Jerry Friedman
[When did Hazel spend the night with
mama and papa in the unburnt-barn?]
The first sentence of note 347 says this happened
in October, 1956 [...] a young couple took advantage of the unwatched barn
and saw the will-o-the-wisp [...] Hazel investigated then, and "the
authorities" demolished the barn on Shade's instigation not too long after that
[...]By the way, the usual spelling now is "St. Elmo's fire"[...]you recently
asked about Charles's and Kinbote's beard [...] He may have in mind that he
stopped shaving on his escape from the Royal Palace, which he dates to mid
August, 1958.
JM: Thanks, Jerry ( I was
hoping you'd answer and bring in the time-line, also because of Hentzner's
grounds, Drive-in movie and Dulwich forest with its various butterfly-enticing
plants at different heights). The will-o-the-wisp (the ghostly light denies that
identification!) or "igni fatuus" is a product of organic decomposition,
common in swamps, related to "phosphorescence". "St.Elmo's fire" is an
electric phenomenon, as is the "globe of light".
Related to light, another chance find that might
be unrelated to VN's lyric mood ( "Lolita, light of
my life, fire of my loins"), but fits in with his sophisticated
allusive web connected with Slavic folklore. I found it in Freud (written in
collaboration with Czech scholar David E.Oppenheim, only published in 1957,
cf. SE vol XII,p.179) under "The Light of Life"
(Anthropophyteia,4 [1907],255,n.10) The original
example travels from Belgrade to Kragujevac.
Variations are found to stem from Sarajevo,
Mostar and the Ukraine (Kryptadia,5,15),but "the
story is extraordinarily widespread in Europe." The "light of life" stems from a collection of heavenly
oil-lamps and each corresponded to the life-time allotted to a person. A
man was taken on a tour by St.Peter and, while Peter was away on another errand,
he dipped his finger in the oil reservatory of his wife's lamp (her lamp carried
more fuel than his): "the man awoke after getting a box in the ears from
his wife, whom he had awakened by fumbling around her pudenda." Instead of
a lamp hanging from a tree, there are references to "glasses with oil" and also
to candles, of various thicknesses, licked by a husband to lengthen his
life.
Carolyn Kunin called my attention to the light
Hazel chose to carry on her second visit, alone, to the barn. It was a "bull's
eye".
Wiki and google sources:The bull's-eye
lantern,with one or more sides of bulging glass,was in popular use from the
early 18th century, similar devices having been made at least as early as the
13th century. Dark until it was suddenly switched on by opening its door, it
focused its light to some extent and served the purpose of the modern flashlight
[...] As the Bullseye Lantern progressed, it became standard issue for Police in
London, eventually made without oil and operated by battery and a light
bulb. In literature, "a lantern, with a thick glass lens on one side
for concentrating the light on any object; also, the lens itself.
--Dickens"; "Raffles, the gentleman burglar, and his counterpart, Mr.
Sherlock Holmes, both regular users of the police bullseye lantern, also known
as the dark lantern. For the Victorian policeman this oil lantern was a very
vital piece of equipment. Not only did it serve as a source of light, but
also as a personal heater in the winter and stove for his "cuppa" tea year-round
.. occasionally, it also seconded as a defensive weapon and might also be used
as a signaling device!"