Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0021764, Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:24:29 +0300

Subject
scrotum - scratch
Date
Body
The first three letters in scrotum are the same as in Screepatch and scratch. Cf. "a fiery irritation...which the weak, the adorable, the vuluptuous took advantage of to scratch and scratch and scratch scrumptiously (canteen cant). 'Sladko! (Sweet!)' Pushkin used to exclaim in relation to a different species in Yukon." (Ada: 1.17)

The fiddler (skrypach) in Pushkin's poem (see the full Russian text below) says in reply to the castrate's question what does he do when he is bored: "I scratch my testicles."

К кастрату раз пришёл скрыпач,
Он был бедняк, а тот богач.
"Смотри, сказал певец безмудый,
Мои алмазы, изумруды -
Я их от скуки разбирал.
А! кстати, брат,- он продолжал,-
Когда тебе бывает скучно,
Ты что творишь, сказать прошу."
В ответ бедняга равнодушно:
- Я? я муде себе чешу.

Alexey Sklyarenko

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