NPPF - Preliminary - Dedication and Epigraph

[Jasper Fidget]

The Dedication: "To Vera"

All of VN's work is dedicated to his wife.  In this particular case, given
the novel's attention to Shade's relationship with Sybil (reading the poem
to her, addressing her from within it), "To Vera" has been linked to "To
Sybil" as evidence toward a particular interpretation of authorship (the
so-called "Shadean" reading -- for a discussion of the Shadean reading as
well as other theories see Boyd's article here: 

http://www.libraries.psu.edu/iasweb/nabokov/boydonmc.htm

-- would it be useful post a brief list of the existing authorship
theories...?).

The Epigraph:

"This reminds me of the ludicrous account[...]"

There is a paragraph preceding the one quoted that introduces Hodge in _Life
of Samuel Johnson_; this is the larger quote:

"I never shall forget the indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat:
for whom he himself used to go out and buy oysters, lest the servants having
that trouble should take a dislike to the poor creature.  I am, unluckily,
one of those who have an antipathy to a cat, so that I am uneasy when in the
room with one; and I own, I frequently suffered a good deal from the
presence of this same Hodge.  I recollect him one day scrambling up Dr.
Johnson's breast, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend smiling
and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled him by the tail; and
when I observed he was a fine cat, saying, 'Why yes, Sir, but I have had
cats whom I liked better than this;' and then as if perceiving Hodge to be
out of countenance, adding, 'but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat
indeed.'

This reminds me of the ludicrous account which he gave Mr. Langton, of the
despicable state of a young Gentleman of good family.  'Sir, when I heard of
him last, he was running about town shooting cats.' And then in a sort of
kindly reverie, he bethought himself of his own favourite cat, and said,
'But Hodge shan't be shot; no, no, Hodge shall not be shot.'"  (_Life of
Johnson_, Chapter 41)

I will delay sponsoring any theories for the time being, but:

Perhaps most importantly, this is described by Boswell as a "ludicrous
account".

Kinbote would have himself a sort of Boswell for Shade (among other things),
and the image of "a young gentleman of good family [...] running about town
shooting" summons to mind another of PF's characters, but if we are to make
substitutions, then which (or who) is Johnson's favorite cat?  And why?

Kinbote shan't be shot; no, no, Kinbote shall not be shot?  Shade shan't be
shot: no, no, Shade shall not be shot?  Goldsworth shall not be... and so
on.

On page 112 Kinbote says, "some cats are less repugnant than others to the
good-natured dog told to endure the bitter effluvium of an alien genus".
The context is of Kinbote's brief time spent in the company of Fleur de
Fyler, whose repeated attempts to seduce him (Fleur de Fyler -> flower
defiler -> de-virginizer) are met with annoyance or indifference (Kinbote is
homosexual).

Incidentally, there is what appears to be a typo in this quote as it appears
in _Pale Fire_, namely the colon in the last sentence "But Hodge shan't be
shot: no" appears as a semicolon in Boswell's work (in all the sources at my
disposal anyway, none of which have been translated from Zemblan).

Boswell's _Life of Samuel Johnson_:
http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/b74l/
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=1564


akaJasperFidget