Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0015753, Sun, 2 Dec 2007 13:30:17 -0800

Subject
Hippopotamians
Date
Body
Dear Alexey,

Couldn't this be among the several references in Ada to the ancient
near east? Armina, Van, Eden, Ararat ("Arrowroot"), and that odd
shaped lake? I have no idea what it all adds up to, perhaps you have
a suggestion?

Carolyn


On Dec 1, 2007, at 4:34 PM, Alexey Sklyarenko wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I just received the latest Nabokovian and read with interest Matt
> Brillinger's piece "Hippopotamians in Ardis." I didn't quite
> understand what MB meant by the "archetypal river," but he seems to
> have missed the fact that Hippo is the name of a river. Moreover,
> this river is mentioned in ADA: "Such a drought affected Hippo in
> the most productive months of Augustine's bishopric that clepsydras
> had to be replaced by sandglasses" (Part Four, "Texture of Time").
> So the Mesopotamians/Hippopotamians word-play proves even more
> complex than most readers of Ada would take it to be. I wonder if
> another African river, Limpopo, could be involved in it?
> Or may be I should add yet another anagram to my "charadoid:"
>
> HIPPOPOTAMIANS + DEMOS - D = MESOPOTAMIANS + HIPPO?
>
> best,
> Alexey Sklyarenko
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