Subject
Opyty, gralitsa, and the "Arbuzov case" (fwd)
Date
Body
I can throw some light upon Arbuzov. The party where it turned out that
Arbuzov could play the piano, took place on March 22, 1915. Luzhin's classmate
has a prototype in Nabokov's life. His real name is not Arbuzov, but Kavun.
The source is Nabokov's letter to his real classmate, Samuil Rozov, sent
to Palestine, on September 4, 1937:
Kavun, u kotorogo opity ne udavalis' - i kotorii zhulil, chtobi udavalis',
ya potom vdrug v den' vziatia Peremishl'a, sel za pianino i visoko sigral
gimn.
[Kavun, whose experiments did not work - and who swindled in order to make
them work, on the day of seizure of Peremyzsl took his place at the piano and
played the anthem pathetically]
The party was held at Tenishev school and "Arbuzov" played national anthem
on occasion of the Russian victory. A Polish city and former Austrian fortress
was surrounded by Russian army and taken by storm on March 22, having captured
more than 120.000 soldiers and 900 heavy guns.
In general, Nabokov's long and detailed letter to Rozov contains many more
clues to understanding VN's young years reflected in his prose. The letter in
full with my comments will be published in Novii Zhurnal (The New Review), in
the March issue, 1999, with D.Nabokov's permission.
By the way, in Ukrainian "kavun" means "arbuz" (water-melon).
Yuri Leving
Donald Barton Johnson wrote:
> In Zashchita Luzhina there are a couple words and phrases that have left
> me wondering....
>
> 1.Is the word "gralitsa" found elsewhere? "kak lunnaia gralitsa na more."
> English -- 'like moonlight on the sea"
>
> 2. A kak na vecerinke okazalos', chto Arbuzov umeet igrat' na roiale?
> Pomnite, kak u nego nikogda opyty ne vykhodili? I kakuiu my na "opyty"
> pridumali rifmu?
> The English is "And how it turned out at the school party that Arbuzov
> could play the piano? Do you remember how his experiments never used to
> come off? And how we thought up a rhyme for him - 'booze off'?'
>
> What is the rhyme implied on "opyty", and how do we go from there to
> "booze off"? This seems a far looser translation than other moments in
> this text.
Arbuzov could play the piano, took place on March 22, 1915. Luzhin's classmate
has a prototype in Nabokov's life. His real name is not Arbuzov, but Kavun.
The source is Nabokov's letter to his real classmate, Samuil Rozov, sent
to Palestine, on September 4, 1937:
Kavun, u kotorogo opity ne udavalis' - i kotorii zhulil, chtobi udavalis',
ya potom vdrug v den' vziatia Peremishl'a, sel za pianino i visoko sigral
gimn.
[Kavun, whose experiments did not work - and who swindled in order to make
them work, on the day of seizure of Peremyzsl took his place at the piano and
played the anthem pathetically]
The party was held at Tenishev school and "Arbuzov" played national anthem
on occasion of the Russian victory. A Polish city and former Austrian fortress
was surrounded by Russian army and taken by storm on March 22, having captured
more than 120.000 soldiers and 900 heavy guns.
In general, Nabokov's long and detailed letter to Rozov contains many more
clues to understanding VN's young years reflected in his prose. The letter in
full with my comments will be published in Novii Zhurnal (The New Review), in
the March issue, 1999, with D.Nabokov's permission.
By the way, in Ukrainian "kavun" means "arbuz" (water-melon).
Yuri Leving
Donald Barton Johnson wrote:
> In Zashchita Luzhina there are a couple words and phrases that have left
> me wondering....
>
> 1.Is the word "gralitsa" found elsewhere? "kak lunnaia gralitsa na more."
> English -- 'like moonlight on the sea"
>
> 2. A kak na vecerinke okazalos', chto Arbuzov umeet igrat' na roiale?
> Pomnite, kak u nego nikogda opyty ne vykhodili? I kakuiu my na "opyty"
> pridumali rifmu?
> The English is "And how it turned out at the school party that Arbuzov
> could play the piano? Do you remember how his experiments never used to
> come off? And how we thought up a rhyme for him - 'booze off'?'
>
> What is the rhyme implied on "opyty", and how do we go from there to
> "booze off"? This seems a far looser translation than other moments in
> this text.