---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alexey Sklyarenko <skylark1970@mail.ru>
Date: 2015-04-28 13:36 GMT-04:00
Subject: live spark of x in The Waltz Invention
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@listserv.ucsb.edu>
Cc: Susan Elizabeth Sweeney <ssweeney@holycross.edu>

In his "king's speech" Waltz compares the world to a problemÂ with many unknowns and mentions zhivaya iskra iksa (the live spark of 'x') that suddenly flashed helping him to solve this problem:

According to Waltz, he can destroy the shrewish world in six days (the time it took God to create theÂ world).

In "The Event" Lyubov', who six years ago married the portrait painter Troshcheykin,Â complainsÂ that she lost six years of her life:

As she speaks to her sister Vera, Lyubov' mentions herÂ little sonÂ who died three years ago, at the age of two.

In "The Waltz Invention" Waltz interrupts his king's speech to ask Grib why is he playing with a toy automobile:

It seems to Waltz that it is the same little redÂ automobile with worn out body that he had in childhood. According to Grib, he has no toy. Everybody confirms Grib's words.

According to Grib (the architect whom Waltz wants to build a fairy tale palace in Palmora), he is not volshebnik (a magician):

Ð“Ñ€Ð¸Ð±. Ð’Ð°Ð¼ Ð½ÑƒÐ¶ÐµÐ½ Ð´Ð²Ð¾Ñ€ÐµÑ†.

In VN's story Volshebnik ("The Enchanter," 1939) the protagonistÂ (who is compared to the wolf in Charles Perrault's Little Red Riding Hood)Â is ready to give anything - a bagful of rubies, a pailful of blood - for possessing the girl:

As she speaks to Vera, Lyubov' mentions Troshcheykin's young dreams and vyodra kraski (the pailfuls of paint):

According to the Colonel, Waltz is a madman whom his costume andÂ "that quick look of a wolf" betray. The Minister rings up general Berg and learns from him about Perrault's death last night (according to Berg, poor old Perrault died in his sleep).

According to Lyubov', Barboshin (the private detective hired by Troshcheykin to protect himself from Barbashin) is mad. Surprised by Barboshin's medieval costume on the photograph, Lyubov' asks her mother: "What is it, King Lear?" In "The Enchanter" the protagonist mentally compares himself to King Lear and his step-daughter, to little Cordelia:

According to A. Dolinin, the protagonist in "The Enchanter" is a gemologist.Â Anyway,Â he is otsenshchik graney i igry (a valuer ofÂ facets and of their interplay):

According to Troshcheykin, there is a connection (perceived in Othello by Shakespeare) between precious stones and Negro blood:

According to the narrator in VN's storyÂ Tyrants DestroyedÂ (1938), a simple white cube can be the tyrant's best portrait. A cube has six graney (sides).

Salvator Waltz's real name seems to be Leonid Barbashin. Soon after the curtain falls in "The Event"Â Lyubov' commits suicide (like Othello, stabs herself)Â and, in the "sleep of death," dreams of Barbashin disguised as Waltz. VN's two plays form a diptych. This diptych is a part of VN's "hexaptych" (which consists of two plays and four stories, including "Tyrants Destroyed" and "The Enchanter"). The question posed by VN's two plays and four stories is "To be or not to be?"Â The names Ð“Ð°Ð¼Ð»ÐµÑ‚ (Hamlet), ÐžÑ‚ÐµÐ»Ð»Ð¾ (Othello)Â and Ð›ÑŽÐ±Ð¾Ð²ÑŒ (Lyubov') all consist of six letters.Â Ergo,Â x = 6.

*A parody of Lermontov's poem Blagodarnost' ("Gratitude," 1840). Gorech' slyoz (the tears' bitterness) and otrava potseluyaÂ (a kiss' poison) are mentioned in it. Cf. gor'kie griby (bitter toadstools) in the poem in "Tyrants Destroyed." In "The Enchanter" the protagonist wants to poison his bride.

Alexey Sklyarenko

Susan Elizabeth Sweeney

Associate Professor of English

311 Fenwick Hall

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, MAÂ 01610-2395

508-793-2690

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