At the start of Chapter Two, Nabokov reveals that his mind always associates sounds with colors. He creates an alphabet of color, matching groups of letters with colors from the same color family. This unusual sensibility, perhaps difficult or tedious to others, is perfectly understandable to his mother. Nabokov believes his mother understands these opposing combinations. Nabokov writes that he would talk about nonsensical relationships between colors and letters, particularly when he lay in bed sick, and his mother would seem to understand the connections he made.
Once, Nabokov is in bed has a clairvoyant vision of his mother riding into the city to buy a gift for him. Nabokov sees her wrapped in luxurious fur in the low seat of her sleigh. She brings him home a four-foot long pencil, which he notes.....
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