Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

After the dinner in ‘Ursus’ with Ada and Lucette (Van’s and Ada’s half-sister), Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) asks Lucette to tell him the name of Ada’s fiancé and promises to reward her with a very special kiss:

‘My dear,’ said Van, ‘do help me. She told me about her Valentian estanciero but now the name escapes me and I hate bothering her.’

Just before Shade (the poet in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962) is killed by Gradus, Kinbote (Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) invites the poet to a glass of Tokay at his place:

"Well," I said, "has the muse been kind to you?"

According to Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969), the real destination of poor mad Aqua (the twin sister of Van's, Ada's and Lucette's mother Marina) was Terra the Fair:

Describing his success as Mascodagama (Van’s stage name under which he performs in variety shows dancing a jig and a tango on his hands), Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) mentions the Ladore, Ladoga, Laguna, Lugano and Luga papers:

In VN’s novel Ada (1969) Cordula de Prey (Van’s mistress with whom he lives in Manhattan after leaving Ardis forever and fighting a pistol duel in Kalugano) calls Vanda Broom (Ada’s lesbian schoolmate at Brownhill) “a regular tribadka:”

The young author of an essay ‘Villa Venus: an Organized Dream,’ Eric Veen called his palatial brothels “Floramors:”

According to Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969), after visiting Radugalet (the ‘other Ardis’), Marina (Van’s, Ada’s and Lucette’s mother) conjectured that Grandpa Bagrov (who hobbled in from a nap in the boudoir) mistook her for a grande cocotte:

At the end of VN’s novel Ada (1969) Van Veen (at least, it seems that Van is saying this) says that he is afraid that he and Ada are going to wound a lot of people:

‘As lovers and siblings,’ she cried, ‘we have a double chance of being together in eternity, in terrarity. Four pairs of eyes in paradise!’

‘Neat, neat,’ said Van.

In his essay The Texture of Time Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) mentions the Tender Interval:

After Van’s and Ada’s death Ronald Oranger (in VN’s novel Ada, 1969, old Van’s secretary, the editor of Ada) marries Violet Knox (old Van’s typist whom Ada calls Fialochka):