Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

Describing a conversation at the Faculty Club, Kinbote (in VN's novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) says that, if anybody told him that he resembled King Charles, he would counter with something on the lines of "all Chinese look alike" and change the subject:

According to Hermann Karlovich, the narrator and main character in VN's novel Otchayanie ("Despair," 1934), Ardalion (a cousin of Hermann's wife Lydia, the painter) is as poor as vorobey (a sparrow):

Describing his life with Ada after their final reunion in 1922, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) mentions the Film Festival in Sindbad:

In 1938 VN translated his Russian novel Camera Obscura (1932) into English as Laughter in the Dark. Translated back into Russian, Laughter in the Dark becomes Smekh v temnote. In VN's novel Otchayanie ("Despair," 1934) Hermann Karlovich (the narrator and main character) mentions smekh v temnote (a laugh in the darkness):

Describing a conversation at the Faculty Club, Kinbote (in VN's novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions a visiting German lecturer from Oxford who said that King Charles wore no beard, and yet it was his very face:

Describing the difference between Terra and Antiterra (Earth's twin planet also known as Demonia), Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) mentions the details of the L disaster that happened on Demonia in the beau milieu of the 19th century:

Describing his face, Hermann Karlovich, the narrator and main character in VN's novel Otchayanie ("Despair," 1934), compares a vein on his forehead to nedocherchennaya "mysl'" (a capital M imperfectly drawn):

According to Kinbote (in VN's novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla), he has his moments of volatility and fou rire:

Line 270: My dark Vanessa

Describing his transatlantic journey with Lucette (Van's and Ada's half-sister) on Admiral Tobakoff, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) mentions the Helmeted Angel of the Yukonsk Ikon whose magic effect was said to change anemic blond maidens into konskie deti, freckled red-haired lads, children of the Sun Horse:

Quite kindly he asked where she thought she was going.

Describing his transatlantic journey with Lucette (Van's and Ada's half-sister) on Admiral Tobakoff, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) mentions the Helmeted Angel of the Yukonsk Ikon whose magic effect was said to change anemic blond maidens into konskie deti, freckled red-haired lads, children of the Sun Horse:

Quite kindly he asked where she thought she was going.