Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

At the beginning of his poem O pravitelyakh ("On Rulers," 1944) VN mentions yasnovidtsy (clairvoyants) and uses the words smeyat'sya (laugh) and khokhotat' (roar with laughter):

Вы будете (как иногда  

говорится)     

смеяться, вы будете (как ясновидцы

говорят) хохотать, господа -     

но, честное слово,     

у меня есть приятель,     

которого     

привела бы в волнение мысль поздороваться     

Describing John Shade's last birthday party (to which he was not invited), 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) mentions a bad crapula (hangover in Zemblan):

Describing the King's escape from Zembla, 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) mentions a pebble in the King's left shoe:

In Canto Three of his poem John Shade (the poet in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962) describes his visit to Mrs. Z. who mentioned Shade’s poem about Mon Blon that appeared in the Blue Review:

Describing his meeting with Lucette (Van’s and Ada’s half-sister) in Paris, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) mentions ‘Alphonse Cinq,’ the concierge at Alphonse Four (Lucette's hotel) who told Van that he had just seen Mlle Veen in the Récamier room where Vivian Vale’s golden veils were on show:

The characters in VN's novel Ada (1969) include Kim Beauharnais, a kitchen boy and photographer at Ardis whom Van Veen (the narrator and main character) blinds for spying on him and Ada and attempting to blackmail Ada.

Describing Gradus (Shade's murderer), 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) mentions the killer's somewhat mesmeric organs of vision:

According to 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), his landlord, Judge Goldsworth, resembles a Medusa-locked hag:

Describing his rented house, 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) mentions four sets of different Children's Encyclopedias:

Describing his second arrival at Ardis in June 1888, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) calls Percy de Prey (a country gentleman who courts Ada) "a stoutish, foppish, baldish young man:"