----- Original Message -----
From: Carolyn Kunin
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 9:29 AM
Subject: FW: Cora Day and the color of hope

To the List,

I can't recall where in Nabokov's work he (or one of his characters?) castigates a student who sees symbolism in the green leaves of trees because "green is the color of hope." (Pale Fire?)

"Green is the color of hope" turns out to be a quote from an impromptu speech given by Camille Desmoulins, from the top of a cafe table at the Palais Royale in the days leading up to the storming of the Bastille. This speech is generally believed to be the spark that ignited the revolution:

« Quelle couleur voulez-vous arborer pour la cocarde ; souhaitez-vous le vert, couleur d¹espérance, ou le bleu, couleur de l¹Amérique régénérée et de la démocratie ? » Mille voix s¹élèvent : « Nous voulons le vert, couleur de l¹espérance ! »

Or as I found it in "Charlotte Corday and some Men of the Revolutionary Torment" (New York, 1929):
"... this [crowd] was presently tearing the leaves from the trees, because
"green is the color of hope."

The denuded trees by the way were chestnuts. Does anyone recognize the Nabokov reference?

thanks,
Carolyn