John wrote:

> > 92.06-07: even if the lunette has actually closed around your neck,
> and the
> > cretinous crowd holds its breath:
>
>
> In connection with the derivation of "lunette" from Latin "luna",
> shall we recall the earlier "meniscus" which derives from the same root
> as "moon"?

I am grateful to John for drawing my attention to the "meniscus" in Ch. 6. There HP "felt the pull of gravity inviting him to join the night and his father." A death on a guillotine (held by the lunette) is another death by falling--not of the victim but of the sword. Farfetched?

Another possibility that has occurred to me is that the "lunette" might allude to the "lorgnette" that "the lady with the dog" loses in the "crowd." VN cites the sentence in his lecture on Chekhov. Might be farfetched again.

Akiko