Subject
furs in ADA and "The 12 Chairs"
From
Date
Body
When Lucette visits Van in Kingston, she has a fur coat on: "'This is where he lives,' she said, looking around, as he helped her with wonder and sorrow out of her soft, deep, dark coat, side-thinking (he liked furs): sea bear (kotik)? No, desman (vyhuhol')." (2.5)
Vyhuhol' (or, rather, sobach'ya shkura, a dog's skin, made to look like desman) is also mentioned in Ilf and Petrov's "The Twelve Chairs" (Chapter XXII: "Ellochka the Cannibal"):
Then she [Ellochka Shchukin] was able to climb another step up the ladder leading
her to the glittering paradise frequented by billionaires' daughters, who
were no match for housewife Shchukin. A dog skin [sobach'ya shkura] made to look like muskrat [vyhuhol'] was bought with a loan and added the finishing touch to the evening dress.
Mister Shchukin, who had long cherished the dream of buying a new
drawing-board, became rather depressed.
The dog-trimmed dress was the first well-aimed blow at Miss Vanderbilt.
The snooty American girl was then dealt three more in succession. Ellochka
bought a chinchilla tippet (Russian hare caught in Tula Province) from
Fimka Sobak, a private furrier, acquired a hat made of dove-grey Argentine
felt, and converted her husband's new jacket into a stylish tunic. The
billionaire's daughter was shaken, but the affectionate Daddy Vanderbilt
evidently came to the rescue.
The latest number of the magazine contained a portrait of the cursed
rival in four different styles: (1) in black-brown fox; (2) with a diamond
star on her forehead; (3) in a flying suit (high boots, a very thin green
coat and gauntlets, the tops of which were encrusted with medium-size
emeralds); and (4) in a ball gown (cascades of jewellery and a little silk).
Note that Fima Sobak's profession is furrier (skornyak). Skornyak + Shura = sornyak + shkura (sornyak - weed)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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Vyhuhol' (or, rather, sobach'ya shkura, a dog's skin, made to look like desman) is also mentioned in Ilf and Petrov's "The Twelve Chairs" (Chapter XXII: "Ellochka the Cannibal"):
Then she [Ellochka Shchukin] was able to climb another step up the ladder leading
her to the glittering paradise frequented by billionaires' daughters, who
were no match for housewife Shchukin. A dog skin [sobach'ya shkura] made to look like muskrat [vyhuhol'] was bought with a loan and added the finishing touch to the evening dress.
Mister Shchukin, who had long cherished the dream of buying a new
drawing-board, became rather depressed.
The dog-trimmed dress was the first well-aimed blow at Miss Vanderbilt.
The snooty American girl was then dealt three more in succession. Ellochka
bought a chinchilla tippet (Russian hare caught in Tula Province) from
Fimka Sobak, a private furrier, acquired a hat made of dove-grey Argentine
felt, and converted her husband's new jacket into a stylish tunic. The
billionaire's daughter was shaken, but the affectionate Daddy Vanderbilt
evidently came to the rescue.
The latest number of the magazine contained a portrait of the cursed
rival in four different styles: (1) in black-brown fox; (2) with a diamond
star on her forehead; (3) in a flying suit (high boots, a very thin green
coat and gauntlets, the tops of which were encrusted with medium-size
emeralds); and (4) in a ball gown (cascades of jewellery and a little silk).
Note that Fima Sobak's profession is furrier (skornyak). Skornyak + Shura = sornyak + shkura (sornyak - weed)
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/