206: Ephebe: The anglicized word for ephebus, a Greek term that describes an Athenian adolescent male. The stage of being an ephebus lasted from age 18 to age 20, upon which the individual would inherit the rights and obligations of Athenian citizenship. In Orthodox Christianity, Ephebus was a saint who traveled from Athens to Rome as a pagan and then converted to Christianity.
206: The bright clou of a pagan procession: Clou is a French word that means climax, or highlight. The pagan procession refers to Saint Ephebus’ days of paganism before converting to Christianity and being elevated to sainthood.
206: Who died of dermal asphyxia in his coat of golden varnish: A potential reference to Goldfinger, the third film in the James Bond series in which character Jill Masterson dies of dermal asphyxia after being coated in gold paint. The film came out in 1964, 6 years before Look At the Harlequins! was released. This quote could allude to something else entirely, since it seems un-Nabokovian to reference popular culture. Nevertheless, Nabokov might relish the parodic incongruity of coupling Goldfinger with references to Classical Antiquity.
206: Krasnaya Moskva: The first perfume made in the Soviet Union. It was very popular there due to the complete lack of market competition under Soviet rule. Thus, it serves as a symbol of the pervasiveness of Soviet power and as a mark of Soviet loyalty. It translates to “Red Moscow” (see annotation from page 208).
207: Yellow curlicues and violet eyespots: On the color wheel, yellow and violet are complementary colors, and thus they cancel each other out when combined. This connects to a quote earlier in the book, on page 37: “mortal peril is colorless.” In the context of this quote, the false cheerfulness of the plane’s “fairy-tale touches” hold darker connotations of fear. The relevancy of this color combination and the meanings that it carries can be ensured by the fact that Nabokov was a synesthete who paid careful attention to the associations attached to colors.
207: Russia had not done so well in the Soccer Olympics of 1912, when the ‘Tsarist Team’ (consisting of ten boyars and one bear) lost 12-0 to a German side: This refers to the Summer Olympics that took place in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912. This was pre-Soviet Union, when the Russian Empire was still in existence, and thus the reminiscence of this “tsarist” time suggests some anti-Soviet sentiment. A boyar was a member of the highest rank of aristocracy during the Russian Empire.
207: Onion sweat: Onions were a staple in Soviet cuisine, and earlier in LATH Nabokov refers to the infrequent bathing of Russian women. This description serves to caricature the more unsavory portrayals of Soviet life.
208: Red Moscow: “Red” Moscow alludes to the Soviet Republic’s communist state. It also alludes to Moscow’s Red Square, which separates the Kremlin from a merchant quarter called Kitai-gorod.
208: 21:18 to 22:33: John 21:18 from the New International Version of the Bible reads as such: “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old and you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Samuel 22:33 reads as such: “It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.” This allusion to the Bible contrasts with the USSR’s desired elimination of religion, and the passages are relevant to Vadim’s reflections on his relationship with his daughter Bel at this point in the novel.
208: Grasseyment: A term that describes the guttural pronunciation of the letter “r” in the French language. It is common of Parisian accents.
208: Mufti: A scholar of Islam.
208: …who reminded me of Iris or a prototype of Iris: The motif of doubles exists in many of Nabokov’s works: the novel itself and Vadim’s character serve as a warped and imperfect reflection of Nabokov and his life. Iris Black was Vadim’s first wife.
208: Astoria: A five-star hotel located in St. Petersburg that first opened in 1912. It housed members of the Communist party after the Russian Revolution and was used as a field hospital during the Siege of Leningrad.
209: The Daily Worker: A New-York based newspaper published by the Communist Party and founded in 1924.
209: Incarnadine soap: Incarnadine is a pinkish-crimson color, and red is a motif throughout these chapters set in the Soviet Union. See “Red Moscow.”
209: Liftyorsha: A female elevator operator.
209: Caucasian wine: Wine from Caucausus, a region bordering Europe and Asia. In Greek mythology the Caucasus was a pillar supporting the world.
210: Fontanka area: The Fontanka is the left branch of the river Neva, and it traverses the whole of Saint Petersburg.
211: Pushkin: See Part II, Chapter 4.
211: Intourist: a Russian travel agency founded in 1929 by Joseph Stalin. Run by NKVD and then KGB officials, Intourist managed and monitored foreigners’ travel into the Soviet Union.
211: Nevan breeze: Means saintly, and is also the name of a saint in Irish folklore.
211: L’Humanité: Was once the daily newspaper of the French Communist Party. Although it is no longer the official newspaper of the Party, it remains in existence and maintains its communist ideals.
212: A.B.: Likely refers to Annette Blagovo, Vadim’s second wife and mother of Bel.
212: Tundrovyy House of Rest: Tundrovyy is a town in the easternmost part of Russia. The House of Rest could refer to a shelter for travelers, although it seems to also hold religious connotations.
212: Karl: A version of the name Charlie, who is Bel’s American boyfriend with whom she has run away. This take on his name alludes to Karl Marx, the father of Marxian socialism and the author of The Communist Manifesto.
212: Riga: Now the largest city in Latvia, Riga was once occupied by the Soviet Union.
213: Madam Byron: refers to Lord Byron, an English poet significant in the Romantic movement.
213: Gospodin Long: Gospodin is a title of respect for men that corresponds to Mr.
213: War and Peace: A novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy, published in 1869. Although Nabokov was greatly critical of many renowned Russian authors, he referred to Tolstoy as the “greatest Russian author of prose fiction.”
213: Sochi: A city on Russia’s Black Sea coast, near the border of Georgia.