Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

In VN’s novel Zashchita Luzhina (“The Luzhin Defense,” 1930) Kurt mistakes the Russian letters for Latin ones and reads the words Вас вечером (you in the evening) on Luzhin’s postcard as “Bac berepom:”

In Canto One of his poem John Shade (the poet in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962) speaks of his childhood and mentions the miracle of a lemniscate left upon wet sand by nonchalantly deft bicycle tires:

I was the shadow of the waxwing slain

By feigned remoteness in the windowpane.

I had a brain, five senses (one unique);

But otherwise I was a cloutish freak.

In his Commentary to Shade’s poem Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) says that the Zemblan word coramen denotes the rude strap with which a Zemblan herdsman attaches his humble provisions and ragged blanket to the meekest of his cows when driving them up to the vebodar (upland pastures):

Line 137: lemniscate

In his Commentary to Shade’s poem Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) says that the Zemblan word coramen denotes the rude strap with which a Zemblan herdsman attaches his humble provisions and ragged blanket to the meekest of his cows when driving them up to the vebodar (upland pastures):

Line 137: lemniscate

In Canto Three of his poem John Shade (the poet in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962) describes his heart attack (during which he saw a tall white fountain) and mentions Captain Schmidt and Captain Smith:

If on some nameless island Captain Schmidt

Sees a new animal and captures it,

And if, a little later, Captain Smith

In his Commentary to Shade’s poem Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) says that the Zemblan word coramen denotes the rude strap with which a Zemblan herdsman attaches his humble provisions and ragged blanket to the meekest of his cows when driving them up to the vebodar (upland pastures):

Line 137: lemniscate

The characters in VN’s story Podlets (“An Affair of Honor,” 1927) include Mityushin and Gnushke (Anton Petrovich’s seconds):

In VN’s story Podlets (“An Affair of Honor,” 1927) Mityushin (Anton Petrovich’s second) confuses the names of Berg’s seconds and calls them “Malinin and Burenin” (“Marx and Engels” in the English version):

In VN’s novel Zashchita Luzhina (“The Luzhin Defense,” 1930) Valentinov (Luzhin’s tutor and manager) writes to Luzhin’s father svoi – sochtyomsya (it's a family affair – we'll settle up later):

In his Commentary to Shade’s poem Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) says that the Zemblan word coramen denotes the rude strap with which a Zemblan herdsman attaches his humble provisions and ragged blanket to the meekest of his cows when driving them up to the vebodar (upland pastures):

Line 137: lemniscate