Subject
Matt's math problem still unsolved
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This morning Matt wrote:
The math of Hazel's barn transcription doesn't seem to work. In
Hazel's Remarks, she says she began the alphabet eighty times but
seventeen times got no response. That should leave us with 63
positive responses, but Hazel's transcription only contains 61
letters. We seem to be two letters short. Did VN (or Hazel, or
Kinbote?) do the math wrong?
Dear Matt,
I saw the problem slightly differently. This was the first Pale Fire
puzzle I posed to the list:
From: "Carolyn Kunin" Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:10 PM
Subject: 'pada ata' doesn't add up
I would like to ask the list members if anyone has dealt with this
problem regarding the spirit message in 'Pale Fire':
Mrs Provost tells Kinbote that Hazel made 80 attempts to get an
alphabetic response from the light. Of those she got 17 responses.
This information allows us to realize that this was how Hazel broke
the message up into 'words,' i.e. she interpreted a non-response as a
word-break. However the message as transcribed doesn't add up. There
should be 63 letters and 17 breaks, but there are only 61 letters and
16 breaks.
It seems that one word of two letters is missing.
So many years later & I don't have any further insight to offer.
Carolyn Kunin
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The math of Hazel's barn transcription doesn't seem to work. In
Hazel's Remarks, she says she began the alphabet eighty times but
seventeen times got no response. That should leave us with 63
positive responses, but Hazel's transcription only contains 61
letters. We seem to be two letters short. Did VN (or Hazel, or
Kinbote?) do the math wrong?
Dear Matt,
I saw the problem slightly differently. This was the first Pale Fire
puzzle I posed to the list:
From: "Carolyn Kunin" Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 3:10 PM
Subject: 'pada ata' doesn't add up
I would like to ask the list members if anyone has dealt with this
problem regarding the spirit message in 'Pale Fire':
Mrs Provost tells Kinbote that Hazel made 80 attempts to get an
alphabetic response from the light. Of those she got 17 responses.
This information allows us to realize that this was how Hazel broke
the message up into 'words,' i.e. she interpreted a non-response as a
word-break. However the message as transcribed doesn't add up. There
should be 63 letters and 17 breaks, but there are only 61 letters and
16 breaks.
It seems that one word of two letters is missing.
So many years later & I don't have any further insight to offer.
Carolyn Kunin
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/