"Send your thing" (Euphratski narrowed his eyes
and lowered his voice) "to Arion."
"Arion? What's that?" said I. B.,
nervously patting his manuscript.
"Nothing very frightening. It's the name
of the best émigré review."
(Lips to Lips)
I would be surprised if no one has pointed this out
before:
In a letter of (no later than) October 11, 1835, to
Pletnyov Pushkin proposes Arion as a name of a new monthly ("I love
meaningless names; there will be nothing jokes could aim
at"):
Ты требуешь имени для нового альманака:
назовём его Арион или Орион; я люблю имена, не имеющие смысла; шуточкам
привязаться не к чему.
In Lips to Lips Nabokov makes fun of the editors of
the émigré
review "Числа" ("Numbers"). As has been
pointed out before (by A. Dolinin, I think), VN uses numbers as a
means of parody:
Ilya Borisovich... made for the
cloakroom.
Old woman in black. Number 79.
Alexey Sklyarenko