Alexey Sklyarenko:.."a direct descendant of the Yaroslav rulers of pre-Tartar times, had
a millennium-old name that meant in Russian ‘dark blue.’" Yaroslav =
slovarya ("of dictionary"). A reader of Nabokov should consult not only
Wikipedia, but also a good dictionary. Vivian Darkbloom's
advice.
JM: Anagrams are a
dangerous thing because one may scrabble away,
endlessly. The "yaroslav/slovaraya" find,
though, is truly wonderful since it is not too distant from something
that's been indicated in the same paragraph, namely that,
although Proust informs his fairy-tale readers that the Duchess of
Guermantes is "real," they should know better. Just like the other, more discriminating ones, must
deduce that Van's Yaroslav rulers are ... a dictionary
thing. Sklyarenko's prowess have
been attested by B.Boyd, in the same, recently quoted Nab-L
posting, from 2002: "I keep updating my files of ADA
annotations, not least because of Alexey's finds, and in support of his defense
of the brilliance of Nabokov's verbal play..."
Hopefuly, there are many other ways to
enjoy VN's brilliance. Sometimes even Nabokov offers a hint: there are
a couple of dejected indications in Bend Sinister's
foreword, there are Kinbote's or Darkbloom's notes and
index or, as it happens in RLSK, some seemingly
desultory explanations, such as the one about the Dean's sudden
appearance at the window, an item from duly
identified Jerome K. Jerome paragraph, Chekhov's fata
morgana black monk. Only the more familiar instance of
leg-pulling will not demand a subreptitious purple reference:"Sebastian speaking of his very first novel (unpublished and
destroyed) explained that it was about a fat young student who travels home to
find his mother married to his uncle; this uncle, an ear-specialist, had
murdered the student's father.Mr Goodman misses the joke." Inspite of all
the help I still find myself in a role similar to Mr.
Goodman's (the Russian version)...