Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0005556, Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:04:45 -0700

Subject
Grillo & Obieto: cont.
Date
Body
lines) ------------------
Hello again,

Concerning the shop, I think that apart from the frottage, the motif of
pictures and frames ought also to be taken into consideration. The "local
curio [Ada] holds in her left fist" in ADA II-8 [preceding the quote in the
original query] is unsigned and unframed, whereas there seems to be a frame
in ADA I-4, but no picture to match. Perhaps the picture is supplied in ADA
II-8.

Feeling uncertain about "grillo", I looked it up again in an Italian
dictionary. Apparently, the Italian word "grillo" carries the same double
meaning as the German word "Grille", that is, that of
"cricket" as well as "whim". I would think that "whim" is close enough to
"caprice" to seem relevant.

I also think that Van's "local curio" is not the kind of object typically
portrayed with such focus by Renaissance artists. Could such a picture be
considered a painter's/writer's "whim" or "caprice" as a relief from the
difficult task of ferreting out all those Renaissance painters? And could
the outer appearance of a cricket (seen from above, perhaps) be relevant?

I looked up "cricket" and related terms in _Webster's_. Crickets are
defined as "saltatoria" while "saltatoria", depending on the mode of
classification you prefer, can either be seen as a suborder of the order
"orthoptera" or as a separate (?) order "coextensive" with the order of
"orthoptera". So the question here might be something like "order or
suborder"? (s. bellow for the entries in _Webster's_)

Thanks for your patience,
Ludger Tolksdorf


from _Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary_:

"cricket"
1: any of certain saltatorial insects that constitute a family Gryllidae ...

"saltatoria"
a suborder of orthoptera that is often considered a separate order,
comprises insects with hind legs usu. adapted for leaping, and includes the
grasshoppers, crickets and related forms.

"orthoptera"
a) _in some, esp. former classifications_: a very large order including the
cockroaches, mantises, grasshoppers and crickets, stick insects and [...]
b) an order including the mantises, grasshoppers and crickets, stick
insects, and certain related forms and comprising the suborders Manteodea,
Grylloblattodea, Saltatoria and Phasmatodea
c) _in some classifications_: an order coextensive with Saltatoria.