BLOOMInbabylinenandpelisse,bigheaded,withacaulofdarkhair,fixesbigeyesonherfluidslipandcountsitsbronzebuckleswithachubbyfinger,hismoisttonguetollingandlisping。Onetwotlee:tleetlwotlone。
THEBUCKLESLoveme。Lovemenot。Loveme。
ZOESilentmeansconsent。Withlittlepartedtalonsshecaptureshishand,herforefingergivingtohispalmthepasstouchofsecretmonitor,luringhimtodoom。Hothandscoldgizzard。
Hehesitatesamidscents,music,temptations。Sheleadshimtowardsthesteps,drawinghimbytheodourofherarmpits,theviceofherpaintedeyes,therustleofherslipinwhosesinuousfoldslurksthelionreekofallthemalebrutesthathavepossessedher。
THEMALEBRUTESExhalingsulphurofrutanddungandrampingintheirloosebox,faintlyroaring,theirdruggedheadsswayingtoandfro。
Good!
ZoeandBloomreachthedoorwaywheretwosisterwhoresareseated。
Theyexaminehimcuriouslyfromundertheirpencilledbrowsandsmiletohishastybow。Hetripsawkwardly。
ZOEHerluckyhandinstantlysavinghim。Hoopsa!Don’tfallupstairs。
BLOOMThejustmanfallsseventimes。Hestandsasideatthethreshold。
Afteryouisgoodmanners。
ZOELadiesfirst,gentlemenafter。
Shecrossesthethreshold。Hehesitates。Sheturnsand,holdingoutherhands,drawshimover。Hehops。Ontheantieredrackofthehallhangaman’shatandwaterproofBloomuncovershimselfbut,seeingthem,frowns,thensmiles,preoccupied。Adooronthereturnlandingisthrownopen。Amaninpurpleshirtandgreytrousers,brownsocked,passeswithanapesgait,hisbaldheadandgoateebeardupheld,huggingafullwaterjugjarhistwotailedblackbracesdanglingatheels。AvertinghisfacequicklyBloombendstoexamineonthehalltablethespanieleyesofarunningfox:
then,hisliftedheadsniffing,followsZoeintothemusicroom。Ashadeofmauvetissuepaperdimsthelightofthechandelier。Roundandroundamothflies,colliding,escaping。Theflooriscoveredwithanoilclothmosaicofjadeandazureandcinnabarrhomboids。Footmarksarestampedoveritinallsenses,heeltoheel,heeltohollow,toetotoe,feetlocked,amorrisofshufflingfeetwithoutbodyphantoms,allinascrimmagehiggledypiggledy。
Thewallsaretapes-triedwithapaperofyewfrondsandclearglades。Inthegrateisspreadascreenofpeacockfeathers。Lynchsquatscrossleggedonthehearthrugofmattedhair,hiscapbacktothefront。Withawandhebeatstimeslowly。KittyRicketts,abonypallidwhoreinnavycostume,doeskinglovesrolledbackfromacoralwristlet,achainpurseinherhand,sitsperchedontheedgeofthetableswingingherlegandglancingatherselfinthegiltmirroroverthemantelpiece。Atagofhercorsetlacehangsslightlybelowherjacket。Lynchindicatesmockinglythecoupleatthepiano。
KITTYCoughsbehindherhand。She’sabitimbecilic。Shesignswithawagglingforefinger。Blemblem。Lynchliftsupherskirtandwhitepetticoatwiththewand。Shesettlesthemdownquickly。
Respectyourself。Shehiccups,thenbendsquicklyhersailorhatunderwhichherhairglows,redwithhenna。O,excuse!
ZOEMorelimelight,Charley。Shegoestothechandelierandturnsthegasfullcock。
KITTYPeersatthegasjet。Whatailsittonight?
LYNCHDeeply。Enteraghostandhobgoblins。
ZOEClaponthebackforZoe。
ThewandinLynch’shandflashes:abrasspoker。Stephenstandsatthepianolaonwhichsprawlhishatandashplant。Withtwofingersherepeatsoncemoretheseriesofemptyfifths。FlorryTalbot,ablondfeeblegoosefatwhoreinatatterdemaliongownofmildewedstrawberry,lollsspreadeagleinthesofacorner,herlimpforearmpendentoverthebolster,listening。
Aheavystyedroopsoverhersleepyeyelid。
KITTYHiccupsagainwithakickofherhorsedfoot。O,excuse!
ZOEPromptly。Yourboy’sthinkingofyou。Tieaknotonyourshift。
KittyRickettsbendsherhead。Herboauncoils,slides,glidesoverhershoulder,back,arm,chairtotheground。Lynchliftsthecurledcaterpillaronhiswand。Shesnakesherneck,nestling。Stephenglancesbehindatthesquattedfigurewithitscapbacktothefront。
STEPHENAsamatteroffactitisofnoimportancewhetherBenedettoMarcellofounditormadeit。Theriteisthepoet’srest。ItmaybeanoldhymntoDemeteroralsoillustrateClaenarrantgloriamDomini。
ItissusceptibleofnodesormodesasfarapartashyperphrygianandmixolydianandoftextssodivergentaspriestshaihoopingroundDavid’sthatisCirce’sorwhatamIsayingCeres’altarandDavid’stipfromthestabletohischiefbassoonistabouthisalmightiness。Mais,nomdenom,thatisanotherpairoftrousers。Jetezlagourme。Fautquejeunessesepasse。Hestops,pointsatLynch’scap,smiles,laughs。Whichsideisyourknowledgebump?
THECAPWithsaturninespleen。Bah!Itisbecauseitis。Woman’sreason。Jewgreekisgreekjew。Extremesmeet。Deathisthehighestformoflife。Bah!
STEPHENYourememberfairlyaccuratelyallmyerrors,boasts,mistakes。
HowlongshallIcontinuetoclosemyeyestodisloyalty?Whetstone!
THECAPBah!
STEPHENHere’sanotherforyou。Hefrowns。Thereasonisbecausethefundamentalandthedominantareseparatedbythegreatestpossibleintervalwhich。
THECAPWhich?Finish。Youcan’t。
STEPHENWithoneffort。Intervalwhich。Isthegreatestpossibleellipse。Consistentwith。Theultimatereturn。Theoctave。Which。
THECAPWhich?OutsidethegramophonebeginstoblareTheHolyCity。
STEPHENAbruptly。Whatwentforthtotheendsoftheworldtotraversenotitself。God,thesun,Shakespeare,acommercialtraveller,havingitselftraversedinrealityitself,becomesthatself。Waitamoment。
Waitasecond。Damnthatfellow’snoiseinthestreet。Selfwhichititselfwasineluctablypreconditionedtobecome。Ecco!
LYNCHWithamockingwhinnyoflaughtergrinsatBloomandZoeHiggins。
Whatalearnedspeech,eh?
ZOEBriskly。Godhelpyourhead,heknowsmorethanyouhaveforgotten。
WithobesestupidityFlorryTalbotregardsStephen。
FLORRYTheysaythelastdayiscomingthissummer。
KITTYNo!
ZOEExplodesinlaughter。GreatunjustGod!
FLORRYOffended。Well,itwasinthepapersaboutAntichrist。
O,myfoot’stickling。
Raggedbarefootnewsboys,joggingawagtailkite,patterpast,yelling。
THENEWSBOYSStoppressedition。Resultoftherockinghorseraces。Seaserpentintheroyalcanal。SafearrivalofAntichrist。
StephenturnsandseesBloom。
STEPHENAtime,timesandhalfatime。
ReubenJ。Antichrist,wanderingjew,aclutchinghandopenonhisspine,stumpsforward。Acrosshisloinsisslungapilgrimswalletfromwhichprotrudepromissorynotesanddishonouredbills。Aloftoverhisshoulderhebearsalongboatpolefromthehookofwhichthesoddenhuddledmassofhisonlyson,savedfromLiffeywaters,hangsfromtheslackofitsbreeches。AhobgoblinintheimageofPunchCostello,hipshot,crookbacked,hydrocephalic,prognathicwithrecedingforeheadandAllySlopernose,tumblesinsomersaultsthroughthegatheringdarkness。
ALLWhat?
THEHOBGOBLINHisjawschattering,caperstoandfro,gogglinghiseyes,squeaking,kangaroohopping,withoutstretchedclutchingarms,thenallatoncethrustshisliplessfacethroughtheforkofhisthighs。Ilvient!C’estmoi!L’hommequirit!L’hommeprimigene!Hewhirlsroundandroundwithdervishhowls。Sieursetdames,faitesvosjeux!Hecrouchesjuggling。Tinyrouletteplanetsflyfromhishands。Lesjeuxson!faits!
Theplanetsrushtogether,utteringcrepitantcracks。Rienn’vaplus。
Theplanets,buoyantballoons,sailswollenupandaway。Hespringsoffintovacuum。
FLORRYSinkingintotorpor,crossesherselfsecretly。Theendoftheworld!
Afemaletepideffluviumleaksoutfromher。Nebulousobscurityoccupiesspace。Throughthedriftingfogwithoutthegramophoneblaresovercoughsandfeetshuffling。
THEGRAMOPHONEJerusalem!OpenyourgatesandsingHosanna……
Arocketrushesuptheskyandbursts。Awhitestarfallsfromit,proclaimingtheconsummationofallthingsandsecondcomingofElijah。
Alonganinfiniteinvisibletight-ropetautfromzenithtonadirtheEndoftheWorld,atwoheadedoctopusingillieskilts,busbyandtartanfilibegs,whirlsthroughthemurk,headoverheels,inthefoboftheThreeLugsofMan。
THEENDOFTHEWORLDWithaScotchaccent。Wha’lldancethekeelrow,thekeelrow,thekeelrow?
Overthepassingdriftandchokingbreathcoughs,Elijah’svoice,harshasacorncrakes,jarsonhigh。Perspiringinalooselawnsurplicewithfunnelsleevesheisseen,vergefacedabovearostrumaboutwhichthebannerofoldgloryisdraped。Hethumpstheparapet。
ELIJAHNoyapping,ifyouplease,inthisbooth。JakeCrane,CreoleSue,DaveCampbell,AbeKirschner,doyourcoughingwithyourmouthsshut。
Say,Iamoperatingallthistrunkline。Boys,doitnow。God’stimeis12。25。Tellmotheryou’llbethere。Rushyourorderandyouplayaslickace。Joinonrighthere!Bookthroughtoeternityjunction,thenonstoprun。Justonewordmore。Areyouagodoradoggoneclod?IfthesecondadventcametoConeyIslandareweready?FlorryChrist,StephenChrist,ZoeChrist,BloomChrist,KittyChrist,LynchChrist,it’suptoyoutosensethatcosmicforce。Havewecoldfeetaboutthecosmos?No。Beonthesideoftheangels。Beaprism。Youhavethatsomethingwithin,thehigherself。YoucanrubshoulderswithaJesus,aGautama,anIngersoll。
Areyouallinthisvibration?Isayyouare。Youoncenobblethat,congregation,andabuckjoyridetoheavenbecomesabacknumber。Yougotme?It’salifebrightener,sure。Thehotteststuffeverwas。It’sthewholepiewithjamin。It’sjustthecutestsnappiestlineout。Itisimmense,supersumptuous。
Itrestores。Itvibrates。IknowandIamsomevibrator。Jokingapartandgettingdowntobedrock,A。J。ChristDowieandtheharmonialphilosophy,haveyougotthat?O。K。Seventysevenwestsixtyninthstreet。Gotme?That’sit。Youcallmeupbysunphoneanyoldtime。Bumboosers,saveyourstamps。
Heshouts。Nowthenourglorysong。Alljoinheartilyinthesinging。
Encore!Hesings。Jeru……
THEGRAMOPHONEDrowninghisvoice。Whorusalaminyourhighhohhhh。
Thediscraspsgratinglyagainsttheneedle。
THETHREE’WHORESCoveringtheirears,squawk。Ahhkkk!
ELIJAHInrolledupshirtsleeves,blackintheface,shoutsatthetopofhisvoice,hisarmsuplifted。BigBrotherupthere,MrPresident,youhearwhatIdonejustbeensayingtoyou。Certainly,Isortofbelievestronginyou,MrPresident。IcertainlyamthinkingnowMissHigginsandMissRickettsgotreligionwayinsidethem。CertainlyseemstomeIdon’tneverseenowusserscaredfemalethanthewayyoubeen,MissFlorry,justnowasIdoneseedyou。MrPresident,youcomelongandhelpmesaveoursistersdear。Hewinksathisaudience。OurMrPresident,hetwigthewholelotandheain’tsayingnothing。
KITTY-KATEIforgotmyself。InaweakmomentIerredanddidwhatI
didonConstitutionhill。Iwasconfirmedbythebishop。Mymother’ssistermarriedaMontmorency。ItwasaworkingplumberwasmyruinationwhenI
waspure。
ZOE-FANNYIlethimlarrupitintomeforthefunofit。
FLORRY-TERESAItwasinconsequenceofaportwinebeverageontopofHennessy’sthreestarsIwasguiltywithWhelanwhenheslippedintothebed。
STEPHENInthebeginningwastheword,intheendtheworldwithoutend。Blessedbetheeightbeatitudes。
Thebeatitudes,Dixon,Madden,Crotthers,Costello,Lenehan,Bannon,MulliganandLynchinwhitesurgicalstudents’gowns,fourabreast,goosestepping,trampfastpastinnoisymarching。
THEBEATITUDESIncoherently。Beerbeefbattledogbuybullbusinumbarnumbuggerumbishop。