Dear ED,
 
Thank you for your lapidary note.  A lad´s lap and overlappings are important in ADA.
There is also a connection bt "lap" and "shelf" ( a book shelf that VN turned into a brook shelf, i.e a rack or poor Rack ?...) which I tried to forget!
 
There are the meanings of "drink with the tongue; consume ( liquid) greedily; (water) move or beat upon a shore with a rippling sound as of lapping (...) the sound of wavelets on a beach " -  all of  which would fit the image of Dora´s lapping talk at  Van´s "rock"  ( it was the "at" which confused me for that usage, but it is quite precise, like 'talk at' instead of "talk to, talk with,etc" ).
I thought  "Russian-lapped German" referred to Aqua´s Russian accent while speaking German words at her Nuss-haus!  
 
I also wondered about Dr.Lapiner, but how would you connect him with this "Cavalcanti quoter"?  Cavalcanti is a common surname in Brazil and I´d never paid much attention to it. It could be of Italian procedence ( and could mean "horses at a gallop"?).  But it also suggests some kind of anagram fitting "canti" ( songs - such as little Van´s in Aqua´s italianate associations?). 
 
Thank you again,
Jansy
 
----- Original Message -----
From: D. Barton Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 3:06 PM
Subject: Fw: Help to translate "lapping at Van´s rock" ...??

ED. See bottom
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
To: don barton johnson
Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 8:59 AM
Subject: Help to translate "lapping at Van´s rock" ...

Dear Don and list,

 

I would like to ask help in order to understand VN´s meaning in a particular sentence ( related to Dorothy´s, née Vinelander,  unceasing chatter "lapping at Van´s rock" ). 

I had already tried to investigate its various contrasting uses (lapse, relapse,colapse, even lap and laprobe ) to get the feeling for this special verb as employed by VN, but found no way to translate it to Portuguese.  

After I mailed the lines dealing with Aqua´s  instructions in "Russian-lapped German", I decided to take up the matter again.

 

Here are some examples:


1. "garrulously pour hateful instructions in Russian-lapped German into her hateful bidet, she decided to stop turning on tap water altogether".

2 ."A large boiled strawberry, still very hot. He sucked it in as far as it would go. He held her close and lapped her palate"

3. "he spoke little, especially since his sister’s sonorous soliloquy (lapping at Van’s rock) mesmerized and childishly engrossed him".

As a verb we find: "to overtake by one or more laps; coil, fold or wrap round; enfold caressingly or encircle protectively; surround a person with influence".
There is also a Middle English sense: "to polish a gem with a lap", i.e, a rotating wheel  which could be applied to boring Dora´s rotating insistence at "Van´s rock", but it still makes no sense. 
There is a Van rock in Armenia, and it is close to a " LakeVan" ( as pointed out by B.Boyd)  where there are ruins of a chapel dedicated to Queen Ada. But VN was not referring to items in a landscape! 
Could a rendering in another language,  like "... his sister´s sonorous soliloquy ( dying at the rock of Van´s impassivity ) ..."  be considered satisfactory?
Jansy
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ED. Judging by own experience the most common senses are "water lapping the shore" and "the cat laps up the milk." The No. 1 usage above is distinctly odd.  I  wonder if Dr Lapiner (lapochka) is the "Cavalcanti quoter"" I-3, p. 24 and echoed in Aqua's word-salad.