How did Vladimir Nabokov earn money in Berlin and Paris before Lolita became successful?

During his years of emigration in Berlin and Paris, Vladimir Nabokov lived in a state of continual semipenury, as his early novels produced very little income. To support himself and his family, he earned a living through several means:1

• Teaching: He provided lessons in tennis, Russian, and English.1
• Film work: He took on occasional, minor walk-on parts in films that are now forgotten.1
• Translation: His wife, Véra Evseyevna Slonim, also contributed to the family's income by working as a translator.1

While he did receive some money from German translations of his first two novels, he typically used those funds to finance his butterfly-hunting expeditions rather than for living expenses. It was not until the success of his best-selling novel Lolita that he achieved significant financial stability.1