nat - How can I get SNAT to work with ARP requests using iptables? -

problem statement
have 2 nodes (n₁ , n₂) on separate networks. both connect separate interfaces on common node (n_c). need ping n₁ n₂.

reference:
n₁: ip address 172.1.1.96/24
n₂: ip address 10.1.1.33/24
n_c: lan1 10.1.1.1/24
      lan2 172.1.1.1/24

______________________________________________________________
|                                              /          n_c         \                                                     |
| n₁ <------>| switch₁ |<-------> | lan2 <--> lan1 | <-------> | switch₂ | <-------> n₂ |
| _______________________\___________/__________________________ |

attempts

i've added routing rule n₁ send 10.1.1.0/24 packets 172.1.1.1 (n_c), , following iptables rule n_c:

iptables -t nat -a postrouting -s 172.1.1.96 -o lan1 -j snat --to 10.1.1.79 

i send ping n₂ n₁. n₂ receives ping , sends arp request. arp not answered n_c causing n₂ not respond ping.

question
how can n_c answer arp request?

note

i can not use masquerading. once figure out, start adding more complex translation rules don't think possible using masquerading.

proxy arp solution. setting proxy_arp or proxy_arp_pvlan flag (see serverfault post explanation use), linux respond arp requests n₂ in behalf of n₁.