Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0009632, Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:01:30 -0700

Subject
Fw: Krieg/Krief (plus ganch)
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: <naiman@socrates.Berkeley.EDU>
>
> I think I recall seeing some comment on this issue, but I can't remember
where. I had assumed that the German mistake was intentional in the
banners seen by Pnin in the Soviet movie. But I notice the mistake has
been cleaned up in the Library of America volume containing Pnin. The
missing letter, or course, would fit nicely into other moments in VN's work
(nofing, mothing). And surely Nabokov knew at least enough German to catch
that mistake; the misprint would be comic proof of Soviet ineptness.

Can anyone shed any light on the intended text? (The Symposium edition
keeps the faulty German and says the Spanish is wrong, too...)

PS. A curiously appropriate footnote in the Symposium translation of VN's
Rowe's Symbols -- , trans by N. Makhlaiuk and S. Slobodianiuk. They define
stillicide as "ubit' stiletom" and ganch as "kabanii klyk".