NPPF: Commentary 3 (summary) Line 408

[bekah]

(** means there's a related note(s) on the following page.)

Line 408:

In which the Kinbote tells us that Shade is starting his 33rd index 
card while  Gradus is traveling by car from Geneva to Lex ** to see 
Charles' friend Odon who is staying at the villa of Joseph S. 
Lavender, another friend of Charles. He wants to pick up some clues 
as to the King's whereabouts.

Gradus has done some research and knows that his host collects 
obrioles, ** photographs of landscaped lampshades. He thinks that he 
can pass for a collector's agent but Odon will know the difference 
because Gradus acts like a commoner and will likely reveal himself.

In a small town he picks up a small crystal giraffe to ask the price. .**

He stops the car on a steep, windy road and walks, wearing a new 
brown, wrinkled suit and fanning himself with his "trilby."  He gets 
to a place where "...he was shown by the three index fingers of three 
masons the red roofs of Lavender's (unfinished) villa."  The Villa's 
name is Libitina. **

Gradus proceeds to the house from which he hears piano music. He  is 
escorted into the villa by a man in green and finds the piano empty 
but reverberating with only a pair of sandals to indicate a pianist. 
There is also a "jet-glittering" lady who introduces herself as the 
tutor of Mr. Lavender's nephew, Gordon,  whom she calls from the 
other room. She knows nothing about Lavender's collections or hobbies.

Gordon, .** a lad of  14 or 15, appears wearing a leopard spotted 
loin cloth. As they walk in light and shadows to the gardens and pool 
Gordon is wearing ivy. They walk on, Gordon makes his pronouncement 
about spending the night with a friend on a nearby stained mattress. 
Then suddenly Gordon is wearing black swim trunks. .**

In the Delaware derivative outhouse there are references to "the 
King"  and Gordon lies.  Kinbote interjects that this lying was good 
and comes close to admitting that he, Kinbote, was Gordon's " big 
friend."  Charles.  But not quite. Meanwhile, Gordon goofs and 
mentions the Cote D'Azur, tipping Gradus off as to the King's 
whereabouts.

They reach the pool and while Gradus is a bit too heavy for the 
stools, Gordon is described  as being a young woodwose.  ** Gordon 
gets naked and Gradus spits and walks off. Gordon is definitely the 
more attractive of the two. Nabokov is playing up the youthful and 
sensual, as natural and good.

Lavender telephones and asks if Gradus is a spy for a French 
newspaper.  (This is the same thing that Bretwit accused him of 
being.)  Gradus hangs up and leaves the villa.

The commentary to this line ends with a train running between the 
gardens,  a black butterfly with red diagonal stripe heraldic 
butterfly crossing the stone parapet .** and John Shade taking a 
fresh card



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