BLOOMDon’taskme。Ourmutualfaith。Pleasantsstreet。Ionlythoughtthehalfofthe……Iswearonmysacredoath……
BELLOPeremptorily。Answer。Repugnantwretch!Iinsistonknowing。
Tellmesomethingtoamuseme,smutorabloodygood-ghoststoryoralineofpoetry,quick,quick,quick!Where?How?Whattime?Withhowmany?I
giveyoujustthreeseconds。One!Two!Thr……!
BLOOMDocile,gurgles。Irererepugnosedinrerererepugnant……
BELLOImperiously。Ogetout,youskunk!Holdyourtongue!
Speakwhenyou’respokento。
BLOOMBows。Master!Mistress!Mantamer!
Heliftshisarms。Hisbanglebraceletsfall。
BELLOSatirically。Bydayyouwillsouseandbatoursmellingunderclothes,alsowhenweladiesareunwell,andswaboutourlatrineswithdresspinnedupandadishclouttiedtoyourtail。Won’tthatbenice?Heplacesarubyringonherfinger。Andtherenow!WiththisringItheeown。
Say,thankyou,mistress。
BLOOMThankyou,mistress。
BELLOYouwillmakethebeds,getmytubready,emptythepisspotsinthedifferentrooms,includingoldMrsKeogh’sthecook’s,asandyone。
Ay,andrinsethesevenofthemwell,mind,orlapituplikechampagne。
Drinkmepipinghot。Hop!youwilldanceattendanceorI’lllectureyouonyourmisdeeds,MissRuby,andspankyourbarebotrightwell,miss,withthehairbrush。You’llbetaughttheerrorofyourways。Atnightyourwellcreamedbraceletedhandswillwearfortythreebuttonglovesnewpowderedwithtalcandhavingdelicatelyscentedfingertips。Forsuchfavoursknightsofoldlaiddowntheirlives。Hechuckles。Myboyswillbenoendcharmedtoseeyousoladylike,thecolonel,aboveall。Whentheycomeherethenightbeforetheweddingtofondlemynewattractioningildedheels。First,I’llhaveagoatyoumyself。AmanIknowontheturfnamedCharlesAlbertaMarshIwasinbedwithhimjustnowandanothergentlemanoutoftheHanaperandPettyBagofficeisonthelookoutforamaidofallworkatashortknock。Swellthebust。Smile。Droopshoulders。Whatoffers?Hepoints。Forthatlottrainedbyownertofetchandcarry,basketinmouth。HebareshisarmandplungesitelbowdeepinBloom’svulva。There’sfinedepthforyou!What,boys?Thatgiveyouahardon?Heshoveshisarminabidder’sface。Here,wetthedeckandwipeitround!
ABIDDERAflorin!
Dillon’slacqueyringshishandbell。
AVOICEOneandeightpencetoomuch。
THELACQUEYBarang!
CHARLESALBERTAMARSHMustbevirgin。Goodbreath。Clean。
BELLOGivesarapwithhisgavel。Twobar。Rockbottomfigureandcheapattheprice。Fourteenhandshigh。Touchandexaminehispoints。
Handlehim。Thisdownyskin,thesesoftmuscles,thistenderflesh。IfIhadonlymygoldpiercerhere!Andquiteeasytomilk。Threenewlaidgallonsaday。Apurestockgetter,duetolaywithinthehour。Hissire’smilkrecordwasathousandgallonsofwholemilkinfortyweeks。Whoa,myjewel!Begup!Whoa!HebrandshisinitialConBloom’scroup。
So!WarrantedCohen!Whatadvanceontwobob,gentlemen?
ADARKVISAGEDMANIndisguisedaccent。Hoondertpuntsterlink。
VOICESSubdued。FortheCaliphHarounAlRaschid。
BELLOGaily。Right。Letthemallcome。Thescanty,daringlyshortskirt,ridingupatthekneetoshowapeepofwhitepantalette,isapotentweaponandtransparentstockings,emeraldgartered,withthelongstraightseamtrailingupbeyondtheknee,appealtothebetterinstinctsoftheblasé;manabouttown。LearnthesmoothmincingwalkonfourinchLouisXVheels,theGrecianbendwithprovokingcroup,thethighsfluescent,kneesmodestlykissing。Bringallyourpoweroffascinationtobearonthem。PandertotheirGomorrahanvices。
BLOOMBendshisblushingfaceintohisarmpitandsimperswithforefingerinmouth。O,Iknowwhatyou’rehintingatnow。
BELLOWhatelseareyougoodfor,animpotentthinglikeyou?Hestoopsand,peering,pokeswithhisfanrudelyunderthefatsuetfoldsofBloom’shaunches。Up!Up!Manxcat!Whathavewehere?Where’syourcurlyteapotgonetoorwhodockeditonyou,cockyolly?Sing,birdy,sing。It’saslimpasaboyofsix’sdoinghispoolybehindacart。Buyabucketorsellyourpump。Loudly。Canyoudoaman’sjob?
BLOOMEcclesStreet。
BELLOSarcastically。Iwouldn’thurtyourfeelingsfortheworldbutthere’samanofbrawninpossessionthere。Thetablesareturned,mygayyoungfellow!Heissomethinglikeafullgrownoutdoorman。Wellforyou,youmuff,ifyouhadthatweaponwithknobsandlumpsandwartsalloverit。Heshothisbolt,Icantellyou!Foottofoot,kneetoknee,bellytobelly,bubstobreast!He’snoeunuch。Ashockofredhairhehasstickingoutofhimbehindlikeafurzebush!Waitforninemonths,mylad!Holyginger,it’skickingandcoughingupanddowninhergutsalready!Thatmakesyouwild,don’tit?Touchesthespot?Hespitsincontempt。Spittoon!
BLOOMIwasindecentlytreated,I……informthepolice。Hundredpounds。
Unmentionable。I。
BELLOWouldifyoucould,lameduck。Adownpourwewant,notyourdrizzle。
BLOOMTodrivememad!Moll!Iforgot!Forgive!Moll!……We……Still……
BELLORuthlessly。No,LeopoldBloom,allischangedbywoman’swillsinceyouslepthorizontalinSleepyHollowyournightoftwentyyears。
Returnandsee。
OldSleepyHollowcallsoverthewold。
SLEEPYHOLLOWRipVanWinkle!RipVanWinkle!
BLOOMIntatteredmoccasinswitharustyfowlingpiece,tiptoeing,fingertipping,hishaggardbonybeardedfacepeeringthroughthediamondpanes,criesout。Iseeher!It’sshe!ThefirstnightatMatDillon’s!
Butthatdress,thegreen!Andherhairisdyedgoldandhe。
BELLOLaughsmockingly。That’syourdaughter,youowl,withaMullingarstudent。
MillyBloom,fairhaired,greenvested,slimsandalled,herbluescabintheseawindsimplyswirling,breaksfromthearmsofherloverandcalls,heryoungeyeswonderwide。
MILLYMy!It’sPapli!But。OPapli,howoldyou’vegrown!
BELLOChanged,eh?Ourwhatnot,ourwritingtablewhereweneverwrote,AuntHegarty’sarmchair,ourclassicreprintsofoldmasters。Amanandhismenfriendsarelivingthereinclover。TheCuckoos’Rest!Whynot?Howmanywomenhadyou,say?Followingthemupdarkstreets,flatfoot,excitingthembyyoursmotheredgrunts。What,youmaleprostitute?Blamelessdameswithparcelsofgroceries。Turnabout。Sauceforthegoose,mygander,O。
BLOOMThey……I
BELLOCuttingly。TheirheelmarkswillstamptheBrusselettecarpetyouboughtatWren’sauction。IntheirhorseplaywithMolltheromptofindthebuckfleainherbreechestheywilldefacethelittlestatueyoucarriedhomeintherainforartforart’ssake。Theywillviolatethesecretsofyourbottomdrawer。Pageswillbetornfromyourhandbookofastronomytomakethempipespills。AndtheywillspitinyourtenshillingbrassfenderfromHamptonLeedom’s。
BLOOMTenandsix。Theactoflowscoundrels。Letmego。Iwillreturn。
Iwillprove……
AVOICESwear!
Bloomclencheshisfistsandcrawlsforward,abowieknifebetweenhisteeth。
BELLOAsapayingguestorakeptman?Toolate。Youhavemadeyoursecondbestbedandothersmustlieinit。Yourepitaphiswritten。Youaredownandoutanddon’tyouforgetit,oldbean。
BLOOMJustice!AllIrelandversusone!Hasnobody……?
Hebiteshisthumb。
BELLODieandbedamnedtoyouifyouhaveanysenseofdecencyorgraceaboutyou。Icangiveyouarareoldwinethat’llsendyouskippingtohellandback。Signawillandleaveusanycoinyouhave。Ifyouhavenoneseeyoudamnwellgetit,stealit,robit!We’llburyyouinourshrubberyjakeswhereyou’llbedeadanddirtywitholdCuckCohen,mystepnephewImarried,thebloodyoldgoutyprocuratorandsodomitewithacrickinhisneck,andmyothertenorelevenhusbands,whateverthebuggers’nameswere,suffocatedintheonecesspool。Heexplodesinaloudphlegmylaugh。We’llmanureyou,MrFlower!Hepipesscoffingly。
Byby,Poldy!Byby,Papli!
BLOOMClaspshishead。Mywillpower!Memory!Ihavesinned!
Ihavesuff……Heweepstearlessly。
BELLOSneers。Crybabby!Crocodiletears!
Bloom,broken,closelyveiledforthesacrifice,sobs,hisfacetotheearth。Thepassingbellisheard。Darkshawledfiguresofthecircumcised,insackclothandashes,standbythewailingwall。M。Shulomowitz,JosephGoldwaterMosesHerzog,HarrisRosenberg,M。Moisel,J。Citron,MinnieWatchman,0。Mastiansky,theReverendLeopoldAbramovitz,Chazen。WithswayingarmstheywailinpneumaovertherecreantBloom。
THECIRCUMCISEDInadarkgutturalchantastheycastdeadseafruituponhim,noflowers。ShemaIsraelAdonaiElohenuAdonaiEchad。
VOICESSighing。Sohe’sgone。Ah,yes。Yes,indeed。Bloom?
Neverheardofhim。No?Queerkindofchap。There’sthewidow。Thatso?
Ah,yes。
Fromthesutteepyretheflameofgumcamphireascends。Thepallofincensesmokescreensanddisperses。Outofheroakframeanymphwithhairunbound,lightlycladinteabrownartcolours,descendsfromhergrottoandpassingunderinterlacingyews,standsoverBloom。
THEYEWSTheirleaveswhispering。Sister。Oursister。Ssh。
THENYMPHSoftly。Mortal!Kindly。Nay,dostnotweepest!
BLOOMCrawlsjellilyforwardundertheboughs,streakedbysunlight,withdignity。Thisposition。Ifeltitwasexpectedofme。Forceofhabit。
THENYMPHMortal!Youfoundmeinevilcompany,highkickers,costerpicnicmakers,pugilists,populargenerals,immoralpantoboysinfleshtightsandtheniftyshimmydancers,LaAuroraandKarini,musicalact,thehitofthecentury。Iwashiddenincheappinkpaperthatsmeltofrockoil。Iwassurroundedbythestalesmutofclubmen,storiestodisturbcallowyouth,adsfortransparencies,truedupdiceandbustpads,proprietaryarticlesandwhywearatrusswithtestimonialfromrupturedgentleman。
Usefulhintstothemarried。
BLOOMLiftsaturtleheadtowardsherlap。Wehavemetbefore。
Onanotherstar。
THENYMPHSadly。Rubbergoods。Neverrip。Brandassuppliedtothearistocracy。Corsetsformen。Icurefitsormoneyrefunded。UnsolicitedtestimonialsforProfessorWaldmann’swonderfulchestexuber。Mybustdevelopedfourinchesinthreeweeks,reportsMrsGusRublinwithphoto。
BLOOMYoumeanPhotoBits?
THENYMPHIdo。Youboremeaway,framedmeinoakandtinsel,setmeaboveyourmarriagecouch。Unseen,onesummereve,youkissedmeinfourplaces。Andwithlovingpencilyoushadedmyeyes,mybosomandmyshame。
BLOOMHumblykissesherlonghair。Yourclassiccurves,beautifulimmortal。Iwasgladtolookonyou,topraiseyou,athingofbeauty,almosttopray。
THENYMPHDuringdarknightsIheardyourpraise。
BLOOMQuickly。Yes,yes。YoumeanthatI……Sleeprevealstheworstsideofeveryone,childrenperhapsexcepted。IknowIfelloutofmybedorratherwaspushed。Steelwineissaidtocuresnoring。FortherestthereisthatEnglishinvention,pamphletofwhichIreceivedsomedaysago,incorrectlyaddressed。Itclaimstoaffordanoiselessinoffensivevent。Hesighs。’Twaseverthus。Frailty,thynameismarriage。
THENYMPHHerfingersinherears。Andwords。Theyarenotinmydictionary。
BLOOMYouunderstoodthem?
THEYEWSSsh。
THENYMPHCoversherfacewithherhand。WhathaveInotseeninthatchamber?Whatmustmyeyeslookdownon?
BLOOMApologetically。Iknow。Soiledpersonallinen,wrongsideupwithcare。Thequoitsareloose。FromGibraltarbylongsea,longago。
THENYMPHBendsherhead。Worse!Worse!
BLOOMReflectsprecautiously。Thatantiquatedcommode。Itwasn’therweight。Shescaledjustelevenstonenine。Sheputonninepoundsafterweaning。Itwasacrackandwantofglue。Eh?Andthatabsurdorangekeyedutensilwhichhasonlyonehandle。