The Zemblan Treasure: Whose Is It?

Abstract: The narrator of Pale Fire cleverly hides King Charles’ Zemblan wealth by intricately weaving it into the text’s structure. A character from a famous fairy tale, Ali Baba, appeared within the narrative of the novel, accompanied by numerous terms related to wealth, currency, and gem-stones. This textual exploration will uncover previously hidden evidence concerning the existence of Ali Baba and the forty thieves on the back side of the novel. Nabokov provides warnings throughout the book, yet their importance is only now becoming clear. His “word golf” requires an expert in lexical semantics and stylistic figures of repetition, unlike Lewis Carroll’s word game. At the heart of the “web of sense” is an ornament (the gardener with wheelbarrow), from which the entire narrative was crafted. Next to the ornament and key clusters lies the “Ali Baba” cluster, acknowledged as one of the most important. Following instances where the motifs of the tale of Ali Baba are present, the lexemes that connect to the term “Ali Baba” through word golf are enumerated. Ali Baba serves as the quintessential symbol, transporting the treasure that is carefully protected by Kinbote.