NPPF ps

[jbor]

>>> What's the joke with Oleg and the tulip?

Paul: 
>> Only thing that occurs to me is that the tulip is sometimes emblematic
>> of a precious, effete person of the sort the manly prince hopes Oleg has
>> not turned into during their year of separation..
>> 
on 14/9/03 3:49 AM, Jasper Fidget wrote:

> I agree with Paul on why the tulip is funny; also just because it's set in a
> simple sentence like a punchline: "As he was returning, Oleg arrived.  He
> carried a tulip."  And tulip is a funny word.

OK. I thought I must have been missing some pun or allusion. It is phrased
in a matter-of-fact way which underscores the strangeness of it I guess,
though it being 1928, they're being royalty, and the get-up Oleg's wearing,
make it seem somewhat less outlandish than it might otherwise have been. I
got the sense that Oleg brought the tulip to Charles as a gift, or as a
private symbol indicating the constancy of his affection for Charles (at
least, Kinbote setting forth the scene and relationship in such a way). And
it'd only been "a fortnight" since their previous visit together, where
they'd shared "the same bed" -- Charles' first sexual experience apparently.

best