122: dementia paralydea: Look at Part 2, Chapter 3 and Part 2, Chapter 10

124: The Graphic: was a British weekly illustrated newspaper that devoted most of its attention to literature, arts, sciences, the fashionable world, sport, music and opera. It was a very influential paper that inspired people such as Van Gogh and von Herkomer.

124: Ossianic pastiche: is the style imitating the works of Scottish Poet, James Macpherson. Ossian is the main character and narrator of a series of epic poems. Although Macpherson insists that Ossian comes from ancient sources, many believe that Macpherson actually framed the epic himself. One critic considers Macpherson to be “the most successful literary falsehood in modern history.” This is similar to Nabokov’s ‘autobiography’, Look at the Harlequin, which is a fictional autobiography.

124: Slovo o polku Igoreve: translated as The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, is an anomymous epic poem that tells the tale of Prince Igor’s failed raid against the Polovtsians. However, similar to the Ossian epic poems, there are those that dispute the authenticity of the poem. In addition, Nabokov has translated this work into English in 1960. By incorporating theses works that are believed to be falsified, Nabokov is reinforcing his motif of falsified works.

124: Rimbaud: refers to Arthur Rimbaud, the French Poet who influenced many 20th century writers, including Nabokov himself. He was known to be a libertine living a wild, vagabond life.

124: Le Tramway ivre: is a reference to one of Rimbaud’s poem, Le Bateau ivre (The Drunken boat). Nabokov has actually translated this poem to Russian in  1928. This poem describes the drifting and sinking of a boat lost in sea. Nabokov refers this poem here due to the fragmented first person narrative that Rimbaud uses. By this part in Look at the Harlequin, Nabokov’s narrator is beginning to not be coherent and become fragmented himself illustrating the parallelism between the two works at art. In addition, Nabokov mistaken the title of the poem in order to show the deterioration of the mindset of the narrator.

124: “En blouse rouge, ю face en pis de vache, le bourreau me trancha la tйte aussi”: “in a red shirt, with a face like an udder, the executioner cut off his head and I”. This is a reference towards Nabokov’s novel, Invitation to a Beheading. The executioner of Cincinnatus, M’sier Pierre, wears red during his execution.