Khirghiz Light

[Andrew Dinn]

Nigel E. Richardson writes:

> I thought the Kirghiz episode was some kind 
> of homage to Nabokov - Kirghiz features in
> Vlad's THE GIFT, although it's too long since I 
> read it to remember the particular details....

This was a suggestion of mine which is in the Jan-April 95
archive. Included is my account to the Nabokov story (given below)
plus also speculation about the relation of the name Mondaugen to the
world encompassing eye.

  I have been wondering about this wrt the Khirgiz Tale in Nabokov's
  `The Gift'. This is the story of a prince who offers to marry some
  woman and she agrees if he will fill a small bag with riches. He
  pours in half a kingdom or two of gold and jewels only to find the
  bag still empty. Finally, an adjacent crone (or somesuch) advises
  him to throw in a handful of dirt and lo, the bag closes. She
  explains that the bag is a human eye which wants to encompass the
  whole world. Perhaps the Khirgiz Light is the light which reveals the
  whole world rather than that which merely illuminates our own small
  portion of it. Various bits of Buddhism could serve to pad out this
  image.

For the rest of the discussion consult:

    http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/andrew-cgi-bin/getmtitles?pynchon-l95-1-4.txt

and search the titles list for `Khirgiz Light'.


Andrew Dinn
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Daran, nachdem die Wasserwogen / Von unsrer Suendflut sich verzogen
Der allerschoenste Regenbogen / Als Gottes Gnadenzeichen steht!