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ADA's Sig Leymanski
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Sig Leymanski, the name of a character in Van's novel Letters from Terra, is an anagram of Kingsley Amis, "a waggish British novelist keenly interested in physics fiction" (Vivian Darkbloom). On the other hand, sig is Russian for "lake white-fish," Coregonus clupeaformis, of the salmon family, while Leymanski suggests to a Russian ear "of lake Leman."
Cиг, the lake whitefish, was immortalized by Saltykov-Shchedrin in his Господа ташкентцы (Gentlemen of Tashkent, 1873):*
В Шлюшине, сказывают, этого сига множество! - возражал Михайло Семёныч Рыбников. - Помилуйте, батюшка! какой же в Шлюшине сиг! Ладожский ли сиг или наш невский! - Ну, да и кусается же этот невский сижок! - вставляла своё слово Анна Михайловна, - Зина! Евлаша! Леля! сестрицы! что ж вы! с сижком! - обращалась она к сёстрам, которые, в качестве сущих девиц, не были свободны от некоторого жеманства. - Они у меня скромницы! - шутил старик Рыбников, - при людях не едят, а вот после обеда на кухню заберутся, так уж там и с сижком, и с кашкой, и с рисцем... пожалуй, и платья-то расстегнут! (Dr. Siegmund Freud freut sich! Sorry, I leave this quote untranslated: a task too difficult for me. The place name Шлюшино must derive from шлюха, "whore." Ladoga and the Neva are also mentioned.)
Копчёный сиг, "smoked whitefish," is mentioned in Saltykov's Пошехонские рассказы ("The Gothamite Tales"), 1884. In Ada, Van, Ada, Demon and Marina enjoy wall-eyed pike, or 'dory,' with Tartar sauce and boiled young potatoes (1.38). Cf. Van's words to Demon: "That's not real sudak [pike-perch], papa, though it's tops..." In his youth, Demon was a great fisherman. One remembers that it took a perch clocked by Daniel Veen, Demon's cousin, half an hour to cross diagonally Lake Kitezh (1.1). One also remembers the lady perfume "Ombre Chevalier," which, according to Mlle Lariviere, is nothing but a fish (1.39). Indeed, ombre is French for "grayling, umber."
*in my article THE NAKED TRUTH, OR THE READER'S SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION IN ADA'S QUELQUE CHOSE UNIVERSITY (available in Zembla) I argue that the phrase "rukuliruyushchiy month at Kitezh" in Ada (1.3) can be traced back to the verb rukulirovat' (Franco-Russ., "to coo") used by Saltykov in Gentlemen of Tashkent. Saltykov's best-known novel (that I also discuss in my article) is "Господа Головлёвы" (The Golovlyovs, 1875-80). The family name Golovlyov comes from голавль (or головель), Russian for "chub," the freshwater fish Leuciscus cephalos. Shchedrin is also the author of "Карась-идеалист," Crucian the Idealist, a story of the fish life (1884). On the other hand, a crucian is the hero of Chekhov's stroy "Рыбья любовь" (The Piscine Love, 1892).
Alexey Sklyarenko
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Cиг, the lake whitefish, was immortalized by Saltykov-Shchedrin in his Господа ташкентцы (Gentlemen of Tashkent, 1873):*
В Шлюшине, сказывают, этого сига множество! - возражал Михайло Семёныч Рыбников. - Помилуйте, батюшка! какой же в Шлюшине сиг! Ладожский ли сиг или наш невский! - Ну, да и кусается же этот невский сижок! - вставляла своё слово Анна Михайловна, - Зина! Евлаша! Леля! сестрицы! что ж вы! с сижком! - обращалась она к сёстрам, которые, в качестве сущих девиц, не были свободны от некоторого жеманства. - Они у меня скромницы! - шутил старик Рыбников, - при людях не едят, а вот после обеда на кухню заберутся, так уж там и с сижком, и с кашкой, и с рисцем... пожалуй, и платья-то расстегнут! (Dr. Siegmund Freud freut sich! Sorry, I leave this quote untranslated: a task too difficult for me. The place name Шлюшино must derive from шлюха, "whore." Ladoga and the Neva are also mentioned.)
Копчёный сиг, "smoked whitefish," is mentioned in Saltykov's Пошехонские рассказы ("The Gothamite Tales"), 1884. In Ada, Van, Ada, Demon and Marina enjoy wall-eyed pike, or 'dory,' with Tartar sauce and boiled young potatoes (1.38). Cf. Van's words to Demon: "That's not real sudak [pike-perch], papa, though it's tops..." In his youth, Demon was a great fisherman. One remembers that it took a perch clocked by Daniel Veen, Demon's cousin, half an hour to cross diagonally Lake Kitezh (1.1). One also remembers the lady perfume "Ombre Chevalier," which, according to Mlle Lariviere, is nothing but a fish (1.39). Indeed, ombre is French for "grayling, umber."
*in my article THE NAKED TRUTH, OR THE READER'S SENTIMENTAL EDUCATION IN ADA'S QUELQUE CHOSE UNIVERSITY (available in Zembla) I argue that the phrase "rukuliruyushchiy month at Kitezh" in Ada (1.3) can be traced back to the verb rukulirovat' (Franco-Russ., "to coo") used by Saltykov in Gentlemen of Tashkent. Saltykov's best-known novel (that I also discuss in my article) is "Господа Головлёвы" (The Golovlyovs, 1875-80). The family name Golovlyov comes from голавль (or головель), Russian for "chub," the freshwater fish Leuciscus cephalos. Shchedrin is also the author of "Карась-идеалист," Crucian the Idealist, a story of the fish life (1884). On the other hand, a crucian is the hero of Chekhov's stroy "Рыбья любовь" (The Piscine Love, 1892).
Alexey Sklyarenko
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/