In Chapter Four of ¡°The Gift¡± (1937) Fyodor quotes Charski¡¯s words to the improvvisatore in Pushkin¡¯s story ¡°The Egyptian Nights¡± (1835):
«§£§à§ä §Ó§Ñ§Þ §ä§Ö§Þ§Ñ, ¨C §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Ý §Ö§Þ§å §¹§Ñ§â§ã§Ü§Ú§Û: ¨C §á§à§ï§ä §ã§Ñ§Þ §Ú§Ù§Ò§Ú§â§Ñ§Ö§ä §á§â§Ö§Õ§Þ§Ö§ä§í §Õ§Ý§ñ §ã§Ó§à§Ú§ç §á§Ö§ã§Ö§ß: §ä§à§Ý§á§Ñ §ß§Ö §Ú§Þ§Ö§Ö§ä §á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ñ §å§á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ý§ñ§ä§î §Ö§Ô§à §Ó§Õ§à§ç§ß§à§Ó§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö§Þ».
"Here is a theme for you," said Charski to the improvvisatore. "The poet himself chooses the subjects for his poems; the multitude has no right to direct his inspiration."
In ¡°The Life of Chernyshevski¡± (Chapter Four of ¡°The Gift¡±) Fyodor mentions Lunacharski, the minister of enlightenment in Lenin¡¯s government whose name consists of luna (moon) and Charski:
§§Ö§ß§Ú§ß §ã§é§Ú§ä§Ñ§Ý, §é§ä§à §¹§Ö§â§ß§í§ê§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§Ú§Û «§Ö§Õ§Ú§ß§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û §Õ§Ö§Û§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à §Ó§Ö§Ý§Ú§Ü§Ú§Û §á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Û §ã§å§Þ§Ö§Ý §ã §á§ñ§ä§Ú§Õ§Ö§ã§ñ§ä§í§ç §Ô§à§Õ§à§Ó §Ó§á§Ý§à§ä§î §Õ§à 1888 (§ã§Ü§à§ã§ä§Ú§Ý §Ö§Þ§å §à§Õ§Ú§ß) §à§ã§ä§Ñ§ä§î§ã§ñ §ß§Ñ §å§â§à§Ó§ß§Ö §è§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à§Ô§à §æ§Ú§Ý§à§ã§à§æ§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à §Þ§Ñ§ä§Ö§â§Ú§Ñ§Ý§Ú§Ù§Þ§Ñ». §¬§Ñ§Ü-§ä§à §¬§â§å§á§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ, §à§Ò§Ö§â§ß§å§Ó§ê§Ú§ã§î §ß§Ñ §Ó§Ö§ä§â§å §Ü §§å§ß§Ñ§é§Ñ§â§ã§Ü§à§Þ§å, §ã §Þ§ñ§Ô§Ü§à§Û §Ô§â§å§ã§ä§î§ð §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §Ö§Þ§å: «§£§â§ñ§Õ §Ý§Ú §Ü§à§Ô§à-§ß§Ú§Ò§å§Õ§î §£§Ý§Ñ§Õ§Ú§Þ§Ú§â §ª§Ý§î§Ú§é §ä§Ñ§Ü §Ý§ð§Ò§Ú§Ý¡ §Á §Õ§å§Þ§Ñ§ð, §é§ä§à §Þ§Ö§Ø§Õ§å §ß§Ú§Þ §Ú §¹§Ö§â§ß§í§ê§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§Ú§Þ §Ò§í§Ý§à §à§é§Ö§ß§î §Þ§ß§à§Ô§à §à§Ò§ë§Ö§Ô§à». «§¥§Ñ, §ß§Ö§ã§à§Þ§ß§Ö§ß§ß§à §Ò§í§Ý§à §à§Ò§ë§Ö§Ö, ¨C §Õ§à§Ò§Ñ§Ó§Ý§ñ§Ö§ä §§å§ß§Ñ§é§Ñ§â§ã§Ü§Ú§Û, §ã§ß§Ñ§é§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §Ò§í§Ý§à §à§ä§ß§Ö§ã§ê§Ú§Û§ã§ñ §Ü §ï§ä§à§Þ§å §Ù§Ñ§Þ§Ö§é§Ñ§ß§Ú§ð §ã§Ü§Ö§á§ä§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§Ú. ¨C §¢§í§Ý§à §à§Ò§ë§Ö§Ö §Ú §Ó §ñ§ã§ß§à§ã§ä§Ú §ã§Ý§à§Ô§Ñ, §Ú §Ó §á§à§Õ§Ó§Ú§Ø§ß§à§ã§ä§Ú §â§Ö§é§Ú¡ §Ó §ê§Ú§â§à§ä§Ö §Ú §Ô§Ý§å§Ò§Ú§ß§Ö §ã§å§Ø§Õ§Ö§ß§Ú§Û, §Ó §â§Ö§Ó§à§Ý§ð§è§Ú§à§ß§ß§à§Þ §á§Ý§Ñ§Þ§Ö§ß§Ú¡ §£ §ï§ä§à§Þ §ã§à§Ö§Õ§Ú§ß§Ö§ß§Ú§Ú §à§Ô§â§à§Þ§ß§à§Ô§à §ã§à§Õ§Ö§â§Ø§Ñ§ß§Ú§ñ §Ú §Ó§ß§Ö§ê§ß§Ö§Û §ã§Ü§â§à§Þ§ß§à§ã§ä§Ú, §Ú §ß§Ñ§Ü§à§ß§Ö§è §Ó §Þ§à§â§Ñ§Ý§î§ß§à§Þ §à§Ò§Ý§Ú§Ü§Ö §à§Ò§à§Ú§ç §ï§ä§Ú§ç §Ý§ð§Õ§Ö§Û».
Lenin considered Chernyshevski to be "the one truly great writer who managed to remain on a level of unbroken philosophical materialism from the fifties right up until 1888" (he knocked one year off). Once, on a windy day, Krupskaya turned to Lunacharski and said to him with soft sorrow: "There was hardly anyone Vladimir Ilyich liked so much¡ I think he had a great deal in common with Chernyshevski." "Yes, they undoubtedly had much in common," adds Lunacharski, who had tended at first to treat this remark with skepticism. "They had in common both clarity of style and mobility of speech¡ breadth and depth of judgement, revolutionary fire¡ that combination of enormous content with a modest exterior, and finally their joint moral makeup."
In Pale Fire Kinbote mockingly calls Gradus (Kinbote¡¯s double who accidentally kills Shade) Vinogradus and Leningradus:
All this is as it should be; the world needs Gradus. But Gradus should not kill things. Vinogradus should never, never provoke God. Leningradus should not aim his peashooter at people even in dreams, because if he does, a pair of colossally thick, abnormally hairy arms will hug him from behind and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. (note to Line 171)
In ¡°The Life of Chernyshevski¡± Fyodor mentions the critic Dudyshkin who aimed his dudeen at Chernyshevski:
§¨§å§â§ß§Ñ§Ý§í §á§à §Þ§Ö§â§Ö §ã§Ú§Ý §ä§Ö§â§Ö§Ò§Ú§Ý§Ú §Ö§Ô§à. §¥§å§Õ§í§ê§Ü§Ú§ß ("§°§ä§Ö§é§Ö§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§í§Ö §©§Ñ§á§Ú§ã§Ü§Ú") §à§Ò§Ú§Ø§Ö§ß§ß§à §ß§Ñ§á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ý§ñ§Ý §ß§Ñ §ß§Ö§Ô§à §ã§Ó§à§ð §ä§â§à§ã§ä§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Ó§å§ð §Õ§å§Õ§à§é§Ü§å: "§±§à§ï§Ù§Ú§ñ §Õ§Ý§ñ §Ó§Ñ§ã -- §Ô§Ý§Ñ§Ó§í §á§à§Ý§Ú§ä§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Û §ï§Ü§à§ß§à§Þ§Ú§Ú, §á§Ö§â§Ö§Ý§à§Ø§Ö§ß§ß§í§Ö §ß§Ñ §ã§ä§Ú§ç§Ú".
The other literary reviews picked at him as much as they could. The critic Dudyshkin (in The National Commentator) huffily aimed his dudeen at him: ¡°Poetry for you is merely chapters of political economy transposed into verse.¡±
The mad commentator of Shade¡¯s poem, Kinbote is ¡°the man of the moonlight¡± (as Rozanov would have called him). In his review of Koncheyev¡¯s Soobshchenie (¡°Communication¡±) Christopher Mortus mentions the author of Lyudi lunnogo sveta (¡°People of the Moonlight,¡± 1911).
"§¯§Ö §á§à§Þ§ß§ð §Ü§ä§à -- §Ü§Ñ§Ø§Ö§ä§ã§ñ, §²§à§Ù§Ñ§ß§à§Ó, §Ô§à§Ó§à§â§Ú§ä §Ô§Õ§Ö-§ä§à", -- §ß§Ñ§é§Ú§ß§Ñ§Ý, §Ü§â§Ñ§Õ§å§é§Ú§ã§î, §®§à§â§ä§å§ã; §Ú, §á§â§Ú§Ó§Ö§Õ§ñ §ã§á§Ö§â§Ó§Ñ, §ï§ä§å §ß§Ö§Õ§à§ã§ä§à§Ó§Ö§â§ß§å§ð §è§Ú§ä§Ñ§ä§å, §á§à§ä§à§Þ §Ü§Ñ§Ü§å§ð-§ä§à §Þ§í§ã§Ý§î, §Ü§Ö§Þ-§ä§à §Ó§í§ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§ß§ß§å§ð §Ó §á§Ñ§â§Ú§Ø§ã§Ü§à§Þ §Ü§Ñ§æ§Ö §á§à§ã§Ý§Ö §é§î§Ö§Û-§ä§à §Ý§Ö§Ü§è§Ú§Ú, §ß§Ñ§é§Ú§ß§Ñ§Ý §ã§å§Ø§Ú§Ó§Ñ§ä§î §ï§ä§Ú §Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§í§Ö §Ü§â§å§Ô§Ú §Ó§à§Ü§â§å§Ô "§³§à§à§Ò§ë§Ö§ß§Ú§ñ" §¬§à§ß§é§Ö§Ö§Ó§Ñ, §á§â§Ú§é§×§Þ §Õ§à §Ü§à§ß§è§Ñ §ä§Ñ§Ü §Ú §ß§Ö §Ü§Ñ§ã§Ñ§Ý§ã§ñ §è§Ö§ß§ä§â§Ñ, §Ñ §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §Ú§Ù§â§Ö§Õ§Ü§Ñ §ß§Ñ§á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ý§ñ§Ý §Ü §ß§Ö§Þ§å §Þ§Ö§ã§Þ§Ö§â§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §Ø§Ö§ã§ä §ã §Ó§ß§å§ä§â§Ö§ß§ß§Ö§Ô§à §Ü§â§å§Ô§Ñ -- §Ú §à§á§ñ§ä§î §Ü§â§å§Ø§Ú§Ý§ã§ñ.
¡°I do not remember who said¡ªperhaps Rozanov said it somewhere,¡± began Mortus stealthily; and citing first this unauthentic quotation and then some thought expressed by somebody in a Paris caf¨¦ after someone¡¯s lecture, he began to narrow these artificial circles around Koncheyev¡¯s Communication; but even so, to the very end he never touched the center, but only directed now and then a mesmeric gesture toward it from the circumference¡ªand again revolved. (¡°The Gift,¡± Chapter Three)
The name Gradus brings to mind the critic¡¯s ¡°Latin¡± penname in ¡°The Gift.¡± Shade¡¯s, Kinbote¡¯s and Gradus¡¯ real name seems to be Botkin. Nabokov + Bog + nikto + ladon¡¯ = bok + Botkin + Aldanov + ogon¡¯ (see my posts of 4-5 Oct., 2015). In the closing lines of his poem Net, ya ne Bayron, ya drugoy¡ ("No, I'm not Byron, I'm another..." 1832) Lermontov mentions Bog (god), nikto (nobody) and tolpa (crowd; multitude, the word used in ¡°The Egyptian Nights¡± by Charski):
§¬§ä§à
§´§à§Ý§á§Ö §Þ§à§Ú §â§Ñ§ã§ã§Ü§Ñ§Ø§Ö§ä §Õ§å§Þ§í?
§Á - §Ú§Ý§Ú §Ò§à§Ô - §Ú§Ý§Ú §ß§Ú§Ü§ä§à!
Who
will tell the crowd my thoughts?
Myself - or God - or nobody!
The real name of Hazel Shade (the poet¡¯s poor daughter who drowned herself) seems to be Nadezhda Botkin. In his poem Lermontov mentions nadezhd razbitykh gruz (a load of wrecked hopes) that lies in his soul, like in an ocean:
§£ §Õ§å§ê§Ö §Þ§à§Ö§Û, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ó §à§Ü§Ö§Ñ§ß§Ö,
§¯§Ñ§Õ§Ö§Ø§Õ §â§Ñ§Ù§Ò§Ú§ä§í§ç §Ô§â§å§Ù §Ý§Ö§Ø§Ú§ä.
§¬§ä§à §Þ§à§Ø§Ö§ä, §à§Ü§Ö§Ñ§ß §å§Ô§â§ð§Þ§í§Û,
§´§Ó§à§Ú §Ú§Ù§Ó§Ö§Õ§Ñ§ä§î §ä§Ñ§Û§ß§í?
A load of wrecked hopes
Lies in my soul, like in an ocean.
The gloomy ocean, who can
come to know your secrets?
In his poem Kak v Gretsiyu Bayron - o, bez sozhalen¡¯ya¡ (¡°Like Byron to Greece, oh, without regret¡¡± 1927) G. Ivanov mentions blednyi ogon¡¯ (pale fire; according to Shade, Pale Fire is ¡°a moondrop title¡±). In his abusive review in Chisla (¡°The Numbers¡± No. 1, 1930) of VN¡¯s novels and stories G. Ivanov mentions ladon¡¯ (palm of the hand):
§¯§à §å§Ó§í - §Ü§â§à§Þ§Ö §ï§ä§Ú§ç §Õ§Ó§å§ç §â§à§Þ§Ñ§ß§à§Ó §å §³§Ú§â§Ú§ß§Ñ §Ö§ã§ä§î "§®§Ñ§ê§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ñ". §ª, §å§Ó§í, §Ü§â§à§Þ§Ö "§®§Ñ§ê§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ú" §Ö§ã§ä§î §Ý§Ö§Ø§Ñ§ë§Ñ§ñ §ã§Ö§Û§é§Ñ§ã §á§Ö§â§Ö§Õ§à §Þ§ß§à§Û, §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §é§ä§à §Ó§í§ê§Ö§Õ§ê§Ñ§ñ §Ü§ß§Ú§Ô§Ñ §â§Ñ§ã§ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§à§Ó §Ú §ã§ä§Ú§ç§à§Ó "§£§à§Ù§Ó§â§Ñ§ë§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö §¹§à§â§Ò§Ñ". §£ §ï§ä§Ú§ç §Ü§ß§Ú§Ô§Ñ§ç, §Õ§à §Ü§à§ß§è§Ñ, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §ß§Ñ §Ý§Ñ§Õ§à§ß§Ú, §â§Ñ§ã§Ü§â§í§Ó§Ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ §Ó§ã§ñ §á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ §ã§å§ä§î §³§Ú§â§Ú§ß§Ñ.
In these books [Mary and The Return of Chorb] the whole essence of Sirin as a writer comes to light in its entirety, as on a palm.
Alexey Sklyarenko