JM:[ to C.Kunin's
2003:" In Ada "The Veens speak only to Tobaks/ And Tobaks speak only to
dogs." Although it may rhyme better in Russian (Tobakami/sobakami) the
original is actually: Here's to good old Boston, the land of the Bean
and the Cod, / Where Cabots speak only to Lodges, and the Lodges speak
only to God. Also note the characteristically Nabokovian reversals of
Cabot/Tobak and God/dog.] Perhaps this sentence, in "Ada," will
serve to corroborate the aristocratic mood: " ‘Everybody
is un peu snob,’ said Lucette. ‘Your Cordula, who is also around,
cannot forgive Shura Tobak, the violinist, for being her husband’s
neighbor in the telephone book."*
..........................................
* On the day after Ada's
twelfth birthday picnic, Greg stopped by Ardis on his way to Countess
de Prey's party. It was when a curious exchange ensues after Lucette
inquires about Jews. Mlle Larivière explains that at the picnic she'd
said "that Greg might not care for ham
sandwiches, because Jews and Tartars do not eat pork’." The
themes of crucifixion and Mesopotamian "Hippopotamians" are introduced.
Greg observes that his ancestors were ‘Hebrews,
yes — but not Jews in quotes — I mean, not comic characters or
Christian businessmen. They came from Tartary to England five centuries
ago. My mother’s grandfather, though, was a French marquis who, I know,
belonged to the Roman faith and was crazy about banks and stocks and
jewels, so I imagine people may have called him un juif’.
" Cordula de Prey (then Cordula Tobak) must have been friendly
with titled Greg. Her reticence about finding her surname related to a
violinist's, Shura, in the phone-book remains a puzzling mixed
allusion...
[ Wiki explains that "Shura is an Arabic word for
"consultation"...believed to be the method by which pre-Islamic Arabian
tribes selected leaders and made major decisions.Shura is mentioned
twice in the Quran as a praiseworthy activity, and is a word often used
in the name of parliaments in Muslim-majority countries." However, in
Persian language and Dari in Afghanistan, "the term shuravi is used for
'Soviet' (the etymology being related to council)." ]