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Re: Fwd: a question about "Rast"
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Dear Victor and the List,
Too clear to be a coincidence: "Rast" in reverse reads "Tsar".
Interestingly, Daniel Veen looks up "groote" in his tiny Dutch-English
dictionary:
"'Good Lord!' he exclaimed, on catching sight of a gory trophey [a wad of
blood-soaked cottonwool,
apparently a tampon, snatched by Dack, the Dachshund at Ardis] 'somebody
must have chopped off a thumb!' Patting his thighs and his chair, he sought
and retrieved - from under the footstool - the vestpocket wordbook and went
up to his paper, but a second later had to look up 'groote,' which he had
been groping for when disturbed.
The simplicity of its meaning annoyed him." (Part One, chapter 11)
Daniel Veen is reading a Dutch-language illustrated paper ("an article
apparently devoted to oystering") abandoned by a passanger opposite him on
the train that brought him to Ardis. "Groote" of course is Dutch for
"great," and Peter the First is often called "Peter the Great." However, his
greatness is often questioned.
Some think that the tsar Peter was a tyrant as cruel as Ivan the Terrible or
Stalin. I think it was Tsvetaeva who called him "the first Bolshevik." Note
that the figure of Peter plays a prominent part in Pushkin's oeuvre. In the
last years of his life Pushkin worked on "The History of Peter," and his
arguably best long poem is "The Bronze Horseman" (known on Antiterra as
"Headless Horseman"), in which the vision of the Bronze Horseman (the famous
monument of Peter I by Falconet) haunts the poor mad hero.
"Plump and live" oysters that are being torn by gourmets out of their
"cloisters" are mentioned in Pushkin's EO, and in the family dinner chapter
of ADA (1.38).
A word about "the German" Dack. Dachshund is a hound that was initially bred
to hunt badgers ("Dachs" is German for "badger"). Its small size allows this
hound to squeeze into a badger's hole and turn the game out of it (a
badger's hole always has two exits). Now, Mandelstam's famous article on
Blok (who is very important in ADA) is entitled "Barsuch'ia Nora" ("A
Badger's Hole"). I would like very much to know if Nabokov knew this
article. I hope and suspect he did.
best,
Alexey
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:24 PM
Subject: Fwd: a question about "Rast"
> ----- Forwarded message from fet@marshall.edu -----
> Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 08:41:01 -0400
> From: "Fet, Victor" <fet@marshall.edu>
> Reply-To: "Fet, Victor" <fet@marshall.edu>
> Subject: a question about "Rast"
> To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
>
> Message requiring your approval (9 lines) -------------------
>
> Too clear to be a coincidence: "Rast" in reverse reads "Tsar".
>
> Is it Peter de Tsar, that "colossus" Russian diguised as a Dutch, as his
custom
> was?
>
>
>
> Victor Fet
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
----- End forwarded message -----
Too clear to be a coincidence: "Rast" in reverse reads "Tsar".
Interestingly, Daniel Veen looks up "groote" in his tiny Dutch-English
dictionary:
"'Good Lord!' he exclaimed, on catching sight of a gory trophey [a wad of
blood-soaked cottonwool,
apparently a tampon, snatched by Dack, the Dachshund at Ardis] 'somebody
must have chopped off a thumb!' Patting his thighs and his chair, he sought
and retrieved - from under the footstool - the vestpocket wordbook and went
up to his paper, but a second later had to look up 'groote,' which he had
been groping for when disturbed.
The simplicity of its meaning annoyed him." (Part One, chapter 11)
Daniel Veen is reading a Dutch-language illustrated paper ("an article
apparently devoted to oystering") abandoned by a passanger opposite him on
the train that brought him to Ardis. "Groote" of course is Dutch for
"great," and Peter the First is often called "Peter the Great." However, his
greatness is often questioned.
Some think that the tsar Peter was a tyrant as cruel as Ivan the Terrible or
Stalin. I think it was Tsvetaeva who called him "the first Bolshevik." Note
that the figure of Peter plays a prominent part in Pushkin's oeuvre. In the
last years of his life Pushkin worked on "The History of Peter," and his
arguably best long poem is "The Bronze Horseman" (known on Antiterra as
"Headless Horseman"), in which the vision of the Bronze Horseman (the famous
monument of Peter I by Falconet) haunts the poor mad hero.
"Plump and live" oysters that are being torn by gourmets out of their
"cloisters" are mentioned in Pushkin's EO, and in the family dinner chapter
of ADA (1.38).
A word about "the German" Dack. Dachshund is a hound that was initially bred
to hunt badgers ("Dachs" is German for "badger"). Its small size allows this
hound to squeeze into a badger's hole and turn the game out of it (a
badger's hole always has two exits). Now, Mandelstam's famous article on
Blok (who is very important in ADA) is entitled "Barsuch'ia Nora" ("A
Badger's Hole"). I would like very much to know if Nabokov knew this
article. I hope and suspect he did.
best,
Alexey
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 7:24 PM
Subject: Fwd: a question about "Rast"
> ----- Forwarded message from fet@marshall.edu -----
> Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 08:41:01 -0400
> From: "Fet, Victor" <fet@marshall.edu>
> Reply-To: "Fet, Victor" <fet@marshall.edu>
> Subject: a question about "Rast"
> To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
>
> Message requiring your approval (9 lines) -------------------
>
> Too clear to be a coincidence: "Rast" in reverse reads "Tsar".
>
> Is it Peter de Tsar, that "colossus" Russian diguised as a Dutch, as his
custom
> was?
>
>
>
> Victor Fet
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
----- End forwarded message -----