Hetouchedthethinelbowgently:thentookthelimpseeinghandtoguideitforward。
Saysomethingtohim。Betternotdothecondescending。Theymistrustwhatyoutellthem。Passacommonremark:
Therainkeptoff。
Noanswer。
Stainsonhiscoat。Slobbershisfood,Isuppose。Tastesalldifferentforhim。Havetobespoonfedfirst。Likeachild’shandhishand。LikeMilly’swas。Sensitive。SizingmeupIdaresayfrommyhand。Wonderifhehasaname,Van。Keephiscaneclearofthehorse’slegstireddrudgegethisdoze。That’sright。Clear。Behindabull:infrontofahorse。
Thanks,sir。
KnowsI’maman。Voice。
Rightnow?Firstturntotheleft。
Theblindstriplingtappedthecurbstoneandwentonhisway,drawinghiscaneback,feelingagain。
MrBloomwalkedbehindtheeyelessfeet,aflatcutsuitofherringbonetweed。Pooryoungfellow!Howonearthdidheknowthatvanwasthere?
Musthavefeltit。Seethingsintheirforeheadsperhaps。Kindofsenseofvolume。Weight。Wouldhefeelitifsomethingwasremoved?Feelagap。
QueerideaofDublinhemusthave,tappinghiswayroundbythestones。
Couldhewalkinabeelineifhehadn’tthatcane?Bloodlesspiousfacelikeafellowgoingintobeapriest。
Penrose!Thatwasthatchap’sname。
Lookatallthethingstheycanlearntodo。Readwiththeirfingers。
Tunepianos。Orwearesurprisedtheyhaveanybrains。Whywethinkadeformedpersonorahunchbackcleverifhesayssomethingwemightsay。Ofcoursetheothersensesaremore。Embroider。Plaitbaskets。Peopleoughttohelp。
WorkbasketIcouldbuyMolly’sbirthday。Hatessewing。Mighttakeanobjection。
Darkmentheycallthem。
Senseofsmellmustbestrongertoo。Smellsonallsidesbunchedtogether。
Eachpersontoo。Thenthespring,thesummer:smells。Tastes。Theysayyoucan’ttastewineswithyoureyesshutoracoldinthehead。Alsosmokeinthedarktheysaygetnopleasure。
Andwithawoman,forinstance。Moreshamelessnotseeing。ThatgirlpassingtheStewartinstitution,headintheair。Lookatme。Ihavethemallon。Mustbestrangenottoseeher。Kindofaforminhismind’seye。
Thevoicetemperaturewhenhetouchesherwithfingersmustalmostseethelines,thecurves。Hishandsonherhair,forinstance。Sayitwasblackforinstance。Good。Wecallitblack。Thenpassingoverherwhiteskin。Differentfeelperhaps。Feelingofwhite。
Postoffice。Mustanswer。Fagtoday。Sendherapostalordertwoshillingshalfacrown。Acceptmylittlepresent。Stationer’sjustheretoo。Wait。
Thinkoverit。
Withagentlefingerhefelteversoslowlythehaircombedbackabovehisears。Again。Fibresoffinefinestraw。Thengentlyhisfingerfelttheskinofhisrightcheek。Downyhairtheretoo。Notsmoothenough。Thebellyisthesmoothest。No-oneabout。TherehegoesintoFrederickstreet。
PerhapstoLevenston’sdancingacademypiano。Mightbesettlingmybraces。
WalkingbyDoran’spublichouseheslidhishandbetweenwaistcoatandtrousersand,pullingasidehisshirtgently,feltaslackfoldofhisbelly。ButIknowit’swhiteyellow。Wanttotryinthedarktosee。
Hewithdrewhishandandpulledhisdressto。
Poorfellow!Quiteaboy。Terrible。Reallyterrible。Whatdreamswouldhehave,notseeing?Lifeadreamforhim。Whereisthejusticebeingbornthatway?AllthosewomenandchildrenexcursionbeanfeastburnedanddrownedinNewYork。Holocaust。Karmatheycallthattransmigrationforsinsyoudidinapastlifethereincarnationmethimpike-hoses。Dear,dear,dear。
Pityofcourse:butsomehowyoucan’tcottonontothemsomeway。
SirFrederickFalkinergoingintothefreemasons’hall。SolemnasTroy。
AfterhisgoodlunchinEarlsfortterrace。Oldlegalcroniescrackingamagnum。Talesofthebenchandassizesandannalsofthebluecoatschool。
Isentencedhimtotenyears。Isupposehe’dturnuphisnoseatthatstuffIdrank。Vintagewineforthem,theyearmarkedonadustybottle。Hashisownideasofjusticeintherecorder’scourt。Wellmeaningoldman。
Policechargesheetscrammedwithcasesgettheirpercentagemanufacturingcrime。Sendsthemtotherightabout。Thedevilonmoneylenders。GaveReubenJ。agreatstrawcalling。Nowhe’sreallywhattheycalladirtyjew。Powerthosejudgeshave。Crustyoldtopersinwigs。Bearwithasorepaw。AndmaytheLordhavemercyonyoursoul。
Hello,placard。Mirusbazaar。Hisexcellencythelordlieutenant。Sixteenthtodayitis。InaidoffundsforMercer’shospital。TheMessiahwasfirstgivenforthat。YesHandel。Whataboutgoingoutthere。Ballsbridge。
DropinonKeyes。Nousestickingtohimlikealeech。Wearoutmywelcome。
Suretoknowsomeoneonthegate。
MrBloomcametoKildareStreet。FirstImust。Library。
Strawhatinsunlight。Tanshoes。Turneduptrousers。Itis。Itis。
Hisheartquoppedsoftly。Totheright。Museum。Goddesses。Heswervedtotheright。
Isit?Almostcertain。Won’tlook。Wineinmyface。WhydidI?Tooheady。
Yes,itis。Thewalk。Notsee。Notsee。Geton。
Makingforthemuseumgatewithlongwindystridesheliftedhiseyes。
Handsomebuilding。SirThomasDeanedesigned。Notfollowingme?
Didn’tseemeperhaps。Lightinhiseyes。
Theflutterofhisbreathcameforthinshortsighs。Quick。Coldstatues:
quietthere。Safeinaminute。
No,didn’tseeme。Aftertwo。Justatthegate。
Myheart!
Hiseyesbeatinglookedsteadfastlyatcreamcurvesofstone。SirThomasDeanewastheGreekarchitecture。
LookforsomethingI。
Hishastyhandwentquickintoapocket,tookout,readunfoldedAgendathNetaim。WheredidI?
Busylookingfor。
HethrustbackquicklyAgendath。
Afternoonshesaid。
Iamlookingforthat。Yes,that。Tryallpockets。Handker。Freeman。
WheredidI?Ah,yes。Trousers。Purse。Potato。WheredidI?
Hurry。Walkquietly。Momentmore。Myheart。
HishandlookingforthewheredidIputfoundinhishippocketsoaplotionhavetocalltepidpaperstuck,Ah,soapthere!Yes。Gate。
Safe!
JOYCE:Ulysses,ScyllaandCharybdisScyllaandCharybdisURBANE,TOCOMFORTTHEM,THEQUAKERLIBRARIANPURRED:
Andwehave,havewenot,thosepricelesspagesofWilhelmMeister?Agreatpoetonagreatbrotherpoet。Ahesitatingsoultakingarmsagainstaseaoftroubles,tornbyconflictingdoubts,asoneseesinreallife。
Hecameastepasinkapaceforwardonneatsleathercreakingandastepbackwardasinkapaceonthesolemnfloor。
Anoiselessattendant,settingopenthedoorbutslightly,madehimanoiselessbeck。
Directly,saidhe,creakingtogo,albeitlingering。Thebeautifulineffectualdreamerwhocomestogriefagainsthardfacts。OnealwaysfeelsthatGoethe’sjudgmentsaresotrue。Trueinthelargeranalysis。
Twicreakinglyanalysishecorantoedoff。Bald,mostzealousbythedoorhegavehislargeearalltotheattendant’swords:heardthem:andwasgone。
Twoleft。
MonsieurdelaPalisse,Stephensneered,wasalivefifteenminutesbeforehisdeath。
Haveyoufoundthosesixbravemedicals,JohnEglintonaskedwithelder’sgall,towriteParadiseLostatyourdictation?TheSorrowsofSatanhecallsit。
Smile。SmileCranly’ssmile。FirsthetickledherThenhepattedherThenhepassedthefemalecatheter。
Forhewasamedicaljollyoldmedi。IfeelyouwouldneedonemoreforHamlet。Sevenisdeartothemysticmind。TheshiningsevenW。B。callsthem。
Glittereyed,hisrufousskullclosetohisgreencappeddesklampsoughttheface,beardedamiddarkgreenershadow,anollav,holyeyed。Helaughedlow:asizar’slaughofTrinity:unanswered。OrchestralSatan,weepingmanyaroodTearssuchasangelsweep。
Edegliaveadelculfattotrombetta。Heholdsmyfollieshostage。
Cranly’seleventrueWicklowmentofreetheirsireland。GaptoothedKathleen,herfourbeautifulgreenfields,thestrangerinherhouse。Andonemoretohailhim:ave,rabbi。TheTinahelytwelve。Intheshadowoftheglenhecooeesforthem。Mysoul’syouthIgavehim,nightbynight。Godspeed。
Goodhunting。
Mulliganhasmytelegram。
Folly。Persist。
OuryoungIrishbards,JohnEglintoncensured,haveyettocreateafigurewhichtheworldwillsetbesideSaxonShakespeare’sHamletthoughIadmirehim,asoldBendid,onthissideidolatry。
Allthesequestionsarepurelyacademic,Russelloracledoutofhisshadow。Imean,whetherHamletisShakespeareorJamesIorEssex。Clergymen’sdiscussionsofthehistoricityofJesus。Arthastorevealtousideas,formlessspiritualessences。Thesupremequestionaboutaworkofartisoutofhowdeepalifedoesitspring。ThepaintingofGustaveMoreauisthepaintingofideas。ThedeepestpoetryofShelley,thewordsofHamletbringourmindintocontactwiththeeternalwisdom,Plato’sworldofideas。
Alltherestisthespeculationofschoolboysforschoolboys。
A。E。hasbeentellingsomeyankeeinterviewer。Wall,tarnationstrikeme!
Theschoolmenwereschoolboysfirst,Stephensaidsuperpolitely。
AristotlewasoncePlato’sschoolboy。
Andhasremainedso,oneshouldhope,JohnEglintonsedatelysaid。
Onecanseehim,amodelschoolboywithhisdiplomaunderhisarm。
Helaughedagainatthenowsmilingbeardedface。
Formlessspiritual。Father,WordandHolyBreath。Allfather,theheavenlyman。HiesosKristos,magicianofthebeautiful,theLogoswhosuffersinusateverymoment。Thisverilyisthat。Iamthefireuponthealtar。
Iamthesacrificialbutter。
Dunlop,Judge,thenoblestRomanofthemall,A。E。,Arval,theNameIneffable,inheavenhight,K。H。,theirmaster,whoseidentityisnosecrettoadepts。Brothersofthegreatwhitelodgealwayswatchingtoseeiftheycanhelp。TheChristwiththebridesister,moistureoflight,bornofanensouledvirgin,repentantsophia,departedtotheplaneofbuddhi。
Thelifeesotericisnotforordinaryperson。O。P。mustworkoffbadkarmafirst。MrsCooperOakleyonceglimpsedourveryillustrioussisterH。P。
B’selemental。
O,fie!Outon’t!Pfuiteufel!Younaughtn’ttolook,missus,soyounaughtn’twhenalady’sashowingofherelemental。
MrBestentered,tall,young,mild,light。Heboreinhishandwithgraceanotebook,new,large,clean,bright。
Thatmodelschoolboy,Stephensaid,wouldfindHamlet’smusingsabouttheafterlifeofhisprincelysoul,theimprobable,insignificantandundramaticmonologue,asshallowasPlato’s。
JohnEglinton,frowning,said,waxingwroth:
UponmyworditmakesmybloodboiltohearanyonecompareAristotlewithPlato。
Whichofthetwo,Stephenasked,wouldhavebanishedmefromhiscommonwealth?
Unsheatheyourdaggerdefinitions。Horsenessisthewhatnessofallhorse。
Streamsoftendencyandeonstheyworship。God:noiseinthestreet:veryperipatetic。Space:whatyoudamnwellhavetosee。Throughspacessmallerthanredglobulesofman’sbloodtheycreepycrawlafterBlake’sbuttocksintoeternityofwhichthisvegetableworldisbutashadow。Holdtothenow,thehere,throughwhichallfutureplungestothepast。
MrBestcameforward,amiable,towardshiscolleague。