Thesoundofawaterfallisheardinbrightcascade。
THEWATERFALLPoulaphoucaPoulaphoucaPoulaphoucaPoulaphouca。THEYEWSMinglingtheirboughs。Listen。Whisper。Sheisright,oursister。WegrewbyPoulaphoucawaterfall。Wegaveshadeonlanguoroussummerdays。
JOHNWYSENOLANInthebackground,inIrishNationalForester’suniform,doffshisplumedhat。Prosper!Giveshadeonlanguorousdays,treesofIreland!
THEYEWSMurmuring。WhocametoPoulaphoucawiththehighschoolexcursion?Wholefthisnutquestingclassmatestoseekourshade?
BLOOMPigeonbreasted,bottleshouldered,padded,innondescriptjuvenilegreyandblackstripedsuit,toosmallforhim,whitetennisshoes,borderedstockingswithturnovertops,andaredschoolcapwithbadge。Iwasinmyteens,agrowingboy。Alittlethensufficed,ajoltingcar,theminglingodoursoftheladies’cloakroomandlavatory,thethrongpennedtightontheoldRoyalstairs,fortheylovecrushes,instinctsoftheherd,andthedarksexsmellingtheatreunbridlesvice。Evenapricelistoftheirhosiery。Andthentheheat。Thereweresunspotsthatsummer。Endofschool。Andtipsycake。Halcyondays。
HalcyonDays,highschoolboysinblueandwhitefootballjerseysandshorts,MasterDonaldTurnbull,MasterAbrahamChatterton,MasterOwenGoldberg,MasterJackMeredith,MasterPercyApjohn,standinaclearingofthetreesandshouttoMasterLeopoldBloom。
THEHALCYONDAYSMackerel!Liveusagain。Hurray!
Theycheer。
BLOOMHobbledehoy,warmgloved,mammamufflered,stunnedwithspentsnowballs,strugglestorise。Again!Ifeelsixteen!Whatalark!
Let’sringallthebellsinMontagueStreet。Hecheersfeebly。
HurrayfortheHighSchool!
THEECHOFool!
THEYEWSRustling。Sheisright,oursister。Whisper。Whisperedkissesareheardinallthewood。Facesofhamadryadspeepoutfromthebolesandamongtheleavesandbreakblossomingintobloom。Whoprofanedoursilentshade?
THENYMPHCoylythroughpartingfingers。There!Intheopenair?
THEYEWSSweepingdownward。Sister,yes。Andonourvirginsward。
THEWATERFALLPoulaphoucaPoulaphoucaPhoucaphoucaPhoucaphouca。THENYMPHWithwidefingers。O!Infamy!
BLOOMIwasprecocious。Youth。Thefauns。Isacrificedtothegodoftheforest。Theflowersthatbloominthespring。Itwaspairingtime。
Capillaryattractionisanaturalphenomenon。LottyClarke,flaxenhaired,Isawathernighttoilettethroughill-closedcurtains,withpoorpapa’soperaglasses。Thewantonategrasswildly。SherolleddownhillatRialtoBridgetotemptmewithherflowofanimalspirits。SheclimbedtheircrookedtreeandI……Asaintcouldn’tresistit。Thedemonpossessedme。Besides,whosaw?
StaggeringBob,awhitepolledcalfthrustsaruminatingheadwithhumidnostrilsthroughthefoliage。
STAGGERINGBOBMe。Mesee。
BLOOMSimplysatisfyinganeed。Withpathos。NogirlwouldwhenIwentgirling。Toougly。Theywouldn’tplay。
HighonBenHowththroughrhododendronsanannygoatpasses,plumpuddered,buttytailed,droppingcurvants。
THENANNYGOATBleats。Megegaggegg!Nannannanny!
BLOOMHatless,flushed,coveredwithburnofthistledownandgotrepine。
Regularlyengaged。Circumstancesaltercases。Hegazesintentlydownwardsonthewater。Thirtytwoheadoverheelspersecond。Pressnightmare。
GiddyElijah。Fallfromcliff。Sadendofgovernmentprinter’sclerk。ThroughsilversilentsummerairthedummyofBloom,rolledinamummy,rollsrotatinglyfromtheLion’sHeadcliffintothepurpleWaitingwaters。
THEDUMMYMUMMYBbbbblllllbbblblodschbg?
FaroutinthebaybetweenBaileyandKishlightstheErin’sKingsails,sendingabroadeningplumeofcoalsmokefromherfunneltowardstheland。
COUNCILLORNANNETIAloneondeck,indarkalpaca,yellowkitefaced,hishandinhiswaistcoatopening,declaims。Whenmycountrytakesherplaceamongthenationsoftheearth,then,andnottillthenletmyepitaphbewritten。Ihave……
BLOOMDone。Prff。
THENYMPHLoftily。Weimmortals,asyousawtoday,havenotsuchaplaceandnohairthereeither。Wearestonecoldandpure。Weeatelectriclight。Shearchesherbodyinlasciviouscrispation,placingherforefingerinhermouth。Spoketome。Heardfrombehind。Howthencouldyou……?
BLOOMPacingtheheatherabjectly。O,Ihavebeenaperfectpig。EnemastooIhaveadministered。Onethirdofapintofquassia,towhichaddatablespoonfulofrocksalt。Upthefundament。WithHamiltonLong’ssyringe,theladies’friend。
THENYMPHInmypresence。Thepowderpuff。Sheblushesandmakesaknee。Andtherest。
BLOOMDejected。Yes。Peccavi!Ihavepaidhomageonthatlivingaltarwherethebackchangesname。Withsuddenfervour。
Forwhyshouldthedaintyscentedjewelledhand,thehandthatrules……?
Figureswindserpentinginslowwoodlandpatternaroundthetreestems,cooeeing。
THEVOICEOFKITTYInthethicket。Showusoneofthemcushions。
THEVOICEOFFLORRYHere。
Agrousewingsclumsilythroughtheunderwood。
THEVOICEOFLYNCHInthethicket。Whew!Pipinghot!
THEVOICEOFZOEFromthethicket。Camefromahotplace。
THEVOICEOFVIRAGAbirdchiefbluestreakedandfeatheredinwarpanoplywithhisassegai,stridingthroughacracklingcanebrakeoverbeechmastandacorns。Hot!Hot!WareSittingBull!
BLOOMItoverpowersme。Thewarmimpressofherwarmform。Eventositwhereawomanhassat,especiallywithdivaricatedthighs,asthoughtograntthelastfavours,mostespeciallywithpreviouslywellupliftedwhitesateencoatpans。Sowomanlyfull。Itfillsmefull。
THEWATERFALLPhillaphullaPoulaphoucaPoulaphoucaPoulaphouca。THEYEWSSsh!Sister,speak!
THENYMPHEyeless,innun’swhitehabit,coifandhugewingedwimple,softly,withremoteeyes。Tranquiliaconvent。SisterAgatha。MountCarmel,theapparitionsofKnockandLourdes。Nomoredesire。Shereclinesherhead,sighing。Onlytheethereal。Wheredreamycreamygullwaveso’erthewatersdull。
Bloomhalfrises。Hisbacktrousersbuttonsnaps。
THEBUTTONBip!
TwoslutsoftheCoombedancerainilyby,shawled,yellingflatly。
THESLUTSOLeopoldlostthepinofhisdrawersHedidn’tknowwhattodo,Tokeepitup,Tokeepitup。BLOOMColdly。Youhavebrokenthespell。Thelaststraw。Iftherewereonlyetherealwherewouldyouallbe,postulantsandnovices?Shybutwilling,likeanasspissing。
THEYEWSTheirsilverfoilofleavesprecipitating,theirskinnyarmsageingandswaying。Deciduously!
THENYMPHSacrilege!Toattemptmyvirtue!Alargemoiststainappearsonherrobe。Sullymyinnocence!Youarenotfittotouchthegarmentofapurewoman。Sheclutchesinherrobe。Wait,Satan。You’llsingnomorelovesongs。Amen。Amen。Amen。Amen。Shedrawsaponiardand,cladinthesheathmailofanelectedknightofnine,strikesathisloins。Nekum!
BLOOMStartsup,seizesherhand。Hoy!Nebrakada!Catofninelives!Fairplay,madam。Nopruningknife。Thefoxandthegrapes,isit?
Whatdowelackwithyourbarbedwire?Crucifixnotthickenough?Heclutchesherveil。AholyabbotyouwantorBrophy,thelamegardener,orthespoutlessstatueofthewatercarrierorgoodMotherAlphonsus,ehReynard?
THENYMPHWithacry,fleesfromhimunveiled,herplastercastcracking,acloudofstenchescapingfromthecracks。Poli……!
BLOOMCallsafterher。Asifyoudidn’tgetitonthedoubleyourselves。Nojerksandmultiplemucositiesalloveryou。Itriedit。
Yourstrengthourweakness。What’sourstudfee?Whatwillyoupayonthenail?YoufeemendancersontheRiviera,Iread。Thefleeingnymphraisesakeen。Eh!Ihavesixteenyearsofblackslavelabourbehindme。Andwouldajurygivemefiveshillingsalimonytomorrow,eh?Foolsomeoneelse,notme。Hesniffs。But。Onions。Stale。Sulphur。
Grease。
ThefigureofBellaCohenstandsbeforehim。
BELLAYou’llknowmethenexttime。
BLOOMComposed,regardsher。Passé;e。Muttondressedaslamb。Loneinthetoothandsuperfluoushairs。Arawonionthelastthingatnightwouldbenefityourcomplexion。Andtakesomedoublechindrill。Youreyesareasvapidastheglasseyesofyourstuffedfox。Theyhavethedimensionsofyourotherfeatures,that’sall。I’mnotatriplescrewpropeller。
BELLAContemptuously。You’renotgame,infact。Hersowcuntbarks。Fohracht!
BLOOMContemptuously。Cleanyournaillessmiddlefingerfirst,thecoldspunkofyourbullyisdrippingfromyourcockscomb。Takeahandfulofhayandwipeyourself。
BELLAIknowyou,canvasser!Deadcod!
BLOOMIsawhim,kipkeeper!Poxandgleetvendor!
BELLATurnstothepiano。WhichofyouwasplayingthedeadmarchfromSaul?
ZOEMe。Mindyourcornflowers。Shedartstothepianoandbangschordsonitwithcrossedarms。Thecat’sramblethroughtheslag。
Sheglancesback。Eh?Who’smakinglovetomysweeties?Shedartsbacktothetable。What’syoursismineandwhat’smineismyown。
Kittydisconcertedcoatsherteethwiththesilverpaper。BloomapproachesZoe。
BLOOMGently。Givemebackthatpotato,willyou?ZoeForfeits,afinethingandasuperfinething。
BLOOMWithfeeling。Itisnothing,butstillarelicofpoormamma。
ZOEGiveathingandtakeitbackGod’llaskyouwhereisthatYou’llsayyoudon’tknowGod’llsendyoudownbelow。BLOOMThereisamemoryattachedtoit。Ishouldliketohaveit。
STEPHENTohaveornottohave,thatisthequestion。
ZOEHere。Shehaulsupareefofherslip,revealingherbarethighandunrollsthepotatofromthetopofherstocking。Thosethathidesknowswheretofind。
BELLAFrowns。Here。Thisisn’tamusicalpeepshow。Anddon’tyousmashthatpiano。Who’spayinghere?
Shegoestothepianola。Stephenfumblesinhispocketand,takingoutabanknotebyitscorner,handsittoher。
STEPHENWithexaggeratedpoliteness。ThissilkenpurseImadeoutofthesow’searofthepublic。Madam,excuseme。Ifyouallowme。
HeindicatesvaguelyLynchandBloom。Weareallinthesamesweepstake,KinchandLynch。Danscebordeloù;tenonsnostreé;tat。
LYNCHCallsfromthehearth。Dedalus!Giveheryourblessingforme。
STEPHENHandsBellaacoin。Gold。Shehasit。
BELLALooksatthemoney,thenatZoe,FlorryandKitty。Doyouwantthreegirls?It’stenshillingshere。
STEPHENDelightedly。Ahundredthousandapologies。Hefumblesagainandtakesoutandhandshertwocrowns。Permit,brevimanu,mysightissomewhattroubled。
BellagoestothetabletocountthemoneywhileStephentalkstohimselfinmonosyllables。Zoeboundsovertothetable。KittyleansoverZoe’sneck。Lynchgetsup,rightshiscapand,claspingKitty’swaist,addshisheadtothegroup。
FLORRYStrivesheavilytorise。Ow!Myfoot’sasleep。Shelimpsovertothetable。Bloomapproaches。
BELLA,ZOE。KITTY,LYNCH,BLOOMChatteringandsquabbling。
Thegentleman……tenshillings……payingforthethreeallowmeamoment……
thisgentlemanpaysseparatewho’stouchingit?……ow……mindwhoyou’repinching……areyoustayingthenightorashorttime?whodid?……you’realiar,excuseme……thegentlemanpaiddownlikeagentleman……drink……
it’slongaftereleven。
STEPHENAtthepianola,makingagestureofabhorrence。Nobottles!What,eleven?Ariddle。
ZOELiftingupherpettigownandfoldingahalfsovereignintothetopofherstocking。Hardearnedontheflatofmyback。
LYNCHLiftingKittyfromthetable。Come!
KITTYWait。Sheclutchesthetwocrowns。
FLORRYAndme?