (De servo arbitrio, ed. Weimar, I, XVIII, p. 633). That is, "the highest degree of faith is to believe that He is merciful who saves so few and damns so many men, that He is righteous who by His own will has necessarily made us guilty so that, according to Erasmus, it seems that He rejoices in the suffering of the miserable and is more worthy of being hated than loved. If I could understand with my reason how such a God can be righteous and merciful, faith would not be necessary." I cannot here quote other confessions of Luther's, but he who has understood the horror that a man forced to such confessions must have felt will also understand the meaning of Catholicism's potestas clavium. (Part One, 4)
In this chapter of his book Shestov speaks of ¡°The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor¡± in Dostoevski¡¯s novel Brat¡¯ya Karamazovy (¡°Brothers Karamazov,¡± 1880):
§¦§ã§Ý§Ú §Ò§í §¢§à§Ô §à§ä§Ü§â§í§ä§à §Ó§à§Ù§Ó§Ö§ã§ä§Ú§Ý §ã §ß§Ö§Ò§Ñ, §é§ä§à potestas clavium §á§â§Ú§ß§Ñ§Õ§Ý§Ö§Ø§Ú§ä §¦§Þ§å, §Ñ §ß§Ö §Ý§ð§Õ§ñ§Þ, §ã§Ñ§Þ§í§Ö §ä§Ú§ç§Ú§Ö §Ó§à§Ù§Þ§å§ä§Ú§Ý§Ú§ã§î §Ò§í. §§å§é§ê§Ñ§ñ §Ú§Ý§Ý§ð§ã§ä§â§Ñ§è§Ú§ñ §ä§à§Þ§å - §Ý§Ö§Ô§Ö§ß§Õ§Ñ §à §Ó§Ö§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Þ §Ú§ß§Ü§Ó§Ú§Ù§Ú§ä§à§â§Ö §¥§à§ã§ä§à§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à. §£ §ï§ä§à§Û §Ý§Ö§Ô§Ö§ß§Õ§Ö §¥§à§ã§ä§à§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §ã §á§â§à§ß§Ú§è§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à§ã§ä§î§ð, §Ô§â§Ñ§ß§Ú§é§Ú§Ó§ê§Ö§Û §ã §ñ§ã§ß§à§Ó§Ú§Õ§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö§Þ §Ú §ã§à§Ó§Ö§â§ê§Ö§ß§ß§à §ß§Ö§á§à§ã§ä§Ú§Ø§Ú§Þ§à§Û §Õ§Ý§ñ §Ö§Ô§à §ã§à§Ó§â§Ö§Þ§Ö§ß§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Ó, §â§Ñ§ã§Ü§â§í§Ý §ã§à§Ü§â§à§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§Ö§Û§ê§Ú§Û §ã§Þ§í§ã§Ý §Ü§Ñ§ä§à§Ý§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§Ú§ç §á§â§Ú§ä§ñ§Ù§Ñ§ß§Ú§Û. §¬§Ñ§ä§à§Ý§Ú§é§Ö§ã§ä§Ó§à §Ó§Ö§â§Ú§ä §ß§Ö §¢§à§Ô§å, §Ñ §ã§Ö§Ò§Ö §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§Þ§å. §¦§ã§Ý§Ú §Ò§í §·§â§Ú§ã§ä§à§ã §Ó§ß§à§Ó§î §ã§à§ê§Ö§Ý §ß§Ñ §Ù§Ö§Þ§Ý§ð, §Ó§Ö§Ý§Ú§Ü§Ú§Û §Ú§ß§Ü§Ó§Ú§Ù§Ú§ä§à§â §ã§Ø§Ö§Ô §Ò§í §¦§Ô§à, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §à§ß §ã§Ø§Ú§Ô§Ñ§Ý §Ó§ã§Ö§ç §Ö§â§Ö§ä§Ú§Ü§à§Ó, §ä. §Ö. §Ó§ã§Ö§ç §ä§Ö§ç, §Ü§ä§à §à§ã§Þ§Ö§Ý§Ú§Ó§Ñ§Ý§ã§ñ §Õ§å§Þ§Ñ§ä§î, §é§ä§à §á§à§Ý§ß§à§ä§Ñ §Ó§Ý§Ñ§ã§ä§Ú §ß§Ñ §Ù§Ö§Þ§Ý§Ö §Ú §ß§Ñ §ß§Ö§Ò§Ö §ß§Ö §á§â§Ú§ß§Ñ§Õ§Ý§Ö§Ø§Ú§ä §Ó§ã§Ö§è§Ö§Ý§à §ß§Ñ§Þ§Ö§ã§ä§ß§Ú§Ü§å §ã§Ó. §±§Ö§ä§â§Ñ, §Ú§Ò§à credimus et confitemur unam Ecclesiam Romanam, extra quam neminem salvari. §ª §à§ß §á§à§ã§ä§å§á§Ú§Ý §Ò§í §á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý§î§ß§à, §ä. §Ö. §á§à§ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à: §ß§Ú§Ü§ä§à §Ó§Ö§Õ§î §ß§Ö §ã§à§Þ§ß§Ö§Ó§Ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ, §é§ä§à §á§à§ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à§ã§ä§î §Ö§ã§ä§î §ß§Ö §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §å§ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ú§Ö, §ß§à §Ú §ã§å§ë§ß§à§ã§ä§î §Ú§ã§ä§Ú§ß§í.
If God Himself announced from heaven that the potestas clavium belongs not to men but to Himself alone, even the gentlest would rebel. The legend of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky makes us see this in striking fashion. With a perceptiveness that bordered on clairvoyance and appeared completely incomprehensible to his contemporaries, Dostoevsky laid bare in this legend the secret of Catholicism's pretensions. Catholicism believes not in God but in itself. If Christ descended to earth a second time, the Grand Inquisitor would have him burned, as he dealt with all heretics, i.e., all those who dared believe that power over heaven and earth does not belong entirely to the successors of St. Peter, for credimus et confitemus unam Ecclesiam Romanam, extra quam neminem salvari [we believe and confess one Roman Church outside of which no man is saved]. And the Grand Inquisitor would have acted very justly, that is, logically. No one can doubt - can he? - that rigorous logic is not only the condition but the very essence of truth. (ibid.)
In Canto Three of his poem Shade speaks of IPH (a lay Institute of Preparation for the Hereafter) and mentions Fra Karamazov (brother Ivan, the author of ¡°The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor¡±):
Fra Karamazov, mumbling his inept
All is allowed, into some classes crept (ll. 641-642).
Part Three of Potestas clavium consists of three essays the first of which is entitled Momento mori. In his Commentary Kinbote (a practicing Roman Catholic) describes a clockwork toy that Shade kept as a kind of memento mori and mentions the key:
By a stroke of luck I have seen it! One evening in May or June I dropped in to remind my friend about a collection of pamphlets, by his grandfather, an eccentric clergyman, that he had once said was stored in the basement. I found him gloomily waiting for some people (members of his department, I believe, and their wives) who were coming for a formal dinner. He willingly took me down into the basement but after rummaging among piles of dusty books and magazines, said he would try to find them some other time. It was then that I saw it on a shelf, between a candlestick and a handless alarm clock. He, thinking I might think it had belonged to his dead daughter, hastily explained it was as old as he. The boy was a little Negro of painted tin with a keyhole in his side and no breadth to speak of, just consisting of two more or less fused profiles, and his wheelbarrow was now all bent and broken. He said, brushing the dust off his sleeves, that he kept it as a kind of memento mori--he had had a strange fainting fit one day in his childhood while playing with that toy. We were interrupted by Sybil's voice calling from above; but never mind, now the rusty clockwork shall work again, for I have the key. (note to Line 143)
At the end of his almost finished poem Shade mentions some neighbor's gardener (according to Kinbote, it was his black gardener) who goes by trundling an empty barrow up the lane:
And through the flowing shade and ebbing light
A man, unheedful of the butterfly--
Some neighbor's gardener, I guess--goes by
Trundling an empty barrow up the lane. (ll. 996-999)
Shestov¡¯s Potestas clavium has a Preface entitled Tysyacha i odna noch¡¯ (¡°A Thousand and One Nights¡±). It seems that, in its finished form, Shade¡¯s poem should have a thousand and one lines. Line 1000 is identical to Line 1 (I was the shadow of the waxwing slain) and Line 1001 (By its own double in the windowpane) is the poem¡¯s coda.
Shestov wrote the Preface to Potestas clavium in Kiev, in January of 1919. In April of that year VN left Russia forever on a small and shoddy Greek ship Nadezhda (Hope; Speak, Memory, p. 194). Hazel Shade¡¯s ¡°real¡± name seems to be Nadezhda Botkin. According to Kinbote, Martin Gradus died in 1920. In VN¡¯s Podvig (¡°Glory,¡± 1932) Martin Edelweiss (the novel¡¯s the main character) and his Cambridge friend Darwin are in love with Sonya Zilanov (a flirt who mentions Darwin¡¯s ¡°apian¡± name). Sonya is a form of Sophia. Sophia is the name of Martin¡¯s mother. In PF Sybil Shade¡¯s ¡°real¡± name seems to be Sophia Botkin. An American scholar of Russian descent, Professor Vsevolod Botkin went mad and became Shade, Kinbote and Gradus after the suicide of his daughter Nadezhda. There is a hope (nadezhda) that, when Kinbote completes his work on Shade¡¯s poem and commits suicide (on October 19, 1959, the anniversary of Pushkin¡¯s Lyceum), Botkin will be ¡°full¡± again.
The pseudonym Shestov comes from shest¡¯ (six). In the names Botkin, Darwin and §º§Ö§ã§ä§à§Ó (Shestov) and in the words gradus and podvig (heroic deed; exploit) there are six letters. One of the chapters in Shestov¡¯s Potestas clavium is entitled ¡°Darwin and the Bible.¡± In one of the preceding chapters, ¡°The Fixed Stars,¡± Shestov quotes Pushkin¡¯s words that poetry must be foolish, suggests that prose should not be too intelligent either and says that philosophy, like our entire existence, must be insane:
§¯§Ö §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §á§à§ï§Ù§Ú§Ú, §ß§à §Ú §á§â§à§Ù§Ö §Ú§ß§à§Û §â§Ñ§Ù §ß§Ö §Þ§Ö§ê§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ò§í§ä§î §Ô§Ý§å§á§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§à§Û. §ª §ß§Ö §ã§Ý§Ú§ê§Ü§à§Þ §Ó§ã§Ö§Ù§ß§Ñ§ð§ë§Ö§Û. §¯§Ö§ä §Ò§à§Ý§Ö§Ö §á§â§à§ä§Ú§Ó§ß§à§Ô§à §Ú §à§ä§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ü§Ú§Ó§Ñ§ð§ë§Ö§Ô§à §Ù§â§Ö§Ý§Ú§ë§Ñ, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ù§â§Ö§Ý§Ú§ë§Ö §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§Ü§Ñ, §Ó§à§à§Ò§â§Ñ§Ù§Ú§Ó§ê§Ö§Ô§à, §é§ä§à §à§ß §Ó§ã§× §á§à§ß§ñ§Ý §Ú §ß§Ñ §Ó§ã§× §å§Þ§Ö§Ö§ä §Õ§Ñ§ä§î §à§ä§Ó§×§ä. §£§à§ä §á§à§é§Ö§Þ§å §Ó§í§Õ§Ö§â§Ø§Ñ§ß§ß§Ñ§ñ §Ú §á§à§ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§Ñ§ñ §æ§Ú§Ý§à§ã§à§æ§Ú§ñ ¨¤ la longue §ã§ä§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§Ú§ä§ã§ñ §ß§Ö§Ó§í§ß§à§ã§Ú§Þ§à§Û. §µ§Ø §Ö§ã§Ý§Ú §ß§å§Ø§ß§à §æ§Ú§Ý§à§ã§à§æ§ã§ä§Ó§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§î, §ä§à §Ú§Ù§à §Õ§ß§ñ §Ó §Õ§Ö§ß§î, §ß§Ö §ã§é§Ú§ä§Ñ§ñ§ã§î §ã§Ö§Ô§à§Õ§ß§ñ §ã §ä§Ö§Þ, §é§ä§à §ä§í §Ô§à§Ó§à§â§Ú§Ý §Ó§é§Ö§â§Ñ. §¦§ã§Ý§Ú §á§à§ï§Ù§Ú§ñ §Õ§à§Ý§Ø§ß§Ñ §Ò§í§ä§î §Ô§Ý§å§á§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§à§Û, §ä§à §æ§Ú§Ý§à§ã§à§æ§Ú§ñ §Õ§à§Ý§Ø§ß§Ñ §Ò§í§ä§î §ã§å§Þ§Ñ§ã§ê§Ö§Õ§ê§Ö§Û, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ó§ã§ñ §ß§Ñ§ê§Ñ §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§î.
It does no harm not only for poetry but for prose as well to be, at times, not too intelligent and not to know everything. There is no spectacle more disagreeable and more repugnant than that offered us by the man who imagines he understands everything and can give an answer to everything. That is why a philosophy that is consistent with itself and rigorously logical ends at length by becoming unbearable. If one must philosophize, let it at least be from day to day - without taking into account today what one said yesterday. If poetry must not be too intelligent, then philosophy must be insane, like our entire existence.
Alexey Sklyarenko