Letters to Véra

by Vladimir Nabokov

  [ANS, 2 PP.]

  [15 April 1971]

  TO: Mme Vladimir Nabokov, Montreux Palace

  [Montreux]

  To my darling,

  For the forty-sixth year [anniversary].

  V.

  1973

  ____________________

  [AN, 1 P. ]

  [postmarked 22 January 1973]

  TO: E8 Chambre 831, Hôpital Cantonal, Genève

  7.30 PM

  Montreux

  For you, my darling, here are

  Twelve tens

  Love you,

  waiting for you

  1974

  ____________________

  [AN, 1 P.]

  [5 January 1974]

  [Montreux]

  Mme Vladimir Nabokov

  thumb hurts

  Happy Birthday

  my darling

  1974

  L’année d’Ada und ’Ada

  [AN, 2 PP. ]

  [14 June 1974]

  [Zermatt]

  V e l’ k o m tu Zerm, my darling,

  The daily programme, etc.

  B r e a k f a s t at my place. I eat cornfl. only. 7:30

  Lunch around 1:00 at café of choice

  (ham, local cheese)

  The key to your fridge: blue

  together with the door-key

  Dinner at seven sharp

  The stout porter in a frock-coat: M. Franzen

  Other information: verbally

  Cable car to Sch[w]arz[s]ee

  Change at Furi

  get out and go right

  stairs and indication → Schwarz[s]ee

  VN will be in cafeteria

  (near Schwarz[s]ee station) 10:30–11

  and then walk down to

  Staffel-Zmutz-Zermat[t]

  (at least two hours)

  1975

  ____________________

  [ANS, 1 P.]

  [14 July 1975]

  [Davos]

  To Vérochka

  And do you recall the thunderstorms of our childhood?

  Frightful thunder over the verandah – and at once

  The most azure aftermath

  and on everything – diamonds?

  VN

  14–VII–75

  Davos

  1976

  ____________________

  [ANS, 1 P.]

  [7 April 1976]

  [Montreux]

  To Vérochka

  In the desert a telephone rang:

  I ignored the ring,

  And soon it cut off.

  V Nabokov

  7–IV–76

  Montreux

  Undated

  ____________________

  [AN, 1 P.]

  [Date and place unknown]

  To Kitty Kitovich, Gold Petrovich.

  Eat, my happiness,

  This grapeppiness.

  Plates

  1. The Nabokov family at Vyra, their summer estate in the St Petersburg countryside, 1907: the dachshund Trainy; Nabokov’s mother, Elena; his sisters Elena and Olga, held by their grandmother Maria Nabokov; his father, Vladimir D. Nabokov; Vladimir, on the knee of his mother’s aunt Praskovya Tarnovsky; and his brother Sergey.

  2. The five Nabokov children in Yalta, November 1918: Vladimir (b. 1899), Kirill (b. 1910), Olga (b. 1903), Sergey (b. 1900), and Elena (b. 1906). (See letter of 4 April 1932.)

  3. Vladimir Nabokov and Véra (presumably still Slonim), c. 1924, Berlin.

  4. Vladimir Nabokov and his pupil Aleksandr (Shura) Sack, during their hiking holiday, Constance, 1925.

  5. Vladimir Nabokov, Berlin, 1926.

  6. Véra Nabokov, Berlin, mid-1920s.

  7. Yuly Aykhenvald, émigré critic and friend, Berlin, 1920s.

  8. Ilya (Ilyusha, I. I., Fondik) Fondaminsky, one of the editors and chief financial support of Sovremennye zapiski (Paris), the leading literary journal of the Russian emigration, and Nabokov’s close friend through the 1930s.

  9. Savely (Saba) Kyandzhuntsev, Nicolas Nabokov, Irina Kyandzhuntsev, Vladimir Nabokov, Nathalie Nabokov, Paris, 1932.

  10. Novelist, short-story writer and poet Ivan Bunin, the leading older writer of the Russian emigration. (Foto Centropress Prague, Leeds Russian Archive)

  11. Vladislav Khodasevich, the foremost poet of the Russian emigration, Nabokov’s closest literary ally, and a friend from 1932 until his death in 1939. (Nina Berberova collection)

  12. Vladimir, Véra and Dmitri Nabokov, Berlin, summer 1935.

  13. Elena Nabokov, Prague, 1931

  14. Irina Guadanini. (Private collection)

  15. Nabokov with the editorial board of Mesures, an offshoot of La Nouvelle Revue Française, at the villa of the journal’s patron Henry Church, Ville d’Avray, on the outskirts of Paris, 1937. Left to right: Henri Michaux, Vladimir Nabokov, Sylvia Beach, Adrienne Monnier, Germaine Paulhan, Michel Leiris, Barbara Church, Jean Paulhan, Henry Church. (Gisèle Freund)

  16. Vladimir, Véra and Dmitri Nabokov, Cannes, 1937.

  17. Vladimir and Véra Nabokov, Wellesley, Massachusetts, summer 1942.

  18. Vladimir and Véra Nabokov outside their rented home, 802 East Seneca Street, Ithaca, New York, 1951. There, Nabokov completed his autobiography and began Lolita.

  19. Vladimir Nabokov dictating from index cards to Véra Nabokov, Montreux Palace Hotel, 1968 (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

  20. Vladimir and Véra Nabokov, lepping (butterfly hunting), near Montreux, c. 1971 (Horst Tappe)

  21. Vladimir and Véra Nabokov, Montreux, 1968. (Philippe Halsman)

  Appendix One: Riddles

  In the summer of 1926 Nabokov attached to many of his daily letters to his wife – who was unwell and staying at a sanatorium – a diligently home-made word puzzle, meant not so much to baffle as to cause a smile. The puzzles are varied, inventive, light, jolly and mildly funny. With very few exceptions, Véra Nabokov seems to have solved them all by return post.

  But what posed little trouble for Nabokov’s wife in 1926, who likely had no reference books to consult, proved quite a challenge to his beGoogled editors next century. It took putting together three heads to crack these puzzles, with some solutions remaining questionable. It is idle, of course, to try to match wits with Nabokov the logopoet, who, incidentally, contributed all sorts of word-games to émigré periodicals in the mid-1920s, some of his own fabrication. Non-Russian readers are doubly disadvantaged here: to most of them, reading translations of the original Russian puzzles will be like watching a German film with Italian subtitles. But we place them here in the hope that at least the contours of the content of that labour of love will not be lost on them, as it surely was not lost on the original addressee. The gist of some foreign dialogues can be grasped by the facial expressions.

  Gennady Barabtarlo

  LETTER OF 1 JULY 1926

  Crossword clues in Russian:

  Across:

  1 за решеткой, но не тигр

  2 Кричат

  3 Бабочка

  4 Толпа

  5 Дай забвенье … очаруй …

  Down:

  1 Блин революции русской

  6 Надпись под лысым

  7 Одна из забот Лонгфелло

  8 Печенье

  9 Часть тела

  10 Как перст

  11 У поэтов – дымится

  Crossword clues in English:

  Across:

  1 behind bars, but not a tiger

  2 [They] shout

  3 a butterfly

  4 A crowd

  5 Give me oblivion … enchant …

  Down:

  1 The spoil of the Russian Revolution

  6 An inscription below a bald man

  7 One of Longfellow’s cares

  8 Biscuits

  9 Body part

  10 […] as a finger

  11 In poetry – it sm
okes

  Answers in Russian:

  Across: 1. кассир 2. орут 3. махаон 4. банда 5. опьяни

  Down: 1. ком 6. oo [?] 7. араб 8. сухарь 9. стан 10. один 11. рана

  Answers in transliteration:

  Across: 1. kassir 2. orut 3. makhaon 4. banda 5. op’yani

  Down: 1. kom 6. oo [?] 7. arab 8. sukhar’ 9. stan 10. odin 11. rana

  Answers in English:

  Across: 1. cashier 2. [they] yell 3. [Papilio] machaon 4. a gang 5. intoxicate

  Down: 1. kom 6. oo [?]7. Arab 8. rusk 9. torso 10. alone 11. a wound

  LETTER OF 2 JULY 1926

  Crossword clues in Russian:

  Across and down:

  1 Композитор

  2 Волосок

  3 Волнуется

  4 Круглый очерк

  5 Сам

  6 Подруга Сальери

  7 Род судна

  8 Большевики

  9 Неприятная местность

  10 Лесной возглас

  11 Упрек

  12 Художник, земляк первого

  13 Человек с тремя руками

  14 Половина пяти

  15 Без чего не приехал-бы

  16 Пять часов утра

  17 Цветок

  18 Хорошая знакомая пяти

  19 Птица

  20 Божья иллюминация

  21 Прощевайте

  Crossword clues in English:

  Across and down

  1 Composer

  2 A thin hair

  3 Is waving

  4 Roundish outline

  5 Myself

  6 Salieri’s girlfriend

  7 Kind of boat

  8 Bolsheviks

  9 Unpleasant locale

  10 Sylvan exclamation

  11 Reproof

  12 Artist, compatriot of 1

  13 Man with three arms

  14 Half of five

  15 Wouldn’t have come back without this

  16 Five a.m.

  17 Flower

  18 Good acquaintance of five

  19 Bird

  20 Divine illumination

  21 So long!

  Answers in Russian:

  Across and down: 1. Гуно 2. усик 3. нива 4. окат 5. Сирин 6. Изора 7. ротор 8. ироды 9. Нарым 10. куку 11. укор 12. Коро 13. урод 14. Вера 15. ехал 16. рано 17. алоэ 18. муза 19. удод 20. зори 21. адио

  Answers in transliteration:

  Across and down: 1. Guno 2. usik 3. niva 4. okat 5. Sirin 6. Izora 7. rotor 8. irody 9. Narym 10. kuku 11. ukor 12. Koro 13. urod 14. Véra 15. ekhal 16. rano 17. aloe 18. muza 19. udod 20. zori 21. adio

  Answers in English:

  Across and down: 1. Gounod 2. a whisker 3. grainfield 4. circumference 5. Sirin 6. Isora 7. rotor [boat] 8. Herods 9. Narym 10. cuckoo 11. reproach 12. Corot 13. freak 14. Véra 15. travelled 16. early 17. aloe 18. the muse 19. hoopoe 20. dawns 21. adieu

  LETTER OF 3 JULY 1926

  Riddle in Russian:

  Ломота, игумен, тетка, Коля, Mарон, версификатор, Лета, чугун, тропинка, ландыш, Ипокрена

  Из слогов данных слов требуется составить десять других слов, значенья которых: 1) Место свиданий науки и невежества 2) двигатель 3) город в России 4) историческое лицо 5) добрая женщина 6) часть повозки 7) благовест диафрагмы 8) первый архитектор (см. Библию) 9) бездельник 10) женское имя.

  Riddle in transliteration:

  Lomota, igumen, tetka, Kolya, Maron, versifikator, Leta, chugun, tropinka, landysh, Ipokrena

  Riddle in English:

  Aching, abbot, aunt, Kolya, Maro, versifier, Lethe, cast iron, little path, lily of the valley, Hippokrene

  Make ten new words out of the syllables of the words above, with these meanings: 1) A place where science meets ignorance 2) an engine 3) a city in Russia 4) a historic personage 5) a good woman 6) part of a cart 7) beatitude of the diaphragm 8) the first architect (see the Bible) 9) a lazybones 10) a woman’s name.

  Answers in Russian:

  1. университет 2. мотор 3. Кременчуг 4. Наполеон 5. матрона 6. дышло 7. икота 8. Каин 9. гуляка 10. Филомена

  Answers in transliteration:

  1. universitet 2. motor 3. Kremenchug 4. Napoleon 5. matrona 6. dyshlo 7. ikota 8. Kain 9. gulyaka 10. Filomena

  Answers in English:

  1. university 2. motor 3. Kremenchug 4. Napoleon 5. Matron 6. pole [of a carriage] 7. hiccups 8. Cain 9. idler 10. Philomena

  LETTER OF 6 JULY 1926

  Crossword clues in Russian:

  Acr. 1. часть розы 2. восклицанье 3. Дедушка 4. если не – то глуп 5. видно в мешке 6. Древний автор 7. Сговор

  Down. 1. В столицах … 8. Злой человек 9. Хорош только когда открывается 10. дерево 11. говорится о винограде 12. философ-экономист 13. река

  Acr. 1. Сверхъестественный жулик 2. женское имя 3. рыба 4. коричневое 5. Невежа 6. игра 7. человек, выбор, опыт

  Down. 8. река 4. художник 3. плати … 9. рыба 1. камень 10. прощай 11. … Все вторит весело громам!

  Crossword clues in transliteration:

  Acr. 1. chast’ rozy 2. vosklitsanie 3. Dedushka 4. esli ne – to glup 5. vidno v meshke 6. Drevniy avtor 7. Sgovor

  Down. 1. V stolitsakh … 8. Zloy chelovek 9. Khorosh tol’ko kogda otkryvaetsya 10. derevo 11. govoritsya o vinograde 12. filosof-ekonomist 13. reka

  Acr. 1. sverkh’’estestvennyi zhulik 2. zhenskoe imya 3. ryba 4. korichnevoe 5. Nevezha 6. igra 7. chelovek, vybor, opyt

  Down. 8. reka 4. khudozhnik 3. plati … 9. ryba 1. kamen’ 10. proshchay 11. … Vsyo vtorit veselo gromam!

  Crossword clues in English:

  Acr. 1. part of a rose 2. exclamation 3. Grandfather 4. if not – then [he is] dimwit 5. can be seen in a sack 6. An ancient author 7. Accord

  Down. 1. In capital cities … 8. An evil person 9. Good only when it opens 10. a tree 11. said of grapes 12. a philosopher and economist 13. a river

  Acr. 1. A supernatural trickster 2. woman’s name 3. a fish 4. something brown 5. ruffian 6. a game 7. a man, a choice, and an experience

  Down. 8. a river 4. an artist 3. pay. … 9. a fish 1. a rock 10. farewell 11. … All sings in cheerful tune with thunderclaps!

  Answers in Russian:

  Acr. 1. шип 2. ура 3. мороз 4. далек 5. шило 6. Ювенал 7. антанта

  Down. 1. шум 8. Ирод 9. парашют 10. олива 11. зелен 12. Конт 13. Аа

  Acr. 1. маг 2. Ада 3. налим 4. какао 5. олух 6. короли 7. богатый

  Down. 8. Обь 4. Коро 3. налог 9. окунь 1. малахит 10. адио (sic) 11. гам

  Answers in transliteration:

  Acr. 1. ship 2. ura 3. moroz 4. dalek 5. shilo 6. Yuvenal 7. antanta

  Down. 1. shum 8. Herod 9. parachute 10. oliva 11. zelen 12. Kont 13. Aa

  Acr. 1. mag 2. Ada 3. nalim 4. kakao 5. olukh 6. koroli 7. bogatyi

  Down. 8. Ob’ 4. Koro 3. nalog 9. okun’ 1. malakhit 10. adio 11. gam

  Answers in English:

  Acr. 1. thorn 2. hurray 3. Frost 4. ‘brightwit’ 5. an awl 6. Juvenal 7. entente

  Down. 1. din 8. Herod 9. parachute 10. oli
ve 11. green 12. Comte 13. Aa

  Acr. 1. magician 2. Ada 3. burbot 4. cocoa 5. fool 6. kings 7. rich

  Down. 8. Ob’ 4. Corot 3. tax 9. perch 1. malachite 10. adio 11. noise

  LETTER OF 9 JULY 1926

  Riddle in Russian:

  Романс, сатин, буфет, рама, лопух, мошенник, засов, тина, тишина, одинокий, тура.

  Требуется: из этих одиннадцати слов (т.е. из их слогов) составь девять других: 5 – русских поэтов, 2 – формы поэтических произведений, цветок, птица.

  Riddle in transliteration/ English:

  Romans, satin, bufet, rama, lopukh, moshennik, zasov, tina, tishina, odinokiy, tura.

  (Love song, sateen, cafeteria, frame, burdock, swindler, bar lock, slime, silence, lonely [man], rook.)

  This is what you have to do: out of these eleven words (i.e. their syllables) make nine new ones: 5 – Russian poets, 2 – verse forms, a flower, a bird.

  Answers in Russian:

  Шеншин – Фет

  Апухтин (more likely, as a joke, Опухтин)

  Романов (possibly, also as a joke, Никрасов)

  Никитин

  Ломоносов

  Ода

  Сатира

  Роза

  Турман

  Answers in transliteration:

  Shenshin – Fet

  Apukhtin (more likely, as a joke, Opukhtin)

  Romanov (possibly, also as a joke, Nikrasov)

  Nikitin

  Lomonosov