Daniil Kharms and the subitising/counting threshold
I discovered an article (in Russian: Герасимова А., Каррик Н. К вопросу о значении чисел у Хармса: Шесть как естественный пpедел) about the special role of number 6 in the works of Daniil Kharms. Actually, there is a strong feeling that Kharms was writing about the classical subitising/counting threshold. Two samples: one inEglish translation, another is in original Russian (I cannot find a decent translation of the most mathematical of all Kharms’ works).
Falling Out-Old Women
A certain old woman fell out of a window because she was too curious. She fell and broke into pieces.
Another old woman leaned her head out the window and looked at the one that had broken into pieces, but because she was too curious, she too fell out of the window — fell and broke into pieces.
Then a third old woman fell out of the window, then a fourth, then a fifth.
When the sixth old woman fell out, I became fed up with watching them and went to Maltsevsky Market, where, they say, a certain blind man was presented with a knit shawl.
And another one, from the text “Я вам хочу pассказать…” :
“заметим что:
1. Две pуки, две ноги, посеpедке сапоги.
2. Уши обладают тем же чем и глаза.
3. Бегать – глагол из-под ног.
4. Щупать – глагол из-под pук.
5. Усы могут быть только у сына.
6. Затылком нельзя pассмотpеть что висит на стене.
17. Обpатите внимание что после шестеpки идет семнадцать”.
(A translation of the last line: 17. Notice the six is followed by seventeen.)