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Re: Gradus
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Indeed, I spoke of sudar' ("sir") and gosudar' ("sovereign; Sire") in connection with Sudarg of Bokay (a mirror maker of genius mentioned in the Index to Pale Fire). Btw., a setting of Tolstoy's novel Emigranty ("The Emigres"), Stockholm (corrupted Stekol'nyi gorod, "Glass city," in the old times) is also mentioned in "The Conspiracy of the Empress."
On the other hand, Sudarg ("Gradus" read backwards) makes one think of sudoroga, "convulsion, spasm." There is doroga ("road") in sudoroga. What if it leads to Paris (the city in which the action in Tolstoy's Emigranty begins)? Jakob (Gradus's first name that becomes Bokay in the mirror of the Index) reminds one of the French Jacobins.
Alexey Sklyarenko
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Boyd (ARTS ENG)
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] Gradus
What seems most interesting about Alexey's post is that he hasn't pointed out the near-anagram of Gradus and Gosudar' (Your Majesty). Or perhaps he has elsewhere and I haven't retained it.
Brian Boyd
On 1/05/2011, at 8:46 AM, Alexey Sklyarenko wrote:
Below is an excerpt from A. N. Tolstoy's play "The Conspiracy of the Empress" (Act One). The czar (poor Nicolas II who just emptied a glass) consults the thermometer and predicts the rise in temperature. He uses the word gradus ("degree") several times:
Царь (у окна смотрит градусник). Сегодня к вечеру температура должна подняться. Утром было семь градусов выше нуля, полчаса тому назад – тринадцать градусов, ветер поворачивает с востока на юго-восток.
Вырубова . Государь, как ваш кашель?
Царь. Ничего.
Царица . Он говорит – ничего, а между тем ночью кашлял. И беби кашлял. Я тревожусь, – как они поедут.
Царь . Ничего, доедем. А в Могилеве будет еще теплее. Алексеев телеграфирует, что вчера было семнадцать градусов выше нуля.
A very minor point concerning Tolstoy's play: in the list of dramatis personae Felix Yusupov (Prince Feliks Feliksovich Yusupov Count Sumarokov-Elston) appears as "a page" (cf. Kinbote's pages, for example young Baron Mandevil who was his throne page on Coronation Day).
Alexey Sklyarenko
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On the other hand, Sudarg ("Gradus" read backwards) makes one think of sudoroga, "convulsion, spasm." There is doroga ("road") in sudoroga. What if it leads to Paris (the city in which the action in Tolstoy's Emigranty begins)? Jakob (Gradus's first name that becomes Bokay in the mirror of the Index) reminds one of the French Jacobins.
Alexey Sklyarenko
----- Original Message -----
From: Brian Boyd (ARTS ENG)
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2011 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] Gradus
What seems most interesting about Alexey's post is that he hasn't pointed out the near-anagram of Gradus and Gosudar' (Your Majesty). Or perhaps he has elsewhere and I haven't retained it.
Brian Boyd
On 1/05/2011, at 8:46 AM, Alexey Sklyarenko wrote:
Below is an excerpt from A. N. Tolstoy's play "The Conspiracy of the Empress" (Act One). The czar (poor Nicolas II who just emptied a glass) consults the thermometer and predicts the rise in temperature. He uses the word gradus ("degree") several times:
Царь (у окна смотрит градусник). Сегодня к вечеру температура должна подняться. Утром было семь градусов выше нуля, полчаса тому назад – тринадцать градусов, ветер поворачивает с востока на юго-восток.
Вырубова . Государь, как ваш кашель?
Царь. Ничего.
Царица . Он говорит – ничего, а между тем ночью кашлял. И беби кашлял. Я тревожусь, – как они поедут.
Царь . Ничего, доедем. А в Могилеве будет еще теплее. Алексеев телеграфирует, что вчера было семнадцать градусов выше нуля.
A very minor point concerning Tolstoy's play: in the list of dramatis personae Felix Yusupov (Prince Feliks Feliksovich Yusupov Count Sumarokov-Elston) appears as "a page" (cf. Kinbote's pages, for example young Baron Mandevil who was his throne page on Coronation Day).
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options
All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.
Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options
All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/