From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Nursery Tale is a short story by Vladimir Nabokov titled Skazka in its original Russian when written in Berlin in 1926. The author and his son translated the story into English fifty years later. It is contained in his collection Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories and The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov.
[edit] Plot summary
Erwin, the protagonist, is shy and “collects” an imaginary harem of women by tagging them mentally when looking from the streetcar. One day, he encounters the Devil in the shape of a German middle-aged women, Frau Monde, who tells him he can have all the women he can “collect” before midnight provided their number is uneven. Erwin tries to do so but ultimately fails.
[edit] Comments
The story makes reference to a teenage girl as one of the women Erwin tries to make part of his collection, an early reference to the theme of ephebophilia that is later spun out in Lolita. This may be the earliest reference in Nabokov’s work to the attraction of pubescent girls.
[edit] External links
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Works by Vladimir Nabokov |
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Short
stories |
Russian: "The Wood-Sprite" • "Russian Spoken Here" • "Sounds" • "Wingstroke" • "Gods" • "A Matter of Chance" • "The Seaport" • "Revenge" • "Beneficence" • "Details of a Sunset" • "The Thunderstorm" • "La Veneziana" • " Bachmann" • "The Dragon" • Christmas" • "A Letter That Never Reached Russia" • "The Fight" • " The Return of Chorb" • " A Guide to Berlin" • " A Nursery Tale" • "Terror" • " Razor" • "The Passenger • "The Doorbell" • "An Affair of Honor" • "The Christmas Story" • " The Potato Elf" • " The Aurelian" • "A Dashing Fellow" • "A Bad Day" • "The Visit to the Museum" • "A Busy Man" • " Terra Incognita" • "The Reunion" • " Lips to Lips" • "Orache" • "Music" • "Perfection" • "The Admiralty Spire" • " The Leonardo" • "In Memory of L. I. Shigaev" • "The Circle" • "A Russian Beauty" • Breaking the News" • "Torpid Smoke" • "Recruiting" • "A Slice of Life" • " Spring in Fialta" • "Cloud, Castle, Lake" • "Tyrants Destroyed" • "Lik" • "Vasiliy Shishkov" • "Ultima Thule" • "Solus Rex"
French: "Mademoiselle O"
English: "The Assistant Producer" • "That in Aleppo Once..." • "A Forgotten Poet" • "Time and Ebb" • "Conversation Piece, 1945" • "Signs and Symbols" • "First Love" • "Scenes from the Life of a Double Monster" • " The Vane Sisters" • "Lance" • "Easter Rain"
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| Plays |
Death • The Grandfather • The North Pole • The Tragedy of Mr. Morn • The Man from the USSR • The Event • The Waltz Invention
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| Non-fiction |
Speak, Memory • Strong Opinions • Nikolai Gogol • Lectures on Literature • Lectures on Russian Literature • Lectures on Don Quixote • The Nabokov-Wilson letters • Selected Letters, 1940-1977 • Notes on Prosody
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