Stan Kelly-Bootle [ to JM's "I forgot to point out that 'Sidra' is an obvious anagram of 'Ardis' and without this reference part of my sentence related to 'archery' seems to be non-sequitur"] On the other hand, Sidra is Spanish Citron/Cider, a common first name, a town in Poland, a Mediterranean Gulf, a Qatar medical research centre, ... Sidra is undoubtedly an obvious anagram of Ardis, just as, by symmetry, Ardis is an obvious anagram of Sidra! How can we ever be sure of the directions of VN’s allusive intentions? In other words, what is the real, literary purpose of anagrams beyond a transient ‘O my!’

JM: One cannot be sure of VN's intentions, in one way or another, but some jugglings are obviously meant by him. Ada's manipulations  when se mentions "Reflections in Sidra" clearly transform whatever Van had meant into a "mirror of Ardis," when "the lost shafts of destiny" and the "scattered arrows" lost in the bush stop being innocent alusions. Since both, Ada and Van are characters created by Nabokov, at least once the ardis-anagram works as a disguise, used to refer to the sibling's sexual games in Ardis (ardis, arrow, shaft, rod, "verge" and etc). (btw: I'm sure you are perfectly aware of this and that your intention was a tease.)

I took the trouble to look up the associations between psoriasis, lepers and Ada's suppressed PS: "lepidopterists are over-eloquent on lepidosis." All three terms are related to "scales," but only the butterflies may use them to their advantage.

lepidosis: n. scaly skin disease. lepidote, a. scurf-covered; lepidoptera : 1773, "insects with four scaly wings," the biological classification that includes butterflies, coined 1735 by Swed. botanist Carolus Linnaeus (Karl von Linné, 1707-78) from Gk. lepis (gen. lepidos) "(fish) scale" (related to lepein "to peel") + pteron "wing, feather" ; psoriasis ,1684, from L.L. psoriasis "mange, scurvy," from Gk. psoriasis "being itchy," from psorian "to have the itch," from psora "itch," related to psen "to rub: 1. A chronic skin disease characterized by dry red patches covered with scales; occurs especially on the scalp and ears and genitalia and the skin over bony prominences.[Wordnet];2. The state of being affected with psora.[Websters]; 3. A cutaneous disease, characterized by imbricated silvery scales, affecting only the superficial layers of the skin.[Websters].