within a liquid place

"Sense how liquids are influenced more by cosmic forces than the solids. We have all observed how water runs low but as vapor and mist is lifted up high. The downward flowing rivers as well as the upward running saps of leaves and trees are in the liquid state of water. Fluids lie between the solids and the gases. They have no form; the vessels in which they are contained, give them shape. Within liquids many chemical interactions and transformations take place. Water nymphs or undines are believed to dwell in lakes and flowing river."

mimic metamorphosis

The mysteries of mimicry

had

a special attraction for me. Its

phenomena

showed

an

artistic perfection usually associated

with man-wrThe mysteries of mimicry

had

a special attraction for me. Its

phenomena

showed

an

artistic perfection usually associated

with man-wrought

things. Consider theimitation

of

oozing poison

by

bubblelike macules on a

wing

(complete withpseudo-refraction)

or by

yellow knobs

on

a chrysalis ("Don't eat me-I havealready been squashed,

sampled

and

rejected"). Consider

the

tricks of

an

acrobatic caterpillar (of the Lobster Moth) which in infancy looks like

bird's

dung,

but

after moulting develops scrabbly hymenopteroid

appendages

and

baroque characteristics, allowing the extraordinary fellow to

play

two

parts

at

once (like the actor in oriental

shows

who

becomes

a

pair

of

intertwistedwrestlers):

that

of a writhing larva

and

that of a big

ant

seemingly

harrowing

it.When a certain

moth

resembles a certain

wasp

in

shape

and

colour, it also walks

and

shakes its antennae in a waspish unmothlike manner. When a butterfly

has

to look like a leaf,

not

only are all

the

details of a leaf beautifully rendered

but

markings mimicking grub-bored holes are generously

thrown

in.

Natural

selection", in the Darwinian sense, could

not

explain

the

miraculous coincidenceof imitative aspect

and

imitative behaviour,

nor

could

one

appeal to

the

theory

of

"the struggle for life"

when

a protective device

was

carried to a

point of

mimeticsubtlety, exuberance

and

luxury far in excess

of

a

predator's

power

of

appreciation. I discovered in

nature

the

nonutilitarian delights

that

I

sought

inart. Both were a form

of

magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment

and

deception.

1

Kaufmann

(1968)

Der Wille zur Macht

818

7N

2

(1951),

124-

25

Vladimir N abokov

Speak,

Memory

2

ought

things. Consider theimitation

of

oozing poison

by

bubblelike macules on a

wing

(complete withpseudo-refraction)

or by

yellow knobs

on

a chrysalis ("Don't eat me-I havealready been squashed,

sampled

and

rejected"). Consider

the

tricks of

an

acrobatic caterpillar (of the Lobster Moth) which in infancy looks like

bird's

dung,

but

after moulting develops scrabbly hymenopteroid

appendages

and

baroque characteristics, allowing the extraordinary fellow to

play

two

parts

at

once (like the actor in oriental

shows

who

becomes

a

pair

of

intertwistedwrestlers):

that

of a writhing larva

and

that of a big

ant

seemingly

harrowing

it.When a certain

moth

resembles a certain

wasp

in

shape

and

colour, it also walks

and

shakes its antennae in a waspish unmothlike manner. When a butterfly

has

to look like a leaf,

not

only are all

the

details of a leaf beautifully rendered

but

markings mimicking grub-bored holes are generously

thrown

in.

Natural

selection", in the Darwinian sense, could

not

explain

the

miraculous coincidenceof imitative aspect

and

imitative behaviour,

nor

could

one

appeal to

the

theory

of

"the struggle for life"

when

a protective device

was

carried to a

point of

mimeticsubtlety, exuberance

and

luxury far in excess

of

a

predator's

power

of

appreciation. I discovered in

nature

the

nonutilitarian delights

that

I

sought

inart. Both were a form

of

magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment

and

deception.

1

Kaufmann

(1968)

Der Wille zur Macht

818

7N

2

(1951),

124-

25

Vladimir N abokov

Speak,

Memory

2