queries/An-sky

[Katz, Michael R.]

Dear colleagues:

I am finishing my annotated translation of S. An-sky's novel "Pionery" (1906) and am mystified by three phrases:

1) An irate father says to his daughter (who is refusing to marry the man he has picked out for her):

"Tebe, mozhet byt', okazhetsya bolee podkhodyashchim zhenikh s belymi pugovitsami i s 'lyubkami'"?

What could "lyubki" mean in this context?

2) A yeshiva boy studying read Russian is given a simple story (fable?) to read entitled:

"Priznatel'nyi Vanya."

I can't find a source. Any ideas?

3) One of the lads sings a sad song that begins:

Chto ty, glupyi, coloveika,
Pod moim zapel oknom? 
Al', ne znaesh', chto evreika
Obitaet etot dom?

I would be grateful for any hints, suggestions, clues you might have to help solve one or more of these puzzles.

Michael Katz
Middlebury College

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