----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 2:07 PM
Subject: a bit of nonsense about the nun
Dear Pale Fire admirers,
the rumor of the king escaping disguised as a nun is
no doubt a reference to the widely-circulated rumors (merrily supported by the
Soviet propaganda) of Alexander Kerenski's escape from the Winter
Palace in a nun's disguise. Kerenski was a contradictory political
figure, who was often compared to a hysterical woman not only by his
political opponents, but also by other liberals, but the sense of historical
justice compels me to say that the bit about the nun is merely a rumor. Nabokov
would know it from Kerenski himself, who was deeply hurt by the persistency of
those rumors, especially in Russia.
Alexey