Hecaughthimselfintheact:lookedatall:refrained。
Anattendantfromthedoorwaycalled:
MrLyster!FatherDineenwants……
O!FatherDineen!Directly。
Swiftlyrectlycreakingrectlyrectlyhewasrectlygone。
JohnEglintontouchedthefoil。
Come,hesaid。LetushearwhatyouhavetosayofRichardandEdmund。
Youkeptthemforthelast,didn’tyou?
InaskingyoutorememberthosetwonoblekinsmennuncleRichieandnuncleEdmund,Stephenanswered,IfeelIamaskingtoomuchperhaps。A
brotherisaseasilyforgottenasanumbrella。
Lapwing。
Whereisyourbrother?Apothecaries’hall。Mywhetstone。Him,thenCranly,Mulligan:nowthese。Speech,speech。Butact。Actspeech。Theymocktotryyou。Act。Beactedon。
Lapwing。
Iamtiredofmyvoice,thevoiceofEsau。Mykingdomforadrink。
On。
Youwillsaythosenameswerealreadyinthechroniclesfromwhichhetookthestuffofhisplays。Whydidhetakethemratherthanothers?
Richard,awhoresoncrookback,misbegotten,makeslovetoawidowedAnnwhat’sinaname?,woosandwinsher,awhoresonmerrywidow。Richardtheconqueror,thirdbrother,cameafterWilliamtheconquered。Theotherfouractsofthatplayhanglimplyfromthatfirst。OfallhiskingsRichardistheonlykingunshieldedbyShakespeare’sreverence,theangeloftheworld。WhyistheunderplotofKingLearinwhichEdmundfiguresliftedoutofSidney’sArcadiaandspatchcockedontoaCelticlegendolderthanhistory?
ThatwasWill’sway,JohnEglintondefended。WeshouldnotnowcombineaNorsesagawithanexcerptfromanovelbyGeorgeMeredith。Quevoulez-vous?Moorewouldsay。HeputsBohemiaontheseacoastandmakesUlyssesquoteAristotle。
Why?Stephenansweredhimself。BecausethethemeofthefalseortheusurpingortheadulterousbrotherorallthreeinoneistoShakespeare,whatthepoorisnot,alwayswithhim。Thenoteofbanishment,banishmentfromtheheart,banishmentfromhome,soundsuninterruptedlyfromTheTwoGentlemenofVeronaonwardtillProsperobreakshisstaff,buriesitcertainfathomsintheearthanddrownshisbook。Itdoublesitselfinthemiddleofhislife,reflectsitselfinanother,repeatsitself,protasis,epitasis,catastasis,catastrophe。Itrepeatsitselfagainwhenheisnearthegrave,whenhismarrieddaughterSusan,chipoftheoldblock,isaccusedofadultery。Butitwastheoriginalsinthatdarkenedhisunderstanding,weakenedhiswillandleftinhimastronginclinationtoevil。ThewordsarethoseofmylordsbishopsofMaynooth:anoriginalsinand,likeoriginalsin,committedbyanotherinwhosesinhetoohassinned。Itisbetweenthelinesofhislastwrittenwords,itispetrifiedonhistombstoneunderwhichherfourbonesarenottobelaid。Agehasnotwitheredit。Beautyandpeacehavenotdoneitaway。Itisininfinitevarietyeverywhereintheworldhehascreated,inMuchAdoaboutNothing,twiceinAsyoulikeIt,inTheTempest,inHamlet,inMeasureforMeasure,andinalltheotherplayswhichIhavenotread。
Helaughedtofreehismindfromhismind’sbondage。JudgeEglintonsummedup。
Thetruthismidway,heaffirmed。Heistheghostandtheprince。
Heisallinall。
Heis,Stephensaid。Theboyofactoneisthematuremanofactfive。Allinall。InCymbeline,inOthelloheisbawdandcuckold。Heactsandisactedon。Loverofanidealoraperversion,likeJosé;hekillstherealCarmen。HisunremittingintellectisthehornmadIagoceaselesslywillingthatthemoorinhimshallsuffer。
Cuckoo!Cuckoo!CuckMulligancluckedlewdly。Owordoffear!
Darkdomereceived,reverbed。
AndwhatacharacterisIago!undauntedJohnEglintonexclaimed。
WhenallissaidDumasfilsorisitDumaspè;re?
isright。AfterGodShakespearehascreatedmost。
Mandelightshimnotnorwomanneither,Stephensaid。Hereturnsafteralifeofabsencetothatspotofearthwherehewasborn,wherehehasalwaysbeen,manandboy,asilentwitnessandthere,hisjourneyoflifeended,heplantshismulberrytreeintheearth。Thendies。Themotionisended。GravediggersburyHamletpé;reandHamletfils。Akingandaprinceatlastindeath,withincidentalmusic。
And,whatthoughmurderedandbetrayed,beweptbyallfrailtenderheartsfor,DaneorDubliner,sorrowforthedeadistheonlyhusbandfromwhomtheyrefusetobedivorced。Ifyouliketheepiloguelooklongonit:prosperousProspero,thegoodmanrewarded,Lizzie,grandpa’slumpoflove,andnuncleRichie,thebadmantakenoffbypoeticjusticetotheplacewherethebadniggersgo。Strongcurtain。Hefoundintheworldwithoutasactualwhatwasinhisworldwithinaspossible。Maeterlincksays:IfSocratesleavehishousetodayhewillfindthesageseatedonhisdoorstep。IfJudasgoforthtonightitistoJudashisstepswilltend。Everylifeismanydays,dayafterday。Wewalkthroughourselves,meetingrobbers,ghosts,giants,oldmen,youngmen,wives,widows,brothers-in-love。Butalwaysmeetingourselves。TheplaywrightwhowrotethefolioofthisworldandwroteitbadlyHegaveuslightfirstandthesuntwodayslater,thelordofthingsastheyarewhomthemostRomanofcatholicscalldioboia,hangmangod,isdoubtlessallinallinallofus,ostlerandbutcher,andwouldbebawdandcuckoldtoobutthatintheeconomyofheaven,foretoldbyHamlet,therearenomoremarriages,glorifiedman,anandrogynousangel,beingawifeuntohimself。
Eureka!BuckMulligancried。Eureka!
SuddenlyhappiedhejumpedupandreachedinastrideJohnEglinton’sdesk。
MayI?hesaid。TheLordhasspokentoMalachi。
Hebegantoscribbleonaslipofpaper。
Takesomeslipsfromthecountergoingout。
Thosewhoaremarried,MrBest,douceherald,said,allsaveone,shalllive。Therestshallkeepastheyare。
Helaughed,unmarried,atEglintonJohannes,ofartsabachelor。
Unwed,unfancied,wareofwiles,theyfingerpondernightlyeachhisvariorumeditionofTheTamingoftheShrew。
Youareadelusion,saidroundlyJohnEglintontoStephen。YouhavebroughtusallthiswaytoshowusaFrenchtriangle。Doyoubelieveyourowntheory?
No,Stephensaidpromptly。
Areyougoingtowriteit?MrBestasked。Yououghttomakeitadialogue,don’tyouknow,likethePlatonicdialoguesWildewrote。
JohnEclecticondoublysmiled。
Well,inthatcase,hesaid,Idon’tseewhyyoushouldexpectpaymentforitsinceyoudon’tbelieveityourself。DowdenbelievesthereissomemysteryinHamletbutwillsaynomore。HerrBleibtreu,themanPipermetinBerlin,whoisworkingupthatRutlandtheory,believesthatthesecretishiddenintheStratfordmonument。Heisgoingtovisitthepresentduke,Pipersays,andprovetohimthathisancestorwrotetheplays。Itwillcomeasasurprisetohisgrace。Buthebelieveshistheory。
Ibelieve,OLord,helpmyunbelief。Thatis,helpmetobelieveorhelpmetounbelieve?Whohelpstobelieve?Egomen。Whotounbelieve?
Otherchap。
YouaretheonlycontributortoDanawhoasksforpiecesofsilver。ThenIdon’tknowaboutthenextnumber。FredRyanwantsspaceforanarticleoneconomics。
Fraidrine。Twopiecesofsilverhelentme。Tideyouover。Economics。
Foraguinea,Stephensaid,youcanpublishthisinterview。
BuckMulliganstoodupfromhislaughingscribbling,laughing:andthengravelysaid,honeyingmalice:
IcalleduponthebardKinchathissummerresidenceinupperMecklenburghstreetandfoundhimdeepinthestudyoftheSummacontraGentilesinthecompanyoftwogonorrhealladies,FreshNellyandRosalie,thecoalquaywhore。
Hebrokeaway。
Come,Kinch。Come,wandering&;Aelig;ngusofthebirds。
Come,Kinch,youhaveeatenallweleft。Ay,Iwillserveyouyourortsandoffals。
Stephenrose。
Lifeismanydays。Thiswillend。
Weshallseeyoutonight,JohnEglintonsaid。NotreamiMooresaysMalachiMulliganmustbethere。
BuckMulliganflauntedhisslipandpanama。
MonsieurMoore,hesaid,lectureronFrenchletterstotheyouthofIreland。I’llbethere。Come,Kinch,thebardsmustdrink。Canyouwalkstraight?
Laughinghe……
Swilltilleleven。Irishnights’entertainment。
Lubber……
Stephenfollowedalubber……
Onedayinthenationallibrarywehadadiscussion。Shakes。AfterhislubbackIfollowed。Igallhiskibe。
Stephen,greeting,thenallamort,followedalubberjester,awellkempthead,newbarbered,outofthevaultedcellintoashatteringdaylightofnothoughts。
WhathaveIlearned?Ofthem?Ofme?
WalklikeHainesnow。
Theconstantreaders’room。Inthereaders’bookCasheBoyleO’ConnorFitzmauriceTisdallFarrellparafeshispolysyllables。Item:wasHamletmad?Thequaker’spategodlilywithapriesteeninbooktalk。
Opleasedo,sir……Ishallbemostpleased……
AmusedBuckMulliganmusedinpleasantmurmurwithhimself,selfnodding:
Apleasedbottom。
Theturnstile。
Isthat?……Blueribbonedhat……Idlywriting……What?Looked?……
Thecurvingbalustrade;smoothslidingMincius。
PuckMulligan,panamahelmeted,wentstepbystep,iambing,trolling:JohnEglinton,myjo,John。
Whywon’tyouwedawife?Hesputteredtotheair:
O,thechinlessChinaman!ChinChonEgLinTon。Wewentovertotheirplaybox,HainesandI,theplumbers’hall。OurplayersarecreatinganewartforEuropeliketheGreeksorM。Maeterlinck。Abbeytheatre!Ismellthepublicsweatofmonks。
Hespatblank。
Forgot:anymorethanheforgotthewhippinglousyLucygavehim。Andleftthefemmedetrenteans。Andwhynootherchildrenborn?Andhisfirstchildagirl?
Afterwit。Goback。
Thedourreclusestilltherehehashiscakeandthedouceyoungling,minionofpleasure,Phedo’stoyablefairhair。
Eh……Ijusteh……wanted……Iforgot……he……
LongworthandM’CurdyAtkinsonwerethere……IhardlyhearthepurlieucryOraTommytalkasIpassonebyBeforemythoughtsbegintorunOnF。M’CurdyAtkinson,ThesamethathadthewoodenlegAndthatfilibusteringfillibegThatneverdaredtoslakehisdrouth,Mageethathadthechinlessmouth。
BeingafraidtomarryonearthTheymasturbatedforalltheywereworth。Jeston。Knowthyself。
Haltedbelowme,aquizzerlooksatme。Ihalt。
Mournfulmummer,BuckMulliganmoaned。Syngehasleftoffwearingblacktobelikenature。Onlycrows,priestsandEnglishcoalareblack。
Alaughtrippedoverhislips。
Longworthisawfullysick,hesaid,afterwhatyouwroteaboutthatoldhakeGregory。Oyouinquisitionaldrunkenjewjesuit!ShegetsyouajobonthepaperandthenyougoandslateherdriveltoJaysus。Couldn’tyoudotheYeatstouch?
Hewentonanddown,mopping,chantingwithwavinggracefularms:
Themostbeautifulbookthathascomeoutofourcountryinmytime。
OnethinksofHomer。
Hestoppedatthestairfoot。
Ihaveconceivedaplayforthemummers,hesaidsolemnly。
ThepillaredMoorishhall,shadowsentwined。Gonetheninemen’smorricewithcapsofindices。
InsweetlyvaryingvoicesBuckMulliganreadhistablet:EverymanHisownWifeorAHoneymoonintheHandanationalimmoralityinthreeorgasms
byBallockyMulliganHeturnedahappypatch’ssmirktoStephen,saying:
Thedisguise,Ifear,isthin。Butlisten。
Heread,marcato: