Subject
LATH's "clystere de Tchekhov"
From
Date
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Sergey Il'yin, who is the Russian translator of VN's LOOK AT THE
HARLEQUINS!, and many other VN works, poses the following query.
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In Part 5, chapter One, Vadim decides to go the USSR to try to locate
his daughter "Bel." In gathering information, he remarks:
"I surrendered again --after quite a few years of abstinence! -- to the
thrill of secret investigation. Spying had been my 'clystere de
Tchekhov' even before I married Iris Black.... In my little way I have
been of some help to my betters. The tree, a blue-flowering ash, whose
cortical wound I caught the two 'diplomats;' Tornikovski and Kalikakov,
using for the their correspondence, still stands, hardly scarred, on its
hilltop above San Bernadino." (200)
Sergey notes the similarity of "Tornikovski"'s name to that of Pushkin's
"Dubrovski." One has a name from the root TORN which means "sloe" or
"blackthorn," a kind of tree, while "Dubrovski" evokes "oak." The
preceding name Tchekhov suggests a literary context. "Dubrovski" is, of
course, a story by Pushkin where the eponymous hero uses the cavity in
an oak tree as a post office for correspondence with his beloved Masha
Trekurovaya. The store is, by the way, among the very first "spy novels"
in Russian literture. Further -- the Russian term for VN's "ash tree"
is YASEN' defined by lexicographer Dal' as "the tree PADUB, very
similar to DUB (oak). And what about Kalikakov? The Indian godess Kali
is six-armed. It is a simple step from Troekurova to Torekurova. As for
Kalikakov -- "kak Kali," "kakov Kali" ?? Something of the sort.
There may be something else going on here. "Blue-flowering" may be a
hint at the nature of the relationship between the two "diplomats. And
what is "San Bernadino" doing here. I've no idea but there whole
thing is entertaining. What do you think?
HARLEQUINS!, and many other VN works, poses the following query.
---------------------------------
In Part 5, chapter One, Vadim decides to go the USSR to try to locate
his daughter "Bel." In gathering information, he remarks:
"I surrendered again --after quite a few years of abstinence! -- to the
thrill of secret investigation. Spying had been my 'clystere de
Tchekhov' even before I married Iris Black.... In my little way I have
been of some help to my betters. The tree, a blue-flowering ash, whose
cortical wound I caught the two 'diplomats;' Tornikovski and Kalikakov,
using for the their correspondence, still stands, hardly scarred, on its
hilltop above San Bernadino." (200)
Sergey notes the similarity of "Tornikovski"'s name to that of Pushkin's
"Dubrovski." One has a name from the root TORN which means "sloe" or
"blackthorn," a kind of tree, while "Dubrovski" evokes "oak." The
preceding name Tchekhov suggests a literary context. "Dubrovski" is, of
course, a story by Pushkin where the eponymous hero uses the cavity in
an oak tree as a post office for correspondence with his beloved Masha
Trekurovaya. The store is, by the way, among the very first "spy novels"
in Russian literture. Further -- the Russian term for VN's "ash tree"
is YASEN' defined by lexicographer Dal' as "the tree PADUB, very
similar to DUB (oak). And what about Kalikakov? The Indian godess Kali
is six-armed. It is a simple step from Troekurova to Torekurova. As for
Kalikakov -- "kak Kali," "kakov Kali" ?? Something of the sort.
There may be something else going on here. "Blue-flowering" may be a
hint at the nature of the relationship between the two "diplomats. And
what is "San Bernadino" doing here. I've no idea but there whole
thing is entertaining. What do you think?