SECONDWATCHAnalibi。Youarecautioned。
BLOOMProducesfromhisheartpocketacrumpledyellowflower。
Thisistheflowerinquestion。ItwasgivenmebyamanIdon’tknowhisname。Plausibly。Youknowthatoldjoke,roseofCastille。Bloom。
ThechangeofnameVirag。Hemurmursprivatelyandconfidentially。
Weareengagedyousee,sergeant。Ladyinthecase。Loveentanglement。
Heshouldersthesecondwatchgently。Dashitall。It’sawaywegallantshaveinthenavy。Uniformthatdoesit。Heturnsgravelytothefirstwatch。Still,ofcourse,youdogetyourWaterloosometimes。
DropinsomeeveningandhaveaglassofoldBurgundy。Tothesecondwatchgaily。I’llintroduceyou,inspector。She’sgame。Doitinshakeofalamb’stail。
Adarkmercurialisedfaceappears,leadingaveiledfigure。
THEDARKMERCURYTheCastleislookingforhim。Hewasdrummedoutofthearmy。
MARTHAThickveiled,acrimsonhalterroundherneck,acopyoftheIrishTimesinherhand,intoneofreproach,pointing。Henry!Leopold!
Leopold!Lionel,thoulostone!Clearmyname。
FIRSTWATCHSternly。Cometothestation。
BLOOMScared,hatshimselfstepsback,then,pluckingathisheartandliftinghisrightforearmonthesquare,hegivesthesignanddueguardoffellowcraft。No,no,worshipfulmaster,lightoflove。Mistakenidentity。TheLyonsmail。LesurquesandDubosc。YouremembertheChildsfratricidecase。Wemedicalmen。Bystrikinghimdeadwithahatchet。I
amwrongfullyaccused。Betteroneguiltyescapethanninetyninewrongfullycondemned。
MARTHASobbingbehindherveil。Breachofpromise。MyrealnameisPeggyGriffin。Hewrotetomethathewasmiserable。I’lltellmybrother,theBectiveruggerfullback,onyou,heartlessflirt。
BLOOMBehindhishand。She’sdrunk。Thewomanisinebriated。
HemurmursvaguelythepastofEphraim。Shitbroleeth。
SECONDWATCHTearsinhiseyes,toBloom。Yououghttobethoroughlywellashamedofyourself。
BLOOMGentlemanofthejury,letmeexplain。Apuremare’snest。Iamamanmisunderstood。Iambeingmadeascapegoatof。Iamarespectablemarriedman,withoutastainonmycharacter。IliveinEcclesstreet。
Mywife,Iamthedaughterofamostdistinguishedcommander,agallantupstandinggentleman,whodoyoucallhim,MajorgeneralBrianTweedy,oneofBritain’sfightingmenwhohelpedtowinourbattles。GothismajorityfortheheroicdefenceofRorke’sDrift。
FIRSTWATCHRegiment。
BLOOMTurnstothegallery。TheroyalDublins,boys,thesaltoftheearth,knowntheworldover。IthinkIseesomeoldcomradesinarmsupthereamongyou。TheR。D。F。WithourownMetropolitanpolice,guardiansofourhomes,thepluckiestladsandthefinestbodyofmen,asphysique,intheserviceofoursovereign。
AVOICETurncoat!UptheBoers!WhobooedJoeChamberlain?
BLOOMHishandontheshoulderofthefirstwatch。MyolddadtoowasaJ。P。I’masstaunchaBritisherasyouare,sir。IfoughtwiththecoloursforkingandcountryintheabsentmindedwarunderGeneralGoughintheparkandwasdisabledatSpionKopandBloemfontein,wasmentionedindispatches。Ididallawhitemancould。Withquietfeeling。
JimBludso。Holdhernozzleagainthebank。
FIRSTWATCHProfessionortrade。
BLOOMWell,Ifollowaliteraryoccupation。Author-journalist。InfactwearejustbringingoutacollectionofprizestoriesofwhichIamtheinventor,somethingthatisanentirelynewdeparture。IamconnectedwiththeBritishandIrishpress。Ifyouringup……
MylesCrawfordstridesoutjerkily,aquillbetweenhisteeth。Hisscarletbeakblazeswithintheaureoleofhisstrawhat。HedanglesahankofSpanishonionsinonehandandholdswiththeotherhandatelephonereceivernozzletohisear。
MYLESCRAWFORDHiscock’swattleswagging。Hello,seventyseveneightfour。Hello。Freeman’sUrinalandWeeklyArsewiperhere。ParalyseEurope。Youwhich?Bluebags?Whowrites?IsitBloom?
MrPhilipBeaufoy,palefaced,standsinthewitnessbox,inaccuratemorningdress,outbreastpocketwithpeakofhandkerchiefshowing,creasedlavendertrousersandpatentboots。HecamesalaceportfoliolabelledMatcham’sMasterstrokes。
BEAUFOYDrawls。No,youaren’t,notbyalongshotifIknowit。Idon’tseeit,that’sall。Noborngentleman,noonewiththemostrudimentarypromptingsofagentlemanwouldstooptosuchparticularlyloathsomeconduct。Oneofthose,mylord。Aplagiarist。Asoapysneakmasqueradingasaliterateur。It’sperfectlyobviousthatwiththemostinherentbasenesshehascribbedsomeofmybestsellingbooks,reallygorgeousstuff,aperfectgem,thelovepassagesinwhicharebeneathsuspicion。TheBeaufoybooksofloveandgreatpossessionswithwhichyourlordshipisdoubtlessfamiliar,areahouseholdwordthroughoutthekingdom。
BLOOMMurmurswithhangdogmeekness。ThatbitaboutthelaughingwitchhandinhandItakeexceptionto,ifImay……?
BEAUFOYHislipupcurled,smilessuperciliouslyonthecourt。
Youfunnyass,you!You’retoobeastlyawfullyweirdforwords!Idon’tthinkyouneedoverexcessivelydisincommodateyourselfinthatregard。
MyliteraryagentMrJ。B。Pinkerisinattendance。Ipresume,mylord,weshallreceivetheusualwitnesses’fees,shan’twe?Weareconsiderablyoutofpocketoverthisballypressmanjohnny,thisjackdawofRheims,whohasnotevenbeentoauniversity。
BLOOMIndistinctly。Universityoflife。Badart。
BEAUFOYShouts。It’sadamnablyfoullieshowingthemoralrottennessoftheman!Heextendshisportfolio。Wehaveheredamningevidence,thecorpusdelicti,mylord,aspecimenofmymaturerworkdisfiguredbythehallmarkofthebeast。
AVOICEFROMTHEGALLERYMoses,Moses,kingofthejews,WipedhisarseintheDailyNews。BLOOMBravely。Overdrawn。
BEAUFOYYoulowcad!Yououghttobeduckedinthehorsepond,yourotter!
Tothecourt。Why,lookattheman’sprivatelife!Leadingaquadrupleexistence!Streetangelandhousedevil。Notfittobementionedinmixedsociety。Thearchconspiratoroftheage。
BLOOMTothecourt。Andhe,abachelor,how。
FIRSTWATCHTheKingversusBloom。CallthewomanDriscoll。
THECRIERMaryDriscoll,scullerymaid!
MaryDriscoll,aslipshodservantgirl,approaches。Shehasabucketonthecrookofherarmandascouringbrushinherhand。
SECONDWATCHAnother!Areyouoftheunfortunateclass?
MARYDRISCOLLIndignantly。I’mnotabadone。Ibeararespectablecharacterandwasfourmonthsinmylastplace。Iwasinasituation,sixpoundsayearandmychanceswithFridaysout,andIhadtoleaveowingtohiscarryingson。
FIRSTWATCHWhatdoyoutaxhimwith?
MARYDRISCOLLHemadeacertainsuggestionbutIthoughtmoreofmyselfaspoorasIam。
BLOOMInhousejacketofripplecloth,flanneltrousers,heellessslippers,unshaven,hishairrumpledsoftly。Itreatedyouwhite。
Igaveyoumementoes,smartemeraldgartersfaraboveyourstation。IncautiouslyItookyourpartwhenyouwereaccusedofpilfering。There’samediuminallthings。Playcricket。
MARYDRISCOLLExcitedly。AsGodislookingdownonmethisnightifeverIlaidahandtothemoysters!
FIRSTWATCHTheoffencecomplainedof?Didsomethinghappen?
MARYDRISCOLLHesurprisedmeintherereofthepremises,yourhonour,whenthemissuswasoutshoppingonemorningwitharequestforasafetypin。HeheldmeandIwasdiscolouredinfourplacesasaresult。Andheinterferedtwicewithmyclothing。
BLOOMShecounterassaulted。
MARYDRISCOLLScornfully。Ihadmorerespectforthescouringbrush,soIhad。Iremonstratedwithhim,yourlord,andheremarked:Keepitquiet!
Generallaughter。
GEORGESFOTTRELLClerkofthecrownandpeace,resonantly。
Orderincourt!Theaccusedwillnowmakeabogusstatement。
Bloom,pleadingnotguiltyandholdingafullblownwaterlily,beginsalongunintelligiblespeech。Theywouldhearwhatcounselhadtosayinhisstirringaddresstothegrand-jury。Hewasdownandoutbut,thoughbrandedasablacksheep,ifhemightsayso,hemeanttoreform,toretrievethememoryofthepastinapurelysisterlywayandreturntonatureasapurelydomesticanimal。Asevenmonths’child,hehadbeencarefullybroughtupandnurturedbyanagedbedriddenparent。Theremighthavebeenlapsesofanerringfatherbuthewantedtoturnoveranewleafandnow,whenatlonglastinsightofthewhippingpost,toleadahomelylifeintheeveningofhisdays,permeatedbytheaffectionatesurroundingsoftheheavingbosomofthefamily。AnacclimatisedBritisherhehadseenthatsummerevefromthefootplateofanenginecaboftheLooplinerailwaycompanywhiletherainrefrainedfromfallingglimpses,asitwere,throughthewindowsoflovefulhouseholdsinDublincityandurbandistrictofscenestrulyruralofhappinessofthebetterlandwithDockrell’swallpaperatoneandninepenceadozen,innocentBritishbornbairnslispingprayerstotheSacredInfant,youthfulscholarsgrapplingwiththeirpensums,modelyoungladiesplayingonthepianoforteoranonallwithfervourrecitingthefamilyrosaryroundthecracklingYulelogwhileintheboreensandgreenlanesthecolleenswiththeirswainsstrolledwhattimesthestrainsoftheorgantonedmelodeonBritanniametalboundwithfouractingstopsandtwelvefoldbellows,asacrifice,greatestbargainever……
Renewedlaughter。Hemumblesincoherently。Reporterscomplainthattheycannothear。
LONGHANDANDSHORTHANDWithoutlookingupfromtheirnotebooks。
Loosenhisboots。
PROFESSORMACHUGHFromthepresstable,coughsandcalls。Coughitup,man。Getitoutinbits。
ThecrossexaminationproceedsreBloomandthebucket。Alacebucket。
BloomhimselfBoweltrouble。InBeaverstreet。Gripe,yes。Quitebad。A
plasterersbucket。Bywalkingstifflegged。Suffereduntoldmisery。Deadlyagony。Aboutnoon。Loveorburgundy。Yes,somespinach。Crucialmoment。
Hedidnotlookinthebucket。Nobody。Ratheramess。Notcompletely。ATitbitsbacknumber。
Uproarandcatcalls。Bloom,inatornfrockcoatstainedwithwhitewash,dingedsilkhatsidewaysonhishead,astripofsticking-plasteracrosshisnose,talksinaudibly。
J。J。O’MOLLOYInbarrister’sgreywigandstuffgown,speakingwithavoiceofpainedprotest。Thisisnoplaceforindecentlevityattheexpenseofanerringmortaldisguisedinliquor。WearenotinabeargardennoratanOxfordragnoristhisatravestyofjustice。Myclientisaninfant,apoorforeignimmigrantwhostartedscratchasastowawayandisnowtryingtoturnanhonestpenny。Thetrumpedupmisdemeanourwasduetoamomentaryaberrationofheredity,broughtonbyhallucination,suchfamiliaritiesastheallegedguiltyoccurrencebeingquitepermittedinmyclient’snativeplace,thelandofthePharaoh。Primafacie,Iputittoyouthattherewasnoattemptatcarnallyknowing。IntimacydidnotoccurandtheoffencecomplainedofbyDriscoll,thathervirtuewassolicited,wasnotrepeated。Iwoulddealinespecialwithatavism。
Therehavebeencasesofshipwreckandsomnambulisminmyclient’sfamily。
Iftheaccusedcouldspeakhecouldataleunfoldoneofthestrangestthathaveeverbeennarratedbetweenthecoversofabook。Hehimself,mylord,isaphysicalwreckfromcobbler’sweakchest。HissubmissionisthatheisofMongolianextractionandirresponsibleforhisactions。
Notallthere,infact。
BLOOMBarefoot,pigeonbreasted,inlascar’svestandtrousers,apologetictoesturnedin,openshistinymole’seyesandlooksabouthimdazedly,passingaslowhandacrosshisforehead。Thenhehitcheshisbeltsailorfashionandwithashrugoforientalobeisancesalutesthecourt,pointingonethumbheavenward。Himmakeevellymucheefinenight。Hebeginstoliltsimply。Lilipoolilchile,Blingeepigfootevlynight。
Payeetwoshilly……Heishowleddown。