Hafid Bouazza [ to JM "We know VN
was disappointed after he realized Fitzgerald's was not true to the
original poems."]: I do not know
whether "you are aware that Nabokov was dissapointed in Fitgeralds
adaptation after reading Burgess' article 'Omar and Graves', which is to be
found in his Urgent Copy. Arberry has made a more faithful rendering, but not in
quatrains, as did John Payne before him of Khayyams poetry."
Stan Kelly-Bootle [toSA/JM]:
'could “left” here also have an echo of the Latin “sinister?” This
meaning persists in derog. Brit. Slang: “left-hander” (and “left-footer”)
applied (rather irrationally?) to both Roman Catholics AND Homosexuals. For what
it’s worth, in the Gay context, “Turning [over] a new leaf” is an idiom that
immediately recalls the Oscar Wilde anecdote [...] I’ve always taken
Khayyam/Fitzgerald’s “dawn’s left hand” to mean the “false dawn” that played an
important prayer-timing role in Islam[...] I can’t see that either Borges or
Nabokov have the linguistic/cultural CREDENTIALS to judge the merits of
Fitzgerald’s “Englishing.”[...]'
JM: Hafid, I don't recall where I
found VN's emphatic comments about Fitzgerald. One more reason to get
Burgess' "Urgent Copy", thanks for the indication. I understand that you and Abdel Bouazza have wide
experience with distinct translations of Khayyam in various
languages. My ability to judge is limited. I'm unable to contest Stan K-B's conclusion on Borges' and
Nabokov's linguistic/cultural credentials, but it's not impossible to
assume that VN's objection had been to Fitzgerald's
having recreated, not translated, Khayyam's poetry.
In relation to "left-handed" and homosexuality, there
are other allusions which shall probably remain undecided. For
example, we know that Kinbote rated Housman highly. Therefore
when, in Pale Fire,
we read:"since both
Alfreds [ Housman and Tennyson] certainly used an Ordinary Razor,
and John Shade an ancient Gillette, the discrepancy may have been due to the use
of different instruments," Kinbote's stress on "Gilette" ( a double-edged
razor-blade) may be indicatitve of his
familiarity with its sexual innuendoes: ie: was Kinbote thereby
suggesting that Shade was a bisexual?
btw: I tried to figure out P.Meyer's additional comments on
Kinbote's "wod" and VN's use of the word (PM writes that Eadbald,
son of Aethelbert, caused "much damage to the church by his faithlessness and
fornication with his father's wife"), because the motive for
this chastisement is unrelated to Kinbote's own sexual inclinations
and to John Shade's history: is there a link I
missed?