Hecriedabovetheclatterofthewheels。
Iwon’thaveherbastardofanephewruinmyson。Acounter-jumper’sson。Sellingtapesinmycousin,PeterPaulM’Swiney’s。Notlikely。
Heceased。MrBloomglancedfromhisangrymoustachetoMrPower’smildfaceandMartinCunningham’seyesandbeard,gravelyshaking。Noisyselfwilledman。Fullofhisson。Heisright。Somethingtohandon。IflittleRudyhadlived。Seehimgrowup。Hearhisvoiceinthehouse。WalkingbesideMollyinanEtonsuit。Myson。Meinhiseyes。Strangefeelingitwouldbe。Fromme。Justachance。MusthavebeenthatmorninginRaymondterraceshewasatthewindow,watchingthetwodogsatitbythewalloftheceasetodoevil。Andthesergeantgrinningup。Shehadthatcreamgownonwiththeripsheneverstitched。Giveusatouch,Poldy。God,I’mdyingforit。Howlifebegins。
Gotbigthen。HadtorefusetheGreystonesconcert。Mysoninsideher。
Icouldhavehelpedhimoninlife。Icould。Makehimindependent。LearnGermantoo。
Arewelate?MrPowerasked。
Tenminutes,MartinCunninghamsaid,lookingathiswatchMolly。Milly。Samethingwatereddown。Hertomboyoaths。OjumpingJupiter!
Yegodsandlittlefishes!Still,she’sadeargirl。Soonbeawoman。Mullingar。
DearestPapli。Youngstudent。Yes,yes:awomantoo。Life。Life。
Thecarriageheeledoverandback,theirfourtrunksswaying。
Cornymighthavegivenusamorecommodiousyoke,MrPowersaid。
Hemight,MrDedalussaid,ifhehadn’tthatsquinttroublinghim。
Doyoufollowme?
Heclosedhislefteye。MartinCunninghambegantobrushawaycrustcrumbsfromunderhisthighs。
Whatisthis,hesaid,inthenameofGod?Crumbs?
Someoneseemstohavebeenmakingapicnicpartyherelately,MrPowersaid。
Allraisedtheirthighs,eyedwithdisfavourthemildewedbuttonlessleatheroftheseats。MrDedalus,twistinghisnose,frowneddownwardandsaid:
UnlessI’mgreatlymistaken。Whatdoyouthink,Martin?
Itstruckmetoo,MartinCunninghamsaid。
MrBloomsethisthighdown。GladItookthatbath。Feelmyfeetquiteclean。ButIwishMrsFleminghaddarnedthesesocksbetter。
MrDedalussighedresignedly。
Afterall,hesaid,it’sthemostnaturalthingintheworld。
DidTomKernanturnup?MartinCunninghamasked,twirlingthepeakofhisbeardgently。
Yes,MrBloomanswered。He’sbehindwithNedLambertandHynes。
AndCornyKelleherhimself?MrPowerasked。
Atthecemetery,MartinCunninghamsaid。
ImetM’Coythismorning,MrBloomsaid。Hesaidhe’dtrytocome。
Thecarriagehaltedshort。
What’swrong?
We’restopped。
Wherearewe?
MrBloomputhisheadoutofthewindow。
Thegrandcanal,hesaid。
Gasworks。Whoopingcoughtheysayitcures。GoodjobMillynevergotit。Poorchildren!Doublesthemupblackandblueinconvulsions。Shamereally。Gotofflightlywithillnesscompared。Onlymeasles。Flaxseedtea。
Scarlatina,influenzaepidemics。Canvassingfordeath。Don’tmissthischance。Dogs’homeoverthere。PooroldAthos!BegoodtoAthos,Leopold,ismylastwish。Thywillbedone。Weobeytheminthegrave。Adyingscrawl。
Hetookittoheart,pinedaway。Quietbrute。Oldmen’sdogsusuallyare。
Araindropspatonhishat。Hedrewbackandsawaninstantofshowerspraydotsoverthegreyflags。Apart。Curious。Likethroughacolander。
Ithoughtitwould。MybootswerecreakingIremembernow。
Theweatherischanging,hesaidquietly。
Apityitdidnotkeepupfine,MartinCunninghamsaid。
Wantedforthecountry,MrPowersaid。There’sthesunagaincomingout。
MrDedalus,peeringthroughhisglassestowardstheveiledsun,hurledamutecurseatthesky。
It’sasuncertainasachild’sbottom,hesaid。
We’reoffagain。
Thecarriageturnedagainitsstiffwheelsandtheirtrunksswayedgently。
MartinCunninghamtwirledmorequicklythepeakofhisbeard。
TomKernanwasimmenselastnight,hesaid。AndPaddyLeonardtakinghimofftohisface。
Odrawhimout,Martin,MrPowersaideagerly。Waittillyouhearhim,Simon,onBenDollard’ssingingofTheCroppyBoy。
Immense,MartinCunninghamsaidpompously。Hissingingofthatsimpleballad,Martin,isthemosttrenchantrenderingIeverheardinthewholecourseofmyexperience。
Trenchant,MrPowersaidlaughing。He’sdeadnutsonthat。Andtheretrospectivearrangement。
DidyoureadDanDawson’sspeech?MartinCunninghamasked。
Ididnotthen,MrDedalussaid。Whereisit?
Inthepaperthismorning。
MrBloomtookthepaperfromhisinsidepocket。ThatbookImustchangeforher。
No,no,MrDedalussaidquickly。Lateron,please。
MrBloom’sglancetravelleddowntheedgeofthepaper,scanningthedeaths。Callan,Coleman,Dignam,Fawcett,Lowry,Naumann,Peake,whatPeakeisthat?isitthechapwasinCrosbieandAlleyne’s?no,Sexton,Urbright。
Inkedcharactersfastfadingonthefrayedbreakingpaper。ThankstotheLittleFlower。Sadlymissed。Totheinexpressiblegriefofhis。Aged88
afteralongandtediousillness。Month’smind。Quinlan。OnwhosesoulSweetJesushavemercy。ItisnowamonthsincedearHenryfledTohishomeupaboveintheskyWhilehisfamilyweepsandmournshislossHopingsomedaytomeethimonhigh。Itoreuptheenvelope?Yes。WheredidIputherletterafterIreaditinthebath?Hepattedhiswaistcoatpocket。Thereallright。DearHenryfled。Beforemypatienceareexhausted。
Nationalschool。Meade’syard。Thehazard。Onlytwotherenow。Nodding。
Fullasatick。Toomuchboneintheirskulls。Theothertrottingroundwithafare。AnhouragoIwaspassingthere。Thejarviesraisedtheirhats。
Apointsman’sbackstraighteneditselfuprightsuddenlyagainstatramwaystandardbyMrBloom’swindow。Couldn’ttheyinventsomethingautomaticsothatthewheelitselfmuchhandler?Wellbutthatfellowwouldlosehisjobthen?Wellbutthenanotherfellowwouldgetajobmakingthenewinvention?
Antientconcertrooms。Nothingonthere。Amaninabuffsuitwithacrapearmlet。Notmuchgriefthere。Quartermourning。Peopleinlaw,perhaps。
TheywentpastthebleakpulpitofSaintMark’s,undertherailwaybridge,pasttheQueen’stheatre:insilence。Hoardings。EugeneStratton。MrsBandmanPalmer。CouldIgotoseeLeahtonight,Iwonder。IsaidI。OrtheLilyofKillarney?ElsterGrimesOperacompany。Bigpowerfulchange。
Wetbrightbillsfornextweek。FunontheBristol。MartinCunninghamcouldworkapassfortheGaiety。Havetostandadrinkortwo。Asbroadasit’slong。
He’scomingintheafternoon。Hersongs。
Plasto’s。SirPhilipCrampton’smemorialfountainbust。Whowashe?
Howdoyoudo?MartinCunninghamsaid,raisinghispalmtohisbrowinsalute。
Hedoesn’tseeus,MrPowersaid。Yes,hedoes。Howdoyoudo?
Who?MrDedalusasked。
BlazesBoylan,MrPowersaid。Thereheisairinghisquiff。
JustthatmomentIwasthinking。
MrDedalusbentacrosstosalute。FromthedooroftheRedBankthewhitediscofastrawhatflashedreply:passed。
MrBloomreviewedthenailsofhislefthand,thenthoseofhisrighthand。Thenails,yes。Isthereanythingmoreinhimthattheyshesees?
Fascination。WorstmaninDublin。Thatkeepshimalive。TheysometimesfeelwhatapersonIs。Instinct。Butatypelikethat。Mynails。Iamjustlookingatthem:wellpared。Andafter:thinkingalone。Bodygettingabitsofty。Iwouldnoticethatfromremembering。WhatcausesthatIsupposetheskincan’tcontractquicklyenoughwhenthefleshfallsoff。Buttheshapeisthere。Theshapeistherestill。Shoulders。Hips。Plump。Nightofthedancedressing。Shiftstuckbetweenthecheeksbehind。
Heclaspedhishandsbetweenhiskneesand,satisfied,senthisvacantglanceovertheirfaces。
MrPowerasked:
Howistheconcerttourgettingon,Bloom?
Overywell,MrBloomsaid。Iheargreataccountsofit。It’sagoodidea,yousee。
Areyougoingyourself?
Wellno,MrBloomsaid。InpointoffactIhavetogodowntothecountyClareonsomeprivatebusiness。Youseetheideaistotourthechieftowns。Whatyouloseononeyoucanmakeupontheother。
Quiteso,MartinCunninghamsaid。MaryAndersonisuptherenow。
Haveyougoodartists?
LouisWerneristouringher,MrBloomsaid。Oyes,we’llhavealltopnobbers。J。C。DoyleandJohnMacCormackIhopeand。Thebest,infact。
AndMadame,MrPowersaid,smiling。Lastbutnotleast。
MrBloomunclaspedhishandsinagestureofsoftpolitenessandclaspedthem。SmithO’Brien。Someonehaslaidabunchofflowersthere。Woman。
Mustbehisdeathday。Formanyhappyreturns。ThecarriagewheelingbyFarrell’sstatueunitednoiselesslytheirunresistingknees。
Oot:adullgarbedoldmanfromthecurbstonetenderedhiswares,hismouthopening:oot。
Fourbootlacesforapenny。
Wonderwhyhewasstruckofftherolls。HadhisofficeinHumestreet。
SamehouseasMolly’snamesake。Tweedy,crownsolicitorforWaterford。
Hasthatsilkhateversince。Relicsofolddecency。Mourningtoo。Terriblecomedown,poorwretch!kickedaboutlikesnuffatawake。O’Callaghanonhislastlegs。
AndMadame。Twentypasteleven。Up。MrsFlemingisintoclean。
Doingherhair,humming:voglioenonvorrei。No:vorreienon。
Lookingatthetipsofherhairstoseeiftheyaresplit。Mitremaunpocoil。Beautifulonthattrehervoiceis:weepingtone。
Athrust。Athrostle。Thereisawordthrostlethatexpressedthat。
HiseyespassedlightlyoverMrPower’sgoodlookingface。Greyishovertheears。Madame:smiling。Ismiledback。Asmiledoesalongway。
Onlypolitenessperhaps。Nicefellow。Whoknowsisthattrueaboutthewomanhekeeps?Notpleasantforthewife。Yettheysay,whowasittoldme,thereisnocarnal。Youwouldimaginethatwouldgetplayedoutprettyquick。Yes,itwasCroftonmethimoneeveningbringingherapoundofrumpsteak。Whatisthisshewas?BarmaidinJury’s。OrtheMoira,wasit?
TheypassedunderthehugecloakedLiberator’sform。
MartinCunninghamnudgedMrPower。
OfthetribeofReuben,hesaid。
Atallblackbeardedfigure,bentonastick,stumpingroundthecornerofElvery’selephanthouseshowedthemacurvedhandopenonhisspine。
Inallhispristinebeauty,MrPowersaid。
MrDedaluslookedafterthestumpingfigureandsaidmildly:
Thedevilbreakthehaspofyourback!
MrPower,collapsinginlaughter,shadedhisfacefromthewindowasthecarriagepassedGray’sstatue。
Wehaveallbeenthere,MartinCunninghamsaidbroadly。
HiseyesmetMrBloom’seyes。Hecaressedhisbeard,adding:
Well,nearlyallofus。
MrBloombegantospeakwithsuddeneagernesstohiscompanions’faces。
That’sanawfullygoodonethat’sgoingtheroundsaboutReubenJ。andtheson。
Abouttheboatman?MrPowerasked。
Yes。Isn’titawfullygood?
Whatisthat?MrDedalusasked。Ididn’thearit。
Therewasagirlinthecase,MrBloombegan,andhedeterminedtosendhimtotheisleofManoutofharm’swaybutwhentheywereboth……
What?MrDedalusasked。Thatconfirmedbloodyhobbledehoyisit?
Yes,MrBloomsaid。Theywerebothonthewaytotheboatandhetriedtodrown