In Russian we have a saying: bylo by boloto, a cherti
budut (if there is a bog, there would be devils in it).* According to
M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826-89), the author of Gospoda
Golovlyovy ("The Golovlyovs") who is as important in
Ada** as the author of Byloe i dumy ("Bygones and
Meditations"), this saying is always true. As I pointed out
before, in a letter to V. G. Chertkov (there is chyort,
devil, in Chertkov) Tolstoy speaks of Herzen and mentions
boloto (bog):
"Человек и люди могут исправиться только
тогда, когда их ложный путь заведёт в болото, и он сам увидит, ахнет и
станет вылезать и другому закричит: не ходите. А наше правительство задерживает
людей, идущих в болото, тогда, когда они ещё не дошли до него, когда они
идут по ровной весёлой дороге. Мало того, один человек [Herzen], выдающийся по силе, уму, искренности, случайно
мог без помехи дойти по этой дороге до болота и увязуть и закричать: не
ходите."
There must be cherti (devils) in Ardis, Daniel Veen's
pseudo-paradisical country estate situated in the marshy Ladore region.
Veen being Dutch for "peat bog," the name Demon Veen (of Daniel's first
cousin, the father of Van and Ada) blends, as it were, evil
spirit with peat bog. Paradoxically, Bog means in Russian
"God." God backwards is dog. Cf. cherti sobach'i (hell curs,
canine devils) mentioned by Demon's mad wife Aqua (1.3) and Daniel Veen in his
deathbed delirium (2.10).
On Demonia (aka Antiterra, Earth's twin planet on which
Ada is set) they have Log instead of Bog. While Roman B and
the Cyrillic counterpart of Roman V (which looks rather like the Cyrillic
counterpart of Roman L - Л or Λ in certain fonts - turned
upside down) look alike, Roman L looks like the Cyrillic counterpart
of Roman G (Г) turned upside down. G is the initial of Golovlyov, Golovin
(Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich), Gogol (cf. Merezhkovsky's Gogol' i
chyort, "Gogol and the Devil") and Gorky (who favored the phrase
cherti drapovye, "devils in rags"). The hero of Gorky's story
Vas'ka krasnyi ("Red Vaska"), vyshibala (bouncer) in
a brothel (the position overlooked by Eric Veen in his Villa Venus project:
2.3), reminds one of Red Veen (aka Durak*** Veen), Daniel Veen's nickname
(1.1).
Golovin + Lyovka = Golovlyov + Kain = golovka +
Lyovin
Lyovka - pejor., Leo; cf. Demon's
words to Van: "that gene missed you, but I've seen it in my
hairdresser's looking-glass when refusing to have him put Cremlin on my bald
spot; and you know who had it too - my aunt Kitty, who married the banker
Bolenski**** after divorcing that dreadful old wencher Lyovka Tolstoy, the
writer" (1.38)
Kain - Russian spelling
of Cain (cf. Van'ka Kain, a Russian folklore figure,
and Iudushka Golovlyov, the main character in Saltykov's family
chronicle; Iudushka is a diminutive form of Iuda,
Judas)
golovka - dim. of golova,
head
Lyovin - a character in
Tolstoy's Anna Karenin who marries Kitty Shcherbatski
*variant: bylo by koryto, a svin'i budut (if there is
a trough, there would be sows around it); in a letter to his wife from
Boldino jealous Pushkin famously quotes this saying; at least one of Marina's
lovers, G. A. Vronsky, does resemble a sow (moreover, "Gavronsky," as Ada once
calls her mother's lover, reminds one of khavron'ya, obsolete
Russian for "sow")
**see in Zembla my
article THE NAKED TRUTH, OR THE READER’S SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION
IN ADA’S QUELQUE CHOSE
UNIVERSITY
***Russ.,
fool
****O + Bolenski = Obolenski (Tolstoy's daughter Maria was married to N.
L. Obolenski and his niece Elizaveta, to L. D. Obolenski); Anna Karenin's maiden
name was Oblonski (Obolenski - e), her brother Stepan Arkadievich (Stiva
Oblonski) is a wencher
Now to something quite different: my long absence from the
List was caused by a serious computer disaster. Although the problem has
been eliminated, the loss of a lot of data and important
material is great and some difficulties still remain. All Word
files (including my translation of Ada and the articles) have
been saved, but I lost forever all my mail. My inbox and address
book are now empty. I would ask my friends on the List and the subscribers
with whom I was in touch to come to my rescue and send me short emails
(or even empty messages) to my new address: skylark1970@mail.ru (note: the old
"skylark" address is no longer valid!!) to help me restore my address book
and renew the contacts. Thank you very much in advance!!! I was in despair all
these days.
Alexey
Sklyarenko