NPPF: Commentary 5 (notes) Lines 433-434

[bekah]

Commentary notes to Lines 433-434
"To the...sea Which we had visited in thirty-three"

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page 204

The Shades had spent some time in Nice, years ago, when Hazel was conceived. It's near Cap Turc and Villa Paradisa. (renamed for Disa.)

**  Disa, Duchess of Payn. Payn is incredible Pain, so Disa is the Duchess of Pain. She is truly a very unhappy woman. Exiled to the Villa by her husband. (line130)

Disa is a girl's name which means twice or double in Greek. But in Norse it means spirited.  I'll go with the Greek for Nabakov although she did seem to be both.

Fwiw, Disa is the name of an orchid: See http://www.disas.com/con2000-03.htm  for more on the origin of the name Disa from the "DisaPhiles."


** Cap Turc  Other than a deviation of "cap-ture," I have no idea. Turc is usually translated as Turk, Turkey. But Turkey is nowhere near Nice. Can't figure out a cape there, either.  Anyone?

A Villa Paradisa in Cote d'Azur:

<http://www.sportstravel.co.za/motorsport/villa_paradiso.htm>
(I'm sure it's similar to the hide away of Disa.)



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page 205

**  Another instance of the "lost in the translation" theme, especially when the translation is doubled back, mirrored, if you will.


** Curdy Buff - from the index, the nickname of Baron Harfar Shalksbore, "man of fashion and Zemblan patriot." Perhaps the nickname stems from a badly pockmarked butt. The term curd is for the curdling of milk as in cheese or cottage cheese. Also, bean curd is similar to tofu. I guess the white parts of cauliflower are called curds. None of these would be a particularly attractive texture for a butt. Reminds me of large pock cellulite. But read on about beauty in the reversal land of Zembla.


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page 206-207
"A beautiful woman should be like a compass rose ivory with four parts of ebony."


** "compass rose ivory" is a kind of cat that looks like a rat. http://hometown.aol.com/obeia/photos.html  if you add 4 parts of ebony what would they be? Hair on head, hair under arms, pubic hair? That sounds about right.


** "Sybil is idealized, but then, Kinbote has romanticized and idealized his vision of Zembla as well as his relationship with Shade so he's obviously going to defend the whole process. Idealization as reflection, mirror?  Reading as mirror? 


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pg 207-208

** How can Kinbote possibly know these intimate little details, these thoughts and feelings, about Charles if Charles is another person? Kinbote either is or has invented Charles or a combination.

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page 208

**  tiger tea brewed from a blend including tiger penis?

** Disa consults books to find out about the "manly Zemblan customs?"  The customs must be private but not particularly secret if the naive Disa does not know about them at the age of 25 but can find out from books.


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page 210

** Charles betrayed Disa with Phrynia or Timandra?  (is this a heterosexual reference or a scholarly one? Did he spend too much time with his studies of Shakespeare? Or did he actually bed the ladies?

Phrynia:
Origin: Shakespearean
Meaning: 'The Life of Timon of Athens'

In which Nabokov's title, Pale Fire" is found and another example of the tripartite metaphor:  (and with a bit more because I really like it)

.... I'll example you with thievery:	
The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction	
Robs the vast sea; the moon's an arrant thief,	
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun;	
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves	
The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief,	
That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen	
>From general excrement, each thing's a thief;	
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power	
Has uncheck'd theft...

<http://pd.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/timonofathens/section14.html>

Meanwhile, fwiw, back in Lines 39-40 Kinbote messed it up (translation? memory? insertion of personal ideas?)
See: <http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0307&msg=82504&keywords=Timon>


Btw, Timandra, although in Timon is from Greek mythology:
Timandra was married to Echemus, son of Aeropus, who succeeded king Lycurgus of Tegea. They had a son, Augeas, and according to some sources Timandra eventually left her husband for Phyleus. This is not certain, though, but makes sense since she was cursed to commit adultery.
<http://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/history/ancient/who_is_who_in_antiquity.htm>


** "breakfast for two in the sea cave"

Going on with Timon of Athens; the above lines (Like woodmen,...) are from Scene III: "Woods and Cave near the Sea.

Diagram of Plato's Sea Cave at: <http://faculty.knox.edu/fmcandre/platocave.html>
Plato's story of emerging from inside a shadowy cave to clear understanding.  (Well, someone had to say it.) Fwiw, I've always thought coming out of Plato's cave was somewhat like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. But then, Kinbote has gone into his cave."


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page 212

** "she was inaugurating a fire,"

What does this mean, "inaugurating a fire?" 
 
Great lines though, so misty and dreamlike.



** "houghmagandy"
"Adulterous sexual intercourse. It's a rare word these
days, but as it has a grand sound-and it is of such universal ..."

http://www.quinion.com/words/weirdwords/ww-hou1.htm

Would she actually like him to have had some kind of heterosexual adultery? (But did he with Phrynia or Timandra?)

**trellis telephone line   An incredible visual.  :)

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page 214

** Charles mistakes Fleur for Disa. What you see at a distance may not be what you get when you see more clearly. An instance of art creating its own reality? Is love the art the bridge? Is this a translation problem or something else?


thanks for your patience,

Bekah
seeing through a glass darkly